Georgia Today: "Cop City" referendum analysis; Airport security upgrade; HS Football Championships

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Dec. 13. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, an analysis finds activists seeking to block in Atlanta police training facility may have met the requirements for a referendum. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport gets a multi-million dollar security upgrade. And Jon Nelson recaps Day 2 of the Georgia high school football championships. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: An effort to block the construction of a new public safety training center in Atlanta through a ballot referendum might have enough valid petition signers to move forward. That's according to a new analysis from GPB and three partner newsrooms. But as Stephen Fowler reports, legal and logistical hurdles remain.

Stephen Fowler: Activists seeking to block what they call "Cop City" from moving forward said they've turned in signatures from 116,000 people who want the future of the training site to be placed on the ballot before Atlanta voters. An examination by GPB, the AP, WABE and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution looking at 1,000 randomly sampled entries, finds the share of people eligible to be counted is much less by law. Petitioners need to get about 58,000 Atlanta voters who are also residents in 2021 to force a referendum. The sample analysis finds the activists could be just short of that goal, though the margin of error means looking at every signer could cross the threshold. The city hasn't verified any names yet while a court battle plays out over who could gather petition signatures and for how long. That, plus other procedural questions the city refused to answer, could further shrink the eligible number of signers. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: A former surgeon general is advocating for the use of an overdose reversal spray that is stronger and longer lasting than Narcan. He says Georgia lawmakers should make nalmafene available without a prescription. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: Narcan is a naloxone-based nasal spray designed to treat opioid overdoses and save lives. But fentanyl stays in the body longer than heroin and other opioids, and fully reversing an overdose can require multiple doses of naloxone over several hours. So the Food and Drug Administration approved now morphine nasal spray. Earlier this year, former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says nalmafene-based drugs like AP stay in the body longer.

Jerome Adams: And in that scenario, you're actually decreasing the cost even more because you're decreasing the number of doses you've got to give.

Ellen Eldridge: Adams says he expects nasal nalmafene to be available over the counter in the future. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Federal investigators say a gas leak that killed six workers at a North Georgia poultry plant nearly three years ago was, quote, "completely preventable." The U.S. Chemical Safety Board earlier this week released its final report on the deaths in January 2021 at Foundation Food Group in Gainesville. The 115-page report confirms a compromised tube allowed the release of deadly liquid nitrogen gas into a freezer, where the workers died. Inadequate safety measures, including a lack of air monitoring devices, contributed to the deaths.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has completed a $66 million overhaul of its main security checkpoint. The announcement yesterday comes just in time for the expected holiday travel rush. ATL predicts more than 3.3 million passengers travel through the airport, the world's busiest, during a 12-day period beginning Dec. 22. The overhaul includes new TSA screening equipment, new security cameras, sealing and electrical modifications and other upgrades.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Fewer workers in metro Atlanta are working from home and the region's average commute time is rising. Those are two key findings of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, analyzed by the Atlanta Regional Commission. The commission reported yesterday that 21% of the region's workers worked from home in 2022. That's down about a quarter from the previous year. And that's still more than double pre-pandemic numbers. And the region's average commute time rose by 1 minute, 20 seconds to just under 31 minutes — one way. That's still 1 minute, 40 seconds below the pre-pandemic average.

Caption

The Atlanta Botanical Garden's holiday display is in its 13th year, welcoming families to explore 20 acres of lights.

Credit: Atlanta Botanical Garden

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Last night, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens' Garden Light's Holiday Nights took first place and ABC-TV's The Great Christmas Light Fight. The prize: $50,000. Garden Lights Holiday Nights contains more than 1 million light bulbs total, with nearly 266,000 in its Nature's Wonders synchronized curtain of light. There are 60-plus miles of lights in the garden's, different areas, including 15,000 lights in the Ice Goddess' hair. You can see the current display at a ticketed attraction that runs through mid-January.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: The Georgia high school football championships continued today at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Late last night, GPB's Jon Nelson filed this recap of the second day of action.

Jon Nelson: From a nondescript hotel room very, very early in the morning, let's take a peek at Day 2, which actually went into Day 3 when it came to the championships for the GHSA. It started off with a piece of history: Greenbrier, the first-ever Augusta-area team to make it to the last game of the year in flag football, got the win over a Lithia Springs program that had won the last two seasons, was chasing after a third on their own. So a great showing by Lithia Springs this year. But Greenbrier Pack ended up getting the win in a one-score game to start things off on Day No. 2. And with Day No. 2, it means that you're dealing with the even numbers. In Double-A, we had a fantastic game, one of the best games we probably have ever broadcast on GPB: a triple overtime game between two fantastic programs in Rockmart and Pierce County. And it goes three overtimes and Pierce County gets the win. Second time they won in a handful of seasons. They won at Georgia State and they won. I can't say enough about the class of Rockmart as well as they were chasing after their first championship since 1950. And Pierce County gets to take the title in Double-A back to Blackshear. First-time winners in Class A, the Perry Panthers. GPB's coach of the year, Kevin Smith, got the win over Stockbridge going away, and Stockbridge was chasing after their first championship as well. But Perry gets the win and Perry Panthers get their first-ever state championship in 70 years. And then going from one end of the season to the other as one of the top-ranked teams in the state. Thomas County Central wins 6 AA over Woodward Academy. They got out to a 21-0 and a 28-7 lead and they end up going north of 40 points on the board in a game that ended up going past midnight. So actually, Day 2 ended on Day 3. That's your rundown. Day 2 and a little bit of Day 3.

Peter Biello: You can watch today's games live and you can watch the games you missed over the past two days by going to GPB.org/sports.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The newest outfielder for the Braves, Jared Kelinic, says he's looking forward to a fresh start in Atlanta. The 24-year-old native of Waukesha, Wisc., came to the Braves from Seattle as part of a five-player trade earlier this month. A career .200 hitter, Kelenic was placed on the 10-day injured list last July after he broke his foot kicking a water cooler following a ninth-inning strikeout. That, he said, was an eye-opening experience.

Jared Kelenic: Ever since I was a young kid, I wanted to play in the big leagues and here I am. And so when I'm in the big leagues and I'm breaking my foot because out of frustration. Like, that just can't happen.

Peter Biello: Kelenic was drafted by the New York Mets in 2018 and spent three seasons with the Mariners. Kelenic will get a chance, along with infielder Vaughn Grissom, to replace left fielder Eddie Rosario, whose $9 million club option was declined.

Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit our website GPB.org/news. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast. We will be back in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. And if you've got feedback or a story you think we should know about, let us know. Our email address is 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