IN OCTOBER 2001, a local paper named Connect Savannah merged with another local paper named Creative Loafing (which I edited at the time) to create the product you're looking at now.

Soon after BP capped the Deepwater Horizon well earlier this month, the all-clear came from the government. It was dutifully echoed by a compliant mainstream media which had lost enthusiasm for the oil spill story and was eager to move on to much more important issues, like where mosques are built.

One thing we've learned over the past year or two: the City of Savannah has some serious issues with local bars.

It's a myth that hard times bring out the best in people. They don't. It's something we say to comfort ourselves, to find meaning in tribulation.

I SWORE LONG AGO that whatever other questionable career decisions I might make, I would never, ever stoop so low as to write one of those schmaltzy, sappy, sentimental, horrifyingly clichéd pieces about a dear, departed pet.

Many who voted for Barack Obama did so in part because they felt the country was ready for a courageous, inspiring African American president who could help heal the racial divide.

There are far too many people volunteering to get tased these days. You can’t pick up the Savannah Morning News anymore without seeing a picture of some officer or official happily on the receiving end of some recently purchased taser.

This is how out of control the immigration issue is in America: The governor of Arizona is making an endorsement in the Georgia governor’s race.

There are people in this town doing great things who in my opinion don't get enough credit for what they do, generally because they've preferred to work outside the local good-ole-boy networks. I want to talk about a couple of them today.

It’s been interesting during this World Cup season to observe the bizarrely strong negative reaction that soccer often provokes in many Americans.

The recent attack downtown by two Beaufort-based Marines on a local gay man, Kieran Daly, was not the first such incident. Nor, it must be said, the first involving members of the military.

Haha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia." - Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), in The Princess Bride

EVEN IF THE BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is plugged soon -- an almost impossible likelihood -- the damage it has already caused will be a devastating, possibly lethal, blow to a key national fishery and recreation area.

Some people are just ahead of their time. Three weeks ago - before it became completely obvious to everyone what a huge, unmitigated disaster the BP Gulf oil spill was likely to be, with no end in sight as of this writing - Lisa Scarbrough decided to do what she could to help.

In environmental circles, there's a certain unspoken reluctance to talk too openly about how important our coast is as a sea turtle nesting area.