Quick notes from The Current staff about the ebb and flow of news, what we’re seeing and what washes in that’s probably not a giant story but interesting enough to muse about.
- Georgia Water Coalition honors McIntosh County group as ‘water hero’
A McIntosh County citizen group that’s fought to reduce herbicide use and an oyster hatchery on Skidaway Island are among the 13 entities the Georgia Water Coalition recognized Tuesday for their positive impacts on the state’s waterways.
“Don’t Spray McIntosh County” is a citizen-led initiative that ended the county’s practice of spraying herbicides to manage vegetation along its roadside rights of way. Working with the county commission, advocates developed a management plan that emphasizes limited mowing and protects the county’s streams and wetlands. Formed in 2022, the initiative’s organizers are already seeing the difference they’ve made.
A sundew (Drosera capillaris) grows along LeConte Road in McIntosh County. “After two years we’re seeing the results this fall,” said McIntosh resident Mark Yeager, who leads the initiative that’s garnered about 300 supporters. “It’s been spectacular in the ditches along the roadside, both the abundance and the variety of the pollinators and other rare species.”
Among the roadside surprises are carnivorous plants.
“Hundreds of pitcher plants have been seen that have never been seen before in this area”, said McIntosh resident Bill Lewis, who set up the initiative’s Facebook page.
Yeager said he hopes to spread the effort to more coastal counties. He also wants to sit down with Georgia Power and the Georgia Department of Transportation, which still spray along the rights of way they maintain in McIntosh.
“We have models for both that we could share with them so that we wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
Joe Cook, creator and coordinator of Paddle Georgia, noted that the McIntosh group showed the power of one individual.
“One citizen looked into it and spoke out and created an advocacy group that changed how things are done, and so never underestimate the power of individuals,” he said.
The Georgia Water Coalition is an alliance of more than 250 organizations committed to ensuring that water is managed equitably for all Georgians and protected for future generations.
Director of the Shellfish Lab, Tom Bliss, checks the specially formulated algae grown as a food source for oyster larvae as they are raised for farming. In its seventh Clean 13 report released Tuesday, the coalition also honored the Shellfish Research Lab at the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, a facility that has been cultivating a comeback for oysters, which filter the water as they feed. The lab is now breeding oysters that are sold to commercial aquaculture operations, and working to restore natural oyster reefs and populations along the Georgia coast.
Laura Solomon, a co-founder of the Tybee Oyster Company and someone working closely with the lab, said that while all East Coast oysters are the same species, Georgia is working on an adapted oyster with several specific traits such as survivability, color, and ability to withstand extreme tides and heat. Solomon also highlighted the recycling shell initiative that is bringing restored reefs back to the Georgia coast.
Further south and slightly inland, Rena Ann Peck, the executive director of the Georgia Rivers Network, recognized the Conservation Fund’s $60 million purchase that protected 8,000 acres adjacent to the Okefenokee Swamp from a mine proposal. A statewide coalition of 40 conservation organizations led efforts against the mine, ending the 7-year fight.
“The $60 million deal was funded by philanthropists,” Peck said. “We are so thankful to them, but the collective efforts of dozens of advocacy groups, key leaders in government, business and media and hundreds of 1000s of citizens also made this deal possible.”
These other entities were also considered “Water Heroes” for their efforts:
- Paddle4Tomorrow (Fulton County), a non-profit based in Alpharetta introduces youth to hiking and kayaking experiences in local and state parks, operating on the philosophy that in order for future generations to take action to protect nature they must first know, appreciate and understand it.
- Park Creek Elementary School (Whitfield County). When federally-protected fish were discovered in creeks on Park Creek Elementary School’s 67-acre campus in Dalton, educators, in conjunction with multiple partners, embarked on an effort to use the rare fish not only to teach children about wildlife habitat, but to restore portions of the campus to better protect the charismatically colorful fish known as the tri-spot darter.
- Baggett Elementary School (Gwinnett County) The outdoor classroom at this Lawrenceville elementary school has transformed learning. The students there raise trout, chickens, rabbits, herbs and vegetables and study the workings of an on-site solar array to understand science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
- Partnership for Innovation (Fulton County) At the college level, the Partnership for Innovation housed at Georgia Tech connects summer interns and university-level researchers with non-profit organizations working to protect Georgia’s water.
- Lake Burton Civic Association (Rabun County) At one of North Georgia’s most iconic reservoirs, the Lake Burton Civic Association maintains an active water quality and bacteria monitoring program to track and identify pollution on their beloved Rabun County reservoir.
- Upson County Environmental and Governmental Transparency (Upson County) In an example of citizens stepping up to fight for their community, residents of Upson County have coalesced around a battle to stop a proposed plastics recycling facility near Thomaston.
- City Serve Augusta (Augusta-Richmond County) In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, volunteers with City Serve Augusta became heroes by assisting dozens of families in Augusta-Richmond County with hurricane cleanup efforts. The work was a continuation of more than a decade of service projects that have benefitted the community and the Savannah River.
- Georgia Flow Incentive Trust In Southwest Georgia where the farming community relies on irrigation from surface and groundwater and where water scarcity has threatened both farms and federally-protected aquatic species, the Georgia Flow Incentive Trust is finding solutions.
- Arcadis (Cobb County) Arcadis, a multinational environmental engineering firm with offices in Atlanta, partnered with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper to develop a computer model that could be used to identify the best locations to place trash traps in urban streams.
- REI Co-op (DeKalb, Cobb, Fulton, Athens-Clarke counties) A major player in the outdoor recreation retail scene in Georgia since 1990, REI Co-op supports local non-profits with grants, product donations and a product loaner program that helps get first-time campers “in the woods.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current GA staff.
- Federal shutdown blocks Helene grant for Georgia farmers, timber owners
When Gov. Brian Kemp and Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper announced in late September that the federal government had agreed to provide more than half-a-billion dollars in aid to the state’s hurricane-wracked agriculture industry, Georgia’s farmers, ranchers, and timberland owners breathed a sigh of relief.
In a press release, Harper said he was “incredibly proud” to disclose the $531 million in funding for those industries wracked by devastation of Hurricane Helene. The aid “would provide much-needed relief to impacted farmers and producers,” he said. Tweeted Kemp: “Great news for Georgia’s farming families and our No. 1 industry!”
It turns out that the celebrations were premature.
In response to a question from Rep. Steven Meeks (R-Screven), Harper told a state House committee on Monday that the administrative details for dispersing the aid weren’t finished on Sept. 30, when Kemp and Harper made their aid announcement. The federal government shut down a day later.
Harper told lawmakers that his office has hired staff to handle applications from Georgia producers and that his department will send the U.S. Department of Agriculture the state’s proposed spending formulas as soon as the federal government has reopened.
“Soon as they sign those off, we’ll open the application period,” Harper said. “We hope that happens in the next couple of weeks.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Lawmakers approve funding for 2 gang prosecutors in Savannah
Georgia legislators allocated more than a quarter million dollars in the upcoming budget for two gang prosecutors in Savannah.
The specialized prosecutors would be based in “the Savannah region” and work under the Georgia Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit, according to budget documents.
The $268,464 line item was included last week in an appropriations bill that awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature before becoming a part of the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget. Kemp originally asked for four prosecutors but received two after budget negotiations with the Georgia Senate.
The two new attorneys will go to work with Brooklyn Franklin, AG Chris Carr’s current gang prosecutor for Southeast Georgia. The Chatham County District Attorney’s office would work in concert with them.
“Our offices routinely discuss strategy and training opportunities and support the mission to prevent violent crime in the Eastern Judicial Circuit,” according to Katherine Wideman, a spokesperson for Chatham DA Shalena Cook Jones.
The news comes as Franklin and the AG’s unit plan to present a multicount gang indictment to a Chatham County grand jury next week, according to documents reviewed by The Current.
The presentment will describe multiple crimes committed on behalf of a Savannah gang, including aggravated assaults, armed robbery, financial theft, carjacking, possessing a weapon and concealing evidence, according to the documents.
The Current is reporting on the AG’s office activities, and not naming the individuals involved, because a grand jury has not yet heard or decided on the case.
AG Chris Carr’s office declined to comment on the upcoming presentment.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at a meeting of the Republican Women of Forsyth County, according to a March 13, 2024, social media post. Regarding the expansion of prosecutors, Carr’s office said its regional model has been successful — netting gang indictments in Augusta and Bryan County. Carr, who is also running for governor in 2026, has gang prosecutors in Albany, Columbus, and Macon.
“With this regional model, we’re able to work more closely and effectively with all levels of law enforcement to build strong cases that ultimately lead to safer communities,” Kara Murray, spokesperson for the AG’s office, said.
The cases handled by Carr’s office and others deal with a narrow legal framework — not only do prosecutors have to prove a person committed a crime, but also they have to prove that the person did the crime on behalf of a street gang. That nexus is what makes a crime a gang-motivated crime, instead of a gang-related crime.
It’s part of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, detailed in a recent article in The Current about Glynn County’s dubious use of gang statistics.
Data reporter Maggie Lee assisted in reporting this story.
- Report highlights Georgia wildlife conservation efforts
Georgia keeps tabs on bald eagles nesting in tall pines, endangered North Atlantic right whales giving birth offshore and gopher tortoises reclaiming their territories in longleaf forests.
And that’s just for starters.
“There’s all this fascinating wildlife and rare species that need our help, and we are working hard to monitor and conserve those species and their habitats, and we’re really proud of that,” said Brett Albanese, assistant chief of the Wildlife Conservation Section of the Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR on Monday released its Wildlife Resources Division’s annual report detailing is efforts to conserve wildlife over the fiscal year that ended in July. Coastal plants and animals are well represented throughout the 86-page report, available here.
Red knots eating horseshoe crab eggs A smattering of coastal highlights from the report includes:
- The Brunswick Harbor Bird Island hosted the state’s largest colony of nesting seabirds last year, with close to 4,000 nests where royal terns, laughing gulls, black skimmers, brown pelicans and gull-billed terns raised their young.
- Staff trapped and satellite-tagged 13 red knots, a long distance migrant, using solar-powered transmitters. The birds were tracked to their breeding grounds in the high Arctic, providing some of the first data showing them refueling in the Southeast then making a nonstop flight north.
- Members of the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative, coordinated by the Wildlife Resources Division, documented more than 2,490 loggerhead nests on Georgia beaches last year. That’s slightly below the goal of 2,800 nests a year, but loggerheads nest numbers are trending up slowly toward recovery of the species in Georgia.
- Wildlife Conservation also continued annual population monitoring of Radford’s mint (Dicerandra radfordiana), a state-endangered species known to exist in only two locations along the north side of the Altamaha River in Georgia. This year’s totals at Townsend Wildlife Management Area in Long and McIntosh counties revealed an increase to 2,556 plants from last year’s low of 538.
The report is an account of the work of the Wildlife Conservation Section, which receives less than half of 1 percent of its budget from state funding. The budget instead
depends largely on four fundraisers: “nongame” specialty license plates, Weekend for Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Fund state income tax checkoff and direct donations.In that way, Conservation Section Chief Matt Elliott views the report as a kind of receipt.
“If you bought a license plate or made a donation when you when you bought your fishing license or something like that, this is what we’re using money for,” Elliott said.
Banding American oystercatchers on Sapelo Island Georgia received about $1.6 M last fiscal year in federal State Wildlife Grants, a federal program designed to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered through voluntary, proactive conservation.
Elliott sounded confident that federal funding would continue through the Trump administration.
“It’s money that is usually associated with some sort of cooperative agreement,” he said. “It’s between the federal government and the state. So, as I would see it, you can’t start pulling those things back unless you’re going to be violating a whole lot of agreements with every state.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Pause in federal grants puts some environmental programs in limbo
Clarification: 8:50 p.m. Jan. 29, 2025: This story was modified to distinguish Nicole Lee’s personal statements from those made on behalf of her business and the programs that contract it.
Following the issuance late Monday of a White House memo ordering federal agencies to freeze all grant and loan disbursements, Coastal Georgia environmental grant recipients are scrambling to understand how they’ll be affected.
“We just don’t know how this will impact us,” said St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore, whose nonprofit recently won a $716,000 grant partially funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to develop plans to protect local communities from the effects of climate change.
“We haven’t heard from the (grantor) National Fish and Wildlife Foundation yet. We’re waiting with bated breath.”
Environmental advocates worried about programs run through states and municipalities as well as through nonprofits.
“Cutting off Southern communities from critically important funding sources that are providing much needed support and resources is alarming and will have far reaching impacts,” said Geoff Gisler, Program Director for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “If these funds are withheld, even for a short period of time, communities and businesses in our region will be unnecessarily and irreparably harmed.”
SELC noted that the memo “uses broad terms, failing to specify which programs will be affected, creating confusion for agencies and the public alike.”
The freeze could extend to EPA’s Solar for All program, which accelerated and expanded access to solar projects. The Georgia BRIGHT program received a $156M grant from Solar for All to install rooftop solar and batteries in disadvantaged communities in the state. The funding was poised to allow the solar lease program to bring solar panels to an estimated 5,000 rooftops in Georgia.
Nicole Lee is the owner of Savannah-based Be Smart Home Solutions, which has installed about 20 rooftop solar arrays on homes and churches as a Georgia BRIGHT contractor.
“We at Be Smart are hopeful this issue will be resolved,” Lee said on behalf of the company. “We are grateful for the work that is being done with all the programs that we work with and the impact that is making on families.”
Lee employs a staff of 14. A funding pause would mean a loss of work for them, she said.
“Funding is being taken away just because clean energy is a bad word,” Lee said, speaking personally. “It is viewed as something that isn’t attractive to your administration, although it goes to help the greater good, even those who are your constituents who vote for you.”
Lee is also contracted to work with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority in its weatherization program, which received more than $84.3 M to provide energy conservation measures to income-eligible households.
“For GEFA, they’re like, continue to work and move forward,” Lee said. “We’re going to make sure that those who are part of the program currently, they’re gonna get the benefits of the program.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources relies on federal funding to keep its programs running. In 2023, for example, about 56% of the Wildlife Resources Division’s $77 million budget came from federal funds.
Spokesman Rick Lavender wrote in an email that the DNR is not providing comment on how the Trump Administration’s grant freeze will affect it.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., released a statement Tuesday about the pause: “The President’s suspension of Federal grants for Georgia threatens chaos. This erratic decision risks serious damage to health care, education, public safety, and local governments across our state.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- McIntosh begins voting on Sapelo referendum
Early voting began Monday in McIntosh County on a referendum about zoning for Sapelo Island’s Hogg Hummock. Election Supervisor Elenore “Doll” Gale reported that 52 people voted on the first day.
The Hogg Hummock area is inhabited by descendants of enslaved West Africans and is the last Gullah Geechee community on a Georgia barrier island. The county commission approved zoning changes on Sapelo in September, 2023. The new zoning allows bigger, taller houses, which residents fear will force out Sapelo descendants in favor of wealthy developers.
Using the “Home Rule” provision of the state constitution, the “Keep Sapelo Geechee” coalition launched a petition that resulted in the referendum being put to voters.
Voters are asked to vote yes or no on the question “Shall the Action of the Board of Commissioners of McIntosh County, Georgia, amending the McIntosh County Code of Ordinances Appendix C Sec. 219 HH Hog Hammock District of the McIntosh County Ordinance be repealed?”
The same week Probate Judge Harold Webster approved the petition and set the election date, the McIntosh County Commission challenged the validity of the referendum in McIntosh County Superior Court. The local circuit of judges recused themselves, and Superior Court Senior Judge Gary C. McCorvey was assigned the case. Last week McCorvey ordered a hearing on the issue at 9 a.m. Sept. 20 at the McIntosh County Superior Court, 310 North Way, Darien.
McIntosh is not the first county to wrestle with a voter challenge to a county commission decision. A petition-driven single issue referendum in Camden County in 2022 was similarly challenged by its county commission. Voters overwhelmingly cast “Yes” ballots to repeal a decision to move forward with the county’s spaceport plans. The Georgia Supreme Court ultimately upheld the public’s veto.
Early voting on the Sapelo referendum began Monday at the McIntosh County Board of Elections office with 52 voters casting ballots. When and where to vote in the Hogg Hummock referendum
Early, in-person voting continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon-Fri. through Sept. 27 and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday Sept. 14 and 21 at the McIntosh County Board of Elections office, 103 Jefferson St., Darien.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot and mail-out a ballot is Sept. 20 for the Oct. 1 Special Election. All polls will be open on Oct. 1 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Investors warn Chemours against future mining near Okefenokee
Editor’s note: Sept. 5, 2024, 7:20 p.m. This article was updated to correct the list of groups invested in Chemours.
As Georgia regulators continue to evaluate Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals’ controversial plan to strip mine near the Okefenokee swamp, a group of investors re-upped pressure on another mining company, Chemours.
The group of 20 investors, representing nearly $700 billion in assets under management, sent a letter to Chemours Wednesday requesting the company “make permanent its existing, near-term commitment to not engage in titanium mining, nor to purchase titanium mined by others, on Trail Ridge at the Okefenokee Swamp.”
The investors include three groups already invested in Delaware-based Chemours: Amalgamated Bank, the Felician Sisters of North America and an anonymous institutional investor based in Europe that manages about $600 billion in assets. The other 17 – including the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Trillium Asset Management, and Green Century Capital Management – are potential investors “if the company were to improve its environmental profile,” said Annie Sanders, director of shareholder advocacy at Green Century.
Chemours spokeswoman Cassie Olszewski declined to comment on the investors’ letter. Chemours is a Fortune 1000 company valued at $2.76B.
Twin Pines’ plans
The Okefenokee Swamp is one of the world’s largest intact freshwater wetlands. Most of the swamp is protected in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge in the eastern U.S. and home to hundreds of plant and animal species. The peat that lies under the Okefenokee stores massive amounts of carbon, making it important for climate stability.
Twin Pines Minerals, LLC has applied for permits to mine titanium dioxide outside the refuge on Trail Ridge, the swamp’s eastern hydrologic boundary. Scientists have warned that the mining threatens the integrity of the Okefenokee. They warn that altering the swamp’s water flow could lead to drought and wildfire that could destroy wildlife habitat, damage adjacent private timberland and release significant carbon emissions.
The state Environmental Protection Division released draft mining permits for the project in February, 2024. The public responded with more than 77,000 comments.
“EPD is currently reviewing and responding to the public comments received and will be publishing the responses in a response to comments document on the EPD website,” EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips wrote in an email. “There is no set date for when the document will be completed and ready for publishing. The next step following the response to comments document will be the final permit decision.”
The lull in visible activity on the permit is part of what prompted the investors’ letter.
Sister Mary Jean Sliwinski “It’s a matter of trying to keep the issue alive and keeping awareness of it, because the EPD is dragging their feet on deciding on a permit,” said Sister M. Jean Sliwinski, sustainability coordinator with the Felician Sisters of North America in a telephone interview from her home in Buffalo, NY.
Targeting Chemours
As Twin Pines awaits its permits, there are signs the company is struggling. It’s fallen behind in its property taxes in Charlton County. Last month the company owed $365,000 in taxes, including $55,000 in penalties and interest, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
Unlike Twin Pines, Chemours already operates heavy mineral sands mines in Georgia with operations in Charlton, Wayne and Pierce counties through its subsidiary Southern Ionics. It boasts that it’s “the world’s largest producer of high-quality titanium dioxide,” which is the main target of Twin Pines’ proposed mining efforts.
The company also has a history with the Okefenokee. Chemours was spun off from DuPont in 2015. It was DuPont in the late 1990s that agreed to back off from a previously proposed mine near the Okefenokee, in part due to shareholder pressure.
“We’ve gotten wind of discussions that have been happening behind closed doors,” Sanders said. “Given that Twin Pines is a notoriously bad operator, there’s just a lot of concerns around their ability to operate this kind of mine well, and in looking around for buyers, Chemours would be a natural choice. And so we want to be clear that this would not be a move that investors would support.”
The investors are trying to head off the possibility of other mines on Trail Ridge.
“We’re still concerned about the fact that Twin Pines’ neighbors Toledo Manufacturing and Rayonier both have cause to either be interested in leasing their land or otherwise engaging with Chemours should the company decide to make a move here,” Sanders said.
In their letter, the investors say that mining or purchasing materials mined at the Okefenokee could expose Chemours to undue financial risk.
Green Century and the Felicians filed a shareholder proposal in late 2021 that resulted in Chemours’ 2022 pledge to refrain from doing business with Twin Pines for at least next five years. But the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year quashed the groups’ next move to allow a vote on a shareholder resolution to make the pledge permanent. So they turned to the letter.
“At the end of the day, this is an issue and a concern that’s not going to go away. Investors remain concerned,” Sanders said. “They are increasingly concerned that the company is not doing enough to mitigate potential reputational, regulatory and legal risks stemming from the proposed mine and towards potential involvement in it. So we think that a permanent commitment is a logical next step and a prudent next step for Chemours.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Harris, Walz make barbecue stop in Sandfly
The Harris-Walz campaign opened its Savannah-area bus tour Wednesday with political pundits across the nation pondering weighty issues of whether the events showed Georgia to be either a red or blue state.
In Sandfly, the Chatham County community surrounding the intersection of Skidaway Road and Ferguson Avenue, the discussion was no less serious: brisket or ribs?
Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, stopped for barbecue at the hallowed locally owned Sandfly BBQ for a taste of smoked meat and some glad handing. The resulting traffic jam caused by the more than two-dozen vehicle convoy toting the Democratic Party presidential candidate through Coastal Georgia gummed streets and roads around the restaurant for about an hour.
But Keith Latture, owner of Ferguson Avenue restaurant, was ready. He said he’d had a day’s notice for a possible visit, but wasn’t certain until Wednesday that he’d have special guests for dinner.
Latture said Harris ordered a brisket plate with macaroni and cheese and collards for sides. Walz had a brisket sandwich and coleslaw. Both political luminaries were friendly and easy-going, he said. Their orders were packed for the road.
While the Harris campaign team were deciding on menu choices, outside the restaurant the neighborhood crowd of a couple hundred people built steadily, as word spread on social media that the political leaders had dropped by the neighborhood. True to the Hostess City manners, local residents clustered near the intersections and adjacent parking lots, but didn’t block passing cars.
The bright blue Harris-Walz campaign bus parked to the left side of Ferguson Avenue and more than 30 police and entourage vehicles filled the small strip mall parking lot in double rows and others trailed down Skidaway Road all the way to the next stop light at Montgomery Cross Road.
A handful of press pool journalists and others went inside the restaurant with the candidates. Secret Service agents stood along the street forbidding anyone else to cross for about 30 minutes.
Despite clear lines of Harris-Walz supporters among the crowd, some residents waved two large Trump flags. Yet the diverse gathering remained cordial with one another. Chants of “Kam-a-La, Kam-a-La” broke out periodically and the Trump fans tried to match it for a minute.
If the gathered masses were hoping for a glimpse of the Vice President, the first Black woman to run for president for a major party ticket, they were disappointed. Secret Service lines were tight, and Harris got straight into a black SUV at the restaurant door and pulled away, followed by the bus and the long line of vehicles.
For at least one onlooker, the historic event was unforgettable. “It’s the biggest thing EVER in Sandfly,” said one woman, as she snapped pics of the police and line of vehicles. “We’ll be talking about this FOREVER.” she added, while running to her car to deliver pizzas from the Papa John’s across the street.
- The Tide: Chatham DA, Savannah mayor spar over dismissed cases
Chatham County’s district attorney, long under fire for the way she has managed criminal prosecutions during the previous four years, received a new broadside this week from a powerful member of her own party: Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
The two Democrats exchanged barbs about DA Shalena Cook Jones’ decision last week to dismiss murder cases against six defendants compromised by Savannah police misconduct. The dispute shows how central the issue of victims rights will be in a heated race pitting Cook Jones against a Republican challenger in November.
Johnson and Cook Jones accused each other this week of using the unsolved murder cases for political purposes.
Mayor Johnson, a former police department employee, said Tuesday that the city and Savannah Police Department were left in the dark about the DA’s decision last week to dismiss the cases. Cook Jones explained that the cases had been tainted by the misconduct of two former Savannah Police Department officers Ashley Wood and Darryl Repress. Both disgraced officers have been indicted for lying on the stand, on search warrants and to their superiors.
He also claimed that the DA was playing politics and failing victims.
“The fact of the matter is, one detective doth not a case make,” he said. “If you have two bad apples, then you deal with the bad apples. But the case is still the case.”
Cook Jones refuted these assertions, saying in a Wednesday statement that the mayor’s “baseless, ill-informed ramblings about politics” were false.
The document includes screenshots of text messages and emails, which Cook Jones says show the city and SPD were informed ahead of time of the dismissals.
“It is my hope that we do not allow political chatter to overshadow the hard work and good reputation of the officers and prosecutors who are charged with making the tough decisions that justice requires,” she wrote.
The Chatham County Courthouse After beating back a Democratic primary challenge in May, Cook Jones now faces former prosecutor and Republican, Andre Pretorius, in the November election. The furor around the DA’s decision to dismiss charges in murder cases previews a central election issue in the charged DA race: the rights of crime victims.
The relationship between Cook Jones’ administration and victims of serious crimes has been a sore spot since she took over in 2021 and was the subject of an investigation by The Current earlier this year.
The report found that the dissolution of a special unit for prosecuting sex crimes and the demise of collaborative meetings between police and prosecutors raised major concerns among advocates, attorneys and victims.
Cook Jones, a former elder abuse prosecutor, ran in 2020 on a platform of smart prosecution and criminal justice reform. Her first three years in office were marked by tumult in staffing and her attempt to handle the thousands of backlogged cases she inherited after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the court system in Georgia.
She says that her agency experienced some victories in the form of reform efforts, like a diversion program for first time gun offenders and directing the efforts of prosecutors away from nonviolent and victimless crimes towards more serious felony cases.
Democratic leaders around the city have also put a distance between themselves and the DA. Two Democratic city council members, Detric Leggett and Linda Wilder Bryan, as well as nonpartisan and Republican allies of Johnson spoke at a fundraiser for Pretorius last month.
The League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia is hosting a candidate forum with Cook Jones and Pretorius on Sept. 16 at 301 Fahm Street at 6:30 p.m.
- Glynn election board claims candidate’s signatures not valid
Glynn County resident Laura Khurana’s bid to run as an independent candidate for county commissioner hit a challenge Tuesday.
The county Board of Elections and Registration has ruled that her petition for the race of At-Large County Commissioner Post 2 did not include enough valid signatures.
Under state law people who want to run for office separate from a registered party must gather signatures of a percentage of registered voters in their jurisdiction in order to be included on the ballot.
Khurana, a public health professional who lives in Glynn County with her two children, says she plans to appeal the decision within the five-day period available.
The Board of Election hired an outside legal counsel who ruled that about 1000 signatures did not meet the legal standard necessary for candidate petitions, said Christina Redden, the assistant director for the county election agency.
Khurana believes that nearly 500 of those signatures should be counted as valid: those of Glynn County residents who printed their name on her petition, accurate personal information but who omitted adding a cursive signature.
“There’s not a question about their voter status, their residency or the authenticity of the person,” Khurana said, adding that every page of her petition had been notarized.
According to her campaign website — lauraforglynn.com — Khurana decided to run as an independent in hopes of taking partisanship out of local races.
“I believe that partisanship doesn’t belong in local government. It stands in the way of meaningful progress. Year after year, we’ve seen a pattern of candidates winning based on their political party, not based on their demonstrated experience, their policy ideas, or their understanding of what matters to the people of Glynn County,” she said.
The Tide brings information and observations from The Current staff.
- Savannah to change little-known board after police misconduct cases
UPDATE: At a meeting on Thursday, July 11, 2024, the Savannah City Council unanimously passed the ordinance changing the civil service board’s authority. It took effect immediately, the mayor said.
Savannah officials are making substantial changes to a little-known employment board following its recent decisions involving police accountability.
The reforms to the three-member Civil Service Board, first established in the 1940s, will decrease the unelected board’s power to an advisory role in matters related to demotions, firings and suspensions. The changes will also cut the six-year terms of the members, who are appointed by the mayor and city council, in half.
The shift comes after the board reversed or lessened at least two disciplinary decisions in the last year made by City Manager Jay Melder and Savannah Police Department Chief Lenny Gunther.
The first case concerned Ashley Wood, a veteran Savannah homicide detective who lied on search warrants, according to an internal police investigation. Wood was fired in July 2023. In September, a Savannah man she accused of participating in a murder filed suit against her and the city, alleging he was jailed for two years due to Wood falsely identifying him in warrants.
Wood appealed her termination to the Civil Service Board, which hears disciplinary appeals for city employees. The board held at least two hearings, and, in December 2023, reversed Wood’s firing and reinstated her to work for the city but in a “lower civilian position,” according to news reports. Citing the board’s decision, the city then offered Wood a position within code compliance, which she accepted. Alderwoman Post 2 At-Large Alicia Blakely sounded off at a city council meeting a day after Wood ruling.
“It’s very disturbing and egregious what our Civil Service Board has done. I would like for us to look at adding two more additional people on that civil service board so that we could have a correct, non-biased representation and decision when it comes to that type of thing,” Blakely said.
The Current reached out to the board chairman, attorney Joseph Steffen, at the time. He declined to explain the board’s decision making about Wood.
“Our decision is what is what it is,” he said. “We made that based on our review of the information and a lengthy hearing where both parties were represented by excellent legal counsel.”
Nearly five months later, a grand jury indicted Wood on charges of perjury, violation of oath of office, and making false statements related to her firing. She has pleaded not guilty.
In another case, the board reduced the suspension of a Savannah police corporal whom internal investigators found violated the department’s policy about vehicle pursuits. In 2022 he chased a driver who ran a red light, leading to a fatal crash, according to the Savannah Morning News. The board decided his suspension should be three days, down from 20 days, according to television station WTOC.
Civil service gained prominence in the U.S. as a means to institute merit-based measures for hiring, rather than just relying on political patronage. By the 1940s, local governments across the country instituted their own forms of civil service legislation to comply with federal laws, according to Civil Service Adoption in America: The Political Influence of City Employees.
Savannah’s Civil Service Board, put into place by the Georgia General Assembly in 1949, is required to have one member from a business group, one from a labor organization, and one from a professional organization. The board can only reinstate a city employee who was fired if “the removal was made for personal, political or religious reasons and not justified,” according to the legislation.
The current board has Steffen and Ryan Martin, a Savannah Market President at Truist Bank. It has one vacancy, previously filled by a Savannah State University professor.
Mayor Van Johnson told The Current that the planned changes to the board are a result of multiple discussions with council members, the city manager and the city attorney. They decided to alter the board’s authority instead of just adding new members.
“More members doesn’t necessarily change the process,” said Johnson, a former human resources professional. “The city manager, we hold him responsible for the decisions that he makes. Well, we can’t hold him responsible for a decision he doesn’t make.”
According to Johnson, changing the board’s rules will also make sure the city isn’t on the hook for civil liability, specifically “negligent retention” of employees who cause harm to others.
In addition to only having an advisory role regarding demotions, firings and suspensions, the Civil Service Board will now be required to document how they reached their findings — something that was not regularly done before.
The changes, which will entail an amendment to the city charter, will be voted on at Thursday’s city council meeting, said Johnson, who expects it to pass.
- Beachgoers and their dogs threaten nesting shorebirds
Georgia beaches beckon not only locals and tourists, but also nesting shorebirds and seabirds and migrating species beefing up for long flights to the Arctic.
American oystercatchers, Wilson’s plovers and least terns use sites such as Little Tybee Island, Ogeechee Bar, East Beach on St. Simons Island, Cumberland Island and the southern end of Jekyll Island. Among other species, black skimmers, royal terns and gull-billed terns also nest on Georgia beaches, offshore sandbars and dredge spoil islands.
For these nesting birds, human beachgoers are a significant threat. So are their dogs.
Case in point: Over Memorial Day weekend, at least two least tern chicks from two separate nests on one beach died, probably from exposure. DNR biologists found signs of people and dogs on the beach.
Least tern feeding chick. “(The birds) are unable to thermoregulate at a young age and need adults to shade them,” Georgia Department of Natural Resources Biologist Fletcher Smith wrote in a text message. “At least one dog was in the colony, and eggs from at least seven black skimmer nests were depredated.”
Death from exposure is a rare occurrence unless the adults are driven off the nest for a long period of time, said Smith, who studies shorebirds. He saw dog pawprints and human footprints in the fenced off nesting area of Ogeechee Bar.
“We think that other eggs could have been addled by the high temperatures as well, but only time will tell,” Smith said. “This is our largest active least tern colony in Georgia, and least terns, black skimmers, gull-billed terns, Wilson’s plovers, and American oystercatchers are actively nesting out there.”
Shorebirds and seabirds also face risks from native predators and high spring tide.
The Georgia DNR suggests visitors to Georgia’s beaches can help beach-nesting birds and migrating species by following these suggestions:
- Avoid posted sites. (Eggs and chicks are camouflaged and easy to overlook or even step on.)
- Leave dogs at home or keep them on a leash when visiting a beach where dogs are allowed. Pets are excluded by regulation or law at sites including Tybee Island, Little Tybee Island, Satilla Marsh Island, Jekyll’s south end and St. Catherines and Little Egg Island bars. (The bars and Brunswick Dredge Island, another key nesting site, are also closed to people.)
- Walk below the high-tide line.
- Watch beach birds only from a distance.
- Back away from any nesting birds you accidentally disturb. Adults frightened from a nest will often call loudly and exhibit distraction displays, such as dragging a wing as if it’s broken. Sometimes the birds will dive-bomb people who get too close to their nest, said Tim Keyes a DNR wildlife biologist. Paying attention to the behavior of birds will alert you are too close to a nest or chick.
Beach-nesting birds nest above the high-tide line on wide, terraced beach flats or on the edge of dunes.
Least tern eggs In Georgia, the birds lay eggs in shallow scrapes in the sand from mid-March through July. After hatching, chicks hide on the beach or in the grass. Their camouflage makes them difficult to detect, even if you’re trying. Disturbance by people or pets can cause adult birds to abandon eggs and chicks, exposing them to heat and predators. On a hot day, “in as little as 10 minutes, the eggs can be cooked,” Keyes said.
The threats are similar for migrating seabirds and shorebirds. Georgia’s coast provides vital stopover sites for species such as federally threatened red knots flying from South America and the Arctic. They stop on the Georgia coast to feed on horseshoe crab eggs, and need to gain the weight needed to survive their more than 9,000-mile migration.
As with all migratory bird species, shorebirds and seabirds in Georgia are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Some species, such as piping plovers and red knots, have additional protections under the Endangered Species Act.
Want to help?
On St. Simon’s East Beach, a Beach Stewards program powered by volunteers is helping monitor nesting least terns. Participants inform the public and steer dogs and beachgoers away from the roped off colony. For more information contact Tim Keyes at (912) 222-0424 or tim.keyes@dnr.ga.gov.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff. - Most of Coastal Georgia skipped May primary election
May 23, 2024, 5 p.m.: Correction: This story has been updated to reflect a corrected number of non-voters in Coastal Georgia.
About 60,000 people in Georgia’s six coastal counties felt enough energy about May partisan primaries and nonpartisan judicial votes to go cast a ballot. That’s out of roughly 380,000 potential voters.
This isn’t unusual. Voter turnout is highest when a future president is on a November ballot and is consistently lower for all other elections.
It’s so low that relatively few votes can decide which Republican or Democrat will coast to the state legislature or sheriff’s office in November elections — most districts and counties are so reliably red or blue that elections this fall won’t be competitive.
But governance of a whole county can depend on as few people as can fit in a school bus.
Consider Camden County, beset by several local scandals like deputies so reckless that taxpayers will pay higher insurance on them this year. Or for the sheriff’s part, the deteriorating jail conditions that he blames in part on a county government choosing to spend $12 million on a doomed spaceport.
The folks who make these decisions are the five members of the Camden County Commission and the sheriff. And two of those Camden commission seats were won yesterday by margins of 81 votes and 31 votes. Those Republican primary winners have no Democratic opposition in the fall.
People sit out elections for a lot of reasons that fill up academic discussions and might even sound familiar.
For example, the uncontested election for a coroner or tax commissioner can feel like a pretty low-stakes, missable event.
Sometimes voters are satisfied to let others decide, especially if the candidates are just names on a page, faces on a mailer filled out with word salad. It would take valuable time and effort to study the candidates — social scientists call this a kind of “cost” that not everyone wants to or can pay.
Some potential voters think they or their group can’t control anything anyway or that the contest doesn’t offer them anything. (Which is part of why young people stay away from voting more than their parents and grandparents.)
The United States itself comes with a lot of arcane detail that takes time to figure out. Elected officials on the federal, state and local levels of government have some part in big issues, like environmental protection and education funding. The elections are also at different times: there’s always something in even-numbered years and sometimes in odd-numbered years too. In the U.S., voters choose among primary candidates. In most other democracies, party leaders and activists make those decisions.
Democrats in Georgia also say the voting process dampens turnout in the Republican-run state: Election Day isn’t a holiday, people don’t automatically get a mail-in ballot in the mail, the early-voting location or polling place might be far away.
Lower registration used to be a problem in Georgia — but since 2016, that’s nearly vanished since voter registration now comes with a state drivers license.
Yet the lack of engagement extends to candidacy, too. Counting all races in the six coastal Georgia counties — the partisan primaries for jobs in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and county seats, plus nonpartisan judicial races — there were 143 elections on the May ballot. According to the list published by the Georgia Secretary of State, there were 195 candidate names printed on ballots. On average, fewer than two people ran in every race. So, most races were uncontested anyway.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Rep. Carter objects to federal ‘propaganda’ regarding mining near the Okefenokee
At a Congressional subcommittee hearing last week, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) scolded federal wildlife officials for voicing concerns about the effects of proposed mining near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
“There is a mining project right outside the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge,” Carter said at the hearing. “It is not within the refuge it is outside, I want to make sure that we understand that it is not under Fish & Wildlife jurisdiction. But over the last year, your agency has tried to insert itself in the state process, even though there isn’t a federal nexus.”
The Okefenokee lies almost entirely within Carter’s Coastal Georgia district. Carter is not a member of the House Natural Resources Committee but waived into the May 16 oversight hearing of the Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee to ask his questions. He appears at the 2:58:08 mark in this video.
Interior Sec. Deb Haaland toured the Okefenokee by boat in 2022. Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals has applied for permits from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to strip mine for titanium dioxide and other minerals in an area that comes within less than three miles of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. More than 77,000 comments, including one from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, flowed into EPD about the permit application. Leading academic hydrologists as well as federal hydrologists say the mine risks altering the flow of water into the swamp, increasing the risk of drought and fire. Twin Pines insists its modeling offers assurance the project can move forward without harming the swamp.
EPD continues to evaluate the permit application.
At over 400,000 acres, the Okefenokee is the largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi. The Interior Department’s U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service manages the blackwater swamp, and has begun the process to nominate it for United Nations World Heritage status, a designation Carter, along with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D- Ga) has publicly supported.
At the hearing, Carter said he wasn’t “taking up for the project.”
“I’m not entering an opinion one way or the other,” he said.
But he objected to two specific documents from federal officials. First up was a December 2022 letter from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Read the letter here.
FWS Director Martha Williams responds to US Rep. Buddy Carter’s questions about the Okefenokee. “Interior Secretary Haaland wrote an unsolicited letter – unsolicited- to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, not to allow the mine to proceed,” Carter told U.S. Fish & Wildlife Director Martha Williams at the hearing. “That to me is overreach of the Secretary’s authority and without legal basis.”
But Carter didn’t mention that at least one top Georgia regulatory official welcomed the input from Haaland. Then-EPD Director Rick Dunn praised a letter from Haaland and one from FWS as he gave an update on the status of the mining project to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Board.
“It’s great to have them engage particularly in all the technical aspects of the application so that was good news,” Dunn told the DNR Board at its December 2022 meeting. “It’s our hope and I think their desire that they will provide scientific expertise on some of the issues we are considering. So they will be participating not as a regulator but as an interested part of the public that is commenting.”
Then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is widely credited with helping to derail a previous effort by DuPont to mine near the Okefenokee, famously telling reporters in 1997 “Titanium is a common mineral, while the Okefenokee is a very uncommon swamp.”
In her 2022 letter, Haaland outlined Interior’s interest in protecting the Okefenokee, including as a cultural resource for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
“The proposed mining activity in this area poses an unacceptable risk to the long-term hydrology and future of the swamp ecosystem and these cultural values,” Haaland wrote. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has communicated these concerns before and intends to submit further information outlining these serious consequences if the State moves forward with the permitting process. We are not alone in this assessment, as some of the preeminent experts on this ecosystem and hydrology at the University of Georgia have also raised the alarm about the threat that this type of mining activity in this area poses to the swamp.”
U.S. Rep. buddy Carter holds up a US Fish & Wildlife FAQ he calls “propaganda” during a Congressional subcommittee hearing. Carter also criticized an FAQ published by Fish & Wildlife in April. Read the FAQ here.
“Now, the Fish & Wildlife Service last month, has sent out what I would consider to be a propaganda document that is disguised as a fact sheet opposing this project,” Carter said, waving a printout of the two-page document.
Williams responded that she wasn’t aware of the flyer, but, “The Fish and Wildlife Service does oppose an activity that negatively impacts the water rights and the refuge that’s the only — as you know — is the only one of its kind in this country.”
Carter did not respond to a request from The Current for comment.
Despite Carter’s objection to what he calls federal overreach, the last question on the Fish & Wildlife FAQ clearly points to the state’s decision-making role: “Where can more information be found on the Twin Pines Mining Project and the permit process? The decision to issue final permits for Twin Pines Mine is with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD). https://epd.georgia.gov/twin-pines.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Georgia rooftop solar program gets a boost with $156M grant
A pilot program that has already provided rooftop solar to 10 low-income homeowners in Coastal Georgia is poised to expand dramatically.
The U.S. EPA announced Monday it is awarding $156 million to the Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit community development financial institution, to develop cost-saving solar programs across Georgia over five years. The funding will allow Capital Good Fund’s solar lease program, Georgia BRIGHT, to bring solar panels to an estimated 5,000 rooftops in Georgia, among other programs.
If successful, the program will provide a significant increase to the state’s rooftop solar stock. Georgia had 12,220 solar installations of all types at the end of March, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Georgia BRIGHT’s ongoing $4-million pilot project is expected to provide up to 200 solar installations across the state, said Andy Posner, Founder and CEO of Capital Good Fund. It’s also providing insights into what Georgians want in solar. For example, a surprising two-thirds of low income applicants have opted to include battery storage in their lease.
EPA awarded a total of $7 billion in Solar for All competitive grants to 60 states, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits across the country to expand access to solar power. The grants are funded through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. These programs are intended to benefit communities with lower incomes and provide workforce development with solar energy and related jobs.
“Solar is the cheapest form of electricity—and one of the best ways to lower energy costs for American families,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy in a statement. “Today’s announcement of EPA’s Solar for All awards will mean that low-income communities, and not just well-off communities, will feel the cost-saving benefits of solar thanks to this investment.”
In Georgia, Nicole Lee owns and operates Be Smart Home Solutions, the Georgia BRIGHT installer along the coast. Her crew of 12 has installed 10 solar arrays in the Savannah area as part of the pilot program, which began last fall. She plans to expand her workforce to “as large as it needs to be” to meet the increased demand.
Lee is Black and so are many of her customers and employees. She credits Georgia BRIGHT with opening new job opportunities.
“It’s more so changing the face of what people thought solar was,” Lee said. “Like now you see African American guys on a roof, installing solar. A few years back, doing one of my training classes, we had a student asking, ‘how come we don’t see a lot of African American people doing this work?’ ‘And I was like, ‘because there aren’t a lot of African American people doing the work that I did.'”
Along with scaling up its solar leasing pilot program, Capital Good Fund and its partners, including the cities of Savannah, Decatur and Atlanta, are aiming to provide free solar and battery storage for 700 to 1,000 low income homeowners who are medically dependent on electricity, for items like a CPAP machine that aids breathing during sleep.
There’s also money in the budget for “enabling repairs.” Not surprisingly, some low-income homeowners need major fixes to their homes before they can add solar panels.
“So if you’re a low-income homeowner, and you’re eligible for the program, you just need a new roof, we’ll be able to just give you a new roof for free,” Posner said. “We have $32 million for those kinds of repairs. And we’ll need every penny. You know, already about half of the people who’ve inquired about our program can’t participate because of the age of their roof. So we’ve got them on a big list for when this goes live. That’s really a game changer. Because you can do a lease, it’s affordable. But if you include the roof cost, you can’t.”
Lee intends to circle back to homeowners who were previously rejected for repairs.
“And maybe make it work for them, and get them their roofs put on and electrical upgrades and more,” Lee said. “Trim those trees back so that they can have the direct light.”
Businesses and nonprofits can also tap into solar through a planned community benefits program.
“This is the idea of doing solar on, ideally, a mission-aligned organization, but it doesn’t have to be,” Posner said. “It could be a warehouse or factory, what have you. But crucially, that owner, the beneficiary of the power, has to agree to share a significant percentage of their savings with the community in the form of a community benefit agreement.”
Details of the grants will be worked out by the end of September and Posner expects to have the expanded residential lease program operating by October. Georgia BRIGHT intends to partner with trusted community groups to get the word out about the programs.
Although both the pilot and the expanded program operate statewide, Savannah provided the catalyst in the form of its acting director of the Office of Sustainability, Alicia Brown.
“She’s the reason this program exists,” Posner said. “She’s the reason we’re in Georgia and were it not for her I probably would have not ended up applying. So she deserves all the credit in the world for moving on this and pushing it.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Self-defense claim fails by man who shot Savannah teen canvassing for Warnock
A Chatham County judge denied a Stand Your Ground claim by the man accused of shooting a Black teenager who had approached his door in December 2022 while canvassing for Sen. Raphael Warnock.
In a ruling on Monday, Superior Court Judge Penny Freesemann said there was not enough evidence to support that Jimmy Paiz, 44, acted in self-defense and reasonably felt threatened by the politically-active 15-year-old who was trying to convince Savannah voters on Dec. 1, 2022, to turn out for Warnock’s tight runoff election against Herschel Walker.
At the hearing, attorneys for Paiz, a Honduran-American veteran and writer, showed security footage from the incident to claim that the 6-foot-tall teenager and canvasser, Javontae Vann, tried to use the doorknob to get into Paiz’s house and that Paiz felt reasonably threatened.
Vann, who had taken leave from school to testify in court Monday, said he was trying to put campaign literature in the door of Paiz’s east Savannah home because Paiz didn’t answer — a standard practice of campaign canvassing. Instead, Paiz interpreted the encounter as a threat and shot Vann through the door with a rifle. Vann was hit in the leg.
“I have to tell you I find it horrifying that what was shown to me could ever be considered as justification, frankly, for shooting another human being through the door,” Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Freesemann said, before denying the self-defense motion.
Paiz’s lawyers, Will Claiborne and David Utter, will have another chance to argue self defense to jurors should the case go to trial. Claiborne declined to comment when reached by The Current. Paiz is facing one count of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated battery, which both hold up to 20 years in prison.
High schooler driven to politics
After the hearing, The Current spoke with Vann and his mother, Lashianna.
Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock takes selfies with supporters following campaign rally in Savannah, Ga., Oct. 4, 2022 She permitted her son to canvas for a political campaign only after he turned 15 years old.
The Savannah High School student said he wanted to get involved in politics after learning about Barack Obama’s election and was inspired by politicians like Shirley Chisholm, John Lewis, Donald Trump, and, later, Warnock. In late 2022, Vann jumped at the chance to canvas for the Savannah native.
“He’s a Christian. He’s not afraid to spread the word of God. He’s Black. He’s from Savannah,” Vann said. “So I see a lot of similarities and … we probably have a lot of (the same) struggles.”
Warnock called Vann at the hospital after the shooting, Vann said. Shot in the leg, it took two to three months before he could run again, and Vann was only recently allowed to begin practicing again with Savannah High School’s football team.
In the late afternoon of Dec. 1, Vann said he approached Paiz’s house on Hartridge Street, between Price and East Broad streets, with his grandmother and uncle in tow. He knocked on his door twice, stepped back and tried to make himself visible, like he had been taught by other canvassers.
At the Monday hearing, Claiborne sought to prove their case under Stand Your Ground law by showing security video from the shooting. In it, you can hear audio that Clairborne argued was Vann using the doorknob to get into Paiz’s house.
Vann (right) poses with his mother (left) in the Chatham County courthouse. He took leave from school on Monday, April 15, 2024 in order to testify in the prosecution of Jimmy Paiz, who shot him while Vann was canvassing. Claiborne said Paiz was watching the security monitor as Vann “reached extensively around his waistband.” The recording shows Vann noticed the camera and removed his hoodie to make himself more visible. Behind the door, Paiz heard the “doorknob being manipulated” and fired, according to Claiborne.
“That combination of actions by Mr. Vann on that day is an unfortunate confluence of events but gave my client a reasonable fear that someone was trying to come through his door to enter his home by turning the doorknob,” Claiborne said. He also argued that Paiz purposefully shot Vann in the leg instead of more lethal options.
Vann testified he didn’t turn the doorknob and the noise was him attempting to put literature in the door.
“It’s not uncommon for people to do exactly what the victim was doing in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Harrison Pratt argued, “Canvassing areas at an election time, knocking on community members’ doors, trying to educate them about political candidates.”
Canvassing while Black?
Race was not discussed in court but was likely a factor, Vann said in the interview after the hearing.
“If it was one of my white friends who were doing it with me or one of my Asian friends, I don’t think the gunshot would have went off,” Vann said. In a letter that Paiz addressed to Vann and filed in court last year — that Vann’s mother said was never sent directly to them — Paiz claimed race was not a factor.
“I beg you, never, ever think that you were the victim because of who you are, your identity, your person —no!” Paiz wrote. “Had the events unfolded differently, you would certainly have been greeted at the door by a friend and ally, which is my lifelong shame to endure.”
Recent cases involving Black teenagers being shot for knocking on a stranger’s door, either mistakenly in the case of 17-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City, Mo. last year or while lost in the case of 14-year-old Brennan Walker in Rochester Hills, Mich. in 2018, highlight the dangers Black males face for doing seemingly innocuous things.
Higher rates of gun ownership and increased surveillance in average American homes could play a role as well.
As for Vann, he said the shooting has not put a damper on his dreams of reaching the Savannah city council or serving as a U.S. Congressman for Savannah. In fact, it may have strengthened his resolve.
“It makes me feel as if there’s more that needs to be done,” Vann said.
Will he canvas for the 2024 election in November? Yes, he will, Vann said.
- Savannah suspends its glass recycling
Savannah’s recycling efforts have taken a step backward with the suspension of a popular glass recycling program.
For about 15 months, residents have been bringing glass bottles and jars to drop-off sites around the city. That program abruptly shut down last week.
“The reality is the contractor stopped doing it so we can’t provide the service,” Mayor Van Johnson announced at a weekly press conference Tuesday.
That contractor, GlassWRX LLC, agreed in the summer of 2022 to collect and reuse discarded glass from a dozen roll-off containers placed around the city. The Beaufort, S.C.-based company melted the glass and milled it into lightweight porous chunks used for air or water filtration or as an aggregate for lightweight concrete.
Glass WRX SC takes discarded glass and makes it into these porous rocks used in building applications. Savannah agreed to pay $104,000 GlassWRX annually for the service. Pickups were slow to get started but proved popular once the first bins were placed in early 2023. The initial contract included four available annual renewal options.
GlassWRX did not respond to an email request for comment. A listed phone number for the company was no longer in service.
The city lost no money with the abrupt end of the program.
“The City pays as we go so no extra monies were given to the contractor other than what we already processed,” a city spokesperson wrote in an email.
‘A worthy cause’
Savannah’s mixed curbside recycling program, launched in 2009, initially accepted and recycled glass along with paper, cardboard, aluminum, and some plastics. But a decision by the Chinese in 2018 to restrict its imports of recyclables upended municipal recycling programs across the U.S., including Savannah’s. The recycling contractor, Pratt Industries, stopped recycling Savannah’s glass but continued to pay Savannah $15 a ton for recyclables until its initial contract expired in 2019.
With the market changed by China’s restrictions, the city has since had to pay Pratt about $100 a ton to take its recyclables.
From the beginning of the glass recycling program, Glasswrx hired a subcontractor, the Upcycling Company, to transport the glass and the collection bins.
Derrick Standley, the CEO of the Upcycling Company said the shutdown in Savannah reflects problems with GlassWRX, not with glass recycling generally.
“This should not give the impression that glass recycling is a waste of time. It’s not,” Standley said in a phone interview. “It’s a worthy cause, and it will be back.”
Savannah’s collection volume soared from 10-12 tons a month at the start of 2023 to 80 tons a month recently. And the collected glass was unusually “clean,” or free of non-glass materials.
“Savannah’s 97% cleanliness rate in glass is unheard of anyplace else in the U.S.,” he said.
With “You Stay Glassy Savannah” painted on the side, the collection bins were a hit, and that same marketing savvy was applied to targeted social media campaigns that got the word out about glass recycling in various city neighborhoods, Standley said.
Johnson vowed to find a long-term solution for glass recycling.
“We’re just as disappointed as you,” Johnson told residents. “We are actively exploring alternative actions to relaunch.”
For now, Savannah’s Sanitation Department is removing signage and drop-off containers associated with the program. It advises residents to throw glass containers in their regular trash bins.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Lawmakers take up proposal to honor Clarence Thomas in state Capitol
Lawmakers in the Georgia House of Representatives are set to take up a proposal on Tuesday to honor U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the state Capitol.
Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) will shepherd the attempt to win approval of a statue or other monument to the conservative icon inside the Capitol or on its grounds. The measure, led by Sen. Ben Watson (R-Savannah), passed the state Senate in 2022 and again last year but has never received a vote in the House.
Thomas was born in Pin Point, 11 miles south of downtown Savannah, and remained in Chatham County through high school. Last week, Watson defended the proposal to commemorate the second Black American to take a seat on the nation’s highest court.
Georgia Sen. Ben Watson “I’m from Savannah. Clarence Thomas is from Savannah. His mother I know really well, family well. Good family. Well-respected in our community. I think this is well-deserved,” he told the House Special Rules Committee, chaired by Rep. Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys).
The tone of Tuesday’s debate about memorializing the justice is unlikely to be so down-home.
As they have in the past, some Democrats are expected to urge the legislature to wait until Thomas has stepped down from the bench to decide how or whether to honor him, just as the legislature waited until Jimmy Carter was out of office to honor the former president.
Other Democrats are expected to oppose honoring Thomas altogether, asking what message such an honor sends about a justice around whom so much controversy swirls, including allegations of financial improprieties; his wife Ginni’s alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; the justice’s involvement in 2020 election interference cases currently before the court; and the allegations of sexual harassment that dominated his confirmation hearings in 1991 and that Sen. Nikki Merritt (D-Grayson) says still resonate with her and many other Black women today.
Long a matter of public record, the allegations are unlikely to make any difference Tuesday, as Watson, Petrea and their Republican majority in the House appear determined to honor the conservative icon while he’s still on the bench.
During a Senate floor debate in 2022, Watson repeatedly cast Democratic challenges to the appropriateness of honoring Thomas as “opinions.” And asked whether he was aware of allegations that Ginni Thomas helped plan the events that led to the Jan. 6 attack, Watson replied, “That’s total news to me.”
Noting last week that Thomas has never been indicted, tried, or found guilty of any offense, Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) called the claims by Democratic lawmakers about the justice “inappropriate,” “partisan,” and “talking points that the Left wants to give.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Skidaway volunteer group disputes with Chatham over emergency calls
A group of volunteer first responders living in The Landings, a wealthy enclave on Skidaway Island, has battled Chatham officials for months in a dispute over responding to emergency calls in their community.
The plight of the Skidaway Island First Responders, a group of impassioned retirees averaging about 71 years of age, comes at a time when Chatham County 911 dispatchers are experiencing severe challenges getting ambulances and paramedics to emergencies quickly.
According to SIFR, their group aided paramedics for years by being first on scene for emergencies on Skidaway (the group says they served the entire island of 10,000 people, of which 8,500 live in The Landings).
Their help was as simple as providing shade to someone experiencing heat stroke or helping a patient get their information together before a paramedic’s arrival, according to Kelly Gordon, president of the group. They are trained in CPR and first aid and always have a member on call.
Last fall, the county cut them off from being dispatched to calls before ambulances arrived, Gordon said. Chatham County and Chatham Emergency Services (the county runs 911 dispatch and CES is a private company contracted by the county to run ambulances) did so after discovering SIFR didn’t have an emergency responder license.
Gordon contends they don’t actually need one if they have the county’s blessing. She cited an exemption in Georgia law for responders who help in emergency responses but ultimately leave the real work to trained paramedics.
“The county is making a decision, aside from the fact that it is a dangerous tightrope they’re walking, (and) they are setting themselves up for a lot of lawsuits and a lot of problems because ultimately, somebody is going to die because we’re out of service,” Gordon said.
Chuck Kearns, CEO of Chatham Emergency Services, said his company and the county have made numerous efforts to accommodate SIFR, including telling The Landings’ security when ambulances are coming so they can communicate that information to the first responders.
But ultimately, according to Kearns, the issue comes down to SIFR not having an emergency responder license. Having one would mean the county would not be liable for health privacy violations or malpractice lawsuits should the volunteers work in tandem with their paramedics, he said.
“We have sliced and diced this situation for months trying to figure out something that will work. I won’t go against my legal advice and put my company in jeopardy,” Kearns said.
“I’m not in charge of dispatching anymore,” Kearns added, “It’s between them and the county.” Chatham County took over dispatching emergency units and 911 calls following the demerger of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department in 2018. CES now dispatches its own ambulances while Chatham dispatches all other emergency units, like fire and police.
A Chatham Emergency Services ambulance at St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital in Savannah. Officials say they are working on a fix to the thousands of addresses not properly mapped in the new dispatch system. Kearns said SIFR must follow rules and regulations if they want to work with his company. Kearns has asked the group to get licensed but they refused, he said. Gordon countered they don’t need to be licensed and the mandatory testing and training is too cumbersome for their group of retirees.
Between the ongoing issues at the county’s 911 center and an elderly retired population in need of care, Gordon said letting the group work should be a no-brainer. She pointed to what County Commissioner Dean Kicklighter purportedly said in a recent meeting trying to mediate the conflict:
“‘These people are begging to work for free. Where’s the disconnect?’”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Injured whale calf dies
Wildlife officials on Sunday discovered a dead North Atlantic right whale calf on the beach at Cumberland Island National Seashore, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service reported.
It’s the second juvenile right whale to be found dead in Georgia in the last three weeks. A yearling female was reported dead offshore and towed to a Tybee beach for examination in February. Both animals were killed by being struck by a boat or ship.
Even with the whales’ injuries and deaths this calving season, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents the Georgia coast, has worked to stymie additional protections proposed by federal regulators. He claims that the chance of any single boat hitting a whale is about one in a million, a framing that fails to shed light on the risk to the approximately 360 right whales that remain.
Injured calf of Juno (catalog #1612) about 20 nautical miles off Sapelo Island on Feb. 1, 2024. Whale researchers from multiple state and federal agencies identified the animal on Cumberland as the injured calf of right whale #1612, nicknamed “Juno.” The calf was born in late November and was the first right whale calf documented this calving season. Juno’s calf was seen again off South Carolina on Jan. 3, with serious injuries to its head, mouth, and lip from a vessel strike.
Despite the injury, the calf was seen again off swimming with its mother off Sapelo Island on Feb. 1, offering hope that it would survive.
Those hopes disappeared Sunday with the appearance of the carcass, which was heavily scavenged by sharks. Unique injuries and markings documented when the calf was alive allowed researchers to identify it. NOAA Fisheries and its partners will necropsy the calf, using genetic testing to determine its sex.
Juno’s calf was previously added to the ongoing North Atlantic right whale Unusual Mortality Event as a serious injury, but will now be included as the 39th mortality case. The Unusual Mortality Event began in 2017 and includes 123 individuals (39 dead, 33 seriously injured, and 51 sublethally injured or ill). The primary causes of the UME are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters, which are long-standing threats to the recovery of the species.
Right whales were named for being the “right” whale for whalers to kill. They swim slowly and hug the shore, habits they put them in the path of many vessels. Right whales, which eat tiny crustaceans, feed in the waters off New England and Canada. Females migrate to the warmer waters off the Carolinas, Georgia and northeast Florida to give birth. Nineteen calves have been documented in the Southeast this calving season, but at along with Juno’s calf, two others are believed to be dead.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) On Sunday, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) reiterated his stance against NOAA’s proposed expansion of right whale speed rules, using inflated estimates about the effects of the rules on recreational boating industry as well as an incomplete picture of the threat to the safety of harbor pilots.
” … NOAA must pull back on its proposed speed restriction,” Carter wrote in his weekly newsletter, which also critiqued the Endangered Species Act.
The proposed rules would expand the existing speed limits to include smaller vessels of 35 feet or over. Currently only vessels 65 feet or longer are regulated for speed to protect right whales. The injuries to Juno’s calf’s indicate they came from the propeller of a vessel approximately 35-57 feet long.
The Current previously examined Carter’s claims in this fact check.
Carter’s spokeswoman Harley Adsit did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Environmental groups want action on the proposed regulations.
A North Atlantic right whale nicknamed Juno swims with her new calf off the coast of South Carolina in late November, 2023. They were the first documented mother/calf right whale pair of the 2023-2024 calving season. “We cannot save North Atlantic right whales from impending extinction if we do not take commonsense measures to protect them, especially calves and juveniles, from being run over and killed by boats,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “Juno’s calf inspired so much hope as the first right whale calf of the season, but it spent most of its short life suffering from terrible propeller wounds as a direct result of the Biden administration’s failure to put such commonsense measures in place.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Proposed orders filed for Sapelo zoning case
Attorneys filed proposed orders Friday in a case in which McIntosh County officials rezoned Sapelo Island’s historic Hogg Hummock.
Hogg Hummock residents, descendants of enslaved people who were brought to Sapelo Island from West Africa, fear the bigger houses allowed by the rezoning will lead to higher taxes and ultimately force out the remaining members of their community. Nine residents filed a complaint in October seeking to reverse the zoning changes. The county responded with a motion to dismiss in December.
Judge D. Jay Stewart heard oral arguments on the county’s motion last month in McIntosh County Superior Court and requested the orders.
The proposed orders, each 10 pages long, describe what the opposing sides want the judge to decide. Each gives a legal analysis and provides the case law that buttresses their argument.
Read the county’s proposed order here.
Read the residents’ proposed order here.
Writing for the county, Attorney Ken Jarrard and his colleagues at Jarrard & Davis argue that the complaint is fatally flawed and cannot be fixed because it originally named the county commissioners individually as defendants. A Georgia constitutional amendment voters passed in 2020 regarding the waiver of sovereign immunity allows only the state, county or municipality, not individuals, to be sued.
“Because Plaintiffs did not comply with the mandatory pleading requirements of Ga. Const. Art. I, § 2, ¶ V(b)(2), Defendants moved to dismiss the Complaint asserting the entire action was barred by sovereign immunity,” the county’s attorneys wrote.
Representing the Sapelo residents are attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Jason Carter, an attorney with Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore. They argue for the judge to allow the case to continue in part because they amended the complaint in December to name only the county as the defendant.
“Under Georgia law, parties are permitted to amend a ‘pleading as a matter of course and without leave of court at any time before the entry of a pretrial order,'” they wrote.
The Tide brings information and observations from The Current staff.
- As state house sprints toward session’s end, it’s hit and miss for Coastal Georgia priorities
As the 12-day sprint that caps the Georgialegislative session gets set to begin in the capitol this week, it’s a good time to take stock of how much our elected representatives have accomplished.
And for a measuring stick, there’s no better place to turn than you, readers of The Current.
In an informal survey conducted as lawmakers went back to work in Atlanta in early January, we asked you what their priorities should be.
The answers were loud and clear. Improving health care — both mental health care and rural health care — was your top concern. That was followed by salary raises for teachers, workforce housing and standards for rental properties.
What follows is a summary of how lawmakers addressed those priorities in the session’s first 28 days. The measures passed by the House and Senate will now be examined by the other chamber so differences can be reconciled, and a completed piece of legislation can be sent to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto.
The summary is neither definitive nor complete.
Although Thursday theoretically marked the last chance for bills to pass at least one chamber in the General Assembly — a mid-session ritual known as “Crossover Day” — no legislation is truly dead until the current session ends in March.
Why? Under the General Assembly’s often byzantine rules and procedures, language contained in legislation that failed to clear the House or Senate by the end of Crossover Day can be grafted into legislation that did. In other words, legislation can find new life.
Health care
Whether expanding mental health care across Georgia or health care services in rural areas of the state, there were advances and setbacks.
House lawmakers tweaked the rules under which health care companies can create or expand facilities across the state.
The measure would allow a new acute care facility to open in a rural county if it provided trauma care or served as a teaching hospital or trauma center. With the agreement of a nearby hospital, new or expanded psychiatric or substance abuse inpatient programs also would be allowed.
The House also amended Gov. Kemp’s proposed 2025 budget beginning July 1, shifting $2 million will fund a pilot program to test transportation alternatives for people having a mental health crisis.
To address the statewide shortage of mental health care professionals despite passage of the landmark “Mental Health Parity Act” in 2022, a bill passed by the House would establish a student loan repayment initiative for behavioral health practitioners.
Another House bill would extend greater legal protections to mental health care providers, as an incentive to expand their services.
Still, a measure that would require all certificated public-school personnel to receive annual training in depression and suicide awareness and prevention didn’t get out of committee.
And despite early indications that House leaders would seek to expand Medicaid to improve access to health care for the state’s high number of uninsured residents, they performed the bureaucratic equivalent of kicking the can down the road: They created a committee to study the matter.
As it stands, Georgia is set to spend $181 million less on Medicaid this year while also losing hundreds of millions of dollars more in matching federal funds.
Pay raises for teachers
Kemp before Christmas ordered $1,000 bonuses paid to state and university employees and public school teachers. The House has approved plan by the House includes $315 million to pay for the bonuses.
In his $37.5 billion FY 2025 budget announced in January, Kemp proposed $2,500 raises for teachers beginning July 1, which lawmakers will finalize and vote on this month. That would boost average teacher pay in Georgia above $65,000 annually.
The governor also wants state and university employees to get a 4% cost-of-living increase across the board, up to $70,000 in salary. The typical state employee makes $50,400.
Kemp’s budget proposals for salary increases and other aspects of represent a nearly 12% increase in funding, the largest percentage increase for any major state government function outside the state’s court system.
Workforce housing
At a meeting last month, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said establishing legislative priorities was one thing and translating them into law another. “The proof is always in the pudding,” he said.
When it comes to workforce housing, that maxim couldn’t be more relevant.
“We want people to live in the community where they are working,” Kemp said in January, stressing the need for more workforce housing. “It cuts down on logistics. It cuts down on the need for infrastructure, and it just honestly makes for a better quality of life.”
Yet despite what officials and lawmakers from Savannah to Atlanta have described as a housing crisis, two bills aimed at tackling rising housing costs and encouraging the construction of more affordable housing failed even to get a committee hearing in the first 28 days of the session.
Both measures — SB 256 and SB 257 — were authored by Sen. Derek Mallow (D-Savannah).
Standards for rental property
A bill that would require landlords to ensure that residential rental property is “fit for human habitation” and would cap security deposits at two months’ rent passed the House unanimously last year. But the measure is bottled up in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The legislation also would require a landlord to wait three days to obtain an eviction notice after informing a tenant they had to leave the property due to a late rental payment.
The three-day pause, the bill’s advocates say, would improve the chances that the landlord would get paid without having to go to court and avoid a record that “follows the tenant for decades and makes it impossible to rent that next home.”
The Tide brings information and observations from The Current staff.
- Two new North Atlantic right whale calves sighted
After the death of a year-old right whale early last week, Friday brought welcome news for the highly endangered species. Researchers documented two new calves, bringing the total to 19 babies for the 2023-24 calving season.
North Atlantic right whales are highly endangered, with an estimated 360 individuals remaining. Their only known calving area is the Southeast, including the waters off Georgia, where the temperatures are not too cold for the newborns and not too warm for the blubber-insulated mothers.
On Friday researchers sighted an at least 23-year-old female nicknamed Skittle with a newborn calf off Kure Beach, N.C. This is her second calf. She last gave birth 14 years ago during the 2010 calving season, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission noted in a Facebook post.
That same day, a 19-year-old female nicknamed Dog-ear and calf were sighted off Cape Canaveral, Fla. This is Dog-ear’s first calf.
Both mothers were seen on the calving grounds prior to giving birth. Dog-ear was sighted off Cumberland Island on Jan. 1 and Skittle was sighted five times since January 2 between Wilmington, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.
With the current tally of 19 births, this calving season is a productive one so far. Between the years of 2007 and 2022, 15.7 calves were born on average each season, which runs from November through March, the International Fund for Animal Welfare reports. However, this season’s above-average count is tempered by loss and injury. Two mother whales have been seen repeatedly without their calves, which are presumed dead. And the first-born calf of the season was struck by a vessel estimated to be about 35 feet long based on the propeller lacerations on the calf’s head. While it was not killed immediately, its injuries are considered life-threatening. The yearling whale found dead off Tybee last week had suffered skull fractures consistent with a vessel strike, researchers concluded.
Right whale Catalog #3590 ‘Dog-ear’ and calf sighted and reported by fishermen offshore of Cape Canaveral, FL. Right whales can be difficult to spot even in good weather. Unusual or persistent white water with a small amount of black is often all that is visible. NOAA Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event for North Atlantic right whales in 2017. The primary causes of the deaths and injuries are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters, and currently includes 123 individuals (38 dead, 34 seriously injured, and 51 sublethally injured or ill). Since the Unusual Mortality Event that was declared in 2017, only 9.7 calves have been born on average each season.
NOAA Fisheries has proposed expanding its ship speed regulations, but the recreational fishing industry and harbor pilots, with the support of some elected officials including U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons), oppose the extra protections and they have not been finalized.
Public sighting reports can prove important, the Florida FWC reports. “Information from these sightings contribute valuable data points and aid right whale monitoring efforts in the Southeast U.S. calving grounds. Catalog #3590 ‘Dog-ear’ and calf and were sighted and reported by a fisherman,” Florida FWC posted on Facebook. “Photographs collected from Melbourne Beach, Fla., after a public report helped to quickly match the carcass found floating off Savannah, GA to the 2023 calf of Catalog #4340, nicknamed Pilgrim. Please report sightings to 1-877-WHALE-HELP (877-942-5343), your local volunteer sighting network where possible, or to the USCG on VHF Ch. 16.”
North Atlantic right whale calves documented per season:
- 2023: 12 calves
- 2022: 15 calves
- 2021: 20 calves
- 2020: 10 calves
- 2019: 7 calves
- 2018: 0 calves
- 2017: 5 calves
- 2016: 14 calves
- 2015: 17 calves
- 2014: 11 calves
- 2013: 20 calves
- 2012: 7 calves
- 2011: 22 calves
- 2010: 19 calves
- 2009: 39 calves
- 2008: 23 calves
- 2007: 23 calves
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Researchers ask to expand study of Brunswick pollutants’ effects on residents
A study of chemical exposure in Brunswick had already revealed elevated blood levels of pollutants including PCBs. But at a community meeting Tuesday Emory toxicologist Prinn Panuwet still drew applause for his succinct summary of the study’s importance.
“I think we have added fundamental information to prove that these chemicals make their way to our body,” said Panuwet, assistant professor at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.
Brunswick residents live with a toxic legacy from industry in the area, with much of that industry adjacent to historically Black neighborhoods. The county is home to four Superfund cleanup sites — including ones associated with LCP Chemicals and Hercules, Inc. — as well as 12 state-designated hazardous waste sites. The study was designed to look for contaminants known to be associated with these sites, like mercury, PCBs, and certain pesticides.
Emory University’s Noah Scovronick co-leads the study. Last spring, Emory researchers took blood samples from 100 volunteers last and analyzed them for a host of contaminants including many used or produced by local industries. Individuals received their personal results privately. At a community meeting in September, the study’s co-leader, Noah Scovronick, shared a preliminary analysis of the group results showing blood levels higher in some of those contaminants, including PCBs, than for average Americans.
Scovronick’s team had crunched the numbers further by Tuesday and reported that some risk factors for higher exposure appeared to be emerging, including older age, being an angler, being Black and working at LCP Chemicals or Hercules or living with someone who worked at these plants. But these results are still preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed or published, stressed Scovronick, assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. The study size is also a limitation. Scrovronick have already applied to the National Institutes of Health for funding to expand the exposure study to 500 participants and look at potential health impacts. While in Brunswick on Tuesday his team also collected additional samples from about 10 of the original participants to complete tests that weren’t possible with the limited volume of their first blood draw.
Community partners at the meeting emphasized the next steps they would be taking. For Dr. Kavanaugh Chandler, CEO of the nonprofit Coastal Community Health, that means paying attention to residents’ health now.
From left, Dr. Kavanaugh Chandler, CEO of the nonprofit Coastal Community Health; Alice Keyes, Vice President of Coastal Conservation for One Hundred Miles; and Glynn County Commissioner Allen Booker, a consultant with the Environmental Justice Advisory Board, speak at a community meeting addressing the county’s legacy of industrial pollution. “The fact is that, yes, there’s toxins, there are issues here. But people still have to live with their day to day, and how do you deal with the existing health issues that you may have, that potentially may be associated to this or not?” he said. “The very issue is that many of these individuals throughout our community don’t have the appropriate access. So as a federally qualified health center, I thought it’s important that we be part of this process.”
Coastal Community Health is using webinars provided by Emory to educate local healthcare providers about health issues that could be associated with these pollutants.
“If you hear someone discussing they’re not feeling well, let’s not just bypass that, right?” Chandler urged. “Go, go check it out. You know, you’re coughing, maybe it might be something deeper to that. And really, that’s about preventive care. And we want to ensure that while we try to figure out the long term solutions, whether it’s legally, financially, and otherwise, you still have to deal with that today. “In the moment, right? So if you’re sick, we want to be able to address that at the same time.”
Tuesday’s forum attracted about 100 residents and allowed community members like Alice Norman, 72, to share her knowledge of how the area developed, which could provide clues to exposures.
“Anything north of Elm Street is on the Hercules dump, including the hospital because that’s where it originally started,” she said.
Norman said after the meeting that while she hadn’t been aware of the the first round of blood testing she would be interested in participating in an expanded study.
Along with Coastal Community Health, other community groups involved in the study include the Environmental Justice Advisory Board, One Hundred Miles, Glynn Environmental Coalition, UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, the Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub, the Community First Planning Commission, and the Urbana/Perry Park Neighborhood Planning Assembly.
Alice Keyes of One Hundred Miles advocated for residents to push the state and federal government to conduct a natural resources damage assessment.
“A natural resources damage assessment is a process that the federal and state agencies go through to evaluate how much has been lost to the public from the damage caused by hazardous spills,” Keyes said. “There was a natural resource damage assessment done in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill, and it resulted in billions of dollars invested in restoration. These natural resource damage assessments are also done for these Superfund sites.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leads these assessments after a site with a marine component has been cleaned up, Keyes said. With remediation of the marsh portion of the LCP Chemicals Superfund site nearing completion, that window is opening.
Brunswick residents in the audience at Howard Coffin Park Community Center repeatedly raised the issue of continuing pollution in Glynn County.
“I’m a high school science teacher,” said one woman. “It just annoys me that the children are being exposed to it. Everybody’s being exposed and nobody wants to say, you know, what’s that smell? ‘Oh, it’s eggs and bacon.’ No, it’s not. It’s toxins.”
Rachael Thompson of Glynn Environmental Coalition, which has a grant to begin monitoring air quality, urged residents to report any air pollution they detect.
“One of the most important things you can do is ‘smell something, tell something,'” she said. “There are reporting tools. There are some on our website. There’s also a group on Facebook that’s called ‘Smell something tell something’ that was a group that was created by a resident downtown.”
Glynn Environmental Coalition’s online reporting tool is available here.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Georgia’s legislative priorities: Readers weigh in
Access to affordable health care. Salary raises for teachers. Workforce housing.
Those are the needs that readers of The Current want Georgia’s lawmakers to put at the top of their to-do lists as work gets underway at the state capitol in Atlanta in the latest session of the Georgia General Assembly, according to a survey.
Before we look at the survey’s results in the first of two stories, first a bit on methodology: Readers were offered a list of 12 possible legislative priorities, drawn mainly from legislative agendas prepared by local lawmakers and municipal officials, as well as business groups and other non-governmental organizations.
On a scale of one-to-seven, with seven being a top concern and one being “not a big deal now,” readers were asked to rate the each of the possible priorities, which ranged from “workforce housing support” and “prosecution oversight” to “legalized gambling” and “elimination of runoff voting.” The form also provided plenty of space to enter priorities that weren’t listed.
The response was astonishing. More than 200 of responded to the survey online, Instagram and by text on the texting platform GroundSource. Readers were not required to leave a name, but they could only fill out form once.
Here’s what readers said: Mental health care topped the list, with nearly half of the survey respondents — 49% — ranking it their top priority, followed by rural health care (45.7%) and raises for teachers (41.4%), workforce housing (29.1%) and standards for rental property (24.9%).
Wrote one reader on the lack of mental health professionals and funding for diagnosis and treatment, especially for those eligible for Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that provides health coverage for some people with limited income and resources.
“Mental health is a huge issue. We run a clinical psychology practice, and most aren’t taking Medicaid for testing anymore, as the payout is ludicrous, and they make you jump through hoops with authorizations. Most schools don’t have the psychologists to do the testing. It’s a crisis about to blow up.”
Another reader of The Current said drug prices were forcing those on Medicare, the federal health insurance program for anyone age 65 and older, into a dreadful predicament:
“I’m a healthcare provider and my Medicare patients have to pay $400-500 in January for their inhalers or other medications, which they can’t afford . . . My mother takes [the anticoagulant medication] Eliquis [for which] my brother and I just paid $538. If not for us, she absolutely could not afford that. I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of Medicare patients who can’t get life-saving medications [and] have to choose between food and medicine.”
For those survey respondents, right behind improving health care in Coastal Georgia in their list of priorities are two acute needs created by the economic boom rippling across the region: a workforce educated by adequately paid teachers with access to affordable housing.
One reader wrote:
“Someone needs to save Georgia’s kids from generational education disaster.”
Noted another:
“I’m all for investment in the community, but outside developers prioritizing profit over our people in a way that makes it nearly impossible for everyday folks to live where they work is crazy — not to mention driving out families who have called that same place home for generations. Nuts.”
Notably, what galvanized respondents to The Current’s survey most weren’t the needs they most preferred lawmakers work on in Atlanta.
What moved the most respondents most intensely instead were measures they regarded as the least pressing, underscoring the disconnect that many voters see between their priorities and those of Georgia legislators and government officials.
The readers’ list of low priorities is topped by legalizing gambling (62.7%), firearms training for teachers (55.7%) and school vouchers (38%) — all issues that have received wide attention from either Gov. Brian Kemp, legislative leaders, or both, in the opening days of the legislative session.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Grants will grow tree canopy in Savannah, St. Marys
With graceful live oaks arching over its main arteries, Savannah has long been lauded for its trees. But as development heats up in and around Savannah and a large portion of the city’s street trees are reaching the end of their natural life faster than they are being replaced, the urban canopy has suffered.
Enter a $1 million cash infusion to the Savannah Tree Foundation in the form of a four-year grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission to boost the number of trees planted in disadvantaged neighborhoods and to enlist trainees to grow and plant trees.
“What this project does is three-fold,” Zoe Rinker, executive director of the Savannah Tree Foundation, wrote in an email. “One, it targets areas that are lacking tree coverage with strategically-planted trees to help provide the benefits of shade, cooler and cleaner air, and stormwater mitigation; two, it recruits people who may not usually be exposed to the arboriculture industry to give them a set of employable skills in a growing industry; and three, it engages community members with our urban forest, highlighting the benefits of trees and helping to spread the message about why this large-scale tree loss is so problematic.”
In all, the program aims to plant 1,600 trees over four years. Rinker is aware that the number doesn’t make up for the tree loss the rapidly growing area has seen. A 2022 report put tree canopy loss in Chatham at the equivalent of three football fields a day since the turn of the century. (Read the report here.)
“This project is in no way a silver bullet to the larger issue of tree loss in the Chatham area,” she wrote in an email. “To truly counteract that loss, we would need to talk about the reforestation of acres of land, which is just not feasible given the current business and leadership trends. What STF can focus on is improving microclimates for the communities that are currently most impacted by urban heat island effect and the negative impacts of lacking tree canopy.”
The project will also facilitate the growth of the nonprofit, allowing it to add staffers, grow its own trees and ultimately plant more trees each year. It’s aiming to plant 1,400 trees outside of the scope of the grant-funded project over the next 4 years, bringing its four-year total to 3,000 trees planted.
“To put that in context, it took us 16 years to plant our last 3,000 trees, so we’re increasing organizational capacity by 400%,” Rinker said.
The grant application spells out the benefits of trees and which communities are missing out.
“Trees absorb air pollution and particulate matter, provide noise buffers, mitigate stormwater runoff, and can reduce utility costs,” the grant application states. “Due to tree inequity, many low income and BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and other people of color) communities in Savannah do not have access to these benefits. Addressing tree equity in these neighborhoods is often complicated by the fact that their public right-of-way is limited compared to the extensive tree lawns and public parks in more affluent neighborhoods.”
The grant is one of 16 awarded through the Georgia Forestry Commission’ s Trees Across Georgia Program, funded by $9.75M in Inflation Reduction Act money. STF received the largest of those grants. It’s also the largest grant the nonprofit has received since it was founded in 1982, more than doubling the foundation’s annual budget, Rinker said.
The other coastal grant recipient was St. Marys, which received a $43,170 grant for a program which also includes tree education and planting. (See a statewide list of the grants here.)
In addition to the $1 million grant, the STF effort got a boost from Dulany Industries, which donated use of land, water and electricity for irrigation for a tree nursery at its SeaPoint Complex. The nursery will be adjacent to a ground-mounted array of 4,000 solar panels off East President Street.
“We’re incredibly honored to donate the use of a one-acre site, water and electricity at SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex to help jumpstart the Savannah Tree Foundation’s impressive new native plant nursery program,” said Reed Dulany III, chairman and CEO at Dulany Industries, Inc. “My parents were longtime supporters of the Savannah Tree Foundation, so I understand the importance of growing and protecting Chatham County’s tree canopy. The Savannah Tree Foundation’s new plant nursery will complement SeaPoint’s ongoing focus on sustainability and will be an ideal addition to an existing solar array and apiary located on-site.”
STF is targeting 40 neighborhoods targeted for planting, focusing on a different area of Chatham County each year. Those neighborhoods include Cloverdale, Liberty City, Hitch Village, and Dale Terrace.
Native species make up the list of what STF intends to plant. The species initially targeted for growing at its nursery site are live oak, white fringe, persimmon, bald cypress, and tulip poplar.
“Overall, the goal is to grow native species that are less common at garden centers. And we wouldn’t be a southeast Georgia tree nursery if we didn’t grow live oaks,” Rinker said.
Fruit trees, which Rinker calls “a gateway tree,” appeal greatly to many homeowners. While Savannah has a large inventory of street trees, the STF project expects to plant most of its trees on private property, in part because many of the lower income neighborhoods lack trees lawns and other public areas for tree planting.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- 19 right whales get new names for new year
Scientists at the New England Aquarium earlier this month unveiled a new slate of names for north Atlantic right whales previously identified only by number. Bestowing nicknames on right whales is an annual tradition that helps researchers in the field identify the critically endangered animals in real time.
Check out the 19 newly named whales in this slideshow:
Every right whale in the north Atlantic right whale catalog has a number assigned to them, but the whales are easier to identify with the nicknames that often correspond to its physical features. The new names come as the annual north Atlantic right whale calving season is underway. With fewer than 360 individuals left, and adult females only giving birth every 3 to 10 years, each whale is crucial to the species’ survival.
“Whale naming is a fun change of pace for those of us studying a species in peril. It allows us to be creative in looking at a whale’s unique appearance and experiences and often results in deeper connections with the whales for both the researchers and the public,” said Amy Warren, an assistant research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium who led this year’s naming process.
The naming process involves submissions from various research organizations and a ranked choice voting system. The 2023 group includes “Jagger” (Catalog #5046), a 3-year-old male who is named for his large lip callosity markings (patches of raised tissue) resembling the lips of rockstar Mick Jagger. Another male right whale, “Kermit” (Catalog #4220), has a callosity shaped like Kermit the Frog.
There’s also 22-year-old female “Marilyn Monroe” (Catalog #3130), whose name stems from a scar on the front of her head that resembles the film star’s beauty mark. Then there’s also Calamari (Catalog #3946), who has — you guessed it — a callosity that looks like a squid; and “Waldo” (Catalog #3191), who is identified by a pattern on his head resembling the round glasses of the “Where’s Waldo” character.
As of Dec. 27, four new calves had been spotted off Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida this calving season, which runs through March. The calves don’t yet have names, but their mothers do. They are Palmetto, Horton, Juno, and Wolf.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Solar leasing program expands to nonprofits
A program offering solar panel leasing to low and moderate income homeowners across Georgia has expanded to include nonprofit organizations, and it’s also offering a holiday-season incentive to participate.
The Georgia BRIGHT program, first launched in September, offers rooftop solar leases through the Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit that is using federal funding, grants, and bulk purchase discounts to reduce the cost of installing solar on homeowners’ roofs.
Launched in collaboration with the City of Savannah, Georgia BRIGHT has signed seven leases so far, all of which have begun or obtained permitting, said Andy Posner, CEO of Capital Good Fund. With a goal of 200 leases statewide, the program is offering a gift card for signing up before year’s end. Capital Good Fund provided the funding for the gift cards.
“We want to make sure we keep momentum going through the end of the year,” said Alicia Brown, acting director of Savannah’s Sustainability Office. “So it’s $200 for any leases signed by December 31. And that’s for both the residential BRIGHT program and the nonprofit one.”
The nonprofit leasing program is available to any tax exempt organization that owns their own building. Three Savannah nonprofits ahave already inquired.
“So churches, synagogues, schools, local governments, shelters, food pantries, the whole nine yards,” Brown said.
For Georgia residents to qualify, they must own their home, have a roof in good condition, and have a gross annual household income of $100,000 or less. No minimum credit score is required.
The program eliminates the often insourmountable upfront cost of solar, which can run over $10,000 for an average rooftop array. Instead, participants pay a monthly lease fee that’s based on the size of the home, the current electric bill and other factors. Program organizers expect the average lease to cost about $47 a month but to save about $67 a month on the electric bill, netting the homeowner about $20 a month.
The program also offers a battery backup, which has proven popular so far, with four lessees opting also to lease a battery to provide emergency power.
“Particularly for folks on the coast, it’s more top of mind,” Posner said.
Georgia BRIGHT is a pilot program being run in anticipation of a much larger federal grant that’s expected to help fund 8,000 residential rooftop leases over a five-year period. If it’s successful, Georgia’s rooftop solar inventory would jump from about 12,000 to 20,000 residences.
Brown said the pilot is teaching the organizers what works in terms of outreach and what barriers remain.
“You have to explain the sun allows you to create your own energy,” she said. “So you buy less from Georgia Power. And that’s how you save money.”
She also counsels applicants on how to spot a solar scam.
“If they’re saying anyone’s giving you free solar, you need to verify what that organization is and ask a lot of questions. Because most of the time, it’s not free,” she said. “Another thing I said is to look for trusted organizations to endorse that solar installer. So if it’s a local government endorsing or your church endorsing, that’s usually a good sign.”
To learn more about how to become a Georgia BRIGHT home or nonprofit, visit bit.ly/GABRIGHT or call (866) 584-3651.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Pastors pray for swamp’s protection
Representatives from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities across Georgia gathered at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday for a prayer vigil urging lawmakers to enact Georgia House Bill 71, “The Okefenokee Protection Act,” as part of their upcoming legislative session. The bill would restrict the issuance of mining permits on nearby Trail Ridge.
That’s where Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals is seeking to mine for titanium dioxide. (HB 71 would not apply to Twin Pines’ application, which is already in process). While the mining company insists its activity will not harm the swamp, scientists, including academic hydrologists from several states, disagree. They fear the mining could alter the flow of water in the Okefenokee, the largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi.
The vigil was organized by Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit organization that aims to mobilize Georgians of faith toward environmental action.
Click on arrows to see more scenes in a slideshow from the gathering.
Aerial view of the Okefenokee Swamp 
A bobcat crosses a boardwalk at the Okefenokee Swamp. 
Wildlife at the Okefenokee swamp. 
Wildlife at the Okefenokee swamp. 
Religious leaders take a tour of the Okefenokee swamp after a prayer vigil. 
Two Florida sandhill cranes in the Okefenokee swamp. 
An alligator lays in the sun in the Okefenokee swamp. 
Representatives from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities across Georgia gathered at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday, Dec. 6 for a prayer vigil urging lawmakers to enact House-Bill 71, “The Okefenokee Protection Act,” as part of their upcoming legislative session. 
Representatives from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities across Georgia gathered at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday, Dec. 6 for a prayer vigil urging lawmakers to enact House-Bill 71, “The Okefenokee Protection Act,” as part of their upcoming legislative session. 
Representatives from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities across Georgia gathered at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday, Dec. 6 for a prayer vigil urging lawmakers to enact House-Bill 71, “The Okefenokee Protection Act,” as part of their upcoming legislative session. 
Attorney Josh Marks speaks to representatives from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities across Georgia gathered at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday, Dec. 6 for a prayer vigil urging lawmakers to enact House-Bill 71, “The Okefenokee Protection Act,” as part of their upcoming legislative session. 
Beth Remmes of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light speaks at a prayer vigil at the swamp’s edge. 
Rev. Thee Smith of The Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta. 
Carole Maddux, Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, speaks at a prayer vigil at the Okefenokee Swamp Wednesday, Dec. 6.
“We cannot continue to let any companies big or small, come in and dangle things in front of us and take away the very essence of what we have,” said Rev. Antwon Nixon, pastor at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Folkston, who grew up nearby and led the vigil. “This place is God created. And God has ordained us to take care of it and to take our very part in making sure that we do that.”
The gathered faith leaders who gathered signed a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) asking for the denial of the Twin Pines permits and the passage of the Okefenokee Protection Act.
“Faith leaders and communities they represent are especially vital to protecting sacred spaces in Georgia, like the Okefenokee,” Beth Remmes, of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light said in a prepared statement. “When clergy speak about the call to care for our common home, people listen.”
The Tide brings information and observations from The Current’s staff.
- First right whale calf of the season spotted
Researchers with Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute sighted the first North Atlantic right whale mom and calf pair of the 2023-2024 season near the entrance to Winyah Bay near Georgetown, South Carolina, on Tuesday.
The calf is no more than four days old, Florida’s FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute posted on Facebook. The mother, Juno, or more officially Catalog #1612, is at least 38 years old, and this is her eighth calf documented by researchers. She last gave birth four years ago during the 2019-2020 season.
Whale watchers in Georgia welcomed the news.
“The recent spotting of ‘Juno’ and her newborn calf is exciting news!” wrote Oceana’s Georgia Field Representative Hermina Glass-Hill, who organized Whale Week activities in Coastal Georgia in November.
Adult female right whale, ‘Horton’, seen breaching approximately 14 nautical miles off Tybee Island in Georgia on Nov. 18, 2023. Seven more adult female right whales ranging in age from 14 years to more than 42 years old have been sighted from North Carolina to Georgia since Nov. 15, all potential mothers this winter, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute reported.
With a population estimated at 360 individuals, north Atlantic right whales are among the most endangered large whales. Once hunted nearly to extinction, their numbers rebounded to over 400 but have dwindled in recent years with increased mortality from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Climate change is also pushing whales to search for their food — zooplanton and tiny crustaceans — in places that have fewer protections in place, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports.
A right whale nicknamed Horton was sighted approximately 14 nautical miles off Tybee Island on Nov. 18, 2023. Also identified as Catalog #3360, she is at least 21 years old and was seen traveling with another adult female, Catalog #3320, Braces. Each fall, some right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding grounds off New England and Canada to the shallow, coastal waters of their calving grounds off of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. Researchers regularly fly aerial surveys to document the whales’ presence and the birth of calves. Doing so helps them mitigate ship collisions, monitor reproductive rates, provide scientific data for marine decision-makers, assist in disentangling whales from fishing gear, locate carcasses for recovery and necropsies, and aid in genetic research.
Last season, 11 calves were documented, with only one new mother in the group. The prior two seasons saw 15 and 18 calves. All three seasons were disappointing compared to the average of 24 per year from the 2000s.
To protect right whales, speed limits are in place for vessels over 65 feet, requiring them to travel at 10 knots or less in designated Seasonal Management Areas when those areas are active (Nov. 1-April 30 north of Georgia’s Sapelo Island, and Nov. 15-April 15 south of Sapelo; see maps).
Catalog #1703, ‘Wolf’ was sighted approximately 2NM offshore near the VA/NC border on Nov. 15, 2023. Catalog #1703 is a 37-year-old female and potential mother this winter. NOAA has proposed expanding its regulation to include smaller vessels, but sport- and commercial fishing interests as well as harbor pilots object. Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter has sided with those who oppose the rule’s expansion. But smaller boats have been known to injure and kill right whales, including a 2021 incident off Florida when the 54-foot sportfisher About Time struck a mother/calf pair, killing the baby.
“If all stakeholders worked together to understand what is at stake, Georgia could be the leading changemaker for North Atlantic right whale conservation,” Glass-Hill texted. “After all, it is our state marine mammal. … As we saw this past Whale Week last month, so many Georgians are rooting for them and they have been urging our members of Congress to support good legislation that fully protects North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes as well as entanglements.”
Boating slowly can reduce the probability of vessel collisions, whale injuries and damage to vessels, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources advises. Boaters can learn about recent whale sightings and via the Whale Alert app.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Catholic sisters revive pressure on companies to protect the Okefenokee
As a controversial plan to strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp awaits a permitting decision from Georgia regulators, mining opponents are pressuring two publicly-held companies to steer clear of project and its products.
Green Century Capital Management and the Felician Sisters of North America filed shareholder proposals at The Chemours Company and Sherwin-Williams asking each company to address risks associated with proposed titanium mining along the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee. That’s where Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals LLC, is seeking state environmental permits to mine a 740-acre area that comes within three miles of the Okefenokeee National Wildlife Refuge.
Green Century Capital Management is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds, a family of environmentally responsible mutual funds. The Felician Sisters of North America are an international order of Catholic sisters that seeks to leverage societal change through shareholder advocacy.
Green Century and the Felicians filed a similar shareholder proposal in late 2021 that was partially successful. In February, 2022 Chemours pledged to refrain from doing business with Twin Pines for at least next five years. Now the religious sisters and the investment adviser are pressuring the mining company to make the commitment permanent.
Chemours, which was spun off from DuPont in 2015, manufactures and sells “performance chemicals” including titanium dioxide. Its subsidiary, Southern Ionics Minerals, mines in Georgia. It was Dupont in the late 1990s that agreed to back off from a previously proposed mine near the Okefenokee in part due to shareholder pressure.
Green Century and the Felician Sisters are focusing also on Sherwin-Williams because most titanium ore is refined into titanium dioxide to impart a durable white color to paint, paper, rubber, wallboard, and plastic, as a US Geological Survey fact sheet on titanium reports. And Sherwin-Williams is the leading paint and coating company in the world, as ranked by Statista, with 2022 revenues of over $21 billion last year.
Sr. Mary Jean Sliwinski “What’s keeping me in the fight is just the idea that the Okie can be really disturbed,” said Sister Jean Sliwinski, sustainability coordinator with the Felician Sisters of North America in a telephone interview from her home in Buffalo, NY. “And the damage could be irreversible. This is a precious resource in your area.”
Twin Pines’ president Steve Ingle shrugged off the shareholder action.
“This is of no consequence to us and will have no impact on our operations,” Ingle wrote in a prepared statement. “Demand is extremely high for the minerals we will safely extract from a small, shallow mining footprint and what other companies may decide to do with regard to purchasing those products, whether from us or elsewhere, is their business and we wish them the best.”
Unlike Chemours and Sherwin-Williams, Twin Pines isn’t publicly traded so there’s no way to put shareholder pressure on it directly.
Twin Pines seeks to strip-mine
At 438,000 acres, the Okefenokee Swamp is one of the world’s largest intact freshwater wetlands. More than 402,000 acres are protected in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge in the eastern United States and home to hundreds of plant and animal species. The peat that lies under the Okefenokee makes it one of the largest natural carbon sinks in North America, making it important for climate stability.
Twin Pines Minerals, LLC has applied for permits to mine titanium on Trail Ridge, the swamp’s eastern hydrologic boundary. Scientists, including a leading academic hydrologist from the University of Georgia, Rhett Jackson, have warned that the mining poses dangers to the integrity of the swamp. It’s feared that changes to the swamp’s water flow could lead to drought and wildfire that could destroy wildlife habitat, damage adjacent private timberland and release significant carbon emissions.
“As we face escalating climate and biodiversity crises, disrupting the Okefenokee’s unique ecosystem with risky and unnecessary titanium mining would not only be irresponsible, but potentially catastrophic for the planet,” said Green Century President Leslie Samuelrich in a prepared statement. “Both Chemours and Sherwin-Williams should commit to permanently protecting the Okefenokee.”
Public opinion has sided with protecting the swamp as well. The Georgia EPD received more than 100,000 public comments about the proposed mine. Polling indicates that nearly 70% of Georgians want Governor Kemp to deny TPM’s permits. The Okefenokee is being nominated for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site List.
“Pope Francis, in his encyclical, On Care For Our Common Home, states: ‘The earth’s resources are also being plundered because of short-sighted approaches to the economy, commerce and production,’” Sliwinski said in a prepared statement. “Mining along the edge of this resource puts too much at risk with the potential for irreversible damage to this fragile ecosystem.”
Annie Sanders, director of shareholder advocacy with Green Century, said sourcing titanium from the edge of the Okefenokee could expose Chemours and Sherwin-Williams to unnecessary climate, regulatory, legal and reputational risks.
“We filed the resolutions and are continuing to engage the companies before the annual meetings in the spring,” she said in a phone interview. “We would certainly prefer to have the companies come to the table and work constructively together to formulate the permanent commitment. And then, if not, we’ll be taking the issue to the ballot and asking shareholders to weigh in.”
Neither Chemours nor Sherwin-Williams responded to a request for comment.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- GA justices will hear ex-Glynn County police chief’s case on Thursday
A lawyer for the former police chief of Glynn County will make a final attempt to get criminal misconduct charges against the ex-chief thrown out in arguments to the Supreme Court of Georgia on Thursday.
Justices will hear arguments from Powell’s attorney that Powell’s alleged offense, violation of oath of office, is unconstitutionally vague, therefore he and his chief deputy Brian Scott shouldn’t face those charges, according to a court order. The district attorney prosecuting the case, DA Joe Mulholland of the South Georgia Judicial Circuit, will make arguments on why the criminal charges are appropriate.
The Floridian and former Dothan, Ala., chief came to Glynn County in 2016 with the mission to institute broad reforms at the police department, but instead, he led the force into a steeper tailspin. Two grand juries indicted Powell on charges he covered for the misdeeds of his drug unit and overlooked alleged corruption.
He has pleaded not guilty and said he is the subject of a witch hunt. His allies claim he was targeted by former district attorney Jackie Johnson.
In January 2023, Powell’s lawyer appealed a ruling in the ongoing criminal case, alleging his client’s speedy trial rights were violated.
Once the case reached the appeals court, Powell’s lawyer, Tom Withers of Savannah, shifted the main argument in the appeal to dispute Powell’s central criminal charge – violation of oath of office – as too constitutionally vague and that it should be thrown out. Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison, of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, initially ruled against Team Powell, leading to the appeal.
Powell’s legal argument hinges on whether a police officer’s mistakes — like failing to investigate misconduct — amounts to a crime, according to Withers.
“The trial court has set a dangerous precedent that could allow hind-sight review of discretionary actions by law enforcement personnel, resulting in prosecutions of well-intentioned officers,” Withers wrote in the appeal.
Glynn County Police Department cruiser District Attorney Joe Mulholland, who was assigned the case by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, argued that Powell’s lawyers are using the appeal process for speedy trial to back-door a way for the court to throw out the charges. Mulholland wrote that the charges’ validity was already settled by Judge Harrison.
“A police officer is under a more compelling obligation than a private citizen when it concerns knowledge of, or duty to prevent commission of crime,” Mulholland argued. “It has been the consistent holding of our courts that a police officer who fails to perform his duty in the prevention of crime is in violation of the office entrusted to him.”
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court approved in-person arguments in front of the justices. No date was included in the order. The case is docketed for February 2024, according to the court’s website.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Solar leasing programs offered for low-to-moderate income Georgians
Low- and moderate-income Georgia homeowners have a new opportunity to benefit from solar panels on their roof without spending tens of thousands of dollars upfront.
Called Georgia BRIGHT, a new program offers solar panels leases through the Capital Good Fund, a certified nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution. Capital Good Fund uses federal funding, grants, and bulk purchase discounts to reduce the cost of installing solar on homeowners’ roofs.
Homeowners pay nothing upfront. Once the solar is up and running, participants pay a monthly lease fee that’s based on the size of the home, the current electric bill and other factors. Program organizers expect the average lease to cost $47 a month but to save about $67 a month on the electric bill, netting the homeowner $20 a month.
Savings and lease costs will vary based on how much sunlight the home receives, how much energy a household uses, and when that energy is used. Local solar installers will help residents understand whether solar is right for them and whether their home is solar-ready.
To qualify, Georgia residents must own their home, have a roof in good condition, and have a gross annual household income of $100,000 or less. No minimum credit score is required.
Kicked off last week, Georgia BRIGHT has already received 65 inquiries, mostly from the greater Savannah area, said Andy Posner, CEO of Capital Good Fund. Open to residents across Georgia, the program aims to install solar on 200 homes.
Alicia Brown, acting director of the City of Savannah’s Sustainability Office, helped create the program as part of the “100% Savannah Plan” — which aims to have the city operate on clean, renewable energy — after previous attempts to encourage more household rooftop solar in Savannah fizzled.
“Most households don’t have the money to do it,” she said. Low-income residents are among those who could benefit the most from solar.
“The Office of Sustainability has heard from so many residents that struggle with high energy bills, particularly in the summer,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “With Georgia BRIGHT, residents will benefit from lower energy bills in their first month and more stable energy bills in the future. As we’ve seen over this past year, utility rates can increase significantly and unexpectedly. With a Georgia BRIGHT lease residents can protect themselves against rising energy prices and enjoy predictable savings with solar energy.”
Brown recruited and vetted the nonprofit that’s financing the program.
“We did due diligence on Capital Good Fund,” she said. “They’re not going to be predatory on people.”
As a nonprofit and not a government agency, Capital Good Fund can be flexible in determining eligibility, Posner said.
“Let’s say they made $105,000 last year, but then one of them went down from 40 hours to 30 hours a week, and they think it’s going to be $90,000 this year, we can go off the $90,000,” he said.
Those who earn more can’t lease but they can still work with the program to install rooftop solar at the bulk buy rate of $2.60 a watt, putting the cost of a 6 kW system at $15,600 before the federal tax credit.
“Just know that (if you don’t meet the lease requirements) you’ll need to come up with a capital yourself, you know, whether it’s a loan or cash,” Posner said.
The program also offers battery systems. Monthly savings will be smaller, Posner said, but the battery can improve a home’s resiliency by providing power during an outage.
A consortium of three companies are working with Georgia BRIGHT. In the Savannah area and likely down the coast, Be Smart Home Solutions will be installing the panels . In Atlanta and Athens it will be Better Tomorrow Solar. Statewide, Sunpath Solar will provide engineering and procurement services.
Posner expects to close on the first leases by the end of October and to have a few installations complete by the end of the year.
To learn more about how to become a Georgia BRIGHT home, visit bit.ly/GABRIGHT or call (866) 584-3651.
- Open government: What happened in McIntosh County
Last week, The Current skirmished with McIntosh County officials over its ban of visual or audio recording devices in a public meeting, a clear violation of Georgia’s Open Meetings law.
During the Sept. 7 zoning public hearing and the county commission work session on Sept. 11 to discuss controversial zoning changes to the Hog Hammock District of Sapelo Island, sheriff’s deputies blocked all attendees from bringing in any device. On Sept. 12 for a county commission vote on the proposal, the sheriff allowed only credentialed media to record with only cell phones, following the receipt of legal letters on behalf of The Current from the University of Georgia First Amendment Clinic and the Georgia Attorney General’s office. The Southern Poverty Law Center also alerted the county.
Read the law here: Who’s affected, when meetings can close
The ban wasn’t a one-issue event. McIntosh County holds county governance meetings routinely in its courtroom on the courthouse’s second floor. The commission meetings take place in the courtroom because, according to county attorney Adam Poppell, it’s the biggest room available. The meetings are not courtroom proceedings and are not subject to the same strict rules as set forth in Georgia law.
However, security for courthouses is governed by county sheriffs and, in McIntosh County, Sheriff Stephen Jessup does not allow cameras, purses, or recording devices into the courthouse at any time. In the case of a public meeting, the rules violate Georgia Open Meetings Law, which guarantees every citizen the right to record a public meeting of a public body doing business in a public building.
On behalf of The Current, Samantha Hamilton, staff attorney for The First Amendment Clinic at the University of Georgia, sent two letters to the sheriff and commission Sept. 11 and 12 to request opening the commission meetings to recording by the citizens, as well as the media representatives. After two letters from the attorneys and one from Georgia Assistant Attorney General Kristen Settlemire, the sheriff allowed credentialed media only to bring in only cell phones for visual and audio recording. Regularly monthly commission meetings are advertised on the county web site as viewable via local phone and internet provider, Darientel. However, access to see the meetings is not free. It requires a subscription to a basic channel package. Non-subscription access costs $15. No live access was provided for the Sept. 12 meeting and does not appear to be available on the darientel web site. Commission chair David Stevens is chief operating officer of Darientel or Darien Telephone Company.
While the Sept. 12 meeting could be recorded by phones, the new access still violates the law as long as citizens aren’t allowed to make their own recordings. Violations of the Open Meetings Act are punishable by $1,000 fines for anyone who “willfully” or “knowingly” blocks the law, and the court may impose a criminal fine or civil penalty up to $2,500 for additional violations within a year of the first violation.
- Letter from University of Georgia First Amendment Clinic, Sept. 11 requesting open access for public to record in public meeting as the law allows.
- Letter to commission from Southern Poverty Law Center, Sept. 11 raising questions about zoning board hearing, open meetings law under state and federal laws.
- Letter from state attorney general’s office to county attorney, Sept. 11 informing officials of Open Meetings law requirements and what constitutes a violation.
- Letter from University of Georgia First Amendment Clinic, Sept. 12 requesting open access for public according to state law and citing federal law for unequal access due to protected access to Darientel, a private company selling video and recording access to citizens, while blocking citizen recording access of the actual meeting.
The Tide brings notes and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Update: Controversial Sapelo rezoning moves forward to final vote. See changes.
Update: A copy of the proposed zoning proposal for the Hog Hammock district was provided to The Current Tuesday at 11:10 a.m. Here’s a link to the 14-page document that will be voted on after 5 p.m. today by the McIntosh County Commission.
A zoning proposal for Hogg Hammock remains on the fast track to allow larger, taller homes in the historic Gullah-Geechee community after a McIntosh County Commission workshop meeting Monday evening.
The commission is scheduled to vote on the controversial zoning plan at its 5 p.m. Tuesday meeting.
About 150 people packed the McIntosh County Courthouse Monday, many of them back just four days after a heated, nearly three-hour-long hearing of the county zoning board Thursday on the same matter. At that hearing, more than 30 people spoke out against the proposed changes. None spoke in favor.
David Stevens After incorporating changes commission Chairman David Stevens made at Monday’s meeting, the Hogg Hummock zoning proposal allows houses of up to 37 feet tall with 3,000 square feet enclosed space. The current zoning allows houses of up to 1.5 stories tall with 1,400 square feet of heated and cooled space.
On top of a new intent statement that references the island’s limited water and sanitary sewer facilities, as well as encourages a healthy environment for “several different types of dwellings,” Stevens added back the original purpose and intent statement that reads:
“The intent of this district is to allow continued use and activities of the community of Hog Hammock on Sapelo Island. The community has unique needs in regard to its historic resources, traditional patterns of development, threat from land speculators and housing forms. It is the intent of the district to reserve this area for low intensity residential and cottage industry uses which are environmentally sound and will not contribute to land value increases which could force removal of the indigenous population.”
Commissioner Roger Lotson, who represents Sapelo, urged his colleagues to postpone their scheduled vote on the proposal Tuesday.
Roger Lotson “There’s a lot of eyes on this proposal, both within the state and throughout the nation,” Lotson said. “And therefore we must make sure that we do it right. If we do it wrong it’s going to bring a black eye to McIntosh County … I fear that negative press might bring some damage to our reputation and may frighten off some potential business that may come to McIntosh County.”
Advocates including those attending the meeting from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Southern Poverty Law Center have pointed out procedural and other missteps in the process that could lead to a lawsuit against the county.
“The County’s proposal continues to raise serious due process and equal protection concerns by excluding the historically and culturally important Gullah-Geechee community on Sapelo Island from meaningful participation in the passage of the Hogg Hummock Zoning District amendments, which singularly poses an existential threat to that community,” Southern Poverty Law Center Senior Supervising Attorney Crystal McElrath wrote in a letter to the county commission Monday.
Two men discuss plans to rezone Sapelo Island’s historic Hogg Hummock community outside the McIntosh County Courthouse, Sept. 11, 2023. The county commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed plan Sept. 12. Lotson said he’s worried about a lawsuit, but also what the process is telling some residents.
“I’m concerned that the message to my constituents is that their voices are not heard or even considered.”
Residents of Georgia’s only intact Saltwater Geechee community fear larger house sizes will attract investors, driving up property values and taxes, and ultimately driving out the descendants of enslaved people who once worked the island’s plantations.
Chairman Stevens said he was considering larger homes because “a number of people” told him 1,400 square feet was too small.
“I’ve heard those who’ve said, I cannot have my kids and grandkids over here to stay with me without going down the street and renting a place,” Stevens said.
Lotson countered that long-time residents have lived with the 1400-square-foot rule since 1995 and managed to have relatives visit. He estimates a 3,000 square foot home would cost at least $1 million to build on the island. Allowing that size will drive out the Black residents who consider Hogg Hummock their ancestral home.
“My brother, I think he’s in here somewhere, has an expression: You don’t get rid of ‘been here’ for ‘just came’,” Lotson said.
The commission did not accept public comment Monday. No public comment is expected Tuesday either. That’s because citizens must request in advance to be on the agenda. But the deadline to make that request was the day before Thursday’s hearing at which the zoning proposal was first aired and adjusted. The proposal was adjusted further on Monday.
Changes made to the proposed zoning were not been relayed to the public in writing until after 11:15 a.m. Tuesday before the vote.
WORK SESSION RECORDING
Here’s the link to a raw recording of the Monday McIntosh County Commission work session. It was provided by the county attorney on Monday night. The discussion of Hogg Hummock rezoning comes at 11:27 in the recording. The speakers are not named, but they are primarily Chairman Stevens, and Dist. 3 member Roger Lotson.
Earlier in the day, the sheriff, clerk of court, county commissioners and the county attorney were informed that the meetings are in violation of the Georgia Open Meetings Act because they would not allow citizens or the media to record or photograph the meeting. A letter on behalf of The Current from the UGA first amendment clinic was delivered by email and hand delivered to officials. County Attorney Ad Poppell and County Commission Chair David Stevens said the decision lies with Sheriff Stephen Jessup who controls access to the courthouse, where the meetings are held. Poppell said the courthouse is the only place big enough to hold the meetings. A complaint has been filed with the attorney general’s staff, and Poppell was sent a letter from the state attorney general before the meeting.
As attendees streamed into the building on a rainy Monday evening, Josiah “Jazz” Watts, a community leader who also works on environmental justice issues for the environmental group One Hundred Miles and his colleague Susan Inman handed out stickers that read “Keep Sapelo Geechee.”
“This is a battle for the soul and existence of the Gullah-Geechee community on Sapelo Island,” Watts said.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Georgia’s Black churches look to go green
First African Baptist Church, among the oldest continuous African-American congregations in America, could be among the first Black churches in Georgia to produce its own electricity.
“This church right here is the example,” Anthony Kinslow of Washington, D.C.-based Gemini Energy Solutions said at the downtown Savannah church Thursday. “We are starting a feasibility study to develop a revenue-generating micro grid here at this church, which will include solar PV, charging stations, battery storage, and any energy efficiency upgrades that are needed.”
Anthony Kinslow uses an infrared thermometer to measure the heat put out by an LED light bulb at First African Baptist Church. Gemini is partnering with Oakland, Calif.-based Green the Church, a nonprofit that aims to “expand the role of churches as centers for environmental and economic resilience” to improve energy efficiency and alternative energy production at places of worship across the country. In Georgia, the partners aim to reach 100 Black churches by the end of the year.
It’s a natural for First African Baptist, said its pastor, the Rev. Thurmond Tillman.
“We understand the importance of being able to do what we can to assist our community in taking care of what God has given unto us,” Tillman said at the press conference kick-off event at his church. “And we have to do our part. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of the world. And they they dwell therein. And those of us who dwell therein are the ones responsible for making sure that the right thing is done.”
For years, solar panels were too expensive for most churches and other nonprofits to consider. Federal tax credits that cut costs by up to 30% were available to homeowners but inaccessible to churches that don’t pay taxes.
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, changed that situation.
“With the passage of the IRA, nonprofits and houses of worship now have easier access to clean energy funds and tax credits through a program called “direct pay,” the nonprofit Interfaith Power and Light explains on its website. “Before the IRA, only homeowners and commercial entities with some tax liability could claim tax credits when installing solar panels, wind turbines and other eligible technologies on an eligible property. Now, the direct pay option means non-taxable entities can also benefit from these credits.”
Black churches are especially ripe for this new effort because they’re often found in polluted neighborhoods, explained Rev. Emily Carroll, senior pastor of Shady Grove United Methodist Church, in Mansfield, La., and a director of Green the Church Louisiana.
“They are located in areas that are underserved, areas that are close to (industrial) plants, areas that are placed close to dumps, areas that are polluting, because they’re industrial,” explained Carroll. “And it just so happens that a lot of time, Black and brown people and churches are located in these areas where the air quality is the worst.
The Inflation Reduction Act works synergistically with the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative to benefit Black Churches, Carroll said. Justice40, outlined in a January 2021 executive order, aims to direct 40 percent of the benefits from certain federal environmental investments toward disadvantaged communities overburdened by pollution.
Anthony Kinslow, left, discusses an ongoing energy audit at First African Baptist Church with Engineering Intern Alphonse Houndegla. Other churches in Coastal Georgia, notably in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, have previously installed solar panels, but the lack of federal aid made it more difficult for congregations to afford. The Episcopal Diocese has solar panels on its office and on the parish house of St. Paul’s, both in Savannah.
After the press conference Thursday, Gemini Energy Solutions started First African Baptist’s feasibility study to see what would best suit the historic building, built in 1859.
Working with his interns, Kinslow measured the size of the church and installed sensors to gather data on things like the light usage in the sanctuary.
“Most energy energy audits have different levels of sophistication; the lowest level just assumes that the lights go off when you aren’t here,” he said. “We know that that is not always the case. And so (behavioral changes) can dramatically change the savings opportunities.”
Another company will evaluate the church’s solar potential. If the historic church itself is found to be unsuitable, the congregation owns other properties nearby that may be able to support solar panels, Kinslow said.
He expects to have the feasibility study completed this month and offer the church a suite of options to move forward.
“It could be just your building efficiency upgrades,” he said. “It could be solar and UV charging, and it could be the whole kit and caboodle.”
Ultimately the benefits of a greener church will extend to congregants and their homes, too.
“This revenue from the churches that can be powered by clean energy development can then be used to help push those developments and push access to those incentives for the homeowners around the coastal region,” Kinslow said.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- 2024 elections: ‘Hold on tight,’ Raffensperger says
It’s tough being a man in the middle.
At least that’s how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sought to portray himself in a speech yesterday to the Savannah Rotary Club.
It’s true, as Raffensperger noted in his 20-minute address, that in his two terms as Georgia’s secretary of state, he has been vilified by Democrats and Republicans alike for his oversight of the state’s voting.
By invoking that both-sides history to some 150 attendees at Savannah Technical College’s Eckburg Auditorium, the 68-year-old Raffensperger was advancing the old saw that if you’re being attacked from both sides, you must be doing something right.
That may be correct as far as it goes, but it’s also the case that since the 2020 presidential election, Raffensperger has been disparaged most fiercely by members of his own political party for his actions to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential vote in Georgia.
And while the self-described conservative Republican is esteemed by moderate Republicans and many in the opposing party for his actions in the 2020 balloting, he’s reviled by more conservative and far-right Republicans — in other words, those who hold more power than ever in the state GOP.
So, far from being a man in the middle, Raffensperger is fighting a rear-guard action to defend a voting system that he believes will deliver a free and fair vote next year, against the swelling rank and file of his own party who insist the opposite and are campaigning across the region for a return to hand-counted paper ballots.
The secretary of state, a structural engineer by training, ardently defended the state’s Dominion voting system yesterday, saying that technicians were currently traveling the state to inspect the security of voting equipment, election software, and the buildings where they’re housed.
“We want you to feel confident in the process,” he said, noting that voter totals next year are expected to exceed the nearly 5 million Georgians who cast ballots in the presidential race in 2020. “So, hold on tight. Get prepared.”
Asked after his speech if he would comply with any request to testify against Trump in Washington or in Fulton County, the man on the other end of the then-president’s request “to find, uh, 11,780 votes” left no doubts:
“I follow the law, and I follow the Constitution. And I believe anyone that holds elected office must and is required because we take an oath to the Constitution of not just the state of Georgia, but to the United States of America. Every elected officeholder does, as well as the office of the president of the United States of America.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Cracks show in Trump’s support in Coastal Georgia
Donald Trump has enjoyed rousing electoral success in Coastal Georgia, defeating Hillary Clinton by a whopping 15% of the vote in 2016 and Joe Biden by an equally decisive 12% in 2020.
But in the wake of Trump’s third criminal indictment this year — and with a fourth expected early next week, if not sooner, in Fulton County — local Republican officeholders seemed unsure how to play the shifting political landscape.
First District Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter treaded lightly, tweeting, “This administration’s blatant targeting of a political opponent should be eye opening to every American.” No mention of the former president by name. “Eye opening”? To say the least. Thursday’s indictment brought to 78 the number of felony charges now pending against the former president in Washington, New York, and Florida.
What seemed like a carefully calibrated response to the last week’s indictment by the Carter of 2023 was at odds with the Carter of 2020-2021, when he joined other Republican lawmakers in 2020 in seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It was also a far cry from the responses of some other members of Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene worked the crowd at a late March 2022 Trump Rally in Commerce. . Tweeted Marjorie Taylor Greene (14th District) last Thursday: “The DOJ is going full COMMUNIST today, arresting Joe Biden’s top political opponent, President Donald Trump. This isn’t just an attack on Trump, it’s an attack on every American who stands in the way of a complete Communist Democrat takeover of our country.”
Meanwhile, Greene, Andrew Clyde (9th District), and Mike Collins (10th District) were among those Republican members of the Georgia delegation calling for cuts to the Justice Department in retaliation for the charges filed last week by special counsel Jack Smith in the U.S. District Court in Washington.
Locally, while no reactions to Trump’s latest legal woes from GOP state lawmakers Sen. Ben Watson (R-Savannah) or Reps. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick) and Jon Burns (R-Effingham) could be found online or on local media outlets, the chair of the 1st District Republican Committee, Kandiss Taylor of Baxley, was calling other Republicans to the political ramparts.
Kandiss Taylor speaks in front of her bus in 2022. “President Trump won’t break. He won’t take a deal. No matter how many FAKE indictments they write. He will win for a THIRD time. The people are LOUD and STRONG. We will secure our elections,” Taylor wrote on Facebook.
The responses of local Republican officeholders and conservative media were even more at odds. There, last week’s indictment was all the rage. Literally.
“When are they [congressional Republicans] going to grow a spine?” complained local conservative talk show host Bill Edwards. His co-host of the podcast “Get Real America,” Brittany Brown, chair of the Chatham County Republican Party, described the indictment as “garbage.”
“I don’t care if you’re a Trump person, not a Trump person, it’s wrong,” Brown said. “When you’ve been investigated for, what, eight years now, and this is the best you can come up with?”
For another conservative talk show host, John Fredericks (“Your blowtorch for free speech in America!”), the latest indictment was a gift (“MAGA celebrates Christmas in July: Thanks Jack Smith!”) and a challenge (“MAGA to Jack Smith: Try to Come After Us”).
One headline in a national news outlet over the weekend seemed to sum up the hopes and fears of Coastal Georgia Republicans as the indictment shrouded 2024 presidential campaign shifts to a higher gear: “2024 GOP hopefuls: Enough about Trump. Let’s talk about Biden.”
To that, one might add: Good luck with that.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Tracking algal blooms on the Georgia coast
Correction: The Skidaway River algal bloom occurred in 2017. Akashiwo do not produce toxins and Mallory Mintz samples daily at low tide for algae. The article was corrected to reflect these facts.
Green slime in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee and sickened sea lions on the California coast are two recent examples of harmful algal blooms making headlines.
This overproduction of algae is not something that has popped up much on the Georgia coast, though.
Researcher Mallory Mintz is a UGA Skidaway Institute graduate student who is studying the ups and downs of algae growing in the Skidaway River in Savannah. She says there’s a good reason and a bad reason why a map of harmful algal blooms shows little in the 100-mile stretch from St. Marys to Tybee.
First the bad: “Generally Georgia isn’t necessarily monitoring it like Florida is, like South Carolina is, so we’re not seeing these blooms,” Mintz told an audience gathered to hear her speak at the UGA Aquarium on Skidaway Island last week.
And then the good: “So the Georgia Coast is a little bit special, right? We have those high tidal ranges. And that means that there’s high tidal flushing, so we’re getting a large influx of marine flood waters every day, (with) less nutrients.”
While Georgia’s high tidal range makes algal blooms less likely, they have occurred here, she noted. One happened in the Skidaway River in 2017 and is believed to be the cause of a sudden death of a crop of baby oysters, called spat, raised at the oyster hatchery right next door to the aquarium where Mintz gave her talk.
“They did a water change per usual, came back the next day, and it was 80% to 90% mortality of those little oysters,” she said.
The working hypothesis is that a type of algae called Akashiwo were the culprits. Akashiwo — the term is Japanese for “red tide” — is a genus of algae that share the same garlic-clove shape. While some algae produce a toxin, Akashiwo do not.
“But they do produce that surfactant, that foam that I was talking about earlier, that can clump down bird feathers, and expose them to hypothermia. And it can literally clog the gills of oysters,” Mintz said.
Mintz, who is currently taking daily low tide samples of river water, is on the lookout for a bloom. If one occurs, she’ll have data from before, during and after the event. She’s hoping to be able to understand what genes might be turned on during those particular scenarios that allow Akashiwo to scale up quickly.
Hot weather generally encourages blooms, meaning more are expected with global warming. So does an influx of nutrients into a waterway, like fertilizer runoff from a farm or a sewage spill.
Mintz’s work is piggybacking off about two decades of data recorded regularly by volunteers at about a half dozen stations along the Georgia coast, including a robust group at Skidaway. They’re part of the UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s phytoplankton monitoring network, its longest running citizen science program, now in its 20th year.
Sandy Haeger is one of Skidaway’s citizen scientists; she also spoke at Mintz’s talk. Her neighbors recruited the fitness instructor and former elementary teacher to the National Phytoplankton Monitoring Network team more than a decade ago. She remembers how at her first phytoplankton training the equipment flummoxed her.
Sandy Haeger is a citizen scientist who volunteers to survey for phytoplankton on the Skidaway River. “They took us into the phytoplankton lab, gave us a microscope, gave us a prepared slide and said ‘Go for it’,” Haeger said. “I had chemistry about 50 years prior. I’m embarrassed to say this, I didn’t know how to use the microscope.”
She learned quickly. And though she found out there are “at least 80,000 types of these critters” she learned to identify the most common ones in the Skidaway River.
“Why would they think that I could do something like this? I have no idea. But I’m forever grateful to both of them. It’s been an amazing experience,” Haeger said.
The knowledge gained from the volunteers led Mintz to her summer sampling schedule and could be key to warning the public, or the oyster hatchery next door, if another bloom is on the way.
“If they’re having this bloom event, they won’t end up having the same sort of oyster die off,” she said.
- Buddy Carter tends to home front with votes on defense bill, maternal health
Two constituencies in Coastal Georgia dominated U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter’s legislative agenda last week: the military and mothers.
The actions by the First District’s five-term Republican Congressman regarding the first were no surprise. In a mostly party-line vote, Carter joined 218 lawmakers — 214 Republicans and four Democrats — in voting in favor of the House’s defense policy and spending plan totaling $886 billion.
A news release issued by Carter’s office listed the “wins” that Carter “secured” for a district whose 750,000 residents are some 14% veterans or active-duty service personnel.
They included protecting the Savannah Combat Readiness Center from closure, obtaining federal distinction for the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, and a 5.2% in basic pay.
Still, passage of the National Defense Authorization Act was a milestone of sorts, representing the end of decades of bipartisan support of Congress’s annual defense spending plan. The reason? The bill approved by Carter was loaded with hot-button, culture-war issues.
Carter’s news release played down those issues, referring without elaboration to ending “wokeness in the military” as one of the bill’s aims.
It fails to mention that the congressman voted in favor of an amendment, offered by Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), that would have prohibited the use of federal funds to carry out the recommendations of the federal commission for the renaming of military bases and installations bearing the names of Confederate officers — in effect, keeping them.
The amendment was defeated 253-177, with 41 Republican House members voting no.
The bill approved by Carter calls for rescinding the Pentagon’s program reimbursing service members who must travel to obtain reproductive health care, limiting access to gender-affirming care for transgender troops, and ending various diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the Defense Department.
The Biden administration and House Democrats criticized the bill. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said a “small group” of House Republicans had infused the defense bill with amendments centered around “domestic social debate.”
The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), called the bill “an ode to bigotry and ignorance.”
The Democratic-controlled Senate will take up its own version of the bill this week. Then representatives from both chambers will attempt to iron out a compromise bill before sending it to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
Maternal mortality crisis
While Carter’s vote on the defense bill was no bombshell, his introduction of the “Healthy Moms and Babies Act” stood out, perhaps not altogether flatteringly.
The goal of the bill, which he introduced with Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., a Democrat from Albany, is to “combat the United States’ maternal mortality crisis, modernize the health care system, and improve health outcomes for women and children,” Carter’s office said in a news release.
The proposed legislation is certain to be welcomed across the region. But what prompted Carter to act only now wasn’t made clear in the news release.
Health care for mothers and infants, especially those of color, has been in crisis for years in Georgia, particularly in Chatham County and the rest of the First District.
And despite Carter’s claim that it has been his “mission since day one in Congress” to improve health outcomes for all patients, especially mothers, he has a long record of either ignoring legislation aimed at addressing the problem or voting against it altogether.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Unplug Chatham County’s voting machines, activists demand
In a sign of tumult to come in next year’s elections in Georgia, more than a dozen Chatham County voters took the lectern at a meeting of the county’s board of elections yesterday to demand it scrap the county’s voting machines and replace them with paper ballots before next year’s elections.
One-by-one, they took their allotted three minutes to demand that the five-member board abandon the county’s voting machines and replace them with paper ballots.
“There are a sizable number of people in this room — in this country — who feel the system is insecure,” said Dr. Stephen Herman of Savannah. “If we can’t trust our votes, we are toast in this country.”
Thomas Grooms, an Air Force veteran, was more direct when his turn at the lectern came. “You know in your hearts the system is crooked,” he told board members, his index finger jabbing the air at them.
The pleas of the petitioners for paper ballots came to nothing. Only the state legislature can change the voting system, board chairman Thomas M. Mahoney III said after the meeting.
Chatham County Police Department released two body-worn camera videos on July 12, 2023, of the testy election meeting where officers carried out one of the speakers. “They’ve come to the wrong venue,” Mahoney said. “We’re required by code to use the state’s system.”
Before Mahoney opened the floor to public comment, activist Deborah Broderick counseled the roughly 50 people seated in metal chairs waiting to voice their displeasure with the Dominion voting system against “blowing up.”
But blow up, the meeting did, when Mahoney ordered police officers to remove activist Beth Majeroni from the room after she refused his demand during her three minutes at the podium to stop discussing grand jury matters related to her pursuit of precinct voting records from last year’s elections.
Two officers carried her out of the premises by her hands and feet, the mobile phones of other attendees recording every second. Majeroni later said she had violated no rules governing the secrecy of grand jury deliberations.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
The second body-worn camera video released by the Chatham County Police Department. - Savannah’s powerful rally behind Mayor Johnson’s reelection bid
Editor’s Note: Story was updated to remove reference to a specific address.
Any lingering doubts that Savannah’s establishment has lined up behind the reelection bid of Mayor Van Johnson were put to rest last week at the posh downtown home of Greg Parker, founder and CEO of Parker’s and Parker’s Kitchen.
There, the city’s political, business, and financial elite gathered for a fundraiser Thursday for Johnson’s contest in November against At-Large Post 1 Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter to decide who will lead Georgia’s 5th-largest city.
Besides Parker, the fundraiser’s organizers included state Rep. Edna Jackson (D-Savannah), Savannah-Chatham County School Board Chairman Roger Moss, HB Group CEO Joe Bell and former Carver Bank president Bob James.
And listed on the invitation as hosts was an equally formidable group of 57 of the city’s wealthy and powerful, including Richard Kessler, chairman and CEO of Kessler Enterprise, Inc.; Don Waters, chairman, president, and CEO of Brasseler USA; and John Cay III, chairman of Palmer & Cay.
Johnson’s campaign manager, Moncello Stewart, said Monday that checks were still coming in following last week’s fundraiser and that the total amount of money generated by the event wouldn’t be known until the end of this week.
Chances are the haul was substantial: Suggested contributions were $2,500 for hosts, followed by co-hosts at $1,000, friends at $500; and guests at $250, according to the invitation.
As of April 30, Johnson has raised over $350,000 in campaign contributions, while Gibson-Carter has brought in $6,320, according to campaign finance reports.
Self-styled disrupter
In today’s politics, the total amount of money raised, as well as the size of each contribution, are seen as a crucial barometer of how well a candidate’s campaign is faring and a key indicator of where in the electorate a candidate enjoys most support.
Yet while money is essential to operate a political campaign, Johnson’s enormous fundraising advantage may not be entirely unwelcome to Gibson-Carter, a self-styled disrupter, as she made clear last month in her remarks at a Juneteenth commemoration in Forsyth Park.
“We are not free until the people you send to local government who look like you actually represent you,” she told the crowd, in an apparent swipe at Johnson.
“We’re not here to negotiate. We’re not here to collaborate. We’re here to take what is rightfully ours,” she added.
Scolding the district attorney
For his part, the mayor appears to have embraced the “Establishment v. disrupter” contours of November’s mayoral contest.
Last month, Johnson, a Democrat, took the unusual step of appearing as the headline speaker at a meeting of the Skidaway Island Republican Club at the Palmetto Club in The Landings, a gated community outside the city limits.
There, along with Savannah City Council members Detric Leggett (District 2), Linda Wilder-Bryan (District 3), Nick Palumbo (District 4), and Kurtis Purtee (District 6), Johnson fielded questions from a largely white and conservative audience about crime, homelessness, and affordable housing in Savannah.
Joining them on stage was Patrick Rossiter, a candidate for Gibson-Carter’s at-large council seat.
Together, they joked about the theatrics that to the public have come to epitomize city council meetings, theatrics that usually pit Gibson-Carter and her council ally, Alicia Miller Blakely (Post 2, At-Large), against the mayor and the other council members on stage at the Palmetto Club.
For Johnson, a Democrat, to appear before a largely white and conservative Republican audience outside Savannah that typically holds Democrats in contempt was unusual by itself.
Still more unusual — and telling — was Johnson’s swipe at another Democrat, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones, a favorite target of the Republicans sitting in the meeting room.
In response to a question about news reports that Cook Jones had dropped four officer-involved shooting investigations three months earlier without informing the mayor or the public, Johnson chided the district attorney in words that no doubt will be repeated by her rivals when she runs for reelection next year.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- The Tide: Drastic decline in Savannah murder statistics
Murders in Savannah have dropped significantly compared to the same period in each of the last seven years.
Only one homicide has been reported to the Savannah Police Department this year, as of May 27. During the same week in 2022, the department had recorded 16 murders. There were 12 reported murders by late May in 2021 and 17 in 2020.
These numbers come from the police department’s weekly crime reports. The Chatham County Police Department, which oversees the less-populated and unincorporated parts of the county, has recorded two homicides during the same period each year since 2021, statistics show.
Savannah Assistant Police Chief Robert Gavin credits the change to several factors: using crime data for police to focus on so-called “hotspots” of crime, more community engagement and violence interruption efforts, investment in technologies like ShotSpotter and BriefCam, and increased officer morale.
“Trying to pinpoint people that are causing issues in certain areas and removing them is part of that,” Gavin said. “No doubt along with a lot of community engagement.”
A 2010 study on “hotspot” or place-based policing, while great at reducing crime in the short-term, does not take into account potential long-term harm to communities of color. A 2021 Brookings Institute report argues economic, aesthetic and workforce investment in a community is a more reliable indicator of the rise and fall of violent crime than typical crime data.
Still, in the last year, Savannah funded the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) division with a $1.3 million budget. The agency administers violence interruption and mediation programming plus youth camps and mentorships to divert youth involved in violence.
The Savannah-Chatham Metro Police mobile command vehicle parked in Daffin Park at the SPD Back to School Bash. The city also increased funding for the police department’s mental health unit and approved a Cure Violence program for the city.
While the murder rate drop is a refreshing statistic, Gavin warned that the onset of summer could mean more crime. The season is typically when more crime occurs.
In Savannah, this usually means tourists who leave valuables in their cars and later report those items stolen, according to Gavin. Many tourists leave guns in their cars, he said, and inadvertently assist in future violent crime.
Gavin said 100 guns have been stolen out of cars in the city so far this year.
“For those wanting to steal,” Gavin said, “Our population during that summer time with a lot of visitors, a lot of tourists makes it a very target-rich environment.”
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Carter tiptoes through debt ceiling saga
With a deal to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending limits poised to come up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives tomorrow, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are facing rebellions from the flanks of their political parties.
But don’t expect Coastal Georgia’s congressman, Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, to join the brewing far-right revolt against the deal. In January, when McCarthy struggled through 15 rounds of voting before winning election as speaker, Carter stuck with him.
Still, Carter’s route to a likely “yea” vote for the Biden-McCarthy plan illustrates how the five-term congressman from Pooler navigates thorny political controversies.
On social media and in media interview after media interview, Carter repeatedly described as “reasonable” the House bill that served as the basis for McCarthy’s negotiations with the White House. For instance, he tweeted May 5:
“The debate right now is not about whether to raise the debt ceiling. The debate is whether to do so responsibly [italics his], which shouldn’t even be a question. That’s why @HouseGOP passed a bill to pay our debts while protecting taxpayer dollars and growing the economy.
Under the tweet appears the graphic: “A Responsible Debt Ceiling Increase: LIMIT Washington Spending, SAVE Taxpayers Money, GROW the Economy.”
It’s difficult for most voters to disagree with limiting federal spending, saving taxpayers money, and growing economy.
But nowhere does Carter mention that the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 withdraws money that President Biden won to bolster the Internal Revenue Service and its efforts to collect taxes from tax cheats who earn more than $400,000.
Nor does he mention how the plan scuttles Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program, adds new work requirements for programs like Medicaid and repeals clean-energy initiatives.
Offering few, potentially political troublesome, specifics on policy is nothing new for Carter.
During his reelection campaign last year, Carter touted the GOP’s “Commitment to America,” a thinly veiled knock-off of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” circa 1994 (“build an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future that’s built on freedom, and a government that’s accountable”).
Of course, like the goals of the Limit, Save, and Grow Act, these are rostrums that few voters, including Democrats, reject. The key question was how Carter proposed to achieve those laudable goals. He seldom spelled it out. It wasn’t until after he was safely reelected that he did so.
Carter’s heavy reliance on talking points provided by GOP and conservative organizations in Washington, at the expense of actually setting forth detailed policy prescriptions that voters can assess, can sometimes go awry.
In a letter to the editor of the Savannah Morning News last week — reprinted in the congressman’s weekly newsletter on Sunday — Carter accused Biden of falsely claiming that the debt ceiling bill passed by the House of Representatives in late April would cut veterans benefits.
As proof that the White House was misleading at best and lied at worst, Carter cited a Washington Post fact-check. Indeed, the fact-check says the figures on veterans benefits used by Biden and administration officials “give an illusion of accuracy to made-up math.”
But Carter gave only a partial accounting of the fact check, as its title showed: “White House touts illusory ‘VA cuts’ as GOP ducks budget specifics.” The story points out for Republicans, the math isn’t good under the House budget plan, which Carter voted for.
“Department of Homeland Security spending would barely increase from Biden’s proposal, while State Department funding would plunge 53 percent, Department of Housing and Urban Development would plummet 48 percent, the Education Department would fall 39 percent, and the Department of Health and Human Services would drop 37 percent. Imagine the field day the White House could have if Republicans cast votes with these kinds of numbers.”
The fact-check concludes:
“Neither side covers itself with glory here. The White House acts as if the numbers it conjured up are real, when in fact veterans’ benefits are unlikely to be cut, especially at such magnitudes.
“Yet for all their complaints about the White House spin, Republicans have not confronted the consequences of the brutal Hunger Games scenario they have arranged for government programs that do not include the military or veterans.”
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Georgia’s coast provides a critical refuge for this shorebird
Perched in the front seat of the DNR helicopter about 300 feet above the south end of Sea Island, biologist Fletcher Smith spied the first flock of the birds he’d come out to count on this Monday morning in May.
“That was in the neighborhood of 2,000 red knots,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever had so many on Sea Island.”
Behind Smith, Shorebird Tech Sam Murray slid open the helicopter door and photographed the birds to verify the count.
Red knots fatten up on Georgia beaches before migrating north to the Arctic to raise young. The flight will document the number of red knots in Coastal Georgia this spring. Once thought of as an important refueling stop on the red knots’ long distance migration to the Arctic, Georgia’s 100-mile coast has become even more significant for these birds with the understanding that most of them don’t stop again before they nest and raise their young above the Hudson Bay.
That marathon flight requires the robin-sized birds to bulk up to make it in one go. They get noticeably fatter as they prepare to migrate.
Researchers used to believe the Delaware Bay, between Delaware and New Jersey, was the biggest key to red knot success. They thought that all the red knots stopped there to feed.
“But now we know that that’s not the case,” Smith said. Red knots don’t all overwinter or stop off in Georgia, but most of the ones that do leave on a nonstop flight north. “They’re leaving (Georgia) and going straight to the Arctic region,” Smith said. “Seventy percent, or seven out of 10 that we’ve seen. It’s counter to what everybody thought. Everybody thought that all the birds went to the Delaware Bay.”
Red knots feeding Red knots are a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is seeking to expand the area considered “critical habitat” for these birds, including the addition of two areas Smith’s research suggested: Cockspur Island and Daymark Island beaches near the mouth of the Savannah River in Chatham County.
The early May helicopter survey began in St. Simons and took the researchers up to Hilton Head to count these 8-inch-long, ruddy breasted shorebirds. Some of them overwinter here and other overwinter as far south as Chile and Argentina, but they stop in Coastal Georgia on what can be as much as a 9,300 mile migration to the Arctic.
Smith knows at a glance if the specks on the sand are red knots. He automatically rules out any birds that flash white breast feathers.
The red knots surprised Smith on the survey, not feeding in places he expected them, but turning up in some less likely spots. Equally surprising was their food. Smith expected the red knots to be gorging on horseshoe crab eggs in preparation for their long-distance flight to the Arctic where they lay their eggs. But the horseshoe crabs weren’t spawning yet. Smith blamed the colder than normal water temperatures for a late spawn.
Instead of horseshoe crab eggs, the red knots are eating the tiny pastel-colored coquina clams that live at the water’s edge. It’s not the birds’ preference for fueling up, but the coquina will do the job, Smith said.
From left, DNR Wildlife Biologist Fletcher Smith, Shorebird Tech Sam Murray of the shorebird conservation group Manomet, and DNR Capt. Jaye Bridwell Continuing their survey, Smith and Murray find hundreds more red knots on St. Catherines Bar and Ossabaw. Then Ogeechee Bar yields another big flock of 2,000. There’s more up by Little Tybee. The teams counts finds close an estimated 5,840 red knots in all. Murray’s photos will be used to truth that number.
“We’ll go back through with a computer and dot out every red knot,” Smith said.
DNR researchers photograph red knots from the air then use a computer program to put a red dot on each bird and count the dots. Other helicopter surveys from collaborating agencies farther north will help stitch together a more complete picture of the overall red knot population. There are an estimated 42,000 rufa red knot, the subspecies that migrates along the East Coast.
The helicopter survey makes the work efficient. Doing the same survey by boat would take more than a week, Smith said.
“If you wanted to do it all in one day, it would probably take 10 boats and 20 people, and access to vehicles on every island.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Underwater robot deployed to aid endangered right whales
With spring well underway, the North Atlantic right whales that migrated to Georgia to give birth here over the winter have migrated back north to their feeding grounds off New England and Canada. Researchers know from aerial surveys that at least 16 calves were born in the 2022-23 season.
But scientists don’t just look for whales, they listen for them, too. And this year they added an underwater robot to the listening platforms in Georgia.
In late January, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography scientist Catherine Edwards deployed a torpedo-shaped glider called Argus to eavesdrop on these endangered whales as they swam near the port of Savannah. Edwards paired up with University of South Carolina researcher Erin Meyer-Gutbrod, who led the team that listened to the recordings in near real time.
“Catherine is sort of the genius driving the glider around,” Meyer-Gutbrod said. “And we’re the ones that are actually trying to parse out noise from whale detection.”
There are only about 340 North Atlantic right whales remaining. Starting around November each year, the adult females migrate from their summer feeding grounds up north to reach their winter calving grounds off Georgia and Florida.
Right whales are nicknamed “urban whales” for their propensity to hug the shoreline of the East Coast where so much of the U.S. population resides. As they migrate, they run a dangerous gauntlet of shipping lanes, recreational boats and heavily fished regions. In just the last six years, at least 11 right whales have been killed by ship strikes. Two more were seriously injured.
That’s where they eavesdropping underwater robots come in. Edwards and Meyer-Gutbrod are listening for whales so they can alert shippers and recreational boaters to their presence.
Vessels bigger than 65 feet are already required to slow to 10 knots in certain areas when it’s calving season. Voluntary speed restrictions are in place, too. But all are routinely ignored. Studies have shown a less than 10 percent compliance for ships coming in to the Savannah port.
And those same aerial surveys that identify newborn calves by crisscrossing Georgia’s near shore waters from about mid-November to April share whale sightings with mariners. But that information is expensive to produce and less than comprehensive. Bad weather grounds the planes and the whales can only be sighted when they surface.
Ears in the water are a possible solution. Edwards deployed her robot from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13 this year. The yellow glider zig-zagged up and down through the water by changing its buoyancy and center of gravity. Without a motor, it’s relatively quiet, making it ideal for whale listening. Equipped with a satellite phone, the glider surfaced every four hours to transmit recorded data to base stations on land.
Archipeligo (right whale catalog #3370) and her new calf swim off Little St. Simons on Dec. 8, 2022. “During that deployment, we got eight detections of right whales that were verified by our team on shore, which is really, really, really cool,” Edwards said.
A hydrophone on the glider picks up the sounds and transmits them to a web site called Robots 4 Whales at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. A machine learning algorithm sorts out what it identifies as whale sounds. Meyer-Gutbrod and three of her graduate students verified the whale calls.
Along with the 15 days’ worth of glider-detected whale calls, there are stationary hydrophones attached to buoys collecting data around the clock for the past year.
The scientists are comparing the effectiveness of the mobile and moored hydrophones and trying to work out how far away from the robot a whale can be detected. They’d eventually like to use these tools to help alert ship captains in real time when whales are nearby.
“We’re hoping that if we alert vessel captains in real time it’s going to increase the likelihood that they’re going to comply with the vessel speed,” Meyer-Gutbrod said.
(A cell phone app called WhaleAlert already can be used to alert vessel captains that whales have been sighted or heard recently in an area.)
Challenges abound. Among them is that is that mother calf pairs are believed to be pretty quiet.
“First of all, she’s mostly communicating with her calf, who’s right next to her, you know, like touching distance, because they’re constantly nursing,” Meyer-Gutbrod said. “So there’s no reason to project their voice. But I would also imagine, and we don’t have any way to prove it, but that the mom, with this vulnerable newborn doesn’t really want to draw a lot of attention to herself.”
Catherine Edwards There’s also a concern that mariners could misinterpret a lack of detected whale calls to mean the whales aren’t present. That’s not necessarily the case.
“We can’t tell you when they’re not there,” Edwards said. “There’s evidence that right whales go quiet, sometimes, related to human activity.”
Calving season wrapped up in April with 16 calves born. One of those is already known to have died. Researchers suggest more than 20 calves must be born each year to keep the population going.
“Unfortunately, they’re not reproducing fast enough to counteract the harmful effects humans are having on the population,” Edwards said. “So, each year they decline and decline.”
But the listening work has already proven useful, Meyer-Gutbrod said.
“We’re doing the analysis for a buoy just offshore of Norfolk, Virginia. We heard some right whales pretty unexpectedly a few weeks ago because usually they’re thought to be back up north by now,” she said earlier in May. “And so NOAA instituted a temporary slow down zone in the area around that buoy.”
The researchers also want to study recent changes in whale migration patterns. A decline in the food supplies during the summer months has triggered a shift in the North Atlantic right whale’s foraging grounds from the Gulf of Maine northward to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. While surveys have documented this shift, scientists have not yet assessed its impact on winter migration patterns.
They expect to have their glider back in the water in December.
The project is funded by a $196,847 grant from the Broad Reach Fund. The researchers are aiming to redeploy the glider in December after the right whales return to Georgia for the calving season.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Horses of Cumberland file suit
The horses of Cumberland Island are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed earlier this month against Georgia and federal officials. The 65-page complaint filed April 12 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta alleges the defendants have allowed the horses to suffer at the same time the horses themselves have damaged the island and its native species.
The estimated 140-170 feral horses on the island receive no food, water, or veterinary care. The mares, which are continually pregnant or nursing, are especially prone to malnourishment. The suit seeks to force the horses’ removal from Cumberland, and to compel the Equine Division of the Georgia Department of Agriculture to make sure they’re cared for humanely until they can be removed.
“For over a quarter century, Defendants — each of which have varying
degrees of responsibility for management of Cumberland’s natural resources and
wildlife — have permitted less-than-humane conditions to be imposed on the
Island’s feral horses,” the complaint states. “For over a quarter century, the Defendants have known of the destructive impacts to the island’s resources caused by feral horses.”
Carol Ruckdeschel The horses are joined as plaintiffs in the suit by the nonprofit Georgia Equine Rescue League, the nonprofit Georgia Horse Council, Cumberland resident and naturalist Carol Ruckdeschel, and author Will Harlan, who wrote a 2015 New York Times bestseller about Ruckdeschel. Athens-based Attorney Hal Wright and Madison-based C. Wilson DuBose are representing the plaintiffs.
Wright sent a demand letter to federal and state officials in late August threatening to sue if the service didn’t start managing the herd. The agencies were not moved.
The suit names as defendants Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Director of the NPS South Atlantic and Gulf Region Mark Foust, Cumberland Island National Seashore Superintendent Gary Ingram, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Williams, and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper.
The horses, descendants of domesticated horses brought to the island at various times, have trouble finding enough to eat and drink on an island covered in salt marsh and maritime forest. Their efforts to forage degrade the marshes and sand dunes and harm threatened and endangered native species including loggerhead sea turtles and piping plover.
Wright, the horses’ counsel, declined to comment on the suit. None of the defendants responded immediately to a request for comment. The federal officials named as defendants have 60 days to respond, while state officials have 21 days.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- U.S., Georgia face another milestone in battle over abortion rights
Another milestone in the national battle over abortion occurs tomorrow, with the expiration of a U.S. Supreme Court injunction that bars restrictions on access to a drug used in medication abortions from going into effect.
It isn’t known when the high court will rule on the issue, but even temporarily barring the use of the drug, mifepristone, while the case is decided has become a legal and political hot potato.
The U.S. Justice Department, acting on behalf of Food and Drug Administration, opposes any hiatus, saying mifepristone has been “safely used by millions of Americans over more than two decades” and has served as “an alternative to surgical abortion for women who choose to lawfully terminate their early pregnancies.”
With access to abortion now looming as a top issue in next year’s presidential election, it wasn’t surprising, then, that members of the U.S. Congress entered the fray.
Last week, 253 Democrats — including Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief condemning a lower court ruling by Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk earlier this month that voided the FDA’s approval of mifepristone in 2000.
As Democrats moved to ensure that access to mifepristone is fully restored, 69 Republicans in Congress, including 58 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, signed onto another friend-of-the-court brief supporting Kacsmaryk’s ruling.
Missing from the list of signatories on that brief was Georgia First District Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter.
Carter’s absence is noteworthy. Coastal Georgia’s congressman has been an outspoken opponent of abortion, with the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List awarding him an A+ last year for his efforts to protect unborn children and their mothers.
And after the Supreme Court last June overturned Roe v. Wade, reversing nearly five decades of precedent that had established a national right to abortion access, Carter declared: “Life wins!”
Carter’s office didn’t return a phone call requesting comment on the congressman’s apparent reluctance to sign on to the Republican-led brief.
Partisan politics could be a factor. A recent public opinion survey suggests that banning medication abortions could hurt GOP chances in next year’s elections.
According to recent polling by the Public Religion Research Institute, 72% of Americans who oppose “laws that make it illegal to use or receive through the mail FDA-approved drugs for a medical abortion” and 63% oppose “laws that ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.”
Besides political and electoral considerations, another consideration at play may be that Carter, a pharmacist, fears that judicial intervention in the FDA’s approval of drugs sets a bad precedent that will weaken drug safety.
Still another consideration may stem from Carter’s longtime ties to the pharmaceutical industry as a lawmaker in Atlanta and Washington, after earning millions operating a chain of pharmacies in the Savannah-area and serving local health-care institutions.
More than 400 executives from Pfizer, Biogen and other pharmaceutical companies last week signed an open letter condemning Kacsmaryk’s ruling, saying it “ignores decades of scientific and legal precedent.”
That’s a view that Carter no doubt takes seriously. He describes himself as a “health care professional” on his congressional website and is widely viewed on Capitol Hill as a champion of the pharmaceutical industry. His three fundraising committees — Buddy Carter for Congress, Buddy Pac, Team Buddy — have also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from that industry.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Records show Pinova stumbles in complying with regulations
A fire at the Pinova facility in Brunswick on Saturday sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky and forced the evacuation of nearby residents.
While the smoke was an obvious offense to air quality in the area, an examination of regulatory records reveals it was not the facility’s only one.
The Brunswick Pinova facility is regulated as a “major sources” air polluter, defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a stationary source that can emit 10 tons per year or more of a hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons per year or more of a combination of hazardous air pollutants.
Since 2018, Georgia regulators at the Environmental Protection Division have undertaken four formal enforcement actions against the facility for violations of the Clean Air Act, resulting in $229,000 in fines over the last 12 months.
The largest fine, of $185,000, was issued in April 2022. EPD documents indicate the fine was prompted by record keeping and maintenance failures, including failing to submit reports, failing to keep records up to date, failing to repair and/or confirm repair of leaking valves and pumps, and not calibrating instruments.
These types of failures make it hard to trust the self-reported information regulators use to assess if a company is operating within the limits of its permits. But EPD hasn’t found evidence of excess air pollution, EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips said.
“Compliance issues identified for Pinova in the recent past have not resulted in emissions that exceed allowable limits, although test results are pending for one Consent Order that might determine otherwise,” she wrote in an email.
The fines imposed on Pinova were the highest for air violations in Glynn County over the last five years. But they may not have served as a deterrent, said Glynn Environmental Coalition Executive Director Rachael Thompson.
“That’s one of the huge problems when it comes to Clean Water Act violations, Clean Air Act violations, is companies are more likely to just violate the laws and pay the fines, because it’s cheaper than fixing whatever the problem is,” she said.
In its reporting in its Enforcement and Compliance History Online, or ECHO, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists the facility’s compliance status as “High Priority Violation,” and notes Pinova in Brunswick has been out of compliance in 11 of the last 12 quarters.
Complaints and response
The EPD’s Lips said the division is on it.
“The Air Branch has been rigorously pursuing Pinova’s air compliance which is reflected in corresponding enforcement,” she wrote in an email.
Glynn Environmental Coalition helped get the ball rolling on air investigations, Thompson said. Piggybacking on a popular “Smell something, Tell something” Facebook page, the nonprofit posted an air quality reporting portal on its website for residents to complain about factory or other emissions.
“We had almost 100 air quality complaints get filed between December 2020 and February 2021. And, and when those complaints are filed, the state investigates. They go on site, and they investigate.”
The state staff working on Pinova’s air compliance is not the same staff that is actively investigating the cause of the fire.
“EPD will evaluate the situation again post-fire, if the Pinova facility failed to do something in violation of their Risk Management Plan this may result in further enforcement and potential fines,” Lips said. “With respect to the facility’s air compliance, the cause of the fire has not yet been identified as noncompliance with their air permit or regulations, although the investigation is ongoing.”
Lips said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency distributed air monitors around the perimeter of the plant to test and monitor air quality following the blaze.
“There were seven monitors at various locations engaged overnight and no levels were registered to call for public safety concerns,” she wrote in an email.
The facility and neighbors
Pinova processes pine tree stumps into a variety of products including resins, rosins, waxes and gums that are used in the manufacture of many household products including adhesives, chewing gum, paper, cosmetics and foods. It’s owned by the French company DRT (Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques) based in a pine-growing region of France. DRT in turn is owned by Firmenich International SA, a company based in Switzerland that describes itself as a “global leader in the flavor and fragrance industry.”
DRT operates a sister plant in Rincon, north of Savannah.
The facility’s compliance status related to water pollution is listed as “Violation identified” on ECHO. No formal enforcements actions are listed, but there have been six informal actions over the last five years. The facility is listed as out of compliance with the Clean Water Act in nine of the last 12 quarters.
About 7,000 people live within one mile of the Pinova facility, according the EPA analysis. Seventy percent of them are Black and nearly half have a household income of less than $25,000 a year.
Ohio native Homer Yaryan started pine products factory at the site in 1911 after he patented his method for purifying wood rosin from pine stumps. He sold to the Hercules Powder Company in 1920. Over the ensuing decades, Hercules began producing other products from pine stumps, including toxaphene, a cancer-causing pesticide that the company ceased producing in 1980 and which was banned globally in 2001.
Toxaphene contamination contributed to making the area of and around the Pinova facility a Superfund hazardous waste site. Cleanup is ongoing. The ECHO site lists Pinova’s compliance status as “significant noncomplier,” but the state has not issued fines or undertaken a formal enforcement action in the last five years.
Similarly, ECHO lists Pinova’s compliance status for water pollution as “violation identified,” but there has been no formal enforcement action nor fines over the last five years.
Mike Crews, Pinova’s senior compliance manager, did not respond to a request for comment.
- The Tide: Did lawmakers address your top issues?
Last week, we looked at the performance of Savannah-area lawmakers during the latest session of the Georgia legislature, and compared it with the priorities they spelled out before it convened.
Now it’s your turn.
When readers of The Current were asked before the session’s start to rank your top legislative preferences from a list of nine candidates, you rated “climate resilience” and “education funding” as your top priorities.
That was followed — in order — by “rural health care access,” “mental health beds and staffing,” and “revising runoff, ballot access law.”
With the latest session of the Georgia General Assembly now in the rearview mirror and with the results of that informal, unscientific survey in mind, we now look back and ask: How did lawmakers do on the issues you said you cared most about?
As our previous recap of the legislative session suggested, local lawmakers, with a few notable exceptions, had little success in achieving their declared legislative priorities or making headway on them.
Much the same, it seems, can be said of how the legislature fared when it came to the priorities that those Current readers who responded to our survey deemed most important. Here’s a roundup of the actions they took during the session related to your top five priorities. Appended to it is a detailed description of the survey and its results.
‘Climate resilience’
Measures that boost “climate resilience” — and prevent environmental degradation, in general — stumbled during the legislative session.
A bill to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining never received a vote by the House Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan).
Co-sponsors of the bill included Coastal Georgia Reps. Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville), Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), and Bill Hitchens (R-Rincon), but mining supporters hinted at a lawsuit if lawmakers passed the bill.
A resolution to establish a study committee to evaluate the value of the Okefenokee as the continent’s largest blackwater swamp also failed.
Boosted by $135 million allocated to Georgia under President Biden’s Infrastructure Law to help cover the costs of installing charging stations, Gov. Brian Kemp says he aims to make Georgia the electric mobility capital of America.
That caused environmentalists to scratch their heads after the Republican-dominated legislature approved a bill to charge taxes on electricity for charging electric vehicles.
A Senate bill proposed by nine Democratic state senators that would ban plastic bags at grocery stores and convenience stores went nowhere, as did a bill that would address how Georgia Power compensates residential solar customers for the electricity they put onto the grid from their solar panels.
‘Education funding’
Under the headline “Georgia’s Education System Second to None,” House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) authored an op-ed in The Effingham Herald in November urging support for bills expanding civics education, parental rights, and transparency of school board proceedings.
It’s unclear whether he anticipated budget cuts to higher education. Nevertheless, the $32.4 billion budget approved by the House and Senate included $66 million in cuts to Savannah State University, Georgia Southern, and the 24 other schools that comprise the University System of Georgia. Chancellor Sonny Perdue called the cuts “incredibly disappointing.”
A bill backed by Kemp and Burns that would have established a $6,500 annual subsidy for students who left a low-performing public school for a private school or for home schooling won decisively in the House but lost by an 89-85 vote in the Senate, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
Supporters of the bill said it served to expand school choice; the Georgia Budget Policy Institute, which opposed the measure, said it “threatened to funnel money away from public schools at a moment when school districts are wrestling with an aging bus fleet, staff turnover, and skyrocketing State Health Benefit Plan costs.”
Two other bills that also would serve to subsidize private schools also foundered.
One sought to raise the cap on a tax credit-funded private school tuition subsidy program to $200 million but never got a hearing. Another passed the House but stalled in the Senate. It would have raised the current $120 million cap by $10 million.
One education-related bill survived the legislative gauntlet and was sent to the governor’s desk for his signature: literacy.
Co-sponsored by Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-Savannah), the Georgia Literacy Act would require schools to revamp how they teach reading in kindergarten through third grade, and it would overhaul teacher certification and training. A related measure would establish a 30-member council of political appointees to help implement it.
‘Rural health care access,’ ‘mental health beds, staffing’
A bill addressing the shortage of mental health workers and the lack of information-sharing among agencies that deal with clients with mental illness overwhelmingly passed in the House but failed to get a vote in Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Ben Watson (R-Savannah). Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said some senators recoiled at the estimated $72 million it would cost to implement the bill.
The bill fell victim in a struggle between Jones and House leaders over a measure he supported to pave the way for more hospitals to be built in less-populated counties that could have financially benefited his family’s business. He ultimately abandoned his effort to pass that legislation this year.
Wrote Jones in an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Local control and access to healthcare are two topics that seem to be a priority for those serving under the Gold Dome, that is, unless special interests and crony corporations get involved.”
‘Revising runoff, ballot access law’
A measure to end runoffs failed, leaving Georgia one of only three states in the nation, along with Louisiana and Mississippi, that requires runoffs when candidates fall short of winning a majority in general elections.
But the Republican-led legislature pushed through legislation that bars local officials from seeking nearly all third-party funding to help cover the costs to cash-starved local jurisdictions of running elections.
The bill’s supporters called outside funding a “scheme” to privatize elections; critics called it unnecessary. “Some Republicans have argued, without evidence, that money given to elections offices has improperly influenced electoral outcomes,” GPB’s Stephen Fowler writes.
Lawmakers also approved a bill that overhauls the Ware County Board of Elections — a move that voting rights groups say could result in Black voters losing representation on the board and establish a worrying precedent for state intervention in the actions of election boards elsewhere in the state.
However, there was little controversy over a bill that ensures that employees can take time off to vote during early voting or on election day. It easily passed both the House and the Senate.
The survey
The unscientific survey asked The Current’s newsletter readers to rank nine issues on a scale of one to seven, with seven indicating a top legislative priority and one indicating “not a big deal now.” The issues to be ranked were “education funding”; “state taxes”; “legalized gambling”; “rural health care access”; “public safety”; “mental health beds, staffing”; “electric vehicle charging access”; “revising runoff, ballot access law”; and “climate resilience.”
Current readers also were given an opportunity to write in their priorities that weren’t on the list. A substantial number of readers (33) took that opportunity, identifying as a priority “expanding Medicaid”; “improving roads, bridges, and other infrastructure”; “school choice”; “term limits”; and “maternal health care.” One reader’s top priority for Georgia lawmakers was uncomplicated: “Simply telling the truth.”
Survey results
“Climate resilience” was the preeminent concern of most respondents, with 53 out of 82 respondents giving it a seven, the highest possible rating.
That was followed by “education funding” (43 out of 83 respondents); “rural health care access” (42 out of 83 respondents); “mental health beds, staffing” (33 out of 83 respondents); and “revising runoff, ballot access law” (31 out of 82 respondents).
Less important were legalized gambling (six out of 81), state taxes (eight out of 83), and electric vehicle charging access (15 out of 83). Public safety hovered in the middle of the list, with 28 out of 81 respondents ranking it as a top priority.
A slightly different picture of readers’ priorities are ranked according to those that received a five or above, mental health was a top priority (72 out of 83 respondents), followed by rural health care (69 out of 83 respondents), and education (68 out of 83 respondents). Environmental issues were close behind (63 out of 82 respondents).
It’s noteworthy that the drop-off for those who gave “climate resilience” a seven versus those who gave them a six was a whopping 47%. That suggests that if respondents ranked environmental issues at all, they usually gave them the highest possible ranking — an indication of just how passionate many readers of The Current are about the environment.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Slideshow: Pembroke draws the curious as Murdaugh household items go to auction
PEMBROKE — The unassuming beige warehouse off old Highway 204 in Southeast Georgia is not quite in the middle of nowhere, but it’s close. A few miles to the west, the state’s oldest fruit cake company churns out sticky old-fashioned delights. To the east, what’s soon to be the Peach State’s biggest car plant will catapult the region to a clean, green manufacturing future.
Last Thursday, however, the Pembroke warehouse owned by Liberty Auction showcased a slice of contemporary life. Several hundred people — true crime fanatics, looky-loos and those whose taste lean toward hunting chic — gathered to peruse souvenirs of lives turned putrid by crime, corruption and greed. On the block were the décor, furniture and books from Moselle, the 1700-acre hunting lodge that was once the jewel in the crown of the family Murdaugh.
A woman spots a large emblem from The University of South Carolina, where Alex and Maggie Murdaugh both attended. 
The auction begins. 
The auctioneer in action. 
Patrons examine a rug and sofa set. This sofa would later sell for 36,000.00. 
Turtle shell lamps sit among platters and other hunting themed decor. 
Chermerinsky’s Constitutional Law 
A tongue-in-cheek arrangement of books found among a collection of china. 
Families stand below a set of Texas longhorns that would go for 10,000.00 
A variety of ceremonial wooden masks were found next to a pile of fur coats. 
A sampler of Murdaugh decor. 
Many used their phones to record the auction in real time. 
An all-too-typical crowded scene before the sale of several lamps and a toddler-sized nativity set. 
Hundreds of people attended the auction, with close quarters the standard. 
Various antlers and taxidermy fetched some of the highest prices at auction. 
A man holds up a yellow slip in order to place his bid. 
A spirited moment of bidding. 
A woman proudly shows off her purchase: one of the prized turtle shell lamps, some of which went for upwards of $700. 
Decoy ducks were popular items, with many of them sold for hundreds of dollars despite their retail price. 
The initials of Alex Murdaugh and other family members could be found on books, clothes, and sporting equipment. 
Phillip Jennings III shows off some of his purchases, which he intends to use as decoration at one of his several hunting lodges.
The crowds came in equal parts to gawk, admire and moralize in the time-honored American tradition, the feeding frenzy that erupts when a wealthy man thought above the law is brought low. Alex Murdaugh, scion to the family that for generations ran Hampton County, South Carolina, was convicted in early March in the double homicide of his wife and son at Moselle on June 7, 2021. He has been indicted on dozens of other crimes, including fraud and embezzlement. He maintains his innocence for the murders.
Entire families, complete with dogs and babies, braved the heat in the name of flatware and Seiko watches. Phones were out en masse as people recorded, live-streamed, and FaceTimed friends and family during the auction.
Throughout the cavernous warehouse lay the detritus of a bygone, active family. Piles of sports and hunting equipment stacked high on racks; glittery holiday decorations covered table tops. Folded clothing with family names written inside filled boxes. Fishing rods, tackle boxes, and bicycles lined up near stacks of holiday-themed dishware and baseball-playing ceramic Santa figurines. The jumble of indistinctive bric-a-brac prompted several patrons to wonder aloud, “where exactly did the stolen money go?”
Among the crowds, dozens of people carried the yellow slips of paper that the auction house used as bidding paddles. But those potential buyers were outnumbered by a mob who wandered around the tables in packs, gossiping about the homicides and the extent of the alleged crimes that the Murdaugh patriarch has not yet been found guilty of. They were ghoulishly up to date with the names of other unsolved deaths now attached to the family name: Mallory Beach, Stephen Smith, and Gloria Satterfield.
Some folks had come from several states away, making the day trip to Georgia just to see the auction. A group of women in University of Georgia gear whispered in faux hushed tones about their own personal connection to the Murdaugh family. One retold a story about how vexing it was to be hounded by a news journalist who wanted permission to publish one of her photos. Had she let them? Well, yes, of course, she had.
A delightfully eccentric and enthusiastic buyer came in the form of Phillip Jennings, III, the owner of Broomsedge Rod & Gun lodge. Outfitted in the off-duty sportsman style often favored by the Murdaugh patriarch, Jennings had an eternal grin while in hot pursuit of conversation pieces for his rural lodges. How had he done this? Why, with a friend and a cocktail, of course.
Over countless voices, only the trill of the experienced auctioneers broke through the din of conversation.
Auctioneers and other staff worked feverishly to sell off the tables of furnishings that stretched across two large, connected rooms. Buyers stood at attention, hovering near their potential treasures. Spectators watched from the sidelines at two snack bars, adding to the carnival atmosphere.
People spoke animatedly about the nature of the relationship between certain items and the murderer himself. To wit: boxes of spent shotgun shells and old law books initialed “RAM.”
As the afternoon progressed, prices for Murdaugh memento mori climbed. Decoy ducks that retail for under $50 sold for hundreds, while guns and other weapons from the former family home sold for thousands of dollars.
A small cheer went up through the room when a pair of Texas longhorns went for $10,000.
A set of brown leather sofas drew particular interest, as they had often been featured in the family photos shown day after day during the national broadcast of the murder trial. Mr. Jennings, the hunting lodge owner, became the new owner, spending more than $30,000 for the ultimate conversation piece.
Total profit generated from the auction was not yet known — but all money will be paid out according to the same court-approved settlement that dictated the terms of the sale of Moselle itself. The property sold this year for $3.9 million. It is anticipated that Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s only living child, will pocket approximately $500,000 from the sale of his former home, with the rest going to pay his family debts and legal fees.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Carter grills TikTok CEO
In his weekly newsletter, Coastal Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter describes last Thursday as “one of the most intense days” he’s ever experienced in Washington.
That’s saying something for the congressman from Pooler, who during his five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives has witnessed plenty of political dramas, not least two impeachments, an attempted insurrection and most recently, in January, an agonizing 15 rounds of voting to elect a new speaker of the House.
The occasion for the Thursday’s dramatics was a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, during which Carter and other members of the panel, both Republican and Democrat, grilled the CEO of TikTok, the video app that the company estimates is used by 150 million Americans.
In his questioning of TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, Carter accused the Chinese Communist Party of using the app to wage psychological warfare against American children.
He also demanded to know how many children had died from TikTok “challenges,” in which users are urged to create videos that the app’s creators hope will encourage them to join a discussion or interact with their contacts. Behind Carter as he questioned Chew was a poster bearing the caption, “Deadly TikTok Challenges.”
But the congressman didn’t succeed in persuading Chew to disclose how many U.S. children purportedly have died because of TikTok challenges. Nor did he offer an estimate himself.
Asked by Carter if TikTok was taking steps to curb harmful videos, Chew said pernicious uses of the internet were an industry-wide challenge (read: Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft), one not solely limited to his company.
By the end of the often melodramatic, five-hour hearing, there appeared to be no new evidence to support lawmakers’ unsupported claims that the Chinese government has used TikTok to access Americans’ user data or promote government propaganda, though that hardly allays suspicions that Beijing is using the app to spy.
Still, the video of Carter’s sometimes brusque, intentionally melodramatic questioning of Chew went viral. So did critiques of it.
A young woman whose photo appeared on Carter’s poster and whom the congressman described as a victim of TikTok manipulation called him out for misusing her photo and misrepresenting facts. Elsewhere, he was mocked for repeatedly suggesting during his questioning of Chew that TikTok uses the cameras in mobile phones to collect users’ biometric data — in particular, how users’ eyes dilate while viewing a video. TikTok doesn’t collect such data, Chew said.
On Monday, the Georgia General Assembly passed a measure banning TikTok on all state-owned devices. But legislating a federal nationwide ban on the app won’t be easy.
There are First Amendment issues. There are political issues and risks inherent in alienating what TikTok officials say are the 150 million U.S. users of the app, most of them young. The Biden administration has urged TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the company. But the company has refused to divest, and senior U.S. officials reportedly don’t think they have the legal authority to ban TikTok without an act of Congress.
There’s also a contradiction at the core of the demand by Carter and other conservative Republican lawmakers who condemn Washington overreach yet want the federal government to step in to protect children from the alleged harm caused by TikTok and perform a role that parents cannot — or will not — do.
But at least for Carter, curbing TikTok may not be the entire point of last week’s hearing and his often brusque exchange with the company’s CEO, during which he appeared more interested in making declarations than eliciting information.
Carter knows his core constituency, and how well calling attention to China and the alleged threats it poses to the U.S. now go down. At recent meetings of local GOP groups, including the annual convention of the county GOP, anti-China declarations have drawn the most enthusiastic applause.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Brunswick chemical exposure testing underway
Paul Christian has lived in Glynn County for 43 years. He’s calculated that in that time he’s eaten three quarters of a ton of seafood, most of it caught in the area.
As a marine biologist working for the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension Service he was well aware the Glynn County is home to four Superfund sites and that the Department of Natural Resources has issued warnings about eating seafood from some local waters.
So when Emory University researchers in partnership with Rebuilding Together Glynn County and other local organizations put out a call for volunteers to give a blood sample and answer demographic questions for a chemical exposure study, Christian was there.
Noah Scovronick, assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a co-leader of the study, hand a consent form to study participant Paul Christian. He wanted to find out more about his own exposure as well as add to the body of knowledge for the benefit of the community.
He wasn’t the only one. Participants poured into the study site in an old school in Brunswick over several days earlier this month, with walk-ins filling out the already packed schedule despite rainy weather.
Noah Scovronick, assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a co-leader of the study. called the response “overwhelming.”
After about 200 people signed up in advance online and by phone, the study stopped recruiting.
“We probably would have had 250 or so and that’s good, it’s really impressive,” he said. “Because, a lot of the time we recruit for studies … we’ve really struggled to get the numbers we’re looking for.”
A diverse group responded.
Study participant Paul Christian gets his blood drawn. “One of the reasons I think this study has been so successful is the range of backgrounds,” Scovronick said. “We’ve had a lot of people with a lot of knowledge of the ins and outs of the environmental issues here and a lot of people (whose knowledge) is more anecdotal.”
Count Christian among those who knows a lot about pollution in the area’s waterways. While he’s eaten seafood at least once a week for years, he’s avoided the heavily polluted Turtle River area and consumed lots of whiting, also known as Southern kingfish, out of an area known as the whiting hole in front of the King and Prince Hotel on St. Simons.
“I figured that about 20% of my whole consumption was just that one species,” he said. “We figured well, it’s migratory.”
Researchers will analyze the blood samples for contaminants including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and PCBs. They’ll also test pesticides that have been banned but persist in the environment, including toxaphene, which was once produced at the Hercules plant in Glynn County.
The study’s main question is whether area residents have blood levels of certain contaminants that are higher than what’s found in the general population of the United States. The researchers are not yet looking to discover how people were exposed or whether exposure resulted in any health problems.
“It’s just too bad we’re even having to do this but that’s the way life is,” Christian said.
Preliminary results of the study are expected later this year.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Hydrologists: EPD using wrong data to predict mine’s impact on Okefenokee
Editor’s note: This article was updated Feb. 27 to include two additional signatories to the letter.
A group of 11 academic hydrologists from research universities around the Southeast wrote to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division Monday warning regulators that they’re using the wrong data to predict the effects of mining on the Okefenokee Swamp. The resulting analysis underestimates the risk of drought that mining brings, the hydrologists say.
After the letter was initially made public, two more hydrologists signed it.
Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals is seeking permits from the state to mine for titanium dioxide near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. As part of the permitting process, the EPD issued a draft mining land use plan last month.
The plan outlines how Twin Pines will continuously remove more than 1 million gallons per day from a shallow aquifer to keep its mining pit dry. The company has also requested a permit to withdraw up to 1.44 million gallons per day from the Floridan Aquifer, which is deeper underground. In modeling the effects on the swamp of these withdrawals, EPD uses data from a river gauge at Mcclenny, Fla.
The hydrologists say that’s the wrong gauge to use and instead the model should use the Moniac gauge on the St. Marys River, located much closer to the swamp itself.
The strip mining targets an area called Trail Ridge, ancient sand dunes that form a natural dam along the eastern side of the Okefenokee. The hydrologists say the main question about the mine is the degree to which it will alter the movement of water in and out of the swamp.
Rhett Jackson outside the Suwanee River Eco-Lodge. “(P)revious research has demonstrated very high correlations between flows at this (Moniac) gage and swamp water levels monitored by the USFWS,” they wrote. “The geographic position of this gage is ideal for analyzing potential effects to swamp hydrology of consumptive ground water withdrawals beneath Trail Ridge.
At 15 miles downstream, the Mcclenny gauge is too far away and much less connected to the swamp.
“Three-quarters of the area draining to this (Mcclenny) gage is in relative highlands of north central Florida,” they wrote. “The hydrologic inputs to this basin and the hydrologic behavior of this basin are in no way similar to that of the southeastern portion of the Okefenokee Swamp. Furthermore, the sheer size of the basin and its flows at this gage will mask the effects a fixed withdrawal would have where the river exits the swamp.”
The EPD previously indicated it chose the Mcclenny gauge because its data quality was higher.
A leading critic of that modeling, UGA hydrology professor C. Rhett Jackson, organized the hydrologists’ letter to EPD. Jackson has previously submitted memos to the EPD outlining his analysis, which indicates an increased risk of drought from the proposed mine.
“Using the Moniac gage, we see that the mine withdrawals are likely to cause a large and significant increase in the frequency and severity of drought in the swamp,” Jackson wrote in a Jan. 31 memo. “Conversely, using the Macclenny gage, we see nothing.”
Jackson sent the letter to 14 Southeastern hydrologists. One was traveling and could not meet the deadline of one week to respond. Three did not initially respond. But all those who did respond within the deadline agreed with his assessment, Jackson said.
Along with Jackson, the hydrologists who initially signed the letter are: Larry Band, University of Virginia; Stephen Schoenholtz, Kevin McGuire, and Daniel L. McLaughlin of Virginia Tech University; Diego Riveros-Iregui, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Ryan Emanuel, Duke University; Matt Cohen, University of Florida; Courtney Siegert, Mississippi State University; Luke Pangle, Georgia State University; and Todd Rasmussen, University of Georgia. Jim Reichard of Georgia Southern University and Chris Anderson of Auburn University signed the letter after it was initially released.
EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips said Tuesday the division will not be responding to inquiries on technical questions until after staff has had a chance to evaluate all technical comments previously received and that will be received over the comment period.
“Good comments on the Mining Land Use Plan – additional analysis, data, technical perspectives, mitigation measures, etc. — helps EPD make better decisions and we look forward to the process,” she wrote in an email. “EPD will prepare a public document responding to the comments made and indicating any changes to the proposal as a response to comments received. Agency response to comments and finalization of the MLUP can take anywhere from several days to several months to complete, depending on the number and complexity of the comments received.”
Through a spokesman Twin Pines declined a request for comment.
EPD is accepting public comments on the plan through March 20, 2023.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Study recruits Glynn residents to measure their bodies’ chemical levels
Home to four Superfund sites, the Brunswick area has a long history of environmental contamination from local industry. The region’s dolphins have been studied and found to carry a heavy load of toxic chemicals, including Aroclor 1268, a mixture of PCBs used only at the Brunswick LCP site. But there has never been a study of Brunswick residents to determine if the environmental contaminants have entered people’s bodies.
Until now.
Emory University researchers in partnership with Rebuilding Together Glynn County and other local organizations are recruiting participants to learn if residents have been exposed to potentially harmful chemicals at a level that is higher than in other places.
“This study is particularly about exposure,” explained Noah Scovronick, assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a co-leader of the study. “So “We’re not attempting in this pilot study to discover how people are being exposed, necessarily, or whether the exposure is associated with any health problems. It’s really just to try to identify that people have blood levels of certain contaminants that are higher than what’s found in the general population of the United States.”
Some of the contaminants researchers will be looking for are known to be associated with some of the sites in and around Brunswick, like mercury, PCBs, and certain pesticides. They’re also screening for some other commonly investigated contaminants like lead and other heavy metals.
Participants will complete a short questionnaire to collect demographic information, as well as information on possible routes of exposure, such as diet and employment at any of the industrial sites. They’ll also provide a blood sample for analysis. In return they’ll receive a $50 Walmart gift card, their individual test results of pollutants measured in their blood sample, an invitation to meetings that will report the overall findings plus a packet of materials on how to reduce their exposure to chemicals.
Participants must be at least 18, live in the Brunswick area now and have lived there at least 10 years total.
“We are pleased that we can respond to community concerns about environmental pollution in Brunswick” said Glynn County Commissioner and The Community First Planning Commission Board Member Allen Booker in a press release announcing the study. “Local organizations designed this study in partnership with Emory scientists, and we are hopeful that the study will provide residents with some of the information they are looking for.”
The researchers have gotten robust response to their initial efforts to recruit participants, Scovronick said, with many area residents expressing that they knew they grew up in the shadow of industrial facilities, and have long wondered if it’s the reason that they have family members who’ve gotten sick. Many of the neighborhoods closest to the Superfund sites are predominantly Black and the researchers want participation from people who are living or have historically lived there.
Scovronick and research partner Dana Barr, also of Emory, are aiming for 50-100 participants. The first round of testing is planned for mid-March. If they get enough people, including a good balance of people from different backgrounds, ages and neighborhoods, the first round of testing may be sufficient. If there are no unforeseen delays, results should be available by the end of the summer, Scovronick said.
This study is funded by the Emory University Exposome Research Center through a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). For more information or to apply visit bit.ly/912health or email brunswickexposure@emory.edu or call 404-727-0250.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Coastal Georgia Republicans, Democrats struggle for souls of their parties
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, tensions between insurgents and the old guard are roiling the political establishment in Coastal Georgia.
The ferment is swelling as both political parties gear up for county assemblies next month, during which delegates will be chosen to attend state conventions or state committee meetings this summer.
In a voice vote at a meeting of the Chatham County GOP in Savannah last week, supporters of Carl Smith, the local GOP’s ad hoc leader, defeated efforts to unseat him as head of the rules committee.
But that’s unlikely to halt efforts by the party’s self-described “grassroots activists,” for whom Smith has long been a bane.
These detractors describe Smith as a RINO — Republican in Name Only, an embodiment of the “good old boy” network that has quashed the kind of party reform that they and former President Donald Trump seek.
He’ll do anything, including manipulating party rules, to preserve the status quo and his role as local kingmaker, said one critic, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the party’s internal workings.
Formally, Smith serves as vice chairman of the county GOP, while Leonard Massey holds the title of chairman. Massey has played a minimal role in the committee’s activities, however. Neither official attended last week’s meeting. Smith said he was away on business.
‘Never satisfied with anything’
How representative the insurgents’ views are is difficult to gauge — Coastal Georgia, unlike the densely populated Atlanta area, is notoriously lacking in opinion surveys and political polling. But in an interview yesterday with The Current, Smith played down the degree of dissent in local Republican ranks.
“There are just different groups of people that that are never satisfied with anything,” he said. “They attack [U.S. Rep.] Buddy Carter. They complain about Gov. [Brian] Kemp. They’re just a small percentage of the people that we have in the party that are extremely radical—I’m not even sure if they’re Republican.”
At stake in the fight for control of the party, Smith said, is its growth.
“We’re trying to work with everybody and bring people to join our party, which makes it harder when you have those kinds of radicals and people who are just trying to have a litmus test and virtue-signaling about how they’re supposedly a better Republican than myself or a Congressman Carter, or (state) Rep. (Jesse) Petrea, or the governor.”
Despite the feeling of upheaval, Chatham County Republicans managed to see eye-to-eye on one thing, though. In a voice vote, they endorsed Harmeet Dhillon over the incumbent, Ronna McDaniel, for chair of the Republican National Committee. The vote is Thursday.
Dhillon, who backed Donald Trump’s attempt to throw out the 2020 election results and represented him before the House’s Jan. 6 panel, is challenging McDaniel, blaming her for the GOP’s disappointing midterm performance.
The committee’s recommendation will be passed on to state GOP officials David Shafer, Jason Thompson, and Ginger Howard.
‘Getting county committees up and running’
On the Democratic side, there’s similar anti-establishment fervor.
James “Jay” Jones At a meeting of the Georgia Democratic Party in Atlanta earlier this month, Savannah’s James “Jay” Jones won a full, four-year term as head of the 1st District’s 18-member delegation to the state party, narrowly defeating Hinesville’s Sabrina Newby.
Jones, former chair of the Chatham County Democratic Party, had already held the post for 18 months, serving out the term of his predecessor, who quit. He ran unsuccessfully in the November elections against Republican state Sen. Ben Watson (District 1).
But discord remains.
In the battle between the old and the new, “Jay Jones needs to move on,” one member of the delegation, Debby Griggs, a nursing instructor at Georgia Southern University, wrote on Facebook after the vote.
One of Jones’s responsibilities is to field Democrats to run for political office and to build Democratic committees in the 15 coastal counties that comprise the 1st District, the foundation for any improvement of the party’s political fortunes in the region. The insurgents claim he has failed in that task.
In response, Jones says that for all of the party’s successes in some urban areas of Coastal Georgia, few people fathom the enormity of the task that faces Democrats region-wide.
The Coastal Georgia counties where the Democratic Party wants to “get up and running” have been dominated by Republicans for decades, from the mayor’s office to the election board, he explained in an interview.
The daunting process has been slowed by inertia, local powerbrokers, and fears of political retaliation, not to mention the difficulty of juggling a day job with a voluntary one, he said.
“I don’t get paid for this,” he said.
- Voting system, gambling loom over Georgia lawmakers’ agenda
Lowering taxes? Of course. Improving education? Absolutely. Reducing crime? For sure.
But missing from the lists of legislative priorities of Coastal Georgia lawmakers in the upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly has been any mention of two hot-button issues that could drop on their desks: election reform and legalizing sports betting and casino gambling
At a recent legislative preview on Skidaway Island, Sen. Ben Watson (District 1) and Rep. Jesse Petrea (District 166) indicated they had no stomach for another legislative brawl over voting and the election system.
When two members of the audience criticized what they said were the failures and weaknesses of the voting system, the two lawmakers, both Republicans, didn’t respond with pledges to return to the legislative trenches for another fight about voting.
Legalizing gambling? The issue didn’t even come up.
But Georgia’s legislature is still likely to take up this pair of highly controversial issues when it convenes Jan. 9 for 40 days of debate and horse trading.
Both Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and grassroots Republicans want changes in Georgia’s voting laws. And Rep. Ron Stephens (District 164), who introduced legislation legalizing gambling in the last session, said yesterday he’s set to do it again.
Continued skepticism about voting system
On Georgia’s electoral system, vocal factions in Republican circles up and down the coast are still demanding the scrapping of Georgia’s Dominion voting system and a return to paper ballots.
Even though there were no reports of widespread irregularities or fraud in the process that culminated in the victories of the GOP in nearly all statewide races, among these Republicans, the conviction endures that the 2020 election was stolen from the GOP and Donald Trump. There’s also the widely held belief that the state’s voting system is rigged against Republicans and especially, conservative ones.
That continued skepticism about the state’s voting system is evidenced by continued challenges to the 2020 vote, one of which was brought by lieutenant governor candidate Jeanne Seaver and four Chatham County residents.
The secretary of state’s office recently advised Seaver that eight instances of alleged election violations in Chatham were being referred to the state attorney general for further investigation and possible prosecution.
‘False claims about our elections’
Meanwhile, prominent members of both of the state’s main political parties aren’t happy with the electoral system, either.
On the GOP side of the aisle, Raffensperger continues to be mistrusted by many of Coastal Georgia Republicans for his refusal to go along with Trump’s claims of election fraud in 2020.
But he cracked open the door to a renewed legislative fight about the electoral system during the U.S. Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker when he barred Georgia counties from allowing voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously disagreed with him, and the voting went ahead, providing Warnock with a meaty talking point about voter suppression that he used in the waning days of the runoff campaign to urge voters to go to the polls.
The secretary of state then crashed through the door last week when he urged lawmakers to eliminate its general election runoff after previously defending the practice in 2020 and again earlier this year.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend entitled, “Raphael Warnock, Election Denier,” Raffensperger then took aim at the newly reelected senator.
“I have to spend a lot of time shooting down false claims about our elections in Georgia,” he wrote. “Usually they come from losers. But sometimes even victorious candidates make false claims about our elections.”
Warnock fired back at the state’s top election official yesterday, saying that voter suppression is still an issue in Georgia, despite record voter turnout.
“The fact that people have had to overcome barriers doesn’t mean those barriers don’t exist,” he said on “CBS Mornings.”
To top off what’s likely to be yet another clash over the state’s voting system, the State Election Board voted unanimously last week to ask legislators to create a program to distribute outside election money donated by nonprofit groups to improve voting processes.
Gambling in Georgia: Has its time come?
Efforts to legalize sports betting and casino gambling have failed in the past two legislative sessions, despite strong support from the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League and the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks.
But their time may now have come, after years of efforts by some members of the assembly, led by Stephens, to get them legalized.
It was Stephens who, in the last legislative session, introduced legislation to amend the state’s constitution to make both activities legal and to create the Georgia Sports Betting Commission, which would be in charge of managing an online sports wagering system.
For the amendment to pass, it first must be approved by two-thirds of the membership of the Georgia House and Senate, respectively, before going to the state’s voters.
Gov. Brian Kemp has opposed gaming in Georgia, but his Democratic opponent in last month’s election, Stacey Abrams, supported it as part of her economic vision for the state, viewing it as a source of funds to finance education initiatives.
That support may give the Republican governor the political cover he needs — and the political cover Stephens wants — to change the state’s constitution and usher in gaming.
Stephens said that the new legislative session is ushering in some significant changes that may affect the fate of gambling legislation. House Speaker David Ralston was “all in” on the legislation during the last session, but he died last month. Where his successor, Effingham County’s Jon Burns, stands on the issue isn’t clear, Stephens said.
Poised to fight the legalization of gambling is a broad coalition of groups, including the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and arts and culture organizations. But they face a formidable foe in the gambling industry, whose efforts to sway state legislatures and institute gaming across the U.S. are well-funded and savvy.
In a webinar last week sponsored by Georgians for the Arts to discuss the legislature’s upcoming session, the president and CEO of Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, Allan Vella, said past gaming legislation proposed in the Georgia legislature poses a threat to entertainment venues like his.
The legislation insisted that the gaming organizations build entertainment venues, he said. But casinos use entertainment and the arts as a loss leader to drive traffic to their casino floor, imperiling the survival of arts and culture organizations statewide.
Vella said he anticipated gambling legislation to be introduced in the legislature next year. When it does, he said, it will be a challenge for the Georgia Arts & Venue Coalition, a group that Vella and other arts and culture officials established to educate legislators about the effects of the gaming industry on the arts and music.
“At one time the casinos had approximately 50 lobbyists employed, and we had our whopping two. It was very much a David-and-Goliath situation.”
The Tide brings observations and notes from The Current staff.
- First two right whale calves of the season spotted off Georgia coast
Editor’s note: This article was updated Dec. 9 to include the sighting of a second mother/calf pair.
It’s been a good week for right whales. Researchers spotted the second right whale calf of the 2022-23 season just a day after sighting the first one.
The second mother/calf pair featured a right whale nicknamed Archipeligo and her baby, who were photographed by scientists with the Florida Fish and Game Commission about 5 miles off Little St. Simons on Thursday. Archipeligo last gave birth four years ago. This is her third calf. On Wednesday researchers spotted the first North Atlantic right whale mom and calf pair of the 2022-2023 season off the coast of St. Catherines Sound.
That mom, Catalog #1208 “Medusa” is estimated to be 42 years old, and this is her seventh documented calf, according to the researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute who spotted her. Both mother/calf pairs were spotted as part of scheduled aerial surveys that help learn about and protect the highly endangered whales.
Medusa and her calf were sighted Dec. 7, 2022 about 13 miles off St. Catherines Sound. Medusa and Archipeligo are two of an estimated 70 breeding females remaining in a total population of about 340 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis). Their only known calving grounds off the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have been designated Critical Habitat Areas to help protect the species.
Recent years have brought an 20 deaths to these bus-sized animals from entanglement in fishing gear and from being hit by ships and boats. Another 14 right whales died from unknown causes since 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reports it’s renewing efforts to inform recreational boaters about the risk that hitting a right whale poses to whales and boats. Three calves have died from collisions with boats less than 65 feet long since 2020. The north Atlantic right whale is Georgia’s state marine mammal.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Gray’s Reef comes ashore
Located 19 miles off the Georgia Coast in about 65 feet of water, Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary is a local attraction few ever get to see. Even the sanctuary’s offices are tucked out of the way on Skidaway Island, convenient for launching research vessels but not for raising the profile of the live bottom reef.
“It’s an underwater National Park,” said Gray’s Reef superintendent Stan Rogers. “And only a few people get to see that firsthand whether you’re a scuba diver or a fisherman.”
The sanctuary is remedying the situation by bringing the reef to visitors with a Gray’s Reef Ocean Discovery Center in Savannah. Located at 340 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, along what was once the city’s hub for Black business, the Discovery Center is housed in the former Thrifty Supply Center.
Opened for a preview for about a week ending October 22, the staff is still building out exhibits. It’s expected to open four or five days a week beginning in February. Admission will be free.
The center has already gotten Lee Martinez better acquainted with the sanctuary. Martinez works at a local equestrian center but was looking for volunteer work when she happened upon Rogers opening up the Discovery Center. It immediately appealed. “I wanted to be a marine biologist as a kid,” she said.
Volunteer Lee Martinez shows off the VR goggles at the Gray’s Reef Ocean Discovery Center During the preview week, Martinez demonstrated the use of virtual reality goggles, strapping them on to get a 360-degree view of the reef, as videoed by a research diver. With the goggles on, Martinez could see a loggerhead sea turtle glide toward her, a nurse shark snuggling into the sand and a school of black sea bass swimming by as if their movements were choreographed.
The goggles are a huge hit, said Outreach & Social Media Coordinator Ben Prueitt. “It’s the most immersive way to get to the sanctuary without getting your feet wet.”
The exhibits will also include videos, auditory exhibits (shrimp make noise!), photos and interactive games. An area in the back serves as a small lecture/movie viewing spot.
Gray’s Reef was designated sanctuary in January 1981, one of the last acts of outgoing President Jimmy Carter.
“And most people in this area just don’t know that that exists, honestly,” Rogers said. “That even after 40 years of designation, we have a long ways to go of educating the public about the existence of these places off the coast, the value of them and then how they are connected to these resources.”
At about 22 square miles, Gray’s Reef is a little bigger than St. Simons Island. It’s a “live bottom” reef, meaning its hard or rocky seafloor supports high numbers of large invertebrates such as sponges, corals and sea squirts. It attracts more than 200 species of fish including sea bass, snapper, grouper and mackerel, as well as their prey. Loggerhead sea turtles rest and forage there and right whales visit. It’s full of color and texture and movement. As a living laboratory, Gray’s Reef attracts experts from all over the world to conduct research.
Rogers grew up nearby in Hampton County, S.C. Savannah was the “big city,” he said. A fish and wildlife biologist, he’s spent half his career working with marine species. He’s been at Gray’s Reef since 2019.
Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Stan Rogers “One of the first things that I noticed was, we were just too much out of the public eye out at Skidaway; it’s a great place for research, great place for our research vessels to operate from, but a little hard to get to for public access. So this is all about access and equitable access to the community.”
With no live animals and space for about 40-50 visitors at a time, Rogers calls the MLK venue “Visitor Center Light,” and hopes it will attract community members and tourists alike.
“So you really just kind of pop in, check it out, and learn,” he said. “In half an hour, you can really pick up a lot of information. And then and then do some shopping while you’re at it, too.”
“Shopping” refers to a planned gift shop. For now, the center is 100% federally funded, but Rogers hopes that with volunteer help and proceeds from its gift shop it can become self-sustaining.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- River Guide app makes it easier to explore Georgia by water
As a co-owner of Southeast Adventure Outfitters on St. Simons and Brunswick, Michael Gowen has been organizing kayak trips in Coastal Georgia since 1994. It hasn’t always been easy.
“In the past, it’s always been trying to find information about river put ins and trips and distances in Georgia, based on the very few books that were there,” he said. “And then it became trying to find information on the internet, where you could find it.”
He and other kayakers and canoeists are welcoming the Georgia River Guide app from Georgia River Network. Released in March, it’s been downloaded more than 6,000 times.
“Now, with an app, it is all consolidated into one place,” Gowen said. “And that’s probably the greatest benefit of having kind of a one-stop shop for river information.”
The app is for anyone who wants to paddle, swim, fish, boat or otherwise explore Georgia’s waterways, said Georgia River Network spokeswoman Sarah Taylor.
“We definitely were trying to cater it towards really, anyone, novice or experienced and to just have all the information you’d need in one place,” she said. “But we were certainly mindful of folks dabbling with (paddling), people who occasionally want to get out of the house, and do it. We wanted to make sure the safety information was accurate for them.”
Eight years in the making, the app draws information from Joe Cook’s river guide books and Suzanne Welander’s river guide books as well as from the state’s riverkeepers, water trail groups and commercial outfitters.
“So we really try to curate information from the folks who know their river best,” said Andrea White, community programs coordinator at Georgia River Network.
Dale Williams is expert at kayaking, but he’s just getting into canoeing. He used to think of the canoe as an “antiquated craft,” he said.
“Now I’m finding it to be very graceful and just a beautiful thing to watch somebody who’s good at how and and so I’m trying to improve my canoeing skills,” said Williams, who owns and operates Sea Kayaking USA, and lives on Tybee Island. Williams is looking forward to using the app to tell him water levels, current flow, and where the put ins and take outs are.
As far as Coastal Georgia river paddling goes, Gowen likes the Altamaha, called Georgia’s Amazon because it’s “very big and wild.” And there’s also the Satilla with its beautiful white sandbars.
Paddlers who don’t find their favorite spot on the app can suggest it by sending an email to info@garivers.org, White said.
“Since we launched the app March 1, we’ve already added three new rivers,” she said.
Rena Peck of the Georgia River Network paddles a canoe in the Okefenokee Swamp. About the Georgia River Guide app
From the iconic wetlands of the Okefenokee Wilderness Area Canoe Water Trail in the southeast, to the limestone-lined banks of the Flint River in the southwest, and the historic waters of the Etowah River in the northwest, the Georgia River Guide maps out the perfect section of river for your next adventure. Download the Georgia River Guide from the App Store or the Android app from Google Play.
Features:
- Public access points & river mileage
- River conditions & recommended runnable levels
- Level of difficulty
- Specific river rapids or hazards
- GPS location when in-service and access to all data when out of cellular service
- Outfitters and shuttle services
- Cultural and historic points of interest
- Available amenities
- Tips on how to plan your trip & stay safe on the water
- Carter-Herring debate nights arrive
Move over, Herschel and Raphael. Move over Brian and Stacey.
Coastal Georgia takes center stage today, as the candidates for the region’s seat in U.S. Congress — Republican incumbent Buddy Carter and Democratic challenger Wade Herring — square off for the first of two, one-hour debates starting Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. at the Atlanta Press Club. It will be live-streamed only.
Tuesday’s debate on Georgia Public Broadcasting will feature questions posed by Margaret Coker, The Current’s editor in chief, and Will Peebles, government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. The candidates will face off again on Wednesday in a live studio debate at 7 p.m. hosted by Savannah’s WTOC-TV.
Carter, the four-term congressman and former Pooler mayor, is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and benefits from a strongly Republican-leaning district.
Earl L. “Buddy” Carter 
Wade Herring In the current campaign, the confident Carter has seldom, if ever, referred to Herring by name. Herring, however, has put on his boxing gloves.
In a new 30-second television ad released last week, he dubs Carter, a licensed pharmacist, “Big Pharma’s Favorite Son.” The ad says Carter “made a fortune as pharmacy owner” then received campaign donations from pharmaceutical interests to help protect the industry’s profits.
The allegations aren’t new: Accusations of doing the pharmaceutical industry’s bidding at the expense of consumers have trailed Carter since he was elected to Congress in 2015. But fresh or not, the allegations may not be easy for him to ignore on the stage with Herring.
Herring, on the other hand, will have to explain how he — someone who has spent a career as a corporate lawyer and never held public office — could do better representing Coastal Georgia voters than the experienced Carter.
The debates also could prove illuminating if the candidates are forced to answer uncomfortable questions — a contrast to the customary stump appearances, campaign jingles, and questions from friendly news outlets.
On the campaign trail, Carter has lambasted the Biden administration, promoted the GOP’s “Commitment to America,” and touted his ambition to become the chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee if, as he predicts, Republicans flip the chamber in next month’s midterm elections.
Yet Carter, like House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, has not explained how a Republican-led House would implement the “Commitment to America” and its goal of security and a strong economy.
And in plugging his zeal to cut federal spending and win over fellow Republicans to his candidacy for the chairmanship, Carter hasn’t indicated whether other large government expenditures, including the FY2022 Defense Department budget of $1.94 trillion or the omnibus farm bill of $428 billion over five years, would face scrutiny as Social Security and Medicare.
Carter has joined calls to reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare. The Republicans’ “main focus has got to be on nondiscretionary — it’s got to be on entitlements,” he told Bloomberg News last week.
Finally, we’ll see in the debates how each candidate seeks to portray the other as “extremist” and out of touch with Coastal Georgia. Who succeeds?
Stay tuned.
The Tide brings observations and notes from The Current’s staff.
- New partnership opens Chatham County DA case files to data analysis
Chatham County’s prosecutor’s office is opening up its case files for an intense examination of its case files with the aim of increasing public safety and fairness in the criminal justice system.
The district attorney has partnered with a nonprofit called Justice Innovation Lab for the data analysis. The group recently worked with Charleston, S.C., where the organization recommended that prosecutors implement a “screening” practice to ensure that only criminal cases with solid evidence make it into the funnel of cases.
The goal of the Charleston recommendation was to reduce the backlog of cases made worse by COVID-19 shutdown of the courts and ensure prosecutors prioritize worthwhile cases, according to Jared Fishman, executive director and founder of the Washington D.C.-based non-profit.
Fishman, a former federal prosecutor who prosecuted the 2015 police killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, said the group is processing a first tranche of data from DA Shalena Cook Jones’ office in Savannah.
“We will likely do similar interventions like we did in Charleston in terms of being able to screen bad cases out of the system earlier, and to create a better relationship with the police to keep those cases from entering,” Fishman said.
In Chatham County, the organization will look at several factors, Fishman said, including:
- What crimes prosecutors are spending their most time on
- Potentially burdensome fines and fees
- The types of sentences defendants are receiving
- How long people are being held in jail before trial
- The average time for the DA’s office to get through cases
- Any disparities in race or gender or other factors
At a recent speech defending her record, Jones, a Democrat, said her new approach to criminal justice is underpinned by better data collection and reallocation of resources to get at root problems of crime.
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook-Jones speaking at a NAACP meeting. Local Republicans politicians have linked a minor rise in violent crimes in Savannah — which is mirrored across many U.S. cities — to the DA’s policies.
“Contrary to what the current DA believes, not every criminal can be hugged into becoming a good citizen,” Anthony Burton, a former assistant district attorney and former candidate for local judge, wrote on Facebook in a recent commentary against Jones.
Crime feels worse now for citizens, Jones said in her speech, because Covid exposed the underbelly of an overburdened system.
“People want to talk about this increase in violent crime that has happened post-Covid. But that part of the equation actually hasn’t changed,” the she said in her talk in downtown Savannah. “I’m here to tell you that Covid is the proverbial match that lit the powder keg of all of society’s ills.”
Fishman said it is too early to tell what exactly is causing the rise in violent crime across the U.S. — more data analysis is needed.
Fishman said there is a growing consensus among many criminal justice experts that America’s system of criminal accountability is not working. He said that holds among several different metrics: recidivism, victim satisfaction and money spent.
“We spend hundreds of billions of dollars incarcerating people, policing people. And if that increased our public safety, then maybe that would all be worth it,” he said. “But we don’t see that.”
He hopes that the 18-month project examining Chatham County’s data will identify problems and help prompt solutions to make residents feel safer.
- Hurricane Ian spins a cautionary tale for coastal politicians
As Hurricane Ian swept north through Florida, heading towards Coastal Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp flew into Savannah to brief residents on preparations for the gale. Sen. Jon Ossoff urged residents to “take the storm seriously,” while Sen. Raphael Warnock urged calm and readiness.
Rep. Buddy Carter’s office provided a list of resources for those residents affected by the storm. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and other municipal officials up and down the coast put emergency management plans on the ready.
Together, Georgia’s officials — especially those on the ballot next month — took pains to be seen and heard as Ian neared. After it was over, no one appeared to have dropped the ball.
This is due mainly to the fact that at least for Coastal Georgia, the hurricane was a “nothing-burger,” as one disappointed surfer on Tybee Island put it.
Yet with a slight shift in the storm’s path, it easily could have been different, St. Marys City Council member Jim Goodman told The Brunswick News.
“Had the storm run up the east coast of Florida as a Category 4, I’d be out of here,” said Goodman, the sole candidate for the Camden County Commission’s seat four in the midterm elections. “It would have been really bad.”
Going forward, the crucial question for state and local officials is what lessons can be learned from Hurricane Ian after the television cameras turn elsewhere and before a storm of similar scale occurs again, as it no doubt will — with possibly far more dire consequences for Coastal Georgia.
Certainly, the storm served as yet another reminder of the big picture: Growth in the region and elsewhere in the southeastern U.S. is putting more people in harm’s way.
From 2010 to 2020, the rate of population growth in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee surpassed the national average — Florida alone added a staggering 2.7 million people. Census projections suggest the Southeast will see the nation’s largest population gains over the next two decades, through 2040.
Hurricane Ian is also a reminder of the quandaries facing those government officials trying to address the costs of extreme weather while encouraging growth.
To our north, in Charleston, where the population grew 25% between 2010 and 2020, officials believe that climate change is an existential threat. Last year, the mayor said Charleston must “rezone every inch of our city” to put an end to development in flood-prone areas.
At the same time, plans are moving ahead for a massive residential and commercial development that environmentalists say is located partly in a flood plain.
More narrowly, Hurricane Ian renewed questions about the use of building codes, evacuations, and insurance for residents in vulnerable areas seeking to protect themselves and their property.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN on Sunday that anyone living near water should buy flood insurance.
“Just because you’re not required to buy flood insurance doesn’t mean you don’t have the option to buy it.” Fewer than five million policies are in force nationwide, FEMA reports.
Politically speaking, Kemp and other Georgia officials know that major storms provide a national spotlight and lots of media attention. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis knows that, too.
As the hurricane hurtled towards Florida from the Caribbean, he toned down his provocative political style to appear more collegial, especially to the federal government, on which his state depends for emergency assistance.
Politicians are also keenly aware that natural disasters can break, as well as make, a political career. The perils of ignoring such disasters — or appearing to ignore them — are woven into American political lore.
President George W. Bush never recovered politically from the perception that the federal government failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
When a sudden storm quickly dumped 14 inches of snow on Washington in 1987, forcing the federal government, the local government, and businesses to shut down, then-Mayor Marion Barry was 3,000 miles away in California, playing tennis at the Beverly Hills Hilton and watching the Super Bowl, in which his hometown team wasn’t even participating.
Most politicians would have returned home. Barry did not, beginning his long slide from power.
Then there is that headline.
When city plows failed to clear streets in the borough of Queens for days following a blizzard in 1969, favoring Manhattan instead, the New York Daily News blared, “QUEENS CALLS MAYOR SCHMOBALL.”
The outcry forced Hizzoner, Republican John Lindsay, to change political parties. Lindsay managed to eke out reelection. But the “Lindsay Blizzard” and the mayor’s perceived neglect introduced the phrase “limousine liberal” into the American political lexicon.
Lindsay later retired to Hilton Head, where he died in 2000.
Whether DeSantis suffers anything close to that ignominy remains to be seen. But there are signs of a developing political storm.
The number of people in Florida killed by Ian increased to at least 100 yesterday afternoon. That toll is expected to increase. Questions also are starting to be asked over whether hard-hit areas received enough advance warning to evacuate. And then there are concerns over how the storm will affect Florida’s already floundering property insurance market.
Georgia officials are watching closely. Hurricane season continues through November.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Hurricane Ian prep: Need to know
Scroll down for specific county, state resources and alerts signups
Shelter, transportation
Chatham Area Transit is working with the Chatham Emergency Management Agency to transport Savannah-area residents to an emergency shelter.
The emergency shelter will be located at Compassion Christian Church, located at 55 Al Henderson Blvd., in Savannah and will open at 5 p.m. Thursday.
- Passengers who need assistance can take any bus to get to the downtown transit center, then line up at the “H-Spot” to head to the emergency shelter free of charge.
- CAT will have a special route that will only service the ITC and the emergency shelter.
- The last trip to leave the ITC will be at 9:30 pm.
- Passengers will have to indicate that they are going to the shelter to ride for free.
- Riders are only allowed to bring 2 bags on the trip to the emergency shelter.
- Pets are not allowed at the emergency shelter.
- Passengers can download the “CATTracker” for free to track their bus in real time.
- They can also sign up for service alerts through text by texting “RIDECAT” to 41411.
Notable closings
- Sidney Lanier Bridge in Glynn County is closed until storm has passed and has passed an inspection. Earlier, GDOT had announced the closure of the Savannah River Bridge, but changed it just before 9 a.m. In the event that wind speeds force that to happen, Savannah traffic may use the Houlihan Bridge in Port Wentworth or I-95 to cross the Savannah River.
- Savannah city road closures: updates will be posted at savannahga.gov/floodalert
- Brunswick road closures: closures will be listed in the Glynn EMA dashboard and this FAQs document.
- Schools: Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools will have virtual learning days Thursday and Friday. All Coastal Georgia county public schools and most private schools will not meet in person on Thursday or Friday.
- College of Coastal Georgia will move classes online through Friday.
- SCAD announced Tuesday evening that it would close academic and administrative buildings in Savannah Thursday and Friday.
- Savannah State University will have asynchronous online classes Thursday and Friday.
- Georgia Southern University will move all classes online at 1 p.m. Thursday. Campuses will be closed. Only essential personnel should be on campuses and students living on campus may shelter in place in residence halls. Dining halls will have limited hours. People may return and classes will start only after campuses have been cleared and an “all-clear” Eagle Alert has been issued.
- Savannah Technical College will close at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and will reopen on Monday.
- City of Savannah: Beginning Thursday, all non-emergency offices will be closed through the weekend. Landfill and Bacon Park convenience center will be closed. Recorders Court will close at 1 p.m. Thursday.
- Glynn County government offices will be closed to the public on Thursday and Friday.
- Live Oak Public Libraries: All branches will be closed Thursday through the weekend. They will reopen on Monday.
- Marshes of Glynn Public Libraries: All branches will be closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Due dates on materials will be extended until Monday, when the branches reopen.
Monitor tides, storm surges
Check points along the way through sensors set up by NOAA on its Coastal Inundation Dashboard.
Link to check smart sea-level sensors in Chatham and Bryan counties, St. Mary’s and Sapelo Island.
Learn more
- For expert explanations about forecasts and what’s going on, check out Chuck Watson’s blog at Enki Research or on Facebook at Enki Research.
- Keep up with National Hurricane Center updates.
- And, remember a few months ago when reporter Mary Landers wrote about saildrones and hurricane research through the UGA Skidaway Institute for Oceanography? Here’s a video from NOAA’s Saildrone Explorer as it took a wild ride inside Category 4 Hurricane Fiona last week.
County, other sources for info
Here are sources of information from Coastal Georgia to help plan for a hurricane or flooding event. Sign up for alerts and social media in your county, know your evacuation routes and zones when designated and be ready to leave for your own safety.
Georgia Power’s outage map shows outage sizes and expected restoration time.
Coastal Electric Cooperative’s outage map shows outage sizes and expected restoration time.
Georgia Emergency Management – ReadyGeorgia tips, evacuation routes
Make your home “ready kit”: Here’s a list of things you’ll need.
Evacuation planning guide, Georgia routes, Ga DOT social media for updates
Family communications planning
Know your alerts, warnings.
Key messaging, forecasts from the National Hurricane Center
Chatham County
Chatham Emergency Management – download the app, register for alerts
Will you need assistance in case of evacuation? Registry information and forms required. Apply NOW for the hurricane registry: 1-833-243-7344
Glynn County
Glynn County Emergency Management 912-554-7111
For radio advisories: FM104.9
Evacuation map, evacuation districts
Liberty County
Liberty County Emergency Management
Sign up for Liberty County alerts.
Follow LibertycountyEMA on Facebook for updates.
Camden County
Camden County Emergency Management
Camden County evacuation routes, maps, zones
Bryan County
Bryan County Emergency Management
McIntosh County
McIntosh County Emergency Management
Sign up for McIntosh County alert system
- It’s a good year for saw palmetto berries
There’s a bumper crop of saw palmetto berries this year in southeastern Georgia. And that’s led to a bumper crop of berry poachers.
The berries, which look like olives, are used in supplements purported to treat hair loss and prostate problems, among other maladies. Globally, saw palmetto berries are a $150 million business. They grow naturally in 14 counties of southeast Georgia and are picked by hand off the low growing bushes. As of late August, the Georgia Forestry Commission has received 50 complaints about berry poachers.
In response, the commission and local law enforcement agencies have issued 17 warrants, said commission spokeswoman Wendy Burnett, who also wrote about the issue in a recent blog.
During a high yield crop season like this one, illegally harvested berries have been estimated for a loss of $500,000 to landowners. A Georgia law passed in 2020 requires proper documentation, including written permission from the landowner, for the berries to be sold.
According to a commission investigator, landowners often do not notice the thefts until their property has been picked clean. Illegal harvesters operate day and night and may be dangerous if confronted. The commission urges landowners to report unauthorized activity to local law enforcement or the GFC.
“Theft by taking” of illegally harvested palmetto berries valued under $1,500 is a misdemeanor and is a felony if over $1,500.
Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is salt resistant and grows in all the coastal counties. Native Americans used the plant for food, medicine and basket making, the US Department of Agriculture reports, indicating “the Tequesta, Creek, Miccosukee, and Seminole gathered and ate the berries in late summer or fall.”
Plenty of animals also depend on saw palmettos for food, shelter or both. A 1996 study indicated saw palmetto is a keystone species in Florida where researchers found 100 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles and a host of insects rely on it.
Public lands including Dixon Memorial State Forest in Ware County, the site of research on palmetto berry production, and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge have had problems with illegal harvests in past years.
“Certainly that’s a problem that people have,” Burnett said. “Some of that maybe is a misconception that if it’s a public forest, you can go on and you can take things out.”
Harvest is generally prohibited on public land and only legal with the landowner’s written permission on private land.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Savannah-area officials plan to use climate incentives in Inflation Reduction Act
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act doesn’t have “climate” in its name but it’s described as the “most significant climate legislation ever enacted by Congress.”
It’s expected to bring an estimated $180 million of investment in large-scale clean power generation and storage to Georgia by 2030, add almost 110,000 clean energy jobs in the state over five years and provide rebates and tax credits for individuals buying electric vehicles or retrofitting their homes with solar panels or energy efficiency measures.
Savannah-area officials outlined recently how the act will cut costs for families, create jobs, boost local clean energy goals, and help protect the county from coastal flooding.
For Savannah, it offers opportunities to accelerate its “100% Savannah” program, initiated in March 2020, which aims to have all electricity consumed in the city provided by clean, safe and renewable sources by 2035. Its 2050 goal is to have all energy consumed in the city meet the same standard.
The city has already committed to $9 million in solar energy, with plans to cover the roofs of 20 municipal buildings in solar panels.
“This (federal legislation) gives us the ability through grant money to be even more ambitious to be able to rely on solar for more facilities throughout the city so that we can achieve 100% clean energy,” said Alderman Nick Palumbo at a press conference Wednesday co-hosted by Climate Action Campaign and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “And if it can work here in Savannah, it can work everywhere. …This unlocks the possibility not just for cities like Savannah but all over Georgia’s coast and in all of our country to be able to utilize the same programs we’re utilizing today and make it cost effective for them to get implemented well into the future.”
Savannah’s new solar is expected to provide workforce training as well as energy savings, Palumbo said. With a boost from the Inflation Reduction Act, he is eyeing plans to add solar to the city’s water treatment plan, which he calls an “energy hog” that costs about $8 million a year in electricity costs.
Mayor Van Johnson sees the funding available in the act as a way to “supercharge” the city’s installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Chris Carnevale of SACE; Chatham County Commissioner Aaron “Adot Whitely; AJ Jeanty of Creative Solar; and Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo “We recognize more people are coming here with electric vehicles,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have enough infrastructure. As we move forwards, from hybrid to electric vehicles, we need to have more ability to charge them.”
Savannah lists five city-sponsored public charging stations on its web site. It also has begun deploying electric vehicles as part of the city’s own fleet, beginning in 2018 with a successful pilot program for employees who enforce parking regulations. The city is now leasing electric vehicles and previously announced plans to make 20% of its 2,500 or so vehicles electric by the end of the year.
For the county, the tangible benefit is likely to be reduced flooding. Commissioner Aaron “Adot” Whitely recounted how his mother’s house in Carver Village flooded in 2016’s Hurricane Matthew, resulting in thousands of dollars in damages as well as lost sentimental items including photographs and high school yearbooks. Some Chatham County streets flood regularly, even with no hurricane in sight.
“I think the biggest takeaway is going to be the investment in our infrastructure for stormwater drainage,” Whitely said. “In just roadway and stormwater drainage, at this point, we have a lot of work to do to our drainage canals throughout the county.”
The Inflation Reduction Act’s 730 pages include an estimated 56 climate-related incentives and programs.
People are more aware of the Inflation Reduction Act’s consumer-facing incentives, like tax credits for going solar, and EVs, said Chris Carnevale, of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The legislation also provides grants and incentives for clean energy to local governments and nonprofits, which haven’t been able to take advantage of previous programs that offered only tax credits.
“There are also major programs investing in workforce development and growing domestic manufacturing,” Carnevale said. “One program in particular, that is of note, especially in Georgia is a production tax credit for businesses (available) for each component of a clean energy or clean transportation item that is produced and sold in the United States.”
The bill emphasizes clean energy jobs with a credit for manufacturers and installers that multiplies up to fivefold if the employer meets prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship requirements.
“There’s a major incentive to provide jobs, inroads into the industry, and reward companies that invest in the workforce,” he said.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- More electric buses coming to Chatham County
Chatham Area Transit plans to add four new electric buses to it fleet, bringing its total to 10 fully electric buses or 15% of its public transportation fleet.
A $6.8 million award, including a $5.4 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration, will pay for the new buses plus additional charging infrastructure and workforce development.
Local officials celebrated the grant in front of an electric bus at CAT headquarters last week.
“This project will help CAT reduce maintenance costs, provide better service to our customers, reduce our carbon footprint and further support workforce development,” said CAT Board Chairman Deidrick Cody.
CAT put its first six electric buses in service in April after beginning the process of evaluating them in 2017. This process is already a lot quicker.
“Little do we know this would turn around so fast. It’s just this past May we applied for this grant. And lo and behold, here it is.” said Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis. “And this is going to help us to improve our carbon footprint, it’s is going to help us with our fight against climate change, and ocean rise.”
Riders like the buses, CAT Executive Director Faye DiMassimo said. It helps that the vehicles are new, of course. They are also fully equipped with charging ports for cell phones. Some riders, though, have made it a point to compliment CAT on what electric buses do for the community.
“For those that are tuning in and paying attention to climate change, and our carbon footprint and those matters of the environment, we’re getting a lot of positive feedback from those folks not only for the experience of it, but for the actual doing,” DiMassimo said.
Given the several months it will take to get the grant money in hand and then accounting for supply chain issues, the new buses which aren’t expected to be on the streets for about 24 months.
Electric transportation is a key measure in the 100% Savannah Initiative, a program whose goals include getting all of the energy used in Savannah from safe, clean and renewable sources by 2035.
“This fits in very well to our 100% Savannah Initiative, which we are going hard and strong for, which includes electric vehicle infrastructure,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Civil Rights activists alarmed at Breonna Taylor-type death in Camden
Insights from The Current’s newsroom The death of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker killed in her home by Louisville, Ky., police during a botched raid from a no-knock warrant, inspired racial justice protests and, as of last week, federal charges against four officers involved in the raid.
In Camden County, civil rights activists and lawyers are raising fresh criticism about what they believe is a similar case in which Latoya James, a Black woman, was killed last year when sheriff deputies entered her cousin’s Woodbine home with a search warrant.
Lawyers for James’ family and the Camden chapter of the NAACP believes that both James and her relative, Varshan Brown, aren’t receiving due justice as a result of the law enforcement action. The NAACP chapter is seeking changes to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office policies that allowed her death to happen.
Lawyers for the family of Latoya James say they are outraged that the local district attorney has not only exonerated the deputies involved but also is instead prosecuting Varshan Brown for his cousin’s death.
James was killed in May 2021 when Camden County Sheriff’s deputies executed a drug-related search warrant at 4:51 a.m.
She was staying at the Woodbine home of Brown, whom the warrant was intended for. Deputies knocked and announced themselves, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, before entering the home and “an exchange of gunfire” erupted between Brown and deputies. In the chaos, James was killed by gunfire and Brown was injured.
It’s not clear from the GBI or the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s news releases on the killing whether the bullet that killed James was from her cousin Brown or from deputies.
District Attorney Keith Higgins – who was elected over indicted DA Jackie Johnson — announced in April he would not charge the officers involved in the raid. Instead, he is prosecuting her cousin for her murder.
“Following entry of the residence, a use of force incident occurred involving CCSO Deputy Downy Casey, CCSO Deputy Michael Blaquiere, and Varshan Brown,” the DA’s office wrote in a news release. “During the incident, Brown and another occupant of the residence, Latoya James, received gunshot wounds, and James was pronounced dead at the scene.”
A Camden County grand jury indicted Brown for James’ death because, according to a statement by the district attorney, “while in the commission of an Aggravated Assault upon a Public Safety Officer, Brown caused the death of Latoya James.”
Brown has pleaded not guilty to one count of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault on a public safety officer, one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to court records.
He’s awaiting trial while being held in the Brantley County jail.
DA Higgins’ office said it would not be making the investigative file of the shooting public while prosecutors pursue the charges against Brown.
The James’ family attorney and the Camden NAACP believe that the district attorney has not adequately investigated the use of force by the sheriff’s department.
“This is the case of an unarmed Black woman being shot during a botched or a bogus search warrant,” Malik Shabazz, an attorney for James’ family, told reporters last year.
The Camden County NAACP raised concerns last week after reviewing the body camera footage released by the GBI that recorded moments of last year’s raid. The civil rights activists say they believe the deputies acted in a similar fashion in Woodbine to the officers in Kentucky who executed the controversial no-knock warrant involved in Breonna Taylor’s death.
According to the group’s analysis of the footage, the police waited a mere three seconds before announcing themselves and the aggressive entry. That didn’t give Brown a reasonable amount of time to answer the door and resolve the matter peacefully.
An analysis by the Camden County NAACP of how quickly deputies went from knocking on the Woodbine home where Latoya James to bursting in with a battering ram. Only one deputy in the Woodbine raid had their body cameras turned on, according to the NAACP. That officer was carrying a riot shield that obstructed most of the camera’s view.
In Kentucky, state authorities prosecuted one officer in Breonna Taylor’s death (he was acquitted).
Last week, the Justice Department charged four current and former Louisville officers with violating civil rights law. The agency alleged the officers falsified the warrant leading to the raid and alleged one officer fired blindly into Taylor’s apartment.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Tybee’s sea turtle gets room to grow
A loggerhead sea turtle named Ike, age 2, made a short trip Friday to prepare him for a much longer journey he’ll undertake next year when he’s released into the Atlantic.
Chantal Audran, acting director of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, plucked Ike from his upstairs tank at the newly built beachfront museum and carried the 10-pounder downstairs to a 4,500-gallon fiberglass pool in the undercroft where Ike can more freely stretch his flippers. A group of sea campers scooched forward to get nose to nose with Ike at the tank’s viewing window.
With the campers cheering him on, Ike swam laps around his new home, surfaced for air, splashed Tybee Mayor Shirley Sessions and dispatched a live blue crab with ease.
“He’s so cute,” said Sessions, who delayed the start of her vacation to attend Ike’s “graduation.”
Tybee Island Marine Science Center Acting Director Chantal Audran with Ike, a 2-year-old loggerhead sea turtle. Staff at the marine science center rescued Ike in 2020 when he was a tiny straggler too weak to climb out of his North Beach nest on his own. He is the latest in a series of rescued loggerheads who serve as the center’s “marine debris ambassador.”
“You can’t care about something unless you know it,” Audran said. “And so once you attach a name — Ike — and an individual to a species — the loggerhead sea turtle. I believe that gives the stewardship to the human. Once you’ve made a connection, you care more about sea turtles. Once the education is there, once you’ve met an individual, you care that much more.”
Visitors still ask by name about Admiral, the sea turtle released last year, Audran said. Admiral was one of seven hatchlings a couple from Kentucky illegally snatched from the beach. The marine science center took custody of them when they were found in a hotel room at Admiral’s Inn on Tybee. Admiral’s siblings were released but she became a visitor favorite with her unusual backstory.
Loggerheads can’t easily be sexed, so the center alternates between male and female names and identities. Ike is named for Ikea, which has donated to the center.
Ike’s new tank is the largest in the science center’s history, 25 times larger than where he lived previously. It will allow Ike and his successors to strengthen their muscles and sharpen their hunting skills before they’re released. Overhead lights provide Ike with the UV light he needs to grow properly.
To keep the turtle safe and answer visitors’ questions, a staffer will remain nearby during visiting hours. At night, a custom-made cover will keep out any wily local predators like raccoons.
Visitors greet Ike the sea turtle in his new tank at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. On Friday, Audran made note of the bubbles exiting Ike’s tail end. “Those are turtle farts,” she stage whispered to the delighted campers.
Ike will remain in his new tank until next year, when he’s released into the ocean. Until then staffers will keep him well fed. Along with the blue crab, his welcoming meal included a heart-shaped ring of frozen shrimp.
“He needs the room to move around to gain muscle,” Audran said. “It’s important that when he gets released next year he’s nice and plump.”
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Files show Savannah cop disciplined before shooting Carver Village man
A Savannah police officer who has been scrutinized after shooting and killing a Carver Village man last month was disciplined three times for not turning on his body camera before traffic stops in Savannah.
Officer Ernest Ferguson, 27, shot and killed Saudi Arai Lee, 31, on June 24. Since he has been on paid leave while the shooting is investigated, records published by The Current last week showed how Ferguson was previously disciplined and investigated for use-of-force incidents in his year-long stint as a Coastal State Prison guard.
Now, new records obtained by The Current show Ferguson also had trouble following the rules after he got hired by the Savannah Police Department in April 2021.
During a seven-month period, Ferguson’s superiors wrote him up three times for violating policy on body-worn cameras.
Officer Ernest Ferguson In three incidents between November 2021 to May 2022, a month and a half before Lee’s shooting, Ferguson didn’t start up his body-worn camera during traffic stops, according to documents obtained via public records request.
That’s against Savannah Police rules. Ferguson is supposed to turn on his body camera at the start of an interaction. A Jan. 7 report notes that Ferguson turned on his body-camera after a traffic stop had ended and the subject fled.
“You have it initiated when you go to make a traffic stop. Activate your BWC at that point,” an officer instructs him afterwards, in an exchange captured in the footage.
Body-worn cameras (BWC) provide a layer of transparency for police departments, when, in the past, it used to be a police officer’s word against a citizen’s. The footage can also be the deciding factor for prosecutors when deciding whether or not a police officer should be taken to court for indictment and conviction after criminal accusations.
The Chatham County District Attorney’s office cited the body-camera footage in the Savannah Police shooting of Maurice Mincey in July 2021, when clearing the officer of criminal wrongdoing.
Ferguson’s three written reprimands for not turning on his body-worn camera raise questions in the Carver Village shooting last month, where activists have already been calling for the footage’s release.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into Lee’s shooting in Carver Village while Ferguson is on paid administrative leave.
Asked whether or not Ferguson’s body-camera footage captured the June 24 shooting, GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles confirmed “there is police body-worn camera for this case” but did not elaborate whose footage that was.
According to a GBI press release, Ferguson and another officer stopped Lee, who immediately showed his wallet saying it had a weapons permit in it.
He then “lifted his shirt and pulled a weapon from a holster.”
The release only says a chase “ensued,” and Lee was shot.
Since Ferguson’s history at Coastal State Prison has come to light, activists have questioned why he was even hired by the department in the first place.
The Savannah Police Department previously said a background investigation revealed no issues when Ferguson was hired.
“At the time of his hire, there were no documented issues or causes for concern with this officer; therefore, there were no additional requirements placed upon this officer,” the Savannah Police Department wrote in a statement.
On Monday, Rev. Alan Mainor, of the Savannah-chapter of The Racial Justice Network, held a press conference lambasting Mayor Van Johnson for dismissing criticisms and asking for transparency from the police department.
“We all know he was at Coastal State Prison beating on inmates,” Mainor said. “Why was he hired?”
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
This story was updated to correct the information on the background information. The information came from the Savannah Police Department.
- Bipartisan vote for same-sex marriage doesn’t include Carter
In a rare show of bipartisanship, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 267-157 to write same-sex marriage into federal law, as lawmakers sought to shore up hard-won rights that it fears the right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court could take away.
Coastal Georgia’s representative in Congress, Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, wasn’t among the 47 Republicans who joined Democrats in approving the Respect for Marriage Act. The measure also would protect interracial marriage and repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
In a statement provided by his office on Wednesday explaining his vote, Rep. Carter said the issues raised in the legislation were already “settled law,” adding: “I came to Congress to vote on real issues that improve Georgia’s First District, not rushed legislation based on fearmongering rhetoric from the left.”
Still, more than political bluster and posturing appear to be behind the fear of the bill’s sponsors and supporters that without federal legislation, previously secured rights on marriage and contraception might be rolled back by the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority. The Court ruled in 2015 that state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.
The constitutional right to abortion was considered “settled law” until the Court last month overturned Roe v. Wade in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
In his concurring opinion in Dobbs, Coastal Georgia’s Clarence Thomas said the high court shouldn’t stop with abortion and other rights thought “settled.” The Pin Point native recommended that as a next move, it strike down a half century’s worth of “demonstrably erroneous” precedents establishing the right to contraception, the right to same-sex sexual conduct, and the right to same-sex marriage.
In the wake of Tuesday’s vote, Wade Herring, Carter’s Democratic opponent in this fall’s election, called the incumbent “dangerously extreme” and said his rival had “once again demonstrated that he puts politics and division before basic human rights and the people he is supposed to represent.“We cannot return to a time when marriages were banned because of race or sex,” Herring said in a statement late Wednesday. “We are a diverse nation, with widely differing views and belief systems, but I remain convinced that we can find a way to live together as neighbors in our democracy.”
The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate for action. Majority Leader Charles Schumer said Wednesday he was working to gather support for the measure.
The Tide brings news and observations from The Current staff.
- Army Corps postpones dredging until sea turtles finish nesting
Earlier this summer, Catherine Ridley of the nonprofit conservation group One Hundred Miles learned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to dredge a million cubic yards of material from the Brunswick Harbor just as loggerhead sea turtles were nesting at a record pace on the Georgia coast.
Ridley knows that hopper dredges and sea turtles don’t mix. In fact, the Corps reported killing, injuring or otherwise “taking” seven sea turtles while dredging in Brunswick in March, well before nesting beckoned even more turtles back to Georgia waters.
“So anyone who is paying attention knows that if the Corps pushes this forward and begins dredging in the middle of loggerhead nesting season, they’re going to have blood on their hands,” Ridley said Thursday.
But shortly after Ridley made that statement the Corps did an about-face on the dredging decision.
A juvenile loggerhead glides to the water’s surface at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center in 2018. “To confirm, the Corps had an opportunity to dredge Brunswick Harbor starting Aug. 1, 2022. However, after further consideration we have decided to forego the opportunity,” Savannah Corps spokeswoman Cheri Pritchard wrote in an email Friday. “Our next scheduled hopper dredging event for the Brunswick Harbor entrance channel will begin no earlier than Dec. 15, 2022. We understand the importance of minimizing the loss of endangered species and have been coordinating with the National Marine Fisheries Service and other sea turtle experts so USACE can continue to reduce the probability of harm to wildlife (take) on future projects.”
Loggerheads are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Other sea turtles are also found in Georgia waters and beaches, including the rarer and more petite Kemp’s Ridley, which is listed as endangered; and the green turtle, a hard-shelled herbivore named for its green fat tissue. Greens are also threatened.
But loggerheads are the focus of turtle conservation on Georgia beaches from Little Tybee to Cumberland. As of Friday, loggerheads had laid 3,604 nests on Georgia beaches this summer. Nesting peaks in June but typically continues into August. This year could rival the totals in 2019 when researchers counted a record 3,950 nests.
Hopper Dredge Terrapin Island in Miami Despite its stated commitment to harm reduction, the Corps in May finalized an environmental study for Brunswick Harbor’s widening, expansion, operation and maintenance that indicated using a hopper dredge in the summer would have no significant impact on sea turtles or other endangered aquatic life.
Savannah District commander Col. Joseph Geary then rescinded a policy limiting hopper dredge usage in Brunswick Harbor.
One Hundred Miles and other wildlife advocates had opposed the conclusion of the corps’ study.
In early July, Ridley received notice from the Corps that it would be using Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company’s Terrapin Island hopper dredge for approximately 25-30 days of dredging in Brunswick.
A hopper dredge works like a giant vacuum cleaner, slurping up sand and anything else, including sea turtles, in its path.
“It’s not an easy death for these animals that are sucked up and just chopped into pieces, essentially,” Ridley said.
Along with seasonal timing to reduce harm, advocates would like to see fewer hopper dredges employed around sea turtles.
“You know, there are other dredges available. And certainly, we would challenge the corps with all of their resources and their expertise to put their attention to finding the dredge that doesn’t kill turtles,” Ridley said. “They certainly are smart enough to do that.”
The Tide brings news, notes and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Mining company sues Army Corps over project near Okefenokee
Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals filed suit against the Army Corps of Engineers last week, claiming the federal agency erred when it bowed to “stakeholder pressure” earlier this month and made it harder for the company to get permits to mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Twin Pines has proposed mining for titanium dioxide and other heavy minerals about three miles from the edge of the Okefenokee along a line of ancient sand dunes called Trail Ridge. Conservation groups have protested the project since it was first proposed in 2019, saying it threatens to disrupt the flow of water into and out of the environmentally and culturally important swamp.
In 2020 and 2021, the Corps had examined the land to be mined and determined that none of it was subject to the Corps’ jurisdiction. Because the federal government lacked jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to regulate this project, Twin Pines needed only state permits to proceed, the Corps indicated.
But on June 3 the Corps’ reversed that decision saying it had failed to consult properly with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which has long-standing ties to the Okefenokee area. The land in and around the refuge, the largest east of the Mississippi, is believed to contain numerous burial grounds.
With more than 400,000 acres of remote wilderness, the Okefenokee Swamp is among Georgia’s wildest places. It is home to some 200 species of birds and 50 reptiles, including American alligators and snowy egrets. In its filing, Twin Pines maintains “The Twin Pines Approved Jurisdictional Determinations were issued in compliance with all laws, regulations, and policies — including the tribal consultation policy — in effect when they were issued.”
More specifically, the company contends that the Corps has not historically had a policy of consulting with tribes on determining its regulatory authority over wetlands.
Through its spokesperson Chip Stewart, Twin Pines declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Effects questioned
Josh Marks, an environmental attorney who was a leader in the fight against the Dupont Company’s mining proposal’s in the 1990s, said Twin Pines “simply can’t be trusted.”
“This lawsuit is disappointing but not surprising, as it is yet another example of how TPM simply can’t be trusted,” he wrote in an email. “Right after the Corps of Engineers announced its decision, Steve Ingle, Twin Pine’s president, said he was fine with it, that Twin Pines would follow the regulations before them at any given time, he was not surprised by the change, and Twin Pines has no say in what regulatory agencies do. But now only three weeks later he has flip flopped. The most glaring previous example was when he told the Corps and the State of Georgia in certified permit applications that Twin Pines had a lease on the neighbor’s property for mining, which was totally false.”
Twin Pines’ complaint states, “The mining process is environmentally benign.”
Marks disagrees.
An aerial view of Twin Pines Minerals’ staging area in Charlton County. Photo by Joseph Kelly for Georgia River Network “This flies in the face of the overwhelming scientific consensus that Twin Pines project will in fact lower the swamp’s water level, as evidenced by reports from two of the nation’s preeminent hydrologists at UGA and a letter signed by over 40 scientists last year,” Marks wrote. “And contrary to their statement that the titanium dioxide they seek is desperately needed, the largest titanium dioxide producer in the country, Chemours, stated only a few months ago that there was ample titanium dioxide supply for the next 10+ years and that they had no intent to buy or mine titanium dioxide from next to the Okefenokee.”
Marks called for Twin Pines to “abandon their plans and instead commit to permanently protect the Okefenokee for current and future generations.”
Who’s involved
Attorneys filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Waycross on Wednesday. Mark D. Johnson of Gilbert, Harrell Sumerford & Martin P.C. in Brunswick, and Lewis Jones and John L. Fortuna of Jones Fortuna LP in Decatur are representing Twin Pines.
The complaint names both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plus five individuals within the Army and the Corps as defendants. They are: Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Michael L. Connor, Chief of Engineers Ltg. Scott A. Spellmon, Commander of the South Atlantic Division Jason E. Kelly, and Commander of the Savannah District Col. Joseph R. Geary.
An Army spokesman indicated the Army does not comment on ongoing litigation.
Editor’s note: This article was updated June 28 with a photo credit for the aerial photo of Twin Pines’ staging area.
- Quick look: Coastal Georgia runoff races of note
Tuesday’s runoff election featured a number of local races affecting Coastal Georgia. Here’s the results from the most-watched contests:
Democrats in Georgia’s First District selected Wade Herring to battle the incumbent Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter this fall to represent Coastal Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Herring, a corporate lawyer and well-known community activist from Savannah, beat three-time Democratic candidate Joyce Griggs, in Tuesday’s runoff by leveraging a huge war chest and a well-oiled advertising campaign that focused on bread-and-butter party issues such as access to abortion and gun control.
By 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Herring had 61.9% of the 20,642 votes counted, according to unofficial results posted by the Georgia Secretary of State.
In Glynn County Rick Townsend, the longtime local education advocate, beat his Republican rival Bob Duncan to represent their party in the race for the solidly conservative state House District 179 this fall.
Republican challenger Mike Hodges, who campaigned on his background as a University of Georgia Bulldog, just like Republican Herschel Walker, also won his party runoff for the District 3 state senate race. The seat represents Glynn and McIntosh residents in the upper house of the state legislature. Hodges beat rival Jeff Jones by a two-to-one margin.
In Chatham County, lawyer Joe Huffman outpaced Richard Sanders to become the new judge for Recorders Court. Sanders had received the most votes in the primary May 24, but did not have enough in that three-way race to reach the 50.1% threshold necessary to avoid a runoff. Huffman, who had the endorsement of Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher, pulled in more votes Tuesday night and won more than 61% of the votes, according to unofficial results.
Although most of Tuesday’s runoff races were for Democratic Party candidates, the Recorder’s Court Judge race is nonpartisan. It had the highest turnout of all runoff contests in Chatham County, indicating that hundreds of Republicans or Independents also turned up to cast a ballot for this crucial position that decides issues of bail in misdemeanor criminal cases.
The marquee race in Coastal Georgia, however, was the Democratic runoff for the U.S. House of Representatives contest this fall.
Griggs, who often cited her hardscrabble life as the daughter of sharecroppers, her meritorious career as an U.S. Army officer and her work for low-income Black families as reasons that she would make a great elected official, handily won the primary, but failed to reach the simple majority of votes cast last month.
- Trial for Glynn County police chief, officers indicted for misconduct moved to early 2023
The trial for four former Glynn County Police officers, including its chief, who were accused of covering up misconduct in the department’s narcotics unit, has been pushed to early 2023.
The trial was scheduled for August 22, for the Glynn County Police Department officials indicted for allegedly covering up a narcotics officer’s affair with an informant and failing to investigate different narcotics officers upon learning they acted unethically.
Scheduling conflicts with the officers’ lawyers caused the case to be rescheduled for early 2023, according to a court order on Friday. An official date has not yet been set.
The delayed trial date will mark nearly three years since charges were filed against former Chief John Powell, former Chief of Staff Brian Scott, former Capt. David Hassler, and former Sgt. David Haney on Feb. 28, 2020.
Five days before that, a Black man went for a run in Glynn County and never made it home.
The man, 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, was chased and killed by three white men in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. One of those men was a former Glynn County Police officer and former investigator with the Brunswick Judicial District Attorney’s office.
All three men were eventually convicted of murder and other charges and then later convicted on federal hate crimes charges. The district attorney would later be voted out of office and indicted for allegedly showing favor to the men convicted of killing Arbery.
But it took time and national outrage to reach that result. The Glynn County Police Department and the DA’s office initially displayed inertia in the weeks after Arbery was killed — it was indicative of a greater culture of ducking accountability at the agencies, according to a previous investigation by The Current.
That culture became apparent in 2018, when Glynn County residents empaneled for the grand jury took it on themselves to investigate the lack of oversight in the police department – leading to the 2020 misconduct indictments brought against the four Glynn County Police officers.
Most of the charges have to do with the officers violating their oath of office in which they vowed to “faithfully discharge (their) duties fairly and impartially” for the Glynn County Police Department.
Former Glynn County Police Department Chief John Powell Lawyers for Powell, Scott, Haney and Hassler sought to get the charges dismissed by the judge, claiming the charges were too vague and not actually criminal, court filings show. Violating police policy was not the same as breaking the law, they argued.
“Prosecuting public officials, including police officers, requires a statute that clearly sets forth the element of the offense and may not be left open to general standards of behavior that the prosecutor or the community expects of public officials,” argued David Haney’s lawyers, Donald Samuel and Amanda Clark Palmer, of Atlanta in November 2021.
Brunswick Judge Anthony Harrison disagreed and denied their motions.
The men were first accused of failing to investigate after being notified several times that an officer in the Glynn/Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team had an “innapropriate sexual relationship” with a confidential informant, according to the indictments.
In late 2017, different investigators within GBNET told superiors that officer James Cassada was having an affair with an informant, the indictments say. Even Cassada’s wife told officers, but no internal investigation nor administrative action was ever started as a result, the indictments allege.
Cassada was having affairs with “one or more informants who were providing information to the police about drug offenses” and had problems with alcohol, Haney’s lawyers wrote in a filing.
The affair created problems for criminal prosecution, calling both the officer and the informant’s credibility into question, and led to the dismissal of dozens of drug charges, according to an article in The Brunswick News.
Cassada resigned from the force while under investigation in February 2019, his file states.
Chief Powell and his chief of staff, Scott, were also indicted for failing to start internal investigations after learning that a narcotics officer had a close friendship with a man convicted of selling methamphetamine.
Glynn County Police Department vehicle Powell also failed to investigate after he learned GBNET officers were working rogue investigations without approval in Camden County and in Florida, the indictment alleges.
In the Florida case, GBNET officers asked a Glynn County Police officer to initiate a traffic stop on Feb. 22, 2018.
Then, when the traffic stop led to a crash where a passenger died, the GBNET officers asked that it be omitted “from (the officer’s) official report involving a fatality that GBNET officers had in fact initiated the traffic stop,” the indictment states.
Powell never started an internal investigation, it states.
Chief Powell and Scott (who was serving as Vidalia’s police chief when indicted) were both fired from their jobs, their files show. Hassler and Haney both retired in 2019.
- Spaceport Camden leader continues job hunt in Florida
Camden County Administrator Steve Howard, who also serves as the project leader for Spaceport Camden, was among three finalists who interviewed with the Seminole (Florida) County Commission Friday for the county administrator position.
After the public interviews, which were streamed live online, the five-member commission rejected all three candidates and voted to start its search again with a new search firm.
Howard became Camden Administrator 15 years ago and added the role of Spaceport Camden project leader in 2014. He’s been a staunch advocate of the controversial project, which aims to launch small commercial rockets from a former industrial site over Cumberland Island National Seashore.
Camden County Administrator and Spaceport Camden Project Leader Steve Howard is shown during a job interview in Seminole County Friday. But he’s also been job hunting as opposition to the spaceport has put the project in limbo.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued Camden a launch site operator’s license in December but in a March referendum voters turned out in a nearly three to one margin against the spaceport. The referendum is now the subject of a lawsuit, with the Georgia Supreme Court expected to rule on its legitimacy this summer. Meanwhile, conservation groups have sued the FAA over the issuance of the license, say the agency did not properly evaluate the project’s harmful impacts on public health, private property, and the environment.
Howard did not include any information about the spaceport in his resume or cover letter to Seminole County, a public records response indicates. But asked by a commissioner Friday about his experience with the private sector in his current role, Howard pointed to Spaceport Camden.
“I recognize you’re not going to do a spaceport in Seminole, but I’ve had the luxury of working with SpaceX, Blue Origin, Bill Gates, some companies associated with Bill Gates as well. So all that’s private sector driven,” he said.
The county has not made public any agreements with any commercial rocket companies. Camden has spent $11 million on the spaceport project but has not yet purchased the land for the facility or built any infrastructure. Camden’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year does not earmark any money for spaceport.
During the Seminole County Commission meeting’s public comment period, resident Nancy Harmon said she had lived in Camden County and worked at King’s Bay Naval Base. She praised Howard’s work on spaceport as “great” for diversifying the economy but said the environment in the county “sucks.” She had issues with how Howard’ could play two roles at once.
“He’s an industry man. He’s worked very hard with industry to get what he wants,” she said. “And he was the executive (for) spaceport the whole time pretty much that he was their administrator. I have an issue with that. I think that’s a conflict of interest. I don’t think that was very professional.”
Shortly after interviewing Howard and the two other finalists the Seminole Commission voted unanimously to reject the candidates and start the search process anew. The commission agreed none of the men was a good fit for their needs.
Howard is still one of six finalists for a county manager position in Collier County, Fla. That county commission expects to hear presentations from the finalists at its meeting on June 14.
In late April, Howard said told The Current he was honored to be a finalist for the position. “Me and my wife have family in the region,” he said. “Collier County, Florida has a population of over 384,000 and the current manager’s salary is $230,000.”
- The Tide: Runoff debates set June 6
There are a few runoff elections in Coastal Georgia on June 21, and there are three statewide. GPB.org will stream the debates live on June 6 and show two of them that evening on GPB-TV. The Atlanta Press Club debates will be:
- 2:15 p.m. Monday, June 6: Democratic candidates for Secretary of State: Dee Dawkins-Haigler and Bee Nguyen.
- 3:15 p.m. Monday: Democratic candidates for Lieutenant Governor: Charlie Bailey and Kwanza Hall.
- 4:30 p.m. Monday: Democratic candidates for Insurance Commissioner: Raphael Baker and Janice Laws Robinson.
- 5:30 p.m. Monday: Democratic candidates for Labor Commissioner: William Boddie and Nicole Horn.
- 7 p.m. Monday: GPB-TV showing for Secretary of State debate recorded earlier
- 7:30 p.m. Monday: GPB-TV showing for Lieutenant Governor debate recorded earlier
Here are links to earlier recorded primary candidate debates:
- Candidates for Georgia Secretary of State: Democrats, May 2, sponsored by Georgia Public Broadcasting and Atlanta Press Club.
- Candidates for Georgia Insurance Commissioner: Democrats, May 2. Sponsored by Georgia Public Broadcasting and Atlanta Press Club.
- Candidates for Georgia Lieutenant Governor: Democrats, May 3. Sponsored by Georgia Public Broadcasting and Atlanta Press Club.
The Tide brings observations, news from The Current GA staff members.
- The Tide: Presentation shows segregated history of Savannah facilities, parks
The City of Savannah’s Municipal Archives is a massive trove of history. And this week, in partnership with Georgia Southern University, it posted a new online exhibit “Jim Crow in Savannah’s Parks,” examining how Savannah denied Black people access to the best public parks and recreational facilities — and how Black taxpayers paid for a superior park system for whites.
The multimedia work was prepared by Jeffrey M. Ofgang, an intern with the City of Savannah’s Municipal Archives who now holds a Public History Graduate Certificate from Georgia Southern University. The exhibit utilizes the city archives to show how segregation manifested in planning documents, news stories, city code, meetings and engineering department work for parks, playgrounds, pools, sports, and cemeteries. Hosted by GSU University Libraries, the exhibit can be accessed at https://georgiasouthern.libguides.com/savannahparks.
It’s fairly common to hear long-timers say Savannah had a progressive reputation when it comes to segregation, having avoided violent reactions to integration. And historians have noted that, as well. However, these documents make it clear that racial segregation was codified and intentional. Take something as straightforward as park benches. City officials ordered them moved to stop Black people from enjoying them. Planning documents also show that park and recreational facilities like Grayson Stadium, the home of Savannah’s minor league baseball team where greats such as Babe Ruth played, were designed and engineered for segregation.
The historic journey shows official change arrived only after public action through economic boycotts and the ballot box.
A companion “Hungry for History” talk is available online at https://youtu.be/WT3-25oVS14. The Tide brings news and observations from The Current’s staff.
- Tybee bans beach smoking
Tybee City Council on Thursday passed an ordinance to prohibit smoking on the island’s beaches beginning June 1.
The measure passed by a 4-3 vote, as expected. More than half a dozen in the audience who wore white t-shirts identifying each as a “Tybee clean beach volunteer” cheered at the passage. However, as Mayor Shirley Sessions cast her tie-breaking vote, another man seated in the front row shouted expletives and stormed out of the meeting.
Cigarette butts are the most common item littered on beaches not just on Tybee, but all over, the Ocean Conservancy reports. Their filters are typically plastic and pose a threat to birds and sea life that mistake them for food. At the first reading of the ordinance in April, members of the anti-litter group Fight Dirty Tybee demonstrated the extent of the problem with 5-gallon buckets full of cigarette butts they collected from beach sweeps.
Several Charleston-area beaches have banned smoking but Tybee is the first in Georgia to do so.
Tybee won’t issue fines at first, at the suggestion of City Council Member Monty Parks.
“I’d like to amend any motion made to be that this would be effective June 1, to allow staff and the city time to get signage together,” he said. “And that for the first three weeks, we issue warnings, instead of coming down like thunder.”
The ordinance doesn’t specify a fine, but Tybee’s web site indicates all beach related fines are $300, including smoking or vaping in the current no-smoking area on the beach between 14th and 16th streets.
Included in the ban are e-cigarettes.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to smoke, vape or use tobacco or related products on
any beach on Tybee Island,” the ordinance reads. “This prohibition on smoking, vaping or using tobacco or related products extends into the ocean and includes all crosswalks to the beach as well as the pier.”With litter from cigarette butts the main concern with beach smoking, Council Member Barry Brown asked why vaping was included.
Councilman Brian West explained that the vaping devices have small parts including caps.
“They have little battery packs,” West said. “The stick itself can be left behind; they can forget they had it,” he said. “So there are loads of little pieces of plastic and I understanding Clean Beach picks up a lot of those as well.”
- The Tide: Camden leader job hunts in Florida without spaceport on his resume
Camden County Administrator and Spaceport Camden Project Leader Steve Howard is job hunting in Florida as the spaceport’s viability is being litigated.
The Naples Daily News last week named Howard as one of seven finalists for the position of Collier County manager, a position the south Florida county expects to fill by July 1.
Camden County has spent $11 million and more than seven years on its plans to develop a spaceport on a former industrial site owned by Union Carbide. In December the project reached a milestone when the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Launch Site Operator’s License for Spaceport Camden.
But legal limbo followed. In March, voters in a special referendum rejected the land purchase by nearly 3 to 1 margin. County officials, including Howard, say the referendum was illegal. The state Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter this summer. In the meantime the county is moving forward with the purchase against the expressed wishes of the voters.
An open records request to Collier County revealed that Howard did not mention Spaceport Camden on the five-page resume or accompanying cover letter he submitted March 27, 2022. Howard has been the county administrator in Camden since 2007. He was named as spaceport project leader in 2014.
“In summary I am a motivated professional who offers you a background of solid performance and accomplishments in implementing programs that promote quality and efficiency and responsible and responsive government,” Howard wrote in his cover letter.
Asked to comment on the omission of Spaceport Camden and why he was job hunting, Howard ignored the first question and addressed only the latter.
“I was honored to hear that I was one of seven candidates selected by the Collier County Board of Commissioners” he wrote in an email. “Me and my wife have family in the region. Collier County, Florida has a population of over 384,000 and the current manager’s salary is $230,000.”
Howard was named as a finalist for the Fort Myers city manager position last year, and in 2018 he was a finalist for the manager’s job in Pinellas County but withdrew, the Naples Daily News reported.
Howard promoted the spaceport at a Savannah Exchange Club luncheon on April 11, saying the license was worth $90 million and the money spent so far was only 4% of the county’s budget. He also downplayed the significance of the referendum, emphasizing the low voter turnout and what he saw as confusing phrasing of the referendum question. He believes the county will prevail in court.
“That’s actually literally being litigated,” he told the Exchange Club regarding the referendum. “Now, we’re pretty confident that the board of commissioners will win that.”
The Tide brings notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Taxes and the .001%
As the national tax deadline looms, ProPublica has released new entries in its yearlong library of stories and easy-to-read graphics based on Internal Revenue Service files from 2013 to 2018. The stories from the nonprofit news sites’ reporters and data analysts explains who are the billionaires, how they got that way and how they are taxed. It’s instructional on how and why the policies over time became the tax code we all rely on.
If you’re reading about President Joe Biden’s push to enact a flat tax for billionaires as well as the other plans suggested this campaign year, this package will help you figure out what you believe about the code and how it can evolve for all. Keep in mind, billionaires are in is a pretty lofty space: It will take the average American 25,000 years to earn a $1 billion.
Here’s a list and links to the stories so you can work through them as you choose.
• America’s highest earners and their taxes revealed: A look at who the earners are, how their wealth is taxed and why the rates differ. A basic primer on the system as it affects those with more than average earnings from wages and investments.
• America’s top 15 earners and what they reveal about the U.S. tax system: Leaked IRS data shows tho reported the most income in America from 2013-2018, as well as their tax rates.
• The great inheritors: How three families shielded their fortunes from taxes for generations: A history lesson on the tax avoidance and savvy investing that highlights the conflict between keeping the fortune you earned and contributing fairly to the public good.
• How these ultrawealthy politicians avoided paying taxes: Through the holdings of two governors and a former cabinet member, this story guides us through how politicians exploit loopholes in the code and have access to knowledge that helps them build wealth on the taxpayers’ time.
• These real estate and oil tycoons avoided paying taxes for years: This story spotlights the world of the ultrawealthy where generating millions can show up as major losses on a tax filings.
• The billonaire playbook: How sports owners use their teams to avoid millions in taxes: Owning a sports franchise may seem like a vanity purchase to most of us, but it’s real business and there are lucrative tax reasons the sports world draws so many wealthy investors.
• The secret IRS files: Trove of never-before-seen records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax: This is the first of the stories from the load of IRS files leaked to ProPublica. it revealed that billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloombert, Carl Icahn and George Soros have managed to avoid federal tax completely at various times over the years. The story takes us through how that happens and “demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Prosecution, defense rest in Arbery hate-crimes trial
Prosecutors in the federal hate crimes case against Ahmaud Arbery’s three murderers spent 4½ days this week putting jarring and horrifying facts into the public record:
- Jurors heard a witness testify that defendant Greg McMichael once referred to an African American woman as a “walrus” and that upon the death of Julian Bond, Georgia’s venerated Civil Rights leader, McMichael remarked that the former legislator and other Black leaders were “troublemakers” who deserved to be “put in the ground.” Those remarks came while Greg was working as an investigator for the District Attorney’s office.
- Jurors also heard a White woman testify Friday that Travis McMichael often belittled her with crude language and racist slurs because she had once dated a Black man. They also saw photos of a Confederate flag sticker in a utility box on Travis’s truck, the vehicle he and his father used to chase Arbery on the day they killed him. And they read comments Travis made on Facebook about shooting Black protestors and Black people.
- Finally, jurors heard and read years of text messages between William “Roddie” Bryan and his close friends in which they routinely denigrated Black people, accusing them of criminality, laziness and deceit. When he learned that his daughter was dating a Black man he wrote that she “doesn’t have respect for herself.”
At approximately 1:40 pm Friday, the government rested its case, convinced that they had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that these three former Glynn County residents were guilty of the multiple federal charges they face.
Travis, 36, his father Greg, 66, and Bryan, 52, are charged with one count of interference with Arbery’s civil rights and with one count of attempted kidnapping for threatening him while he was jogging on a public street. The McMichaels were also charged with one count each of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm, and Travis McMichael faces an additional count of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Each man has pleaded not guilty.
All three were convicted in state court of murder on Nov. 24, 2020. All three are facing life in prison for that crime. A federal conviction on any of these charges would add additional time onto that sentence — and ensure they are branded racist killers, not simply convicted murderers.
Only one of the three defense lawyers, the man representing Greg McMichael, put witnesses on the stand to further the defense of his client. The other two lawyers told Judge Lisa S. Wood that they would not be mounting a defense.
American courts do not require defendants to put up any defense — instead the burden of guilt is put entirely on the prosecutor. Jurors will have to determine whether prosecutors succeeded in meeting that high bar linking the three men’s views of Black people with their actions on Feb. 23, 2020, when they chased and killed Arbery.
Attorney A.J. Balbo called two Satilla Shores residents to the stand on behalf of the elder McMichael and each testified to the fear of crime in the neighborhood, as well as to Greg’s concern for another suspicious person in the vicinity of their majority white subdivision. That person was a white vagrant.
The defense believes that bringing this testimony to court will show that the McMichaels were equally concerned with both white and Black strangers in the area of Satilla Shores and thus undermine the government’s case.
In opening statements, Balbo, said his client Greg was not “an angel,” but was also not a racist. Balbo said Arbery was not followed because he was a Black man, but because he was “the man” the McMichaels recognized in security videos trespassing at a neighbor’s home that was under construction.”
“The killing of Ahmaud Arbery was a tragic and horrible event that didn’t need to happen and could have been prevented in so many ways,” Balbo told the jury.
By 3 p.m. the defense had rested and court had adjourned, after Judge Wood ruled against a defense motion to drop all charges against their clients.
On Monday, prosecutors and defense will make lengthy closing arguments to the jury.
The 12 jury members include 8 whites, 3 Blacks and 1 Hispanic and they come from all 43 counties which are included in the U.S. Southern District of Georgia, including Augusta, Dublin, Tybee and Statesboro.
Both the prosecutors and defense attorneys have said that though racist slurs and language was reprehensible, it was not illegal — a consensus that points to the difficulty in reaching guilty verdicts in hate crimes cases across America.
Less than 1% of all reported hate crimes make it to trial, and an even smaller number result in a conviction. That’s in large part because of the difficulty proving to juries that racism was the prime motive for violence or murder, according to criminal justice experts.
The Tide brings updates and observations on news from The Current staff.
- Jury hears opening arguments about motives in Arbery case
Are Ahmaud Arbery’s killers merely murderers, or are they racist murderers?
That’s the essential question that the jury in the federal hate crimes case that got underway Monday will have to answer over the next two weeks.
Although plenty of people in Glynn County and Brunswick, including Ahmaud Arbery’s family, believe this should be an open-and-shut case, the bar is high for the federal prosecutors leading the case against Travis and Greg McMichael and their former neighbor from Satilla Shores, William “Roddie” Bryan to prove this fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury impaneled to hear testimony at the federal courthouse on Gloucester Street in downtown Brunswick are citizens who come from all 43 counties which comprise the U.S. Southern District of Georgia, from Augusta to Dublin to Richmond Hill. The 12 jury members include 8 whites, 3 Blacks and 1 Hispanic.
Another four jurors are alternates, people who will be able to determine guilt or innocence should members of the 12-person panel fall sick or be excused for other reasons during the trial, which is expected to last 7 to 12 days.
All three defendants are charged with one count of interference with Arbery’s civil rights and with one count of attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also charged with one count each of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm, and Travis McMichael faces an additional count of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Each man has pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution was quick to lay out its case, pointing to private communications and often repeated views each of the three defendants had toward Black people, a pattern of behavior, language and opinion that even each man’s defense counsel conceded to the jury was “reprehensible.”
Bobbi Bernstein, a government prosecutor who works at the Department of Justice Civil Rights division, laid out some of the evidence of the men’s alleged racist thinking in her 30-minute opening statement Monday afternoon.
She said Travis McMichael referred to Black people as “animals,” “criminals,” “monkeys,” “subhuman savages” and “niggers.”
Bernstein also described a time that Gregory McMichael described his animosity toward Georgia’s revered civil rights leader Julian Bond. When told of Bond’s death, he told a person that he was glad Bond had died, because he, like all Blacks, were “troublemakers.” That witness will be presented in court later in the trial.
As for Bryan, the prosecutor said that his racial animus was expressed clearly in the days leading up to the violent and fatal chase of Arbery as he jogged through Satilla Shores on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan had recently learned that his daughter was dating a Black man, someone Bryan referred to as a “monkey.”
Each of the three men’s defense lawyers focused their opening statements by admitting to their clients’ embarrassing language and views and distancing themselves from that behavior.
Gregory McMichael’s attorney, A.J. Balbo, said his client was not “an angel,” but was also not a racist. Balbo said Arbery was not followed because he was a Black man, but because he was “the man” the McMichaels recognized in security videos trespassing at a neighbor’s home that was under construction.”
“The killing of Ahmaud Arbery was a tragic and horrible event that didn’t need to happen and could have been prevented in so many ways,” Balbo told the jury.
Both the prosecutors and defense attorneys also said that though racist slurs and language was reprehensible, it was not illegal — a consensus that points to the difficulty in reaching guilty verdicts in hate crimes cases across America.
Less than 1% of all reported hate crimes make it to trial, and an even smaller number result in a conviction. That’s in large part because of the difficulty proving to juries that racism was the prime motive for violence or murder, according to criminal justice experts.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Justice for Ahmaud: Jury selection begins in federal hate crimes trial
Judge Lisa G. Wood began questioning panels of prospective jurors, some who arrived as far away as Augusta, as the federal hate crimes trial kicked off Monday in Brunswick against the three men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery.
Fifty-two prospective jurors sat through questions about their ability to be impartial and fair when presented evidence against Travis McMichael, his father Greg and their former neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan for the five federal charges they are facing, the most serious being that the three white men killed Arbery, who was Black, due to racial hatred.
The group of citizens represented a diverse mix of residents the more than 40 counties encompassing the U.S. Southern District of Georgia — they were majority white, like the district, and approximately 50% female and male.
Some prospective jurors traveled 195 miles from Augusta, some came from Savannah, a majority minority city like Brunswick, and others drove in from rural townships. This wide geographic net appears to have made the issue of empaneling a jury for the federal case much easier than the state murder trial from last fall.
The three defendants were found guilty of murder in the state case, but they each have pleaded not guilty to the federal hate crimes allegations.
By the end of the day Monday, 20 of the prospective jurors had been struck for cause, while 30 prospective jurors were qualified into the next round of voir dire. The judge told the trial attorneys that she wants to winnow the jury pool to at least 36 qualified candidates, meaning the court is well on its way to that goal.
In the state trial, it took more than two weeks to seat a fair and impartial jury from a pool of Glynn County residents, dozens of whom had preconceived notions of bias or guilt against the defendants and thus were struck out of the jury selection.
In the federal case, knowledge of the Arbery murder case and the defendants’ conviction in state court is not a reason in and of itself for prospective jurors to be struck for cause.
All the jurors who appeared for questioning Monday told the court that they had some pre-existing knowledge of the Arbery case, but one only said that they had pre-existing bias against the defendants. That person was struck for cause.
None of the prospective jurors said they had religious or moral beliefs which would prevent them from finding the defendants guilty or innocent.
One person of the 50 prospective jurors said she knew one of the defendants, William Bryan, because he had done work for her business in the past. Another knew law partner of Greg McMichael’s defense attorney. Both were struck for cause.
The exact reason for others to have been sent home was not immediately clear. While Georgia courts leave many parts of court proceedings open, federal ones give options to the judge and much of the questioning on Monday was conducted in an area of the courtroom which had not been set up with audio access for journalists.
Covid social distancing rules has limited space in the federal courthouse for public viewing. However, Judge Wood is allowing for changes starting Tuesday that will allow questioning for potential jurors will be opened to public view.
Federal court is always closed to visual or sound recordings. However, The Current is part of the media pool allowed into the proceedings and we will update proceedings each day.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Denied spaceport injunction heads to Court of Appeals
Anti-spaceport petitioners filed an appeal late Friday in an attempt to keep alive an effort to block the purchase of land from Union Carbide for the county-led commercial spaceport project.
The plaintiffs’ move will send the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett on Thursday denied the injunction, which was needed to prevent the purchase of the property until the citizens could vote on the measure. Scarlett wrote that the plaintiffs should have brought their case sooner.
Camden residents James Goodman and Paul Harris are appealing the denial on behalf of themselves and about 3,850 other Camden residents who signed a petition to force a referendum on the land purchase. Without the land, the spaceport project cannot advance. The petition, filed in Camden County Probate Court, is under review to determine if the required 10% of registered voters signed it. The Georgia Constitution gives the court 60 days from the petition’s Dec. 14 filing to vet signatures and another 30 days to hold a referendum if the signatures reach the 10% threshold.
The Federal Aviation Administration in December issued Camden a license to operate a spaceport provided it gain control of the Union Carbide land, which Camden has an option agreement to buy.
If the courts don’t prevent the purchase, petitioners fear the county will buy the land before voters can have their say on it.
Petition signers, many of whom see the Spaceport Camden project as a boondoggle, oppose the land purchase. The county touts it as an economic boost and job creator.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Dana Braun declined to comment on the appeal. Camden County officials also declined comment through spokesman John Simpson.
- Coastal Georgia’s state delegation picks Kemp, party unity
Coastal Georgia’s Republican state legislators have already chosen a side in Brian Kemp-David Perdue battle for their party’s candidate for governor next year. Now, it appears a growing tide of state elected officials are backing the incumbent as well.
Axios Atlanta reported Thursday that 25 of 34 Republican state senators signed a letter to the former senator asking him to support Kemp’s re-election bid.
Coastal Georgia’s state senators Ben Watson and Sheila McNeill are among the offiicals who hand-signed a letter thanking Perdue for his previous service as senator, but asking him to refrain from challenging Kemp in the name of unifying the state party. The letter is undated but appears to have been sent before the former business executive and Sea Island resident announced his candidacy for the state’s top job. McNeill represents Perdue’s own district, District 3 in Glynn County. So far, 31 state senators are on record as supporting Kemp.
In a Sept. 2 press release from Kemp’s campaign office, 89 state GOP House members were listed as endorsing Kemp’s re-election effort. Coastal Georgia’s state House delegation were heavily represented in that list. House majority Leader Jon Burns, and representatives Jan Tankersley, Bill Hitches, Ron Stephens, Jesse Petrea, Buddy DeLoach, Don Hogan and Steven Sainz all are listed in support of the incumbent governor.
Political pundits are wondering about whether the divisions in the state’s GOP will affect the legislature’s ability to get work done this year. A splintered GOP could mean gridlock in the work of the majority party, but with rising numbers of endorsements Gov. Kemp’s legislative agenda may not be smothered by partisan bickering.
Rep. Buddy Carter addresses the House May 19, 2021. One big question for Coastal Georgia voters is when U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter will pick a side between the two Republican gubernatorial candidates. If past actions are prologue, Rep. Carter was one of the Congress members who attempted to negate Georgia’s 2020 election results amid the insurrection on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. That stance reversed his position announced more than two months earlier, when Rep. Carter told The Current that Georgia voters could trust our state’s electoral system.
Perdue continues to pitch the false narrative from former President Donald Trump that the state’s election results were flawed even after three recounts and audits proved the results again.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- New ‘Dirty Dozen’ includes climate change on Georgia Coast
Among the Georgia Water Coalition’s annual “Dirty Dozen” this year is the 100-mile long Georgia Coast because of its vulnerability to the effects of climate change. It’s the first time in the 11-year history of the report that climate change has been named an issue.
“Georgia is one of the most vulnerable and least prepared states
when it comes to dealing with effects of climate change, but Georgia’s elected
officials have largely failed to address the issue,” the report by this nearly 300-member coalition of businesses, nonprofits and religious groups states.“It is also one of the least prepared states that deal with the public health impacts of climate change, according to a recent study by the Trust for America’s Health,” said Joe Cook of coalition member Georgia River Network during an online press conference introducing the report Tuesday. “In particular, Georgia’s elected officials have been slow to embrace policies that transition the state toward cleaner energy sources.”
The Dirty Dozen report brings attention to sites that aren’t necessarily the most polluted but are those where politics, policies and issues threaten the health of Georgia’s water and the well being of its citizens.
Climate change also came up in two other Dirty Dozen issues: a proposed plastics-to-fuel plant in Macon and the increasing problem of algal blooms.
“The proposed plant would take plastics and break them down to diesel and other fuels. So what seems like a silver bullet for the plastics pollution problem is in fact, part of the problem because it generates more greenhouse gases through the production, transformation and ultimate burning of fossil fuel based plastic fix while perpetuating our dependence on plastics,” Cook said.
Likely to worsen with climate change is the problem of algal blooms that thrive in nutrient rich water and warm temperatures.
“Earlier this year, a family pet died while coming in contact with cyanobacteria at Bull Sluice Lake on the Chattahoochee River in Roswell,” Cook said. Since then, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper identified two more locations with harmful algal blooms.
“Nutrients washing off the land from thousands of sources make this a particularly difficult problem to fix,” Cook said. “It will take the efforts of literally millions of individuals to get it corrected.”
The list identified three more coastal issues: the Golden Ray, a Superfund site in Brunswick, and the threat of mining near the Okefenokee.
The Golden Ray shipwreck is gone, but damage to Georgia’s coast is ongoing, the report stated.
Car debris from the shipwrecked Golden Ray washed upon a St. Simons mud flat this summer. “Now that the largest maritime disaster recovery effort in US history is mostly complete, coastal advocates are calling on Georgia officials to request Natural Resources Damage Assessments by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” said Jennette Gayer, of the coalition member group Environment Georgia.
A Natural Resource Damage Assessment is a process to determine the appropriate type and amount of restoration needed to offset impacts to fisheries, wildlife, habitats, and human uses impacted by oil spills, hazardous waste sites, and vessel groundings, according to NOAA.
In Brunswick, the Dirty Dozen lists the Hercules landfill Superfund site, which Gayer said “continues to haunt the community.”
“Since the 1990s, a landfill operated by Hercules adjacent to the Golden Isles Parkway has leached benzene and other toxic chemicals into the groundwater,” Gayer said. “Now, recent testing suggests that the contaminants are actually migrating into groundwater adjacent to properties. These tests show benzene level 70 times the maximum contaminant level goal set by the US Environmental Protection Agency for this cleanup.”
Near the Okefenokee, proposed heavy mineral sands mine in Charlton County
threatens the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge east of the Mississippi.“In total, the state has received more than 100,000 emails about this issue,” Gayer said. ” And the Okefenokee’s future really rests with the (Georgia) Environmental Protection Division, which will soon decide whether to issue permits for this controversial proposal that has drawn international attention.”
The remaining issues on the list are:
• Chattahoochee & Ocmulgee Rivers: Coal ash at multiple Georgia Power
Company fossil fuel plants pollutes groundwater in Cobb, Coweta, Carroll and
Monroe counties.
The Ogeechee watershed includes parts of Chatham and Bryan counties.
• Ogeechee River: A three-year delay in updating pollution control permit allows
the continued discharge of dangerous chemicals in Screven County.
• Whitewater Creek: Dirty stormwater runoff from a large mixed-use
development is muddying a historic Fayette County creek and lake, forcing
homeowners and Flint Riverkeeper to file a lawsuit to stop the pollution.
• Flint River: Jet fuel and sewage spills repeatedly foul the Flint that flows beneath
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Advocates say it’s high time
these needless spills stopped.
• Coosawattee River: In Gordon County a proposal to build a 24-house mega
chicken farm has prompted homeowners to plead with their county commission
to protect their property values, well water and their river.
• Conasauga-Oostanaula: Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from carpet mills are
haunting Northwest Georgians forcing downstream water providers like the City
of Rome to spend millions to remove the harmful chemicals from drinking water.
To date, the state has failed to regulate these chemicals.The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: On Tybee, plastic trash gets a new use
For Tybee’s Tim Arnold, marine plastic is not some faraway scourge in the Pacific gyre. It hits home right on Tybee’s beaches.
Arnold organizes beach cleanups on Tybee where members of his “Fight Dirty Tybee” brigade pick up all manner of trash, most of it plastic. They recycle what they can but it’s not always possible. Take bottle caps and straws, for example.
“But I’ve got so many straws and bottle caps,” he said. “I’ve estimated over 100,000 bottle caps. It’s insane. Every beach sweep we’ll get 50 or more.”
Tim Arnold of Fight Dirty Tybee feeds ground plastic into the hopper to be melted. So when Arnold came across a “portable mini plastic recycling machine” on the Internet, it piqued his interest. Fight Dirty Tybee bought one and now Arnold is creating small plastic pots and coasters in his garden shed using plastics that other communities typically landfill or burn.
The enormous quantity of plastic entering the ocean, estimated at 33 billion pounds a year, makes plastic production and pollution a top policy issue, along with fisheries and energy, for the international ocean conservation group Oceana.
“So that’s about the equivalent of two fully loaded dump trucks pulling up next to you at the beach and dumping into the ocean, every single minute,” said Paulita Bennett-Martin, the Savannah-based federal policy manager for plastics at Oceana. Bennett-Martin previously worked as the Georgia campaign manager for Oceana.
Funding for Fight Dirty Tybee’s $5,000 machine, which shreds, melts and molds the plastic, came from three-month long fundraiser aided by Salt Island Fish & Beer restaurant. The machine itself was shipped from Malaysia where an Australian family produces them to address plastic pollution there. The design is an open source one made available by its Dutch creator, Dave Hakkens, who offers user tips on his Precious Plastics videos.
For now, Arnold and his volunteers are using plastic from the “hard-to-recycle” collection bins at the Tybee YMCA. They’re sticking with polypropylene, which has a No. 5 inside its chasing arrows symbol. When they get the process down pat with this clean plastic they’ll incorporate more beach litter, which can be dirtier.
“The polypropylene is typically margarine tubs, cottage cheese tubs, black takeout containers,” said Arnold, who retired to Tybee after a career in finance. “Some of it is rigid, but most of it is somewhat flexible. It can be microwaved. So it’s just.. it’s in everything.”
Tim Arnold displays the upcycled pot fresh out of its mold. He’s right. Polypropylene is one of the top three most commonly used plastics, but only about 1 percent of it is recycled, according to everydayrecycler.com.
Plastics have been found in remote places like the Arctic sea ice, Bennett-Marin said. Several studies of ocean water in Georgia have found tiny plastic particles in almost every sample taken. The scope of the problem goes beyond litter and the solutions go beyond cleanups, she said.
“Cleanups are the front line; they provide a space for people to take action about the issue,” Bennett-Martin said. “But we cannot clean our way out of this issue, because of the amount of single use plastics that are being produced.”
Arnold knows this, and intends to use his machine and its products to educate and raise awareness.
Arnold and other volunteers sort the plastic into colors, mainly for aesthetics, then grind it into flakes. For each pot or coaster he then mixes the colors to his liking, adding white to lighten the shade or clear for extra sheen.
The machine heats the plastic to melt it. Arnold then pushes down a hand-held plunger to fill the steel mold. It cools in minutes and on this day out popped a black-and-blue trapezoid planter. A matching coaster followed to act as a saucer under the pot.
Arnold intends to make at least 100 sets to sell at the Tybee Island Farmers Market when it reopens in March.
Given the high temperatures, plastic fumes and knives involved in the process it’s not a participatory one for children. Or for all adults. It’s also slow, so it won’t reduce a large volume of plastic.
Bennett-Martin, who knew about Fight Dirty Tybee’s cleanups but not about their upcycling machine, agreed its main value is in educating. Oceana emphasizes that plastics are a climate problem.
“The production of plastics is really very important, right? Because plastics are a fossil fuel- based product. So they’re a heavy industry product. And then the production of plastics therefore contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. And so it’s a climate driver, the industry itself. We have this kind of comparison that if plastics was a country, it would be the fifth biggest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet. That’s how much we know that plastics is impacting us. And that’s before it ever becomes litter.
Upcycled plastic pots are made from polypropylene, a plastic found in many consumer items. Tybee has anti-litter laws, voluntary initiatives for restaurants to quit offering straws and for shops to eschew disposable plastic bags. But they’ve barely made a dent in litter, Arnold said. So he’s already gotten creative in educating about plastic.
Previous educational projects include a display of thousands of cigarette butts, which contain plastic filters, in a clear orb at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. The plastic recycler will similarly encourage people to consider the problem of plastic, he said.
“Because you know, the whole goal here was to remove plastic from the beach, turn into something useful and educate people about stopping it,” Arnold said.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- Entangled whale spotted off Cumberland Island with new calf
An endangered North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing gear was spotted about 10 miles off Cumberland Island with a new calf on Thursday.
An aerial survey team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spotted the whale, nicknamed Snow Cone, and her calf. A team from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded by boat, Georgia DNR spokesman Rick Lavender reported.
Snow Cone was first seen entangled in gear on March 10 in Cape Cod Bay. Rescuers attempted to disentangle her several times in the Northeast and Canada. They succeeded in shortening the rope trailing behind her. Remaining on her is a configuration of two ropes exiting the mouth and rope wrapped around a segment of baleen plates in the right side of her mouth.
Before her appearance off Cumberland, Snow Cone was last seen on November 6 in southern New England. North Atlantic right whales migrate from their summer feeding grounds off New England and Canada to give birth off Georgia and Florida in the winter. Snow Cone’s calf is the second right whale calf documented this season. The first was seen off South Carolina in November.
North Atlantic right whale #3560 and calf off Cumberland Island Dec. 2, 2021. The calf is not entangled, but has been observed swimming in/through/around the ropes. Wildlife officials believe the ropes are short enough that the calf likely won’t become entangled if everything remains the same. Based on the length of the mother’s entanglement and general health assessments, officials believe her entanglement is not immediately life threatening. They intend to continue monitoring the situation.
Right whales are highly endangered with fewer than 350 remaining. Once hunted to near extinction for their oil, entanglements and ship strikes now pose the gravest dangers to these bus-sized baleen whales.
North Atlantic right whale #3560 and calf off Cumberland Island Dec. 2 Snow Cone is officially number 3560 in the North Atlantic right whale catalog. As are many of the whales, she’s nicknamed based on her markings, rough patches that form unique white patterns on their black skin. In her case, it’s the marking near her blow holes that reminded observers of the frozen treat.
She’s 16 years old an previously gave birth in the 2019/2020 calving season. She then made headlines with the unusual behavior of swimming south with her calf into the Gulf of Mexico. That 2020 calf, a male, was found dead off New Jersey in June 2020. The male calf had evidence of at least two separate vessel collisions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. Evaluation of the wounds suggests they occurred shortly before the animal died and were likely the cause of death.
Right whale rules: Federal law requires vessels, paddle boarders and aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to stay at least 500 yards (five football fields) away from right whales. These restrictions are in place to reduce the risk of harassment or collisions between right whales and boats. Vessels 65 feet and longer are legally required to slow to speeds of 10 knots or less in Seasonal Management Areas along the East Coast. This includes the calving and nursery area.
Right whales often swim and rest just below the surface and can be invisible to approaching vessels. It’s important for vessel operators to follow applicable speed rules, and for boaters to slow down whenever possible.
U.S. speed restrictions are in place for certain vessels along the mid-Atlantic November 1–April 30 and in the southeast U.S. calving area November 15–April 15.
View more information on seasonal vessel speed restrictions.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Savannah bike trail re-opens
The Police Memorial Trail is short, as trails go, just 0.6 miles. Savannah refurbished it over the spring and summer, adding a little height to give adjacent tree roots room to grow and resurfacing its entire length in concrete.
It doesn’t exactly connect anything yet, but it will, city officials promised as they ceremonially opened the trail Monday morning.
“Police Memorial trail completes the connection between the northern portion of the Truman Linear Park Trail and Bee Road. And ultimately, it will be a part of the Tide to Town trail network,” Mayor Van Johnson told a group of about 50 city employees and residents gathered at the trail head.
Chatham County opened the southern portion of the Truman Linear Park Trail a little more than a year ago. It runs from Lake Mayer to DeRenne Avenue. Its end point at DeRenne is about 1.4 miles from the southern end of the Police Memorial Trail near 52nd Street.
That gap is looking more likely to be bridged in the near future, Johnson said.
“And as you all know, council is considering allocating $4 million for the continuation of the Tide to Town in our 2022 budget,” he said. “And so I’m looking forward to our continued and expanded support of this initiative.”
An increased hotel “bed” tax, from the current 6% to a proposed 8%, is another potential source of funding to complete the trail. The tax hike would align Savannah with other Georgia cities.
“This council is also working actively to be able to improve and change our category in our bed tax at the state legislature,” Johnson said. “So we can put in $10 million to actually complete the doggone thing.”
Originally built by the county, Hurricane Matthew damaged the Police Memorial Trail in 2016. While it was posted as closed for the next five years, plenty of residents still used it to ride or walk in the meantime.
The trails are designed to undo some of the damage wrought by the road system, Alderman Nick Palumbo said.
“The streets, the highways, the byways, the flyovers, many of them were built to deliberately disconnect our neighborhoods,” he said. “The Tide to Town vision that we have for this community ties us all back together with one trail, one system, and one Savannah.”
- Alternative fuels hit the road in Savannah
School buses are typically loud, and not just from all the kids yelling. About 95% of America school buses have rumbly, noisy and polluting diesel engines.
But not the buses at the Clean Energy Road Show, which rolled into Savannah’s Georgia Tech campus Thursday. They’re so quiet that the Canadian-made Lion model plays music to warn pedestrians of its approach.
Ga. Public Service Commissioner and founder of the Clean Energy Road Show Tim Echols prepares to drive the Blue Bird electric school bus. The electric buses were the biggest show-and-tell items among nearly a dozen alternative fuel vehicles on display. Like a few other attendees, Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo even got to take the Lion bus for a spin, declaring it a smooth ride.
“I drove it like Paw Paw and did not approach top speed,” he tweeted later. “Next time.”
The roadshow, an annual event for over a decade in Savannah and several other Georgia cities, highlighted the advantages of switching to low or zero-emission vehicles as well as the supporting utility infrastructure programs and upcoming federal funding opportunities. On display were vehicles from three Georgia-based companies, a Club Car Current Electric Small Wheel Utility Vehicle, a KIA Niro EV passenger car, the electric Blue Bird school bus, and a propane-powered Blue Bird school bus. Rounding out the display were a Tesla passenger car; a compressed natural gas-fueled Ford F-150 pickup; a propane autogas-fueled Ford box truck; the Lion electric school bus; a Waste Management Class 8 compressed natural gas trash truck; and an electric yard spotter truck, used to move trailers around a shipping yard.
“What the clean energy Roadshow is all about is helping people evaluate the technologies to determine ‘When do we get it? How many do we get? Does it work? What are the incentives available?'” Echols said at the program’s start. He owns and drives several alternative fuel vehicles.
Palumbo, who rides an electric bike, said alternative fuel vehicles are already gaining acceptance.
“It’s no longer an ‘out there’ concept. And we’ve got it right there in the parking lot that these are ready to roll today. These are ready to be deployed, these are ready to be scaled, these are ready for any community in Georgia in the United States.”
Along with panels of speakers from the manufacturers of the display vehicles and others, including and other Georgia Power, Atlanta Gas Light , Peachstate Trucks and Yancey Bus, the roadshow went on the road for a brief field trip to the under-construction Port Fuel Center on Augusta Road near I-95.
It’s a 16-acre fueling facility for both truckers from the nearby Port of Savannah and ordinary drivers. Along with gasoline and diesel it will offer compressed natural gas and electric vehicle charging capacity for 11-12 trucks and 23 passenger cars. That’s more electric vehicle chargers than at any other public charging spot in the county.
- The Tide: First right whale calf arrives
The first North Atlantic right whale calf of the season was spotted off South Carolina Monday.
It could be a good omen for those who track this critically endangered species. Fewer than 350 of these bus-sized whales remain, said Clay George, a senior wildlife biologist who leads the DNRs’ work with marine mammals.
They come to Southeast waters to give birth and nurse their young after feeding in the waters off New England and Canada. They’ve suffered high mortality from ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear in recent years, adding hope and anxiety to another birthing season. Since 2017, 10% of the population has died. Last year, 19 calves were born.
Researchers like George would like to see a baby boom of at least 20 this season.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic in the sense that we’ve been hearing from colleagues in Canada that the last couple summers the whales have looked pretty good especially in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that they seem to be finding food,” George said. “We keep waiting for this period where we have a good chunk of the females that show up and and are pregnant. So every year that goes by with very few calving females means that there’s that many more that are available to calf. They can only calf every three or four years at the most frequent.”
First-time mother, Catalog #3230 ‘Infinity’, was 19 years old and the oldest daughter of #2040 ‘Naevus’. Naevus has produced three adult female calves and all three gave birth last winter (#3230 Infinity, #3520 Millipede, #3860 Bocce)! Millipede gave birth to her first calf in 2013 and Bocce gave birth to her first calf in 2016, but both calves are presumed dead. Infinity’s calf died in a boat strike. The Southeast, from South Carolina to northern Florida, is the only place North Atlantic right whales routinely give birth and nurse their young. They usually appear here in December.
With the assistance of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources will help perform aerial surveys beginning Dec. 1. Every day the weather allows, the teams will traverse the offshore area looking for the whales, which are Georgia’s official state marine mammal.
They’re called right whales because their slow speed and tendency to float when killed made them the right whale to hunt. So did their habit of swimming near the coastline, which has earned them the nickname of urban whale. They were hunted nearly to extinction in the late 1800s but have been protected from whalers since 1935.
But last month the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium announced their population dropped to 336 in 2020, an eight percent decrease from 2019. The latest estimate is down from 366 in 2019. It’s the lowest population number for the species in nearly 20 years.
Their most recent peak was in 2011, when the species was estimated at 481 whales. In just the last decade that’s shrunk by 30%.
Even sportfishing vessels can kill
“So it’s really depressing, and not going the right way,” said George, who has devoted the last 15 years or so to whale work in Georgia. “And of course, the three issues are vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing rope, and climate change.”
After accidentally striking a right whale, the captain of the “About Time” intentionally grounded the sinking sportfishing boat’ in Salt Run on Anastasia Island within the State Park. A graphic example of the danger of vessel strikes occurred in northern Florida last year. A 54-foot sport-fishing boat, the “About Time,” struck a right whale calf off Anastasia Island around 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 12 as it returned from a fishing trip. The boat was cruising around 21 knots, approximately 0.41 miles east of St. Augustine Inlet. The captain was unsure of what they had hit. But the owner of the $1.1 M 54-foot Jarrett Bay, Dayne Williams, reported saying, “I think we hit a whale, I saw fins and blood.”
The captain beached the boat, which was seriously damaged and taking on water.
“The starboard side drive shaft was bent, and the strut that holds the propeller in place was pushed through the hull of the vessel. Both propellers were bent, and the damage was consistent with hitting a large object,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission report read.
The next day a dead, month-old whale calf washed ashore on Anastasia Island with propeller gashes across its back and head. The baby whale, a male, also sustained broken ribs and a cracked skull. It was the first known calf of a 19-year-old mother, sighted off Amelia Island a month prior.
Approximately 22-foot-long dead right whale calf. The one-month old, male calf of Catalog #3230 beached on Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, FL on February 13, 2021. The calf had injuries consistent with a vessel strike, including fresh propeller cuts on its back and head, broken ribs, and bruising. Vessel speed regulations are in place to slow marine traffic to 10 knots when right whales are nearby, but they apply to ships 65 feet or longer. The “About Time” was 54-feet long. Florida FWC concluded there was no evidence it had violated navigation rules or state statues.
Until those rules are revisited to include smaller boats, the advice is simple.
“Right now, we’re just saying slow down,” George said. “It’s good for the whales, it’s good for the safety of your boat and your crew and your passengers.”
George can’t yet suggest a specific speed. The regulations for larger vessels are based on research.
“Ten knots seem to be the switch point where whales went from surviving to dying, but the whole scenario (with a 65-foot or larger vessel) is quite different than a small boat,” he said.
He suggests boaters do what whale researchers do.
“I can tell you that when we go offshore, and then locations where at times when whales are around, we basically go to what we call minimum planing speed,” he said.
He also suggests boaters stay vigilant.
“Keep a sharp eye and avoid boating during periods when it’s dark or the conditions and visibility are poor,” he said.
A species might depend on it.
Right whale rules: Federal law requires vessels, paddle boarders and aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to stay at least 500 yards (five football fields) away from right whales. These restrictions are in place to reduce the risk of harassment or collisions between right whales and boats. Vessels 65 feet and longer are legally required to slow to speeds of 10 knots or less in Seasonal Management Areas along the East Coast. This includes the calving and nursery area.
Right whales often swim and rest just below the surface and can be invisible to approaching vessels. It’s important for vessel operators to follow applicable speed rules, and for boaters to slow down whenever possible.
U.S. speed restrictions are in place for certain vessels along the mid-Atlantic November 1–April 30 and in the southeast U.S. calving area November 15–April 15.
View more information on seasonal vessel speed restrictions.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: What new infrastructure bill could do for Coastal Georgia
With the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act freshly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Friday, Coastal Georgia nonprofit leaders and elected officials are taking a look at how the coast’s needs fit into the act’s funding. Unlike the American Rescue Plan, which gave funding specifically to localities, this bill doesn’t earmark funding that way. Instead, according to the White House, the bill includes:
- $89.9 billion in guaranteed funding for public transit over the next five years.
- $66 billion in funding to eliminate the Amtrak maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor, and improve rail service outside the northeast and mid-Atlantic.
- $110 billion in new funding to repair and rebuild roads and bridges “with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users.”
- $55 billion in funding for clean drinking water, with an emphasis on eliminating lead pipes.
- $7.5 billion to build out a national network of EV chargers.
- $17 billion in port infrastructure and waterways.
- $65 billion in funding to create universal access to reliable high-speed internet.
- $65 billion in funding for clean energy transmission and power infrastructure upgrades.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) pushed to ensure the legislation included funding to help coastal Georgians prepare for more severe tropical storms, storm surge, and coastal flooding.
“This was one of my highest priorities in this infrastructure legislation was ensuring that there were significant investments in coastal resilience,” he told residents in St. Marys in August. “And it is my pleasure to report to you that there is more than $12 billion for coastal resilience in this bipartisan infrastructure bill. And that means resources that will flow to localities and counties for drainage infrastructure improvements for permeable pavers to assist with draining flood and tropical storm and storm surge events, for marsh land remediation and sustainment, for weatherization of public and private buildings so that communities like this one can withstand more and more intense tropical storms and flooding.”
King Tides plus rain and wind over the weekend flooded Riverside Drive in Glynn County. Rising sea levels will make similar floods more frequent in coming years. Jennifer Kline, a coastal hazards specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division said on Tuesday it’s too soon to which to know for which funds Coastal Georgia will be competitive.
“We don’t have anything in the hopper because there are just too many unknowns,” she wrote in an email. “We have been working with partners to keep ourselves as prepared as possible.
For Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo, a few obvious projects come to mind:
“Certainly Tide to Town!” he texted, referring to a planned network of nearly 30 miles of protected walking and bicycling trails throughout Savannah. “Also drainage improvements to both the Casey and Springfield canals as well. And finally – Project DeRenne.”
Project DeRenne is a planned $60 million revitalization of a main east-west corridor in Savannah.
For Brionte McCorkle, the head of Georgia Conservation Voters, a caveat came first.
“I should start by saying that we really want to see the Build Back Better Act pass as well,” she said.
That’s a $1.75 trillion bill still working its way through Congress that proposes extensive social safety net and climate policies.
“There’s lots of money for infrastructure here (in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), but not quite enough on the climate investment piece that we’re looking for, which I think is important for Coastal Georgia,” McCorkle said. “There are a lot of costs associated with what we expect to be more storms and more flooding. We need a lot of resilience infrastructure, a lot of disaster relief assistance, things like that, that I don’t think this bill goes far enough on.”
She did point to a few things in the bill that could benefit the coast.
“There’s some good stuff in here like clean energy research, development, and demonstration,” she said. “There’s grid modernization, some funding for resiliency, not enough, but some and funding for water infrastructure. And also electric vehicle infrastructure and EV school buses.”
The green dots show the locations of public EV chargers as of January 2021. Coastal Georgia has only a small proportion of the state’s more than 930 publicly available EV charging stations, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Most of them are clustered in the Atlanta area.
“We’ve got to start building out infrastructure in other parts of the state,” McCorkle said. “Cars travel, people travel. We would need to make sure that we’ve got infrastructure all over the place so that people can get to any part of the state.”
Thirteen Republicans voted to pass the bill, but Coastal Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter was not among them.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Ga. coast braces for tidal flooding
Before a raindrop fell on Friday, some low-lying roads and yards flooded in Coastal Georgia’s marsh-front areas. Along U.S. 80 at the mid-morning’s high tide, the marsh and the Savannah River threatened to converge on this only road in and out of Tybee Island.
In Glynn County, the F.J. Torras Causeway to St. Simons was inundated, said Glynn County Emergency Management Agency Director Josh Bain.
That’s because it was a higher than normal high tide, called a king tide. King tides occur when the moon is full or new and closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit, increasing its gravitational pull on the water. Fall king tides are typically the highest because water is near its warmest and most expanded, pushing up sea level.
The king tide can be pushed even higher by wind and rain, as is expected as the weekend continues.
“We’re looking at an inch to 2 inches of rain,” Bain said Friday. “It’s gonna be a little rough tomorrow. Stay home and read a book.”
The flooding effects of king tides are becoming more frequent as fossil fuel emissions push average temperatures higher, which in turn increases sea levels. These floods are called tidal floods or sunny day floods.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 12 days of tidal flooding at the Fort Pulaski tide gauge last year and predicts five to nine days this year. In 2000, the annual average was two. By 2030, it’s expected to climb to 15-25 per year.
Fort Pulaski National Monument delayed its opening Friday and will delay again over the weekend to avoid having visitors drive through a flooded entrance area.
On Tybee, the city tried to document flooding for “climate change verification, funding requests, growth…so many options to provide data when needed or appropriate,” texted Mayor Shirley Sessions.
But Friday’s flooding there was mild, Sessions said.
“It didn’t cross the road, nothing significant,” she texted.
To stave off tidal flooding, U.S. 80 was raised about 8 inches in its lowest spots when the road was repaved in 2018.
Cardinal Drive across the street from Herb Creek on Isle of Hope on Friday morning, Nov. 5 during a king tide. With additional king tides plus more rain on the way over the weekend, Tybee officials are still on their guard and in touch with the National Weather Service in Charleston.
“The gale blowing NNE right now is creating variations in the tide models and minor changes in the wind direction can have significant changes to the peak water levels, Sessions texted. “The astronomical prediction is for a 9.05-foot tide at 9:45 a.m. at the Fort Pulaski gauge. The forecast prediction right now is 10.7 feet. Depending on weather conditions at high tide, that could change in either direction. There’s usually a 90-minute window to watch for U.S. 80 flooding, and it’s typically delayed by as much as 30 minutes from the predicted high tide. Regardless, it’s very likely that the road will need to be closed for a brief period due to flooding and removal of any marsh wrack/debris.”
Check these resources for more information about tidal flooding in Georgia:
NOAA provides several resources on coastal flooding, including the NOAA Coastal Inundation Dashboard, which provides real-time water levels with forecasts out to 48 hours for all tidal stations.
NOAA’s high tide flooding report allows comparison of the number of tidal floods each year at each tide gauge. It also provides predictions of the flooding expected in the future. Georgia has only one NOAA tide gauge at Pulaski. The closest gauge to Brunswick is in Fernandina Beach.
The Smart Sea Level Sensor Dashboard maps out its sensors and provides real time data about water levels (and other environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and barometric pressure) at 60 sites around Chatham County.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Judge recuses self from Buddy Carter property tax hearing
A Camden County Superior Court judge on Monday recused himself from a hearing set to take place less than 24 hours later. He hadn’t previously realized the plaintiff was U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter.
“The undersigned, having just been made aware that Petitioner Earl L. Carter is Congressman Buddy Carter, with whom he has enjoyed both a personal and professional relationship, has determined it necessary that he recuse himself from the hearing in the above captioned manner,” the recusal order from Judge Anthony L. Harrison reads.
The order was filed just before 1 p.m. Monday. The hearing had been set for Tuesday at 9 a.m. but was canceled by the recusal. The clerk of court will reassign the matter to another superior court judge.
A freeze worth $30,000
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter purchased this land in 2018 for $2.1 million. He appealed the 2020 property tax assessment that put the value at 13 percent of the sale price. Carter is petitioning the court for an order to the Camden board of assessors regarding his contested property tax assessment. He wants either a freeze on the assessment at the 2020 level for three years — saving him about $30,000 in taxes — or another shot at a hearing on his property tax appeal.
The Congressman also asked for “costs and reasonable attorney’s fees” and “any and all other relief this Court deems just and proper under the circumstances.”
Carter, Georgia’s First District representative, lives in Chatham County. But he bought a nearly 500-acre undeveloped property in Camden in 2018 for $2.1 million from Challenged Investments LLC. The land is about 220 acres of wetlands and 250 acres of higher ground the county describes as “residential large tract.”
The 2020 tax assessment that Carter appealed put the land’s value at $278,000, about 13% of what he paid two years prior.
Carter’s estimated net worth in 2019 was $13.2 million, making him the 22nd wealthiest member of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a USA Today article that year.
A claim of bad advice
After two delays, the Congressman’s hearing at the Camden County Board of Equalization was scheduled for Dec. 29, 2020.
But before the hearing Carter talked with someone at the board, who he says gave him bad information.
“… Carter spoke with a representative of the CCBE who informed Carter he could submit a letter consenting to the assessed value,” Carter’s petition to the court states. “The CCBE representative stated to Carter submitting the letter of consent would obviate the need for the appeal hearing, and freeze the assessed value on the property for three years.”
U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter Carter wrote the consent letter, including the stipulation that agreeing to the assessment would freeze his property value for three years and that he wouldn’t be required to attend the hearing.
The letter concludes: “If this information is incorrect I request the board of equalization contact me immediately.”
The board didn’t contact him until Jan. 4 when in an email the clerk of court informed the Congressman that his filed consent form ended his appeal.
His property assessment was not frozen and would increase significantly in 2021.
“Carter was knowingly misled by the CCTA via the CCBE and its operatives,” his petition states.
In 2021 the property was assessed at $1.3 million, or 61% of what he paid. Carter has said he plans to use for hunting and fishing and not as an investment. It sits about 7 miles down the road from the site of the planned Spaceport Camden, which Carter supports.
The Current filed a request Friday to record the hearing and will pursue it whenever it’s rescheduled.
- The Tide: Tree fight stops road project on St. Simons
A judge on Friday granted a stop work order on a road project on St. Simons Island near Fort Frederica.
“It is hereby ordered that defendants are temporarily enjoined from any further development, demolition or tree removal of any kind related to the Frederica Road Location Project until further order of the court, Superior Court Judge Roger B. Lane wrote Friday morning.
A hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 25.
“No more trees will be hitting the ground,” reported Dave Kyler of the Center for a Sustainable Coast. The Center, along with county resident Jeff Kilgore, requested the order Thursday.
Work on the Frederica Road on Sept. 22. Photo courtesy Jeremy Marquis About six large trees, only two of which were in good shape, along with undergrowth, had been removed since work began in late September, according to Jeremy Marquis, a landscape architect on the project. The adjacent Christ Church Episcopal hired his St. Augustine-based firm of Marquis Latimer + Halback to assist in the $1.3 million plus project to reroute the road, for which the church is paying the bulk.
Marquis said the current alignment of the road with two blind curves poses a safety hazard to the church’s growing population of elderly members and young families, many of whom park across the road for services.
Jeremy Marquis. Photo courtesy Jeremy Marquis His plan aims to remove as few healthy trees as possible, protect remaining trees and plant 21 new live oaks along the road and another 20 on the church property.
“I love Christ Church because that parish loves their trees; they take care of their trees,” Marquis said.
But the church’s involvement complicates the project on the county road, the Center for a Sustainable Coast explained in its brief to the court. A memorandum of understanding requires Christ Church to pay all project costs — estimated at $1,324,740.38 — except $50,000 paid by Glynn County to construct the Stevens Road intersection. This funding arrangement means the Corps of Engineers erred in providing a permit for the project, the Center for a Sustainable Coast argues.
“Special Condition #1 in Regional General Permit 34 requires that transportation projects authorized thereunder must be funded by federal, state, or local government,” the brief states. “However, the terms of the MOU clearly evidence that the Stevens Road intersection is the only portion of the Project that can be authorized under RGP 34 because Defendant Christ Church is funding all engineering services, permit coordination, easements, and cost overrun and funding all construction costs other than the Stevens Road alignment/intersection.”
Glynn County’s tree ordinance also requires its Tree Board to review any privately developed public roadway project. But the county hasn’t made sufficient appointments to its Tree Board, rendering it defunct.
“So they never had a hearing of any kind to remove the trees, they never followed the ordinance and could not really follow the ordinance because they had killed the tree board that was supposed to render a judgment that the county considered,” Kyler said.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Draft plan for Savannah’s Forsyth Park offers ‘lighter touch’
A 30-acre rectangle of green that bridges the city’s historic and Victorian district, the Forsyth Park provides something for everyone. It’s a picturesque wedding site, a weekly fresh produce spot, a grassy lawn for a picnic, a canvas for an annual chalk art contest, a concert venue, a place to play pickup basketball, a 1-mile jogging loop.
So when the partners who undertook the task of creating a master plan for the park asked for public feedback last spring, they got plenty. Those partners include The Trustees’ Garden Club, which took on the project six years ago as a gift to the city and hired Charlottesville, Va.-based landscaping architects Nelson Byrd Woltz.
Trustees’ Garden Club is paying for the $600,000 cost of the plan.
“The plan is not to change the character of the park,” co-chair of the Trustees’ Garden Club Forsyth Park Project Eleanor Rhangos said in an online public forum Wednesday. “But it is to preserve and where possible, restore its historic integrity, make recommendations for areas in need of improvement such as lighting and stormwater management and identify enhancements such as more bathrooms to be implemented in the years to come based on the feedback from the community.”
The draft plan is now open for comment, which must be received by Sept. 30. The existing park and the draft plan are reproduced here and are also available at www.friendsofforsyth.org
EXISTING, DRAFT PLANS
Existing layout of Forsyth Park. 
Draft plan for Forsyth Park. The plan suggests a few new elements for the park:
● Bathrooms near the southwest corner
● Stormwater gardens in each of the four outer corners of the open lawns.
● Addition of a children’s garden directly south of the existing Fragrant Garden.
● Additional picnic/seating areas in the central portion of the park near the cafe.
● Enhanced lighting throughout the park.
● A new, yet-to-be-designated monument along southern portion of the central walkway.
Modifications to existing features include:
● A six-foot widening of the 1.5-mile perimeter sidewalk to 14 feet to accommodate a one-way bike lane and a separate two-way pedestrian lane
● Removal of the western “big kids’” playground from its west-central position and the creation of a new playground and splash pad area on the south end.
● Moving/replacing the bandshell and splash pad. Shifting the position of the bandshell slightly south to allow for loading and unloading equipment. Addition of electric outlets. Removal of water feature in front of stage.
● Adding tree-root protection for trees lining the southern half of the central walkway
The draft plan leaves largely unchanged:
● The placement and size of the two parking lots.
● The Rotary Club playground
● Tennis courts
● The north half of the park with its criss-crossing paths, canopy of trees and iconic fountain.
The project team completed a health assessment for each tree in the park, with treatment recommendations for each tree.
Several of the residents who participated in the online sessions Wednesday expressed relief that the current draft seems to have a “lighter touch” than did previous iterations.
Costs of implementing any of the plan’s elements are not yet available.
“This is the draft plan,” said Project Manager Charlotte Barrow of Nelson Byrd Woltz. “We’re presenting it to the community now. We’re going to incorporate feedback from the community. We’re going to refine the plan. We’re going to send it to our cost estimator, we’re going to give them five weeks to produce construction cost estimates. And those pricing estimates will be included in the final master plan.”
Elements of the final plan, if approved by Savannah City Council, will be implemented as priorities and funding allow. The city already has funding set aside for lighting improvements in the park and that’s likely to be among the first things implemented. Comments can be submitted directly on the Friends of Forsyth web site or at Saturday informational sessions in the park: Sept 18 and 25 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The deadline for comment is Sept. 30.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Thiokol Memorial Project seeks help
Fifty years after an explosion claimed the lives of 30 people at the Thiokol munitions manufacturing plant in Woodbine, a nonprofit is calling on Georgia’s U.S. Congressional representatives to formally honor the lives of those workers.
Most killed in the explosion on the morning of Feb. 3, 1971, were poor, Black women who perished while making trip flares to help soldiers fight the Vietnam War. Despite the magnitude of the explosion and loss of life, the tragedy has not been part of the historical narrative of Camden County, The Current reported earlier this year.
- Community, families seek to be remembered after Thiokol disaster
- After 50 years: Video, Scenes, remembrances for Thiokol victims
The Thiokol Memorial Project, led by Jannie Everette, operates a small museum downtown Kingsland that is devoted to preserving and honoring the lives of the victims. She is the daughter of survivor Lucille Washington. The petition is designed to get the attention of Georgia’s U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and it calls for the victims to be posthumously honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. The group contacted District 1 Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter some time ago.
“They are the only contributors to the Vietnam War that have not been honored for their service to this nation and humanity,” according to the Thiokol Memorial Project’s online call-to-action. “They have not been honored as the pioneers of the Modern American Workplace.”
The honor requires cosponsorship by at least two-thirds (290) U.S. House members and 67 U.S. Senators.
The online petition can be found at http://thiokolmemorial.org/petition/. To sign it, donate or comment, click on “Add Your Voice,” which redirects to a form on www.change.org.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Fort Stewart gets notice for woodpecker work
An endangered bird is making a comeback after nearly three decades of careful forestry management on a coastal Georgia Army post.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, the largest U.S. military installation east of the Mississippi, have been steadily increasing in population since the Department of Defense began working to save the dwindling species in 1994.
The red-cockaded woodpecker is making a comeback, in part due to work being done at Fort Stewart. The resurgence of the rare birds, a result of good forestry management practices, are among reasons why the post was awarded the 2020 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Natural Resources Conservation for a large Installation in April.
“We reached our recovery goal of 350 pairs back in 2012 and the population continues to grow,” said Larry Carlile, Chief of the Fish and Wildlife branch at Fort Stewart. “Everything so far shows that we have another increase this year.”
The birds require mature longleaf pine forests and live in cavities they hollow out of old longleaf pine trees. Decades of timber over harvesting, poor agricultural practices and fire suppression resulted in the destruction of much of the birds’ habitat.
In addition to seasonally appropriate controlled burns and tagging the birds, the Army post also installed about 4,000 artificial cavity boxes on the trunks of mature trees.
“We are right on the cusp of this forest being old enough for them to excavate all their cavities without us doing it for them, but we intend to keep doing this to help prop them up until the forest reaches the proper age,” Carlile said.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers were designated a federally endangered species in the 1970s. Last year, the Trump administration proposed downlisting the bird from endangered status to threatened status as the U.S.
The Department of Agriculture Forestry Service estimated nearly 7,800 clusters living in 11 states from southern Virginia to eastern Texas, according to a September 2020 report.
Jeff Mangun, chief of Stewart-Hunter Forestry Branch, said the controlled burns, timber thinning, timber harvesting on base have helped not only the woodpeckers, but also the economy and soldiers in training.
The Army advertises bids for wood buyers and commercial loggers and hires private companies to cut the timber to the Army’s specification. Money made from timber sales, by law, must be returned to the forestry branch, which uses it to pay for forestry management.
The post has harvested 38,228 acres of timber in the past decade, according to an informational poster presented to newsmakers during a media day at the base June 14, 2021. The Current requested information about how much revenue timber sales raised and information about the contractors; the base did not respond by publication.
Fort Stewart has the largest prescribed burn program in North America of any one public or private contiguous land holding, Mangun said. The burn season is Dec. 1 through June 30. The Army uses helicopters to ignite and monitor the burns, which amount to roughly 120,000 acres per year.
The Army branch also thins the forest by reducing the number of trees per area, which allows for an understory suitable for army training.
That’s also good for the flatwoods salamanders that live there. The amphibians are the last known colony living in Georgia and one of three on Earth.
The Current highlighted the species in a February article that detailed the reasons for its decline and efforts to save the cryptic critters. A month after the article was published, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a long overdue draft plan which provides official guidance for how best to care for the species by providing the proper conditions to ensure its survival.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
- The Tide: Carter’s role in Revenge of the Nays
Congressional reporting over the past week focused on the aftermath of the events of Jan. 6: the insurrection at the Capitol and the attempt to throw out Georgia’s votes in the November election.
Coastal Georgia’s Rep. Buddy Carter took center stage in several stories — he was one of several members of the Georgia delegation who tried to block their state’s votes from counting at all.
That move — construed by some as an endorsement of the riot — nearly derailed a bipartisan effort to stem the opioid addiction crisis by allowing more treatments for addiction on the market. Carter had been working steadily on that bill for a couple years as the lead Republican sponsor. His Democrat co-sponsor on the bill, Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean, refused to work with him as the lead on the bill as it finally came up for a vote because of his stance on Jan. 6. Carter refused to budge saying “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I apologize for standing up for my values.” He also reiterated that he did not endorse the violent attack on the Congress and wanted to move on from the event. He then led an effort to defeat the noncontroversial opioid bill in protest. Requiring a two-thirds vote, it failed on a first vote. Here’s the PBS NewsHour report on the environment in Congress and Carter’s full statement.
It wasn’t Carter’s only skirmish with his colleagues over the topic. He filed a complaint against California Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren regarding a 128-page report she issued in March that quoted various House members and their social media communications regarding the fairness of the election and the insurrection. In the report, 18 instances of Twitter and other notes quoted Carter questioning the Georgia state government and the voting process. It also linked to a video where Carter called the riot “a few people who got out of control” and that their actions were unacceptable. In it, he said there was no link to those actions and his move to disallow the votes and overturn the election.
Carter said Lofgren violated the House Communication Standards Commission’s rules of civility by compiling and circulating the report. The Washington Post report detailed the blowback on Lofgren.
This week, Carter also voted against the formation of bipartisan legislation to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. 35 Republicans joined 217 Democrats to pass the bill which now heads to an uncertain fate in the U.S. Senate. And he also voted Nay for funding to pay for damages and more security for the Capitol, Capitol police and Congress stemming from the insurrection. That bill passed, as well. (He did not vote on the other bill getting press attention this week, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, that requires the Department of Justice to do expedited reviews of COVID-19 hate crimes. This was in part advanced in the aftermath of a mass killing that included Asian women outside Atlanta.)
So what happened to the opioid treatment bill? Carter, who is the only pharmacist in the House and who is known for his knowledge and legislative work on drug benefits and supply chains, turned down an offer to be an ordinary co-sponsor.
The bill, key to opening new treatments for opioid addiction, was delayed for more than a week but did eventually pass 402-23 and headed to the Senate on Wednesday. Carter voted Nay.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
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