Georgia Today: 2 Georgians killed in plane crash; Ga. Power's Integrated Resource Plan; R.E.M. book

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, Jan. 31. I'm Orlando Montoya and on this podcast you'll hear the latest reports from GPB news team. You can send feedback to us, suggestions and story tips to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. On today's episode, two Georgians are among those killed in the American Airlines plane collision in Washington, D.C. Georgia Power submits its future plans to generate electricity. And a new biography tells the story of Athens music legends R.E.M..

Peter Ames Carlin: You know, the biggest part of their influence was their ability to be as weird as they wanted to be and still resonate with the broad culture.

Orlando Montoya: These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

 

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Two Georgians were among the 67 people killed when an American Airlines jet collided mid-air with an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. Georgia officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp, expressed their condolences for the loss of Ryan O'Hara and Sam Lillie. O'Hara graduated from a high school in metro Atlanta's Gwinnett County in 2014 and was one of the soldiers aboard the Army helicopter. Lillie graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2018 and was the first officer aboard the American Airlines jet. Officials are still investigating the cause of the collision as they searched the river over which the two aircraft collided.

 

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: The state Senate's Education and Youth Committee advanced its first bill of this year's legislative session yesterday — one to ban transgender female students from competing in women's sports. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: Senators on the committee heard testimony advocating on both sides of the issue. Former Georgia high school swimmer Katie Blankenship supports the bill.

Katie Blankenship: And this male athlete, after not swimming for an entire year due to being on hormone blockers and hormone therapy and whatnot, was essentially going our records.

Sarah Kallis: Meanwhile, pediatrician Dr. Jodi Greenwald, who testified in the committee hearing, opposes it.

Dr. Jody Greenwald: This bill and others like it seek not only to exclude transgender students from the benefits of school sports, but really to exclude them from society in general.

Sarah Kallis: Eight senators on the committee, including one Democrat, voted to pass the bill. Three senators voted against it. The bill will now move to the Rules Committee, which will schedule it for a Senate floor vote. For GPB News. I'm Sarah Kallis at the state capitol.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia Power is telling state regulators how it wants to generate electricity in coming decades. GPB's Grant Blankenship reports, the plan submitted today supports the state's explosive business growth, but could further delay the end of climate-warming coal-fired power.

Grant Blankenship: Georgia Power must get its Integrated resource plan, or IRP, for generating electricity approved by the state. In the last IRP, the utility said it would retire coal-fired Plant Bowen and Plant Scherer by 2028. That was before massive industrial growth and manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar panels and in power-ravenous internet data centers. So now Georgia Power is asking to wait another six years to retire Bowen and Scherer. The delay could mean over 100 million tons more of climate-warming carbon emissions. But the new IRP also lays out plans to add over 1000 MW of both renewable power and battery storage. Georgia Power's integrated Resource Plan now faces a monthslong approval process. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

 

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Two people incarcerated at a state prison in Middle Georgia are dead after two different fights. The Hancock County coroner confirmed the deaths following the altercations at Hancock State Prison yesterday. The deaths come amid a wave of violence in Georgia prisons, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. There were 65 homicides among incarcerated people in 2024. That number was nearly double the 2023 figure, which at the time was considered a record.

 

​​​​​​​Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: The U.S. Army says two soldiers have been killed in a training accident at Southeast Georgia's Fort Stewart. The Army statement says the fatal vehicle accident occurred last night during field training and involved a single vehicle and no other injuries. The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. No other details were immediately released.

 

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: Metro Atlanta congressman David Scott held a gathering with senior residents of Gwinnett County to hear their concerns and share resources for finances and health. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more from the event.

Amanda Andrews: The event was to share information about scams and fraud that seniors may face online or via telephone. But many shared concerns about possible changes to programs under the Trump administration.

Unidentified: The next time we have an attack on our benefits and/or our rights, what can we specifically do?

Amanda Andrews: Congressman Scott reassured his constituents that he's trying to speak with President Trump.

David Scott: I've already asked for an appointment. I am a senior member of financial services. He needs my help.

Amanda Andrews: Federal funding for health insurance programs, including Medicaid and the Meals on Wheels program, was temporarily frozen by executive order earlier this week, and their future remains uncertain. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Caption

R.E.M.

​​​​​​​Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: One of the most iconic bands to come out of Georgia in the 1980s, R.E.M., a few months ago became the subject of a new book. The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M. by Peter Ames Carlin isn't just a cultural biography going back to its formation in the then-sleepy college town of Athens. It's also a poetic meditation on what made so many of the band's songs stand out.

MUSIC: R.E.M. - "Stand"

Orlando Montoya: I recently spoke to the author and asked him what he thinks made R.E.M. so great.

Peter Ames Carlin: R.E.M., from the beginning, would play anywhere. You know, pizza parlors, fraternity parties, gay bars. I mean, they really didn't care. They would go, you know, and they just figured that they were going to take their sound and their art and their ideals to this broad population. And I don't think that they thought from the beginning there that they understood exactly how to do that or what that was going to look like or feel like. But, you know, they just figured they would walk down that road and see how far they got before either they hit a dead end or they just couldn't tolerate it anymore.

Orlando Montoya: They kind of made being different okay. And not just musically. Can you talk about their influence on culture more broadly?

Peter Ames Carlin: Well, you know, they came out immediately and stuck with this — this idea of being alternative and being, you know, bohemian and artistic. And, you know, the biggest part of their influence was their ability to be as weird as they wanted to be and still resonate with the broad culture, you know? And that became even more profound in the mid-'90s when Michael Stipe came out and said publicly, like, "Yeah, I'm queer. So what?" You know, it was at a time and in a way that was, you know, became a very influential thing for people.

Orlando Montoya: You break down their songs, their albums and hits, and there were a lot of hits. Which ones are the most significant to you?

Peter Ames Carlin: I mean, I think it's always incredibly striking when you realize that, you know, the song that was their biggest hit, "Losing My Religion," is like one of the weirdest songs to ever hit the top 40, let alone the top two.

MUSIC: R.E.M. - "Losing my Religion"

Peter Ames Carlin: At a time when music was so overwhelmingly electronic and synthesized and sleek, here was a song that was — not only featured a mandolin as its lead instrument, but also a lyric that played like a set of riddles because Michael was using an anachronistic Southern expression "losing my religion" to describe these feelings of being out of control and in a love affair that was, you know, overwhelming and frustrating and painful and — and beautiful at the same time. It's always fascinating and astonishing to remember these guys, creating a song that really had no connection to the standard structure of pop songs, managed to have an enormous pop hit with it.

Orlando Montoya: Their popularity waned and eventually they broke up. Can you talk about their decline?

Peter Ames Carlin: Every band or famous artist, you have your moment where you're channeling something that the culture is interested in. You know that you're sort of able to express something that people are feeling but haven't really thought yet. At some point, you know, things change. You know, your experience changes or your interests change and the culture doesn't necessarily follow you. So what do you do? You know, do you do the thing where you desperately try to recapture that and recapture people's attention, usually by repeating yourself in some way? Or do you just continue on your journey and figure that it's okay to just talk to whoever wants to hear you? You know, and that's — that's a decision that they made. And they still maintained a relatively enormous audience around the world, particularly in Europe. They were as big as they had ever been.

Orlando Montoya: Peter Ames Carlin, it was a pleasure reading your book. The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M. Thanks very much.

Peter Ames Carlin: You bet. Thank you so much.

Orlando Montoya: And that's another book that GPB's Peter Biello and I talk about in much more detail on our podcast about books with Georgia connections, Narrative Edge. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

MUSIC: R.E.M. - "Crush With Eyeliner"

Caption

Tinsley Ellis with Peach Jam Host Jeremy Powell

​​​​​​​Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: And speaking of music with Georgia ties, GPB's Peach Jam Podcast is back today with a new season showcasing musicians connected to our state. Host Jeremy Powell spoke with GPB's Peter Biello about the new season.

Peter Biello: So Jeremy, the one I am most excited about this season is Jordan Loreal.

Jeremy Powell: Okay.

Peter Biello: And before you tell me about Jordan, I just want to play a little bit of her song, "Kashmir."

MUSIC: Jordan Loreal

Peter Biello: So that's Jordan Loreal. What an amazing sound.

Jeremy Powell: She is fantastic. She's a Grammy Award-winning artist. She wrote songs for television shows and movies. She had a contract with Disney for a while.

Peter Biello: What's her Georgia connection?

Jeremy Powell: So she's from here. Her parents are pastors of a church. And she told me about the very first time she ever sang on stage, was at a big Christian event being held at Madison Square Garden. And she was 13 years old and sang on stage there. Now she's getting out of the writing for other people and recording for herself. And Jordan Loreal is pure talent.

Peter Biello: I am excited to see that one. All right. Vibe switch here. Tell us about the Page Brothers Band.

MUSIC: Page Brothers Band

Peter Biello: Oooo, gritty, biker bar vibe.

Jeremy Powell: Yes, it's Southern blues. They're from Adele, Ga., which is South Georgia. If you've been down to South Georgia on 75, it's the King Frog exit.

Peter Biello: Okay.

Jeremy Powell: And they are fantastic. They're two brothers. Dakota's the one with the voice. Dakota has that big, deep voice and he's just this big teddy bear. Like during the interview, you want to give him a hug, because he's he's so humble. I don't even know if he quite understands how much talent he really has. And he's just great. And then his brother Travis is the guitarist who is fantastic. The one thing about this season of the Peace Jam Podcast is it pretty much is the season of the guitarist. We had a lot of talented guitarists come in and Travis Page is definitely one of them.

Peter Biello: Okay, I'm going to use a non-guitar example for the next one, Mondo Hammondo.

MUSIC: Mondo Hammondo

Jeremy Powell: Imagine sipping a mai tai, Peter.

Peter Biello: How could you not feel like that listening to this music?

Jeremy Powell: Mondo Hammondo's fun. It's exotica music, and the band leader is Matthew Kaminski, who you might recognize that name because he's the organist at the Braves, and he's a — a classically trained jazz artist who has multiple bands. And this is the one that he brought in for Peach Jam. And it is so much fun.

Peter Biello: That sounds fun. It sounds really fun.

Jeremy Powell: It is. They play at Trader Vic's in downtown Atlanta on the regular. And so you could go there, have a mai tai and enjoy that or you can listen to the episode coming up later in the season.

Peter Biello: Wonderful. Okay. And finally, let's talk about Tinsley Ellis.

MUSIC: Tinsley Ellis

Peter Biello: Horseshoes and hand grenades. Wow. I feel like we've gone back in time a little bit, Jeremy.

Peter Biello: Yes. Tinsley Ellis is the biggest name that's on the Peach Jam Podcast this season. This guy is — he's a legend in certain circles. He's been playing the blues since the '70s. He's — he went to Emory here in Atlanta where we're sitting. And what you're hearing there is him playing a 1937 National steel body guitar, and it's just him and the guitar. And then he's got a piece of wood that he's tapping his boot on. And it is so good.

Peter Biello: Well, there are a few others waiting in the wings for this season of Peach Jam. This is merely a taste. Jeremy, thank you so much for telling me about it.

Jeremy Powell: Absolutely.

Peter Biello: GPB's Jeremy Powell is the host of the Peach Jam Podcast from GPB, which features songs and stories from bands and artists who call the Peach State home. The new season of the podcast drops today. Jeremy, thanks again.

Jeremy Powell: Thank you.

 

Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: And finally this week, the business group behind Savannah's minor league hockey team, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, plans to bring a professional women's basketball team to the city as well. Jacksonville-based Zawyer Sports and Entertainment said this week it plans to launch the team as part of its Upshot League, which aims to debut in 2026 with a minimum of four teams. A contest is underway to name the team.

And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. If you'd like to learn more about the stories we present on this podcast, visit GPB.org/news or follow us on social media, on Facebook and Instagram. That's where you'll find many of the stories that you hear from our GPB news team. If you haven't yet hit subscribe on this podcast, please do so now. That'll help you to keep us current in your feed. I'm Orlando Montoya, filling in for Peter Biello today. Have a great weekend. 

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