Countdown to Elections

Sunday Solutions — April 21, 2024

Good morning! This week we’re paying attention to the next elections with information to answer your questions and, hopefully, spark new ones. Jump in, the water’s warm.

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EXPLAINER

Have you checked your voter status?

Monday is the final day to register for the May 21 primary/nonpartisan elections. Are you registered? Everyone should check since new elections laws have made it easier to challenge eligibility. Many offices like judges and school boards will only appear on the May ballot – so it’s an important election. In other cases, only candidates for one party are running, so the primary winner gets the seat. Early voting begins in another week, so now is the right time to make sure your registration is active. Do that here.

OK, now check out our 2024 elections guide

Over the last months, we surveyed readers through newsletters and social media to find what they wanted and needed to know before the elections this year. Answers ranged from candidate background information to basics like “What does the sheriff do?”, “What’s the difference between a partisan primary and a nonpartisan one?” and “What’s the difference in a Tax Assessor or Tax Commissioner?” Fear not. We are here for all your questions, large and small. We’ve added all of them and more to our guide. And, it’s a “living” page — we’re happy to add more answers, useful info and to link any helpful resources throughout the year. Send them to us at staff@thecurrentga.org.

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NEWS

Solutions and perspectives

It’s been a good week for stories with new perspectives and ideas for schools, civic life and challenges. In the end, it’s just good to see what’s happening in other places to help us think differently about common problems. So we’re sharing some we’ve found.

• Letting vouchers fund Indiana microschools could spur innovation, but also a fight for cash: Vouchers to allow families to take students out of failing schools passed in Georgia. Here’s a look at Indiana’s system and the effects of its voucher system. From Chalkbeat.
• This Colorado teacher survived Columbine. Here’s how she prioritizes trauma-informed practices: When you’ve seen horrors few have, what do you do to work through it all? On the sad anniversary of the mass school shooting, we learn from a teacher who was there. From Chalkbeat.
• The flooding will come “No Matter What”: Coastal Georgians know that the water is their best friend on a good day and a dangerous threat on a bad one. As storm season approaches, ProPublica went to Slidell, Louisiana, to see a place where climate change is already causing people to leave their generational homes while newcomers move in.
• How tech can democratize community engagement: Cities and civic groups are looking for ways to bring more voices and perspectives into tough, long-term decisions. Now some are turning to technology to help democratize constructive conversations and prevent the loudest voices to control. Digital tools are letting users in search of solutions work together by working through problems of zoning and community to end up with strong ideas and results. From Route Fifty.

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Be a show-off

Here’s your opportunity to test your news knowledge with a few short questions related to stories we published in recent weeks.

Want your chance to catch up with Peaches and be featured in next week’s leaderboard? Leave a first name or nickname so we can keep track of your score. Here’s the link to this week’s quiz.

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NEWS

The chemicals next door

If you live in Glynn County, it’s not news that 4 toxic Superfund sites are located there. But even if you grew up near the sites in recent years, you may not know the chemicals the land can still hold or their histories. St. Simons native and filmmaker Sam Ghioto grew up nearby and later learned the long-term impacts. He is working on a documentary to chronicle the dangers over the years to remind us all how policy and land-use decisions can manifest on generations to follow. You can see an early excerpt of his work at 6 p.m. Monday at The Ritz Theater, 1530 Newcastle St. in Brunswick. It’s part of an Earth Day program sponsored by the Glynn Environmental Coalition. The main feature will be the film “Public Trust,” which focuses on the point that all public land are the ancestral lands of Indigenous people, who managed them sustainably for thousands of years. More information at this link.

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EXPLAINER

☕ Your second cup: TikTok, media literacy and online privacy

On Saturday, the House passed a national security and foreign aid package that includes a move to force social media titan TikTok to divest Chinese ownership or be banned in the US. It’s a free speech conundrum for anyone who follows it for information and learning, markets a business through it or just enjoys the dance videos. The quick videos and the addicting algorithms have found willing audiences of all ages. Now researchers say we’re missing a key point if we are worried about Chinese ownership and privacy: The platform is also responsible for shrinking our media literacy skills and attention spans. They also suggest that when it comes to closing the barn doors for personal data privacy the cow is already out of the barn.

We leave you with two pieces to consider on all of these points: A researcher’s analysis points out that the problem isn’t just TikTok, and there’s an enlightening primer on open source data, national security and personal information by an American intelligence expert. Dr. Kristin Wood, a former senior intelligence officer for the CIA, is now in private business where she works to develop gaming strategy that will help build critical thinking. She spoke in March to the Savannah Council on World Affairs, where she weighed in on data privacy and how social media is used by outside governments. The presentation is worth your time. Spoiler alert: China and Russia aren’t just watching your TikTok reels.

Enjoy.

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