Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025
Good morning! In the news today: Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter seeks a zoning change on his tract of land in Camden County, Sen. Raphael Warnock praises local producer of emergency food for acutely malnourished children abroad, and a former Chatham County district attorney moves up. Finally, we note nine things you may have missed. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
NEWS: GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
Zoning change
For years Coastal Georgia Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter has struggled to sell a 471-acre waterfront property in Camden County that is covered with live oaks and pines and that he bought for $2 million as a fishing camp.
The future of the asset could become clearer next month.
According to documents filed with Kingsland’s planning commission, an Atlanta-based developer is seeking zoning changes to build 750 new homes on Carter’s property and on a nearby plot owned by a prominent Jacksonville family, The Current’s Mary Landers and Margaret Coker report.
The developer of Carter’s tract, Drapac Investments LLC, is petitioning Kingsland to annex the combined 571 acres that currently are located in an unincorporated part of Camden as the most efficient path to securing the massive infrastructure necessary to support its ambitious residential project.
The plans would change the rural marshland surrounding the city of around 19,000 residents that is best known as the home of a U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine base. It would also provide a significant windfall for the five-term Coastal Georgia congressman who is now running for the U.S. Senate.
NEWS: BUSINESS
‘False dichotomy’
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock on Monday cautioned against a policy on foreign aid that confuses “America First” with “America Only” as he praised the work of a Georgia-based nonprofit group that manufactures vitamin-fortified, peanut-based packets of food to treat acute malnutrition among children abroad.
At a sprawling, 315,000-square-foot production and storage facility in Pooler operated by Mana Nutrition, Warnock said the group’s purchase of 2 million pounds of peanuts a month from Georgia farmers and employment of 100 Georgians showed that “even as they are nourishing hungry children all over the world, they are nourishing the Georgia economy,” The Current’s Justin Taylor and Craig Nelson report.
“Very often people have this false dichotomy where they’re saying, either we’re supporting America or we’re supporting those people ‘over there,’” he said. “Mana is a great example of ways in which, when we invest in this, we are investing in” Georgia.
NEWS: COURTS
Moving up
Meg Heap, the first woman to serve as Chatham County’s district attorney, was sworn in Monday as interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, becoming the region’s chief federal law enforcement official.
Heap, who was raised in Savannah and attended Georgia Southern University, was appointed to the post by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to the news release. Under federal law, as interim U.S. attorney she can only serve up to 120 days, or until a permanent replacement is appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
There were no indications Monday whether the White House and Justice Department intended to renew her interim appointment as it nears expiration, or make a formal nomination and seek Senate confirmation.
NEWS: UPDATES
9 things for your radar
- The City of Savannah’s Office of Management and Budget will field comments and questions on the city’s FY2026 budget at a second “speak out Savannah” town hall at 10 a.m. Aug. 21 at the JA Colonial Group Discovery Center, 11935 Abercorn St.
- The state Senate’s special committee eliminating Georgia’s income tax, chaired by state senator and lieutenant governor candidate Blake Tillery of Vidalia holds a hearing today featuring gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.
- The League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia inaugurates “Good Trouble Tuesdays.” Click here for more information.
- The Savannah City Council has voted to change the temperatures at which horses are allowed to work outside.
- Charles Hayslett of Trouble in God’s Country on “Mapping the Death of Rural Georgia” looks at birth and migration rates.
- Bulloch County’s Education Board approves an ESPLOST measure for this November’s ballot.
- 1st District U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a U.S. Senate candidate, introduces more Trump-friendly legislation. This one is a measure to give the president the power to fire the chair of the Federal Reserve.
- U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff warns of a 40% increase in health insurance premiums if Congress does not act to extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. Customers ask how they’re going to pay their rising power bills.
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Developers poised to build housing enclave on Buddy Carter’s Camden land
Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter’s 471-acre waterfront property in Camden County could be rezoned for a 750-home development, pending approval from Kingsland’s planning commission and city council.
Warnock praises producer of emergency food for malnourished children abroad
U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock praised Mana Nutrition, a Georgia-based nonprofit, for producing vitamin-fortified, peanut-based packets of food to treat malnourished children abroad, while also supporting the Georgia economy.
Meg Heap, former Chatham County DA, appointed interim US attorney
Meg Heap, the first woman to serve as Chatham County’s district attorney, was sworn in as the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, becoming the region’s chief federal law enforcement official.
Report urges state-level leadership on ‘resilience’ while ‘climate change’ still politically charged
A new report suggests that Georgia create a state office to plan for the effects of climate change, emphasizing the need for resilience in the face of increasing natural disasters.
Federal appeals court hears pros, cons of giving snacks to weary — and occasionally wary — voters
Attorneys argued this week whether the current temporary injunction against the Georgia law prohibiting handing out food and water to people in long voting lines should stand, with both sides agreeing that the government has a compelling interest in protecting voters from intimidation, but differing on what constitutes intimidation.
Sonny Perdue’s salary set to rise to $572,500 pending Regents’ vote
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has voted to move forward a proposal to give Chancellor Sonny Perdue a $50,000 pay raise, which would bring his salary to $572,500.
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