Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for November 8, 2024

Georgia Governor Joseph Brown addressed the Georgia legislature calling on them to consider Georgia’s future on November 7, 1860, the day after Abraham Lincoln’s election as President.

On November 8, 1860, Savannah residents protested in favor of secession following the election of Abraham Lincoln.

President Abraham Lincoln (R) was reelected on November 8, 1864.

Former Confederate General John B. Gordon was sworn-in as Governor of Georgia on November 9, 1886.

Jeanette Rankin was elected to Congress, the first female Member, on November 7, 1916 from Montana. After leaving Congress, Rankin moved to Watkinsville, Georgia in 1925. The Jeanette Rankin Scholarship Foundation, based in Athens, Georgia provides college scholarships and support for low-income women 35 and older.

Franklin D. Roosevelt made his 15th trip to Warm Springs, Georgia on November 8, 1928 after winning the election for Governor of New York.

Richard B. Russell, Jr. was elected to the United States Senate on November 8, 1932 and would serve until his death in 1971. Before his election to the Senate, Russell served as State Representative, Speaker of the Georgia House, and the youngest Governor of Georgia; his father served as Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. On the same day, part-time Georgia resident Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States.

The next day, November 9, 1932, President-elect FDR addressed a national broadcast to the American people and mentioned that he would spend Thanksgiving at his “second home” in Georgia.

On November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht began the organized destruction and looting of Jewish businesses and homes in Munich, Germany.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to a record fourth term on November 7, 1944.

Democrat Sam Nunn was reelected to the United States Senate on November 7, 1978.

On November 7, 1989, David Dinkins was elected the first African-American Mayor of New York and Douglas Wilder was elected the first African-American Governor of Virginia.

On November 9, 1989, the former East Germany announced that citizens could cross the border to West Germany. That night, crowds began tearing down sections of the wall that divided the city.

On November 8, 1994, Republicans won control of the United States House of Representatives and Senate in what came to be called the “Republican Revolution.”

On November 7, 2006, Georgia reelected its first Republican Governor since Reconstruction, Sonny Perdue, and elected its first GOP Lieutenant Governor, Casey Cagle.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Department of Corrections, Apologies, and Blame-Shifting: I quoted a line from a story about Republicans retaining majorities under the Gold Dome that was incorrect. The gist of the story was right, but this line wasn’t:

On the House side, Republican Rep. Noel Williams Jr. of Cordele became an independent and was reelected without opposition.

My first thought, was, “I can’t believe I missed something like that,” but there was so much election news, I just went about my way. Then I received a call from State Rep Williams, who was very nice and told me he is still a Republican.

So, I apologized to him, and I apologize to my readers for not following up on what I thought must surely be an error. Here’s what may have gone wrong to give the original writer that incorrect understanding.

On the Secretary of State’s elections results webpage, all the state races showed GOP percentage in red and Democratic in blue, except for Rep. Williams’s race, which showed his 100% vote total in orange. I can’t think of any other reason anyone would think Noel Williams, Jr. is anything but a loyal Republican.

Eating crow tastes best with a healthy splash of hot sauce. My everday go-to hot sauces is Frank’s Red Hot. My thanks also to the State Rep. who ratted me out helpfully told Rep. Williams how to get a hold of me.

Crazy update to the craziest story of the year. Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens rejects the results of a city council election that was stopped by employee attrition and restarted by a judicial order. From WALB:

For Commission District 1, Oscar Maples Jr. defeated Claretha Thompson to secure the council seat.

For Commission District 2, Azalee Vereen defeated Sabrina Thomas and Jimmy Jones to win the council seat.

Maples Jr. will replace former Councilman Venterra Pollard’s seat in District 1 after a judge ordered his removal from office after an investigation found Pollard did not live in Camilla.

After a long legal battle and a lengthy Election Day, Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens is now speaking out about the residency of Pollard.

Owens is standing firm on Pollard being eligible to vote in the city of Camilla and that he is a resident of the city.

WALB also spoke with Attorney Chris Cohilas who says that after the election, he will be seeking legal action against Pollard and the mayor for election interference.

“Pollard is a voter in this town,” Owens said. “What the state cares about is what you consider your permanent home. He voted in the presidential election just a couple days ago, and he voted in the city of Camilla election just a few days ago. So it is obvious that he’s a resident of the city.”

“Particular area that you actually have to live by the same rules that they do in if you’re gonna vote on how to spend their money bill you want to be able to be paying a lot pay whatever,” Cohilas said.

“Someone tries to say is certified or this is the official results, everyone needs to understand and I want her want to hear me clearly, it will be challenged not only at the local level the state level and the federal level is necessarily,” Owens said.

“Interfering with an election is a felony it is a serious serious serious matter and if at the end of this when we’re done there will be an investigation,” Cohilas said.

Don Gray, the newly appointed election superintendent, says this is the first time he’s seen an election like this happen in his life, and he hopes to never see the same confusion and controversy again.

From the Associated Press:

Balloting didn’t finally begin in a special election to the city council in the southwest Georgia town of Camilla until 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, and didn’t straggle to a close until 3:50 a.m. Wednesday. A judge intervened to order the election to proceed after Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens invoked his emergency powers Monday to cancel the voting after two city election officials resigned.

The legal fight over the election put an exclamation point on years of political struggle in the town of 5,000.

“It was kind of crazy,” Oscar Maples Jr., one of the candidates in the race, said Wednesday by phone.

Camilla, 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Tallahassee, Florida, revolves around a Tyson Foods chicken processing plant and farming. Since 2022, city government has been knotted up over attempts to remove two council members — Venterra Pollard and Corey Morgan.

Their legal foes say neither Pollard nor Morgan live in Camilla, and thus can’t legally serve on the council. Pollard and Morgan have acknowledged they lease apartments in the cities of Albany and Pelham, respectively, but say their primary residences remain in the city that elected them.

Pollard and Morgan have described themselves as “a progressive majority that believes in equity, inclusion, and diversity both socially and economically,” supporting Mayor Kelvin Owens. Pollard, Morgan and Owens, who are all Black, say the legal action brought by two residents to remove Pollard and Morgan is an attempt by the white minority to impose its will on the nearly three-quarters of Camilla’s residents who are Black.

“You had two white men tell about 1,300 African Americans, ‘You don’t know what to do with your vote, and we’ll make that choice for you,’” Owens said of the voters who Pollard and Morgan represented.

But Chris Cohilas, the lawyer for Pollard and Morgan’s challengers, said Owens is the one who is dragging race into the fight and that his clients only want to see the law enforced.

“All that they’ve ever wanted was a fair election with people that were actually qualified to run,” Cohilas said.

The legal action began in November 2022, when David Cooper and Joe Bostick sued Pollard and Morgan to challenge their residency. Pollard and Morgan decided to represent themselves. After hearing arguments that the two were trying to avoid submitting evidence and being evasive in depositions, Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey ruled in July 2023 that Pollard and Morgan were not residents of Camilla and should be removed from the city council.

Pollard and Morgan said they should have been given a jury trial, saying they have driver’s licenses, paystubs and other documents proving their residence.

Neither one stepped down from the council while appealing. Then in December the Georgia Court of Appeals denied their attempt to overturn the ruling.

In the meantime, Morgan’s term expired and he was reelected. Cohilas argues he’s still not a resident.

Pollard stepped down, but then qualified for Tuesday’s special election to fill the unexpired term of the seat he resigned from. In September, McCorvey found Pollard in contempt and ordered him to withdraw his candidacy.

When Pollard did not do so, a new judge ordered Pollard disqualified, votes for Pollard discarded, and ordered the city to post signs saying votes for Pollard wouldn’t be counted. Camilla runs its own elections with separate polling places instead of contracting with Mitchell County.

When the city still balked, the judge ordered sheriff’s deputies to stand guard to ensure the signs remained posted. Pollard argued that police presence, coupled with confusion over the election, amounted to “voter intimidation and suppression.”

The city appealed the ruling all the way to the state Supreme Court, but lost Friday.

But that wasn’t the end. In a City Council meeting Monday, the mayor announced the city’s election officials had resigned and he swiftly invoked his emergency powers to cancel the election.

On Tuesday morning, Councilmember W.D. “Danny” Palmer won a court order appointing new election officials and mandating polls to open and stay open for 12 consecutive hours — the length of time Georgia polling places are usually open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Voting finally began at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, with Maples and Claretha Thompson on the ballot. Maples, who won the race according to results posted Wednesday, said the conflict has been “very difficult for the city.”

But Pollard said he plans to run again for city office.

“We were able to get some great things done for the city of Camilla, especially for our youth,” Pollard said of his time as councilman.

Six to ten inches of rain prevented Bulloch County school buses from picking up some students from dirt roads, according to the Statesboro Herald.

After six to 10 inches of rainfall Wednesday night though Thursday morning, the Bulloch County Schools district announced that all of the county’s dirt roads are closed to school buses Thursday afternoon through Friday. But the schools themselves will remain open, with the district reverting to its alternate bus transportation plan.

Of course, the immediate need was to get the  word out  to parents before the ride home. Under the alternate transportation plan, school buses still travel, but the bus stops for dirt road-resident families are those  designated on the nearest paved  roads.

“We’ve communicated to parents with our electronic messaging system,” Greene said on the phone. “Yes,  all dirt roads in Bulloch County are now closed to bus traffic. That doesn’t mean necessarily to regular traffic, but  to bus traffic, all dirt roads are closed.

“There could be some paved roads as well, and we’re going to continue to update our list,” she said. “But if a road is a dirt road, even if you don’t see it on the list, we’re not going down it at all.”

Savannah City Council may consider a storm water utility fund to address street flooding, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Savannah streets were inundated with water from heavy rainfall Thursday, causing street flooding that left cars floating through water up to headlights in what is the city’s fourth significant urban flooding event since late July.

City Manager Jay Melder said around 5 p.m. that the city experienced 8 inches of rain Thursday. Nearly 50 city roads were closed due to flooding.

As the rainfall filled Savannah streets, city council engaged in a discussion about how to foot the bill for vast stormwater improvements as climate change contributes to increased severe weather events. The city does not have a dedicated fund for stormwater projects, and council heard a presentation from city staff on what a potential stormwater utility fund could accomplish.

“Ultimately we’re going to need a mechanism within our bureaucracy to be able to address this in a sustainable way,” said Mayor Van Johnson at Thursday’s council workshop.

A staff presentation showed the city’s stormwater needs come with a $402 million price tag and, so far, only $157 million has been secured. That puts the project list at about 39% funded via Special Purpose Local Option Sales tax revenues, state or federal grants, and the city’s general fund. Creating a stormwater utility fund would provide a dedicated funding source for those projects.

Valdosta city schools are closed today because of flooding, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

According to a statement issued by Valdosta City Schools on social media, it was informed at about 3:30 a.m. that flash flooding made many city roads impassable.

“With the rain continuing to fall, local authorities have deemed that travel on these roads is too dangerous for school buses and other vehicles,” said Valdosta City Schools.

Vidalia also saw flooding and evacuations, according to WSAV.

I sure would like to see a little more rain in North Georgia to fill my favorite whitewater rivers for the weekend, but hopefully far less than a Biblical deluge.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extended application deadlines for Hurricane Helence relief, according to WRDW.

Rural Georgia voters played a major role in Trump’s win here, according to Atlanta News First via WRDW.

Polling analyst Mark Rountree found in rural counties, more than 180,000 Georgians voted in 2024 who didn’t vote in 2020.

Trump saw the most success in Jackson, Long, Pickens, Dawson, Banks, and Jasper counties, with voter differences between 19-25%.

In metro counties, there was little to no shift in preference or turnout in the counties surrounding Atlanta.

Those counties include Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale. Some 36% of voters voted for Trump in 2020 and 36% voted for Trump again in 2024.

“Just under 150 counties constituted an increase of about 180,000 net votes casting their ballots from 2020 to 2024, and this had a very real impact on the final outcome because almost all of them ended up going for Trump. In contrast that with the metro Atlanta counties where the vote was nearly identical to what it was in 2020. The turnout was nearly the same. The Trump support was nearly the same, and it didn’t have a big impact on the difference,” said Rountree.

Five of the counties where Harris performed the best in 2024 had lower turnout numbers compared to the presidential race in 2020.

“I think that the democratic operatives may do less work trying to get celebrity entertainment and more talking about the economy and kitchen table issues,” said Rountree.

Voters in three counties rejected Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Transportation (T-SPLOST) referenda, and three passed SPLOSTs, according to AccessWDUN.

The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) referendums were denied in Hall, Gwinnett, and Jackson counties on Tuesday.

The 1-percent taxes were going to be applied to sales taxes across those counties to aid in the transportation budget for things such as road infrastructure.

Hall County voters struck the proposed tax down 54 to 46-percent.

“TSPLOST would have significantly impacted funding for road infrastructure projects, but I respect the choice of the Hall County voters and want to emphasize that this decision does not make transportation projects any less important to local government,” Hall County District 2 commissioner Billy Powell said in a statement.

Gwinnett and Jackson counties saw similar numbers, with voters deciding “no” 53 to 47-percent.

Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson released a statement on the matter.

“This plan was unanimously adopted by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, and we moved to place the decision in the hands of Gwinnett County voters,”  Hendrickson said. “Unfortunately, voters turned down the vote to fund expanded and enhanced transit in this way.”

Hendrickson added that their current transit system is limited, and with more than 250,000 people expected to move to Gwinnett by 2050 they need solutions.

Ty Clack, who just won Jackson County’s third commission district on Tuesday, was also in support of their TSPLOST referendum.

“TSPLOST was really important,” Clack said. “We’re definitely behind, I mean we have over 600 miles of unpaved roads in the east side of the county.”

There were SPLOST referendums in three other counties in the region that were approved.

Forsyth County voters passed their SPLOST in a 59 to 41-percent split, Rabun County passed SPLOST in a 63 to 37-percent vote, and 64-percent of White County voters elected to continue their SPLOST tax.

Voters in Richmond County and Columbia County passed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes for Education (E-SPLOSTs), according to WRDW.

Outgoing Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez said her opponent’s fundraising success fueled her defeat, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

“In this election, we faced significant financial disparities, with our opponent receiving substantial backing from large donors,” she said.

In the Tuesday election, Gonzalez, a Democrat, lost vote totals in Clarke and Oconee counties, which comprise the Western Judicial District. Kalki Yalamanchili, running as an independent candidate in his first bid for office, was elected to the position.

The final vote tally by the Georgia Secretary of State shows that Yalamanchili received a narrow margin in Athens-Clarke County, where he received 25,138 votes to 24,515 for Gonzalez.

In Oconee County, Yalamanchili received a landslide win of more than 76% of the vote by garnering 19,846 votes to 6,092 for Gonzalez.

Gonzalez did not mention the Oconee vote in her concession statement.

“The race was incredibly close with only 623 votes separating the candidates – a difference of just 1.3 % despite being outspent five to one,” she said.

She also urged Yalamanchili to continue the reforms she initiated.

“The challenges we face are significant and a developmental approach that connects people with the social services they need is necessary to build a safer and more equitable Athens,” she said.

Congratulations to State Rep. Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Spring), who beat back an election challenge, according to the Savannah Morning New via the Athens Banner Herald.

Third-term state Rep. Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs) has maintained her seat in Georgia’s 53rd House district, narrowly fending off a challenge from Democrat Susie Greenberg in one of the most competitive — and expensive — races in the Georgia Legislature.

The district spans an affluent part of Fulton County, including Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Roswell, and was one of only five districts in the state legislature that currently qualifies as competitive, according to an analysis by Fair Districts Georgia.

Following the state’s redistricting in 2021, Silcox flipped the seat Republican, winning by fewer than 1,500 votes. This year, the margin was even closer as Greenberg sought to sway voters on issues like healthcare, reproductive rights and the cost of living. Silcox ultimately won with a margin of 1,377 votes.

The battle over House District 53 was also one of the most expensive of Georgia’s legislative races this year. Greenberg raised over $709,000, according to her most recent campaign filing, nearly double Silcox’s roughly $421,000 from this year’s campaign.

Silcox previously represented nearby House District 52 but lost to Rep. Shea Roberts, a Democrat, in 2020. Silcox notably refused to concede for over six months following the election, after a lawsuit was filed by a Sandy Springs resident alleging that voter fraud had occurred in the district. The case was eventually dismissed by the Georgia Supreme Court.

My personal congratulations also to State Rep. Matt Reeves (R – District 99 – Duluth) who won with a 627-vote margin out of more than 29,000 ballots cast.

And also to State Rep. Scott Hilton (R – District 48 – Peachtree Corners) who romped to a nearly ten-point victory.

Finally, congratulations to State Representative-elect Sandy Donatucci (R- District 105 – Dacula) who beat inbumbent Democratic State Rep. Farooq Mughal.

My condolences to voters in six Metro Atlanta areas who must vote in Runoff elections. From WABE:

In Atlanta, former educator Dr. Nicole “Nikki” Evans Jones and Atlanta Board of Education District 6 representative Eshé Collins will advance to the runoff for Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large seat.

In DeKalb County, two seats will go to the runoff as candidates run to replace Larry Johnson and Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, commissioners of District 3 and District 7 respectively. Both commissioners vacated their seats earlier this year to run for DeKalb County CEO, which Cochrane-Johnson won.

For the District 3 seat, Decatur native and entrepreneur Andrew Bell is campaigning against Nicole Massiah, an attorney and broker. In the Nov 5. election, Massiah saw a higher success with 42.3% of votes compared to Bell’s 23.8%.

For the District 7 seat, entrepreneur Jacqueline Adams received 46% of the overall vote compared to her opponent, Dr. LaDena Bolton, who secured 26.2%.

Doraville, a city located in DeKalb, will also be holding a runoff for the special election City Council District 1, Post 2 seat.

Former Doraville city council member Andy Yeoman received 41.1% of votes while his opponent, Secretary for the City Planning Commission Taylor Ray, received 33.2%.

In the city of East Point, Shean Atkins and Jermaine Wright will face off to fill the East Point City Council Ward B seat that was vacated after Karen Rene resigned to run in an unsuccessful bid for Congress.

In Gwinnett County, voters will choose the chair of the Soil and Water Conservation District, with incumbent chairman Ellis Lamme facing vice chair Matt Retter. Approximately 44.2% of voters cast their ballots for Lamme, while Retter received 34%. The third candidate featured in the election, David Witham (21.9%), will not move forward.

Speaking of Ty Clack, he was elected to the Jackson County Commission, according to AccessWDUN.

Ty Clack won the special election for Jackson County’s third commission district.

The district covers the Braselton and Hoschton areas of the county.

“The first person I want to mention and thank is my Lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Clack said. “Secondly, my family, my wife Heather and both of my kids Cooper and Kelsey for the sacrifices that they’ve had to deal with with me not being home during this campaign.”

The seat opened up after former district three commissioner Chad Bingham stepped down earlier this year to run for county commission chair.

Clack ended up winning 61-percent of the vote to Steve Wittry’s 39-percent.

Clack will get sworn in at the Nov. 18 board of commissioners meeting.

Republican Mendy Moore was elected in Forsyth County Commission District 4, according to AccessWDUN.

Moore ran against Democrat Kat Jewell for the district that covers the northeast part of the county, getting 79-percent of the vote to Jewell’s 21-percent.

The seat saw no incumbent running after Cindy Jones Mills announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection.

“A couple of my priorities are going to concentrate on bringing in quality growth at a pace that our county can sustain and also investing in our infrastructure so that we can accommodate the growth that we’ve already seen,” Moore said.

Moore previously served as the GOP Chairman for Forsyth County.

Whitfield County’s new Sheriff plans changes in the department, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

For the first time in 32 years, Whitfield County will have a new sheriff.

In Tuesday’s general election, Republican Darren Pierce, an 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who said he has served as a sergeant in both the Uniform Patrol Division and Narcotics Unit, defeated Democratic incumbent Scott Chitwood with 21,154 votes, 54%, to 17,897 votes, 46%. Chitwood was first elected sheriff in 1992 and was the last remaining Democratic officeholder in the now solidly Republican Whitfield County.

Turnout for the election was 68.95%.

Pierce will begin a four-year term in January.

“It was a great honor to run for such a prestigious position,” said Pierce. “I appreciate the community for showing up and voting at the polls and all the support I have gotten since announcing my intent to run in January. None of this would have been possible without the Lord guiding my footsteps. I also would like to thank Sheriff Chitwood for allowing me 18 years under his administration and fueling the desire I had for law enforcement.”

Pierce said he plans changes in the sheriff’s office.

“One will definitely be how the sheriff’s office responds to suicide threats/calls,” he said.

During the campaign he said he wants to develop a crisis intervention team with advanced training in de-escalation and communication.

“There will be other changes to take place as well, but getting in there will give me a better sense of things that need to be changed immediately, and obviously some will be more important or take higher priority than others,” he said.

In the Whitfield County coroner’s race, Republican incumbent Clyde McDaniel Jr. defeated Democrat Susie Brown with 27,970 votes to 10,157 votes.

A 25-year veteran of the city of Dalton Fire Department, McDaniel served as deputy Whitfield County coroner from December 2017 to July 2023 when he was named coroner by Probate Court Judge Sheri Blevins to fill the unexpired term of Greg Bates. That term expires at the end of this year. McDaniel will begin a full four-year term in January.

Republican incumbent Jason Ridley of Chatsworth won a fifth two-year term in the state House of Representatives, receiving 22,593 votes to Democrat Cathy Kott’s 3,894 votes. District 6 includes all of Murray County and parts of Whitfield and Gordon counties.

Blevins, Whitfield County Clerk of Superior Court Babs Bailey, county Tax Commissioner Danny Sane, county Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen, District 2 Commissioner Robby Staten and District 4 Commissioner Greg Jones, all Republicans, were reelected without opposition.

Chatham County Sheriff-elect Richard Coleman will take office after beating incumbent Sheriff John Wilcher, according to WTOC.

Coleman said he originally started running because he wanted to see change.

“I just had a lot of good ideas that I knew I could bring to the forefront and serve this county,” said Richard Coleman, the Chatham County Sheriff elect.

“Having a more active involvement in crime and crime reduction, improve jail conditions, and stronger community engagement,” said Coleman.

After Sheriff John Wilcher has been a part of the county’s sheriff’s office since the 1970s, Coleman knows he has big shoes to fill, but hopes the community knows he’s ready for it.

“It’s very simple. There’s a lot of good things that come out of new beginnings, and trust me, I’m one of those new beginnings, so give me a shot,” said Coleman.

Outgoing Sheriff Wilcher spoke to WTOC.

Wilcher served the sheriff’s office for 50 years.

Even after a cardiac event landed him in the hospital for 2 months this year, many in the community are still shocked he didn’t win the election.

“I lost the election- but I didn’t lose,” said Wilcher. “Now I can be home with my wife, my son and my stepdaughter and all, I can have a lot more time to spend with them. And I’m appreciative of all the people in this community. I’ve been in this sheriff’s office for almost 50 years, and I love the people and a lot of people love me. Maybe it’s a step in another direction that the Lord wants me to go so I’m here.”

He also thanked the community and his staff for their unwavering support especially after he got sick this year.

“This place is family to me because everybody here I have hired,” said Wilcher. “I’m probably, if you put the 40 years together and the 8 years and 9 months which will be almost 49 years, I’m probably one of the oldest deputies elected in the county. I know I was the oldest sheriff elected at 70 years old. So again, you just hate to leave people here.”

From WSAV:

Sheriff Wilcher left some final advice for Coleman.

“Work with the people in the community. Don’t sit in this office every day, come in that door and stay here. Go out the back door. You got to get in the community,” Wilcher said.

aColeman says that’s something he plans on doing.

You may remember Wilcher had a cardiac event in June on Father’s Day. He’s in a wheelchair but says he’s getting better each day with physical therapy.

Interim Houston County Sheriff Billy Rape serves in that role until newly-elected Mike Moulton is sworn in January 1, 2025, according to 13WMAZ.

He is completing the final 60 days of Cullen Talton’s 13th term.

After a sheriff passes during an election year in Georgia, state law requires the chief deputy to take over the role of interim sheriff until the sheriff-elect’s inauguration day.

The interim sheriff emphasized, “I do not like the spotlight.”

Rape said he didn’t want last week’s swear-in ceremony to be “a big deal,” but appreciates the support he had on a day he called “bittersweet.”

For the last 18 years, Rape’s served as Sheriff Talton’s chief deputy. He was promoted after former Chief Deputy Willie Talton retired in 2006 after serving the Houston County Sheriff Department for 33 years.

After our nation’s longest serving sheriff passed away three days after his 92nd birthday, Talton was succeeded by his chief deputy for the remainder of his term.

“Our goal was to finish out the 52 years,” Rape said. “We sorta sent that as a benchmark and we wanted to make it. It’s sad to say that we didn’t make it.”

During their final conversation Rape recalled what he said to Talton.

“I told him that he didn’t have to worry, it’d be just like it if he was here, and that’s the way we was gonna do it,” Rape said holding back tears.

Rape said he never “envisioned or desired” to be sheriff. He explained he is “satisfied” with his role and duties as chief deputy.

Glynn County Public Schools is considering a portable weapon detection system, according to The Brunswick News.

“They’re very portable, and in a situation like Glynn Academy, where we have the street entrance and students getting off the buses, we feel like we have a plan with (Schools Police Chief Johnny Davis) that we can move them to the Mansfield Street entrances and set up a corral for the buses and then also have them at the front,” Blackerby told the board.

“Our weapons detection system is ideal for outdoor events like concerts, festivals and sporting events or venues that need more subtle security such as schools or churches.” [says the company’s website.]

Ware County, Troup County and Chatham County use the system in their schools, Davis said.

Blackerby added that Glynn County Schools borrowed some from the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System for this year’s Brunswick High School-Glynn Academy football game.

Three Tift County students were detained after a pistol was found in a school, according to WALB.

According to the Tifton Police Department, a student brought a pistol to school on Monday, Nov. 4 after getting it from his dad’s lockbox.

The student allegedly passed the gun to two other students in the locker room after wrestling practice.

The report says that at least one of the students posted a picture of the gun on Snapchat, and then one of the students told police that he threw the weapon into the woods so that they would not get into trouble.

No firearm has been recovered.

Now, Tift County Schools say, ”The administrative team’s immediate investigation found no weapon on the campus of Eighth Street Middle School on Tuesday and the matter was then turned over to the Tifton Police Department to investigate further. With this being an ongoing investigation, we yield any further comment to the Tifton Police Department for updates.”

A Thomasville City Schools employee was fired after an offensive social media post, according to WALB.

The school district said it immediately placed the employee on leave and launched an investigation into the matter following a meeting with administrators Thursday morning.

At this time, it is unclear what the post said. The school district did not provide any details on what platform it was posted on or the content of the post.

The City of Tybee Island issued a warning about Portugese Man-O-War jellyfish, according to WSAV.

Multiple Portuguese man o’ wars were spotted along the beach on Tybee Island Friday morning, according to the city.

Closely related to a jellyfish, a man o’ war may be blue, violet or pink and rise to 6 inches above the waterline. Below are long strands of tentacles that can grow to an average of about 30 feet.

Its sting is rarely deadly to people, though it packs a painful punch and can cause welts.

“Please exercise caution and avoid contact,” the city of Tybee stated. “If you come across one, do not touch it with your hands. If stung, seek medical attention immediately.”

These siphonophores (animals closely related to jellyfish) can still sting even weeks after having washed ashore.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson delivered the “State of the City” address, according to WTOC.

One of the key highlights of the evening was the city’s investment in storm water drainage, with Mayor Johnson proudly pointing to the impressive grants dedicated to improving the city’s infrastructure.

As for Savannah’s growth, the mayor emphasized the city’s projected population increase in the upcoming years, noting that with great growth comes great need for careful planning and solutions— something Johnson says team Savannah is focused on.

“Affordable housing remains one of our most urgent challenges,” said Mayor Van Johnson as he sang praise of the work with the Housing Savannah Action Plan, a plan to address affordable housing and the homeless in Savannah.