Georgia Today: South Fulton Mayor arrest; Sustainability PHD; Georgia Tech alumni slams at Wimbledon

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, July 11. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the mayor of the city of South Fulton is arrested. Georgia Southern offers a first of its kind degree in sustainability. And a former Georgia Tech student continues his amazing run at Wimbledon. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: South Fulton Mayor Khalid Kamau is out of jail on bond after being arrested and charged with burglary and criminal trespass over the weekend. On Saturday, South Fulton police say they received reports of a trespasser at a home on Cascade Palmetto Highway. According to an incident report obtained by Channel 2, police were notified by the homeowner after he saw someone ignore "No Trespassing" signs and enter his lake house. The mayor was held at gunpoint by the homeowner until police arrived. He said he was out walking his dog when he decided to enter the property he thought was vacant because he was interested in buying it. Yesterday, the city released a statement saying Kamau will continue to serve as mayor.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is conducting a study that uses newborn babies' own stem cells to help heal congenital heart defects. Emory and Georgia Tech universities are collaborating in the research. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: Babies born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome have extra stress on the right side as it works overtime, pumping blood through the body. The hospital's ongoing trial to treat pediatric heart disease is one of only three in the country. Michael Davis is leading the research at Children's.

Michael Davis: HLHS says not extremely common. I think it only represents 1% to 3% of all congenital heart defects, but it does represent a significant amount of mortality and cost. You know, the mortality is — is quite high considering its low incidence.

Ellen Eldridge: Results from the trial are expected by spring 2024. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Caption

Longtime Atlanta journalist Bill Shipp as editor of the University of Georgia student newspaper in 1953 (left) and at his home office in Acworth, Ga., in 2016 (right). Shipp died in July 2023.

Credit: GPB

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Longtime Georgia political journalist and Georgia Writers Hall of Fame inductee Bill Shipp has died. Shipp covered state politics for five decades, beginning in the 1950s, when, as a writer for the University of Georgia's student newspaper, he was fired for advocating for racial integration. He spoke with GPB about it in 2016.

Bill Shipp: I wasn't worried about the — my career, but I did decide I would show the faculty at the University of Georgia and the students how I felt. So I enlisted in the Army.

Peter Biello: One of his biggest scoops was reporting Jimmy Carter's intention to run for president — news that he said his editors at the Atlanta Constitution debated whether or not was actually news. The Journal-Constitution reported his death on Saturday. Bill Shipp was 89 years old.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Friends and family members of a South Georgia sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty last week gathered this afternoon for his funeral. Gov. Brian Kemp ordered flags at the state capitol and in Crisp County to be flown at half staff in honor of the late deputy Ty Brown. County Sheriff Billy Hancock described the 26-year-old Forsyth native and veteran as a great guy and a great worker.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Georgia Southern University is launching a new school this month focused on sustainability. And starting this fall, it will offer a first of its kind doctoral degree in Georgia. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Georgia Southern's new Ph.D. program in environmental science has been in the works for some time.

Daniel Gleason: About 20 years. It hasn't been a short, short period of time.

Benjamin Payne: That's Professor Daniel Gleason, who chairs the New School of Earth Environment and Sustainability. It has a fitting acronym: SEES. After all, sea level rise is top of mind for many Coastal Georgians, and employers are starting to take notice.

Daniel Gleason: Business and industry is becoming more cognizant of their impact on the environment. So there are opportunities for students. We want to give them the tools they can use to go out and get jobs in these various areas.

Benjamin Payne: The new school isn't just for Ph.D. students. It also has an accelerated master's in environmental science students can pursue while they're still in their undergraduate programs. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne.

Caption

Christopher Eubanks of the U.S. celebrates after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in a men's singles match on Day 8 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Monday, July 10, 2023.

Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant

Story 6:

Peter Biello: In sports news, Georgia Tech's Chris Eubanks continues his storybook run at Wimbledon. The 27 year old Atlantan has advanced to the quarterfinals in his first appearance at the Grand Slam event. Eubanks stunned the two-time slam runner up Stefanos Tsitsipas, in a little under 3 hours today. Eubanks said the entire experience has been a whirlwind, something that you dream about. This is just his ninth Grand Slam tournament and he had never previously been past the second round.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: And in baseball, the MLB's first year player draft continue this afternoon, a day after the Braves made a few selections on the first day of the draft. The Braves took right-handed pitcher and Thomasville, Georgia, Native Hurston Waldrep yesterday as their first round selection, No. 24 overall. The 21-year-old made 19 starts for the University of Florida this year, going 10 and 3 with a 4.16 era. Waldrep says getting drafted by his favorite team feels surreal.

Hurston Waldrep: I grew up watching the Braves grow up a big race, and I could have named every Braves player and still can. So I've been watching since I was 6 years old, since I fell in love with baseball. So this is going to be awesome.

Peter Biello: Yesterday, the Braves also selected right-handed pitchers Drew Hackenberg and Kade Keeler. The Braves have taken pitchers in the first round of each of the last four drafts, including lefty Jared Schuster in 2020. Another Georgian drafted in the big leagues yesterday was Chase Dolan. The Colorado Rockies drafted the East Georgia native. He started his college career at Georgia Southern before transferring to the University of Tennessee.

Peter Biello: We hope your week got off to a great start and thank you so much for starting it with Georgia Today. Really do appreciate you being there. We hope you come back tomorrow as well. The best way to stay on top of the news with Georgia Today is to subscribe to this podcast. Subscribe and we'll be back with you tomorrow afternoon. If you want to learn more about these stories, check out our website, GPB.org/news. We're always posting new stories there, and if you have feedback for us, we'd love to hear it. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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For more on these stories and more go to GPB.org/news.