Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Good morning! In the news today: McIntosh County voters return to the polls to decide what many say is the fate of the last Gullah-Geechee community on a Georgia barrier island; a controversial building project bordering a Savannah crown jewel to move ahead; and Chatham County gets a new elections supervisor. Finally, we note five things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Second time around
For the second time in 15 months, voters in McIntosh County will begin deciding next week whether to throw out zoning changes by county officials that would allow ambitious real estate development in the last Gullah-Geechee community on a Georgia barrier island, The Current’s Mary Landers reports.
More than 800 ballots had already been cast in last year’s referendum when it was halted by a Superior Court judge at the request of the county commission, which had approved the zoning changes in Hog Hammock, the Sapelo Island district inhabited by descendants of enslaved West Africans. Georgia’s Supreme Court later overruled the judge’s injunction.
Early voting in the Jan. 20 referendum begins Monday. The zoning changes, if approved, would allow taller, bigger houses, which many residents of the area they call Hogg Hummock fear would force them out in favor of wealthy developers.
NEWS: DEVELOPMENT
Moving ahead
Development on a planned office building and underground garage on the southwest corner of Forsyth Park will move ahead in January after the property owners won several legal rulings.
The project, which aims to provide new office space to several of Savannah’s oldest white-collar businesses, faced sharp criticism in 2025 from a coalition of historic preservationists, Victorian District neighbors and local lawyers.
But court rulings in the past several months went against opponents who sued to stop the project, and one local media outlet was forced to issue a retraction and apology after it published allegations claiming the developers used improper political pressure, fraud and collusion to get the project approved.
Those defeats mean one of the project’s initial steps — breaking ground for a three-story, city-owned underground parking garage — could move forward as soon as next month, The Current’s Margaret Coker reports.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
‘Integrity’, “accessibility’
Chatham County has a new elections supervisor.
She is Brook Schreiner, who comes to Chatham from Butts County, where she served as director of elections and registration for five years. She succeeds Billy Wooten, who has staffed Chatham County elections for nearly three decades and held the top job since 2020.
Schreiner will officially assume her new post on Feb. 2, taking over the day-to-day operations of an elections office of a county where the number of registered voters has soared to more than 232,300, up from some 155,300 in 2016 and 200,300 in 2020.
Saying her goal is to ensure every voter has confidence “in the integrity and accessibility of our election system,” Schreiner will take charge just months ahead of hotly contested party primaries on May 19.
That balloting will be followed by almost certain primary runoffs in June and the general election in November — all amid continued challenges by self-described election integrity groups to the state’s voting system and the results of 2020 elections in Georgia, The Current’s Craig Nelson writes.
NEWS: UPDATES
5 things for your radar
• Water, water, water: University of Georgia scientists say the risks of mining to the Okefenokee Swamp are more extensive than previously known. Further to the northeast, McIntosh County’s Industrial Development Authority has awarded $1 million to fund a deepwater well project at Tidewaters Industrial Complex along I-95.
• “We stay the course,” Trip Addison, a member of the Richmond Hill-Bryan County Airport Authority, tells the Savannah Morning News, after the Bryan County Commission passes a resolution withdrawing support from the authority. The panel has been under fire ever since it was established earlier this year to spearhead the construction of a new airport in the county.
• At last: Hinesville’s outgoing city manager, Kenneth Howard, says the city is in talks with developers to build a conference center and family entertainment center on a 20-acre site between Deal Street and Veterans Parkway.
• ‘An already stretched system”: The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs is reportedly set to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, mostly unfilled jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff. The head of the department is Doug Collins, formerly the U.S. representative from Georgia’s 9th District. Meanwhile, the $1,776 “warrior dividend” President Donald Trump announced last week is not a Christmas bonus made possible by tariffs. Instead, the payment is coming from a Congressionally-approved housing supplement that troops were already set to receive.
• Fulton focus: The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sues Fulton County to obtain records related to the 2020 election, and Fulton County Superior Court judge rules that the State Election Board’s request for ballots and other county records related to that election is legal. At the same time, more evidence comes to light of pressure by Trump on Georgia officials to overturn the results of the election — in this case, a recording of a phone call between Trump and then-House speaker David Ralston.
Note: Our newsletter schedule will change for the holidays, starting Christmas Eve. We’ll move to Sunday and Wednesday for the following week and return to a full 5-day schedule on Jan. 4. Enjoy your holiday!
Legal hurdles cleared for Forsyth Park office development
Developers won several legal rulings and are set to move forward with construction of a three-story office building and underground garage on Forsyth Park in January.
McIntosh to begin second vote on Sapelo zoning referendum
McIntosh County residents will vote Jan. 20 to repeal the county commission’s zoning changes on Sapelo Island, which would allow for larger homes and could potentially displace the last Gullah-Geechee community on a Georgia barrier island.
Chatham County gets new elections supervisor
Brook Schreiner has been appointed as the new elections supervisor for Chatham County, pledging to ensure the integrity and accessibility of the election process.
Georgia Power wins approval for massive expansion despite protests
The Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously voted to grant Georgia Power permission to build five gas-powered plants and contract for additional power from other suppliers, despite criticism that the expansion could cost up to $60 billion and have a negative impact on the environment.
Trump’s DOJ offers states confidential deal to remove voters flagged by feds
The Trump administration has sent a confidential memorandum of understanding to 11 states, which would require them to remove any alleged ineligible voters identified during a federal review of their voter rolls, giving the federal government a major role in election administration.
Georgia ACA enrollment falls as federal changes push prices higher
The expiration of enhanced premium subsidies and other federal policy changes have led to a decrease in ACA enrollment in Georgia, resulting in an estimated 500,000 people losing health insurance in the next decade and increased pressure on local health departments, charity clinics, and hospitals.
Recording reveals Trump pressured Georgia House Speaker to overturn 2020 results
In a 2020 phone call, President Donald Trump asked then-speaker of the Georgia House David Ralston to call a special legislative session to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which was ultimately not called by Gov. Brian Kemp.
UGA researchers find more evidence that mining would harm Okefenokee
New research from University of Georgia scientists has found evidence that the Okefenokee Swamp is linked to the Upper Floridian Aquifer, suggesting that mining in the area could harm the swamp’s ecosystem.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis defends 2020 election case in fiery testimony before Senate panel
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified before a GOP-led state Senate committee to defend her decision to pursue a criminal case against President Donald Trump and 18 allies in an election fraud case, which was ultimately dismissed.
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