Georgia Today: Jan. 6 rioter sentenced; Immigrant rights advocates protest new law; Avian flu

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB news. Today is Friday, May 3rd. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, a Georgia man who participated in the January 6th insurrection is sentenced. Advocates protest a new law requiring citizenship status checks for Georgia detainees, and new DNA evidence emerges in a decade old murder case. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: A Georgia man who repeatedly attacked law enforcement officers during the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol, has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison. 33 year old Jack Whitton of Locust Grove, south of Atlanta, struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him into the mob of Donald Trump supporters, later boasting about it. He expressed remorse at a sentencing in Washington, D.C., yesterday morning. Whiton got credit for the three years he's been in jail since his arrest. More than 1300 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 850 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Investigators are hoping new evidence could lead to a breakthrough in a decade old murder case in middle Georgia. The FBI and the Putnam County sheriff say new DNA has been found in connection with the 2014 killings of Shirley and Russell Durman. Russell Durman was found dead in his home in Eatonton. Authorities say he had been decapitated. Ten days later, a fisherman found his wife Shirley German's body in Lake Oconee. The grisly crime shocked the community. FBI Special Agent Andy Smith has been working on the case for years.

Andy Smith: This is the first time we have confirmation of a sample that did not belong to Russell or Shirley Durman.

Peter Biello: Authorities sent the evidence to a private DNA lab for further testing.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Advocates for immigrant rights, are wrapping up three days of action after Governor Brian Kemp signed a new law requiring Georgia jails to check the citizenship status of all detainees. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

Amanda Andrews: House Bill 1105 requires law enforcement to enter what's called a 287 agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the new law, officers who don't check immigration status could face misdemeanor charges, and uncooperative cities could lose state funding. Eduardo Delgado works with Migrant Equity Southeast. He says the bill is retaliatory and discriminatory.

Eduardo Delgado: This kind of entrapment is made to cause panic throughout immigrant households because of that, because, like ourselves, most cities are negative and rarely are communities behind opposing this bill for what it is. Xenophobic, radical legislation.

Amanda Andrews: Advocates with the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights will be conducting outreach in locations around Atlanta, Savannah, Dalton and Athens. For GPB news, I'm Amanda Andrews in Atlanta.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill yesterday putting new regulations on the production and sale of products containing kratom. The plant based supplement is often sold in gas stations or smoke shops, and is marketed as an aid for pain, anxiety and drug dependance. The DEA says it can be addictive but is not a controlled substance. The new law prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21, requires it to be kept behind a counter or in a display area, and limits the concentration of kratom's main chemical components and products sold in Georgia. It also imposes new labeling requirements and adds penalties for violations. The new law takes effect January 1st.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Georgia's agriculture industry is on high alert for possible cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. The virus has gone from one transmission to a human. Now to outbreaks among dairy cows in eight states. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more on how Georgia has responded.

Sofi Gratas: There have been no reported cases of HPAI in Georgia among people or dairy cows since the first case in Texas more than a month ago. The virus has not been detected in Georgia poultry since last year. Spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Matthew Agvent, says farmers here are already prepared with safety measures to prevent transmission since the poultry industry is such an economic driver. So right now, farmers and consumers are still at low risk and testing for the virus isn't required.

Matthew Agvent: We haven't mandated anything, but, you know, we are very strongly encouraging. Producers put in place enhanced biosecurity measures. And by and large, we have seen folks do that.

Sofi Gratas: There is, however, a federal testing mandate on dairy cows moving across state lines issued last week. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: More than 100,000 voters have cast ballots so far as early voting continues ahead of the state's May 21st primary. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shared the number today after early voting started on Monday. At least 17 days of early voting are available with federal, state and local positions and many local issues to be decided.

Caption

Rivian

Credit: Stephen Fowler / GPB News

Story 7:

Peter Biello: In business news, electric vehicle maker Rivian is getting more than $800 million in incentives from the state of Illinois to expand its operations at a plant in normal, Illinois. The financial package announced yesterday, comes months after the company delivered a bombshell to its partners in Georgia, saying it would delay plans for a massive factory near Social Circle, east of Atlanta. Georgia has approved a $1.5 billion incentive package for Rivian. The company says it remains committed to its Georgia plans.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: A Swiss maker of auto and aircraft parts, plans to build a $184 million manufacturing plant in Augusta, Richmond County. GF Casting Solutions said today the facility is expected to create 350 jobs and come into operation in 2027. The company is one of the world's top producers of lightweight automotive and aviation components. Its site in Augusta will focus on cast aluminum parts and large structural components for cars and trucks.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Rents in metro Atlanta are among the fastest falling in the nation. At least, that's according to the latest survey of median rents by Realtor.com. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports.

Orlando Montoya: Atlanta developers have been adding new apartment units at a brisk pace, causing a surge of supply and competition for renters. Bambie Hayes-Brown leads the housing advocacy group Georgia Advancing Communities Together.

Bambie Hayes-Brown: I have seen some complexes as I travel that have move in specials in order to get people into those units, but the people that we see primarily for low and moderate income people, no, they are not feeling that. They are feeling increases in rent. She cites inflation and low wages as continuing pressures. The Realtor.com report says compared to a year ago, the median Atlanta rent for a one bedroom unit fell nearly 4% to just over $1,600 a month. A rate of decrease behind only Austin, Memphis and Saint Louis. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

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books!

Story 10:

Peter Biello: In 1997, the death of Virginia Ridley in the northwest Georgia town of Ringgold set the nation's tabloids alight. The state charged her husband, Alvin, a former television repairman, with the sensational crime of smothering her to death after keeping her captive in their home for decades. The problem was this wasn't a murder story, but a love story. The man who unravel the mystery was Alvin Ridley's lawyer, a former state lawmaker who's now written a book about the case called Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom. McCracken Posten spoke to GPB's Orlando Montoya.

Orlando Montoya: McCracken. You seem like the kind of person who has a lot of stories to tell from your career in the courtroom to your time in public office. Why was this story the one you wanted to write a book about?

McCracken Posten: Well, I really saw that quote by Maya Angelou that the agony of bearing an untold story in you. I really felt that. And and I gave it away for years, even before I knew the full story of the different TV true crime shows. A lot of the listeners will be familiar with this case from, Forensic Files or American Justice or on NPR, snap judgment even. But those were all before the final piece of the puzzle was found about Alvin Ridley just three years ago.

Orlando Montoya: And what was that final piece of the puzzle.

McCracken Posten: That he is on the autistic spectrum. And it all just rushed, you know, toward me when I realized that because it explained everything about our difficulties as attorney and client, which we had extreme difficulties as attorney and client, he did not want to do what I wanted him to do. He wanted me to focus on things that seemed completely irrelevant. And it just was a battle, to represent him.

Orlando Montoya: Let's talk a little bit more about Alvin and his wife, Virginia. They married in the 1960s, and they really seemed perfect for each other in their own sort of reclusive, eccentric, neurodivergent ways. But ways that would be misunderstood when Virginia died. So can you tell me a little bit more about their peculiarities?

McCracken Posten: Well, Ringgold, Georgia is known as the marriage capital of the South. And Dolly Parton and Carl Dean got married in 1966. Three weeks later, Alvin and Virginia Hickey, became, husband and wife or got their license, in the Curtis County courthouse. And but by the time George Jones and Tammy Wynette got married in Ringgold in 1969, Virginia was nowhere to be found. Her parents were putting articles in the Chattanooga newspaper and the Catoosa County, Georgia News titled Parents Seek Married Daughter with her photo on the front page saying she was last seen with her husband, Alvin Ridley. So this was a festering thing for many years.

Orlando Montoya: That she was staying reclusive on purpose. She wasn't being held up or tied up.

McCracken Posten: And that should have been settled September 15th, 1970, when they were being evicted and Alvin took it to a jury trial. Which does not surprise me at all, because he's so litigious and difficult. The judge at the time, Judge Paul Painter, stopped the proceedings and said, Mr. Ridley, get somebody to bring your wife here. Alvin's father went and got Virginia. They went back into chambers with the judge and her parents. When they emerged, she went back with Alvin. They they settled in his parents home. And her parents really never put any more ads in the newspaper or anything. So it should have been settled. Then, 27 years later, when she dies and Alvin reports her death. Unfortunately, those old rumors started stirring up again, and her siblings, thought that she had been held against her will.

Orlando Montoya: And so now we get to the moment of 1997, and one theme of this book, one that's relevant to us today, is how people who are different can become suspect very easily. How did bias against Alvin figure into this case so quickly, even within hours of Virginia's death?

McCracken Posten: We weren't talking about adult autism a lot back in the late 90s. The spectrum had just been identified, yet it was really being mostly applied to children that were being, diagnosed. There are 5.5 million adults still walking around undiagnosed. And if, like Alvin, they encounter an untrained, unprepared law enforcement officer or any inquisitor, the answers are not going to seem like answers that one would expect. They would sound evasive. Often they would sound, a flat effect. And that was these things were actually used against Alvin at trial. His flat vocal effect when he called 911. The fact that his emotions did not rise to the moment, as the neurotypical mind would think they should. It all made sense to me when Alvin was diagnosed, and one of the reactions to this book, one of the greatest reactions, has been to family by families who have a loved one who is autistic. And they're reading the book, which is chronological, and they're saying, I could have told you from page one that he he was neurodivergent and and of course they could, because they, they have that knowledge now. And now I have the knowledge and I'm looking back and thinking, wow, that should have been completely obvious to me.

Orlando Montoya: By the end of the book, we find out that Virginia was not smothered. She had a seizure. The jury found Alvin not guilty. How is Alvin doing?

McCracken Posten: Alvin just turned 82. When we left that courthouse 25 years ago. In a few weeks. Just off the cuff, I said, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Alvin Ray Lee, a free man and an innocent man. But then I said. And a man ready to. Basically restore his name in this community.

Orlando Montoya: And you two continue to meet, and he's in good health.

McCracken Posten: Twice a week lunch rigidly per his instructions. We got him a VA ramp built at his house, and I was told it was like because of the strange topography of his house and his yard. And this is the house his dad built it back in the.

Orlando Montoya: Now he still lives in the same house.

McCracken Posten: Oh yeah, not much changes.

Orlando Montoya: McCracken Posten is the author of "Zenith Man:  Death, love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom. Thanks for being here.

McCracken Posten: Thank you.

Peter Biello: And "Zenith Man" is the subject of the latest episode of Narrative Edge, GPB podcast about books with Georgia connections. You can find a new episode every two weeks. It's hosted by Orlando and me, and you can find Narrative Edge wherever you get your podcasts.

Caption

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.

Credit: John Bazemore

Story 10:

Peter Biello: In sports, the University of Georgia's Kirby Smart has agreed to a contract extension that makes him the highest paid coach in college football. Smart got a $1.75 million bump in salary to $13 million annually as part of the deal, which ties into the Bulldogs through 2033.

In other sports news, U.S. Women's national Team defender and Georgia native Kelley O'Hara is retiring at the end of the National Women's Soccer League season. The two time Women's World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist announced her plans and thanked her supporters on social media yesterday.

Kelley O'Hara: I've been playing soccer since I was four years old and it's been an absolute joy. But as they say, don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. And I know there will be a lot of tears by me and probably some of y'all, but I hope there's more smiles. So,  love y'all.

Peter Biello: Recently dogged by injuries, the 35 year old's last match with the national team came at the Women's World Cup last summer. O'Hara was born in metro Atlanta's Fayette County and became a star at Stars Mill High School, and the Atlanta Braves have acquired right hand and reliever Jimmy Herget from the Los Angeles Angels for cash. The 30 year old pitcher was assigned to the Braves Triple-A affiliate at Gwinnett. Herget had his best season for the Angels two years ago, making 49 appearances with a 2.48 ERA and nine saves over 69 innings. The trade is essentially a depth move by the Braves, giving them an additional reliever at Triple-A with Big-league experience.

Story 12:

Peter Biello: The weather forecast is hit or miss around the state, but the threat of rain has not dampened the Spring Festival spirit. You can enjoy Bacon Fest in historic Cave Spring, Georgia. There's hot rods for history in Sonoma, and that event is a fundraiser for the Sonja Area Historical Society on the west side of the state, you'll find May Fest in downtown Carrollton and on the east side, Warrenton is celebrating downtown days in metro Atlanta. You'll find a couple of arts festivals, the Decatur Arts Festival and the Roswell Spring Arts and Crafts Festival, and the annual Shaky Knees Musical Festival that takes place in Atlanta this weekend with headliners Weezer, Foo Fighters and Noah Kahan. And if you're looking for a place to wear your big hat and enjoy a mint julep, look no further than Duluth Derby Day on the Duluth Town Green. Pre-race festivities include a best dressed contest, a pony petting zoo, and derby themed specials from local businesses.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, check out our website GPB.org/news. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, take a moment and do it now. That way will pop up automatically in your podcast feed on Monday, and if you've got feedback, send it to us by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening and have a great weekend.

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