Savannah's top-10 news stories of 2022? Hyundai, Savannah Bananas, St. Patrick's Parade

Savannah can be described in myriad ways; dull is one adjective absent from that list.

The past year has been a particularly eventful one in our city. Savannah came roaring out of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, and 2022 saw an acceleration in activity and growth as life returned to pre-COVID norms. Throw in a statewide election of national interest, a few natural disasters (and not the ones we’re accustomed to dealing with) and a slew of local government hijinks, and following the news becomes a part-time job.

As we, the Savannah Morning News’ editors, look back on 2022, here is a list of what we consider the top local stories of the year. Opinion columnist Adam Van Brimmer ranked them and encourages readers to email him with what was left out and to provide your own top stories list. He’ll publish those insights in a future Savannah Town Square opinion newsletter.

The Top 10

1. Hyundai to build auto plant in Bryan County

Hyundai Motors announced in April that the automaker had chosen the Bryan County megasite as the location for its EV assembly and battery-manufacturing facility. Scheduled to open in late 2024, Hyundai’s factory is to employ 8,100 workers at the plants and suppliers are expected to hire several thousand more. Already three suppliers have announced local locations that will mean 2,000-plus jobs.

Site prep for what they’re calling the Hyundai Metaplant launched in August and construction is to begin in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, residential and commercial development of the area near the facility - as well as in Richmond Hill, West Chatham and Effingham County - is ramping up in anticipation of in-migration to fill the new jobs. The most recent labor report for the Savannah metropolitan area, which includes Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties, listed a 2.6% unemployment rate.

2. Enmarket Arena opens

Savannah first explored building a new sports and entertainment venue to replace the Savannah Civic Center in 1999. Twenty-three years later, the Enmarket Arena opened to great fanfare - and with an impressive schedule of shows and concerts as well as a permanent sports team tenant, the Savannah Ghost Pirates.

Country music artist Riley Green played the first show in the facility and other high-profile headliners to visit in 2022 included Pit Bull, Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson, Reba McIntire. Andrea Bocelli, Widespread Panic and Bon Jovi. The Ghost Pirates began play in November and have consistently drawn capacity crowds.

Arena timeline:The long path to replacing the Civic Center

Opinion: Vision to replace Savannah Civic Center a reality after 20-plus years

3. Toddler Quinton Simon goes missing; remains found in landfill

A 21-month-old boy was reported missing by his mother in October. Simon was described as a happy-go-lucky toddler who liked to dance to music and give hugs. His remains were recovered in a Chatham County landfill more than a month later after a search that covered 1.2 million pounds of garbage.

The boy’s mother, Leilani Simon, was indicted for murdering her son in December. Quinton Simon’s grandmother, Billie Jo Howell, has been charged with contempt of court.

4. Ahmaud Arbery murderers convicted in hate crimes case

The three men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery on the streets of a Glynn County subdivision were tried and found guilty in a federal hate crimes case in February and were sentenced in August. The jury deliberated for less than four hours before rendering a verdict.

Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and a neighbor, William Bryan, were convicted of murder in the shooting death of Arbery in 2021. The McMichaels and Bryan witnessed Arbery, a Black man who lived in a neighboring subdivision, jogging through their neighborhood and entering a construction site near their homes. The three men followed Arbery in vehicles as he left the construction area, confronted him along the side of the road and fatally shot him when he resisted their efforts to detain him.

Leigh McMichael, the wife of Greg McMichael and mother of Travis McMichael, gave an exclusive interview to Savannah Morning News reporter Raisa Habersham after the federal hate crimes sentencing. She maintained her family members’ innocence, saying, “Yes, they went out of the house with guns, but they didn’t attack anybody.”

Speaking out: Leigh McMichael, wife and mother of Ahmaud Arbery's killers, writes her own version of the story

5. Savannah Bananas expand barnstorming team, disband college summer league team

The Savannah Bananas' experiment with “Banana Ball”, an unconventional version of professional baseball, went mainstream in 2022. The team played in front of sellout crowds in seven cities as well as Savannah with games televised on ESPN+ The sports network also aired a docuseries title “Bananaland” on the team.

The success led team owners Jesse and Emily Cole to announce plans for a “World Tour” in 2023 with 70 games in 33 cities around the country. Thirty of those games will be in Savannah. In expanding the Banana Ball concept, the Coles disbanded their collegiate summer league team, which had played in the Coastal Plain League since 2016.

The Bananas play their first 2023 game in Savannah on Feb. 25.

Game changer: Behind the decision to go all in on Banana Ball, eliminate collegiate team

6. Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter resigns after troubling tenure

The embattled chief stepped down in July after being nominated to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia. His departure came in the wake of complaints, internal reviews and department surveys that called into question Minter’s leadership and a rash of officer-involved shootings, including one that happened days earlier.

Assistant Chief Lenny Gunther was named interim chief and continues to serve in that role. Gunther has worked in the Savannah Police Department since 2001.

Lack of transparency, culture of fear:Savannah Police officers rate Chief Minter's performance

7. Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns

After two years of COVID-19 pandemic-induced exile, the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade returned to the downtown streets on March 17. The parade committee limited the number of entries to shorten the procession and tens of thousands turned out to celebrate. Danny Powers, the former Chatham County tax commissioner, served as grand marshal and John Fogarty was the general chairman.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson made the controversial decision to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 parades. The COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the United States just weeks before the 2020 event and the COVID vaccines were still in the rollout stage in March 2021.

8. Savannah hosts U.S. Senate debate pitting Sen. Raphael Warnock vs. Herschel Walker

The highest-profile political race in the United States in 2022 was for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat. Warnock, the pastor of Martin Luther King, Jr’s church in Atlanta, and University of Georgia football icon Herschel Walker met for their lone debate at the District Live event venue in Plant Riverside.

The candidates had been trading barbs and arguing over a debate date and location for months when Walker proposed the showdown in Savannah - Warnock’s hometown. Less than 400 tickets were issued for the debate and security was tight. Walker had what was considered by pundits a surprisingly strong showing against Warnock, a skilled orator. Walker’s performance will long be remembered for the moment he pulled out a sheriff deputy’s badge, given to him on an honorary basis, when Warnock questioned Walker’s claims of having served in law enforcement.

Warnock won the U.S. Senate seat in a December runoff.

9. Family killed in Memorial Day weekend boat crash

Two powerboats collided in the Wilmington River on Memorial Day weekend, resulting in five deaths. Four passengers on one of the boats, all members of the same family, died as did a 37-year-old Savannah resident traveling aboard the second boat.

Three people aboard the two boats survived the crash.

The driver of one of the boats, Mark Stegall, was indicted in August on 10 counts of homicide and six other criminal counts, including boating under the influence, in connection with the crash.

Details and findings of the investigation into the crash remain undisclosed and won’t be released “until the case is adjudicated,” according to a Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokesman.

Boat crash victims:Leffler family, Stephen Chauncey remembered for their effects on community, family, friends

10. Contentious negotiations mark renewal of Local Option Sales Tax agreement

The Chatham chairman and the mayors of the county’s nine municipalities finalized a 10-year extension to the Local Option Sales Tax, known as LOST, just four days before the current agreement’s expiration.

The renewal capped six months of contentious negotiations over revenue sharing. Each of the local governments received a portion of the revenue, and Chatham County lobbied for - and eventually received - a larger share than it has over the last 10-year cycle. The bargaining was ugly, with Chatham Chairman Chester Ellis attempting to bully those representing the municipalities early in the process.

Opinion:Enter the clowns? Local sales tax to be extended in spite of elected officials' leadership

Negotiations eventually went to mediation, a process that failed. In December, the municipalities staged a press conference in front of the Chatham Commission offices, closing down the surrounding streets. A week later, the municipalities’ lead negotiator, Savannah City Manager Jay Melder, appeared before the commissioners and weathered heavy criticism from the county leaders before commissioners proposed a compromise the municipalities later accepted.

Honorable mention

The saga of Calhoun Square - now the unnamed square. Savannah City Council removed the name of early-1800s U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun after a group working to change the square’s name, the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing, struggled to get the required number of signatures to rename the space. Calhoun was a noted pro-slavery advocate during his lifetime. The Center of Jubilee continues to advocate for renaming the square in honor Susie King Taylor, a Black woman who worked as a teacher and nurse in Savannah during the Civil War era.

Mass resignations of Port Wentworth city staff. Port Wentworth’s city manager and five other employees resigned in February after months of turmoil involving the city’s elected officials. Later, Port Wentworth Mayor Gary Norton called for dissolving the city, enlisting state lawmakers to help, and when that failed he pushed for dividing the city into two municipalities.

The U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division deploys to Ukraine. In response to Russia’s invasion of its neighboring country, approximately 3,800 members of the 3rd ID were among soldiers sent to Poland, Romania and Germany to support NATO allies in Europe. Many returned after a six-month deployment.

Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon canceled. The Savannah City Council declined to renew the contract for the popular race after a 10-year run, prompting the marathon’s organizers to cancel the 2022 event. The race attracted approximately 15,000 participants each year, many of those from outside the Savannah area.

Tornado ravages Pembroke, Ellabell and Black Creek communities. A tornado with winds of 185 mph touched down in Bryan County in April, resulting in one death and 12 injured persons. The twister caused extensive damage to several homes and commercial and government buildings.

Earthquake rattles Savannah area, causing collapse on Hutchinson Island riverfront. A 3.9 magnitude earthquake centered near Metter caused damage across the area, most notable on Hutchinson Island. The ground beneath the riverwalk and plaza between the Savannah Convention Center and the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort failed and settled near the banks of the Savannah River.

Chatham County suspends head administrator Lee Smith. The Chatham County manager was placed on paid administrative leave in July and later resigned after contentious separation and severance negotiations. Smith claims he was never notified the basis for his forced resignation and alleged that his sexual identity - he is gay - may have played a role.

Savannah City Council members engage in name calling. Long-simmering animosity between Alderman Kurtis Purtee and Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter resulted in the two trading insults following a council meeting in September. Purtee called Gibson-Carter a “ghetto b****” after she accused Purtee, an openly gay man, of being a “child predator and a pedophile.” The two renewed the spat weeks later during a council meeting, with Gibson-Carter quoting Shakespeare in protesting Purtee’s use of the slur.

Savannah High active shooter hoax. A 911 call falsely alleging a gunman had opened fire at Savannah High School prompted a large police response and the gathering of hundreds of parents and community members outside the school. The hoax was labeled a “swatting” incident, where a prankster calls in an active shooter claim in order to watch the police response.

Benedictine repeats as Class AAAA state football champions. The BC Cadets won a state title by defeating Cedartown 14-13. The Cadet defense turned away their opponent with a goal-line stand in the game’s final seconds. Cedartown ran four plays from inside the 2-yard line in the game’s last minute but failed to convert. For BC, the championship was their second consecutive title and fourth in 12 years.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah news highlights 2022 US Senate debate, Hyundai EVs, Bananas