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Georgia Today: AC repaired at Fulton Jail; Chatham DA commission; Former Dawgs win British Open
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LISTEN: On the Monday, July 24th edition of Georgia Today: The AC is back on at the Fulton County Jail after last week's storm damage; the Chatham County DA is blasting a new state commission with the authority to replace local DAs; and a pair of former Bulldogs comes up big at the British Open golf tournament.
Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, July 24th. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, the AC is back on at the Fulton County Jail after last week's storm damage. The Chatham County DA is blasting a new state commission with the authority to replace local DAs. And a pair of former bulldogs comes up big at the British Open golf tournament. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.
Story 1:
Orlando Montoya: Officials in Atlanta's Fulton County say they've completed key repairs on the air conditioning system at the county jail. Storms on Friday damaged a propane tank at the jail, releasing dangerous gases that prevented maintenance crews from restarting the system after a power outage. The AC remained off all weekend as outside temperatures approached 90 degrees and the jail stopped accepting new detainees. Officials expect temperatures inside the jail to return to normal today.
Story 2:
Orlando Montoya: Six deputies of a north central Georgia sheriff's office will not be indicted in the death of a mentally ill inmate who had been in jail overnight on a trespassing charge. The Clayton County Sheriff's Office deputies faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and violating their oath of office following the November death of 38-year-old Terry Lee Thurmond III of Hapeville. His death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner's office. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a grand jury declined to indict last week, but the jury did not provide a reason. The sheriff's office announced in December that it had fired the six deputies following an investigation of Thurmond's death.
Story 3:
Orlando Montoya: The district attorney in Savannah's Chatham County is blasting a new state commission that has the power to fire locally elected DAs and other prosecutors. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.
Benjamin Payne: The Prosecuting Attorney's Qualifications Commission, created by Senate Bill 92 and recently signed into law by Gov. Kemp, is a Republican-appointed board whose members can investigate and discipline local prosecutors across the state. Speaking in Savannah at a conference of Black lawmakers held over the weekend, Chatham County DA Shalena Cook-Jones called the legislation:
Shalena Cook-Jones: So dangerous to criminal justice reform and progressive — what people call "progressive prosecution." I'm not a progressive prosecutor. I'm a smart prosecutor. Let's do what makes sense with the resources that we have, particularly in this post-COVID era.
Benjamin Payne: Jones, a Democrat, has faced criticism herself for dropping investigations into officer-involved shootings in Chatham County without notifying the public. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.
Story 4:
Orlando Montoya: Georgia is among the states seeing the highest growth in solar energy jobs. That's according to a national census of jobs in the industry, released last week by the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council. The group found Georgia solar jobs increased by 25% in the last five years to about 5,400, mostly in installation and project development. Georgia manufacturing in solar got a major boost earlier this year when South Korea-based solar panel maker QCells announced new facilities in northwest Georgia expected to create 2,500 new jobs.
Story 5:
Orlando Montoya: The Veterans Administration Medical Center in Dublin plans to start participating in a pilot project to see if Uber drivers can help get Middle Georgia veterans to their appointments. The program is one of several nationwide designed to supplement the agency's existing transportation options and decrease appointment cancellations. Center Administrator Michael Captain says the VA doesn't have enough drivers on its own to meet demand on busy days.
Michael Captain: If we get an influx of appointments on, you know, whatever day, then we may not have the drivers to be able to pick, you know, all the veterans up. So this is in addition to what we already have, that we can help ensure that our veterans get to their appointments on time.
Orlando Montoya: Since rolling out VA Uber Health Connect at 10 centers last year, the agency says it's completed more than 30,000 rides and saved at least $35 million. The cost savings come from faster discharges and fewer missed appointments. The Dublin program could begin next month.
Story 6:
Orlando Montoya: Georgia's transportation commissioner will get another $100,000 pay raise. The State Transportation Board says it will boost Commissioner Russell McMurray's yearly pay to $550,000. Among achievements cited for the raise are McMurray's management of a series of highway improvement projects, including reconstructions of major interstate junctions in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah. The state paid Gov. Brian Kemp a little more than $176,000 last year.
Story 7:
Orlando Montoya: A formerly Democratic state lawmaker who switched to the Republican Party earlier this month has lost her seat on the Georgia Council on Literacy. GPB's Donna Lowry reports on the fallout from the defection by Atlanta state Rep. Meesha Mainor.
Donna Lowry: Georgia House Speaker John Burns initially appointed Mainor to the Council on Literacy but withdrew her name after she changed party affiliations. Mainor says she's disappointed but understands the provisions of the law determining eligibility.
Meesha Mainor: At the end of the day, the legislation says there will be two people from the minority party and I was one of the two people and I am no longer a member of the minority party.
Donna Lowry: Rep. Al Williams of Midway has replaced Mainor on the council. As for other feedback to her switching parties and becoming the first Black woman Republican under the Georgia Gold Dome, Mainor says she's had mixed reactions.
Meesha Mainor: It's been a positive response from the Republican side, and there have been some positive responses from the Democrat side. And I'm sure you have seen all the hate emails that I've received, but those are not from constituents.
Donna Lowry: She doesn't regret her decision because many Democratic lawmakers, she says, didn't support her from the beginning.
Meesha Mainor: So walking into the door, legislators came up to me and said they would never support me. So it started off on rocky ground because I was not their choice. From there, we get into different policy issues that I did not agree with, with the Democrats, you know, between school choice, defunding the police, prosecutor oversight, HB 1331, which was the workforce development bill, the things that they were taking caucus positions on, I starkly disagreed with. I voted my conscience. I voted the way that was best for my community. Now I can do so much more without people attacking me within my own party. I was a centrist before. I'm still a centrist. And to me a centrist means you can be an either party. Who do you work with better in Georgia? I can't speak for how it is in other states, but in Georgia, at the Georgia Capitol, it is easier to work with Republicans.
Donna Lowry: She expects to win another term in 2024 as a Republican in her overwhelmingly Democratic district in Atlanta, and she plans to support whoever is chosen as the Republican nominee for president. Donna Lowry for GPB News.
Story 8:
Orlando Montoya: A lawsuit filed by 30 North Carolina residents has accused New York-based brokerage and investment bank Oppenheimer and Company and two of its Atlanta-based managers of hiding the truth about a massive Ponzi scheme being run by its employees. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that, according to a filing in Fulton County State Court, the scheme was run by John Woods, a former Marietta-based Oppenheimer Securities broker who also was senior vice president in its Atlanta branch office. Woods pleaded guilty to wire fraud in March. Last fall, Oppenheimer lost a $36 million arbitration case stemming from complaints by another group of investors who said they had been bilked by Woods while he was operating from Oppenheimer offices. In January, Oppenheimer lost an attempt to vacate that decision in Georgia Superior Court.
Story 9:
Orlando Montoya: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has issued an investor alert, warning consumers to watch out for a cryptocurrency scam known as Pig Butchering. The scam involves using casual conversation to coax the victim into investing money in a fake cryptocurrency trading platform. "Pig butchering" refers to the scammer "fattening" the victims with the illusion of opportunities for a great return on their investment. Consumers who suspect such a scam may be taking place should immediately stop transferring money to the suspected scammer and report the crime to their bank and local law enforcement agency.
Story 10:
Orlando Montoya: Georgia Bulldog fans are celebrating golfer Brian Harman's first major championship win over the weekend. Harman, who played for the University of Georgia golf team and hails from Savannah, won the British Open yesterday with a six-stroke victory. Harman took the lead on Friday morning and never trailed over the final 51 holes. Another former UGA golfer, Austrian Sepp Straka, finished second in a four-way tie.
Story 11:
Orlando Montoya: And former Atlanta Braves player Fred McGriff was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend. McGriff was selected unanimously by the contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee. Over his career, he played for six teams and was a five-time All-Star. He also helped the Atlanta Braves win the 1995 World Series. In Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, McGriff said there was no greater honor than having fellow players deem him worthy of the Hall of Fame.
And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. For more Georgia news, visit our website. GPB.org/news. There you'll find a constantly updating stream of stories about our state. And if you haven't yet hit subscribe on this podcast, please take a moment to do that right now so you'll always be current with us in your feed. If you have feedback, we'd love to hear that. Tell us the good, the bad and whatever you'd like. Send us story suggestions as well, to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya and I'll talk to you again tomorrow.
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