Georgia Today: Cellphone bans; Underwater cameras go missing; Georgia athletes at the Olympic Games

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, Aug. 2. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, it's back to school season and cellphone bans are going into effect at some schools across the state. Underwater cameras placed inside former MARTA cars go missing off the Georgia coast, and Georgia athletes bring home medals at the Olympic Games in Paris. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: A group trying to energize conservative women visited Atlanta yesterday as part of a national bus tour ahead of former President Donald Trump's Atlanta rally on Saturday. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more.

Sarah Kallis: Concerned Women for America took the "She Prays, She Votes" tour to First Baptist Church in Dunwoody, where about 100 supporters gather to talk about conservative values, including abortion restrictions and support for Israel. Chloe Satterfield is a college student and founded the Georgia Tech chapter of the conservative group Young Women for America. She says she hopes Trump resonates with women when he speaks on Saturday.

Chloe Satterfield: He really needs to appeal to female voters. If metro Atlanta Republican women do not vote, then a Republican will not win Georgia. So I really hope that he mentioned something like that and, you know, emphasizes that, you know, just because you're a woman doesn't mean you have to be pro-choice.

Sarah Kallis: Trump's rally is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Georgia State Convocation Center, the same venue where Vice President Kamala Harris held her rally on Tuesday. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Georgia has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and some of the strictest limits on abortion. A small campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris held in Atlanta today aimed to highlight those facts as a reason people should vote for her. Even before announcing her run for office, Vice President Kamala Harris has been outspoken on the topics, calling abortion a constitutional right and backing policy that would expand health care access. She's also been endorsed by some major abortion rights groups. Georgia House Rep. Jasmine Clark says she has Harris's back.

Jasmine Clark: Women in Georgia cannot afford another Trump presidency. We just can't. Vice President Harris believes that reproductive health care decisions belong to women and their doctors, and there's no room in that doctor's office for politicians.

Peter Biello: Harris blamed former President Donald Trump for taking away reproductive freedom during her campaign stop Tuesday in Atlanta, her first major event since announcing her run for president. Tomorrow, Trump will host a rally at the same location.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A video of Parker Short dancing to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" at Kamala Harris' Atlanta rally has gone viral on social media. Short, the president of the Young Democrats of Georgia, said he is using his newfound internet stardom to direct attention to his organization..

Parker Short: It's a little overwhelming with all these new people following me, but there's been an immense amount of support and love, and so grateful that I can use this silly moment to direct people towards the importance of youth organizing.

Peter Biello: The video of Short dancing was reposted on multiple social media platforms and has been viewed, shared and liked thousands of times.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: It's back to school season, and for many students, the new school year brings new restrictions on one classroom distraction. Orlando Montoya reports on new bans in place for cellphones.

Orlando Montoya: School districts in Augusta, Richmond, Liberty and DeKalb counties are among those in Georgia implementing either total, partial or exploratory bans on cellphones this year. It's a nationwide trend that includes new bans in New York and Los Angeles. Georgia Southern University educational psychology professor Abe Flanagan says the devices take attention away from learning, and banning them supports both students and teachers.

Abe Flanagan: It's one thing for a teacher to say "no phones in my classes," but if students can have phones in their other classes, that can make them be more resistant to that policy in that one particular teacher's classroom. But if at the administrative level they've said "no phones in any classes," then the teachers now have that support.

Orlando Montoya: He's optimistic once the bans go into effect, classrooms will become just another place like movie theaters and libraries, where cellphone use is socially unacceptable. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Attorneys for Jose Ibarra have asked the judge to move his case out of Athens-Clarke County. Ibarra is accused of killing nursing student Laken Riley, whose body was found on the UGA campus earlier this year. His attorneys argue that finding an impartial jury in Athens-Clarke County would be impossible, given the extensive media coverage the cases received. Georgia courts consider changes of venue and media coverage is inflammatory. Ibarra, who is from Venezuela, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case — and Republicans have blamed Riley's death on President Joe Biden and his border policies. Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard gave prosecutors 10 days to respond to the request for a change of venue, which was filed yesterday. A grand jury indicted Ibarra in May. He pleaded not guilty.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Former President Jimmy Carter will be honored next month ahead of his 100th birthday with a star-studded lineup of musicians. The Carter Center says a celebration in Atlanta on Sept. 17th will feature Chuck Lavelle, Maren Morris and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. Carter remains at home in Plains, Ga., where he has been receiving hospice care for a year and a half.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Underwater cameras inside two submerged subway cars off the coast of Georgia have gone missing. State divers discovered the disappearance of the three cameras on Tuesday. The former MARTA cars were dropped into the ocean 23 nautical miles off Ossabaw Island in December. The cameras were installed inside the train cars to watch their descent. Tyler Jones, with the Georgia Coastal Resources Division, says the videos stored on those cameras would have been used in educational materials for children.

Tyler Jones: You know, luckily, the technology is pretty cost-effective. You know, it's not what it used to be, so it's a little more affordable now. We were just excited to be able to share that — that moment with the public. And it's a little disappointing, but we'll try again in the future.

Peter Biello: The Coastal Resources Division asked its Facebook followers this week for help solving the mystery, adding quote, "if anyone has seen them, let us know. We promise not to ask about any fishy business."

Caption

Solar farm

Story 8:

Peter Biello: U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is introducing a bipartisan bill to prevent Chinese companies from using American tax credits designed to accelerate American solar manufacturing. This comes as Congress makes moves to protect American solar manufacturing from Chinese imports, and what some lawmakers see as unfair competition that threatens the industry. In a statement, Ossoff said these tax incentives, quote, "shouldn't be used by Chinese solar companies that threaten our energy security." Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Rick Scott of Florida co-sponsored the bill.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: A tropical storm is likely to arrive in far south Georgia on Monday morning. That's according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm would come from a tropical disturbance currently in Cuba, which forecasters say has a 90% chance of forming into at least a tropical depression. The National Hurricane Center's forecast cone predicts it will make U.S. landfall as a tropical storm on the Gulf Coast of south Florida tomorrow night. Georgia has not yet had a tropical cyclone this hurricane season.

Caption

Olympics

Story 10:

Peter Biello: Athletes with ties to Georgia have medaled in the first week of the Olympic Games in Paris. Among them are Alex Cedric, who played rugby at Life University in Marietta. Cedric is part of the rugby sevens team that won the bronze medal on Tuesday. And Dunwoody native Brooks Curry is part of the team that won silver in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle in swimming. Brody Malone, of Somerville, is part of a team that won bronze in the men's gymnastics team competition on Monday and swimmer Nick Finke, who is an alum of Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, secured the silver in the 100 meter breaststroke on Sunday.

Story 11:

Peter Biello: In baseball, the Atlanta Braves face the Miami Marlins again at home tonight for the second of a four-game series. The Braves beat the Marlins last night, 4 to 2. Jorge Soler made his return to the Braves after being traded back to Atlanta by the Giants. Soler was the 2021 World Series MVP who launched a home run in Game 6 of that series some say still has not landed. Spencer Schwellenbach is scheduled to start for the Braves tonight.

Story 12:

Peter Biello: Former Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and his wife Chelsea, say their 3-year-old son Maximus, is suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Their statement on social media comes more than a week after his current team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, scratched him from the starting lineup against Houston, then placed him on the family emergency list a day later. Freeman rushed home and hasn't played since. The Freemans say Maximus has improved recently, saying, quote, "we have faith that he will be completely healed."

Story 13:

Peter Biello: And that's all we've got for Georgia Today today. If you want to learn more about the stories that you heard today, visit GPB.org/News. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, I highly recommend you do now. We will be back in your podcast feed on Monday afternoon with all the latest stories from Georgia. And if you've got feedback or a story we should know about, shoot us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great weekend.

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