Georgia Today: Drought expanding; Cause determined for Stone Mtn. fire; Braves to host All-Stars

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Thursday, Nov. 16. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode: The drought in Georgia is expanding. Officials have determined the cause of the fire that destroyed the largest historic home at Stone Mountain State Park. And Atlanta is getting another shot at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Despite some recent rain, you may be living in an area that's considered to be in exceptional, extreme or severe drought. The weekly drought monitor released today shows about a third of the state is that dry. The drought is causing lower levels in the state's lakes and that's a potential hazard for boaters, says Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division.

Mark McKinnon: You've got to be more cautious when you're out on a lake that has a lower level. You've just got to drive slower to be aware of what's in front of you, to not be distracted.

Peter Biello: The Department of Agriculture yesterday added five Georgia counties to drought disaster areas. Those include, for the first time in this drought, four counties in Southwest Georgia: Decatur, Earley, Miller and Seminole.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The fire that destroyed the largest historic home at Georgia's Stone Mountain State Park was not arson. Park officials said today the state fire marshal determined the blaze was started by a short in an electrical conduit and therefore ruled accidental. The 1840s Dickey House went up in flames early morning Tuesday. It came from a former plantation in Albany to Stone Mountain in the 1960s, when the mountain and its carving of Confederate leaders became a tourist attraction.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is asking a judge to revoke the bond for one of the 19 people charged in the 2020 election interference racketeering case. GPB's Stephen Fowler has more.

Stephen Fowler: Harrison Floyd has posted a lot online since being indicted alongside Donald Trump and others for efforts to illegally overturn the last presidential race. Wednesday, prosecutors said several of those social media posts violated his bond agreement by intimidating both witnesses and codefendants in the case, including attacks against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, codefendant Jenna Ellis and former Fulton election worker Ruby Freeman, who he is accused of trying to harass into falsely admitting election fraud. Speaking in an online chat on the site, Floyd said Wednesday night he did nothing wrong.

Harrison Floyd: I mean, just by looking at what I tweeted alone, if the judge listened to it and saw it, he could probably just, you know, just dismiss my charges and the case against me.

Stephen Fowler: A hearing is set for Tuesday on the request. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Chinese President Xi Jinping is signaling that China will send new pandas to the U.S. There are only four left in the U.S. right now, in the Atlanta Zoo. During a speech before business leaders, Xi said that China was ready to continue its cooperation with the U.S. on panda conservation. The comment came at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face to face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions. Xi did not share details on when or where pandas might be provided.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The federal government announced today that it's addressing the shortage of a new life-saving treatment for respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, by making thousands more doses available to health care providers. But as GPB's Sofi Gratas reports, it may not be enough to reach everyone.

Sofi Gratas: Demand for the new RSV treatment for babies has outpaced supply, and the CDC is recommending the shot for those most vulnerable to severe disease from the virus. 77,000 more doses of Beyfortus, released nationwide, will hopefully ease that shortage. Dr. Andi Shane is a pediatric infectious disease specialist with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She says lately pediatricians have been rationing doses for kids in the hospital as emergency room visits for RSV remain high.

Dr. Andi Shane: In general, there is a shortage. And certainly while this prioritization for those children that are at higher risk, that unfortunately doesn't mean that they're going to be able to get it.

Sofi Gratas: By early November, there were about 200 positive cases of RSV per week in Georgia. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Caption

In this undated photo, a teacher works with young students in a classroom.

Credit: GPB / File

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Teachers spend a lot of time with the kids in their classes, which puts them in a good position to see when kids are struggling — both academically and emotionally. That means school-based resources could connect kids with mental health care in a hurry if they need it. But that only works if there are mental health professionals available outside school, as GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Ellen Eldridge: Teresa Edenfield says she knew by the time her adopted daughter, Layken, was in the second grade, something just wasn't right.

Teresa Edenfield: Layken was 3 when we got her and she was really hyper sensitive about certain things around her, very terrified.

Ellen Eldridge: Edenfield watched for years as Layken's mental health worsened. By the time she hit eighth grade, she had become violent.

Teresa Edenfield: She was attacking her sister and her brothers. You know, yelling and fighting and screaming. So it was it was to the point that we were having to call the police.

Ellen Eldridge: The Edenfields knew Layken needed help, but they didn't know where to turn. The police couldn't help, and there was no psychiatrist where they lived in McIntosh County. Luckily, there was a mental health counselor at Layken's school who was looking out for her, too.

Teresa Edenfield: At that point in time, her counselor had said the best way for us to get her in — and also medication — was to get her into Saint Simons By the Sea.

Ellen Eldridge: Saint Simons By the Sea is an inpatient facility about 40 miles away from where the Edenfields live. It's where Layken found a psychiatrist, a diagnosis and a path of treatment. Layken's story is an example of the importance of having mental health professionals in schools and their power when they do their jobs well. The problem?

Dr. Lateefah Watford: That unfortunately, our profession has not grown as far as providers are concerned, as quickly as the demand has.

Ellen Eldridge: That's Dr. Lateefah Watford, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Gwinnett County. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 20% of kids — that's 1 in 5 — had a diagnosed mental health condition before the pandemic. Watford says signs point to that being even higher now.

Dr. Lateefah Watford: We also know that the pandemic really impacted our children because it pulled them out of normal life and development and forced them into a very difficult and scary situation.

Ellen Eldridge: You see the effects in rising child suicide rates, reports of anxiety and depression, even in school attendance. And the problems that lead to these issues don't have to be as profound as Layken Edenfield's to be taken seriously. Kathryn Allen is a therapist who works with children and adolescents in Atlanta. Allen says though your kids may not struggle with something as serious as bipolar disorder, they probably need to talk. And that means more than just asking "How was school?"

Kathryn Allen: But really like, "How is everything socially at school? Is there anyone that you know is hurting your feelings? Are there any bullies? Is there anyone, you know kind of making fun of you and telling you that you're less than?"

Ellen Eldridge: Of course, some parents just don't know what they're seeing. Allen says ideally that should be OK as long as someone with mental health care training at school has an eye out.

Kathryn Allen: And point out certain behaviors that calls for further assessing. Then they shouldn't get left, you know, kind of lost, you know, within — within the cracks.

Ellen Eldridge: And a child should be referred to a clinician. But in Georgia, clinical care is hard to find. 40% of Georgia children are covered by Medicaid insurance. Yet many mental health providers in the state don't accept Medicaid. In fact, most providers want cash payment. And that's if you can get an appointment. Wait times for care can range from six to eight months. Dr. Lateefah Watford says.

Dr. Lateefah Watford: It's not just here in Georgia, it's all over America.

Ellen Eldridge: Georgia lawmakers are working to change things. Gov. Brian Kemp dedicated $50 million in the latest budget to hire school psychologists and to fund expanded school-based mental wellness programs. Other advocates for youth mental health point to fully expanding Medicaid, which Kemp opposes. For GPB news, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Four more companies can produce low-THC oil for Georgians with severe ailments. The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission unanimously granted provisional licenses to Fine Fettle GA, TheraTrue, Nature’s GA and Treevana Wellness. The state previously granted licenses to two companies. The new licenses come as yearslong court challenges continue over the selection process.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle charging hubs are coming to Buc-ee's travel centers in four states, including Georgia, by the end of this year, with later expansion to Simon Malls. The German auto manufacturer announced the rollout at its North American headquarters in Sandy Springs yesterday. Mercedes-Benz USA has promised to spend $1 billion to bring at least 400 charging hubs across North America by the end of the decade.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: And after losing their opportunity to host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game two years ago, the Atlanta Braves will host it in 2025. This will be Atlanta's third All-Star Game and the first at Truist Park, which opened in 2017. The Braves had been scheduled to host it in 2021, but the game was moved to Denver after outcry over sweeping changes to Georgia's voting laws. Those laws added strict ID requirements for voting absentee by mail, limited the use of ballot drop boxes, and made it a crime to hand out food or water to voters waiting in line. At the time, President Joe Biden weighed in, calling the changes Jim Crow on steroids. Those laws are still in effect. Next year's All-Star Game will be held at the Texas home of the world champion Rangers. And in 2026, it'll be Philly's turn.

In other Braves news, Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, picked up a nearly $8 million stake in Atlanta Braves holdings in the third quarter. That's according to a report filed Tuesday. Buffett's been a baseball fan for a long time. He once owned part of the minor league team in Omaha, his hometown. The Braves were spun off from one of Berkshire's other holdings, Liberty Media, over the summer. So that is likely where Berkshire picked up the shares. In other sports news: In the NBA, the Hawks lost to the New York Knicks last night, 116 to 114.

And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit our website, GPB.org/news. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, now's a great time to do it; we'll pop up with all the top headlines in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. And as always, we want your feedback. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. We're always looking for ways to better serve you. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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