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Georgia Today: Dispensaries now open; Taylor Swift bringing large crowds; Georgia in the NFL Draft
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On the Friday, April 28 edition of Georgia Today: Medical cannabis dispensaries are now open; Taylor Swift and Janet Jackson are drawing large crowds to Atlanta; and Georgia was well represented in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, April 28. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Georgia's first two medical cannabis dispensaries are officially open for business. Both Atlanta and Tybee Island are preparing for large crowds this weekend, and the NFL draft was last night and Georgia was well-represented. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.
Story 1
Peter Biello: Georgia's first two medical cannabis dispensaries opened this morning. Supplier Trulieve says its first customer in the state was a 20-year-old man in Macon who suffered from daily seizures until he started taking cannabis oil. Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers says the beginning of medical sales in Georgia signals relief for the state's more than 26,000 patients currently registered to receive it.
Kim Rivers: We're excited and we are feel that it's an incredible moment for Georgia patients who have been waiting so long for this medication — to be able to access this medication — and then also a sense of responsibility. You know, whenever we have the privilege of entering a market — and certainly when we are in a position to be able to open up that market, there is an incredible responsibility that goes along with that. And so we are, again, have a really positive outlook and really excited to be able to bring quality products to folks who've been waiting, waiting for it.
Peter Biello: The new stores in Macon and Marietta come eight years after state lawmakers first moved to legalize medical cannabis. Georgia is one of the last states in the nation to do so. Trulieve says it plans to open stores in Columbus, Newnan and Pooler soon. The only other company so far licensed to grow and distribute medical cannabis in the state, Botanical Sciences, also says it's very close to opening dispensaries.
Story 2
Peter Biello: The Georgia Department of Community Health is distributing millions of additional dollars this year to support essential health care providers. But how well these payments work isn't clear yet. GPB's Sofi Gratas explains.
Sofi Gratas: DCH says the state has already started disbursing $1 billion in an expansion of Medicaid funds earmarked to go straight to health care providers. On Thursday, Grady Health System announced it will build two new outpatient facilities in Fulton County using these funds. The $1 billion in directed payments frees up another $100 million to be shared by rural hospitals to cover losses from uncompensated care. But federal oversight offices report a general lack of transparency in measuring how well these directed payments improve access to care overall, or whether they're spent as providers promise. Meanwhile, many hospital leaders in Georgia say a full expansion of Medicaid insurance coverage, which the state has not yet taken up, would improve overall outcomes for patients and help hospitals struggling to stay open. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.
Peter Biello: Also in health news, Atlanta's Grady Health System plans to open two new outpatient centers to address health care needs following the closure of two Wellstar facilities. Grady plans to open the sites in Atlanta south of Interstate 20 later this year. Last year, Wellstar Health System came under fire for closing two nearby hospitals.
Story 3
Peter Biello: Milledgeville officials say they've turned a corner on restoring water to the city. A pump failure had left some residents, businesses and schools without water since Tuesday. City manager Hank Griffith says a replacement pump was expected today and pressure is rising, but a boil water advisory continues.
Hank Griffith: We will be testing, pulling some samples. We will test those in our lab at the water treatment plant. They have to incubate for 24 hours. And if at that point in time, all the samples come back clear, we will rescind it then. But the boil water advisory is — is — it's sometimes difficult to deal with from a customer standpoint, but it is something that we do just to make sure that there was no type of bacterial growth in the lines while there was no water running through them.
Peter Biello: Milledgeville gave out more than 2,000 cases of water over two days. Baldwin County High School also went to virtual learning for two days while the water was out. Those classes returned to normal today.
Story 4
Peter Biello: Tybee Island is bracing for another potentially large gathering this weekend. This comes after Tybee saw an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people last weekend during the popular spring break party known as Orange Crush. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.
Benjamin Payne: Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions doesn't have an estimate as to how many people may show up for what is being called Peach Fest. But she says there will be a bigger police presence on Tybee than there was last weekend, when roughly 75 officers and code enforcement personnel patrolled the island.
Shirley Sessions: Some people will probably think we're doing too much. I don't think so. This is a problem bigger than Tybee now. This has extended into our neighboring communities because of the traffic and because there were parties going on in Savannah and in the Chatham County area.
Benjamin Payne: Sessions says city attorneys are exploring ways to limit access to the public beach for future events. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne.
Story 5
Peter Biello: The University of Georgia football player involved in a crash that killed a teammate was selected in the first round of the NFL draft last night. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was selected ninth overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. Carter says the Eagles never really asked him about the January wreck that killed teammate Devin Willock and football recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy. The University of Georgia ended up with three players chosen in the first round after the Eagles also picked edge rusher Nolan Smith with the 30th pick and the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired defensive tackle Broderick Jones with the 14th pick. Former Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who transferred to Alabama before last season, was selected 12th by the Detroit Lions. Gibbs is from Dalton, Ga. Hampton, Ga., native Will Anderson Jr. was selected by the Houston Texans. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Clemson edge rusher Myles Murphy from Marietta with the 28th pick. And in a bit of a surprise move, the Atlanta Falcons selected running back Bijan Robinson from the University of Texas with the eighth pick overall. The draft continues tonight with two through seven throughout the weekend.
Story 6
Peter Biello: In January, protester Manuel Teran was shot multiple times by police in the South River forest in Atlanta. Police say they fired first. Teran was among many protesters who had been camping there for months to demonstrate opposition to the planned public safety training center that protesters call "Cop City." After Teran's death, at least two autopsies that we know of were performed: one by the DeKalb County medical examiner and another by the GBI. What they reveal offer some insights into what happened, but a complete explanation of the events of that January day is still elusive. For a little context on what has been revealed. We turn to Michael Moore. He's a former U.S. attorney and partner at Moore Hall in Atlanta. Thank you very much for speaking with me.
Michael Moore: It's a pleasure, Peter. Thank you.
Peter Biello: How common is it in a case like this for two or maybe more autopsies to be performed?
Michael Moore: Well, it's not uncommon really at all. Oftentimes you'll see, especially in cases where there's been a police shooting, that you'll see an official autopsy done. Sometimes you'll see second autopsies done by families who are still searching for answers and explanations into what exactly happened. You may also find that you have in this case, for instance, you have the DeKalb County Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy and certain analysis then done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. So having that type of collaboration in investigations is not uncommon at all.
Peter Biello: I see. And how much variation could one expect between competent medical examiners looking at the same — at the same body? Can we expect a lot of variation?
Michael Moore: With competent medical examiners and pathologists, while some of the initial and maybe the visual aspects may be different, they could both be valid. You just may have some different interpretations.
Peter Biello: I wanted to ask you about some of what's been discussed in the public already with respect to gunshot residue, because the DeKalb County medical examiner wrote on the report, "Gunshot residue is not seen on the hands." But they also did mention that the investigative agency would look at the hands. The GBI did find a few particles of gunshot residue. So what do you make of those two findings?
Michael Moore: I think that it's standard law enforcement investigation. And I really didn't find anything that was particularly alarming with the discrepancy of the findings. And all you have to do is look at the two different reports and exactly what was done. If you look at the DeKalb County medical examiner's report, Dr. Gowitt noted —
Peter Biello: You were referring to DeKalb County medical examiner, Dr. Gerald Gowitt.
Michael Moore: That's correct. The hands of the individual were bagged. That's a standard practice by law enforcement agencies when there's been a shooting. He's not doing a what I would call the forensic test for gunshot residue. He actually notes in his report that those tests, a gunshot residue test, was done and turned over to the GBI for analysis.
Peter Biello: In other words, it's not always possible to see with the naked eye gunshot residue. So saying you didn't see it is one thing, but then sending it to a different agency that uses technology to really zoom in is an entirely different thing. And those two things can coexist.
Michael Moore: They coexist. And it's really entirely appropriate to do that, to send it in and have those swabs examined. Dr. Gowitt's job was really to determine the manner and cause of death. It's not to get into the analysis, necessarily, of: Did this person fire a gun at the responding law enforcement officers?
Peter Biello: One other thing worth correcting, because I know there's been some misunderstanding about this in the report by the DeKalb County medical examiner. There were 57 gunshot wounds. The same bullet can enter and exit and possibly reenter, causing many different wounds. So I just want to clarify that.
Michael Moore: That's exactly right. Dr. Gowitt notes a number of bullet wounds, but the same bullet can pass through multiple places on the body to cause a number of additional entry wounds. So if you think about this in terms of someone being shot in the arm and it passing through the arm and entering the person's body, well, that's two entrance wounds, but would done by one bullet. And so it's difficult to determine from a medical examiner's point of view how many actual shots were fired. That's done, again, by forensics and crime scene analysis and evidence — actual physical evidence — collected at the scene, shooting incident reports, those types of things to determine how many rounds were actually fired. But one bullet can certainly cause more than one entrance wound.
Peter Biello: What does the release of this type of information do to an investigation? Is it compromised in any way because this information is now public?
Michael Moore: Well, it can be. And so there's really a sort of a general rule — and the state bar governs rules for prosecutors — about what information can and cannot be put out in the public domain during an investigation like this. And it's really about — the purpose behind the rules is about maintaining public confidence in an investigation. And so sort of piecemeal or, you know, drib-drab information sort of dropping out is not an ideal situation because one report may say one thing and another report seems to say something. But when read together, they're not inconsistent. However, if you don't have that opportunity to look at them together, you might think that one has information that may be particularly important in a case and then you find out it's not. So piecemealing information out is not always a good practice. And I think typically, you know, good prosecutors make sure they don't do that.
Peter Biello: So we are now more than three months out from the killing of Manuel Teran. What at this stage are prosecutors likely to be doing as they seek answers?
Michael Moore: Well, we really have this autopsy report completed by Dr. Gowitt, and I think it's just been a matter of a few weeks, actually, since it was finalized. I think he signed off on it some time, if I'm correct, about the middle of March. At that point, the complete case file, including the shooting reports, the reconstructions, the witness statements, and now the autopsy reports and chemical analysis, those types of things, that whole file is presented to a prosecutor to review and he or she will take their time to make sure that they understand the evidence that's in front of them, to understand what witnesses who were on the scene have said about the case, and then how that compares to the physical evidence that they would have available to present or to consider as they make decisions about whether or not they should present criminal charges to a grand jury. So all the lawyers involved, whether it's on the government side or on the civil side, would be doing a really deep dive into this now complete case file.
Peter Biello: Well, Michael Moore, a former U.S. attorney and partner at Moore Hall in Atlanta, thank you so much for providing a little context. We appreciate it.
Michael Moore: It's a pleasure to be with you. Thank you, Peter.
Story 7
Peter Biello: Atlanta has a new monument and garden celebrating and honoring the legacy of civil rights activist Coretta Scott King. They were dedicated yesterday on what would have been her 96th birthday. They sit on the grounds of the King Center in Atlanta, which King founded in 1968 to memorialize the life, work, legacy and commitment to nonviolence of her husband, slain civil rights leader, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The monument was created by artist Saya Woolfalk.
Story 8
Peter Biello: This weekend, Atlanta plays host to three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Huge crowds are expected and tonight will be especially busy in the area as, just a short walk away from the Benz, Janet Jackson is playing a near sold-out show at State Farm Arena. While official numbers have not been released, we know that the concert capacity at State Farm Arena is close to 17,000, and the concert capacity at Mercedes-Benz is more than 80,000. And that is not counting ticket takers, security officers, popcorn vendors, Uber drivers, stagehands and everyone else needed to put on a large concert. That math there is enough to give any traffic planner a headache. So, yeah, raise your hand if you are legit scared to attempt to drive anywhere near that area this evening. Yeah, me too.
And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you'd like to learn more about these stories, visit GPB.org/News. And make sure you subscribe to this podcast, because we've got some fascinating conversations coming your way next week. We're going to have more on the NFL draft, for example, and Georgia connections to it. I'm also going to speak with the hosts of the Prison Town podcast. That's a podcast that looks at systemic problems inside the Georgia Department of Corrections through the lens of one particularly troubled facility. Again, that podcast is Prison Town, and I'll speak with the hosts next week. If you've got feedback on this podcast, we'd love to hear it. Email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org.
I'm Peter Biello. Have a great weekend. We'll be back with you on Monday.
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