Georgia Today: Special prosecutor resigns; Spa shootings anniversary; Savannah St. Patty's Parade

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, March 15. I'm Orlando Montoya and today's episode, the special prosecutor resigns in the Georgia election interference case following the judge's ruling, saying that either he or Fulton County DA Fani Willis would need to be removed from the case. Asian American lawmakers remember the victims on the third anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings, and this weekend celebrates the 200th anniversary of one of the country's most famous St. Patrick's Day parades. Those stories and more coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Caption

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade listens during a motions hearing for former President Donald Trump's election interference case, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, in Atlanta.

Credit: Elijah Nouvelage/The Washington Post via AP, Pool

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: The special prosecutor who was involved in a romantic relationship with the district attorney overseeing Georgia's election interference case has resigned. The special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, stepped down hours after the judge in the case, Scott McAfee, ordered Fulton County DA Fani Willis either to resign or remove Wade. Attorney and legal analyst Ryan Chapman says the resignation means Willis takes on the entire case herself.

Ryan Chapman: And she's going to have to find a replacement, which is going to be very, very difficult. Many attorneys in that area are conflicted out, and I don't know of a single lawyer who's going to raise their hands to stand in — in front of the kind of fire that that person is likely to face.

Orlando Montoya: In his order this morning, McCarthy said both Willis and Wade on the case together presents a perception of compromising influences.

 

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: The state Senate is backing major reforms to how Georgia regulates construction for hospital and medical services. Senators yesterday approved changes to the state's contentious certificate of need law 43 to 11. Athens state senator Republican Bill Cowsert says the bill is a middle ground between repealing the law entirely and doing nothing.

Bill Cowsert: We are trying to help rural health care and areas that are getting insufficient medical treatment. We call them health care deserts.

Orlando Montoya: Some Democrats voted against it, calling instead for expanding Georgia Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act.

 

Story 3:

Georgia's U.S. senators are demanding answers after reports of missing and delayed mail in metro Atlanta. Senator Jon Ossoff launched an inquiry with USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Thursday in a letter to DeJoy. He wrote, quote, "the timely delivery of mail across the nation is a vital public service," unquote. The reported delays stem from the Palmetto Processing and Distribution Center.

 

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia's labor commissioner says he's seriously ill with cancer. Republican Bruce Thompson said today he was diagnosed on Tuesday with stage four pancreatic cancer, which has spread to his liver. Thompson says he's waiting for more information, including a final prognosis for chemotherapy. The first-term Republican says he'll continue his work as labor commissioner. Thompson was a four-term state senator representing a district north of Atlanta before winning election as labor commissioner in 2022.

 

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: Saturday marks the third anniversary of a series of Atlanta area spa shootings that claimed the lives of eight people. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports on how a group of Asian American lawmakers are remembering the victims.

Sarah Kallis: State lawmakers in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus read the names of the victims at a press conference at the state Capitol on Thursday. They also called for an end to gun violence. Rep. Ruwwa Romman says that lawmakers need to find ways to prevent more tragedy.

Ruwwa Romman: It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to address this emergency because it is an emergency. Whether it's gun violence or violence against women, there are things we can do that do not involve scapegoating immigrants and further exacerbating dangers against them.

Sarah Kallis: Six of the eight victims in the shootings were Asian women. The shooter is facing hate crime charges in Fulton County. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state Capitol.

 

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: Dangerously high levels of E. coli bacteria have been detected in the Chattahoochee River from untreated wastewater. The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper detected high levels of the bacteria during a routine river monitoring. They were able to track the source to the City of Atlanta's R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center. The riverkeeper is urging people to stay out of the river downstream of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. This is the second major failure at a major wastewater treatment plant in the metro Atlanta area in less than a year.

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Covid-19

Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: This month marks four years since Georgia confirmed its first case of COVID-19. But for an Atlanta couple, the virus impacted them much sooner. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has their story.

Ellen Eldridge: Atlanta residents Renee and Clyde Smith were among the first Americans to contract the virus in February of 2020, while passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The couple, now 84 years old, spent three weeks quarantining in Japan. The Smiths were celebrating their wedding anniversary with an international trip. They've now been married almost 65 years. Clyde says they are grateful to the Japanese people and were lucky to receive medical care there.

Clyde Smith: They covered the entire cost and that wouldn't happen here. If we were in here — here in a hospital for three-and-a-half weeks, as we were there, we'd have been wiped out financially.

Ellen Eldridge: The Smiths say they've kept up with every update of the COVID vaccine and have sore arms after getting a booster shot this week. Renee Smith says she is still practicing preventative measures because she caught COVID again.

Renee Smith: Oh, I did about a year-and-a-half ago, maybe even longer than that. It was during the summer, and Paxlovid saved me. I never did go to the hospital or anything. I was very, very sick.

Ellen Eldridge: The Smiths are planning to travel to England later this year. It will be the first trip outside the United States for the couple since 2020. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

 

Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: Two projects that are meant to connect Atlanta's neighborhoods are getting federal funding. The Stitch, a planned 14-acre greenspace over Interstate 75 and 85 that would reconnect the district divided by the Downtown Connector in the 1950s, got $157 million to fund the first phase of construction. The Flint River trail also got $50 million to connect communities around Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act.

 

Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: Macon's International Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off its 42nd year today. Events tonight include the Cherry Blossom Ball and the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park Lantern Tour. The Pinkest Party on Earth will wrap up on March 24, when rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top appear on a tour stop to open the new Atrium Health Amphitheater. The city claims to be home to 350,000 cherry trees, a phenomenon that began with one tree in the backyard of a local businessman in 1949.

 

Story 10:

Orlando Montoya: The city of Savannah is making final preparations for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day parade, when the largest in the country celebrating its 200th anniversary, the procession is likely to draw a record crowd. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson advises revelers to bring their own trash bags and pack in, pack out whatever they bring into the historic district. He wants paradegoers not to leave litter for city sanitation workers.

Van Johnson: It's amazing the tons of trash that they pick up, every single bottle, every single styrofoam cup. And by the way, we hate styrofoam. Do not bring styrofoam. I might ticket you myself if you bring styrofoam into downtown.

 

Story 11:

Orlando Montoya: Irish heritage runs deep in Savannah. GPB's Benjamin Payne tagged along in a special historical tour to find out where it all began, as the city celebrates the bicentennial of its very first St. Patrick's Day parade.

Benjamin Payne: Walking tours in downtown Savannah typically start somewhere pretty, perhaps along a quaint cobblestone street or beneath the Spanish moss of a live oak tree. But this is not your typical tour. This one starts outside a parking garage. There's good reason, though.

Brandon Carter: It would have been directly across from us where the first Cathedral of Savannah is built.

Benjamin Payne: That's lawyer and tour guide Brandon Carter debuting a niche historical tour about Savannah's very first public Saint Patrick's Day parade, held March 17, 1824.

Brandon Carter: So this is where it all starts. 200 years ago.

Benjamin Payne: The original Saint John the Baptist Church used to stand here on the west side of downtown Savannah, at the corner of what is now Montgomery and State Street. It was here that crowd of not just Irish Catholics, but also Protestants and Jews came together to hear a speech from:

Brandon Carter: Bishop John England. So, ironically, John England was born in Ireland. He goes to a Protestant school as a kid, and he must have not been well-liked by his teacher, because its teacher called him the quote "Little Papist."

Benjamin Payne: The Papist meaning Roman Catholic.

Brandon Carter: He goes into the priesthood. He gains the name the Steam Bishop because of how aggressive he was in spreading Catholicism.

Benjamin Payne: But Carter says England's goal in Savannah was not to convert folks to Catholicism. Rather, it was to promote national unity and religious freedom.

Brandon Carter: He says we, "my friends, may differ very much in our religious doctrines. Yet we live in the harmony of affection, each representing the rights of his friend and claiming for himself what he concedes to his brother." So again, religious freedom. He's lamenting the loss of religious freedom in Ireland. But he's saying that America is doing it right. That's why they're here.

Benjamin Payne: After the bishop's speech, the crowd marches through downtown, led by a group called the Hibernian Society of Savannah, which still exists today.

Brandon Carter: So it's formed in 1812, so 12 years before the first parade — formed by 44 men. They consisted of Catholics, but also Protestants and at least one Jewish member as well. They were formed for" the relief of the indigent and exiled Irishmen, to promote social and friendly harmony among the members of said association."

Benjamin Payne: Unfortunately, the precise route of their inaugural parade was not documented by newspapers at the time, but Carter's tour takes in many chapters of Irish history between the church and the parade's known end point, City Hotel. Today, it's Moon River Brewing Company on Bay Street.

Brandon Carter: About 80 people attended the first Saint Patrick's Day dinner here. They even hung a banner from the front of City Hotel, and it had a quote, "female figure clothed in green and her brows intertwined with a wreath of a shamrock playing upon a harp." And it said above it, "Erin Malvern, Erin go bra," which means "Ireland, my darling," and "Ireland forever."

Benjamin Payne: Carter leads his guests down to the cavernous basement.

Brandon Carter: Hi, guys. Feel free to grab a seat. I got a couple over here beside me as well.

Benjamin Payne: Banquet tables are laid out, setting the stage not just for a historical tour, but a historical toast. Well, not just one.

Brandon Carter: Now we will deliver the 13 toasts first heard in this building 200 years ago. So we are not only observing history, we're now becoming part of history because these very walls have not heard what we have, what we're about to say, in 200 years. Toast number one: "So the day we celebrate, may every return of it find us true to the object for which we are associated to Saint Patrick's Day."

Benjamin Payne: The remaining 12 toasts take a while to get through, but here's a crowd favorite.

Brandon Carter: To the state of Georgia: "She takes Irish men into her bosom and Ireland never yet bred a viper." I love that it's there.

Benjamin Payne: After reciting the final toast dedicated to public education, Carter adds a quick one of his own.

Brandon Carter: "To us for doing this." To us.

Benjamin Payne: The 200th Anniversary Savannah Saint Patrick's Day Parade Saturday, starting at 10:15 a.m. from the corner of Abercorn and Gwinnett Street. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Caption

Ireland!

Story 12:

Orlando Montoya: Savannah isn't the only Georgia community celebrating Saint Patrick's Day weekend. There are festivities planned across the state. Braselton has the Saint Patrick's Day Path Fest. Saint Patty's Day Rock Fest is in Cumming. The Suwanee Beer Fest is Gwinnett County's largest Saint Patrick's Day party. Savannah, as we said, will host its Saint Patrick's Day parade and festival on Saturday. And in Brunswick, they have the annual Saint Patrick's Day 5K and Beer Mile. And Dublin — yes, that Dublin, the Dublin in Georgia, they'll celebrate their Saint Patrick's Day festival through the end of the month. And aside from that, this weekend we have the 2024 Foliage Festival happening in Jefferson. There is the Lake Oconee Food and Wine Festival, the Wild Chicken Festival in Fitzgerald. And not to be left out among all the other festivals this weekend is the Scottish Heritage Days taking place in Darien.

Orlando Montoya: And a happy Saint Patrick's Day to you wherever you are. I hope you celebrate the Big Green Day somehow this weekend with something green in your life. That's it today for this edition of Georgia Today. If you'd like to find out more about these stories, visit our website gpb.org/news. We'd like you to hit "subscribe" on this podcast. That way you always stay current with us in your feed, and if you have feedback, send that to us as well. We'd love to hear from you at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya. Thanks for tuning in.

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