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City of Savannah Mobility & Parking Services is now selling parking spaces in two City-owned lots for the July 4 festivities:

· SOHO Parking Lot - corner Liberty and Whitaker Street. 34 parking spaces available to be purchased.

· Curtis V. Cooper Parking Lot — at 122 Barr Street (between East President Street and East Broughton Street) behind the Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health Care Center. 53 parking spaces available to be purchased.

To purchase a space contact Mobility & Parking Services at (912) 651-6477. The cost is $10. You must pick up your permit from the Bryan Street Parking Garage at 100 E. Bryan St. before 5 p.m. on July 2. No permits will be mailed out. Cash, credit & debit cards (Visa & MasterCard) are accepted.

City garage special event rates:

Attendants will accept fees prior to entering the City garages to "provide for quicker exit." Drivers will receive a ticket which must be presented to the attendant upon exiting. The special event rate is $10 from Thursday, July 4 at 5 a.m. until Friday, July 5 at 7 a.m. Vehicles exiting after 7 a.m. on Friday, July 5 will be charged the daily rate of $1 per hour in addition to the fees accumulated while parked. The lost ticket flat fee is $25.

On Thursday, July 4, monthly cardholders will be guaranteed a space in their garage until 8 a.m. Monthly cardholders with 24-hour access/reserved parking spaces will be guaranteed. Visitor Day Passes are not valid in all parking garages and lots during the festival. Residential Decals do not grant garage access on July 4, residents will be required to pay to park in the garages. Viewing the fireworks from any City parking facility is prohibited.

The recreational dock will be closed to the public at 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 3 and will reopen at 8 a.m., Friday, July 5.

Detectives are searching for 24-year-old Michael Christopher Garko, believed responsible for thousands of dollars in damage to a Savannah church.

At 8:35 a.m. this past Monday, Metro officers responded to The Church at Godley Station, on the 1600 block of Benton Boulevard. Officers observed a broken window on the front door and ­­­­several shattered glass windowpanes around the building. It did not appear that the suspect made entry.

Security cameras captured images of a white male at about 4:50 a.m. Monday. Further investigation revealed, that on June 9, a white male identifying himself as “Mike Garko” was at the church requesting and receiving money for food and shelter from members.

• Michael Garko

Garko is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. He is about 5-8 and 150 pounds. He was last seen without a shirt and appeared homeless.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at (912) 234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward. A confidential Tip Line also is open directly to investigators at (912) 525-3124.

Savannah had its third consecutive year of growth in tourism, hosting 12.4 million visitors last year, according to Visit Savannah.

"This is a 2.5 percent increase in visitors from2011. The development is reflected in an increase of overnight visitors between 2011 and 2012 from 6.8 million to 7.0 million and day-trippers growing from 5.3 million to 5.4 million," a spokesman says.

To be clear, the "day-tripper" category doesn't necessarily include only those visiting specifically for tourism-related reasons.

In addition to the record volume number of visitors, visitor spending also increased, hitting $2.01 billion in 2012.

“We are extremely pleased with the growth of our visitor traffic and spending figures in 2012,” said Visit Savannah President Joseph Marinelli. “The numbers continue to tell a very good story, and the results of this latest round of research indicates that many of our marketing initiatives are working well. We are seeing increased spending, with significant growth in the areas of shopping, dining and visiting cultural events and attractions.”

Visit Savannah continues its category-leading social media. In 2012, Visit Savannah breached 100,000 Facebook fans in 2013 and currently has 24,000 Twitter followers and close 25,000 on Pinterest.

“This is a segment of our destination marketing effort that we put tremendous emphasis on, and it’s nice to know that we are focused on the right vehicles to reach our target demographic of visitors," Marinelli said.

“The positive growth in 2012 was something that we had been expecting,” said Scott Snipes, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Savannah and current Visit Savannah board chairman. “Our local hotel industry saw similar growth last year in occupancies and average rates.

The data was produced via the annual TravelUSA study commissioned by Visit Savannah through Longwoods International. Longwoods, based in Toronto, is one of the most respected third-party tourism research agencies in North America.

Thrive Cafe, "Savannah's first and only Green Certified Restaurant and Caterer," will begin providing all student and faculty meals to St. Andrew's School beginning this August. "The partnership is designed to bring healthy, affordable food to the Pre K-Grade 12 school on a daily basis," says a cafe spokesperson.

In order to start healthier cooking from scratch, Thrive says some necessary startup equipment is needed, and they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds.

The Sierra Club and Georgia Public Service Commission will host a town hall-style meeting tonight about Georgia Power’s controversial 2013 Integrated Resource Plan, the company’s twenty year energy plan for Georgia.

Area residents, Georgia Power customers, and concerned citizens will hear a brief presentation from Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols on the issues in Georgia Power’s proposed plan and will have the opportunity to make an official public comment.

The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Coastal Georgia Center, room 115, 305 Fahm St., on Wednesday June 12, 6-8 pm.

Telfair Museums have partnered with the Savannah Sand Gnats to hold a contest for a design for the cover of the official 2013 Savannah Sand Gnats program.

Winning designs will be displayed at Savannah Sand Gnats home games. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, June 19, 2013.

The contest features four age categories: Pre-K, elementary school grades 1-5, middle school grades 6-8 and high school grades 9-12.

A panel of judges representing the Savannah Sand Gnats and Telfair Museums will select a grand prize winner and a winner in each category. The grand prize winner and category winners will be announced July 1.

To participate, applicants must download and complete an application at sandgnats.com or pick up a hard copy at the Jepson Center, 207 W. York St., or at Savannah Sand Gnats Visitor Services, 1401 E. Victory Dr. at Grayson Stadium.

Final entries must use two-dimensional media such as crayon, pencil, marker, paint, or digital software. Participants may either submit digital designs as high-res PDFs or 300 dpi JPG files measuring (8.5 by 11 inches) at [email protected]. Designs can also be submitted at the Jepson Center or the Savannah Sand Gnats Fan Assistance Center.

For more information about the 2013 Cover Design Contest, please email [email protected].

Streets and parking will be intermittently impacted downtown on Monday for the funeral services of the late Ben Tucker, police say.

Parking on Wright Square will be "reserved for funeral participants from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday."

State Street heading west to Telfair Square will be "subjected to a rolling closure for the funeral procession beginning around 1 p.m."

Barnard Street from Congress to Bryan will be closed from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to accommodate a jazz tribute concert in Ellis Square.

The late great jazz legend and Savannah icon Ben Tucker will lie in state Sunday, June 9, from 2 -7 p.m. for public viewing at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension, 120 Bull Street, at Wright Square.

Funeral Service is Monday, June 10, 11 a.m. — 1 p.m. at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension.

There will be a public jazz concert immediately after the service on Monday from 1-8 p.m. at Ellis Square. Musicians & children welcome to join in this celebration.

In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be held at the Savannah Theater, 222 Bull St.

Remembrances: In lieu of flowers the Tucker family requests donations be sent to: The Ben Tucker Family Foundation, c/o The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension, 120 Bull Street, Savannah, GA 31401.

For the full obit from Fox & Weeks, see here.

Nicholas Sparks, author The Notebook, Message in a Bottle and The Last Song, is coming for a Savannah Book Festival speaking engagement on October 8.

Sparks’ visit is part of a national book tour for his newest book, The Longest Ride, due in stores in September. Sparks will speak about The Longest Ride at Trustees Theater at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8.

Pre-signed copies will be available for purchase on-site at the event. Sparks will not be signing any books the evening of the event, but attendees who purchase a book at the theater are invited to greet him following the evening’s presentation.

Tickets are $10 and will go on sale September 2 for Savannah Book Festival LITERATI members and sponsors and September 9 for the general public. All ticket sales are through Savannah Box Office, 912.525.5050.