Georgia Today: Elections Board rules on volunteers handing out water; Revisiting COVID restrictions

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Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Feb. 8. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode: The State Election Board rules on the Black volunteers accused of handing out food and water to voters in line back in 2020; Republican lawmakers moved to make laws against COVID restrictions permanent; and a Georgia man killed at Pearl Harbor will finally be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Peter Biello: A group of four Black volunteers has been cleared of wrongdoing for handing out food and water to Albany voters waiting in line in the 2020 election. The Georgia State elections board voted yesterday not to refer any criminal charges against them. April England Albright of Black Voters Matter says that won't be the case in the future.

April England Albright: Had this been just in 2021, we probably would have gotten a referral, even though they simply were giving out food and water — because they changed the law.

Peter Biello: State lawmakers outlawed the practice as part of a sweeping elections reform law in 2021.

Story 2

Peter Biello: The elections board also heard yesterday from the state panel tasked by lawmakers with investigating Fulton County's elections board. GPB's Stephen Fowler has more on their report from the state election board meeting in Macon.

Stephen Fowler:  Republican lawmakers ordered a performance review of Fulton's elections board and the three-person panel got to work. They found Fulton County made progress towards fixing issues and should not be suspended. While the intent of the review is to root out failing elections boards, panel member and Catoosa County Elections Board Chairman Ricky Kittle said their takeaways were more about learning than punishment.

Ricky Kittle: It applies to all 159 counties. I learned stuff from Fulton County, the way they do it. I learned something from from watching their people work. The processes they had were different. Some of them are different than ours.

Stephen Fowler: The state election board won't yet vote on approving the report's recommendation. That'll be at the next meeting in April. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler in Macon.

Story 3

Peter Biello: The two top leaders in the state Senate are calling for an investigation into a European trip their two predecessors made in mid-November. Atlanta Journal-Constitution senior reporter Tamar Hallerman told GPB's Political Rewind the probe concerns an economic development trip to Germany in England, led by then-Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and then Senate President Butch Miller.

Tamar Hallerman: Because the legislature exempted itself from open records laws, we aren't able to see how much money this trip cost taxpayers, what exactly they were doing.

Peter Biello: Both Duncan and Miller at the time knew that they weren't going to return to the Legislature in January. In a statement Monday, Lt. Gov. Bert Jones and Senate President John Kennedy said the trip raises concerns and that their officers will investigate it.

Story 4

Peter Biello: Following President Joe Biden's State of the Union address last night, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Atlanta today to push the administration's message in a key battleground state. The White House says Harris will highlight investments and actions to combat the climate crisis in remarks at Georgia Tech.

Story 5

Peter Biello: Partisan debates over COVID-19 vaccinations resurfaced in the Georgia Senate yesterday. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: Senate Bill 1 would make the temporary ban that prohibits state agencies from requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination before receiving government services permanent. Republicans say the ban prevents discrimination, but Democrats like Sen. Nan Orrock, who opposes the bill, say the debate has become too partisan.

Nan Orrock: This has been posed to you today as the government taking away the rights of the individual. But what's really happened in this country is that the COVID-19 pandemic and the disease has been politicized in a way that other diseases have not been.

Sarah Kallis: Senate Bill 1 now heads to the House after passing the Senate in a party-line vote. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state cCapitol.

Peter Biello: Georgia lawmakers enacted a one-year ban last year. The bill would make the provision permanent.

Story 6

Peter Biello: The Fulton County Board of Commissioners has approved funding for a reparations task force. Commissioners had included a quarter million dollars for it in this year's budget. The Fulton County government says the Reparations Task Force serves as an advisory body to the Board of Commissioners on issues that support, quote, "the revitalization, preservation and stabilization of the Black/African-American population in Fulton County in the form of reparations."

Story 7

Peter Biello: Delta Air Lines says most of its workers will get a 5% pay raise in April. The Atlanta based airline also says it will increase the amount of money available for merit raises. The pay hikes are for nonunion employees, including ground crew and flight attendants. Airlines have been raising pay to attract and keep workers as travel recovers from the pandemic. These rates are modest compared to the 30% raise over four years that Delta's union pilots are expected to vote on in a few weeks. Pilots are the highest-paid work group at airlines.

Story 8

Peter Biello: A Georgia man who died during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery tomorrow with full military honors. GPB's Devon Zwald has more.

Devon Zwald: Shipfitter 3rd Class John Malcolm Donald was stationed on the USS Oklahoma when Japanese aircraft struck the ship with aerial torpedoes. 429 USS Oklahoma sailors were killed, but only 35 were initially identified. More than 70 years later, over 350 crew members, including Donald, were identified by scientists with the Department of Defense. Lt. Cmdr. Jory Morr served as a POW/MIA branch head for the Navy.

Jory Morr: For the Donald family, I hope they feel like they can get some finality, some closure after having the identification done and, you know, having the opportunity to see their loved one buried. And hopefully they feel like it was done in a dignified way and with honor.

Devon Zwald: All but 33 crew members who died on the USS Oklahoma have been identified. For GPB News, I'm Devon Zwald.

Story 9

Peter Biello: And this final note, I know everyone's focus is on the Super Bowl right now — it's coming up this Sunday — but let's talk baseball for a moment. The Braves this week headed down to Florida for spring training. The regular season is still more than a month away. And this season, sports fans will be watching Braves outfielder Michael Harris II closely, in part because of the stellar numbers he put up in 2022. Those numbers were good enough to win him the National League Rookie of the Year award. Harris II is also now the subject of a documentary to be released tomorrow. It follows his journey as a kid from Atlanta all the way to his big league debut, and features interviews with him, his parents, his coaches, mentors and others.

Michael Harris II Documentary Trailer Clip: Some guys like the game. Some guys just play the game. But when you see a guy that loves the game and go at it with that kind of attitude, that desire to be good, he'll stick out and stand out. And that's what he did. It's just different when Mike in the cage, everybody's eyes kind of would turn. Then I saw him play the outfield, then I saw him hit. I'm like, There's just nothing this guy can't do.

Peter Biello: That's from the trailer of this documentary. You can see the documentary about Michael Harris II tomorrow night at nine on YouTube.com/Braves.

And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. Please take a moment to subscribe to it, to keep it current and your podcast feed. And if you like what you're hearing, please leave us a positive review; that helps other listeners find us. As always, we appreciate your support. And if you've got feedback, send it to us by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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