Ogeechee incident rallied communities Editor, I just wanted to thank you and your staff at Connect Savannah for including the Ogeechee River fish kill in your Top 11 of 2011. It was a tragic and unfortunate incident on the beloved Ogeechee, but more than anything I think it rallied communities and citizens to stand up for themselves and the river. We still have work to do in 2012 (at least) to ensure the river is ...

Editor, The state of Georgia through our General Assembly and Governor is asking the voters of all Georgia counties to vote on a transportation 1% sales tax called a TSPLOST in July 2012. This 1% sales tax is in addition to other 1% sales taxes counties already have in place. This would be called the TSPLOST (Transportation Special Projects Local Option Sales Tax). Most counties have a 1% ELOST, a 1% SPLOST, and a 1% ...

Bottoms up! Editor, I do not always agree with your opinions but I always find them well thought out and interesting. However, I find myself in total agreement with your Editor’s Note regarding the recent city–wide elections (“It’s all over but the drinking”). The realistic presentation of the politics and demographics of the city and the feelings of frustration by a sizable minority of citizens (like me) that nothing is really going to change was in a strange ...

Editor, Thank you for Jessica Lebos’ informative article this week on the ballot measures that will be up for voter consideration next month. Regarding the authorization to renew ESPLOST — the 1 percent sales tax earmarked for capital improvements to our schools — there are a couple additional points that voters really need to know. First, because Chatham County is where lots of tourists, plus lots of folks from the surrounding areas, like to go ...

Editor, One city council candidate's residency is in question, which threatens to remove him from what some could characterize as a tightly contested race. According to the City of Savannah's website, one of the qualifying requirements is to be a resident for a specified period of time. Also required is the submission of certain financial data. If requirements aren't met then a candidate should be disqualified. Because of the residency issue, I wanted to research ...

Editor, Last week four candidates for the City's alderman at large posts attended a forum sponsored by the Savannah Bicycle Campaign and the USGBC Savannah Branch. The forum's theme was sustainability and transportation and discussion ensued for nearly 1.5 hours. "Sustainability" for Savannah is a complex puzzle with many pieces. Many hot topics were mentioned during the forum, including solar, wind and geothermal energy; electric, hybrid and natural gas fueled cars, better bus & train ...

Qualified to qualify? Editor, One candidate for city councils residency is in question, which threatens to remove him from what some could characterize as a tightly contested race. According to the City of Savannah's website, one of the qualifying requirements is to be a resident for a specified period of time. Also required is the submission of certain financial data. If requirements aren't met then a candidate should be disqualified. Because of the residency issue, ...

Editor, It is with the utmost sadness that I have just heard  that the State of Georgia has put to death Troy Davis. I find it utterly incredible that the United States stands along with China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Libya (under its former dictator) in retaining the abhorrent death penalty. The only hope is that Georgia along with the other states which still retain this medieval form of punishment ...

Editor, Bravo to you for your amazingly accurate, brilliantly insightful, courageous editorial of September 7, entitled “Fighting the Next War.” I could barely contain my dual emotions of profound sadness and righteous anger as I read his column that perfectly reflects my own observations and sentiments about the deplorable condition of our Nation today. With each passing day, these vile, omnipotent, corporate plutocrats who totally control our crumbling Nation wreak further death, damage and devastation. ...

Editor, Robert Edgerly stated in last week’s issue, “there should be input from everyone involved in the economic and cultural well–being of this wonderful area.” And so, I am offering my input on Savannah’s tourism industry. In the summer of 2008, the Great Recession devoured the two tour companies I worked for, leaving me jobless. I worked a different job for a while, but that business also failed. I started my own walking tour company ...

Editor, I can only say that I hope you’ve been getting an appropriate amount of positive feedback for breaking the ‘unwritten rules’ of Savannah news publications, your piece “When a puff piece goes poof” was necessary, refreshing, and a light of journalistic hope in a city that too often finds it necessary to put forth a false sense of politeness. I found myself pulled into a leering balk when I picked up the recent issue ...

Enjoyed NOLA column Editor, Love your article about New Orleans “Who dat say New Orleans ain’t back?” I moved here from Mississippi in March of this year and miss being so close to NOLA. I also respect the plug about the Gulf Coast. We were completely overlooked and most of the country/world still doesn’t know. The main thing I love about NOLA is the music. There’s nowhere like it in the world. However, you said ...

Editor, I was glad to see your call for nonviolent engagement in response to the Westboro hate group ("Protesting the protestors"). I heard some in the media, and the larger community, express an ‘ignore them and they'll go away' sentiment. And, I understand the urge to withhold media and community attention from an organization devoted to disrespectful disruption of civil society. However, the quote attributed to Edmund Burke that, "All that is necessary for the ...

Editor, On behalf of everyone associated with the Psychotronic Film Society, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Connect Savannah’s readers for voting the PFS 2011’s Best Indie Film Society and Runner–Up for Best Film Fest. After eight years of regularly screening irregular motion pictures, our quirky not–for–profit organization now enjoys international name recognition, and routinely draws larger crowds than ever. In fact, while many may erroneously believe we exist solely to screen old ...

Editor, Regarding your recent column “Good Riddance”: Well, your attack on Osama bin Laden shows the usual tendency to go for the easy targets: He’s a notorious villain and caused the 9/11 fatalities. That’s a comic book kind of political analysis, but like comic books it’s popular because it requires no thought. When we look at his communiques, we see that he had serious and thoughtful reasons for his hatred:  the U.S. support with arms ...