Sunday Reads – Oct. 3, 2021
It feels a lot like fall, and that means there must be an election coming somewhere. While we’re just coping with the fallout from the last election cycle, a new one is here for many places along the coast. On Nov. 2, many cities will vote on new leadership, including Brunswick, Port Wentworth and Flemington, which will select mayors; Flemington and Tybee Island will fill council seats; and Georgia House District 165 will vote to fill the vacant seat for the late Rep. Mickey Stephens. But wait, there’s more than elections for your Sunday Reads…
Another Spaceport delay and new questions
This week the Federal Aviation Administration delayed its decision on whether it would license Spaceport Camden for small rocket launches. And The Current found a new wrinkle for the proposed project: Homeowners near the site say the launch area is too small, and they restated their concern in a letter to the FAA just before the delay was announced. The area required, based on the permit request, would be more than a one-mile radius for debris to fall from a failed launch, the letter says. That’s not possible on this site, which is bordered by tidal creeks, the Satilla River and marsh, mostly owned by the State of Georgia. And, at this point, there’s apparently no agreement with the state to lease the land or waterway rights.
Reapportionment, one map at a time
Citizens got a first peek at a draft for Georgia’s new Congressional map this week. Coastal Georgia, home to the First District, saw little change. For the generally Republican district, population gains in Pooler and Bryan County more than offset the losses felt by McIntosh County in the 2020 Census. It appears that, for now, stray precincts in Lowndes County have been reconnected to the rest of their county in the Eighth District, still a very large, very rural district comprising counties from the Florida line to north of Macon, without including Macon. In the draft, Appling County (pop. 18,444) moves out of the Twelfth District to join the coastal counties in the First District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter. None of the changes are etched in stone, but it was clear the district’s old profile would likely shift a bit to accommodate the growth closer to Savannah.
If you want to test your skills at remapping Georgia’s Congressional and state legislative districts, you can. Fair Districts Georgia has a mapping tool that lets you balance all sorts of communities by race, age, gender, population and city and county boundaries to come up with your own set of maps. Consider it October Madness and pretend you are filling out brackets to test your own reapportionment prowess against the state’s GOP legislature’s final entries. Deadline to enter is when the special legislative session starts Nov. 3.
Get a primer on the finer points of Georgia’s new law
Those aforementioned new districts — whether they look like lizards or dead cats — won’t kick in right away. But the local races will be the first tests of the new Georgia voting law. Elections boards across the state are preparing for new absentee ballot deadlines and rules, along with other changes. If you want to learn more about how those new processes are changing, join The Current and The Savannah Tribune for a free online voter education webinar at 6:30 p.m. on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Panelists will include representatives from the Chatham County Board of Registrars, Glynn County Board of Elections, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, the ACLU and League of Women Voters for Coastal Georgia. Go here to register.
Disinformation vs. democratic process
New voting laws, as well the continuing partisan pressures, are igniting fiery rhetoric and real threats to many elections officials across the country. ProPublica has a story this week on the contentious environment in Hood County, Texas, that gives a great deal of insight into the long tail of 2020 election disinformation campaigns. It’s a longish read, but well worth your time to consider the administrators caught in the middle of partisan fights over the democratic processes we rely on as a foundation of good government.
Covid’s legacy: hard lessons
It’s been fairly good news this week as Covid case and hospitalization rates have dropped and vaccination rates are up in Coastal Georgia. Certainly, they aren’t low enough for us to consider anything “normal,” but there are signs of hope. The City of Savannah announced the reopening of community centers, and that’s got to be a relief for many.
Two stories today bring us the pandemic’s effects and lessons to prepare us for the future. One is a look at the dual punch of Covid and low wages on those who provide care services for the disabled and older people around us. These workers, who provide the most basic of services for many, have moved on to places where they can earn more. The care provider network has thinned to the point the Georgia Service Providers Association for Developmental Disabilities warned Georgia leaders that “people are being dropped off at fire stations, emergency rooms or returned to a family’s front doorstep.”
Another story from the Covid-19 Data Dispatch shares lessons from its research on school reopenings. The Dispatch followed 5 school districts through the country with low rates of Covid transmission to present 11 major lessons that kept those communities safe as children returned to in-person learning. As we prepare for new variants to rise and indoor activities this winter, it’s good to know data show there are proven ways to fight any next wave that might come.
For your second cup: Glowing gophers
Your Reads editor is a sucker for stories about non-Covid and political stories right now, and this story sent her to the backyard with a blacklight on a recent night. So, how could we not share this story from Molly Samuels, environment reporter for WABE, about fluorescent mammals. A discovery by JT Pynn, a biologist at the Georgia Wildlife Federation, added the southeastern pocket gopher to the short list of nocturnal, mostly underground, mammals that glow under UV light. And wait, there’s more…
Enjoy.
Homeowners say Spaceport Camden site too small as FAA delays decision
Delays have been the norm for the controversial Camden County-led project, which aims to launch small rockets from a former industrial site on the marsh in the unincorporated county.
What Georgia’s first draft Congressional map does – and doesn’t – tell us about redistricting
The plan, unveiled Monday by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and redistricting committee chair Sen. John Kennedy, will not likely be the final version that lawmakers will vote on in November’s special session but gives a good starting point to see potential changes.
‘God’s will is being thwarted.’ Even in solid Republican counties, hard-liners seek more partisan control of vote
Accusations against local elections chief reflect wider rift in Texas fueled by election, new law.
Georgia’s disability support staffing shortage now at ‘epic proportions’
Georgia’s Service Providers Association for Developmental Disabilities warned that the staffing shortage has now reached “epic proportions.” Nursing homes and other long-term care providers are also reporting similar struggles nationally.
11 lessons from schools that safely reopened
Through exploring these success stories, we found that the schools used many similar strategies to build trust with their communities and keep COVID-19 case numbers down.
Southeastern pocket gopher joins list of fluorescent mammals
Researchers found some mammals fluoresce under UV lights. Flying squirrels, wombats and platypuses light up in vibrant pinks, blues and greens. An earlier study from the 1980s had found that opossums glow.
Support non-partisan, 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.