Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2025
Good Morning! On this Veterans Day, we look at commemorations across Coastal Georgia. Also, Georgia’s agriculture commissioner drops a surprising update on hurricane aid, and we have one lesson from last week’s elections. Finally, we note some news you may have missed. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: COMMUNITY
Saluting veterans
With a mixture of solemnity, gratitude and celebration, Coastal Georgians will mark Veterans Day with observances across the region, including pilgrimages to gravesites and parades and other ceremonies in Savannah, St. Simons, Kingsland, Hinesville, and Richmond Hill.
For some local military veterans, commemorations started several weeks ago. They were among members of a local club who gathered at a field in western Chatham County to fly remote-controlled vintage military aircraft models while raising money for the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, reports Justin Taylor, The Current’s visual journalist.
Veterans Day is, of course, commemorated across the nation. But it has particular resonance in Georgia, which is home to nearly 700,000 veterans and is projected to have the 5th largest population of veterans in the U.S. by 2040, The Current’s Craig Nelson writes.
Savannah and Coastal Georgia have the highest numbers of veterans who have served in the First Gulf War and afterward, while northeastern Georgia has the highest concentration of World War II and Korean War-era veterans, according to Kennesaw State University’s Center for the Advancement of Military and Emergency Services (AMES) Research.
NEWS: GOVERNING
Storm aid still stuck
When Gov. Brian Kemp and Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper announced in late September that the federal government had agreed to provide more than half-a-billion dollars in aid to the state’s hurricane-wracked agriculture industry, Georgia’s farmers, ranchers, and timberland owners breathed a sigh of relief.
In a press release, Harper said he was “incredibly proud” to disclose the $531 million in funding for those industries wracked by devastation of Hurricane Helene. The aid “would provide much-needed relief to impacted farmers and producers,” he said. Tweeted Kemp: “Great news for Georgia’s farming families and our No. 1 industry!”
It turns out that the celebrations were premature, The Current’s Maggie Lee reports.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Early voting lessons
The lessons from last week’s elections — most notably, the Public Service Commission races that saw two Democrats unseat two Republicans — are still being tossed around, mostly along predictable lines.
Pointing to the rarity of having an off-year, statewide partisan election, state GOP chairman Josh McKoon told conservative talk show host John Fredericks on Wednesday that the results had “no predictive value” for next year’s mid-term elections.
Meanwhile, Jane Kleeb, vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, declared: ““We now head into the 2026 midterm elections with incredible wind behind our backs.”
All the same, one thing is certain: Donald Trump and some Georgia Republicans face an uphill battle in their fight to banish early voting. Unofficial voting results show while turnout was low across Coastal Georgia — about 21% of all registered voters — some 39% of those who did vote did so early and in-person.
NEWS: UPDATES
ICYMI
- McIntosh County has spent almost half a million dollars defending its 2023 rezoning of Hogg Hummock, a small neighborhood on Sapelo Island that’s traditionally been home to a Gullah Geechee community, The Current’s Mary Landers reports.
- Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia and other groups carry out a drive-thru food distribution in Savannah to aid out-of-work federal employees and those unable to get SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown. The City of Kingsland, Camden Connection, the Camden County Chamber of Commerce and the Salvation Army in St. Marys do the same in Camden.
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejects a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
- Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, former state GOP chairman David Shafer, and Camden County businessman C.B. Yadav are among the 15 Georgians allegedly involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 elections who have been issued federal pardons by President Trump. Seven others linked to purported efforts to overturn the results in Georgia also received pardons. All are still subject to state charges.
- Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were not among the eight Democrats who voted with Republicans on a shutdown deal. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Esteves says, “The Senate ‘deal’ is nothing more than a surrender to Donald Trump’s reckless and cruel agenda that will rip away healthcare from millions of Georgians.”
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.
Walthourville council passes first-ever property tax
Councilmembers Boston, Bridgette Kelly, Patrick Underwood, and Robert Dodd voted for the 12-mil tax. Mayor Pro Tem Luciria Lovette voted against.
Photo gallery: Savannah honors veterans with 79th annual parade
The 79th annual Veterans Day parade in Savannah featured the Benedictine Cadets, Sol. C. Johnson High School dancers and marching band, St. Vincent’s Academy students, Vietnam Veterans, and JROTC cadets from Johnson and Savannah high schools.
Parades, ceremonies honor veterans in Coastal Georgia
Coastal Georgians will mark Veterans Day with a variety of ceremonies, including pilgrimages to gravesites, parades, and other events, in honor of the nearly 700,000 veterans in the state, with a particular focus on those who have served in the First Gulf War and beyond.
Federal shutdown blocks Helene grant for Georgia farmers, timber owners
The federal shutdown halted Georgia’s talks with the federal government over half a billion dollars in aid for farm and timber owners who took losses from Hurricane Helene. Georgia’s agriculture commissioner hopes applications may open a few weeks after the federal government does.
Analysis: Georgia’s education chasm threatens state’s rural revival – Part 3
Educational attainment gaps in rural Georgia will threaten the state’s economic productivity in near future.
Veterans, R/C pilots honor service members at Chatham County fly-in for Mighty 8th
Nearly 200 people gathered for the 5th annual Warbird Fly-in, a commemoration for American service members, to fly over 50 model military aircraft and raise money for the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum.
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.