Connect Savannah, June 17, 2020

JUN 17-23, 2020 NEWS, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM

“THE PAST IS OUR STRENGTH.” Local musician Eric Jones joins us for ‘Song After Song’

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

What's in your drinking water?

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The 2020 City of Savannah drinking water report is now available.

SAVANNAHWATERQUALITY.COM

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TO HAVE AN EVENT LISTED EMAIL WAG@CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM. INCLUDE DATES, TIME, LOCATIONS WITH ADDRESSES, COST AND A CONTACT NUMBER. DEADLINE FOR INCLUSION IS 5PM FRIDAY, TO APPEAR IN NEXT WEDNESDAY’S EDITION.

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Laiken Love

Markets: Forsyth Farmers Market Enhanced social distancing between vendors.

9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday facebook.com/forsythfarmersmarket

Mercer-Williams House Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., closed Tuesday and Wednesday National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Tue.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.

Islands Farmers Market Enhanced social distancing between Pin Point Heritage Museum vendors.

Saturdays 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. , 401 Quarter- Thu.-Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. man Dr. facebook.com/islandsfarmersmarket/ American Prohibition Museum Daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m., last entry 4:15 p.m.

Tybee Island Farmers Market Mondays, 4-7 p.m.

30 Meddin Dr. facebook.com/tybeeislandfarmersmarket

Live Concerts:

Site Reopenings: Davenport House Museum Daily tours begin 10 a.m., last tour 4 p.m. except Sundays when hours are 1-4 p.m.

Georgia State Railroad Museum Wed.-Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Old Fort Jackson Wed.-Sun 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mars Theatre Friday/Saturday night movies at 7 p.m.

DRAUCKER at Coach’s Corner Live performance by local band in a courtyard setting.

Fri. June 19, 7 p.m. facebook.com/coachscorner/ Departure at Coach’s Corner Live performance by Journey tribute band in a courtyard setting.

Sat. June 20, 7 p.m. facebook.com/coachscorner/ Laiken Love and the Fellowship of Love at B&D Burgers downtown Live performance by local band in a courtyard setting.

Sat. June 20, 8 p.m. facebook.com/bdburgers/

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Sunday Live Music in Forsyth Park Live performance near Collins Quarter Cafe, featuring the Eric Culberson Band and special guest Dolette McDonald.

Sun. June 21, 3-6 p.m. facebook.com/thecollinsquarter/

Livestreams: Front Porch Improv: Hot Takes Friday Live improv comedy sessions.

Fridays 9 p.m. facebook.com/frontporchimprov/ Friday Night Live with Mayor Van Johnson Savannah Mayor Van Johnson’s “fireside chat” about the state of the city.

Fridays, 8 p.m. facebook.com/MayorJohnsonSAV/ Psychotronic Film Society Viewing Parties To receive the secret link to these hidden streaming playlists, people MUST join the PFS of SAV’s Private Facebook Group, at the link below. Each week, anyone who chooses to donate at least $5 via PayPal or Venmo receives a free high quality digital download of a movie from the archive, and is entered into a drawing to win a limited edition T-shirt.

Wednesdays, Sundays, 8 p.m. facebook.com/ groups/2519522234807695/

Quarantine Concert: The Part Time Blues Band Live show streamed from the Tybee Post Theatre.

Sat. June 20, 8:30 p.m. facebook.com/quarantineconcerts/ Quarantine Concert: KIAH with Obamabo and Stardust Pixies Live show streamed from the Tybee Post Theatre.

Sat. June 27, 9 p.m. facebook.com/quarantineconcerts/ Knightsquatch Livestream from local metal band, from Sentient Bean.

Sat. June 20, 8 p.m. facebook.com/aurafestsavannah/ Seldom Sober Savannah’s only Irish music ensemble, Seldom Sober (Michael Corbett and Colleen Settle) perform a set spanning Trad Irish to American folk.

Tuesdays, 8 p.m. facebook.com/seldomsober/ Savannah Performance Project - Chris Bass’ daily live stream show airs at 1:15 p.m. at Facebook.com/SPPAdmi

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

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NEWS & OPINION EDITOR’S NOTE Proud Sponsor

Land grab threatens beloved sites

BY JIM MOREKIS

Connect Savannah is published every Wednesday by Morris Multimedia, Inc 611 East Bay Street Savannah, GA, 31401 Phone: 912.231.0250 Fax: 912.238.2041 www.connectsavannah.com twitter: @ConnectSavannah Facebook.com/connectsav ADMINISTRATIVE Chris Griffin, General Manager chris@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4378 EDITORIAL Jim Morekis, Editor-in-Chief jim@connectsavannah.com Sean Kelly, A&E Editor sean@connectsavannah.com Rachael Flora, Community/Events Editor rachael@connectsavannah.com Josephine Beisel, Editorial Intern CONTRIBUTORS John Bennett, Matt Brunson, Brittany Curry, Kristy Edenfield, Geoff L. Johnson, Lindy Moody, Orlando Montoya, Jim Reed ADVERTISING Information: (912) 721-4378 sales@connectsavannah.com Bucky Bryant, Senior Account Executive bucky@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4381 DESIGN & PRODUCTION Brandon Blatcher, Art Director artdirector@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4379

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THE Georgia state legislature made it illegal for cities to remove or replace even one Confederate monument.

But literally hundreds of beloved state heritage sites which don’t memorialize the Confederacy are on the chopping block if a new bill passes the State Senate.

HB 906, which already passed the Georgia House, will open up over 330,000 acres of Heritage Preserve-protected land — in over 120 sites — for potential sale and development, “without any restriction on current use or historic importance,” says the Ossabaw Island Foundation, one of many groups deeply concerned about the potentially devastating impact of the bill.

This is no academic or theoretical issue.

It hits close to home — very close to home.

Little Tybee Island, for example, could be sold off in 15-acre parcels for condo or other development if HB 906 passes.

Skidaway Island State Park and

FEEDBACK

Wormsloe State Historic Site could also have parcels split off and sold.

The catalyst for the bill is a single developer, pushing for the right to build a distillery on a portion of Butler Island Plantation in McIntosh County.

Savannahians will recognize Butler Island as one of two plantations from which hundreds of enslaved African Americans were taken to Savannah in 1859, during the largest sale of enslaved people in U.S. history — known as The Weeping Time.

“The Butler Island property is sacred to hundreds of people in coastal Georgia and across the state; especially to Gullah Geechee people and other African-American people who feel personal connectivity to the place as a homeplace,” the Ossabaw Island Foundation says.

The whole thing’s a land grab, pure and simple — the transfer of publicly-owned heritage sites into private hands.

What is particularly concerning to preservationists, activists, and historians is how the new bill strips the usual protections and checks on abuse.

State law currently requires that all transfers of property valued over $500,000 go before the Legislature. As written, HB 906 removes that section for any property that’s currently a Heritage Preserve and also up to and including 15 acres in size.

The bill would also remove the opportunity for public comment currently provided in the process of approval.

“The only opportunity for public comment is already in the law; it is during a hearing before the Georgia Natural Resources Commission, which is an appointed body,” says the Foundation.

Not only that, but apparently HB 906 could breach existing contractual agreements with private parties who donated or sold their property to the State. “Many of the lands designated as Heritage Preserves were sold or donated to the state of Georgia by private individuals or families, with the HP designation guaranteeing that their property would be preserved for future generations of Georgians,” the Ossabaw Island Foundation says.

Activists say to contact your state senator this week to voice your concerns. CS

LETTERS@CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM

Hotel/motel tax hike not warranted

Editor, Last week, the citizens of District 4 received a social media post from Alderman Nick Palumbo that the city will be considering a measure to raise hotel/motel taxes to be on par with other cities across our state from 6% to 8%.

The perk and purpose, he touted, was in order to garnish more guest taxes to be used specifically to gain a complex bike trail network throughout the city and extending the Tybee Island. We were encouraged to send our support for this resolution to be raised for vote in the council meeting that same day, June 11.

A group of concerned citizens decided to research. This is what we found: 1. The process is accelerated out of the public eye without the clear, broad involvement of the Savannah hotel industry.

2. The decision has to raise to the State Assembly under a retired paragraph of the General Assembly guidelines (OCGA 48-13-51(a)(3.2).

We understand that this the

maximum city tax permitted by the State of Georgia. The resolution must be adopted by City Council, translated to a Local Act that must be passed by the General Assembly, and then signed by the Governor (O.C.G.A 48-13-51(b)). Most of the funds must be used by tourism-related items, but 12.5% of these taxes can be used as city unrestricted funds for pet projects like the bike trail network.

3. The chart used to persuade and compare Savannah to other market competitor cities had several mistakes that presented an argument in favor of raising the tax. The most obvious errors were the data that said that Charleston had a 17% tax on hotels plus a $2.00 per night city tax. In fact, Charleston sits at 14% plus a $2.18 city tax, making their tax less than Savannah currently. Also, there was blatant omission of Hilton Head Island, Saint Augustine, and growing Jekyll Island.

Additionally, they placed Savannah rates next to actually incomparable markets like New Orleans, New York City, and also Atlanta.

Based on these reasons and

in the name of fiscal responsibility, our group of Savannah citizens and several leaders in the hotel industry soundly reject this City Council resolution to increase the hotel tax for the following clear reasons: 1. This is a critical time to not be selling bike paths in exchange for immediate futures. Savannah’s economic recovery depends on the ability of local businesses to attract visitors and employ staffs. Raising taxes on honored guests in our ‘Hostess City’ is not compatible with those goals in the competitive coastal tourism market.

2. This is a critical time to be trimming away city expenses in every area of operation, not to gather more taxes to maintain and expand expensive projects from the pockets of those we depend on the most for cash flow.

3. The aggregate tax of guests in our city is actually 13% plus $1 per night to city plus $5 per room per night state infrastructure fee. This proposal of increasing the city hotel tax from 6 to 8% would bring the total tax to 15% plus $1 per

night to the city plus $5 per room per night state fee.

4. One of our key sister competitors, Hilton Head, has an aggregate tax of 11% state, local, and hospitality tax. Jekyll Island has 12% plus the $5 state fee per night. Charleston, SC is also significantly less at 14% plus only a $2.18 per night city destination fee.

Saint Augustine, FL is 9.5% aggregate tax on hotel rooms.

Going to the new tax rate would make our hotel occupancy taxes HIGHER THAN NEW YORK CITY, Charleston, New Orleans, Charleston, and Charlotte.

5. Keeping our taxes competitive with other area tourist cities encourages additional tourism and all-around spending here that our city critically needs at this time. Our honored guests will spend and also sleep in Savannah, when we remain competitive, instead of deciding to limit their visit to a day trip.

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Can America muster the will?

BY RON CHRISTOPHER AMID the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded that the most virulent and deadly virus afflicting America is white racism.

The shockingly brutal murder of George Floyd in broad daylight by “Minneapolis’ Finest,” in the full view of spectators, is but the most recent graphic evidence that the racism virus resists containment.

Racism, in my view, is the pre-eminent threat to global peace, for it mocks the credibility of American democracy and its cherished promises, at home and abroad.

If we are to ever respond effectively, we must understand that the virus of racism permeates all aspects of American life, not just policing and the administration of criminal justice. The disease is devastating. Since before the founding of this Republic, the racially oppressed have said,

by the thousands of street protesters whose humanity demanded they shout out and act up against this blatant expression of racist depravity. The Most High bless them. Perhaps racism cannot be eradicated. This malevolent spirit possessing the hearts and minds of many otherwise fine human beings requires individual soul work.

But can we at least eradicate the obvious mechanisms embedded in our institutions that perpetuate racial oppression of African Americans and other ethnic minorities, and the subjugation of the poor? For example, can we eliminate the double standard of justice that exists for police officers versus everyone else for criminal acts? That is, can we have true “equal protection of the law”? Relatedly, can we cease the blanket glorification of police officers and “first responders” in our public discourse? Clearly, they are not all heroes.

Some are, but too many are not. Heroism is a matter of exemplary character and extraordinary performance in the service

Let us recognize the hope represented by the thousands of street protesters whose humanity demanded they shout out and act up against this blatant expression of racist depravity. written, yelled, protested, and demonstrated, prayed, and even cried: We can’t breathe. Yet, our leaders, national and local, have struggled to effectively address this existential threat.

As drastic changes are being contemplated to combat the risks of biological threats like COVID-19, consider that an effective response to the threats of virulent racism will require no less drastic measures.

The necessary changes are too numerous to relate here. The question at this point is, can this America muster the will to make the changes?

Let us recognize the hope represented

of humanity. Not easily measured up to.

Let us not lower the standard.

Indeed, the true heroes are those individuals who enter the fray on the side of equal justice, whether protesting in the streets or standing up and speaking out for right where they live and work, in the hope for a better society. As always, they are the reason to believe that America can indeed become its best possible self someday.

Let us continue to hold them dear in our hearts, protect them and give them the credit they deserve. CS Ronald Christopher is the Chairman of the KingTisdell Cottage Foundation.

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A scene from Savannah’s first George Floyd protest on May 31. PHOTO BY BRANDON BLATCHER

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NEWS & OPINION COMMUNITY

Freedom for all: Savannah celebrates Juneteenth

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rachael@connectsavannah.com

WHAT DO YOU think of when you think of the Fourth of July?

Besides fireworks and copious amounts of American flag apparel, you most likely think of freedom. This day is celebrated as the day America became free from British rule.

But in 1776, not every American was free. Not even close.

“By 1776, African-Americans comprised about 20% of the entire population in the 13 colonies,” says Julia Pearce of TybeeMLK. “What it meant was enslavement for black people and freedom for white people.”

If you’re truly in the mood for celebrating freedom in America, a more apt replacement would be Juneteenth. The day, June 19, marks the day in 1865 when a Union general in Galveston, Texas, discovered that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years prior.

“Nobody told them—they were still slaving away,” Pearce laments.

As our country begins to recognize on a deeper level the racial injustices that continue to plague us, more people are calling for Juneteenth to replace the Fourth of July as a holiday worthy of celebration.

This year, Juneteenth takes place on a Friday, and there are plenty of events on the docket to celebrate a more inclusive version of freedom.

Pearce, with TybeeMLK, will host the fifth annual wade-in, though it’s not the first wade-in that’s happened on Savannah’s beach.

“The very first wade-in in 1963, these young people were arrested for disrobing,” explains Pearce. “They had their bathing suits on underneath their clothes, so they took off their clothes to get in the water and the police arrested them for disrobing.

But they really arrested them for trying to swim while black.”

Pearce, a Tybee resident, acknowledges that Tybee has not always been kind to people of color, which has often deterred Savannahians from coming to its beach.

But as of late, Tybee’s people have participated in several protests for racial equity.

Friday’s wade-in is just one more positive event to add to the roster.

The event begins at 9 a.m. and will feature Patt Gunn leading the crowd to the water and presenting a program about the ancestors. Chad Mance, an attorney and the Vice President of the NAACP in Savannah, will also speak.

Pearce asks attendees to bring a chair, a mask, and a noisemaker.

A clipping from a 1963 news article about the first wade-in on Tybee, where Black people were arrested for disrobing on the beach. PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIA PEARCE

The wade-in isn’t the only event taking place in our city. On June 18, the Telfair will present a virtual Juneteenth lecture at 5 p.m. The Telfair’s Juneteenth celebration is one of the most consistent programs in the city, and while the pandemic has affected the in-person celebration, a virtual lecture is the next best thing.

Speakers Vaughnette Goode-Walker, a historian and operator of Footprints of Savannah, and Dr. Alvin Jackson, the cofounder and president of Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, will address why we celebrate Juneteenth in Savannah.

They’ll also talk about secret schools operated in the city before Emancipation, as well as the Willow Hill School founded in 1874 by formerly enslaved individuals.

On Friday at 11 a.m., Bicycle Ride Across Georgia will lead a 25-mile ride in Brunswick in honor of Ahmaud Arbery and Juneteenth. Another community bike ride takes place the following day at 10 a.m.

More information can be found at georgiabikes.org.

Friday evening, the Black, Proud and Free Walk will begin at 5:45 p.m. at the Forsyth Park Fountain. Organizers Akeem and Kareem McMichael and Phillip Davis ask attendees to create posters to celebrate and honor Black culture. The walk will be a peaceful demonstration designed to increase cultural pride and empowerment, and attendees are encouraged to wear a mask and bring water.

The Culturist Union, featured in last week’s issue, will host a virtual Black Millennial Roundtable on Friday at 6 p.m.

“We’re going to have a self-made millionaire, an artist, a stay-at-home mom, a black conservative, a state representative, a lawyer, a civil rights attorney,” Elm said last week. “We’re going to have this conversation about the black agenda, on economy, on gay rights, on lots of things, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

The event will be broadcast on Facebook Live, so follow The Culturist Union on Facebook to watch it then.

The festivities continue Saturday at Friendship Park in Ludowici. Unity in the Community hosts a Juneteenth meet and greet, complete with food and motivational speakers. Organizers Tre Singleton and Jerome Spaulding encourage you to wear a mask for their event.

Regardless of how you choose to observe Juneteenth, there are plenty of ways for you to do so in our community. As the fight for racial justice wages on, it’s important for us to learn more about our history.

Juneteenth is a perfect starting point.

“Juneteenth is really a celebration of freedom,” says Pearce. “It’s a celebration and a time where all Americans say, ‘Freedom has happened to the United States of America.’ So that’s what this Juneteenth celebration is all about: it’s about freedom.

Everybody should be about that.” CS

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NEWS & OPINION POLITICS

A ‘tragedy’ of an Election Day

June 9 primary in Georgia plagued with mechanical issues, accusations of voter suppression

BY RACHAEL FLORA

rachael@connectsavannah.com

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

AFTER 2018’S gubernatorial election, which saw allegations of voter suppression and manipulation, Georgia’s elections have been in the national spotlight.

For the 2020 election season, the state unveiled new voting machines with touch screens and a printer component that would ostensibly help ease voter manipulation concerns.

Last Tuesday’s election combined the general primary and the presidential preference primary and was the first day the new voting machines were used on such a large scale. How did it go?

“Tuesday was a tragedy, through and through,” says Aklima Khondoker, the Georgia state director for All Voting is Local, an organization that seeks to remove voting barriers. “It was the most tragic election that I’ve ever witnessed.”

What made this day such a disaster?

One of the biggest issues on Election Day was long lines. Lots of people in Savannah reported hourlong wait times to vote, often standing in the hot sun.

One reason for that snarl was extensive issues with the new machines.

“The machines aren’t working because the electrical output that the machine requires is far stronger than the input that we have in these polling locations,” says Khondoker. “In other words, these polling locations could not accommodate the electrical capacity that these machines require. They just weren’t equipped for it.”

Some early voters reported no issues with the new machines, and so did some voters on Election Day itself. But not every precinct was so lucky.

At Aldersgate United Methodist Church on Tennessee Avenue, Darian Braddy reported major electricity issues that 8 culminated in her machine losing power

mid-vote.

“I stood in this hot gym—95 degrees at least, and fans all the way across the gym—for 45 minutes,” she wrote. “A computer went down, one of the four that they had, and they got it ‘fixed.’ I got this computer. In the middle of my vote, they cut the breaker and my machine went down and the lights went out. It took them 10-15 minutes to get it back running, and they wouldn’t let me go to a different machine.

The lights were still out when I left and [it was] only getting hotter in there.”

Michael Riccio estimates he was at the same polling place about an hour before Braddy.

“While I was there, two computers stopped working and one of the computers that did work had a printer jam that stalled a voter for about 10-15 minutes,” he wrote.

“This means there was only one functioning computer at the time. Let me also note that Aldersgate usually has between eight to 12 computers. This time there were four.”

At first, Riccio wondered if the high cost prevented his polling place from putting out more machines, but then he notice that precincts in traditionally white neighborhoods had many more machines.

Riccio noted that people who vote at Aldersgate typically are zoned for Savannah High School.

The Poll Location Boundaries feature on the Chatham County Board of Elections is currently under construction, so we could not confirm the exact boundaries of the precinct.

Khondoker noticed similar disparities in Atlanta, where she was working on Election Day. Locations in Sandy Springs and Alpharetta, which are typically more affluent communities, had very short lines, if they had one at all.

“We know these are not predominantly black and brown communities. We understand those are very well-monied

communities that can afford to uphold and carry out more successful elections because they have the budget to do it,” she says. “That is not an effective way to have accessible voting for all. It is a great way to make sure those in power continue to hold their power, while those who are powerless can never find their way into power.”

The disparity in ease of elections was also present in Chatham County. Polling places like Temple Mickve Israel and the Wilmington Island United Methodist Church were reportedly easy to get through.

The Jewish Educational Alliance received both positive and negative reviews that seemed to depend on the time of day.

Rachel Hinely got to the JEA around 7:30 a.m. and waited in line for two hours due to mechanical issues. But Amani Eissa voted at the JEA around 6 p.m. and reported a positive, quick experience.

Some people reported that poll workers at their locations were overwhelmed by the new system. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed the poll workers, according to Atlanta-based news site 11Alive.

“It gets back to training and employees.

It’s not the machine. These machines have been used in other states,” Raffensperger said Tuesday. “What were they doing for all these months? Did they wake up and say let’s have an election on Tuesday?”

“You need to equip them with the right technological equipment for them to accommodate the power draw that these machines require, and they didn’t do that,” says Khondoker. “The Secretary of State’s office failed to send technological help in a timely fashion.”

Another issue Tuesday was precincts that were moved without notifying voters. Trina Brown showed up at her polling place on Tybee only to find the doors locked.

“I thought I was confused, and I went back home to look up my polling location on the voter page website. I was correct, and I drove back there,” she wrote.

“Nobody around, no signs telling me where the new or primary polling location was.”

After finding out on a neighborhood page that voting was open on Tybee at two other locations, Brown drove to the new location and voted there.

“If my day hadn’t been as flexible to spend time going back and forth and searching for the new polling places that were not on my voter cards, and if I had to go to work in town, then I may not have voted,” she wrote.

Brittany Herren also had a similar experience in Georgetown, and she found out about the change of location by seeing signs and cars.

Khondoker notes that the moving of precincts has been happening on a rolling basis ever since the two elections were combined due to the coronavirus pandemic, but many voters weren’t able to accurately discover their polling places.

There were also reports of My Voter Page being down on Tuesday morning, so voters who wanted to double-check their precinct weren’t even able to do that.

“We hear state officials blame it on the poll workers, blame it on the pandemic, blame it on the people—it’s up to us to figure out where this information lives and up to us to do the right thing,” says Khondoker.

“When someone shows up to vote at 6:30 a.m. at a place they think is correct because it’s always been correct, and now it’s been consolidated and moved and the person has to be at work at 9 o’clock, and now they’re checking online and nothing is there, what is that person supposed to do?

Whose fault is that?”

The absentee ballot debacle also factored in to Tuesday’s mess. When people voted absentee by checking non-partisan

POLITICS

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

in March, Khondoker says, they were told they’d be able to vote in the June election. But on Tuesday, they were told they’d already voted.

“People were turned away because the tablet was telling people that they voted already. There were no answers, of course, because they only rely on what comes up in the system,” she says. “The Secretary of State’s office never clarified how the poll workers were going to be able to see that.

It was just, ‘Oh, it’ll come up and resolve itself.’ Well, it didn’t resolve itself, and it resulted in several voters leaving without casting a ballot.”

The absentee ballot request form itself caused debate. The process of requesting a ballot, receiving the ballot, and completing and returning the ballot seems unintentionally complicated and not a meaningful opportunity to vote.

“I know [Raffensperger is] leaning on the fact that he sent every active voter an absentee ballot application,” says Khondoker. “It’s great that the state election board allowed drop boxes for the first time in Georgia, but allowing it and ensuring that it exists for every early voting location is something completely different. It’s no good to just say, ‘You can have this thing,’ but not give us any strategy or support.

It’s not a meaningful opportunity; it’s a

political move.”

Then there’s the extremely long return times for absentee ballots. As of this writing, the absentee ballot voting process was not yet complete.

For perspective, consider that in the hotly contested 2016 presidential election, Chatham County had to process about 12,000 absentee ballots.

This year? About 31,000.

With Georgia in the national spotlight for yet another dumpster fire of an election, there are plenty of eyes on the state to ensure fairness in the general election.

Khondoker says that All Voting Is Local is prepared to make sure these same problems don’t repeat in November.

“Their voice and their vote matters,” she says of Georgia voters. “No matter what barriers we see, they have to know they have our support. We are so happy they turned out in numbers. We’re so proud of our communities and we just need to make sure that they keep coming out, they don’t get discouraged, and that they understand this is still a worthy process and there’s no change without their vote.”

Khondoker urges voters to report any election issues to All Voting Is Local’s election protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE.

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NEWS & OPINION POLITICS

Hate Crimes in Georgia: Push for new law gains momentum

BY KRISTY EDENFIELD

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

THE MEN who murdered Ahmaud Arbery can’t be charged in Georgia with a hate crime because there’s no state hate crime law.

Georgia is one of only four states without a hate crime law, the others being Arkansas, South Carolina, and Wyoming.

The deafening screams of many Georgians have given new life to HB 426, a hate crime bill that was passed by the Georgia House in 2019, but languished in the Senate without a hearing.

In 2000, a Georgia hate crime law was one vote shy of being shelved, but ultimately passed. In 2004, the law was unanimously struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court on the basis of being broadly worded.

Because a consensus could not be reached about hate crimes based on sexual orientation, the law was intentionally left vague, and simply stated that in order to sentence a hate crime, it only needed to be proven that a victim or their property was targeted because of “bias or prejudice”.

In the Court’s opinion, Justice Carol Hunstein wrote, “A rabid sports fan convicted of uttering terroristic threats to a victim selected for wearing a competing team’s baseball cap; a campaign worker convicted of trespassing for defacing a political opponent’s yard signs...” could be used to invoke the hate crimes law.

The current version of the proposed hate crime bill provides for “enhancement of the penalty imposed, if the trier of fact determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected any victim or group of victims or any property as the object of the offense because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability, or physical disability of such victim or group of victims.”

Basically, if someone is convicted of a crime, and it can be proven that they com10 mitted the crime with bias and prejudice

it punishes thoughts, not actions and injects identity politics into Georgia law.”

Eyes will be on Petrea to see if he changes his vote in light of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Senator Lester Jackson (D-2) who has introduced hate crime legislation of his own for the past three years says, “It is time that we have a hate crime bill in Georgia. We need to have a law on the books that is substantial and meaningful, and also one that reflects the values of Georgia.

I think that this year we are very close.”

“Georgia has changed in the past few weeks. There is a new understanding that hate crimes are real and exist,” explains Jackson. “There is a fire brewing. People are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

The world will be watching Georgia.”

Senator Jackson, who has attended 15 year-old Eunique Wilson takes to the street to protest almost daily. “I march to keep going, numerous rallies and marches with his to make sure people know that we will not be put away again. That we will get justice... Georsons over the past month, says that lawgia should definitely have a hate crime law, because you know of Georgia’s history with white makers who don’t hear the voices of change supremacy... It would be a good law to have, because it took a little too long for the killers of will “see the results on election day.”

Ahmaud Aubrey to be charged.”

What are Savannah voters saying about the hate crime bill? of one of the protected classifications, “It is time. Let’s get out of this back“While the hate crime bill itself will then the minimum sentencing can not be woods hillbilly attitude. We are a progresnot stop police and white supremacists imposed, and higher sentencing guidelines sive and innovative state,” says Rep. Ron from murdering black people in Georgia, will be required by law.

Stephens (R-165) who is one of the coit will hold those who commit hate crimes, “Prosecutors are already looking at sponsors of HB 426. “This is about pure against any person, accountable. I think intent. This bill would raise the minihatred for people, and we can’t have that too often people avoid labeling violent acts mum sentencing that can be imposed; it in Georgia. Hate leads to crime and that against any person as a ‘hate crime’ as they is a sentencing enhancement,” says Scott needs to be recognized. We need to give are unsure of the intentions behind these Robichaux, a former prosecutor in Munici- District Attorneys across the state an extra acts. It’s about time people acknowledge pal Courts, State Courts, and Superior tool to prosecute appropriately. I have a these reoccurring crimes against black, Court, now working at the Claiborne Firm feeling that the Senate is going to come LGBQT+, Latinx, immigrant, Muslim, and doing Civil Rights litigation and Criminal around.” any other minorities for what they are: Defense.

In 2000, Eric Johnson, who was vehehate crimes,” says Asli Shebe, community “The hate crime must be proven. It mently against the hate crimes bill, held organizer. gives the prosecutor the opportunity to the First District Senate seat. At the “We need a hate crime law in Georgia. put the evidence of racial intent in front time, Johnson was quoted as saying, “It The judicial system cannot even begin to of the jury,” continues Robichaux. “With shouldn’t be worse for a white man to beat pretend like it will serve justice without a hate crimes, just changing the minimum up a black man than for a white man to beat basic understanding of the reality so many sentence is the smallest of changes the leg- up a white man.” marginalized people live in—and that islature could make. When someone does Now, Dr. Ben Watson holds that same includes being subject to hate crimes,” says something to a person because of their seat, and while he supports the idea, he Raine, a community organizer. race or other protected class, oftentimes wants to read the changes that will be in “Ask any trans person if they have been the victim is a stand-in for that race or pro- the Senate version. “The lieutenant gover- the victim of a hate crime and they’ll ask tected class as a whole.” nor has come out very strongly, I applaud you what exactly you mean by that. I’ve “The bill is about as watered down as it him for it.” been verbally harassed as long as I can can get, but I will take small steps versus The fact that Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who remember by strangers, even when I didn’t no steps,” concludes Robichaux. serves as President of Georgia’s Senate, has ‘look’ trans,” says Raine.

Rep. Bill Hitchens (R-161), who has 43 come out strong makes it more likely that it “Criminal activity motivated by bias is years of law enforcement experience, sup- will get a vote on the Senate floor. distinct and different because the perpeports HB 426. Hitchens was shaken by Since the Senate will most certainly trators bias based on race, religion, gender, the video of the Ahmaud Arbery murder. make changes to the bill, the House will gender identity, sexual orientation or dis“Obviously some people have hate in their have to vote on it again before it can ability is THE reason for the crime,” says heart, I don’t know how you cure it. It become law. HB 426 passed the house Adam Solender, Executive Director of the looked to me that they were hunting aninarrowly with only a 5 vote margin, leavSavannah Jewish Educational Alliance. mals, they chased him down and when he ing some to wonder if there will be enough “A Hate Crimes law is necessary in decided to fight, they shot him down.” legislators to pass it again in the Senate Georgia because federal legislation has “It has to be more than the hate crime version. several gaps in victims’ legal recourse and bill. We also need to eliminate stand-yourOne of the no votes in March 2019 was hate crimes demand a priority response ground and citizen’s arrest,” says Rep. Savannah’s Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-166). Last because of the unique emotional and psyCraig Gordon (D-163). “HB 426 is a great year Petrea said about the hate crime bill, chological impact on the victim and their start and it sends the message that Georgia “This law violates equal protection under community. Georgia is late to the table in will not tolerate intolerance, but there is so the law by treating some victims as more recognizing this much needed legislation.” much more that needs to be addressed.” worthy of protection than others. Further, CS

NEWS & OPINION BLOTTER

HOMICIDES

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17-year-old killed on Staley Avenue

Savannah Police Violent Crimes detectives are investigating a double shooting that resulted in one fatality the evening of June 10.

Shortly before 7 p.m., officers responded to the 900 block of Staley Avenue on a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they located a vehicle damaged from gunfire.

Inside the vehicle was shooting victim Latanya Williams, 17, who sustained gunshot wounds. She was transported to the hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. A second victim, Akeem Williams, 27, was transported to the hospital by private vehicle before officers’ arrival. He received a minor injury and is in stable condition.

Detectives do not believe this is a random shooting and are continuing to investigate. Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to contact detectives at (912) 525-3124 or CrimeStoppers at (912) 234-2020.

Savannah Police Department announces its full compliance with 8 Can’t Wait

In response to the 8 Can’t Wait campaign, Savannah Police Department announces that it is in full compliance with the demands of the movement.

8 Can’t Wait is a project by Campaign Zero that seeks to bring immediate change to police departments and originated in the past few weeks in response to the nationwide protests of police brutality.

The eight demands of 8 Can’t Wait are: ban chokeholds and strangleholds, require de-escalation, require warning before shooting, requires an exhaust of all alternatives before shooting, duty to intervene, ban shooting at moving vehicles, require use of force continuum, and require comprehensive reporting.

The Savannah Police Department clarified their positions on the eight demands.

Ban chokeholds and strangle holds: Neither technique is allowed by SPD policy.

Require de-escalation training: All officers are trained in verbal and physical deescalation training.

Require a warning before shooting: Our policy states, “A verbal warning will be issued prior to the discharge of a firearm, if practical.”

Exhaust all other means before

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The ‘8 Can’t Wait’ poster

shooting: Officers receive training in verbal de-escalation and conflict resolution and are required to use the amount of force that reasonably appears necessary.

Duty to intervene: Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall, when in a position to do so, intercede. SPD policy also requires that an officer who observes another employee using force that is beyond reasonable under the circumstances promptly report those observations to a supervisor.

The SPD Oath of Office, Ethics and

Conduct Policy states “any employee that observes serious misconduct will take appropriate action to cause the misconduct to immediately cease regardless of rank.”

Ban shooting at moving vehicles: An Officer WILL NOT discharge a firearm at the occupants of a vehicle (moving or stationary) or from a moving vehicle, except in self-defense or the defense of another.

Officers WILL NOT discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle in an attempt to disable the vehicle.

Require use of force continuum: SPD does not follow a specific continuum for use of physical force as Officers are to operate under state and Federal law which is defined as, “a reasonable amount force and/or minimum amount of force to affect the arrest.”

Require comprehensive reporting: After any use of force by a member of the department, a supervisor shall be notified and it shall be documented promptly. All use of force incidents are reviewed by a Precinct Commander or above.

ALL CASES FROM RECENT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT INCIDENT REPORTS. GIVE ANONYMOUS CRIME TIPS TO CRIMESTOPPERS AT 912/234-2020 OR TEXT CRIMES (274637) USING KEYWORD CSTOP2020.

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2020 Sav/Chatham County Crime Stats through Sunday June 14

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The 95-year-old Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, California, is a National Historic Landmark, but it, along with all of the other rides in the park, has been closed to riders since March. To keep it in good repair and ready for reopening, the coaster must run 12 times every day, and park mechanics discussing how reopening would happen hit upon an idea: They loaded the coaster’s 24 seats with giant plush animals from the park’s midway games prize stash. “People are loving it,” Steve Thomas, the park’s general manager, told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’ve seen tons of videos and pictures that people have been posting online.” Thomas said when the coaster reopens, he may keep the furry riders on board to help with social distancing rules.

Least Competent Criminal

An unnamed 29-year-old man in Berlin, Germany, triggered alarms at a supermarket on June 5 when he tried to leave without paying for $5.65 in merchandise.

The Associated Press reported that police had little trouble apprehending the man because, in his hurry escape, he left his 8-year-old son behind. Not only did the burglar’s “accessory” help police identify

him, but the thief fell down as he was escaping and ended up in the hospital.

Can’t Possibly Be True

The Daily Star reports that a 30-yearold man turned up at Zhaoqing First People’s Hospital in Guangdong, China, on June 3 suffering from abdominal pain.

Doctors performed a series of scans before discovering a freshwater fish in the man’s large intestine, the presence of which he explained by saying he had accidently sat on it. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” one of the doctors replied. The spiny fins of the Mozambique tilapia had caused ruptures in the man’s intestine and had to be removed through his abdomen by surgery, but the man survived the ordeal and recovered.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Canadian Glen Richard Mousseau’s adventure with Michigan law enforcement began on May 10, when he was arrested in St. Clair County driving a U-Haul truck and in possession of $97,000. He cooperated with authorities, admitting he was the owner of a submarine seized by the Border Patrol April 23 and he had been using it to ferry drugs between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Mlive.com reported Mousseau agreed to await the investigation’s outcome in a local hotel, but on May 22, federal agents said he had absconded, leaving behind five phones, a laptop and a diving suit. On June 5, Border Patrol officers observed packages thrown into the Detroit River from a vessel entering U.S. waters and found Mousseau unconscious in the water with 265 pounds of marijuana tethered to him with a tow strap. He’s being held on charges of smuggling and possession of a controlled substance.

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

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Several sailors of the Royal Navy found themselves in over their heads on May 30 as their plan for a barbecue and beers got out of hand. A witness told The Sun, “They were smashed and hadn’t bothered to watch for the tide.” The Daily Star reported that one partier became cut off from the group, and when another went out to rescue him, they both struggled. Emergency services had to be called in, and one of the sailors had to be lifted off a cliff with a winch, the coast guard confirmed.

The Royal Navy expressed its regret that emergency services were needed, but they “remain grateful for their help.”

the Associated Press reported, so he followed as the vehicle hit speeds of 85 mph in a 45 mph zone. The underage driver told Yochum that Michaelson, who admitted he had been drinking, told her to drive fast.

He was arrested and is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Overreaction

Richland County (South Carolina) sheriff’s officers are searching for a man and woman who held a Pizza Hut manager at gunpoint on May 29 in Columbia -because they didn’t receive the 2-liter bottle of Pepsi they had ordered for delivery with their pie. The manager told WIS the couple entered the restaurant complaining about the delivery, then came behind the counter and as the man held out a gun, the woman removed a bottle of Pepsi from the cooler. Once the goods were in hand, the man put his gun away, and they left the store.

Bright Idea

A tech startup called ChampTrax has a novel solution for the problem of professional sports being played in empty stadiums. Jason Rubenstein told Fox4 News in Kansas City, Missouri, that his company’s Hear Me Cheer technology allows fans watching at home to enable a microphone on a phone or laptop as they watch a game; the sounds fans make will then be captured and aggregated into a single track for the broadcast. “If you’re alone in your home, what’s the point of booing if no one can hear you?” Rubenstein asked. ESPN featured Hear Me Cheer on a June 9 boxing broadcast and during the NFL draft in April, and the company says it is in talks with other networks and sports leagues.

Oops

Seniors at Ashley Ridge High School in Dorchester County, South Carolina, were excited about attending their in-person graduation ceremony on June 10. Administrators planned limited proceedings on the field at Swamp Fox Stadium, where students and spectators could spread out in keeping with COVID-19 restrictions.

But as Principal Karen Radcliffe began to introduce the valedictorian and salutatorian, the field’s sprinklers switched on, spraying the field and sending people scrambling. “Everyone started running to the sides to try and avoid getting soaked before getting their diploma!” senior Megan Mowrer told WCBD.

Questionable Judgment

Shaun Michaelsen, 41, told police in Jupiter, Florida, he was only trying to be a “cool father” when he let a friend’s 12-year-old daughter drive his Jeep on June 8. Officer Craig Yochum saw the Jeep make an illegal U-turn and speed away,

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

MUSIC SONG AFTER SONG

SONG AFTER SONG: Eric Jones How long of a writing process was it?

ERIC JONES IS easily one of the most talented musicians we have in Savannah. If you need any evidence of that fact, his 2019 album Azubuike should confirm it without question. He’s been playing in the area regularly for years, and is also a professor at Savannah State University.

The keyboardist and composer has a wealth of musical knowledge to share, and we were lucky enough to get him to take part in one of our newest series’, Song After Song, where he enlightened us and expanded on two very important pieces of music.

Original Song: “Azubuike” What stands out about the writing process?

For me, composition is a slower form of improvisation. Every note is usually deliberate but sometimes mistakes happen that bring life to the creation.

I think it took a couple of weeks. I had a harmonic progression in my head for some time so that was part of the writing process. When it came to sitting down and putting pen to paper it was then a matter of what I would choose to write from in my head. I had to create the melody from the rolodex of harmonies I had stored.

writing, instrumentation, etc?

The song is from Native Dancer. It consists of Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano and keyboard, Dave Mcdaniel on bass, and Robert Silva on drums. The harmony is unpredictable.

Wayne Shorter utilizes the phrygian mode.

It depends on the situation. If I write for a There are surprising modulations and specific purpose or client then I have a goal, angular melodies that take the listener on but if it’s for my personal use then I try to a journey. It tells a story like a movie score.

What about this song makes it an let the music unfold organically. important one for you personally?

If you could make one connection Favorite Song: “Ana Maria” - Wayne between this song and yours, what The meaning of Azubuike comes from Igbo Shorter would it be? “the past is our strength.” It spoke volumes to me because of my past trials which I When did you first discover this song?

I think my song tries to tell a story withhad to overcome. I also love the harmonic out words like a movie score—at least progressions.

17 years ago. My mentor performed it at a that’s what I try to do. I think both songs concert at Armstrong University. tend to be outside the box. Both combine Generally speaking, who are some of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. the artists you look to for inspiration What stands out to you about it?

There’s a fusion of different genres within as a writer? each song to make them hard to label. CS I love the unpredictability of the melody I have a wide range of artists I look up to and harmony. It ebb and flows from beauty Eric Jones’ brilliant 2019 release Azubuike is from gospel to classical, world, hip hop, to sadness and everything in between. available now at Amazon as well as all streamand jazz. Such artists as Herbie Hancock, ing platforms.

Wayne Shorter, Claude Debussy, Angelique Dissect it musically; what’s most interKidjo, Ivan Lins, Maurice Ravel, Mos Def, esting to you in terms of production, 13 As a songwriter, do you tend to have a goal in mind musically that you sit down and work at? Or do you let songs happen organically?

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

BY SEAN KELLY

sean@connectsavannah.com

Public Enemy, Eric B and Rakim, Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul.

MUSIC INTERVIEW

Don’t stop believing in live music: Journey tribute comes to Coach’s Corner Departure plays songs from all eras of the classic rock titans’ career

Departure plays the music of Journey, spanning albums and eras. PHOTO BY VICKI DIADDEZIO

BY SEAN KELLY

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

sean@connectsavannah.com

14

EVERYONE KNOWS Journey. The longrunning band behind such hits as “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Separate Ways” continues on to this day, albeit with a much different lineup (that now includes, for the second time in history, Randy Jackson on bass).

Through all of its lineup changes over the years, Journey transitioned from a more freeform, progressive outfit to a straight up, refined radio rock machine.

They seem to have come back in the other direction in recent years, perhaps due to the absence of their most famous vocalist Steve Perry. But no matter what era of Journey you prefer, it’s likely that there’s something for everyone in their catalog.

Which is why it’s not surprising that Departure, a long-running Journey tribute band, has thrived for years on paying tribute to the band and all its iterations. They lost several months of gigs when the coronavirus pandemic began in March, but they’ve just started to pick up some shows once again.

One of those newly booked gigs includes one at Coach’s Corner on Sat., June 20.

Ahead of the gig, we talked to bassist and vocalist Doug Ballard about all things Departure.

I imagine you guys had some shows on the books that were cancelled because of the pandemic?

Yes [laughs]. To put it lightly! We played our last show before COVID on March 14th. We had shows every weekend, so we lost the rest of March, early April, and practically all of May. And we had several shows cancel in June or July, but we’ve been fortunate enough to backfill those dates—in most cases, but not all.

A good example is Coach’s Corner. We’re going to play a fall show, but [John Henderson] reached out and said they were trying to do a soft approach to getting things going again and asked if we had anything available in June. We had one of those cancellations come through, so we connected on the 20th. Venues like his are letting us get started again, which is great.

We did a live stream, which a lot of people are doing right now to try and make a little income. We had a great turnout—1,300 people watched at the time of the stream, and that blossomed into 35,000 views over time. People are just hungry for entertainment.

Journey is one of those bands that has a really storied history when it comes to lineups and even musical evolution.

They literally just announced another lineup change! As someone who plays this music, do you have a particular era of the band that you’re fond of?

Are there certain songs that you get excited about playing for the purpose of introducing people to songs they may not know?

I’m the Randy Jackson of the band, actually. He plays completely differently than Ross Valory—for perspective, Ross was in the band from the beginning, so a lot of his style is reflected in the music. Randy came in for Raised On Radio, which I think is a phenomenal album but it’s very different from what they’d done before.

I think you’re right—the lineup changes really morph the band. Steve Perry was brought into to push them into the commercial era of music instead of the progressive jam band that they’d been prior. But I don’t want to dismiss Gregg Rollie either!

Interestingly, there are certain populations of fans that connect with certain eras of the band. Some fans really light up when we play the Gregg Rollie material.

Absolutely. Back in the day, we’d buy the albums. So we’re real familiar with some of the songs that others would see more as an introduction, but in every situation we pull songs that people haven’t heard for a long time. We’ve played deeper cuts, and we try to gauge a little bit of how the audience responds to it. You can observe how the music is being connected to, even if sometimes you play certain songs for yourself.

“Line of Fire” and “Message of Love” weren’t huge hits, but they’re so much fun to play. You see people respond to them.

When we first started playing “Message of Love,” for example, people would come up to us and ask about it. It has a similar style to “Separate Ways” in terms of its chord structure and approach.

Another one that’s always fun to play is “Edge of the Blade,” which is one of their heavier songs. Not everybody knows it, but we love to put that in from time to time when it’s appropriate. CS

That’s really cool, to see that distinction!

Yeah, and when you get into the more radio-friendly material, that generation is of course their biggest fanbase. We all love that, and in the band there are songs that we just consistently love to play as a group.

DEPARTURE @COACH’S CORNER

Sat., June 20, 7 P.M., $25-$35 3016 E Victory Dr

MUSIC REVIEWS

sean@connectsavannah.com

Black Tusk - T.C.B.T.

McLEOD - On the Waves of the Unsetting Sun

BY SEAN KELLY

Black Tusk has both a reputation and a following that stretch far beyond Savannah. The groundbreaking thrash, punk, and metal band is known for creating a sound that relies heavily on sonics and works incredibly well in the recorded medium, and their latest T.C.B.T. might be the best example of that fact.

There’s so much to unpack on a record like this. It feels highly conceptual, both in production and on a thematic level. In terms of production, the record finds the balance between metal and punk and really rides the line delicately—in a way that I’ve rarely heard other bands do very well. There are times where you feel more like you’re listening to a punk record, and vice versa.

That’s the beauty and magic of T.C.B.T.; it has an energy and vibe that transcends traditional stylistic labels.

Take “Agali,” for example. This is a song that could’ve easily been a Motorhead song, but with some re-tooling it very well could’ve also belonged to a band like Black Flag. That’s what makes it uniquely Black Tusk. The guitars on this song are full, in their heaviness and brutal punch, and the drums feel as if they’re on the edge of explosion.

“Ill At Ease” may be my favorite song on this record. Opening up with some seriously blistering feedback followed by a disgustingly fuzzy guitar chug, the song quickly becomes a frantic call-andresponse filled with unapologetic fury. It’s maybe one of my favorite songs I’ve heard in a long time, in any genre.

“Orange Red Dead” is one of the more intriguing songs on the album from a performance standpoint, thanks to the powerful and instantly hooky drum intro. It’s

McLEOD is primarily the recording project of Thomas Mole, but the band has expanded in recent years to become a full-fledged unit.

Their 2018 release On the Waves of the Unsetting Sun, is a beautiful portrait of ambient space pop that has all the right amounts of psychedelia.

“Bathysphere” is a gorgeous song that sets the tone for what’s to come, with its groove-oriented rhythm section and reverb-y approach to production. That continues on “Soul Rise,” which would fit in well on any indie rock playlist.

“Blue Eyed Jesus” is a shining moment on the album, which reminds me a lot of The Pernice Brothers. Mole’s falsetto is compelling and really complimentary to the nature of the song, and the angular lead guitar makes it a really engaging and almost entrancing song to listen to. There’s really nothing here I didn’t enjoy, though the instrumental interlude (complete with spoken word sample) may not be something you’ll sit through on every listen. That said, I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t want to give these songs a second listen.

“Ghosts” is probably my personal favorite. The rotary effect on the guitar and vocals is particularly pleasant sonically, and the drum sound is the kind of thing producers and engineers get envious of.

Melodically, it’s by far the most perfectly executed song in terms of the marriage between accessible pop and left-field psychedelia.

For more on McLEOD, visit mcleodband.bandcamp.com

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CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

Album reviews

also an example of the sonics of this record and how far a great drum sound can go in making a good record great.

If you’re looking for the new classic metal album, look no further than T.C.B.T. For more on Black Tusk, visit blacktusk.bandcamp.com

15

MUSIC FEATURE

LIVE MUSIC IN THE SOUNDGARDEN WED, JUN 17 7:30PM

Knightsquatch brings innovative music to AURA Fest live stream Sprawling instrumentals and captivating compositions make them a band to watch

THU, JUN 18 7:30PM

FAMILY FEUD

FRI, JUN 19 7PM Knightsquatch plays an AURA Fest live stream concert on Sat. June 20.

PHOTO BY VALENTIN SIVYAKOV

BY SEAN KELLY

SAT, JUN 20 7PM

DEPARTURE

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

JOURNEY TRIBUTE BAND

16

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sean@connectsavannah.com

KNIGHTSQUATCH IS a unique band, because they defy any expectation you might have about a band that does anything remotely close to prog and metal.

This is a band that relies on a boundaryless approach to music—in fact, they need it to survive and thrive.

Their most recent release, First Contact, is just three songs long but clocks in at 40 minutes. To listen to it, though, you have to come in with the assumption that you’re not just listening to a song. You’re listening to a story, like the score to a silent film.

Up until recently, the band had been playing shows and promoting themselves around Savannah. But when the pandemic hit, they decided to take the opportunity to lock themselves away and keep pushing the creative process to its limit.

“As soon as we saw that the virus was coming, we sequestered ourselves in our super secret underground swamp dungeon compound, and we’ve been just going on a several month-long training montage,” guitarist Jake Plissken tells Connect.

“We’ve just been drilling all of the stuff

that we may have found personally deficient in what we were doing, and focusing on that. We’re writing some new stuff as well, and generally enjoying it. It’s one of the few constants that we all have in these uncertain times, and it’s given us something to continue working towards.”

Knightsquatch began with a different iteration, which was primarily a casual thing for fun. There was a long hiatus and new members joined, and soon the band realized that they had something unique that they wanted to pursue further.

“We decided to devote ourselves specifically to that, and through that we were able to focus much more of our energy on this band,” Plissken says. “We’re discovering more and more about it as we go along.”

The band had a loose framework for a few songs when they started, but they quickly realized a chemistry and decided to expand on what was brought in.

Plissken says they’ve always tried to push themselves further, and that they’re “never really satisfied” with where they are.

It’s a drive that is evident on a collection like First Contact, which sounds like a band that wants to push any boundary in their way.

The influences the band has are so vast and different that it may not even be obvious what the lineage is when you listen to Knightsquatch—which makes them even more unique.

“I can’t speak for the other guys, but for me personally I listen to a lot of Mastodon and Baroness. I grew up on Slayer, and thrash metal was the first thing I ever fell in love with,” Plissken says. “But I try to bring influences in from everywhere— even, like, lo-fi hip hop beats.”

Aside from their AURA Fest live stream on Sat., June 20, the band is planning to continue writing for another release and build on the momentum they’ve managed to achieve throughout quarantine.

“We’ve got a lot of opportunities to experiment visually, and really explore what things would look like in terms of a stage production,” Plissken says. “While we’re stuck inside and unable to play larger shows, it’s definitely a time to experiment and figure out new things to do.” CS

KNIGHTSQUATCH | AURA FEST LIVE STREAM

Sat., June 20, 8 P.M. Stream live at facebook.com/aurafestsavannah

FOOD & DRINK NIGHTLIFE

That runs counter to what usually happens at bars. What does it feel like to ask people not to do that?

Now is not a time to make a new friend.

The last thing I want is someone to come to the brewery looking to enjoy themselves and there’s alcohol involved and get to a point where I have to tell them to follow the rules, and they get upset and what could’ve been a great experience for everybody turns into a bad experience for the guests.

Kevin Ryan has stepped up as a leader during the pandemic. PHOTO BY TIM HUTTO

Service Brewing keeps on keepin’ on

Kevin Ryan gives us a status update on beloved brewery

BY RACHAEL FLORA

rachael@connectsavannah.com

WHEN the pandemic arrived, Service Brewing found itself in a unique position.

The manufacturing part of the brewery was able to stay open and running, but the taproom had to close temporarily, then adapt to changing restrictions.

Even worse, fter the loss of the St. Patrick’s Day boon, their distribution side is on the downswing.

But through it all, Kevin Ryan and Meredith Sutton have kept a positive attitude and not only kept their staff working, but increased their pay.

We talked with Kevin last week about how Service is doing, how they’ll move forward, and what he’s learned about himself as a business leader.

How are you guys doing?

It’s like everybody else in the food and beverage industry. It’s certainly losing money every day, every week. We’ve been able to stay open the whole time, whether it’s just selling beer to-go so people can have something to drink at their house, or as things progress the opening of Georgia, putting seats outside so people can sit outside and enjoy beer. At the beginning of May we started having a food truck every Saturday to do to-go beer and food. The weather was just so amazing during this whole shutdown. People were just itching to sit outside and drink a beer and eat some food.

We’re just now in the process of working out details to get people back inside.

I think we’re going to get about 32 seats inside. Our capacity is 299. The guidance that the governor gave, we could probably get 104 at 35% capacity, but we’re a

What are some things you adopted during this time that you’ll continue moving forward?

The folks who created our point-of-sale system developed an app that people can download. It doesn’t allow you to order beer, but it does allow you to open up a tab when you arrive, and it allows you to close your tab. It’s just one more thing for those people who like that type of convenience.

Meredith doesn’t like apps. She doesn’t want to download, she doesn’t want to exchange money over the interwebs. But a lot of people really enjoy it, especially when we’re busy going forward.

How do you think things will be different for Service Brewing going forward?

It’s got two faces. You’ve got the taproom environment, and then the distribution environment. On the distribution side, I think it’s going to take a long time for us to get back up to the distribution levels we were at previously. We just lost our three biggest months of the year for our brewery. It’s a big hit for us to come back from, and it’s going to be a very slow march to get back up to that level of distribution.

I think our distributors who sell our beer around the state are going to be much more cautious about what types of beers they will buy from us or how much beer they buy from us, because they probably had it worse than us from a loss of inventory

perspective. They bought everything they needed to buy from us to support St. Patrick’s Day that never happened. It’s a huge volume of product that was in their warehouse waiting to go out and didn’t.

From the taproom perspective, I think it’s just a matter of time before it gets back to that level of regularity that it was at previously. We might even have more people that know about the taproom now because of the shutdown. More people were looking to do something that they could do. There were fewer things to take their attention. It was like, “Oh, what’s open?”

A lot of people have been like, “Oh, I drank your beer for a while but I’ve never been here.” They got a chance to come out and visit the staff, see the taproom that will open someday.

Most important for us in staying open was to be able to keep all of our staff employed and working, instead of being at home and potentially doing unhealthy things. We kept everybody, we increased their pay and kept them all working 20 hours a week for the part-time staff. They could maintain an income and still have some social interaction from a distance.

What have you learned about yourself as a business leader during this time?

I think it reinforced [that] my optimism is healthy and can be contagious. A lot of people were very nervous—“Oh my god, what are we going to do? Are we going to have a job?” It can be infectious if you’re negative about what’s going on. You can very easily pass that negativity on and upset your group, versus people who are confident that they’re going to stay employed and confident that we’re going to make it through this.

As challenging as it has been, personally, I have not felt a great deal of stress behind it. Now, when the first PPP loans came out and expired before we got any help from our bank, it was a little upsetting. We went from a big national bank to establishing a relationship with a smaller local bank that took care of us and will have our business going forward based on that. Someday in the future, there’ll be a big ol’ investigation into how banks manipulated the applications to get their larger customers.

What’s next for you guys?

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

brewery. Just like a bar, people are going to come out, they’re going to drink, they’re going to want to hang out and start to mingle.

We’ve got a lot of seating outside too, so we’re going to get socially distanced seating inside to try to control the groups so people aren’t wandering around. We’ve got high-top tables set up around the taproom and a couple seats at the bar, but really you come up and order at one spot, then go to your seat or outside. We’re not going to have people milling about. I don’t want to have to be that person that’s like, “Hey you over there.” We’re trying to separate them far enough so it’s not that natural tendency to turn around and start a conversation with somebody who’s close to you.

We’re getting ready to bring back Bluegrass by the Pint, and [City Hotel] will be onstage Friday night. We’re trying to get them back into a regular Friday night gig. We’ve had a lot of people who miss their Friday night appointment at Service Brewing, whether it be musicians or guests who love to come hear those guys play. It’ll help us, and that’s why we do it, but it’s also great for the community so people can feel a little more normal again. CS 17

CULTURE THE ART•BEAT OF SAVANNAH

Left, Poppies at the Golden Hour Symphony.

Above, Doe in an Aspen Tree Grove

Artist marks end of MFA program with thesis show, ‘Meditations in Art and Nature’

BY RACHAEL FLORA

rachael@connectsavannah.com

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

TIFFANI TAYLOR IS proof that you’re never too successful to go back to school.

The Tiffani Taylor Gallery celebrated nine years in April, and the Savannah Art Walk has been going strong for six years.

Those two ventures have kept Taylor more than busy for the past ten years, but she’s also an ardent supporter of local art and artists.

There’s no doubt that Taylor has been one of the most visible local alum to come out of SCAD, so she could be forgiven for resting on her laurels, so to speak.

18 But that’s just not Taylor’s style.

Three years ago, Taylor enrolled in the MFA painting program at SCAD to help her hone her skills and become an even better artist.

“I feel relieved,” she admits. “It’s been a long three years, and I’m definitely leaving a better artist than when I entered the program. I feel the program taught me to be much more communicative and to slow down.”

Taylor’s thesis exhibition, “Meditations in Art and Nature: The Journey to Peace…” will be on display at the Tiffani Taylor Gallery through the summer.

This also marks one of the first exhibitions available to see in person since the shuttering of Savannah nearly three months ago.

That decision didn’t come lightly: Taylor ensured that her gallery was in full

compliance with health regulations.

“As we get more information, we always just want to put our health as a top priority: the health of ourselves as well as our patrons, which is why we did not open to the public until the summer,” she explains.

“We are taking every precaution we can, with the hand sanitizer and the masks and everything.”

Taylor speaks about the importance of coming together right now to have that human connection.

“I think it’s important to have that human connectedness and interaction,” she says. “Specifically for the gallery, having been open for nine years, we have people who travel to Savannah to experience the gallery and the energy and the sanctuary that it is. It was important to me to safely reintroduce our venue so people have the possibility of experiencing the gallery space. Art carries energy, and we all need good energy, now and always.”

Taylor has good energy in spades. She’s a big believer in meditation, which is why it factors into her thesis work. Meditation has helped her become a better painter.

“You sit with your past, you sit with your emotions, you observe—it’s like emotional intelligence, too,” she shares. “You can better articulate what you want to on the canvas.”

Taylor has been a proponent of meditation for a long time, but the MFA program reinforced her love and need for it.

“It’s so important that I needed to be articulate in my words and my message and make sure that my materials and techniques match the vision that I want to make manifest instead of assuming that people can read my mind,” she says.

During the program, Taylor discovered new artists and writers that helped her refine her perspective.

“I fell in love with the writings of Annie Dillard,” she shares. “She just gave me the

bravery to really delve into who I am. In one part of the book ‘The Writing Life,’ she articulates that you should write as if you’re speaking to a terminally ill patient, because that is the case. We all are. And to not mince words and to speak your truth and be honest, because it’s all a short amount of time we have here. It really encouraged me to be brave and talk more about my childhood.”

Taylor’s outlook of speaking her truth is inspirational to other artists, who sometimes don’t seek a similar path of enlightenment. She hopes that’s the trend forward, though, and sees some artists breaking from the “tortured artist” trope that’s been pretty standard for a while.

“A lot of artists are turning to meditation for self-care and self-love, as opposed to the romanticized way of living of the past, such as with alcohol [abuse],” says Taylor.

“I think it really is a moment where a lot of artists are recognizing it didn’t really turn out well, like Jackson Pollock.” (Jackson Pollock died in an alcohol-induced car crash in 1956.)

In Taylor’s eyes, we can learn from artists like Pollock and choose positivity and self-enlightenment to help ourselves reach our best potential.

“We see that we need other methods to deal with fame—or lack thereof—reinventing of oneself, the fact that you’re only as good as your last commission, or you have to continuously have sales,” she reflects.

“Meditation has been an important tool for me, so much so that for the past five years I’ve made it a priority.”

Taylor points to the stressful time we’re collectively living through and speaks on the importance of decompressing.

“I wanted to learn healthier tools for decompressing, such as exercise and meditation, because life is stressful,” she says.

“We’re inundated with so many layers and it’s just a wonderful thing to have different tools in our pocket to lead happy, filled, peaceful lives.”

That happy, peaceful life that Taylor is living is on full display with this exhibition.

“My transcendence and the connection to divinity and energy of nature is not geographically specific, so you’ll see works from Paris to Wyoming to our Savannah marsh,” she says. “I think divine energy is available to us wherever we are. My intent with this show was to indicate the peace I have found through meditation and nature, and that really the finality that I have found home with myself. Wherever I am in the world, I feel at home. I’m at home with myself, and I think the body of work is indicative of that.” CS “Meditations in Art and Nature” will be on display at the Tiffani Taylor Gallery, 11 Whitaker St., through the end of the summer. You can also view the work at tiffanitaylor.com.

CULTURE VISUAL ARTS

WITH

Ashley Inniss

BY RACHAEL FLORA

rachael@connectsavannah.com

PAINTER AND sculptor Ashley Inniss credits God with leading her to pursue art in Savannah.

Inniss, surprisingly, is legally blind, and she never thought a career in art would be possible.

But she felt called to go to Savannah State University and pursue art instead of writing.

Now, she’s a talented artist who also runs Safe Harbor Gallery. She draws much of her inspiration from scripture and the word of God. We caught up with her last week.

1. Have you always been interested in art?

It’s actually a pretty funny story. I’m an artist, but I’m also a legally blind artist—I have a visual impairment. I was working on my autobiography the other day for my thesis class.

I’m pursuing a MFA in sculpture. I said, “Art was never something I considered.” I never would’ve considered it.

I’m a proud graduate of an HBCU, Savannah State University. I came to Savannah in 2006; God led me here, and I graduated with a BFA in fine arts. I became a Christian through campus ministry at Savannah State.

I always thought I was going to be a writer, just write poetry and that’s it. I was about to graduate with an English degree and I just felt led to go into the field of art because God was pushing me into that area.

I started out as a painter. I got a mental image that said, “Art might be something you want to consider.” I began to hear in my mind and see different pictures in my mind of paintings. I saw an image called “Fruit of the Womb.”

I had to stop what I was doing to draw it out. It’s an image of a woman with fabric coming from her stomach. That’s how I knew I was supposed to be an artist.

There’s something special about this.

What does God want me to do with this?

It wasn’t a childhood thing. You know how when you say when you’re little, “I want to be an artist, I want to be all these things.”

2. What’s it like working while legally blind?

It’s very difficult. It’s very hard to perceive color and light and details, enough specificity where it’s going to be something that speaks to people. It’s difficult, but I’m relying on touch. That’s how I’m able to be a legally blind artist and still be operative.

I’m an abstract artist, so I have to follow the picture. You never start off with a clear vision, but as you continue the process in the work, that’s what you’re doing. It

Ashley Inniss paints from ideas in her head. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.

comes into view.

If you’re depending on just vision, you have a certain object you look at, but if you’re depending on the process, then you create it. I’m more based on process and being creative versus having a clear mental picture and going from there.

3. Where do you get your inspiration?

The source of my inspiration is the Scripture or music or praise and worship songs.

People have a lot of different inspirations, and my inspiration is set in the Scripture of Genesis and Revelations. And creation itself—when you open your eyes and you’re inspired by the beauty that you see. As an artist, my goal is to create value in the unseen. God is my creator.

The one with the man with the yellow hat is called “Adam’s Petition” and it makes reference to Adam in the Garden of Eden before Eve was conceived, when he made the petition to God.

4. What are you working on now?

I’m moving into the discipline of sculpture as well, so I’m working on a piece entitled “Instrument of Praise” and it’s going to be an alabaster sculpture. The inspiration is always from the Word, and the account of Mary in the different gospels where it says she poured forth a precious ointment that came from the alabaster jar. I wanted to continue to use that particular stone as a I develop my art thesis. I’m going to flow with the different gradients and colors to represent just how precious everything that God has made is.

First at the Academy of Art, I was doing

an MFA in painting, which relies heavily on vision and precision. But now, moving into the discipline of sculpture, you rely heavily on feeling and you’re able to touch and be intimate with what you’re creating.

That’s how I ended up moving into sculpture. I was struggling trying to do the best that I could, but I couldn’t because of my limitations.

There’s always a specific avenue that’s your purpose to do something, and God will create a particular assignment for you.

That’s what I feel like sculpture is.

I’ll keep painting, but everything will be depending on whatever the moment or the assignment requires.

5. What do you hope people take away from what you make?

I would like them to take away a little piece of God’s heart. The reason I say that is because the name of the gallery is called Safe Harbor Gallery and the harbor is representative of being the heart of God. If you see my work, I want you to be able to take away just a little portion of God’s heart. I’m not imparting anything to anybody, but if someone can look at what I’m doing and say, “I see God’s heart in this,” that’s what I want them to take away. I don’t have anything to give. CS Follow Ashley Inniss on Facebook at her personal page and at Safe Harbor Gallery.

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

QUESTIONS

19

FOOD & DRINK DINING Outdoor seating at Habersham Village, from 5 Spot’s Facebook page.

Local restaurants pivot for new business during the pandemic

BY JESSICA FARTHING

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

WHEN THE pandemic forced restaurants to close around Savannah, Zachary Schultz, owner of Cotton & Rye, knew he had to be creative. With all staff furloughed, he got together with his pastry chef, executive chef and general manager to create a series of pop-up bake shops.

“We didn’t know what was going on. We knew that we had to slow the loss.”

The crew started with the first pop-up concept on March 22, which was strictly a bakeshop. They offered cinnamon rolls, basil mint ice cream cake and boxes of assorted freshly baked cookies.

The response was emphatic: the bake shop sold well to the restaurant’s customers, bringing comfort and carbohydrates during a stressful time.

The next Sunday the menu expanded to offer red velvet whoopee pies and brownies with white chocolate mousse. They gradually became more themed and elaborate. Easter included hot cross buns and Mother’s day had Bellinis and spiked pink lemonade to accompany egg salad.

The ultra popular bagel pop-up, full of shmears and spreads, sold out quickly as Zach remembers: “We sold over 800 bagels in seven hours.”

The idea proved lucrative to support the 20 restaurant’s bottom line during a time of

great uncertainty. Over the last few weeks, the restaurant transitioned to a takeoutonly menu, serving fried chicken buckets and more family-style fare.

Now the plan is to move toward the CDC recommendations for dining, operating at 50% occupancy with social distancing, staff training, sanitation and extra space at the bar devoted to takeout orders. June 18 is the first day of regular service and the space will be open Thursday through Sunday. Cotton & Rye will still have takeout available from their menu for patrons that would rather eat at home.

The Gaslight Group, local restaurants made up of The 5 Spot at Habersham, The 5 Spot on Broughton, B. Matthews Eatery and Abe’s on Lincoln also brought imagination to their pandemic plan.

The 5 Spot at Habersham specifically needed more space for their clientele to feel comfortable.

Carey Ferrara, Director of Sales and Marketing, describs the innovative solution shared with other restaurants in the area.

“We were looking for a way to make our guests more comfortable. We were talking to Bella’s and we came together to use the parking spaces right in the front to create a really nice dining area with coverage.

This allows us to serve more customers in a socially distant way and even bring more staff back on board. The response has been phenomenal.”

The tent went up the week of June 1 and the restaurant started serving inside it right away. Bella’s will soon join them.

They also refreshed their menu, though they’ve hired a new chef and will be changing it again soon. The signs from their other restaurants are looking up, B. Matthews has a wait again for weekend brunch

and the dinner service is slowly filling.

There was still a need, though, to figure out what to do with The 5 Spot’s downtown location and the challenging atmosphere of a bar during pandemic times.

The problem was two-fold. Carey says, “The 5 Spot Broughton does a lot of the downtown business lunch crowd. Right now we don’t have that business.” Abe’s also was a particular challenge. “The space, with the current rules, could only have about 13 people. That’s hard.”

The solution was for them to help each other. Since The 5 Spot is open for dinner, Abe’s is utilizing the downstairs room, able to allow up to 25 patrons. Full of exposed brick, wood-beam ceilings, couches and high top tables, the comfortable, quintessential Savannah-style space is now being called Abe’s on Broughton.

The bonus is that The 5 Spot has a space for a relaxing after dinner drink and bar patrons can enjoy the Abe’s staff serving their favorite beverages and dinner from the restaurant above.

While 2020 seems full of uncertainty for the restaurant industry, the places that are ready to adapt and pivot have created some interesting solutions.

Carey sums the industry’s feelings up nicely: “It’s all about adaptation. That’s the name of the game right now.” CS

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JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

BY MATT JONES ©2020 Answers on page 23

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HAPPENINGS IS CONNECT SAVANNAH’S LISTING OF COMMUNITY EVENTS, CLASSES AND GROUPS. VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM TO SUBMIT A LISTING. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT OR CUT LISTINGS DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS.

CHATHAM COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE — The purpose of the Chatham County Democratic Committee (CCDC) is to foster local Democratic activities and affiliated organizations; seek out and assist democratic candidates for public office; provide voter education; and work with democratic officials at all levels while ensuring they stay true to our guiding principles. 912-4018913. ccdcgeorgia.com.

EARLY VOTING — Early voting for Georgia’s 2020 primary election begins May 18 and runs through June 5. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. sos.ga.gov. Chatham County Voter Registration Office, 1117 Eisenhower Dr., Suite E. POOLER CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS — Pooler City Council meets the first and third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at Pooler City Hall, 100 SW US HW 80. Variances, Conditional Uses, Zoning Map Amendments and Text Amendments need to be submitted to the Zoning Administrator at least 30 days prior to the scheduled Planning and Zoning Meeting. For more information, visit poolerga.gov.

RICHMOND HILL CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS — Richmond Hill holds its city council meetings on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at 40 Richard Davis Drive.

The public is always welcome at these meetings. You may register to speak at the end of a council meeting when you sign in at the meeting or you may contact Dawnne Greene, City Clerk, at (912) 756-2749 or dgreene@ richmondhill-ga.gov in advance to be placed on the council agenda. For more, visit richmondhill-ga.gov.

SAVANNAH AREA YOUNG REPUBLICANS — Get involved. Meetings are the last Tuesday of every month (except for December) at 7:00pm. Contact number: (912) 657-9623 chairman@sayr.org. sayr.org.

SAVANNAH CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY REGULAR MEETING — Join a nonpartisan group that has genuine concern about how climate change is affecting Savannah (and the world) and is researching how the people of Savannah can help mitigate or even reverse some of the worst consequences of climate change. fourth Monday of every month, 7-8 p.m. facebook.com/ events/174811263853917/. Two Tides Brewing Company, 12 West 41st St. SAVANNAH CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS — All regularly scheduled meetings are held every other Thursday. The first meeting of the month is at 2 p.m., and the second meeting of the month is at 6:30 p.m. Savannah Government Television (Channel 8) broadcasts Council Meetings live at 2 p.m. on the day of the meeting. You can view a livestream of the meetings at www.savannahga.gov/ livestream. savannahga.gov/458/CouncilMeeting-Schedule. Savannah City Hall, 2 East Bay Street.

THOMAS SQUARE/METROPOLITAN HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION — The Thomas Square Neighborhood Association meets monthly via Zoom. Visit thomassquare.org for more information. ongoing.

TYBEE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS — Mayor and Council will hold City Council Meetings the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m.at the Burke Day Public Safety Building, 78 Van Horn. For more information on the Tybee City Council, visit cityoftybee.org.

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Greater Savannah and Statesboro areas. Visit www.unmergemyuniversity.com for details.

LGBTQ

SUNDAY SERVICE WITH EPIPHANY — Epiphany is a church without walls because we know that love knows no barriers. As we pray, worship and proclaim the Good News together, we also seek out co-conspirators CONTINUES ON P. 22

ACROSS

1 How karaoke singing might go 7 Org. advocating pet adoption 11 CIO merger partner 14 Singer Watkins (aka T-Boz) of TLC 15 Early TV host Jack 16 Sprawl 17 Someone who just likes the sky levels in the Mario series?

19 Car grille protector 20 Rock suffix, in NYC 21 Auckland Zoo animals 22 It may cause inflation 23 Shows pride 25 Work-at-home wear 27 Machine that inspired separate rewinding machines 29 Aussie hoppers 31 Disk memory acronym 32 Ishmael’s captain 34 “Simpsons” character who was on Homer’s bowling team 36 “The Unity of India” author 40 Accepts emergency funds?

43 Fire off some letters?

44 Alternative to watercolors 45 ___ Cat (pet food brand) 46 Dandyish dresser 48 Minor bones to pick 50 “I finally got it!”

51 Interpret inaccurately 55 2022 World Cup host country 57 None other than 58 In ___ of (rather than) 60 Actor Fulcher of “The Mighty Boosh” 62 USPS driver’s assignment 63 Spoken sign from the rafters?

66 “We ___ Never Ever Getting Back Together” 67 Like some lattes 68 Verdi opera based on a Shakespeare play 69 Area full of used cars 70 Canadians’ last letters 71 Walk like a duck

DOWN

1 How most aspirin is sold, for short 2 PC document 3 One way to stop a bike 4 First name in Notre Dame football 5 Make beloved 6 “You betcha” 7 A lot of it is filtered 8 Settle a bill 9 Salad with romaine lettuce 10 Part of ETA 11 Wedding souvenir 12 Terra ___ (solid ground) 13 Balletic maneuvers 18 Country completely surrounded by South Africa

22 Creator/star/director Adlon of FX’s “Better Things” 24 Beside the point 26 “Both Sides Now” songwriter Mitchell 27 Brewery fixtures 28 Mate from Manchester, e.g.

30 Kimmel’s onetime game show cohost 33 Proverbial place for bats 35 Like some references 37 Options for cereal, sandwiches, etc.

38 The “R” of RBG 39 Arches National Park locale 41 Gin flavoring fruit 42 Dog created by Dashiell Hammett 47 Glitzy estate 49 Geologist’s layers 51 Aesop fable’s lesson 52 Opening 53 Hard rain 54 Enjoyed a meal 56 Had discomfort 59 Bread heels, really 61 Barnacle’s spot 63 Ending for some commerce URLs 64 Sudoku section 65 “Unknown” surname

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

ACTIVISM & POLITICS

CHATHAM COUNTY COMMISSION MEETINGS — The Board of Commissioners usually meets twice a month (except for January) on Fridays at 9:30 a.m.The meetings are held in the Commission Chambers of the Old Courthouse, 124 Bull Street, Second Floor, and are open to the public. All Chatham County Commission Meeting Agendas, Minutes and Videos have moved to a new system that provides live streaming of video of the current meeting. chathamcountyga.iqm2. com/Citizens/Default.aspx. Green Room, Old County Courthouse, 124 Bull Street.

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HAPPENINGS

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

with whom we may promote justice, peace and love. A “different kind of church,” Epihpany livestreams their Sunday morning service. Sundays, 11 a.m. facebook.com/ EpiphanySavannah.

FIRST CITY NETWORK — Georgia’s oldest LGBT organization (founded in 1985) is a local non-profit community service organization whose mission is to share resources of health care, counseling, education, advocacy and mutual support in the Coastal Empire.

Members and guests enjoy many special events throughout the year, including First

Saturday Socials held the first Saturday of each month at 7pm. Mondays. 912-236-CITY. firstcitynetwork.org.

SAVANNAH PRIDE, INC. — Organizes the annual Savannah Pride Festival and helps promote the well-being of the LGBTQI community in the South. Mission: unity through diversity and social awareness. Second Tuesday/month. PO Box 6044, Savannah, GA 31414. 501c non-profit. ongoing. info@ savannahpride.com. savannahpride.com.

T2Q — T2Q seeks to help Trans people become comfortable in their true identities, as well as assist them in getting used to being out among society. Meetings are the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m. T2Q’s official mission statement: To defend human and civil rights secured by law. Lessening neighborhood tensions views on the LGBTQ+ Community with emphasis on Trans and nonbinary individuals. Conduct public discussion groups, forums, panels, lectures or similar programs. To promote the quantum effect on one’s identity and diversity in all mankind. To give hope to those who feel lost. To lift up our

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19)

My Aries friend Lavinia told me, “The fight I’m enjoying most lately is my fight to resist the compulsion to fight.” I invite you to consider adopting that attitude for the foreseeable future. Now and then, you Rams do seem to thrive on conflict, or at least use it to achieve worthy deeds—but the coming weeks will not be one of those times. I think you’re due for a phase of sweet harmony. The more you cultivate unity and peace and consensus, the healthier you’ll be. Do you dare act like a truce-maker, an agreement-broker, and a connoisseur of rapport?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

“The answers you get depend upon the questions you ask,” wrote physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn. That’s always true, of course, but it’s especially true for you right now. I recommend that you devote substantial amounts of your earthy intelligence to the task of formulating the three most important questions for you to hold at the forefront of your awareness during the rest of 2020. If you do, I suspect you will ultimately receive answers that are useful, interesting, and transformative.

CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

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“A finished person is a boring person,” writes author Anna Quindlan. I agree!

Luckily, you are quite unfinished, and thus not at all boring—especially these days. More than ever before, you seem willing to treat yourself as an art project that’s worthy of your creative ingenuity—as a work-in-progress that’s open to new influences and fresh teachings. That’s why I say your unfinishedness is a sign of good health and vitality. It’s delightful and inspiring. You’re willing to acknowledge that you’ve got a lot to learn and more to grow. In fact, you celebrate that fact; you exult in it; you regard it as a key part of your ever-evolving identity.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

“To hell with pleasure that’s haunted by fear,” wrote Cancerian author Jean de La Fontaine. I’ll make that one of my prayers

BY ROB BREZSNY

beautyandtruth@freewillastrology.com

for you in the coming weeks. It’s a realistic goal you can achieve and install as a permanent improvement in your life. While you’re at it, work on the following prayers, as well: 1. To hell with bliss that’s haunted by guilt. 2. To hell with joy that’s haunted by worry. 3. To hell with breakthroughs that are haunted by debts to the past. 4. To hell with uplifts that are haunted by other people’s pessimism.

and involvement, and you will benefit substantially from redirecting your fine intelligence in more rewarding directions.

To empower your efforts, study these inspirational quotes: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” —philosopher Simone Weil. “Attention is the natural prayer of the soul.” —philosopher Nicolas Malebranche.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Scorpio poet Marianne Moore’s poem “O To Be a Dragon,” begins with the fantasy, “If I, like Solomon, could have my wish . . .” What comes next? Does Moore declare her desire to be the best poet ever? To be friends with smart, interesting, creative people? To be admired and gossiped about for wearing a tricorn hat and black cape as she walked around Greenwich Village near her home? Nope. None of the above.

Her wish: “O to be a dragon, a symbol of the power of Heaven—of silk-worm size or immense; at times invisible. Felicitous phenomenon!” In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to be inspired by Moore in the coming weeks.

Make extravagant wishes for lavish and amusing powers, blessings, and fantastic possibilities.

Experiment #1: As you take a walk in nature, sing your five favorite songs from beginning to end, allowing yourself to fully feel all the emotions those tunes arouse in you. Experiment #2: Before you go to sleep on each of the next eleven nights, ask your dreams to bring you stories like those told by the legendary Scheherazade, whose tales were so beautiful and engaging that they healed and improved the lives of all those who heard them.

Experiment #3: Gaze into the mirror and make three promises about the gratifying future you will create for yourself during the next 12 months.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Vincent van Gogh’s painting *The Starry Night* is one of the world’s most treasured paintings. It has had a prominent place in New York’s Museum of Modern Art since 1941. If it ever came up for sale it would probably fetch over $100 million. But soon after he created this great masterpiece, van Gogh himself called it a “failure.” He felt the stars he’d made were too big and abstract. I wonder if you’re engaging in a comparable underestimation of your own. Are there elements of your life that are actually pretty good, but you’re not giving them the credit and appreciation they deserve? Now’s a good time to reconsider and re-evaluate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Now is a favorable time to make adjustments in how you allocate your attention—to re-evaluate what you choose to focus on. Why? Because some people, issues, situations, and experiences may not be worthy of your intense care

fellow Trans and Non-binary individuals. All because we care. ongoing. T2QTrans@gmail. com. Savannah LGBT Center, 1515 Bull St.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

“Poems, like dreams, are a sort of royal road to the unconscious,” writes author Erica Jong. “They tell you what your secret self cannot express.” I invite you to expand that formula so it’s exactly suitable for you in the coming weeks. My sense is that you are being called to travel the royal road to your unconscious mind so as to discover what your secret self has been unable or unwilling to express.

Poems and dreams might do the trick for you, but so might other activities. For example: sexual encounters between you and a person you respect and love; or an intense night of listening to music that cracks open the portal to the royal road.

Any others? What will work best for you?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a

tough mind and a tender heart.” Capricorn hero Martin Luther King, Jr. said that, and now I’m conveying it to you. In my astrological opinion, his formula is a strategy that will lead you to success in the coming weeks. It’ll empower you to remain fully open and receptive to the fresh opportunities flowing your way, while at the same time you’ll remain properly skeptical about certain flimflams and delusions that may superficially resemble those fresh opportunities.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

“If it makes you nervous—you’re doing it right,” says the daring musician and actor Donald Glover. Personally, I don’t think that’s true in all situations. I’ve found that on some occasions, my nervousness stems from not being fully authentic or being less than completely honest. But I do think Glover’s formula fully applies to your efforts in the coming weeks, Aquarius. I hope you will try new things that will be important to your future, and/ or work to master crucial skills you have not yet mastered. And if you’re nervous as you carry out those heroic feats, I believe it means you’re doing them right.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Piscean author Patricia Hampl understands a lot about the epic tasks of trying to know oneself and be oneself. She has written two memoirs, and some of her other writing draws from her personal experiences, as well. And yet she confesses, “Maybe being oneself is always an acquired taste.” She suggest that it’s often easier to be someone you’re not; to adopt the ways of other people as your own; to imitate what you admire rather than doing the hard work of finding out the truth about yourself. That’s the bad news, Pisces. The good news is that this year has been and will continue to be a very favorable time to ripen into the acquired taste of being yourself. Take advantage of this ripening opportunity in the coming weeks!

Announcements

For Your Information IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT Action pact formerly CONCERTED SERVICES, INC. is now the service provider for The Weatherization Program that previously was administered by EOA Savannah. Applications are being accepted to weatherize the homes of Low-Income Families living in Chatham County.

For more information, please contact Teresa Lewis @ 912-285-6085

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CONNECT SAVANNAH | JUNE 17 - 23, 2020

EXCHANGE

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23

Sunset THURSDAYS

Party

Live dj | thursdays 6-9 pm | draft & Herradura Specials | Mimosa towers

Friday, Saturday and Sunday $3 Glaes of Rosé

125 West River Street On top of the cotton sail hotel

SUNDAY THRU THURSDAY NOON TO 10 PM* FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NOON TO MIDNIGHT*

www.topdeckbar.com *CLOSING HOURS SUBJECT TO CHANGE