Georgia Today: Egg prices for Easter; back to work on 'Cop City'; climate change affects baseball

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, April 7. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, Sunday is Easter and egg prices in Georgia continue to rise. A stop work order at the site of Atlanta's planned police training center has been lifted. And a climate expert at the University of Georgia has a few predictions for this year's Major League Baseball season. Those stories and more coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Orlando Montoya: Eggs are an iconic part of Easter for those who observe the holiday. And over the past year, their prices have hit historic highs due to the avian flu causing a reduction in supply. GPB Devon Zwald has more.

Devon Zwald: In January, a dozen or so eggs cost as much as $4.80, according to the Consumer Price Index. Although that amount has trended downwards, it's still high compared to the $1 and 50-cent price tag two years ago. Dr. Saloni Firasta Vastani is a professor of marketing at Emory University. She says the popularity of eggs at Easter means higher demand, but that's temporary.

Dr. Saloni Firasta Vastani: Grocery stores usually anticipate this, right? So they stock up based on that. Unfortunately, this year the supply has been low, so one way to manage demand has been to increase price.

Devon Zwald: She says after the holiday, the demand may ease and prices fall. She says supply is also expected to stabilize in the next year, which would cause prices to fall even further. For GPB News, I'm Devon Zwald.

Story 2

Orlando Montoya: DeKalb County has lifted a stop work order at the site of Atlanta's planned police training center. Crews recently had started clearing the land, which has been a focal point for protests over policing and environmental issues. Inspectors put a stop work order in place yesterday after they noticed that erosion control measures were malfunctioning. County officials say after confirming those measures were back in compliance with building codes, they lifted the order this morning.

Caption

Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon listens to a speaker during a Tuesday evening rally outside the City Services Center prior to Tuesday night’s Columbus Council meeting.

Credit: Mike Haskey, Ledger-Inquirer

Story 3

Orlando Montoya: The police chief in Columbus is on paid leave and will end his employment with the city at the end of the month. The city council voted yesterday to give Freddie Blackmon a $400,000 severance package. The move came after a report last year found that his department was losing officers and failing to train new ones. Officers complained of low morale, poor communication and micromanagement. Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson spoke after the vote yesterday.

Skip Henderson: And I would just like to say that on behalf of citizens of Columbus to Chief Freddie Blackmon, who is in the room, thank you, sir, for your faithful and dedicated service of 37 years to protecting the lives of the people in Columbus, Ga. Thank you.

Orlando Montoya: The Columbus and the NAACP called the process to remove Blackmon, who is Black, unfair and racially motivated.

Story 4

Orlando Montoya: Children's Hospital of Georgia is using a grant to fund additional resources for pediatric cancer patients and their families. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: The Augusta-based hospital will hire a social worker who will support patients and their families. Money will also help pay their travel expenses to treatment. Dr. Valera Hudson is the pediatrician-in-chief with Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta. She says families need emotional support for the anxiety and mild depression that can occur when facing a chronic illness.

Dr. Valera Hudson: Other higher-level resources that a family may need to address both physical needs, food, shelter, travel, as well as emotional and mental needs that definitely are part of the journey of supporting a child through a cancer diagnosis.

Ellen Eldridge: Hudson says the initiative is being funded by a grant from the Texas-based Jordan Spieth Family Foundation. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 5

Orlando Montoya: Georgia ranks 15th nationally for public high school graduates who earn a passing score on at least one AP exam. Each AP course is graded on a 1 to 5 scale. Last year, just over 21% of Georgia students who took the test scored a three or higher. Nationally, more students are taking the exams than they did a decade ago. But in Georgia, slightly fewer students are taking it. Last year, nearly 34% of graduates took at least one exam, down from about 37% in 2012.

Story 6

Orlando Montoya: The owner of an Albany mobile home park destroyed years ago by a tornado is rebuilding on the site. The Paradise Park community was directly in the tornado's path and nearly completely flattened on Jan. 22, 2017. Now, after delays with permitting, owner Patrick McKee says he's building about 30 mobile homes a month on the site to provide Albany with affordable housing.

Patrick McKee: Fifteen people died in the city and the county in Dougherty County that day. And so it was a rough day and it was a big setback. But with the way we're — we're responding is, we think Albany needs this asset and we're excited to provide it.

Orlando Montoya: The $20 million project will put about 200 rental units into a gated site to include a community center pool and a 16-seat movie theater. It's now called Pierce Pointe.

Story 7

Orlando Montoya: Soul singer songwriter and Georgia native Otis Redding won four BMI Million-Air Awards last week in the Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards. Million-Air awards are given to songwriters whose compositions have been played on the radio more than 1 million times. Redding was honored for four songs: "Sweet Soul Music" with 4 million plays; "Hard to Handle" and "Respect," each with 7 million plays; and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" with 12 million plays. I can just hear that one humming in my head right now. All those four songs were composed back in the 1960s, when Redding passed away in a plane crash in 1967 at just 26 years old. Redding's daughter Carla Redding-Andrews accepted the award last week on his behalf.

Story 8

Orlando Montoya: Baseball season has arrived in Atlanta with the Atlanta Braves' home opener last night, and the Braves and the Padres both traded the lead several times during last night's game at Truist Park. But it was a walk off hit by Orlando Arcia in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Braves a 7-6 victory. The Braves now have extended their winning streak to four. Last night's game was the first at Truist Park with Major League Baseball's new rules. Those rules include a strict pitch clock, bigger bases and a ban on shifting infielders, which Braves manager Brian Snitker says might have contributed to so many hits.

Brian Snitker: Might be a byproduct of not having everybody stacked on one side of the infield, too. I mean, there's oh, there's holes there. And guys are seeing it and they're — and they're using it.

Orlando Montoya: The Braves play Game 2 of a four-game series tonight at Truist Park.

Story 9

Orlando Montoya: And it's not just MLB rules that might change the game of baseball. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports a warming climate also could change the game.

Sarah Kallis: A changing climate means Major League Baseball cities are now two and a half degrees warmer than in the 1970s. This may not sound like much, but it could lead to more rained-out games and possibly more home runs. University of Georgia professor and climate expert Marshall Sheppard says that's because balls can travel faster through warmer air.

Marshall Sheppard: Warmer air tends to be less dense. So again, we think about density. You're thinking about molecules in — in the air. So if you have less dense air, there's less resistance on the ball as it's traveling in the air.

Sarah Kallis: Sheppard says higher temperatures could also result in fewer curveballs since warmer air could make them curve less. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis.

Orlando Montoya: And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. We'd like you to hit that subscribe button if you haven't done so already; that'll help you keep us current in your feed. And as always, we welcome your feedback. Tell us what you have to say at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. Have a great weekend. Now it is Easter weekend, Passover for a lot of people as well. Looks like it might be a little bit of a rainout for a lot of the state, but keep your head up and do good things. You deserve it. I'm Orlando Montoya. Talk to you later.

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