Georgia Today: Hurricane Helene relief; Jimmy Carter post office; Savannah's Christmas history

TRANSCRIPT

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Dec. 23. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, billions of federal dollars are headed for Hurricane Helene relief. The post office in Plains, Georgia will soon have a new name. And did you know that the histories of two iconic Christmas classics can be traced back to Savannah? Those stories and more coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Peter Biello: The U.S. Senate has passed billions of dollars of funding for Hurricane Helene relief. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: The package includes $21 billion for agricultural disaster relief, as well as an additional $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and states impacted by Hurricane Helene. Sen. Jon Ossoff said that the exact amount of aid that would be distributed to Georgia farmers has not been determined. But the relief package would provide critical support to rural areas.

Jon Ossoff: Remember that agriculture is Georgia's No. 1 industry. And rural Georgia depends upon agriculture as its lifeblood. If family farms in Georgia fail, then whole rural communities fail.

Sarah Kallis: It's estimated that Hurricane Helene caused between $6 billion and $7 billion worth of damage to Georgia agriculture. The relief package must now be approved by President Biden. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis.

Caption

A pair of U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles.

Credit: Nati Harnik / AP

Story 2

Peter Biello: The post office in Plains will soon be known as the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Post Office. The U.S. Senate gave final approval last week to legislation honoring the former president and his late wife in their hometown of Plains. The Senate bill was introduced by Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. A companion House bill was introduced by congressman Sanford Bishop.

Sanford Bishop: This is a small but meaningful gesture we can make to honor two dedicated servant leaders who spent their lives working in behalf of others.

Peter Biello: The measure now just needs a signature from President Joe Biden, which is expected soon.

Story 3

Peter Biello: President Joe Biden announced early today that he was commuting the death sentences of 37 federal inmates, including two men sentenced to death for murders committed in Georgia. Anthony George Battle was convicted of killing a prison guard and was sentenced in 1997. Meier Jason Brown was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing of a postal worker in 2003. The sentences of Battle, Brown, and the other federal inmates were commuted from the death penalty to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Story 4

Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp and other state leaders paid a visit late last week to members of the Georgia National Guard task force at the Texas-Mexico border. He, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other legislative and state leaders visited the 85 Georgia Guardsmen to thank them for their service.

Gov. Brian Kemp: We just want to thank them for their service, wish everybody a merry Christmas, happy holidays. And just ask all Georgians and Americans to keep these troops in your thoughts and prayers during the holiday season when they're away from their families. God bless.

Peter Biello: Kemp first deployed troops to the border in 2019.

Story 5

Peter Biello: It is still not too late to get a flu shot this season, and experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend getting your shot ahead of the end-of-the-year celebrations. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Ellen Eldridge: So far the CDC says Georgia is experiencing a moderate flu season, but it can peak as late as February. And this year less than one third of children and adults have been vaccinated. In addition to flu, respiratory syntactical virus or RSV vaccines are recommended for pregnant people and those over age 60. Dr. Chris Parker is a respiratory disease expert with the CDC.

Dr. Chris Parker: RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the U,S. And so it's important that, as appropriate, those persons who are eligible and qualified should get the RSV vaccine.

Ellen Eldridge: Parker says that while flu vaccination may not prevent all flu illnesses, it will prevent more severe disease. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 6

Peter Biello: Two Georgia congressman were among 34 House Republicans who voted against a stopgap spending bill to fund federal operations and disaster relief. GPB's Orlando Montoya has more on the vote late Friday.

Orlando Montoya: U.S. Reps. Andrew Clyde and Rich McCormick voted against the measure after days of clashing between GOP congressional leaders, billionaire Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump. McCormick spoke to CNN shortly after the bill's passage, characterizing the bipartisan measure supported by more House Democrats than Republicans, as fiscally irresponsible.

Rich McCormick: When I look at bills, I don't say who's for it, who's against it, I know what's right. I know what my people want me to do.

Orlando Montoya: Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie said the votes by Clyde and McCormick highlight the limits GOP leaders, Musk and Trump will face in the new administration.

Andra Gillespie: There is diversity within the Republican coalition in terms of which issues they think are important, but also in terms of what tactics they think are important.

Orlando Montoya: For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Caption

Former Georgia Sen. Vincent Fort

Credit: File

Story 7

Peter Biello: Former Georgia State Sen. Vincent Fort has died. The Democrat served in the Georgia Senate from 1997 to 2017, representing the 39th District, which includes parts of Atlanta, East Point and south Fulton County. He made unsuccessful bids to become Atlanta's mayor and represent the city in the U.S. House. Fort played a critical role in passing the Georgia Fair Lending Act and was an advocate for a hate crimes bill that was finally signed into law in 2020. He was an advocate for economic and racial equality. A native of Connecticut, he moved to Georgia in 1978 to get his master's degree in African-American history. Vincent Fort was 68 years old.

Story 8

Peter Biello: The final beam of the new hotel Phenix in Atlanta Centennial Yards development went up last week. The hotel is part of a $5 billion, 50-acre mixed-use development, formerly known as The Gulch, which sits across from Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena. In addition to the hotel, the luxury apartment tower the Mitchell topped out in August with completion anticipated by next summer.

Story 9

Peter Biello: For the last year, two decommissioned MARTA cars have hosted aquatic wildlife native to coastal Georgia, thanks to a partnership between the transit authority and the State Department of Natural Resources. GPB's Chase McGee has more.

Chase McGee: Divers with Georgia DNR determined nine species of game fish and soft coral have now made their home in two subway cars added to artificial reef L thanks to a generous donation from MARTA. The reef serves as a resting place for five military tanks, three barges and numerous concrete structures. Marine biologist Cameron Brinton says these artificial reefs are vital to the survival of wildlife off the coast.

Cameron Brinton: We don't get corals that build on top of corals like you do down in Florida, so by placing materials like these MARTA cars we are imitating that natural habitat, creating a foundation for the wild corals and sponges to colonize on.

Chase McGee: But these reefs aren't just for fish. If you're interested in recreational diving or fishing, you're welcome to enjoy the reef for yourself. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Caption

Chippewa Square in downtown Savannah during December.

Credit: Benjamin Payne / GPB News

Story 10

Peter Biello: As Georgia's oldest city, Savannah has a rich and storied history, and that includes holiday history. In fact, two iconic Christmas classics can be traced back to Savannah. On top of that, the city itself would later become a symbolic Christmas gift to a famous U.S. president. How, you might ask? GPB's Benjamin Payne tagged along on a special holiday history walking tour led by Savannah resident Sarah Mathis and has this audio postcard. It begins at Johnson Square across the street from Christ Church.

Sarah Mathis: This is where we're going to have our first Christmas-esque story. Christ Church is known as the Mother Church of Georgia. So this was the first Christian congregation that was established here in Savannah in the colony of Georgia in 1733. And they didn't have a church building at the start. So they initially started here in Johnson Square building a shack. Now ministers back then, were like the pop stars of now. There was no concerts that people really went to; people went to go hear people talk. So young John Wesley, he was a very, very popular young guy. He was in his 20s and he was actually the founder of what we call his modern day Methodism. His brother, Charles Wesley, also very young, also very religious as well. The Wesley brothers were very devout individuals. Their time in Savannah was kind of a little blip in an otherwise very, very successful career for both of them. John Wesley lived all the way until he was 86 years old. He gave his last sermon about a week before he passed away. Charles was still very involved in his brother's church, but he ended up finding a passion of music, and he ended up writing a lot of the early hymns for the Methodist Church. One of them you may know very well as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." This is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah. This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful church in the entire city because it looks like it came out of a Disney storybook. The minister of the church was John Pierpont Jr. And John Pierpont Jr., he — just kind of like the Wesley brothers, decided he wanted his brother to come and help him with the church. His brother James Pierpont, he had just spent a decade over in California in the gold rush trying to strike it rich. And his hobby was music. He was a musician. He liked writing songs, writing music. After not striking it rich in the gold rush, his brother did invite him over here, so he moved to Savannah and he became in charge of the music program for the Unitarian Universalists. One of those songs that he wrote is a beloved Christmas song, "One Horse Open Sleigh." So he wrote "Jingle Bells." And he debuted it at this church on Christmas Eve right before the Civil War. And this is the Green Meldrim House. It was built in 1850. This was the most expensive house built to date in Savannah. This has a very important connection to the American Civil War. The Confederates had Savannah for most of the Civil War up until about the end of 1864, when Gen. Sherman — William Tecumseh Sherman, union general who did his famous march to the sea, he went from Atlanta all the way to the coast, kind of burning his way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Savannahians, especially the mayor at the time, Dr. Richard Arnold, he heard about what was coming and he did not want the city to burn like the rest of Georgia. So he and some of the other notables of Savannah met William Tecumseh Sherman and his advisers outside of the city and peacefully surrendered, saving the city from destruction. Two days after they occupied Savannah, a very famous telegram was written in the parlor of this house to President Lincoln, and it read from Sherman to Lincoln "I beg to present you as a Christmas present, the city of Savannah."

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks for tuning in. Remember to check back at GPB.org/News for all the latest headlines. And subscribing to this podcast is a great way to stay on top of what's happening in Georgia. If you've got feedback, we would love to hear from you. Email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.