On Second Thought For Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The federal Farm Bill making its way through Congress could dramatically reduce the availability of free school meals. Those meals offer significant help for the nearly 20 percent of Georgia households with children that struggle to afford quality food for their families, according to the Food Research and Action Center. So many students qualify for the free meal program in Macon's Bibb County School District that free breakfast and lunch are available district-wide. To put that in perspective, the district served 18,000 lunches last year alone. "On Second Thought" for Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Samantha Max, health reporter for The Telegraph in Macon, has been following the story. Max, who is also a Report for America corps member, joined On Second Thought's Virginia Prescott with more on the future of the free meal program in Macon schools. Read Max's full story here.

Augusta may be best known for the Masters Tournament, but this Georgia city has more than one claim to fame. For starters, "Godfather of Soul" James Brown grew up in Augusta. More recently, the city has made a name for itself as a national hub for cybersecurity. Sharon Collins took her GPB television series "Hometown Georgia" to Augusta to learn more about the city and joined "On Second Thought" with some of the stories she brought back.

Sen. Susan Collins of Main is considered one of few swing votes in the confirmation of federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The Republican senator was uncommitted even before sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh surfaced. Pressure from btoh sides is ratcheting up on Collins -- her office has been deluged with calls, threats, protests and targeted by a crowdsourcing campaign to unseat her if she votes for Kavanaugh -- who pro-choice groups predict will tip the court against Roe v. Wade. For the past five years, Collins ranked as the most bipartisan U.S. senator, making her the choice for the annual "Constitutionally Speaking" event in Manchester, New Hampshire. 
On Second Thought's Virginia Prescott spoke with Collins Friday, Sept. 21 on the topic of civility, cooperation and compromise in our constitutional republic, on a day when those democratic norms felt in short supply. Virginia asked Collins how life on Capitol Hill has changed since she started as a congressional page in the Watergate era. 

Now we add some more songs to our essential Georgia playlist from Amy Ray. We ask artists to pick two songs, written or performed by another Georgian, that best represent the state. Amy Ray is part of the seminal folk group Indigo Girls. Her sixth solo studio album, "Holler," is out this Friday. Her first pick is a song called "I'm Gonna Sail Like a Ship on the Ocean" by Henry Morrison and Saint Simon's Island Singers. It is an Alan Lomax recording from the album "Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey from the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta."

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