Jim Kingston, the son of former U.S. Congressman Jack Kingston, has entered the race for the 1st District seat, raising $750,000 in campaign contributions and benefiting from the support of old-guard Coastal Georgia Republicans, despite having no political experience.

The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.

Unlike the 2022 plan, the proposed extension doesn’t include any pre-approved rate hikes, but there’s a catch. Georgia Power signaled it will file a separate rate case in 2026 to recover an estimated $860 million in storm costs, mostly due to Hurricane Helene, from its 2.7 million customers. It will also file a case to recover fuel costs from customers by February 2026. If the PSC agrees, that could further raise consumers’ power bills. 

Mayor Craig Snow stepped down at the Lexington City Council meeting earlier this month, citing a large workload for his business and not enough time to serve the city constructively.

 

“I stepped down for mayor because I had some opportunities at work that’s gonna require a lot more of my time and that’s the reason I stepped down,” said Snow, who had been mayor since July 2021 and ran unopposed in November 2023. 

 

A group of 14 bicyclists held a remembrance ride on Sunday in Brunswick, organized by the Gullah/Geechee Club and Brag Dream Team, to keep the memory of Ahmaud Arbery alive and to bring people together.

The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.

Three export terminals that captured half of the U.S. crude oil export industry have formed around Ingleside on the Bay, turning the Texas Coastal Bend town into an unlikely fenceline community.

A peer-reviewed study has found that 40% of 97 Brunswick natives had higher concentrations of toxicants from two Superfund sites than the national average, with Black participants showing higher exposures than white participants.

The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.

Glynn County Sheriff Neal Jump applied to collaborate with ICE to serve warrants to detained immigrants and facilitate transfer to federal custody.

The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.

In the rural Methow Valley in northeast Washington state, parents have few options for child care. There are only two licensed programs in the community — one of which is a Head Start center. About 40 miles northeast in the town of Okanogan, 30 percent of the town’s limited child care spots are provided by the local Head Start center.

Nationwide, Head Start has long played an outsized role in the rural child care landscape, existing in 86 percent of rural counties. If the federal program is eliminated, as President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed in his forthcoming budget, there will be massive consequences in many of the rural communities that voted for the Republican ticket. About 46 percent of all funded Head Start slots are in rural congressional districts, compared to 22 percent in urban districts. In some states, 1 in 3 rural child care centers are operated by Head Start.

In this swath of the Evergreen State, nestled just south of the Canadian border and east of the Cascade Mountains, Head Start fills a critical child care void: Even with the federal program, there is only enough licensed care for about 1 in 3 children under the age of 5. The program also provides vital services that many in the rural region might lack otherwise. Enrolled families can receive developmental screenings, home visiting programs, mental health services, parent support programs and dental care, all part of the federally funded program’s wraparound service model.

“Those federal grant funds make a huge difference in places where other programs cannot afford to operate,” said Katie Hamm, former deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development at the Administration for Children and Families. “If Head Start closes, it’s not like [families] have another option.”

Several of the congressional districts that stand to lose the most Head Start spots if the program is eliminated are rural districts that helped put Trump in office, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Since its launch in 1965, Head Start has served more than 40 million low-income children through a free preschool program and a counterpart for infants and toddlers, known as Early Head Start. 

While Head Start quality varies, research has found positive benefits from the program. Children who have attended Head Start are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college and are less likely to experience poor health. Head Start has been found to have a positive impact on self-control and self-esteem and on parenting practices.

The program’s two-generation approach of helping children and their parents is invaluable in rural communities, said Jodi DeCesari, executive director of Washington’s Okanogan County Child Development Association, which runs nine Head Start centers for more than 200 children. “We’re helping families get employment, we’re helping families get their GED. … We’re helping families lift themselves out of poverty and become more self-sufficient,” said DeCesari. “In the long term, that benefits our community.”

Although Head Start has received bipartisan support over the years, the program has been slowly starved of funding under the second Trump administration. Compared to this time last year, the federal government has sent $1 billion less in Head Start funding to states, according to an analysis by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. This comes after reports of funding freezes and mass terminations at the regional and federal levels.

In Georgia, Mindy Binderman, executive director of the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, said Head Start programs are now experiencing delays because of an executive order requiring that all requests for federal funds include a detailed justification statement. This practice can be especially destructive for programs in rural areas, experts say, where Head Starts may not have other funding sources from local philanthropies or government sources to tide them over. One of the first programs to temporarily close earlier this month due to a delay in funding was a rural Head Start network outside of Yakima, Washington.

In Montana, a largely rural state, the uncertainty over Head Start’s future is causing fear as the program’s teachers worry their jobs could soon disappear, said Ashley Pena-Larsen, Head Start program director at Montana’s Rocky Mountain Development Council Inc. In rural areas, it’s already a struggle to find qualified teachers, and Head Start programs often have to compete with higher-paying positions in local school districts. Pena-Larsen fears the lack of certainty will compel teachers to search for jobs elsewhere. “When you already have a workforce that’s stretched thin, you don’t want to come into an environment where you’re unsure about your career. Are you wanting to start a career in a field that’s potentially dying?” she said.

Back in Okanogan, with summer heat looming, DeCesari is unsure what will happen when she submits a request to shift some funds to buy a new air conditioning unit at one of her centers. Usually that request would eventually end up at the regional office in Seattle, but that was one of the offices that was abruptly shuttered. “It’s been really chaotic,” DeCesari said. “I feel like everything is in question right now.”

One thing DeCesari is certain about is that if Head Start goes away, there will be an immense ripple effect throughout the local economy. In addition to providing child care and wraparound support, DeCesari’s organization employs more than 100 people and invests millions in the local community through buying food at local grocery stores and hiring companies that help run the organization’s buildings and buses.

But she worries most about the broader impact on Okanogan families if Head Start disappears. “Families benefit from our services,” she said. “Without Head Start, I think we’re really going to see a generational loss.”

Contact staff writer Jackie Mader at 212-678-3562 or mader@hechingerreport.org.

This story about Head Start was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

The post As federal dollars for Head Start slow, rural parents left without other options appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

 

The Oglethorpe County Historic Jail recently opened its doors for its first-ever art exhibit. Local artist and retired actor Tom Thon launched this potentially ongoing series of art shows, turning the 1879 jailhouse into a pop-up gallery space.

 

Last year, Sapelo Island residents sued county officials for blocking them from holding a crucial vote that could determine whether they would be displaced from the last Gullah Gechee community on the Georgia coast. 

Barbara Bailey, Christopher Bailey, and Stanley Walker, on behalf of 2,300 voters, claimed McIntosh County commissioners stopped residents from casting their ballots in a referendum. 

The issue stems from a lower court ruling that ordered an October 2024 election be halted during early voting, a decision aligned with commissioners who filed the lawsuit. The residents triggered the election, after collecting more than 2,000 signatures on a petition to vote on the commissioners’ decision.

The Baileys and Walker appealed the decision. Now, the Georgia Supreme Court’s nine justices will hear oral arguments in the case Wednesday, April 16, in Atlanta at 10 a.m.

Despite the ongoing lawsuit, just last month the county commissioners attempted to “reaffirm” the very zoning law they’re currently defending in court. The zoning ordinance, passed two years ago, would allow construction of homes to double in size. This would be much larger than traditional homes in the 427-acre historic Hogg Hammock, or Hogg Hummock, neighborhood on Sapelo Island, which is about 60 miles south of Savannah.

Residents fear the changes will result in higher taxes, attract developers, and lead to displacement. 

This is yet another effort by government entities, wealthy investors, or corporations to take land from historically Black under-resourced communities, said Larry Riley, state coordinator for the Georgia chapter of the ADOS Advocacy Foundation. He referenced Sparta, Georgia, where Black landowners are fighting to stop a railroad company from seizing their land, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, another Gullah Geechee community where the late Josephine Wright battled developers until her death to protect her family’s home.

But, the most alarming aspect, particularly in Sapelo Island, is the attack on voting rights and Black political power — and the precedent this Supreme Court case could set, he added.

“We’re seeing an increase in voter suppression. That’s another issue that makes Sapelo really unique, because they wanted a vote, but were blocked from it. The scary thing is if the court sides with McIntosh County, that sets precedent that this could happen more often in other places because they’ve seen it work here,” Riley said. “We need more organizations and the general public to know about these things and make noise about it.” 

As Sustainable Georgia Futures put it: “This case is about protecting legacy, land, and self-determination.”

This fight is the most recent of many between the residents here and its local government. Already, they’ve endured government neglect, property tax hikes, and white developers eyeing the land, known for its beaches and climate, as a place to build luxury resorts and golf courses. After celebrating their annual Cultural Day last fall, seven elders lost their lives due to a gangway collapse, which residents previously sounded the alarm about its poor conditions.

They’ve used litigation to settle disputes. In recent court battles, the county settled, promising to provide better fire equipment and emergency medical services, in addition to improved maintenance of roads and a 30% reduction in garbage fees to residents. 

They’re back in court, seeking an opinion on whether the referendum can move forward. In addition to the residents’ case, the Supreme Court will hear two other related cases between McIntosh County and county Probate Court Judge Harold Webster, who approved the petition and scheduled the October election.

Although the oral arguments on Wednesday will last 40 minutes, a decision may not be reached for months. Attorneys for all parties did not respond to Capital B’s request for comment.

30-year protections broken

As early as the summer of 2023, Sapelo Island descendants and activists actively worked to prevent the county from repealing protections established in the 1990s. McIntosh County created the Hog Hammock Historic District in 1994 to protect the community’s historic resources and ward off threats from land speculators and development. The area is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

“It is the intent of this district to reserve this area for low intensity residential and cottage industry uses which are environmentally sound and will not contribute to land value increases which could force removal of the indigenous population,” according to Appendix C, Article 2, Section 219 of the McIntosh County Code of Ordinances. 

County commissioners reversed course in 2023 when they planned to raise the maximum square footage of a heated-and-cooled house from 1,400 to 3,000, which residents warned would lead to higher property taxes. They packed out zoning and planning commission meetings as well as county board meetings to share their concerns. Despite their pleas, commissioners voted 3 to 2 in favor of the proposal.

“What they voted on today was unjust and unfair to the descendants of the island,” Commissioner Roger Lotson, the sole Black board member, said at the time. Lotson, who voted against the motion along with commissioner William Harrell, tried to strike a compromise by postponing the vote for 45 days and allowing the proposal to be viewed by the community. He also tried to reduce the square footage.

Both of the motions failed, The Current reported.

---

Read more: The Battle for Land, Identity, and Survival of Gullah Geechee Communities

---

County manager Patrick Zoucks told the Darien News that the “proposed amendments to the Hogg Hammock zoning regulations are in the best interest of the residents of Hogg Hammock and all of the citizens of McIntosh County. These regulations provide the best protection that any county in Georgia can provide to similarly situated communities.”

Sapelo Island descendants and local groups immediately jumped into action and organized a petition to give voters a say on the matter. Residents petitioned the issue for a vote, following the Home Rule provision in the state’s constitution. It resulted in a special election. Home Rule allows that amendments to or repeals of local ordinances, resolutions, or regulations may be initiated by a petition filed to the probate court judge, who will then decide the validity of the petition within 60 days and issue a special election, if warranted.

Separately, a group of nine residents — who are mostly retirees or on a fixed income — from the Hog Hammock community filed a complaint in October 2023 against the commissioners to challenge what they call an “unlawful zoning amendment” in the Superior Court of McIntosh County. They argued that if the property taxes increase as a result of the amendment change, they will not be able to afford to live on the island anymore. The county asked the judge to throw out the suit in November. In March 2024, Superior Court Judge Jay Stewart dismissed the case without prejudice. 

The outcome of the case didn’t break the community’s spirit. 

By July 2024, they collected more than 2,300 signatures on their petition, and three residents filed it in McIntosh County probate court to put the referendum on the ballot. Weeks later, Probate County Judge Harold Webster validated the votes and approved an election for Oct. 1, 2024. 

Rather than allow the election to proceed, county commissioners filed a complaint in Superior Court to stop the election, stating that Webster lacked authority and jurisdiction to take actions on the referendum petition. In September, a month before the election, Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey ordered a halt to the election, as voters were casting early ballots. More than 800 people had voted.

Capital B Atlanta’s Community Engagement Editor Ann Hill Bond and Community Listening Ambassador Dante Miller contributed to this report.

The post This Georgia Case Could Decide the Future of Gullah Geechee Land on Sapelo Island appeared first on Capital B News – Atlanta.