Pictures from Georgia's First Inaugural Ball, Washington, D.C.

The Georgia State Society Inaugural Ball was held at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on Monday, January 19, 2009. Photo by Clara Green
Attendees mingled around the "Hope" diamond, a 45-carat grayish-blue diamond. Photo by Clara Green

Meg Gilley (far right), a staff aide to Ga. Republican Rep. Jack Kingston, likened the hoopla of the inauguration to the Super Bowl. Photo by Clara Green

Dredging for Brunswick Harbor

The Port of Brunswick could soon welcome bigger ships with more cargo thanks to some new federal funds. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is spending $3 million dollars to dredge the entrance of Brunswick Harbor. Senator Saxby Chambliss, who along with Congressman Jack Kingston and Senator Johnny Isakson, helped secure the money, says Georgia's ports are vital to the state's economy and this project comes at a critical time.

Savannah port project under-funded

Construction to deepen the Savannah Harbor didn’t get funded in Bush’s 2009 budget. Dismayed Georgia lawmakers on Capitol Hill say the budget only allows for preliminary engineering and design work.

The Savannah Expansion Project will deepen the channel 6 more feet in order to accommodate larger ships, which Senator Johnny Isakson says is critical to Georgia’s economic future. He intends to campaign for the project in the appropriations process with Representative Jack Kingston and Senator Saxby Chambliss, but they say with the recent backlash against earmarking, it will be an uphill battle.

Iraq vet mulls Kingston challenge

An Iraq war veteran from Chatham County is considering challenging Republican Representative Jack Kingston. 44-year-old Democrat Bill Gillespie spent 23 years in the Army before retiring this year. Gillespie says he’s filing papers with the Federal Election Commission to form an exploratory committee to research a possible run. Rep. Kingston has served southeast Georgia’s 1st Congressional district for eight terms.

Savannah's Kingston in Cuba

Five U-S lawmakers made an unannounced visit to Cuba yesterday--one of them Congressman Jack Kingston, a Republican from Savannah. The trip was organized by the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas, which opposes the U-S embargo on Cuba. The delegation stopped-by an agricultural trade fair, where the communist island hopes to ink contracts for as much as 150-million dollars in American goods. The legislators plan to meet with at least one top Cuban official on the trip. Kingston is making his first trip to Cuba--he has supported the U-S embargo.