Savannah Morning News
U.S. immigrant visa appointments paused
Immigrant visa applicants around the world are being notified by email that long-awaited appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates will be postponed. The State Department said it is temporarily pausing appointments for visa services so consular...
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AVIATION DREAMS
Savannah Technical College and Ogeechee Technical College have a message: aspiring pilots wanted. h The two regional technical schools are launching a second cohort for Private Pilot Ground School, according to a Savannah Tech press release. The...
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Program links housing with homelessness, health
When individuals have stable housing, a variety of health outcomes improve, says Georgia Department of Public Health’s Coastal Health District Director Bonzo Reddick. Emergency room visits decline. Substance abuse goes down. Mortality and morbidity...
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Colleges confront decline in reading
Anyone who has spent time on a college campus lately has probably heard laments from faculty about their students’ reading habits, or rather nonreading habits. Such complaints are more than an unfounded nostalgia for a bygone age. Reading – not just...
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LOVE, ALWAYS
Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country” singing and songwriting icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestone-encrusted outfits, has died. She was 80. Parton’s death was announced by her family on her social media pages and...
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Iran vows to resist new U.S. sanctions
WASHINGTON – Iran pledged to fight back against expanded U.S. sanctions aimed at isolating its economy, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks. Almost...
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Embryo personhood debate gains notice
About 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in 2024, according to the most recent U.S. data. But IVF commonly involves trying to create multiple embryos, because success is never guaranteed. If unused, those embryos can be frozen,...
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‘HISTORIC DOES NOT MEAN DEAD’
Just outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena’s Mason Room Thursday morning were two pallets of Savannah Grey brick. To the left were black-andwhite photographs of King and the civic center, including one of workers installing the sign on the original...
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Touch tanks to shark feedings
“Steve, Steve, don’t put it back!” Cried out Bethany Brodbeck, assistant aquarium curator. She dashed across the corridor to the rogue sea trout wriggling on the feeding room floor. Brodbeck then swiftly scooped it up and delivered the fish into a tank...
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Iran vows ‘devastating’ response to threat
DUBAI – Iran said on Aug. 21 that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership. Washington prepared for...
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Trump plan could hit science funding
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their...
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FL upset highlights primary elections
Democrats continued to trade blows in their factional war on Aug. 18 with a progressive firebrand prevailing in the U.S. Senate primary in Florida, while two centrist House incumbents fended off more left-leaning challengers. While primaries unfolded...
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DOJ pressed, dropped officer assault cases
Christian Garcia admits that he threw a water bottle toward officers guarding a federal building near Los Angeles during an immigration protest last summer. h The plastic bottle was empty, he said, and hit no one but Garcia himself – the wind blew it...
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Effingham residents push for answers on data center
Brian Mallory purchased his property on the outskirts of Rincon nearly three decades ago. The peace he says he enjoyed on his 3-acre parcel is what has kept him there. Now, though, the increase in traffic from the Project Camellia data center could...
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‘It’s going to be a legacy’
The vision for a landmark “skyline building” on Savannah’s Johnson Square cleared a first hurdle Wednesday, paving the way for what has been promised as a long process to enhance a prominent parcel in Savannah’s downtown. The Savannah Historic...
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LIBERTY REVIVED
Archibald Bulloch was not standing on the sidelines of history in the summer of 1776. He was out making it, as Coastal Heritage Society CEO Nora Lee tells it. A specific example of his making history was on Aug. 10 that year when he read the...
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Iran, U.S. both claim to control Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI – The Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” the recently appointed head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit said on Aug. 13, a day after President Donald Trump said the United States had “total control” of the strategic...
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Al-Qaida, Islamic State group adopting AI
Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. h It...
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Military bases delay toxic PFAS cleanup
It’s been almost five years since Brandi and Brad Hyatt found out the well at their home next to an Army base in Washington is contaminated with “forever chemicals.” h They started using bottled water for everything from making coffee to rinsing off...
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Officials seek to stop mail-in ballot rules
Less than 90 days out from the midterms, election officials are pleading with the Supreme Court to block the Trump administration from making changes that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to decide who gets mail-in ballots. And after the Postal...
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Reflecting Pool case latest DOJ misfire
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s collapsed felony criminal indictment charging a former Olympic canoe racer with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is just the latest in a string of legal misfires by the DOJ in politically charged...
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Reports: U.S. missile supply badly depleted
The war on Iran has severely depleted key U.S. missile stockpiles and left the nation and its allies in a vulnerable position for potentially years to come, several experts and reports say. U.S. missile stockpiles were low before President Donald...
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Gunshot detection tech ignites controversy
When gunshots ring out on America’s streets, bystanders face an instant, high-stakes dilemma. h Do I call the cops? Were those even gunshots? Maybe it was just fireworks. h Every moment of hesitation risks a delay in medical treatment or gives a...
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USA TODAY CROSSWORD
EDITED Amie Walker BY Mike Graczyk 63 64 65 DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 One of six in Australia Itty-bitty Fender ding Losing streak, in baseball ___ de gallo “I like that suggestion more!” Where kitties can climb “The way I see it,”...
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Savannah alcohol overlay ban faces new scrutiny
Community leaders in West Savannah banded together in 2018 to create a restriction on new alcohol licenses within an area of the neighborhood. Leaders active at the time say there was a prevalence of package stores that contributed to loitering, public...
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Keisha Lance Bottoms rallies GA Dems in Savannah
Standing before a large crowd inside the Savannah Convention Center, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms reminded Georgians how long it’s been since a Democrat held the Governor’s seat. The last was Roy Barnes, who won the...
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School AI program paused after backlash
A union representing New York educators is calling for statewide safeguards against the use of artificial intelligence in schools after a district announced their involvement in a pilot program that includes a humanoid robot’s presence in a...
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SPOTS WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED
My friends all know me as the beer girl. I am inclined to indulge in a weekend mid-day cerveza next to the pool or during a good meal with friends while traveling. Savannah’s rooftop bars are known for craft cocktails, sweeping river views and...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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Different kinds of justice
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett likes to note that the black robes she and her colleagues wear show that the nine justices are “united symbolically.” h Despite different personalities, legal philosophies and backgrounds, the robes...
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Fauci invokes 5th at contentious hearing
WASHINGTON – Dr. Anthony Fauci may be held in contempt after refusing to answer Republicans’ questions about the origins of COVID-19 as he sat in a witness chair invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The former head of the...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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Historic Savannah hosts panel on Yamacraw Village
The year was 1940 and First Bryan Baptist Church stood alone. Around the church was vacant dirt, land that appeared it had just been cleared. All that was visible were sparse powerlines and buildings off in the distance. Such was the scene of one...
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U.S. measles cases climb to 35-year high
Measles cases in the United States have reached their highest level in 35 years, marking a dramatic resurgence of a disease that was declared eliminated in the country a quarter-century ago. New data released July 22 by Johns Hopkins University shows...
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Ardsley-area drainage project to hit Abercorn St.
Hoffman said at the July briefing the work will result in two-lane closures northbound on Abercorn, with north traveling traffic diverted to Habersham Street. He added that the hope is to keep one southbound lane open during construction. Navigating...
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Wreckage of 1952 Pan Am flight found
Wreckage of a Pan Am plane that crashed off Puerto Rico’s coast nearly 75 years ago has been found on the ocean floor, search teams scouting for the long-lost aircraft announced on July 21. The passenger aircraft, dubbed the Clipper Endeavor, crashed...
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NATO steps up security in Arctic
EVENES, Norway – During a frozen morning in Arctic Norway, a group of British and Norwegian soldiers padded softly through a snow-blanketed birch forest. They were on a simulated NATO reconnaissance mission, among some 30,000 troops who took part in a...
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‘For the people who help keep this country free’
Parker’s Kitchen held its first roundup campaign for the Wounded Warrior Project in 2023. Wounded Warriors was the chosen partner for one of Parker’s philanthropy pillars: heroes. The now three-year partnership culminated in the exchange of two...
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Pentagon IDs service members killed in Iran
A 17th U.S. service member has been killed in the war with Iran, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X, in northern Iraq July 18 during the controlled detonation of an “unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.” That service member...
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Quartz countertops driving health crisis
If you walk into a Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s and order a countertop for your kitchen renovation, the store will likely contract with a local fabrication shop, instructing them to make one from a material called engineered stone. h Often marketed as...
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Savannah street eyes shift to commercial zoning
“Our petition is asking the Commission to recognize that this street is not a residential one, it’s already a key commercial corridor in Savannah’s Starland District.” The block of East 40th Street between Bull and Drayton has had a frontrow seat to...
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Georgia nights are not cooling down
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WABE and Grist , a nonprofit environmental media organization. Much of Georgia is enduring sweltering heat this week, with heat advisories across the southern part of the state and an...
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Social media shaping kids’ career dreams
A second grader in Norway drew a YouTube logo when my colleagues and I asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. When we asked why, the child explained that YouTubers are famous and make lots of money. When we asked second graders in Wisconsin...
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Daufuskie Island chef earns James Beard honor
When Sallie Ann Robinson took the stage at the Art Institute of Chicago to accept the James Beard Foundation’s Book Awards Hall of Fame (formerly the Cookbooks Hall of Fame) honor last month, she shook her head and took a deep breath from the podium....
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Congress aims to fix FEMA
For millions of Americans who experience a destructive flood, wildfire or other disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency represents hope. But as the nation moves through hurricane season and watches a strengthening El Niño that could...
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Heat waves turn homes dangerous for all ages
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors. When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters...
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New system to simplify applying for passports
Getting and renewing a passport might get just a little bit easier, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On July 2, Rubio said the State Department is developing a more streamlined system that would allow Americans to more easily take and...
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VINTAGE REVIVAL
Savannah is known for many things — Forrest Gump, Spanish moss, horse carriage tours and haunted cobblestone streets, to name a few. But as the city continues to grow, an influx of trendy college students and tourists has sparked a renewed sense of...
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From Savannah to the World Cup
Long before he became a Savannah police officer, Cpl. Carlos Escobedo found a sense of identity on the soccer field. As a first-generation Mexican American, he said the sport has always been deeply woven into his culture. When Escobedo learned Atlanta...
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Program gives struggling artists $1,000 a month
Though artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to produce images, music and text, the technology is also making it harder for the people who have traditionally produced this work to earn a living. A photographer who once was commissioned...
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Ribbon cut on latest phase of Tide to Town network
For years Savannah’s John Bennett made the “terrifying” trek across the 52nd Street bridge over Truman Parkway on his bike to work at Savannah State University. h Along the winding road to the bridge the shoulders were narrow. It wasn’t a pleasant...
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USA TODAY CROSSWORD
EDITED Amie Walker BY Bill Conner ACROSS 1 5 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 27 28 32 34 36 37 40 42 43 46 47 50 51 53 55 60 61 62 63 “I’ll ___” (“Nah, I’m good”) Delete Event for a swimmer or runner Tweak a draft Starter courses at some...
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Nelly’s Grocery and Wine brings fresh food to city
Though the white and burgundy shelves at Nelly’s Grocery and Wine are currently bare, Chanel and Stanton Parker hope to turn the space into a place of discovery for Savannahians by the end of July. Transplants from Kansas City, Missouri, Chanel said...
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City breaks ground on new community center
The property at 218 Windsor Road in Savannah has always been a haven for recreation, from scores of splashes at a community pool in the 1960s to the chorus of wheels on pavement at the former Woody’s Skate Park roughly a decade ago. h But since the...
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SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY
The 56 steps, cut from pink granite, ascend to a neoclassical temple that seems plucked from ancient Greece and deposited on a Kentucky hilltop. One for each year of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. h If the first eight steps, rising amid the site’s...
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Native nations weigh America’s birthday
HALIFAX, NC – Marty Richardson descended into the wooded grove, weaving through a crowd of onlookers attending a local America 250 celebration. When Richardson began to speak, the crowd went silent. The Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe, he told them,...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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New wedding venue coming to historic site
Sacred vows and wedding bells may soon ring out from a property along one of Savannah’s crown jewels. Savannah City Council approved rezoning of 912 Drayton St. to allow for an event space along Forsyth Park, paving the way for prominent Savannah-area...
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Supreme Court upholds transgender athlete ban
WASHINGTON – States can ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams, the Supreme Court ruled June 30 in addressing a major cultural and political flash point before adjourning for the summer. The decision is another setback...
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Savannah Pride shines at 9th annual Stonewall party
AT TOP: Blair Williams performs as the opening act of the “So You Think You Can Drag” competition during the Stonewall Party Hosted by Savannah Pride Center on June 27 at Starland Yard, with host by Chi Chi Bonet Sherrington. A contestant participates...
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Jamaican guilty of child cruelty deported
A man who was convicted of first-degree child cruelty in Chatham County was apprehended by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in New Orleans and deported, according to a social media post made by law enforcement. Daymonia Ramsay, who is said by...
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HEARTWOOD’S NEXT BIG BEAT
At nearly every turn in Heartwood, the steady thunk of hammers, workers on rooftops and work trucks hauling in supplies can be seen and heard throughout. The development, which is poised to have 10,000 homes, accompanying commercial space and other...
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President Trump blames Iran for attack on ship
DUBAI – President Donald Trump blamed Iran on June 26 for an attack on a ship near Oman which he said had violated their ceasefire, after Tehran insisted it would control the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states not to side with Washington. The...
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USA TODAY CROSSWORD
EDITED Amie Walker BY Bill Conner HIGH AND DRY ACROSS 1 7 10 13 14 15 16 17 19 21 22 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 35 36 38 40 42 43 44 46 47 50 51 52 53 55 57 61 The moon has eight Tiny troublemaker Spanish for “that” Convincing, like...
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LOWER CRIME RATES AT RISK
The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century. Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer...
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City seeks input on MLK Corridor Initiative
Savannah Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier used to love her late mother’s stories about West Broad Street, now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Her mother would recall the excitement for Friday night to roll around, going to see men in their zoot suits and...
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USA TODAY CROSSWORD
EDITED Amanda Rafkin BY Zhouqin Burnikel ACROSS 1 6 10 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 23 25 27 28 30 31 34 36 38 39 42 43 44 45 46 47 49 50 53 55 57 59 60 65 66 Helps with a scam, say Belted out a tune Sound devices that might be cranked to...
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Scenic trips to celebrate America’s 250th birthday
America is turning 250, but some of its greatest treasures don’t sit behind museum glass. The awe-inspiring scenes that take your breath away and remind you of the beauty of our nation are hidden along winding roads, tucked into mountain valleys,...
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TRAINING TOMORROW
First-year students at the Medical College of Georgia’s Savannah campus filed into a class each week this year and faced more than just your run-of-themill science lecture. In MCG’s casebased learning class, students worked with real patients. During...
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Obama Center opens while Trump looms
Remember hope and change? The sun-splashed, star-studded dedication of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 18 was designed to echo the sense of excitement and possibility that surrounded former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 − a...
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New wine bar brings flavor to Richmond Hill
There was never a dull moment in Nichola Lester’s household coming up. Her mother frequently held gatherings at their home in the Bahamas and Lester saw how meaningful those parties were to her neighbors and friends. Now, she is bringing her love of...
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Free clinics test myths about health care access
To address the social and economic barriers some Coastal Georgians face to accessing healthcare, a local nonprofit has begun offering free services screening vulnerable populations for potentially life-threatening conditions. “Typically, there’s a...
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