Georgia Today: DPH funding cuts; Future flooding risks; HS student makes history with scholarships

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to Georgia Today. On this podcast, we feature the latest reports from the GPB News Team. On today's episode, federal funding cuts hit Georgia's Department of Public Health. A scientific study says a large portion of coastal Georgia is at risk of flooding in the next century, and a Georgia high school senior is one of the top scholarship earners in the history of the state.

Chase Matthews: I've received an accumulated amount of over $6 million in institutional scholarships.

Orlando Montoya: Today is Wednesday, April 2nd. I'm Orlando Montoya. You're listening to Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Supporters of a proposed bill aiming to protect religious freedom are making a final push to get it across the finish line before Sine Die. That's the last day of the legislative session on Friday. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: Senate Bill 36, or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed the Senate earlier this session and is awaiting a vote from the House. The bill aims to prevent the government from interfering with a person's exercise of religion. Former state representative and chair of the American Dream Center, Alveda King, spoke in support of the legislation in a news conference on Tuesday.

Alveda King: Each of us and each of our elected officials should use whatever gifts we have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. Well, RFRA is a good, various form.

Sarah Kallis: Opponents of the bill say it opens the door for people to use their religion as an excuse to discriminate. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the State Capitol.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: Federal funding cuts have hit Georgia's Department of Public Health. GPB's Sofi Gratas has that story.

Sofi Gratas: 180 people were laid off from the state agency last week after the federal government terminated several public health grants to states. The former staff almost all conducted COVID contact tracing, according to a spokesperson for DPH. DPH has already spent about 60% of the $877 million from the grants on its pandemic response and technology upgrades. The grants were set to expire in the coming years. The cuts mean DPH will reduce or discontinue COVID testing kits and kiosks. well as vaccine outreach like by community-based organizations mostly working in underserved areas. Local health departments, which are located in every Georgia county, will still offer COVID-19 vaccines, the spokesperson said, but other local impacts are still being assessed. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: A new scientific study released today finds just over 1,000 square miles of coastal Georgia is at risk of severe flooding by the middle of the century, GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: If you combined all the land in Georgia's six coastal counties from Chatham down south to Camden, just over 25 percent of it lies in an area at risk of catastrophic flooding come 2050, as according to a new report from the science non-profit group Climate Central. Researchers there studied the threat of so-called 100-year floods in the U.S. as sea levels rise due to global warming. They found that in Georgia, the flood zone comes out to just over 1,000 square miles, as the sides of Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles combined, with plenty room to spare. All of this is assuming the U.S. follows through on earlier commitments it made to reduce carbon emissions, pledges that now stand on shaky ground under the Trump administration. In March, the EPA announced it would begin rolling back some 30 environmental rules and regulations. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: The fourth soldier from Southeast Georgia's Fort Stewart, found dead in Europe yesterday, has been identified as 28-year-old Staff Sergeant Troy Knutson Collins. He was part of a 1st Armored Brigade combat team that went missing on March 25 in Lithuania during a training mission. The 3rd Infantry Division identified the three soldiers found earlier as 25-year old Sergeant Jose Duenas, Jr., 25- year old Sergeant Edwin Franco, and 21-year Private First Class. Dante Titano.

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: An Atlanta Westlake High School senior is now one of the most successful scholarship earners in Georgia history. GPB's Catherine Calloway spoke with 18-year-old Chase Matthews about her success.

Catherine Calloway: I understand that you've been accepted to a college or a university in every state. Just how many did you receive an invitation from?

Chase Matthews: Iris and invitation are acceptance from 155 schools throughout all 50 states as well as the Virgin Islands.

Catherine Calloway: Oh wow, and a lot of those universities offered you scholarship money? Yes. How much?

Chase Matthews: I've received an accumulated amount of over $6 million in institutional scholarships.

Catherine Calloway: Chase! That's a lot of scholarship money out there for you. That makes your decision very difficult. Have you narrowed down the list with that many universities on what your top schools are and why?

Chase Matthews: My top universities are Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Howard University, The Ohio State, as well as Texas Southern University. I've picked these five schools as my top schools as they all have six year accelerated pharmacy programs where I can receive my doctorate of pharmacy in six years instead of the usual eight.

Catherine Calloway: What are your goals post-university?

Chase Matthews: My goals post-university are to open my own chain of pharmacies in the local Atlanta area as well as mobile pharmacies so that I can serve my community and work on making medicine more accessible and affordable.

Catherine Calloway: Why did you cast such a wide net across the country to universities?

Chase Matthews: I applied to all of these institutions as I wanted to show other young girls as well as young children that anything is possible and so that everyone's options are open. You can go wherever you want.

Catherine Calloway: Didn't that take a long time to fill out all of those applications and answer all those questions and essays and some are specific to that particular university? How long did it take you and wasn't it expensive?

Chase Matthews: It took me a few months. I started applying in late July and no, it wasn't expensive. I use a lot of college apps to easily apply such as Black Common app that'll help you apply for schools when you enter your information. And with the writing portions, I love to write some of my favorite subjects. So I didn't mind.

Catherine Calloway: Do you have any advice for any younger students out there who are just now starting to think about college and what they need to succeed in applying to universities and colleges? Any advice for them?

Chase Matthews: Yes, I like to say it's okay if you don't know what you want to do. I didn't know what I want to pursue until a project in 10th grade about careers in health care. That's when I really decided on what I wanted to do for the future. And also just keep your grades up and be involved in your community as well as being involved in school. Without being in so many clubs and extracurricular activities, I wouldn't be where I am today. as well as just applying and going out for everything. Don't be afraid of rejection.

Catherine Calloway: Excellent advice your parents must be so proud where they I know you've said before that your family's been a driving force behind you Can you tell me more about that?

Chase Matthews: Also inspired me to become a pharmacist besides my 10th grade healthcare class. My teacher was my grandmother who I saw go back and forth with insurance providers on her medicine as well as my local community and how expensive medicine is and how it's often not in stock.

Catherine Calloway: Chase Matthews, thank you very much for joining us today.

Chase Matthews: Thank you so much.

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: Atlanta restaurant Aria is the only Georgia representative in the prestigious James Beard Foundation's list of Culinary Award finalists. The awards are known as the Oscars of the food world. The restaurant is a finalist for Outstanding Hospitality. Aria opened in the year 2000. The head chef announced his retirement last week.

And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. If you'd like to learn more about these stories, visit gpb.org slash news. If you haven't yet hit subscribe on this podcast, take a moment to do that now. That helps you to keep us current in your podcast feed. If you have feedback, send that to us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya, and we'll be back again tomorrow with more Georgia Today.

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