Georgia Today: Rudy Giuliani trial update; Tybee Island flood prevention; HS Football Championships

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Dec. 11. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the trial begins to determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay to Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud. Sen. Jon Ossoff announces federal funding to help protect Tybee Island from flooding. And Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the Georgia high school football championships for the first time in five years. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: A trial began in Washington today to determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay to Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud. The election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss were threatened and harassed after former President Donald Trump and his allies targeted them with conspiracy theories after Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020. A former lawyer for Trump, Rudy Giuliani, has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit. The claims he made about the election workers were quickly debunked by Georgia officials who found no improper counting of ballots. Giuliani did not speak to reporters as he entered the federal courthouse today. It was the same building where Trump is set to stand trial in March on criminal charges accusing the former president of scheming to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden. Giuliani's lawyer says he's expected to take the witness stand. What he says there may put him in jeopardy in a separate criminal case that accuses Trump, Giuliani and others of trying to illegally overturn Georgia's election results. In the Georgia criminal case, Giuliani is accused of making false statements to lawmakers during hearings in December of 2020.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: A group of district attorneys who filed a legal challenge to Georgia's new prosecutor oversight commission has dismissed its lawsuit. The group says the challenge no longer was needed since the Georgia Supreme Court paused the commission last month. But Jill Habig of the Public Rights Project, representing a party to the lawsuit, says state lawmakers might try to restart the commission in the General Assembly that begins next month.

Jill Habig: We're certainly going to remain vigilant. We don't think this fight is over. We've seen across the country a really disturbing trend of state officials and state legislatures really threatening the independence of prosecutors.

Peter Biello: Republicans who backed the commission say it's about holding accountable rogue or incompetent prosecutors who are coddling criminals.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A new class of nuclear submarines is coming to Georgia's Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. The U.S. Navy says it doesn't expect any major environmental impact from the new Columbia-class subs. This assessment clears the way for preparation for their arrival at the base near St Marys, on the border with Florida. U.S. Navy spokesman Ted Brown says they'll replace the aging Ohio class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines.

Ted Brown: Obviously there's new technological upgrades and it's — it's a more modern submarine. The Ohio class has been a great platform for the Navy, but it is reaching the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.

Peter Biello: The Navy expects the new subs in 2028. Anti-nuclear and environmental activists remain opposed to their construction.

Story 4:

Georgia U.S. Sen.Jon Ossoff has announced new federal funding to help protect Tybee Island from coastal flooding. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: The $380,000 grant will be used by the city to help build a so-called living shoreline along 1,200 miles of salt marsh. A living shoreline is a type of levee made primarily of stone, sand, plants and other natural materials, which limits flooding and also aids in habitat restoration. Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions:

Shirley Sessions: Tybee is leading the way, not patching and reacting. We're being proactive and putting time, money, energy and effort and looking at the future because the future is here.

Benjamin Payne: From 2016 to 2021, flooding events on Tybee Island increased by 30%, largely due to sea level rise. Sessions says planning for the levy will begin in January, with opportunities for local residents to give input. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne.

Caption

Young Thug attends the 3rd Annual Diamond Ball at Cipriani Wall Street on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, in New York.

Credit: Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Story 5:

Peter Biello: One of the five co-defendants on trial with rapper Young Thug has been stabbed at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. Shannon Stillwell, also known as Shannon Jackson, was stabbed yesterday evening by another incarcerated man, Willie Brown. Stillwell is in stable condition. It's unknown what led to the stabbing. The racketeering conspiracy trial for Stillwell, Young Thug and four others began last month after about 10 months of jury selection. The jail has long been plagued by violence. The U.S. Department of Justice announced this year that it was investigating detention conditions there. Prosecutors say Young Thug, whose given name is Jeffrey Williams, led a violent street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, that was responsible for killings, shootings, carjackings and other crimes over about a decade. Defense attorneys have criticized prosecutors use of rap lyrics as evidence of crimes, saying their client's art and free expression are being improperly used against them.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: A football player from Manchester High School has died. The school principal and the district superintendent yesterday confirmed Brandon Smith's death ahead of the high school football championships that began today. In a statement, the administrators described Smith as a, quote, "loyal teammate and friend who excelled on and off the field."

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium is hosting the Georgia high school football state championships for the first time since 2018 after four years at Georgia State University's Center Park Stadium. The on-field action kicked off this afternoon with the first of eight games to be played over three days. Today's matchups include an attempt by West Georgia's Bowdon to retain their Class A Division 2 title. Four programs have a chance to win their first-ever state championships. It's also the first-ever state championships to feature video replay. You can catch all the action and analysis on your local GPB TV station or at GPB.org/sports.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: And one last bit of sports news: In the Falcons game yesterday. Atlanta had one last chance to pull out a victory and Desmond Ridder tossed it to Drake, London, who was overtaken by Tampa Bay defenders 3 yards shy of the end zone. And the Buccaneers prevailed 29 to 25. The Falcons came in with a .500 record that was good enough to lead the NFC South with a chance to take firmer control of the division race. Atlanta let it slip away. Now there's a three-way tie atop the league's weakest division with the Falcons, Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints at 6-7 with four weeks remaining in the regular season.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit gpb.org/news. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, take a moment and do it now. And if you like the way we do podcasts around here, check out GPB's Narrative Edge, a podcast for book lovers anywhere. In the most recent episode, co-host Orlando Montoya and I talk about a memoir by CNN journalist John Blake, who described himself growing up as a closeted, biracial person. We talk about racial reconciliation, acceptance and empathy. Find Narrative Edge by searching for it wherever you get your podcasts or go to gpb.org/narrative edge. If you've got feedback for Georgia Today, we would love to hear from you. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. 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