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Chatham Emergency Management Agency reminds us that on Wednesday, October 3, a local siren test and a nationwide test of both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) will occur at different times throughout the day.

Here's what to expect:

Noon: CEMA Emergency Outdoor Warning Siren Test

Residents of Chatham County will hear a one minute emergency tone from the various sirens located throughout the county, weather pending.

2:18 PM: Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA)

What to expect: Nationally, citizens will hear a special tone and vibration on their cellular phones, with a test message to read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed." Residents should only see one emergency message on their phone.

2:20 PM: Emergency Alert System (EAS)

What to expect: Nationally, citizens will hear and see a one minute test from EAS participants (e.g., radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers). This will last for approximately one minute.

Savannah Book Festival announces the Opening and Closing Address authors for SBF 2019. The addresses will take place this year at The Historic Lucas Theatre for the Arts.

On Thursday, February 14, George and Paula Saunders will present the Opening Address. George is the 2017 winner of the Man Booker Prize for his number-one New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. His newest book, Fox 8, will be published in November.

For the Closing Address on Sunday, February 17, Lynn Vincent, a US Navy veteran and number-one New York Times bestselling author will appear with Sara Vladic, an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and one of the world’s leading experts on the USS Indianapolis. Their recent NYT bestseller, Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man, brings to light the truth about what happened in the sinking of the ship that delivered the atom bomb to Japan in 1945.

Tickets to the Opening, Keynote and Closing Address events go on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2019. The pre-sale tickets for LITERATI members are available on Thursday, January 3, 2019.

In this year's edition, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival will screen a total of 164 films, including 33 narrative films, 16 documentary films and 115 shorts, more than any year before.

The festival will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 27, with the Opening Night Gala Screening of Roma, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The actresses from the film Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, along with producer Gabriela Rodriguez will be in attendance.

The Centerpiece Gala will be If Beale Street Could Talk, written and directed by Barry Jenkins and starring festival honorees Stephan James and KiKi Layne. All three will be in attendance.

The festival will close on Saturday, Nov. 3 with the Closing Gala Screening of Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Viggo Mortensen and 2016 festival honoree Mahershala Ali.

The 2018 schedule includes Gala, Docs to Watch, Signature and Professional Competition screenings, along with Global Shorts Forum and “Wonder Women” forum highlighting female directors, producers, and below the line talent at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studios.

New programming this year includes an Animation Corner, a TV Sidebar and a Shorts Spotlight. SCAD’s annual tribute to excellence in film has screened over 110 Oscar-nominated films; and has honored over 80 legendary actors, directors, producers, writers, and filmmakers.

“SCAD’s renowned master’s and bachelor’s degree programs are essential to the continued growth, sophistication, and evolution of entertainment professions around the world, and especially in Georgia,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace.

GALA SCREENINGS

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is known for shining a spotlight on upcoming award contenders, screening many studio films prior to their wider release. Last year, the festival screened seven films that went on to receive 35 Academy Award nominations and 12 Oscar wins, including 2017 Best Picture winner The Shape of Water.

Twelve films have been selected for the Gala Screening spot:

· Anna and the Apocalypse (Director: John McPhail. Cast: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins, Marli Siu)

· Ben is Back (Director: Peter Hedges. Cast: Lucas Hedges, Julia Roberts, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar)

· Boy Erased (Director: Joel Edgerton. Cast: Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton)

· Destroyer (Director: Karyn Kusama. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Sebastian Stan, Bradley Whitford, Jade Pettyjohn, Scoot McNairy)

· The Favourite (Director: Yorgos Lanthimos. Cast: Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Mark Gatiss, Joe Alwyn, Nicholas Hoult)

· The Front Runner (Director: Jason Reitman. Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina)

· Green Book (Director: Peter Farrelly. Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, P.J. Byrne)

· If Beale Street Could Talk (Director: Barry Jenkins. Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Emily Rios, Ed Skrein, Finn Wittrock, Bryan Tyree Henry)

· The Kindergarten Teacher (Director: Sara Colangelo. Cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rosa Salazar, Gael García Bernal, Parker Sevak, Michael Chernus)

· Roma (Director: Alfonso Cuarón. Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Nancy Garcia, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Daniela Demesa, Marco Graf, Nancy Garcia, Jorge Antonio Guerrero Martinez)

· A Private War (Director: Matthew Heineman. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan, Stanley Tucci, Tom Hollander)

· Widows (Director: Steve McQueen. Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Garret Dillahunt, Carrie Coon, Jacki Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo with Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson)

SIGNATURE SERIES

The Signature Series features premiere and special screenings, from narrative to documentary films, followed by a Q&A session with the film's actors, directors, producers, or writers. This year’s selection includes:

· Adrift (Director: Baltasar Kormákur. Cast: Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Thomas, Shailene Woodley)

· At Eternity’s Gate (Director: Julian Schnabel. Cast: Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Consigny, Amira Casar, Niels Arestrup)

· BlacKkKlansman (Director Spike Lee. Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace)

· Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Director: Marielle Heller. Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone)

· Capernaum (Director: Nadine Labaki. Cast: Zain al-Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad)

· Cold War (Director: Pawel Pawlikowski. Cast: Agata Kulesza, Tomasz Kot, Joanna Kulig)

· Everybody Knows (Director: Asghar Farhadi. Cast: Penélope Cruz Javier Bardem, Jamie Lorente, Ricardo Darín)

· The Gospel According to André (Director: Kate Novack)

· Nancy (Director: Christina Choe. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd, J. Smith- Cameron, John Leguizamo)

· A Parting Glass (Director: Stephen Moyer. Cast: Edward Asner, Rhys Ifans, Melissa Leo, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O’Hare, Anna Paquin)

· A Quiet Place (Director: John Krasinski. Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe)

· Stella’s Last Weekend (Director: Polly Draper. Cast: Polly Draper, Nat Wolff, Alex Wolff, Paulina Singer)

· Vox Lux (Director: Brady Corbet. Cast: Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin)

DOCS TO WATCH

Join for the fifth annual Docs to Watch Roundtable hosted by Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter. Directors include Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment), Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo), Gabe Polsky (In Search of Greatness), Nathaniel Kahn (The Price of Everything), Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones (Quincy), Julie Cohen and Betsy West (RBG), Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster (Science Fair), Matt Tyranuer (Studio 54), Tim Wardle (Three Identical Strangers) and Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?).

ANIMATION CORNER: ART IN MOTION

The Animation Corner: Art in Motion is a new category debuting for the 2018 SCAD Savannah Film Festival:

· Best of Annecy 2018 showcases a selection of shorts from the latest festival with tailor-made opening sequences by the students of GOBELINS, l’école de l’image.

· Best of Annecy Kids 2018 is a mix of funny, emotional and poetic short films for kids. This program consists of films from Annecy 2018's official selection of trailers and is aimed at children age 5 years and older.

· DreamWorks Animation will showcase two of their films from the DreamWorks Shorts initiative: Bilby and Bird Karma

· Isle of Dogs (Director: Wes Anderson) will include a week-long exhibition of puppets and miniature sets designed and built for the film.

· Mirai (Director: Mamoru Hosoda)

· Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck- It Ralph 2 presentation: (Directors: Phil Johnston and Rich Moore) Disney will show exclusive clips of the upcoming full-length sequel.

· Ruben Brandt, Collector (Director: Milorad Krstic)

TV SIDEBAR

As Hollywood A-listers migrate to episodic storytelling on the small screen, SCAD Savannah Film Festival debuts a TV Sidebar, a series of panels and special screenings that highlight the best in television.

· Outlander, season 4 premiere will include an exhibit showcasing nearly 20 costumes at the SCAD Museum of Art, which marks the first-ever costume exhibit at the Museum and Film Festival.

· TV Guide Magazine to host “Fan Favorites” panel that brings stars from TV’s hottest shows for a lively discussion filled with behind-the-scenes scoop, fan-encounter tales, and more.

COMPETITION

From feature-length films to two-minute shorts, the annual festival celebrates cinematic excellence from award-winning and emerging filmmakers. The juried competition features the best of professional, animated, and student films selected from more than 2,300 entries annually.

· Narrative Features: From side-splitting comedies to heart-wrenching dramas, the narrative feature films selected represent diversity in storytelling, excellence in acting and directing, and exemplary cinematography and editing.

· Documentary Features: Beyond simple subject matters, documentaries present compelling stories that illuminate and educate audiences in a thought-provoking and timely manner.

· Professional Shorts: Running the gamut of subject matter and style, these short films are selected based on their individual merits in storytelling and execution.

· Animated Shorts: These animated films represent the diversity of the craft from simple, hand-drawn figures to stop-motion and digital rendering, showcasing unique storytelling at its finest.

· Student Shorts: With solid storytelling and emerging vision, these films represent a broad range of categories including live action, narrative, documentary and animation.

GLOBAL SHORTS FORUM

The Global Shorts Forum is a curated collection of international shorts from multiple genres that focus on world issues. This year’s themes include

· LGBTQ & You: Love is Love is Love, no matter who, where, or why.

· Woman Walks Ahead: A wide range of topics from the feminine perspective.

· A Sporting Chance: The triumphs and tribulations of competitors around the globe.

· Don’t Dis My Ability: Dedicated to raising awareness of the disabled community and their ongoing struggles and triumphs.

SHORTS SPOTLIGHT

The Shorts Spotlight is a new category debuting for the 2018 SCAD Savannah Film Festival. This collection of shorts will highlight

· Animated Delights: A kid-friendly collection of intriguing animated shorts from around the world.

· Bump in the Night: Everyone loves a good scare. These shorts put a new spin on the beloved horror genre.

· LOLz: To err is human, to laugh at one’s error, divine. These shorts remind us just how hilarious life can be.

· Three-Piece Oddity: A delightful and surreal collection of three distinct shorts that defy categorical description but together celebrate the joy of discovery.

PANELS

From software and special effects demonstrations to discussions and panels with industry stars and insiders, knowledge sharing occurs every day of the festival. This year’s panels include

· The Wonder Women Panel Series will focus on the cinematic achievements and contributions of female directors, producers, and below the line talent in film and television.

· The Below the Line Panel Series is a curated series of panels highlighting contributions of below-the-line talent to the art of cinema with a focus on casting, costume design and production design.

· The State of the Art Series, hosted by SCADFILM, is a collection of panels with a focus on filmmaking, augmented and virtual reality, and gaming.

· Through the Writers on Writing Series, Writers Guild Foundation sit down with screenwriters to illuminate the craft behind their screenplays and their journeys navigating the industry as writers.

Today City staff and Team Depot volunteers installed new appliances and made other home improvements to the homes of two Savannah veterans.

"Starting early this morning, new appliances provided by the Home Depot Foundation arrived at the veteran’s homes. Then City staff along with team depot workers began replacing old units with new appliances," says  City spokesperson.

By the early afternoon, the City says, most of the improvements were complete and a large dumpster placed outside the house was filled with waste from hours of installations and replacements.

“He is a veteran and is very deserving of these much needed repairs,” said Lending Services Administrator Anita Smith-Dixon.

The City identified local veterans through the Affordable Housing program and applied, linking the veterans to the Home Depot’s Celebration of Service program. Staff provided the Home Depot Foundation with the information on cost of improvements and scope of work.

The Home Depot Foundation’s celebration of service program is an initiative that improves living conditions for veterans.

Organizations and businesses interested in making financial contributions to the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund and/or volunteering may contact Anita Smith-Dixon at 912-651-6926.

Roads and sidewalks surrounding Reynolds Square, Greene Square and Forsyth Park will be closed starting Monday to accommodate movie filming in downtown Savannah, according to City officials.

"Some roads and sidewalks will be completely closed, others will be closed intermittently for 2-3 minutes at a time," a spokesperson says.

IN GREENE SQUARE, some roads will be closed completely October 4-6 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., other will be closed intermittently for 2-3 minutes at a time.

· East York Street between Price Street and East Broad Street will be CLOSED.

· Houston between East York Lane and East President Street will be CLOSED.

· Houston between Oglethorpe Avenue and East York Lane will be CLOSED to pedestrians.

· Greene Square will be CLOSED to pedestrians.

· Intermittent road closures will occur on Westbound East State Street at East Broad Street, Westbound East President S treet at East Broad Street, Southbound on Houston Street at Broughton Street.


IN REYNOLDS SQUARE, some roads will be closed completely October 4-8 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., other will be closed intermittently for 2-3 minutes at a time.

· Bryan Street from Abercorn Street to Lincoln Street will be CLOSED

· St. Julian Street from Abercorn Street to Lincoln Street will be CLOSED

· Abercorn Street from Bryan from Bryan Street to Congress Street will be CLOSED

· Abercorn Street from Bay Street to Bryan Street will be CLOSED.

· Intermittent road closures will occur on Bay Lane, St. Julian Street, Congress Street, Broughton Street, Drayton Street and Lincoln Street.


IN FORSYTH PARK, intermittent road closures in 2-3 minute intervals will occur from 8:00 p.m. October 5 to 5:00 a.m. October 6 on the following streets:

· East and Westbound traffic on Gaston Street between Whitaker Street and Drayton Street.

· Pedestrian intermittent closures will affect the Northside of Forsyth Park between Hall Street and Gaston Street. (including the Forsyth Park Fountain)

The City says that all residents and businesses in the area were notified by letter in early August and again earlier this month about the closures.

The City of Tybee Island will be accepting applications to fill the remaining term for the vacant City Council seat left by Jackson Butler’s resignation.

Applicants will need to download and complete the Notice of Willingness to Serve form, which lists the requirements.

It's available on the City of Tybee Island website here. The form can also be picked up from outside the City Clerk’s office at City Hall, 403 Butler, Tybee Island.

The completed notice and a resume can only be submitted within the qualifying period to the City Clerk’s Office, Tybee Island City Hall, 403 Butler Avenue.

Qualifying will begin Monday, October 1st at 8:30 a.m. and close Thursday, October 4th, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. Applications submitted outside that period will not be considered. There is no cost to submit an application.

Application submissions will be public record, and a list of applicants will be published early on Friday, October 5 via press release and social media.

Consideration of applicants will take place by vote at the October 11, 2018 City Council meeting in the Council Chambers at Tybee Island’s Public Safety Building at 78 Van Horne Ave.

The public is invited to speak about the appointment during the public comment period. Swearing in will follow on Friday, October 12, 2018. This term will expire December 31, 2021.

Harry Connick, Jr. has announced additional Fall concert dates of the New Orleans Tricentennial Celebration tour that will continue to take him across the U.S. and also London & Paris this year.

He plays Savannah on Dec. 9 at the Johnny Mercer Theatre. Tickets go on sale Friday Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. at www.savannahcivic.com or www.harryconnickjr.com.

When the tour stops in New Orleans on December 15, Harry will play a special show at UNO Lakefront Arena to benefit the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, which he co-founded in the Ninth Ward in the aftermath of Katrina.

Georgia State Railroad Museum and Savannah Children’s Museum will transform into a Harry Potter-themed experience during “Frogwarts” on Sunday, October 14, from 11 am-3 pm.

This year’s classes will include Wand Making, Potions, Fortune Telling, Defense Against the Dark Arts: Glow in the Dark Fun!, Care of Magical Creatures with Georgia Reptile Society, Quill Writing, Herbology, Muggle Studies and Quidditch. Attendees can also take a ride on our steam locomotive, the Frogwarts Express.

“With the first book having been published twenty years ago, young parents now have the opportunity to introduce a new generation to the magical world of Harry Potter by attending our ‘Frogwarts’ event," says Sara Hempen, Education Specialist at Coastal Heritage Society.

“Not only will families be swept away by their imaginations, but children will also walk away from this annual event with new knowledge of academic subjects such as chemistry, astronomy, engineering, art and biology, all disguised as magical classes."

Partners holding workshops include Snapology with Harry Potter LEGO building, Savannah Stage Company with a cast of favorite Harry Potter characters, Mathnasium will provide games of Wizard Chess throughout the day and the Solar System Ambassadors will share Astronomy lessons.

Leopold’s Ice Cream will be on-site serving Harry Potter inspired sweet treats.

“Frogwarts” guests in outstanding costumes will be selected to participate in a costume contest to win prizes.

$12 for all participants, ages eighteen months and up. Pre-registration required; click here.

Coastal Heritage Society members receive access to early registration, an express check-in line and priority boarding for the Frogwarts Express train ride. “Frogwarts” is sponsored by Port City Logistics, Inc.

Today, a second lawsuit was filed against the controversial Starland Village multi-use project set for the Thomas Square area — this one against City officials for allowing the project to go forward.

This lawsuit, filed by Thomas Square resident Stephen Argue, alleges among other things that the City is not fully compliant with state law, since there is no dedicated review board for any of Savannah's official historic districts other than the Historic Landmark District downtown.

"Starland Village should, according to state law, be subject to a historic district review commission overseeing the Thomas Square Streetcar Historic District," Argue tells Connect Savannah.

Currently, such a dedicated review board doesn't exist. Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) for new construction are instead granted by authority of the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

"The City has every right to ask for Certificates of Appropriateness" for construction in historic districts, allows Argue.

But his lawsuit maintains that the absence of a state-required review board for Thomas Square means the current Certificate of Appropriateness for Starland Village — personally administered late last month by City Manager Rob Hernandez — is invalid.

Currently, buildings in the National Historic Landmark District, north of Thomas Square, are subject to the Historic District Board of Review.

The lawsuit also alleges that the City is not compliant with state law with regards to Requests for Proposal (RFPs) to purchase City-owned property.

"Georgia code says that in the RFP process, real property must be sold to the 'highest responsible bidder,'" Argue says.

Starland Village developer Foram Group was allowed to purchase a surplus police precinct despite failing to make the highest bid in two separate rounds of RFPs.

Argue concedes that the success of that portion of the lawsuit rests on what the actual definition of "highest responsible bidder" is taken to mean. Currently, the City of Savannah awards RFPs according to a scoring matrix which takes into account other aspects of a proposal besides just the offered price.

If successful, the lawsuit would have far-reaching implications both for future transactions by the City, in addition to potentially affecting past transactions as well, beyond just Starland Village.

"If the court agrees that the City of Savannah has failed to fulfill its duty, that certainly would have some effect," Argue says.

Argue's suit also alleges that the City provided improper notice of the police precinct RFP, and that City Council's vote approving a zoning text amendment allowing Starland Village to proceed under CIV zoning was invalid because it violated process under state law.

A previous lawsuit by several residents, filed in April and dismissed in June, alleged that the Metropolitan Planning Commission, which permitted a zoning amendment paving the way for Starland Village, was improperly constituted. 

Chatham Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday afternoon that for the Savannah area there is a "moderate risk for wind, a very low risk for storm surge, and a low risk for flooding as associated with rainfall" from Hurricane Florence, CEMA Director Dennis Jones said at a 1:30 p.m. update

"This storm doesn't necessitate any kind of evacuation order" for the local area, Jones said. "We do encourage residents however if they feel they need to do something to protect their family, they can do that."

"Chatham County is not in any warnings or watches at this time," Jones said.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for the entire state about an hour prior.

CEMA says they are "not looking at any significant storm surge damage," but are  "looking at possibly a little bit of rainfall" from Florence after it makes landfall near the NC/SC border.

"All of the dangerous activity is in the northern part of the storm," Jones said.

Jones said, "The earliest reasonable time we'll see impacts looks to be around Thursday at 8 p.m. The most likely time Friday would be around 8 p.m."

"There are still probabilities of us receiving tropical force storm winds" at a moderate level," he said.

Jones said there could be 24 hours of sustained tropical storm force winds locally.

"It's likely, but not probable," he said.

Jones said "residual impacts" may continue be felt as late as Monday.