Andanh.com

For decades, the spot where Whitaker Street dead-ends into Victory Drive has been a political landmark.

Motorists approaching the busy intersection on Whitaker face the side of an old antiques store.

Especially in even-numbered years when more elections take place, drivers typically see dozens of signs along the wall.

Last week, about 30 placards of wannabees for political offices ranging from U.S. Senate to district attorney vied for attention.

Most of them promote Democrats, but some tout Republicans. Traditionally, access has been open to both parties.

But that might be about to change.

The building is owned by John Deadrick, who also owns a building a few blocks west on Victory, where the local Democrats are based.

Local party Chairwoman Karen Arms recently e-mailed fellow Democrats about the area.

Thousands of students will be suspended and expelled next year when the Savannah-Chatham County school system behavior crackdown continues. Hundreds of those students will have to go to Scott Alternative Learning Center.

Suspended and expelled students respond differently to their punishment, but most experience feelings of anger and hopelessness. Those who can get over those feelings have a chance to catch up on missed work and successfully complete their studies. Those who can’t run the risk of permanent expulsion or dropping out.

In 2007, the year before the crackdown, 21 students dropped out of Scott and 163 were expelled. That was 27 percent of Scott’s student body.

Reformed class clown

Jelvin Folston was a classroom comedian who played tag in the hallways of Savannah High's freshman wing and challenged any teacher who tried to pull the curtain on his act.

Casino gambling's time might not have come in Georgia, but the idea won't go away quietly.

State Rep. Lester Jackson says he didn't plan to bring it up at a recent candidates forum, but bring it up he did.

With hard times continuing to shrink state revenue, the 2nd District Georgia Senate candidate's proposal has stirred considerable interest.

"I think we're losing out on something big," said state Rep. Ron Stephens, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

But so far at least, the proposal lacks the support it needs from statewide officials to move it through the political gauntlet.

For openers, Gov. Sonny Perdue appears to have little if any interest in the topic.

"If I were a betting man," said Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, "I'd bet on Jackson to win, but I would put the odds on his plan at one in a thousand."

Independence Day light shows continued Saturday - this time courtesy of Mother Nature.

New and beginning teachers of Advanced Placement high school courses are invited to Georgia Southern University's AP Summer Institute scheduled July 14-17 at the Coastal Georgia Center in Savannah.

John Barrow may have expected a breather.

He won the 12th Congressional District seat from Republican Max Burns in 2004 and narrowly beat Burns in a 2006 rematch.

Since then, the Savannah Democrat has worked hard to bond with his diverse, sprawling constituency. Once a bit of a stiff as a speaker, the Harvard-educated lawyer now salts his sometimes-rambling musings with "ain'ts" and talk of hunting dogs.

More to the point, perhaps, he had raised $1.3 million for this year's campaign by early spring.

Barrow probably hoped he would - as he was in 2006 - be unopposed for his party's nomination. Then he'd use his money, name recognition and conservative - as Democrats go - political posture to steamroller the GOP nominee.

A downtown assailant slapped a woman before snatching her purse early Saturday, and it didn't take police long to round up a suspect.

Catherine Price, 20, of Savannah, told Savannah-Chatham police she was walking to her car near Houston and Broughton streets about 3 a.m. Saturday when she was approached by a group of five to six men. One of them demanded her purse.

When Price did not comply, the man who made the demands slapped Price on the left side of her face and grabbed her purse, metro police said.

Advance voting

Judge Louisa Abbot

To some, Republicans Ben Crystal, Ray McKinney and John Stone might resemble three guys fighting over a losing lottery ticket.

Indeed, GOP prospects for taking out U.S. Rep. John Barrow this year seemed grim, at least at first.

They're a bit better now because of some unexpected help, but the Republicans still need all the help they can get.

Barrow, a Savannah Democrat, has gotten to know folks in his 12th District. And he has grown adept at making friends by showering the locals with federal largesse.

By early spring, he had amassed $1.3 million in campaign cash. In contrast, Crystal, McKinney and Stone had a combined total of $53,000.

In his latest work, "The Art of City Making," author Charles Landry explores the complex challenges that cities face and proposes an array of solutions for individual cities to prosper.

Landry will speak for free 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Morris Center at Trustees' Garden.

He's arguably the most important speaker of this sort to come to Savannah since Richard Florida spoke at the Lucas Theatre a year and a half ago.

Of course, the economic landscape is far different today.

Despite some rumblings in the distance, many Savannahians saw nothing but blue skies at the end of 2006.

That was before the dramatic slowdown in the real estate market, the decline in sales tax revenue and the recent softness in the tourism sector, to name just a few problematic trends.

Happy birthday, America? This year, we're not so sure.

The nation's psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable. Young or old, Republican or Democrat, economically stable or struggling, Americans are questioning where they are and where they are going. And they wonder who or what might ride to their rescue.

These are more than mere gripes, but rather an expression of fears - concerns reflected not only in the many recent polls that show consumer confidence plummeting, personal happiness waning and more folks worrying that the nation is headed in the wrong direction, but also in conversations happening all across the land.

"There are so many things you have to do to survive now," said Larue Lawson of Forest Park, Ill. "It used to be just clothes on your back, food on the table and a roof over your head. Now, it's everything.

COMING MONDAY: Trade shows can give small businesses a big boost if you use the right approach.

Q. My husband listed a four-year degree on his resume, even though he only has a two-year degree.

NEW YORK - If you have ever incurred cell phone fees, you know that they can sting. Depending on your plan, the penalty for going over your minutes can range from 5 cents a minute to 45 cents. One busy month, and those minutes can add up to big dollars.

NEW YORK - Internet users will now have an easier time finding sites that rely heavily on the popular Flash video format.

Adobe Systems Inc., the format's developer, has released a customized version of its Flash Player software that allows Google Inc.'s search engine and others to see the elements of Web pages embedded with Flash content the same way a human would.

Search crawlers, the programs that find and index content for search engines, currently have a difficult time "seeing" non-text formats.

Although they can often index static text and links within basic Flash files, many Web pages associated with Flash video are dynamically generated on the fly as visitors are ready to view them. And some Web pages are now designed almost entirely in Flash, with menus and other features embedded within the Flash video.

Azalea Hostess Chapter, American Business Women Association

Oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel Friday from record levels set a day earlier on hopes that tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program could ease and cut the chances of American or Israeli military action against OPEC's second-largest oil producer.

Though it won't open the 2008-09 season until late November, Calvary Day's defense of its Class A girls state championship has already begun.

Like countless other basketball teams across the state, the Cavaliers are hard at work. With daily practices, summer leagues and weekend-long team camps, where 10-12 games in a span of three or four days are common, there is no offseason for teams that want to contend come March.

"I don't think we could have won last year if we didn't do all this," said Calvary coach Jackie Hamilton. "It's like a whole other season. You see a lot of situations (in the season) that you've seen before because you played those 25 or 30 games in the summer. It definitely helps."

Savannah Country Day girls basketball coach Dale Parker and her Hornets are also hard at work this summer. Between league games at the Jenkins Boys Club and several team camps, including one held at Armstrong Atlantic State from June 18-21, Parker estimated her squad will play 35-40 games this summer.

WIMBLEDON, England - No histrionics. No fist pumping, Certainly no grinning.

ATLANTA - Chris Sampson didn't have to pitch like Houston ace Roy Oswalt.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kyle Busch got knocked silly halfway through Saturday night's Coke Zero 400, but he came back to deliver a knockout for a stirring victory at the Daytona International Speedway.

SATURDAY'S SCORE: Sand Gnats 6, Drive 5

BASEBALL/SOFTBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE Last week

LOCAL

"There must have been 15-plus of them," my friend Troy Bouy said the other day. "They were near the banks, appearing and disappearing as they moved with the tide. It was quite a sight!"

Manatees. Big ones, small ones - apparently one big family. And they were in the Wilmington River, in the Causton Bluff area.

Bouy told me of the unusual grouping that appeared in front of his waterfront home recently. He and neighbor Bennie Faulk witnessed the event, an unusually large grouping of one of the most interesting mammals to be found in our waters.

"I have never seen anything like it," Faulk said. "They covered an area 150 yards long and they were moving with the tide in the direction of the bridge."

I have to admit that I know very little - almost nothing to be truthful - about manatees, and have only spotted them locally a few times in the many years I have written about the outdoor scene.

ATHENS - Marquez Lemon celebrated his 17th birthday last Friday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - With 71 employees already in the unemployment line, Chip Ganassi Racing is looking to cut another 30 jobs from its stock car operations, several current employees said Saturday.

The team shut down the No. 40 Dodge this week after the team wasn't able to find a sponsor for driver Dario Franchitti. With that came a massive layoff that caught everyone off guard.

Several teams sources confirmed that department heads often weren't included in the decision-making process. Some of the employees that were laid off had been with SABCO Racing long before Ganassi bought the team from Felix Sabates in 2001.

While the No. 40 Dodge was missing from Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, most of that team still had a job. The cuts last week affected the Nos. 41 and 42 teams more than the 40. Most of the mechanics from Reed Sorenson's and Juan Pablo Montoya's team got their pink slips, replaced by members of the defunct team.

ATLANTA - Brian McCann has never enjoyed an All-Star break. He'd like to keep that streak intact.

South Korean artist Lee Jong-Suk uses video installations to explore the ways in which urbanization affects human psychology.

NBC's "The Baby Borrowers" - is it a worthwhile show that deters teens from becoming pregnant or the worst idea of for a reality series yet?

"Thanks to the crew from Expert Tree Service who cleared the roadway from Diamond Causeway all the way to Sandfly on June 19 after the storm. We couldn't have gotten home without them."

NEW ORLEANS - Ron Forman wants to change grown-ups' views of bugs and spiders from "ewww!" to "cool!" After all, such critters clean the earth, pollinate plants and form a huge chunk of the food chain.

"Without insects, nature doesn't exist," said Forman, chief executive of the new Audubon Insectarium, the first major tourist attraction to open in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

The facility, built with $6.2 million in private donations and $20 million in public money, is one of only a few stand-alone, nonprofit insectariums.

In New Orleans, displays include spiders, centipedes and crawfish as well as ants, mosquitoes and other insectoid six-leggers. Nit-pickers might say that means it isn't an insectarium. "Arthropodarium" might be appropriate.

Whatever it's called, thousands of live and mounted bugs went on display when the Insectarium opened June 13 in 23,000 square feet of the old U.S. Custom House near the French Quarter.

Book signing

"Bringing Stories to Life"

1. "7th Heaven" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Nicola is experiencing a rebirth of sorts. She just turned 40, started a new relationship and bought a beachside home in the city. While the duplex was fully renovated from the top down, the living and dining rooms were gloomy, dreary and reminiscent of a stuffy gentlemen's club. With wood-paneled walls and minimal lighting, the rooms lacked the light and airy feeling Nicola wanted.

WEDNESDAY

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

WEDNESDAY

LOS ANGELES - Bag Borrow or Steal - the Web site that rents out status handbags and gets a glam-cameo in the "Sex and the City" movie - is getting into the designer-sunglasses rental biz.

DALLAS - Missy Buchanan sought a book of devotions especially for the frail elderly. Finding none, she wrote her own "Living With Purpose in a Worn-Out Body: Spiritual Encouragement for Older Adults."

Oh, wondrous summer sandals, how you love to teeter atop sky-high wedges and reach strappy stiletto heights.

Mark Streeter

In recent years, there has been a trend in many colleges and universities to run their institutions like businesses and to have business professionals take on the roles of college presidents, vice presidents and deans.

Pete Liakakis is an old-school politician. It's time for him to step up and be a new-school statesman.

THERE THEY go again.

County undervalues Elba Island by $810 million