In Other News: Death toll nears 6 million as pandemic enters its 3rd year; Georgia Historical Society reopens after $5M renovation

Published 11:15 pm Monday, March 7, 2022

Death toll nears 6 million as pandemic enters its 3rd year

The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over. The milestone is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe. The death toll, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, stood at 5,997,994 as of Sunday afternoon.

‘The Batman’ gives movie theaters a new hope with big launch over the weekend

Batman has his fair share of pressures, from saving Gotham to saving movie theaters. And while they’re both still decidedly works in progress, “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson, managed to give a little glimmer of hope to both by grossing $128.5 million in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. The latest relaunch of the 80-year-old comic book character is well above Warner Bros.’ conservative estimates going into the weekend, which had the film pegged for a debut in the $90 million range. It’s the best opening of 2022 and the second best of the pandemic, though it’s more than $100 million shy of “Spider-Man: No Way Home’s” still unbelievable $260 million opening weekend in December. “The Batman” opened this weekend exclusively in theaters in 4,217 locations on over 12,500 screens in North America. No other major studio dared compete with their own new film.

Georgia Historical Society reopens after $5M renovationSAVANNAH — W. Todd Groce is standing beneath the soaring, 36-foot high ceilings of Hodgson Hall’s Reading Room, brilliant from the mid-January sun streaming through the arched windows and the new lighting that illuminates the culmination of a three-year, $5 million restoration and expansion effort of the Georgia Historical Society’s complex at the corner of Whitaker and Gaston streets. “Anyone can come and visit the Georgia Historical Society,” says Groce, GHS’ president and CEO, “only you’d have to have a question. A question about the past. How did we arrive at this point? Because, that’s what history does. It helps us understand the present and gives us a context for the present, so that we can make better decisions going forward.” He’s visibly delighted to reintroduce GHS’s Research Center not only to the 60,000 historians, scholars, documentarians, researchers, students and journalists who visit annually, but also — and perhaps more so — to the many Savannahians who may not be as aware of the treasures preserved here.