The influential Cook Political Report has moved the race for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss's U.S. Senate seat into the "tossup column."
Despite this year's overall grim outlook for Democratic chances in the Senate, the Report says :
These ratings change aren’t all bad for Democrats. The open seat in Georgia moves to the Toss Up column from Lean Republican. Michelle Nunn is proving to be perhaps the best Democratic challenger of the cycle. Republicans, meanwhile, are mired in a crowded primary that seems destined to produce a run off. As a result, Republicans won’t have a nominee until late July. Moreover, this may be the one race where the threat of nominating a candidate who is generally unelectable in a statewide general election is very real.
Longtime Savannah Congressman Jack Kingston is giving up his House of Representatives seat in order to run for the Senate seat, in a crowded field of Republicans.
Tags: Michelle Nunn , Jack Kingston , Saxby Chambliss , U.S. Senate
Detectives for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department are investigating a Monday afternoon shooting.
Just after 4:30 p.m., "Metro responded to reports of shots fired near East Henry Lane and Price Street. Officers observed a man on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound," a police spokesman says.
The man was transported to Memorial Medical Center. He is listed in serious but stable condition.
"A male called police soon after the shooting to report he had shot the victim during an altercation," police says. "He was interviewed by detectives and released."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at (912) 234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637) using the keyword CSTOP2020. Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward. A confidential Tip Line also is open directly to investigators at (912) 525-3124.
Tags: crime
Detectives for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department are investigating an east Savannah shooting that left one person dead and another injured.
At 7:24 p.m. Monday, officers "found two gunshot victims on the ground at the 2000 block of Mississippi Avenue," a spokesman says.
Barry Trevon Williams, 24, of the 1900 block of Skidaway Road, was pronounced dead at the scene. Dominique Ellison, 25, of a Mississippi Avenue address was transported to Memorial University Medical center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
Tags: crime
Five arrests on Monday, the final day of the four-day 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Festival, "pushed the number made by Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police to 64," a police spokesman says.
Forty-six were made by officers working out of the City Market command center "which covers the majority of the festival area," police says, and 18 from the command center on River Street.
On Friday, March 14, there were only four arrests. Saturday saw 27 arrests, and Sunday brought 26 collars.
In total, the most common charge was Disorderly Conduct, with 18 arrests. Following that was that old favorite, Public Urination, at 10 arrests.
Tags: St. Patrick's Day , arrests , crime
City and Parade Committee officials will greet "the top Irish tourism official and celebrate Savannah’s participation in Ireland’s Global Greening initiative" during a news conference in front of City Hall on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, a City spokesman says.
The event with Leo Varadkar, Irish Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Paul Gleeson, Consul General of Ireland, happens today, Sunday, March 16, 7:15 p.m. at Johnson Square. City Hall, whose dome will be lit green, will be the backdrop.
Mayor Edna Jackson, members of City Council, and members of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee will greet the dignitaries.
Savannah City Hall joins "more than 70 iconic sites from across the world that will be lit in green to mark St. Patrick’s Day. Tourism Ireland has been pushing the Global Greening initiative as way to unite people across the world who feel a connection with the island of Ireland," the City spokesman says.
Tags: St. Patrick's Day , Edna Jackson
The first night of the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Festival netted nine arrests by Savannah-Chatham Police.
“Public urination accounted for five of the arrests, with two disorderly charges and one each of simple battery and obstruction,” police say.
One arrest was made on River Street and the others in the “Festival Zone” stretching from Bay Street to Jones Street.
Tags: St. Patrick's Day
The St. Patrick’s Day celebration kicked off Friday night on a depressing note, when a head-on collision on the Back River bridge, just north of the Talmadge Bridge, closed both lanes over the Savannah River for several hours.
The three-vehicle wreck happened when a car headed from South Carolina toward Savannah attempted to pass another car. The driver of that car, John David Maney, 54, of the 100 block of Stafford Road, was transported to Memorial University Medical Center after the 7:06 p.m. collision. He is listed in critical condition.
His Ford Escort was headed south on U.S. 17 toward the Talmadge Memorial Bridge when the Escort crossed the center line and collided with a Ford Explorer SUV being driven northbound by a Savannah woman.
Atlanta alt-country band Drivin' 'N' Cryin' is set to play a free concert in Johnson Square immediately following the St. Patrick's Day parade this Monday, according to the Savannah Downtown Neighborhood Association, which is promoting the event.
Tags: St. Patrick's Day , Drivin' 'N' Cryin' , Kevn Kinney
At 2 p.m. today, Governor Nathan Deal signed into law Senate Bill 318, which will allow bars within Savannah city limits to serve alcohol on Sunday, March 16, between 12:30 p.m. and midnight.
The State’s amendment to Code Section 3-3-7 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, applies only to Sundays that fall within the State’s defined “St. Patrick’s Day holiday period” of March 16-18 each year. Previously, State law prohibited Sunday sale of alcohol in bars across Georgia. Restaurants, defined as businesses that derive more than 50 percent of sales from food, can sell alcohol on Sundays with a valid applicable alcohol license.
Savannah City Council already took necessary action when on Feb. 6 it passed a St. Patrick’s Day Festival resolution, which included language to permit bars within city limits to operate during the 2014 Festival, March 14-17, subject to compliance with State law.
Recognizing that this is a new law and a change from standard operation, the City Revenue Department and Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police are working with bar owners to encourage prompt and voluntary compliance with the midnight Sunday sales cut-off. Police and Revenue alcohol sales enforcement staff will be in the field on Sunday to visit open bars and remind owners of their obligation to stop serving at midnight.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police made the third arrest related to downtown Savannah shootings on and near Broughton Street occurring Feb. 25 just after 1 a.m.
Shavatica Morris, 21, was taken into custody by the US Marshal’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 6, during a traffic stop at Davidson Street and Dean Forest Road.
"Morris was subsequently served warrants for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection to shootings on the 200 block of East Broughton Street," police say. "The shootings left a 25-year-old male and a 19-year-old female with non-life threatening wounds."
The morning of the incident, Metro patrol officers were called to Club Dosha on the 100 block to break up a fight when shots rang out. Violent Crimes detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shootings.
Tags: Crime , Broughton Street