TODAY’S FEATURED STORY
Recalling the ‘dead cat’ district, other remapping lessons of Georgia’s past
Republicans are firmly in charge of this year’s reapportionment work, but 20 years ago, the Democrats were the ones in power and looking to stem the rising tide of the Republican minority.
Robberies keep violent crime top of mind for many Savannahians
‘Deaths of Despair’: Two Georgia counties show stark contrast
What’s preventing Georgia Medicaid kids getting referrals to care?
Project to bring high-speed broadband to Liberty, Bryan, Long counties
Smell something, tell something: Black residents in Coastal Georgia work to hold polluters accountable
Let’s get there together.
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georgia
‘Perfect storm’: In Georgia, rising opioid overdoses don’t discriminate
Kemp names Verda Colvin to fill Georgia Supreme Court seat
Ralston proposes $75M for mental health, law enforcement
REFERENCE POINTS
Georgia COVID-19 daily statistics
Today’s cases, change, deaths, hospitalizations, testing, vaccination tracker
Georgia U.S. House District 1 Watch: Buddy Carter
Follow key votes, funding sources, speeches, social media, legislation
Georgia U.S. Senate Watch: Ossoff, Warnock
Follow key votes, funding sources, speeches, social media, legislation
Georgia Legislature: Daily press releases, announcements
Follow a running list of links regarding Legislative committees, budgets, bills and appointments.
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Your donation today supports in-depth journalism for Coastal Georgia.
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE
World’s largest seagrass project proves ‘You can actually restore the oceans’
Seagrass is responsible for about 10% of the ocean’s ability to store carbon. It provides a vital habitat for marine life, boosts commercial fishing, helps purify water, protects coastlines and even traps and stores microplastics.
State OKs Spaceport Camden, few ways now for opponents to defuse it
Spaceport Camden’s plans call for building a facility and launch pads that allow for as many as 12 small commercial rocket launches annually over five years.
PSC chair leaves for judgeship; Kemp appoints new member
The head of Georgia’s Public Service commission that regulates public utilities is set to become a superior court judge this summer; the governor appointed a Cobb County businessman to replace him.
U.S. House could vote next week to expand ‘forever chemical’ regulation
Living shorelines research aids fight against sea level rise
The Tide: Elsa rolls through, leaves warning
PSC, federal inspectors grill Georgia Power, Southern Company over Vogtle delays
‘Electric vehicle revolution’ in Georgia arrives at crossroads
elections
Q&A: Wade Herring, candidate for U.S. House, District 1
Judge denies request to block part of Georgia’s voting law — for now
U.S. Senate Democrats push voting rights bills, lambast Georgia election law
Money pours into statewide races, fueling 2022 Georgia showdown
U.S. Justice Dept. suit says new Georgia voting law rules violate rights
Future of Fulton ballot inspection uncertain after judge’s order
Fact check: Fulton County is not missing ballots or hundreds of drop box custody forms
PUBLIC HEALTH
What’s wrong with this map is what’s wrong with data system
Health leaders call America ‘most dangerous developed nation in which to give birth’
Georgia hits bottom on rankings for senior health care, access to overall health care
politics
Your County Officials, Services
Want to give cheers or a complaints or a suggestion? Want to attend council or commission meetings, or just find out about garbage services or complain about potholes? Click on your county to get started.
DATA
Follow News Through Data with 538
Fivethirtyeight.com is a website that tells stories and news through statistical analysis using reliable, credible data to do it. Click here each day for new stories in politics, science, economics and more.
GOVERNING
Find Out What’s on the Agenda
Click here to see this week’s lineup of what’s being proposed and what’s up for discussion on various committees, boards and councils that represent you.
EDUCATION
Savannah-Chatham schools limit student bus transportation
Driver shortage, smaller transport budgets force school district to limit bus transportation based on need, attendance zones.
School choice movement celebrates its ‘best year ever’ amid pandemic
Debate rages on Georgia campuses over vaccine mandates
UK views on Georgia climate, business, connected coastlines
After a tumultuous year, teacher ‘thank you’ bonuses gain steam, spark debate
The Tide: Elsa rolls through, leaves warning
While Georgia mostly avoided severe storm surge and dangerous winds, Elsa still served as a stark reminder of the way climate change will continue to intensify tropical storms, hurricanes and other weather systems in the years to come.
The Tide: Fort Stewart gets notice for woodpecker work
The birds require mature longleaf pine forests and live in cavities they hollow out of old longleaf pine trees. In addition to controlled burns and tagging the birds, the Army post also installed about 4,000 artificial cavity boxes on the trunks of mature trees.
The Tide: Carter’s role in Revenge of the Nays
Carter finds uphill challenges for opioid treatment bill following his support for overturning the November election.
The Tide: Separating pork from bull
Buddy Carter stakes out his earmarks while his party disapproves, district looks for funds for projects.
The Tide: Census shows Georgia gained weight, but not representation
Our neighbor Florida gets a new Congressional seat and Texas gets two, but an additional rep wasn’t in the cards for the Peach State.
The Tide: Mumps, measles – what are the odds?
The Tide: Carter casts a Senate net
The Tide: Pecans with a side of horse racing
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Why is everyone so angry? Because that’s what they want.
Propaganda, designed for war, is now used as political communication, endangering the democratic process.
Don’t hike so close to me: How the presence of humans can disturb wildlife up to half a mile away
Research finds the presence of humans can alter wild animal and bird behavior patterns at much greater distances than most people may think.
US intelligence report on UFOs: No aliens, but could spark research
Videos highlight lack of data, research in mainstream science around sightings.
Lost in translation: Behind-the-scenes people, organizations connecting science and decision-making
Intermediaries can be based at universities, nonprofit organizations or in government. Scientists, policymakers and funders are increasingly recognizing their value – and the need to professionalize their role.
Working together
FROM THE CURRENT
Thiokol explosion: 50 years later, families seek to be remembered
Those killed and maimed weren’t wearing uniforms like the thousands of Georgians deployed aboard during the war. They were mostly poor, Black women who worked for $1.65 an hour assembling trip flares for the U.S. Army at the Thiokol Chemical Corp. plant in Woodbine.
Some Georgia tax credit scholarships go to anti-LGBT schools
Websites of 100 SSO scholarship schools in Georgia and found 15 with explicitly anti-gay policies. Many others assert religious stances but do not specifically mention homosexuality.
Red flags about Savannah’s concrete industry reveals wrongdoing
Ten years ago a Savannah whistleblower alerted federal authorities to a cartel costing Georgia taxpayers millions of dollars. This month, U.S. attorneys won their first admission of guilt.
Savannah Weighs Value of Art and History Amid COVID-19 Crisis
Savannah City Council needs a way to fund city services in a budget crunch, but hasn’t figured the value of assets selected for auction.
Scholarship Tax Credit Program: $600M with Little Oversight
With no data or complaint process to guide, Georgia’s School Scholarship Organizations have shifted more than $600 million from state coffers to scholarships at private schools around the state – including more than 40 in the Savannah area.
Brunswick residents living next to a Superfund site worry about cleanup 40 years later
Brunswick is surrounded by toxic industrial sites that threaten humans, fish and waterways. Residents want more accountability.
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