Georgia Today: No charges for protester killing; Judge denies trial request; Savannah Bananas

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, Oct. 6. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Georgia State troopers will not face charges for the killing of a protester opposed to Atlanta's proposed police training center. A federal judge denies a request by a defendant in the 2020 election fraud case. And the Savannah Bananas unpeel their 2024 game schedule. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Georgia state troopers will not face criminal charges for killing a protester opposed to Atlanta's planned public safety training center earlier this year. As GPB's Amanda Andrews reports, the results of an independent investigation were released today.

Amanda Andrews: The report from the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian found the six Georgia State Patrol officers' use of deadly force was, quote, "objectively reasonable." It went on to say that Manuel Paez Teran, also known as Tortugita, committed several criminal offenses, including trespassing and aggravated assault. Teran shot at law enforcement officers four times after a pepper ball was launched at their tent. Troopers then returned fire, killing Teran. Christian was appointed to review the findings after DeKalb DA Sherry Boston recused herself from the case. For GPB News. I'm Amanda Andrews.

Peter Biello: An attorney for Teran's family called the report a "rubber stamp that lacked critical analysis" and is calling on the GBI and the district attorney to release the evidence underlying this decision.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: A Fulton County judge has denied a request by attorney Sidney Powell to dismiss her charges in the sprawling election interference RICO case. GPB's Stephen Fowler has more.

Stephen Fowler: In a Thursday hearing, Powell's lawyer argued prosecutors were hiding evidence to prove she was innocent and that her case should be dismissed. The Fulton County DA's office disagreed, and so did Judge Scott McAfee, who said it was a jury's role to decide that.

Scott McAfee: We could have a preliminary trial that would last weeks as well. But that's not what we want to do.

Stephen Fowler: The trial for Powell and lawyer Kenneth Chesebro is slated to start later this month with jury selection beginning Oct. 20. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Georgia is getting another infusion of cash from President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law. More than $1.8 billion will come to Georgia this fiscal year. The money is meant for things like electric vehicle infrastructure, highway repair and workforce development. White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu says it will also fund the repair of off-system bridges that aren't part of the interstate highway system.

Mitch Landrieu: So if you're trying to get your stuff from the ground to market or, you know, you're trying to get emergency medical services to an out-of-the-way place where your mom and dad might be that are not close to a hospital, as all system bridges are critically important.

Peter Biello: Georgia has received $6.7 billion through the infrastructure law, which has funded more than 300 projects at various stages of completion.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: With health care open enrollment just weeks away, officials with Northeast Georgia Health System say they continue to negotiate with one of the nation's leading insurers over a contract. UnitedHealthcare dropped the Gainesville based system in May, leaving thousands of policyholders out of network. The insurer sent the system a new proposal in late September. Northeast Georgia said this week that it's disappointed with the timing of United's offer but is reviewing it. Meanwhile, Southeast Georgia Health System is dropping one of its insurers. The Brunswick-based system said this week that WellCare will be out of network with the company as of Dec. 8. WellCare offers a managed Medicare plan. The split comes after what Southeast Georgia describes as months of negotiations and years of inappropriate payments.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Georgia Power announced today that it has to replace one of the four massive pumps that cools the Unit 4 reactor at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. The company says operators found a problem with the pump's motor during testing. Georgia Power says this ends the company's hope of placing Unit 4 in commercial operation this year. The utility said the reactor is still on schedule to begin operating by March. Unit 3 entered commercial operation in July and became the first new nuclear unit built from scratch in the United States in decades. The overall project is seven years late and $17 billion over budget. Vogtle's costs and delays could deter other utilities from building nuclear plants, even though they generate electricity without releasing climate-changing carbon emissions.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Also in Georgia Power news, the company will pay $413 million to settle accusations that it broke financial promises to one of its nuclear reactor partners. Oglethorpe Power sued Georgia Power last year in a contract dispute over who should pay for cost overruns for the third and fourth reactor at Plant Vogtle. The settlement with Oglethorpe announced today could hold down future bills for millions of electric cooperative customers in Georgia. Atlanta-based Southern Company, which owns Georgia Power, said it would write off a $152 million loss on the settlement.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia state taxes on gas and diesel will be suspended for another month. Gov. Brian Kemp extended the tax rollback this morning in an executive order. The suspension of the taxes at more than $0.31 per gallon for gas and $0.35 per gallon for diesel had been scheduled to end next Thursday, but will now run through at least Nov. 11.

Caption

Savannah Bananas mascot Split waves during the “Banana Ball World Tour Draft,” where locations were announced for the team's 2023 schedule.

Credit: Savannah Bananas

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The Savannah Bananas expect to play in front of more than a million fans next year as they showcase their signature brand of baseball across the country. As GPB's Benjamin Payne reports, the Bananas unpeeled their 2024 schedule last night.

Benjamin Payne: The Bananas' nationwide tour will span 84 games from February to October. Perhaps the most notable ballpark on tap? For that, here's Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole at the team's schedule reveal show.

Jesse Cole: With the next pick in 2024 Banana Ball World Tour draft: The Savannah Bananas are going to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

Benjamin Payne: Fenway isn't the only major league ballpark on the tour. The Bananas will also be playing at the home fields of the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Cleveland Guardians, Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins. Of course, there will be plenty of home games as well at Grayson Stadium, where the team announced an additional 1,000 seats will be built. Elsewhere in Georgia, the Bananas will play three games in Gwinnett County, home of the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A affiliate for GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: In other sports news, a Canton woman has won the U.S. senior women's amateur. Sarah Gallagher won yesterday in Arizona in a one-up victory. Gallagher is the first senior women's amateur winner from Georgia since match play started in 1997. It was her first appearance in the championship. In baseball, the Braves and the Phillies play Game 1 of the best-of-five Division series tomorrow. The Braves are likely to start Spencer Strider, who has won all four of his starts against the Phillies this year. If the blister on Max Fried's finger has healed enough, Fried may start Game 2 on Monday. And in football, the Bulldogs will try to extend their school record 22-game winning streak in their return home this weekend against Kentucky, a team coming off an impressive 33 to 14 win over Florida.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We've got a long holiday weekend ahead of us, so we're going to be taking most of the day off on Monday. So we won't have a new podcast then, but we'll be back with you again on Tuesday. Remember to subscribe to this podcast. We will pop up automatically in your podcast feed on Tuesday afternoon. And if you've got feedback for us, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And remember, you can always check the latest headlines and learn more about the stories you heard today at GPB.org/news. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll be back again on Tuesday.

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

Read the latest updates on the Georgia indictments here.