Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025
Good morning! In the news this week, sudden personnel turnover at a war veterans home in Milledgeville, an overdue acknowledgement of Camden County heroes, and a former Savannah D.A. receives continued employment. Finally, some news you may have missed. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: HEALTH CARE
Veterans home leadership change
The Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville has a new director, after her predecessor suddenly stepped down amid growing concern about the quality of care given to the elderly and infirm residents at the facility.
Dennis Mize, 70, was due to retire at the end of the year, but people familiar with the situation said that the company that runs the facility for the state asked him to step aside sooner, The Current’s Margaret Coker reports.
The decision to replace Mize came after an investigation by The Current GA revealed a series of systemic problems at the facility that seven staff members who work directly in patient care said impair the treatment and lives of many of the facility’s approximately 150 residents.
The company, STGi, has not made a public announcement about the handover and did not respond to questions about the qualifications or professional background of the new administrator, Jessica Searcy.
NEWS: COMMUNITY
‘Unsung heroes’
For years Camden County’s Jannie Everette has pressed for official recognition of those who were killed in one of the worst disasters ever to befall the county.
It was on Feb. 3, 1971, that an explosion at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine, which manufactured trip flares for the military during the Vietnam War, took the lives of 29 people and injured another 50. Everette, who was nearby and heard the windows rattle and felt the walls shake, later said many of those who died didn’t know they were working with explosive material. (Read more here about the blast and how families still work to honor the victims.)
At last, Everette, longtime president and CEO of the Thiokol Memorial Project, has achieved a measure of success and solace: Calling those who died the “unsung heroes of the Vietnam War,” Coastal Georgia Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter last week introduced legislation to award them with a Congressional Gold Medal.
NEWS: COURTS
‘Interim’ no more
Federal judges in the Southern District of Georgia have voted to continue Margaret “Meg” Heap as the district’s Savannah-based U.S. attorney, removing her “interim” status following her appointment by the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year.
The decision bypasses a potentially thorny Constitutional problem that other states have grappled with during the second presidency of Donald Trump whereby the White House has largely ignored the Senate confirmation process for U.S. attorney candidates and instead appointed friends and allies of the president to these powerful jobs, The Current’s Margaret Coker writes.
Heap, the first woman ever to serve as Chatham County’s district attorney, won the approval of the federal district judges to continue serving as the top federal law enforcement official in the Southern District, which covers 43 of Georgia’s 159 counties — including Augusta, Savannah and Brunswick — and a population of more than 1.6 million people. She took the oath of office Monday from the Southern District’s chief judge, R. Stan Baker.
NEWS: UPDATES
7 things for your radar
• The outcome of efforts by Camden County Commissioners Cody Smith (District 3) and Jim Goodman (District 4) to stop the commission from adopting a millage rate it already approved is now in the hands of Superior Court Judge Arthur Harrison. The judge heard arguments in the lawsuit filed by Smith and Goodman on Monday. Smith and Goodman allege the commission had “unlawfully adopted the millage rate or proceeding with any further public hearing based on an invalid legal advertisement.”
• At last week’s meeting of the Georgia Public Service Commission, the public learned that commission staff had struck a deal with Georgia Power over the utility company’s request to increase the state’s energy capacity. Some in the audience weren’t happy.
• The Savannah Police Department did not respond to calls on Monday requesting an update on the investigation into last week’s acid attack on Ashley Wasielewski at Forsyth Park. Police Chief Lenny Gunther said Friday the department has “a clear investigative plan and a team that is pursuing every lead, reviewing every piece of footage and interviewing every potential witness.”
• “I’m not going to dignify him with a response,” says Chatham County Sheriff Richard Coleman after Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley withdraws its police officers from a joint SWAT team, citing what he described as Coleman’s “shocking and perplexing” decision to allow use of a county-owned armored vehicle at a private wedding.
• Citing competition from neighboring states, tourism advocates are urging state lawmakers to boost the budget for Explore Georgia, the tourism division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, from $11.6 million to some $50 million. At a hearing Friday on Jekyll Island, the House Committee on Tourism and Economic Development, chaired by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), heard from Visit Savannah’s Joseph Marinelli and the Tourism Leadership Council’s Michael Owens. Attending the hearing were Reps. Lehman Franklin (R-Statesboro), Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys), Bill Hitchens (R-Rincon), and Edna Jackson (D-Savannah).
• The Georgia Association of Black County Officials (GABCO) honored Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis as its “Chairman of the Year-South Georgia” at a Dec. 7 reception in Atlanta.
• A spokesperson for Georgia’s Department of Human Services says the state is rolling out “a number of tech fixes” to boost enrollment in Pathways to Coverage, the state’s health care program for low-income residents and a focus of joint coverage by The Current and ProPublica this year. The system alone has cost more than $50 million and just under 7,500 people are enrolled.
Georgia War Veterans Home gets new leadership amid care quality concerns
The Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville has appointed a new director, Jessica Searcy, after the previous director stepped down due to concerns about the quality of care given to the elderly and infirm residents at the facility.
Meg Heap sworn in to continue as region’s top federal prosecutor
Margaret Heap has been approved by federal judges in the Southern District of Georgia to continue serving as the district’s U.S. Attorney, bypassing the Senate confirmation process and avoiding a potential constitutional issue.
Agreement with Georgia Power met with outrage at regulatory hearing
Georgia Power and the Public Service Commission have agreed to a plan to increase energy capacity by 10,000 megawatts, with Georgia Power promising to lower power bills , but environmental organizations are skeptical of the promise and argue that the plan will actually raise power bills.
National economic headwinds blow through Georgia, though job outlook steady for now
The University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth predicts a 49% chance of recession in Georgia due to national economic headwinds, with job growth expected to remain subpar and housing costs expected to remain out of reach.
Thiokol explosion: 50 years later, families seek to be remembered
Those killed and maimed weren’t wearing uniforms like the thousands of Georgians deployed aboard during the war. They were mostly poor, Black women who worked for $1.65 an hour assembling trip flares for the U.S. Army at the Thiokol Chemical Corp. plant in Woodbine.
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