Never Good, Jury Verdict

Sunday Solutions — July 14, 2024

Normally we’d say good morning, but it’s never a good day when political violence enters our democracy. The Current is staunchly nonpartisan and, like our readers, we believe that there is no place for anything but constructive debate to discuss and to solve our challenges as a nation. We’d ask you to follow credible news sources for information and not indulge in rumors. How we all react to these events defines the strength of our democracy.
For our day, we’ll stick to Coastal Georgia.

---

NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY

Fires bring the heat

Savannah Fire stayed busy over the last two days with noteworthy work. First, a lightning bolt may have caused a fire at SCAD’s Granite Hall — the former Granite Steps Inn — at Abercorn and Gaston streets, igniting the floor, according to Savannah Fire. The 3-story, 9,473 square foot Italianate mansion has been under extensive renovation to become a new residence for the college’s president, Paula Wallace. The building was built in 1881 and was the scene for the Married Women’s Card Club in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Visual journalist Justin Taylor was there Friday as firefighters from at least 6 trucks battled the blaze and worked the aftermath until late that night. His photos are here.

On Saturday morning, 22 Savannah Fire units worked on the river at the Seagate port area on Marine Terminal Drive — east of the city, not at the Port of Savannah — when 3 domes containing wood chips and a conveyor belt caught fire. Late Saturday, Savannah Fire had contained fire in 2 of the 3 domes. So, if you think it’s hot, salute your local firefighters.

---

NEWS: COURTS

Jury finds guilty in concrete price-fixing trial

Longtime readers may remember The Current’s investigative piece on collusion on concrete pricing from 2021. Reporter Ann Woolner wrote about a whistleblower who went on the record to describe how Savannah-area concrete managers were working to control the bids and inflate prices for concrete supplied to federal, state and local building projects — meaning taxpayers paid much more for the public infrastructure. Two of those men were convicted last week by a jury in Savannah federal court on one count each of price-fixing. That makes five criminal convictions in the scheme that ran from 2010 to 2016. Here’s the original story, and here’s the link to Friday’s news about the conviction.

---

🎉 Winner, winner

Congratulations to Peaches, our winner for the first half of the year! This week we’ll reset our quiz leaderboards for the second half of the year. Join us by testing your news knowledge each week with a few short questions related to stories we’ve published. Below you’ll find our leaderboard with the top scores form the previous week, and the overall leaderboard, which tracks scores over time.

Compete each week and leave us your name or nickname so we can track your scores consistently. Start with today’s quiz here.

What do you get for all of this? Prizes from The Current’s store, of course. Peaches gets a choice of a sweet hat or coffee mug for the win. Want to check out the store yourself? Click here.

---

NEWS: TRANSPORTATION

New bridge, not too far

It’s been a bit of a newsy week for Savannah area bridges: First an I-16 overpass at Chatham Parkway got hit by a truck carrying large equipment and the resulting shutdown strangled alternate arteries in and out of Savannah. Then, we learned it’s the final weekend for the James P. Houlihan Bridge, a rare turnstile bridge opened in October 1925. For those of you who have no idea where this is, it crosses the Savannah River north of the current Savannah River bridge. It was the first bridge to cross the Savannah River, linking Georgia and South Carolina. It allowed for a quicker, 4-hour trip to Charleston on solid pavement and cost $700,000 at the time. The turnstile bridge was built to swing open for river shipping. A portion was widened in 1954.

On Monday, traffic on Georgia 25 out of Port Wentworth will shift onto a new replacement bridge. Work on the Middle River bridge will continue. The total project costs are more than $20 million.

---

NEWS: COMMUNITY

New bike stop in Brunswick

Even though temperatures continue to climb, the most dedicated cyclists still pursue their love for riding. In the event of any cycling issues, a basic bike repair station is available at Howard Coffin Park. This station, situated just off the East Coast Greenway, was installed by the City of Brunswick and free to use. To all those undeterred by the searing heat of the coast, happy riding awaits!

And speaking of riding, here’s an idea from Atlanta. Read about how the city is working to encourage biking and bike commuting through a new electric bike rebate program.

---

ANALYSIS: HEALTH CARE ACCESS

☕ Your second cup: When regulations fail

Few will argue that some things need oversight, and one of those is care facilities. Since the pandemic, health care staffing has suffered, and, as the shortage of care workers grows, we can also blame the aging of the large Baby Boom generation. Several states have set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes. A look at the effects from the nonprofit KFF Health News finds various results in those areas, including rules that are broken or, at best, ignored. Here’s a look at what’s working and what to watch for.

Also, we’ve added a new, regular feed for KFF Health News to thecurrentga.org so you can follow its work each day. Here’s the link to bookmark.

---

We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.

---

---

---

Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.