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Georgia Today: ATL city workers kill unhoused man in tent clearing; Laken Riley Act; CNN layoffs
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LISTEN: On the Thursday, Jan. 23 edition of Georgia Today: An unhoused man died last week when city workers used construction equipment to clear the camp where he was living; the Laken Riley Act is on its way to becoming law; and CNN expects to lay off about 200 people.
Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Thursday, Jan. 23. I'm Peter Biello. On this podcast, you'll hear the latest reports from GPB newsroom. Your feedback and news tips are welcome. Email Georgia today@GPB.org. On today's episode: An unhoused man died last week when city workers used construction equipment to clear the camp where he was living. Advocates are furious.
Kamau Franklin: They could have obviously have done the most simple thing, which is to make sure that no one was in the tent.
Peter Biello: Also, the Lake in Riley Act is on its way to becoming law. And CNN expects to lay off about 200 people. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.
Story 1:
Peter Biello: Congress has given its final approval to a new federal immigration bill inspired by last year's killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, sending to President Trump his first bill to sign. As GPB's Grant Blankenship reports, the measure comes against the backdrop of Georgia's own legal efforts.
Grant Blankenship: The Laken Riley Act requires local law enforcement to detain for federal officials people suspected of theft when they also lack legal immigration status. Georgia's HB 1105, passed last year, already requires sheriff's offices to honor detention requests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. It's unclear now if jailers will be expected to detain without ICE asking first. Detention space could be an issue; in the December 2024 census of county jails published by the Georgia Sheriffs Association, about a third were either near or at capacity. About a dozen were well past full. Right now, only five Georgia counties have an official relationship with ICE. The first details about new arrangements mandated by Georgia HB 1105 are still being collected by state auditors. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.
Story 2:
Peter Biello: This week's cold weather has delayed the annual count of unhoused people in Atlanta's Fulton County. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports, the count was scheduled to take place yesterday.
Amanda Andrews: The Point In Time, or PIT, count will now take place Jan. 28 in North Fulton and the 29th in South Fulton. During the count, teams of around 40 volunteers canvased the area, talking to people, gathering information, handing out hygiene kits and offering access to shelters. Dawn Butler is the head of Fulton County's homeless division. She says they work with partner organizations to offer more resources.
Dawn Butler: We'll take them to that shelter and the Salvation Army will provide services. We also partner with the Gateway Center for Shelter and also for Christian City for Youth Shelter.
Amanda Andrews: Data from the count will also be used to determine focus areas to better address chronic homelessness in the county. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.
Story 3:
Peter Biello: The Point In Time count will come as the city confronts anger over the death of an unhoused man who was killed when city workers used construction equipment to clear the camp where he was living. The workers failed to check his tent before the clearing. Today at City Hall, advocates for the unhoused demanded the city help, not just remove, unhoused people. Advocate Kamau Franklin:
Kamau Franklin: They could have obviously have done the most simple thing, which is to make sure that no one was in the tent. But then they could have done the policy that could have made all the difference in the world: Make sure that people in these situations have access to houses, access to shelter, access to mental health support.
Peter Biello: The death of Cornelius Taylor came days ahead of the city's Martin Luther King Day parade, about a block away from King's old church.
Story 4:
Peter Biello: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter inspired the state's certified peer specialist program through her mental health advocacy. This week, the Carter Center hosted Mental Health Parity Day to celebrate Georgia's progress. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.
Ellen Eldridge: Work at the Carter Center helped make Georgia the leader when it comes to certified peer specialists, who are trained to counsel others from a perspective of shared experience. Wendy White Tiegreen worked alongside Mrs. Carter and others to show people that recovery is possible.
Wendy White Tiegreen: In the 1990s, no one used the word "recovery" for mental health. Folks would sometimes use it for addiction, but almost never for mental health. They talked about it as if it was like a terminal label and a terminal illness.
Ellen Eldridge: Tiegreen says she helped 44 states build their peer support programs before she retired last year from the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.
Story 5:
Peter Biello: CNN expects to lay off about 200 people as part of a restructuring announced today. It's unclear how the move would affect the news organization's hub in Atlanta. The layoffs amount to about 6% of the company's workforce. CEO Mark Thompson says he expects job cuts in CNN's television business to be offset by new hires in digital operations, much of which are based in Atlanta. In a memo to employees, Thompson says his goal is to orient the company to platforms that audiences are moving toward.
Story 6:
Peter Biello: The State Public Service Commission is taking action aimed at protecting Georgia Power ratepayers from the costs of energy intensive data centers. The five-member elected commission today approved a new rule allowing the company to build large energy consumers using terms and conditions beyond those of standard customers. Data center critics argue they force electric utilities to add expensive capacity and raise rates while creating only a handful of new jobs. Business leaders say they are critical for the digital economy and national security. State lawmakers are expected to debate state policies toward data centers after Gov. Brian Kemp last year vetoed a bill that would have suspended tax breaks for them.
Story 7:
Peter Biello: South Atlanta is officially home to two of the city's outdoor skate parks. Residents and city leaders recently celebrated the grand opening of Ruby Harbor Skatepark. For many people in the neighborhood, the park is more than just a place to skate. The project represents the power of working together and investing in the community. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more from Atlanta's Poole Creek neighborhood.
Amanda Andrews: Down a side street, mostly surrounded by heavy industry and not far from the airport, there's a park with an old playground on top of a hill. Carleigh Burdette knows it well.
Carleigh Burdette: This park was kind of old and, like, really rusty. And it's like, completely new.
Amanda Andrews: Kids didn't really come here to play. In fact, some people were afraid of this park. But now, Joy Smith says for her grandchildren, that's changing.
Joyce Smith: They asked me every day, "Granny, can we go to the skate park? Can we go to the skate park?"
Amanda Andrews: Joyce Smith has lived in Atlanta's Pool Creek neighborhood for 50 years and brought her grandkids, Gabriela and Kymanii, to the opening of the new feature that's actually bringing kids back to Ruby Harper Park, the skate park. Here's Gabriella.
Gabriella: I feel good because I never skated in my life and I wanted to try it.
Amanda Andrews: Kymanii has a new Black Panther helmet, and he's ready to do tricks.
Kymanii: Like, I'm going down a hill and jumping off a skateboard.
Amanda Andrews: Smith says she feels good about this place for her grandkids and for other kids, too.
Joyce Smith: I am so happy that this park has been built. I've been trying a long time to get in the community something for the kids to do because they would just skate in the street and no place to play.
Amanda Andrews: Smith isn't alone. Coreen Dent is the president of the Southside Concerned Citizens Community Association. During the grand opening, she said the skate park breathed new life into the park on the hill.
Coreen Dent: People no longer fear coming up that hill. The community now feels excited to come up that hill. They feel invited to come up that hill because now we know that with unity in the community, there is not a hill too steep for us to come up.
Amanda Andrews: Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis grew up in Poole Creek and currently represents the district. He says the original idea for the skate park came from a group of third graders at a nearby school.
Antonio Lewis: So what's more, grassroots than the students at a school telling their principal where they want to skateboard; the principal telling the PTA, the PTA members telling the council member and the council member telling a private organization to help us find some money, and then the mayor finding some more money to get it done.
Amanda Andrews: For many, that reflects a Southside Atlanta tradition of going out of the way to provide for kids' real needs. Lewis says that's even reflected in the park's name: Ruby Harper Skatepark.
Antonio Lewis: Ruby Harper was a person, a sister. A sister who actually bought a school bus because she saw the kids couldn't get to and from school. She took the kids from their middle school all the way up to high school. So she did both lanes and she charged $0.
Amanda Andrews: The impact of a new skate park stretches beyond Poole Creek. Skaters often travel a long way, even build vacations around good skate parks. And people are already making the trip to Ruby Harper. Jordan Paterson made a half-hour drive here from Lithonia before the park was even officially open.
Jordan Patterson: It was packed. It was good to see people out here from every different side of town, Gwinnett, Cobb, city of Atlanta, DeKalb, everywhere. Just for this.
Amanda Andrews: Development at Ruby Harper Park will continue with plans for walking trails and a splash pad. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.
Story 8:
Peter Biello: A federal judge is rejecting a settlement between metro Atlanta's Cobb County and the U.S. Justice Department over allegations of racially discriminatory hiring at the county's fire department. The federal government claimed the county used credit checks and written tests that had a legally disparate impact on qualified Black applicants. The county denied the allegations, but settled the DOJ's lawsuit by agreeing to end the practices, pay back wages to affected applicants and prioritize the hiring of 16 qualified Black applicants. However, U.S. District Judge William Ray II wrote in an order last week that such an agreement is itself illegal because it intentionally discriminates based on race. It's unclear how President Donald Trump's Department of Justice will proceed with the case. Ray was appointed by Trump in 2017.
Story 9:
Peter Biello: If you found the news a bit heavy over the last few weeks, perhaps the night sky will lighten your mood. Six planets will be visible at night for a few weeks starting Saturday: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. You can see all except Uranus and Neptune without a telescope. For those without a telescope, try this: At sundown Saturday, look west to see Venus, then find Saturn slightly to the left of Venus. Turn east to spot Jupiter and look for an orangey Mars on the eastern horizon.
Peter Biello: And that is a wrap on this edition of Georgia Today. But we've got more coming your way tomorrow, and we hope you will subscribe so we pop up automatically in your feed and you won't miss us. And you can always catch the latest updates at GPB.org/news. Your feedback is welcome. Send it by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. Stay warm and we'll see you tomorrow. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks for listening.
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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news
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