Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Good Morning! In the news today, politics infuses a mall shooting, a new transit board takes shape over objections from a county leader, and members of Congress weigh in on a big bill they don’t all see as “beautiful.”
Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
ANALYSIS: PUBLIC SAFETY
Gangs or guns?
A grandmother is dead. Three young men have been arrested. And the thousands of families who frequent Savannah’s Oglethorpe Mall are traumatized.
Yet even as police continued investigating what caused the gunfight in the mall ahead of the Independence Day weekend, politics have infused the tragedy.
Chatham County Commissioner Dean Kicklighter, who represents District 7 on the county’s western edge, entered the fray, calling out what he said was reluctance to use the word “gang” — or what some social media users dubbed the “g” word.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson followed, as did state Attorney General Chris Carr and Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones, who criticized the lack of communication among top city political and law enforcement officials.
The Current’s Margaret Coker looks at the gangs versus guns debate in the aftermath of the shootings.
ANALYSIS: COURTS
Judge dismisses CAT lawsuit
A Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the overhaul of the board of directors of Chatham County’s transit authority, handing the county commission and its chairman, Chester Ellis, a political, as well as legal, defeat.
Six members of the board of directors of Chatham Area Transit (CAT), sued to stop implementation of House Bill 756, arguing that the loss of their seats before the end of their terms and the state legislature’s move to alter the operations of a local agency violated Georgia’s constitution.
In his 13-page ruling handed down late Thursday, Judge Timothy R. Walmsley rejected those arguments and threw out the lawsuit. In doing so, he sided with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who took the unusual step of entering the case and moving for its dismissal.
The Current’s Craig Nelson sorts through the tug-of-war among local lawmakers that culminated in Walmsley’s ruling and the seating of a new CAT board last week.
‘Beautiful’ v. ‘ugly”
With President Donald Trump’s signing a historic tax-and-spending bill into law last week, the real battle between Republicans and Democrats begins: the messaging war.
As mid-term elections near, the three lawmakers in Washington D.C. who most directly shape the lives of Coastal Georgians previewed the battle to come.
Predictably, Coastal Georgia Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter, a Republican, gushed over the “one big, beautiful bill” during a speech on the House floor, citing its provisions on border security and Medicaid for “those who truly need it.” He said the bill ushers in the “golden age of America.”
Just as predictably, U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, were scathing. Referring to the bill’s health care provisions, Ossoff called it “unmitigated catastrophe for Georgia.” In a speech on the Senate floor, Warnock deplored the “big, ugly bill” and its “socialism for the rich.”
After last week’s bill-signing, many Republicans will return to their preferred broadcasts and social media, where the bill will be hailed as “promises kept.” And many Democrats will return to their preferred broadcasts and social media, too, where the bill will be condemned as a disaster.
As the messaging war rages in the run-up to next year’s mid-term elections, there are other complications for Coastal Georgians of all political stripes trying to assess what they hear and see about the bill. At nearly 900 pages, most people, even lawmakers, don’t know what’s in it. Also, many of the more draconian provisions of the bill, by design, don’t kick in until after the elections.
6 things for your radar
- High mast lights at the new Buc-ees in Brunswick draw sea turtle hatchlings inland, to their possible peril.
- South Georgia librarian fired over LGBTQ children’s book included in summer reading display.
- U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (Jackson) goes to the White House and discusses joining Buddy Carter and others in the race to challenge U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff next year.
- Buddy Carter steps down from chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on health, saying, “My state and District deserve my undivided attention as I continue to put Georgians’ interests first.”
- Buddy Carter says his granddaughters survived the floods that swept their summer camp in Texas. Their cousin, however, did not.
- Why evangelicals turned their backs on PEPFAR, gutting the program to combat AIDS in Africa.
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Judge allows Chatham Area Transit reorganization to proceed
A Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the overhaul of the board of directors of Chatham County’s transit authority, handing the county commission and its chairman, Chester Ellis, a political and legal defeat.
PSC freezes Georgia Power rates, but bills could still increase
Georgia Power rates will remain the same for the next three years under a deal approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission, though the cost of recovering from Hurricane Helene and fuel costs could still cause bills to increase next year.
Guns or gangs: What’s Savannah’s real problem?
Savannah’s Oglethorpe Mall was the scene of a gunfight between two groups of young men, leading to a grandmother’s death and the arrest of three young men, with some local officials blaming the violence on gang activity.
How I became ‘Mark Cuban’ and found community on Forsyth Park’s courts
A group of boys in Forsyth Park basketball courts in Savannah, Georgia adopted the nickname ‘Mark Cuban’ for a local resident, who embraced the name and formed a connection with the young men, who welcomed him as one of their own.
Three people injured in Oglethorpe Mall shooting, injuries not life-threatening
A multiple shooting occurred at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, resulting in three injuries and three medical emergencies, with the shooting being between two groups and not a random act of violence.
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