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Georgia Today: Georgia ballot challenges for Trump; 'Most contaminated' coastal area
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On the Thursday January 18th edition of Georgia Today: Georgia Democrats make an effort to keep Donald Trump's name off of the Georgia ballot; Spellman College has received its largest ever donation. And it has been 30 years since the EPA listed parts of Georgia's coast on its 'most contaminated' list. When will it be cleaned up?
Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Thursday, Jan. 18. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Georgia Democrats make an effort to keep Donald Trump's name off the Georgia ballot. Spelman College has received its largest ever donation. And it's been 30 years since the EPA listed parts of Georgia's coast on its most contaminated list. When will it be cleaned up? These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.
Story 1:
Peter Biello: The judge presiding over Georgia's election interference case is set to hear a motion on a conflict of interest allegation. Today, Judge Scott McAfee scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing on the motion accusing Fulton County DA Fani Willis of having a romantic relationship with a prosecutor she hired. Willis has defended her hiring of the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, but has not commented publicly on the alleged romantic relationship.
Story 2:
Peter Biello: Democratic state lawmakers are trying to keep former President Donald Trump's name off all Georgia ballots. The move is unlikely to go far in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. GPB's Donna Lowry tells us more.
Donna Lowry: More than a dozen Democrats have signed a House resolution by Rep. Roger Bruce of Atlanta challenging Trump's election eligibility under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause.
Roger Bruce: Our Constitution calls for people to be loyal to the country. If you're not, then you should not be in positions of leadership. And his actions on Jan. 6 were clearly not in the best interest of the country. His actions by calling out Secretary of State and asking him to find votes, basically asking him to break the law.
Donna Lowry: Another state lawmakers filing a separate House bill on the same grounds. Recently, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr joined fellow Republicans in 26 states in a legal brief to keep Trump on the ballot in Colorado. For GPB News, I'm Donna Lowry.
Story 3:
Peter Biello: A billionaire couple is giving $100 million to Atlanta's Spelman College. The school is calling the gift from Ronda Stryker and her husband the largest ever single donation to a historically Black college or university. Ronda Stryker is the billionaire granddaughter of the founder of medical device maker Stryker Corp. Spelman says it will use $75 million to endow scholarships. The rest of the money will be used for other purposes. These include developing an academic focus on public policy and democracy, and improving student housing.
Story 4:
Peter Biello: Federal environmental officials are outlining options for how to address mercury contamination at a hazardous waste site on Georgia's coast. The Environmental Protection Agency listed the LCP chemical site in Brunswick as one of the nation's most contaminated sites in 1994. In November, the agency approved four options to clean it up. None of them would remove the mercury completely. Rachel Thompson of the Glynn Environmental Coalition says it still could be years before the work begins.
Rachel Thompson: Even though there is progress being made, I know people are not happy with the timeline. People are not happy that it's been 30 years and the site is still not cleaned up.
Peter Biello: The site was used by several industries for much of the 20th century, and mercury is just one component of its contamination. The EPA plans to select a cleanup option over the next 12 to 15 months, and seek public comment before the remediation begins.
Story 5:
Peter Biello: Georgia's commercial and recreational shrimp harvesting season comes to an end today, with some of the industry worried about its future. Harvest amounts for the entire season won't be available until April. But shrimpers say the problem this season wasn't the catch but the price. McIntosh County Harvester Winn Gale says a year and a half ago, he got $6.50 a pound for head on jumbo shrimp. Today it's about $4. And that's on top of the higher price for fuel.
Winn Gale: We're keeping our head above water, but it's barely. Just barely. One major breakdown and we're done. A-and that's the story of half the boats on the coast.
Peter Biello: The Department of Natural Resources issued shrimp harvesting licenses to 117 Georgia residents in 2023. Through December, Georgia shrimpers earned more than $8 million on their catch.
Story 6:
Peter Biello: Columbus-based financial services company Synovus missed Wall Street expectations yesterday with quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.80 per share. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $0.94 per share. The company reported fourth-quarter profit of more than $70 million. For the year, profit exceeded $543 million.
Story 7:
Peter Biello: Some state lawmakers and activists are pushing to remove the state sales tax on menstrual products in Georgia. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more.
Sarah Kallis: Period products are taxed at 4% in Georgia. Some lawmakers and activist groups are looking to change that. Elle Knight with the YWCA of Greater Atlanta said removing sales tax on products like tampons and pads, referred to as menstrual discharge collection devices, could save women in Georgia $6 million a year.
Elle Knight: I'm not saying that removing the tax on MDCDs could solve every financial problem, but I do believe that eliminating the sales tax would ease the financial burden of Georgian women throughout the state.
Sarah Kallis: Menstrual products are not taxed in 29 states. This is the seventh year that advocates have pushed for legislation to remove the tax in Georgia. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state Capitol.
Story 8:
Peter Biello: Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based feminine care product company The Honey Pot has agreed to a $380 million partnership deal under the partnership with Compass Diversified. The Honey Pot will keep its leadership team and owners, and management will retain a minority stake in the company. Founded in an Atlanta apartment a dozen years ago, The Honey Pot offers products designed to promote feminine hygiene, menstrual and consumer health, and sexual wellness. A spokesperson for Compass Diversified says the partnership will allow Honey Pot to reach more customers.
Story 9:
Peter Biello: Braves outfielder and winner of the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player Award Ronald Acuña Jr. Caused a buzz online after posting a video on Instagram of himself hitting home runs left-handed. According to MLB.com, this is not the first time Acuña has flirted with batting lefty. He tried it prior to the '23 season and attempted to do it during a regular season game in 2021. But once manager Brian Snitker saw Acuña wearing a left-handed batting helmet on the on deck circle, he called him back to the dugout, waving his finger in disapproval. Braves spring training is less than a month away, with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report on Feb. 14.
And that is 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 GPB.org/news. Take a moment and subscribe to this podcast. We will be back in your feed tomorrow afternoon, and if you have feedback or a story idea, our email box is waiting for a note from you. Send it to 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
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