Sunday Solutions — Oct. 20, 2024
On what was to be a celebration day on Sapelo Island, Saturday became a day of mourning after at least 7 died when an aluminum gangway collapsed as people were boarding a ferry. If you are among those who voted this past week we say: Good job! For the rest of you: We’re going heavy today on voter prep so you’ll have time to do your homework. And in the end, we’ve got another bright comet leaving a shimmering trail. We need a shining light today.
NEWS: SAPELO ISLAND
Ramp collapse kills 7, injures at least 8
On Saturday, Sapelo Island descendants, students, tourists and others came to the annual Cultural Day that honors the work and lives of the former enslaved people who settled the barrier island. But as the groups boarded the ferry to leave, an aluminum gangway collapsed, dropping about 20 people into the water below. As of late Saturday, at least 7 had died and several injured. The Current’s staff was on scene as the ferry brought in survivors and our reporters worked to get the facts and verify rumors.
EXPLAINER: ELECTIONS
Legal history of voting, and we’ve landed on Apple
Our limited edition podcast finds new listeners every week – and this week, it’s available on Apple Podcasts. You can find it there by searching for “Coastal Navigator” in the Apple Podcasts app. Now it’s available 3 ways: Simply click on the Play button on the web site, or find it free on Spotify or on Apple.
For Coastal Navigator’s 5th episode, listen in on reporter Gillian Goodman’s conversation with Nora Benavidez, a top civil rights and free speech attorney in Georgia. Together, we’ll walk through the past, present, and future of the cases that have defined this election in Georgia. We see what we should keep an eye on and reflect on why so many of the battles of this race have been fought in the court. If you missed last week’s episode, you may want to catch up and go inside a meeting where 859 voter challenges were recently considered in Bryan County.
EXPLAINER: ELECTIONS
Voters roll out strong
If you already voted, you are apparently not alone. As of Saturday evening, 1,301,516 Georgia voters have put their job for the Nov. 5 election in the rearview mirror. All we can say is “Good job!” For the rest of you still doing your homework, we recommend our handy voter guide where we’re adding new candidate Q&As daily, as well as a full stream of news and other goodies.
How did you do?
Welcome to The Current‘s weekly News Quiz! Every Sunday, we give you the opportunity to test your news knowledge with a few short questions related to stories we published in recent weeks. Below you’ll find our leaderboard with the top scores from the previous week, and the overall leaderboard, which tracks scores over time.
We reset the scores on the overall leaderboard last week. We will continue to track scores and update the leaderboard each week.
Leaderboard Oct. 13, 2024
First Place (10/10): BBC
Second Place (10/10): Kaspar
Third Place (10/10): Sadie T.
Overall Leaderboard:
First Place: EMF33, Shots, Kaspar
Second Place: BBC
Third Place: Tbolt
Make sure you compete every week and leave your nickname below for a chance to win an exclusive prize from The Current!
NEWS: UPDATES
Updates from the courts
- Concrete suppliers get prison time for bid-rigging in Savannah area: Careful readers may remember an in-depth look at this bid-rigging case in 2021 by reporter Ann Woolner. Last week, a judge sentenced principal players to jail and levied fines on companies involved.
- Savannah man convicted on charges from Jan. 6 insurrection: Former Savannah car salesman Dominic Box wasn’t shy about his trek to the Capitol insurrection. He made a social media video as he walked to the Capitol and talked about it later to a filmmaker. Last week, after refusing a plea deal, he was found guilty on 6 federal charges for his actions that day.
EXPLAINER: SCIENCE
☕ Your second cup: Comets!
If you were watching Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in the past week, there’s another comet on the way. The newly discovered Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) will be visible this week and may return for Halloween, after it makes a trip around the Sun and if it doesn’t disintegrate. Both come from a place that’s theoretical, the Oort Cloud, which scientists believe contains billions of icy celestial “bodies,” some of which could be headed our way. Your Sunday editor nerds out on these things (her high school mascot was The Comet), so she’s sharing this piece from a Georgia Tech scientist on how to see it, an explanation of the Oort Cloud and why we should be watching what comes out of it.
Enjoy.
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7 dead, 8 injured after Sapelo dock collapse
By Mary Landers, Robin Kemp, Jabari Gibbs, and Margaret Coker
Seven people are confirmed dead and several others are seriously injured after an aluminum gangway collapsed at the Sapelo Island Ferry dock. The collapse happened during Sapelo Island’s annual Cultural Day celebration of its Geechee residents, which drew about 200 people to celebrate the island community’s heritage.
YOUR VOTE: Guide to 2024 elections
By The Current
Find nonpartisan election reporting, tools that you can use to conduct your own research and practical links to get your vote counted.
Georgia hits 1 million mark in early voting
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat
On Tuesday, the first day of the early voting period, more than 300,000 ballots were cast, starting the record momentum that has carried through the week and allowed Georgia to eclipse the 1 million mark on Friday.
Chatham sheriff race pits age, experience against bid for new leadership
By Jake Shore
Incumbent Republican John Wilcher, Democratic challenger Richard Coleman divide on principles of visitation, strategies for Chatham County Sheriff election to run county jail.
Republicans appeal a Georgia judge’s ruling that invalidates seven election rules
By Kate Brumback/The Associated Press and Jeff Amy/The Associated Press
The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention — one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results.
Chatham district attorney discloses campaign donations after deadline, ethics complaint
By Jake Shore
Shalena Cook Jones filed reports of campaign funding after missing deadline and ethics complaint by a local lawyer. It’s the latest round of partisan attacks in the county’s most-watched local election for Chatham County top prosecutor.
Concrete suppliers get prison time for bid-rigging in Savannah area
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat
According to court documents, the defendants colluded to submit bids charging uncompetitive prices and coordinated the issuance of price-increase letters to customers between 2010 and 2016.
Savannah man convicted on charges from Jan. 6 insurrection
By Benjamin Payne/GPB News
Dominic Box was convicted by a federal judge, after waiving his right to a jury trial and declining a plea deal offered by prosecutors.
October comets visit Earth from spooky Oort Cloud
By James Wray/Georgia Tech
The Cloud’s residents may be a reason why life ignited on Earth; crashing on our planet eons ago, these ice bodies may have supplied at least some of the water that all life requires. At the same time, these same objects pose an ever-present threat to Earth’s continuation – and our survival.
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