Georgia Today: 'Hidden homelessness;' Third party candidates won't be on Ga. ballot; Caitlin Clark

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, Aug. 27. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, a group of nonprofits works to combat so-called "hidden homelessness." A state judge rules to keep third-party candidates off of Georgia's presidential ballot. And WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark draws a record breaking crowd to State Farm Arena. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: A judge says four independent and third-party candidates should be kept off Georgia's presidential ballots. The ruling yesterday by an administrative law judge still leaves the final decision to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. At stake is ballot access for independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Cornel West, the Green Party's Jill Stein and the party for Socialism and Liberation's Claudia De La Cruz. The judge, ruled those candidates didn't meet the legal requirements to appear on the ballot. If Raffensperger upholds the decision, Democrats believe it would favor their candidate, Kamala Harris, in a closely divided state that Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Savannah Democrats gathered today ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris's planned two-day campaign swing through South Georgia tomorrow and Thursday. As GPB's Benjamin Payne reports, they focused on the vice president's economic message.

Benjamin Payne: Elected officials and campaign volunteers stood outside a low-income housing complex to share Harris's plans to lower the cost of housing, including through a $25,000 down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers. Organizers also took time to criticize Project 2025, a conservative blueprint written by several former Trump administration officials outlining their priorities for a second term. Trump has recently tried to distance himself from the document, but Georgia state Sen. Derek Marlow isn't buying it.

Derek Marlow: Folks should wake up and look at Project 2025 as a threat to democracy, because it is. And those can deny that they had a part in it or writing it, but my grandmother would always tell me "something in the milk just ain't clean."

Benjamin Payne: Among other things, Project 2025 calls for the elimination of a federal fund to increase the nation's housing supply for low-income Americans. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A federal judge out of Georgia's Southern District Court in Brunswick ruled in favor of 17 states, including Georgia, yesterday to halt the full implementation of a new Department of Labor rule meant to expand protections for seasonal farm workers. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.

Sofi Gratas: The judge's preliminary injunction means farms in Georgia and other swing states won't have to enforce the new rule for now. The DOL finalized the rule earlier this year to address violations under the federal H-2a visa program. That includes adding protections against retaliation for labor and self-organizing. But plaintiffs say that violates the Constitution. Ag workers have been banned from unionizing since 1935. Kelsey Eberly, attorney with Farm Stand, represented parties in support of the rule, in an amicus brief.

Kelsey Eberley: As these gains are made in the legislature or as regulatory improvements are made, you know, agribusiness is very quick to challenge those in court.

Sofi Gratas: She says they hope for clarity on the ruling, which could impact the safety of hundreds of thousands of workers. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Two workers are dead and a third is injured after an explosion at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport this morning. The airline says it's heartbroken by the incident but is providing few details about it. WSB-TV reports a tire on a plane exploded. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports several Atlanta fire units and police were sent to the maintenance hangar near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly after 5:00 in the morning. Delta says it's working with authorities to investigate what happened.

Caption

Part of Rasheedah Rahmaan James' living room in her new house, which she was able to afford through the Frontline housing program.

Credit: Allexa Ceballos/GPB News

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates at least 30,000 people live in motels in metro Atlanta. Now, a group of nonprofits in the city is working to address this hidden homelessness that many working families are facing. Frontline Housing is one of six groups doing outreach and providing financial support, with the goal of moving 1,000 families from motels to stable housing by June of next year. GPB's Amanda Andrews spoke to staff and participants in the Motel to Home program.

Mary Grace King: Would you like a hygiene kit? I can walk up if you need me to. And we have information about housing.

Amanda Andrews: About once a month, frontline housing and their volunteers will set up shop at a motel called the Live in Lodge in Jonesboro. Frontline executive director Mary Grace King makes sure each volunteer walking around the motel has their arms full of hand-decorated boxes filled with supplies.

Mary Grace King: So it's just like hygiene stuff. Deodorant. So, some shampoo. Feminine hygiene.

Amanda Andrews: The toiletries aren't the main focus. King says the management here and other sites aren't always happy to see them.

Mary Grace King: Sometimes the hotels don't really want us here because it can be seen as just like taking their business. But when you have volunteers and like stuff to give away, it's a little bit easier to kind of disguise that we're trying to take their business, a little bit.

Amanda Andrews: Because what King and others are really trying to do for motel residents is provide them a way out of here. So far, Frontline has helped about 150 mostly South Atlanta families find stable, permanent housing. King says the biggest obstacles are usually financial.

Mary Grace King: So the families want to move. The families want more stable housing. But you have to make a certain amount to get approved for housing. You have to have a certain amount of credit.

Amanda Andrews: And not just credit. It's all the fees that come with moving into an apartment, like a security deposit. Motel to Home program participant Rasheeda Rahmaan James says her family couldn't afford more payments.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: It was — it was tough because we had a storage unit that we were paying, I think, $500 every month for, in addition to paying $460 a week for a hotel. Plus, we had a car note at the time and just — and my husband wasn't working. So it was a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot.

Amanda Andrews: Their housing costs were just over $2,300 a month. That, plus the cost of transportation, left Rahmaan James with no way to save, and her three sons were legally considered homeless. King says other working families living in motels make too much money for government subsidized housing programs.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: Because they're not considered like chronically homeless or street homeless. They are paying their own motel bill, and sometimes that can disqualify them for other services.

Amanda Andrews: But once Rahmaan James was connected with Frontline, she got the financial boost she needed to transition to an apartment.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: The $1,000 that was contributed to our move in was definitely welcomed and appreciated.

Amanda Andrews: That $1,000 dollars was enough for an apartment security deposit, and Frontline doesn't stop there. Once a family's moved into a new apartment, King says they get further cash assistance.

Mary Grace King: So it's a cash transfer program where we give families cash directly on a debit card, help them open a savings account, and they save throughout six months. But we're giving them the dollars to save.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: This is what I came up on, encyclopedias, so we have to have those.

Amanda Andrews: Rahmaan James and her family moved into their three-bed, two-bath apartment home in January, and now their monthly housing costs are actually less than back in the motel.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: Go have a seat. This is my boys' room.

Amanda Andrews: She says the budget is still tight sometimes, but leaving the motel has been great for her children.

Rasheeda Rahmaan James: I mean, I love it and I miss it, but I love that my kids. I don't have to, like, quiet them because we're not in the sixth floor anymore to make them "Shhh! No stomping." You know, when their Legos, one or two end up outside of the door in the hallway, I don't have to feel bad about it.

Amanda Andrews: The Motel to Home Alliance has placed nearly 400 families with 10 months left to reach their goal. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews in Clayton County.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The American Red Cross says the nation is experiencing a blood emergency because of recent severe weather events, including Tropical Storm Debby. The organization said yesterday Debby and other extreme conditions, including western wildfires, forced it to cancel nearly 60 blood drives in the past few months. That's led to a shortfall in donations and complicated efforts to rebuild the nation's blood supply. The Red Cross is offering $20 Amazon gift cards to promote donations through the end of August.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: The president of Georgia Military College has announced plans to step down. The college said yesterday Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV will leave his position when a successor is appointed. Caldwell began his leadership at the college in 2013 after a 37-year career in the U.S. Army. A statement from the college credits him with growing its enrollment and assets and expanding student opportunities. Georgia Military College has about 12,000 students across 13 campuses, headquartered in Middle Georgia's Milledgeville.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Mercer University says it hit a record for enrollment. University says more than 9,000 students enrolled this fall, up 1.5% from last fall's enrollment. More students enrolling in their law and medical schools contributed to the university's growth.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Norfolk Southern has reached tentative five-year agreements with four of its unions. The Atlanta-based railway announced the deals in partnership with BNSF Railway on Friday. If ratified, the agreements would cover about 30% of Norfolk Southern's union workforce and come four months before the opening of the next round of collective bargaining.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: A public-private partnership and the National Park Service have broken ground on a $15 million project to renovate one part of the state's most-visited park service unit. The Cumberland Community Improvement District is partnering with the agency to rehabilitate Pace's Mill at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, just north of Atlanta. It's the first major improvement in nearly 50 years at Pace's Mill, which is slated for new parking and landscaped features, increased river access and a new visitor center by 2027. The entire Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area had a record-breaking 3.5 million visitors in 2022, with $167 million in visitor spending.

Caption

Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark (22) dribbles the ball against Atlanta Dream's Allisha Gray (15) in the first half of an WNBA basketball game, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Atlanta.

Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Story 11:

Peter Biello: For the second time this year, enthusiasm for WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever drove record-setting attendance in an Atlanta Dream game. A WNBA and Georgia record 17,608 tickets were sold for last night's matchup. That's 33 more than the number sold for the Fever game in June. As a drumline performed outside State Farm Arena before tipoff, fans queued up wearing gear, showing off support for both teams. Michelle Hagerty showed up in her Indiana T-shirt. She says Clark's an amazing player.

Michelle Hagerty: She has a positive attitude. She brings a great face to women's basketball. My daughters are basketball players and she just inspires so many young people.

Peter Biello: Hagarty is here with her friend Monica Hardin of Smyrna, who's wearing an Atlanta Dream T-shirt. She says their friendship will survive no matter how the game goes.

Monica Hardin: Yeah, we're already — we've already agreed, she spoke to saying that she wasn't going to speak to me or even sit with me. But we're going to be friends.

Michelle Hagerty: Yeah, as long as she's cheering for Caitlin and the Indiana Fever, we're going to get along great.

Monica Hardin: (laughs)

Peter Biello: Willie Jones of Atlanta came to the game with her dad. She says she wasn't as interested in basketball before she saw Clark play.

Willie Jones: Now I'm way interested. Like, I play it. I sometimes I do it at my house.

Peter Biello: Last night's game included a celebration of the 1996 USA Women's Basketball Olympic team, during which they were given credit for making Atlanta the birthplace of the WNBA and performing at halftime, hip hop legends Goodie Mob.

MUSIC: Goodie Mob

Peter Biello: The game itself was disappointing for Atlanta fans. The Dream fell to the Fever 84 to 79. The two teams are scheduled to meet again in Indiana on Sunday, Sept. 8.

Peter Biello: And that's all we've got for this edition of Georgia Today. We appreciate you tuning in. We're glad you chose Georgia Today as a way to keep you informed about what's happening in the state. You can always find more headlines at our website, GPB.org/news. And we're going to be back tomorrow afternoon with all the latest headlines. So while you're thinking of it, subscribe to Georgia Today. That way we'll pop up automatically in your podcast feed. And if you've got feedback or a story idea, something going on in the state that we should know about, best way to reach us is by email. Send the note to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. That'll go to the whole team. Again, the email: GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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