Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2025
Good Morning! In the news today: Pitching a nickel refinery in Bryan County, Coastal Georgia politicians respond to Fulton County ballot seizure, and the state’s attorney general goes hunting for ballots in Glynn County. Finally, we note some things you may have missed. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
NEWS: DEVELOPMENT
‘90% done’
For Westwin Element’s top executive, patriotism was the order of the day at Monday’s town hall in Richmond Hill to field questions about the company’s proposal to build a nickel refinery in Bryan County, The Current’s Margaret Coker reports.
In her remarks to a rowdy, standing-room-only crowd of some 250 people gathered at Richmond Hill City Center, the executive, KaLeigh Long, said the Oklahoma City-based firm had the interest of Bryan County and its residents at heart in proposing to make the county home to the nation’s first refinery to purify nickel for high-tech and military uses.
She also sought to ease concerns over the refinery’s effects on the environment and the prospect of sinking property values for homeowners in the plant’s vicinity.
But at the heart of Long’s pitch was the argument that residents of Bryan County and surrounding counties should back construction of the refinery out of patriotism — that in the spirit of “America First,” the U.S. needs to bring home its production of critical minerals instead of relying on foreign sources to fill the need.
After the two-hour meeting, she told a small group of people that the deal was “90% done,” and it was “highly likely” that Westwin would buy the building site, with or without tax incentives.
Stay tuned to The Current for further coverage this week.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
‘You’re going to see something’
The FBI’s seizure last week of Fulton County ballots from the 2020 drew condemnation and praise from elected officials in Coastal Georgia.
1st District U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, told an Atlanta television station he was “thankful” that “finally” the U.S. Justice Department is “going to get the bottom” of the 2020 presidential vote tally in Georgia and “prove what we’ve known all along — that is that Donald Trump won the election in Georgia in 2020.”
Derek Mallow, Coastal Georgia’s sole Democratic state senator, said the FBI’s “raid” on a Fulton County warehouse “raises serious concerns about whether federal law enforcement is again being weaponized to fuel conspiracy theories that were rejected years ago.” State Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook (Savannah) said the FBI’s move was “really about” this year’s midterm elections in Georgia, not 2020’s — part of what could be an “attempt by the Trump administration to hand elections administration to our GOP-controlled state government.”
That warning about removing local authorities from election supervision gained some credence Monday when President Trump, citing “crooked states” and the alleged “steal” of the 2020 election, told radio talk show host and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino that Republicans ought to “nationalize” voting. “You’re going to see something in Georgia,” he said, apparently referring to the Fulton County ballot seizure.
NEWS: POLITICS
Carr says he’s the one
Gubernatorial candidate Chris Carr says he’s the Republican — not Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, or Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who can win the general election in November.
“One of my opponents, I’ll just tell you, can’t win the primary, and the other can’t win the general election,” Carr, the state’s attorney general, told an audience of some three-dozen people in a frigid St. Simons on Saturday.
Three months ahead of the party primaries on May 19, the 53-year-old Carr, the state’s top law enforcement official, cast himself as a principled Republican who isn’t a captive of the culture wars and is tough on crime and corruption, The Current’s Jabari Gibbs reports from Glynn County.
NEWS: POLITICS
ICYMI
• In the capitol: By a vote of 43-8, the state Senate on Monday passed House Bill 117 authored by Rep. Jesse Petrea (Savannah) and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Ben Watson (Savannah) which would require all food service establishments in Georgia that serve foreign imported shrimp to be identified as such on “each menu item containing shrimp” or on “placards visible to the public.” The measure now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto.
• House Speaker Jon Burns (Newington) praises the introduction of a measure, HB 1114, that would authorize a ballot measure calling for the elimination property taxes on homesteads by 2032 while keeping currently implemented property tax exemptions intact.
• Workplace violence and burnout afflict health-care providers in Georgia and contribute to the current shortage of providers. HB 219, sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens (Savannah), would authorize the creation of professional health programs to monitor and rehabilitate impaired health-care professionals.
• ‘Citizen benefit’: Buddy Carter, sponsor of “Red, White and Blueland Act of 2025,” says he’s hopeful Greenland officials cooperate more with Donald Trump and his efforts to acquire the island, currently a territory of NATO ally Denmark. territory. “This is a strategic location that would benefit the United States and benefit our citizens, especially against China and against Russia,” he tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• ‘We need your voice’: Click here to take the survey on the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools System’s strategic plan, “Vision for the Future 2031.”
• “Pretty good,” is how a ticket seller at a southside Savannah movie theater on Sunday described turnout for “Melania” at a southside Savannah movie theater, one of three showing the documentary about First Lady Melania Trump over the weekend. Sixty-two people attended the first two of four daily showings of the film, he said.
• Talking books: Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state lawmaker Stacey Abrams is set to appear Saturday at the Savannah Book Festival to discuss her book, “Coded Justice.” Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Monday postponed her scheduled visit to Savannah on Friday to plug her book, “107 Days.”
• No regrets: “I don’t regret supporting Vogtle, even if it did cost me the election,” former Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols tells WABE.
• Cut! “Georgia’s Film Tax Incentive Bombs at the Box Office,” headlines an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. “‘The Hollywood of the South’ was built on an absurd credit system that has proved unsustainable.”
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.
U.S. Coast Guard report details multiple errors that led to bridge-crane collision in Savannah
The U.S. Coast Guard determined that multiple errors by a tugboat vessel operator, tug master and crane operator led to a collision between a crane and Savannah’s Talmadge Bridge, causing $450,000 in damages and halting vehicle and ship traffic for hours.
Carr tries to break through in Georgia governor’s race
Chris Carr, the state’s attorney general, is running for the Republican nomination for governor of Georgia, emphasizing his crime-fighting credentials, commitment to affordability, and focus on education and safety.
These 3 policy moves are likely to change health care for older people
The Biden administration’s proposed federal rule setting minimum staff levels for nursing homes was blocked by industry lawsuits, and the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts have further hindered progress, while a new Medicare experiment for prior authorizations has raised concerns among advocates and older Americans.
Election analyst cautions against disinformation following FBI’s ballot seizure
The FBI’s seizure of ballots in Fulton County has reignited questions about the 2020 election, despite multiple audits finding no evidence of fraud, and experts warn that this move could fuel further disinformation and distrust of the election system.
Georgia nurses push for legislative support to address violence, burnout
The Georgia Nurses Association is advocating for House Bill 219, which would create professional health programs to monitor and rehabilitate impaired health care professionals, allowing them to self-report and receive peer support without the stigma of a permanent mark on their license.
When it comes to taxes, influence of tobacco lingers
Lawmakers in Georgia have been unable to pass legislation to increase the state’s cigarette tax, despite numerous studies showing the dangers of smoking and the resulting financial burden on taxpayers.
Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
You must be logged in to post a comment.