Georgia Today: House passes Laken Riley act; Ted Turner hospitalized; Ga. prepares for wintry mix

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, Jan. 7. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the U.S. House passes the Laken Riley Act. Ted Turner is hospitalized for pneumonia. And Georgia prepares for a forecast of snow and ice. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Environmental advocates and economic developers in Southeast Georgia have struck a deal over water rights at the site of Hyundai's massive electric vehicle plant. GOB's Benjamin Paine reports.

Benjamin Payne: Last year, the nonprofit group Ogeechee Riverkeeper challenged groundwater withdrawal permits that the state had issued to Bryan and Bulloch counties. The Riverkeeper's argument was that the permits would draw too much water from a fragile underground reservoir known as the Floridan Aquifer. But a settlement announced this week with the Savannah Joint Development Authority puts an end to that lawsuit. The agreement cuts the timeline for finding new water sources from 25 years to 15. It also adds more water quality testing at the current wells. In a joint statement, both sides say they remain committed to striking a balance between environmental protection and job creation. The Hyundai EV factory opened late last year employing several thousand workers. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The U.S. House has passed its first bill of the new Congress. The strict border measure, called the Laken Riley Act, was named after a Georgia nursing student killed last year by a Venezuelan man who was in the country illegally. The bill faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate.

Caption

Ted Turner

Story 3:

Peter Biello: CNN founder Ted Turner is recuperating from a recent illness. A family spokesperson told GPB today the Georgia media mogul was hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia and expects a full recovery. The 86-year-old was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2018.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: The district attorney for Southwest Georgia's Decatur County is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit over a proposed monkey breeding facility. Opponents of the planned $400 million complex in Bainbridge hailed the motion filed last week. The company that breeds monkeys for medical research, Safer Human Medicine, sued local development officials over the project's tax incentives last year. In his motion, DA Joseph Mulholland argued the lawsuit is a scheme not based on actual antagonism between the parties.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: It's looking more likely that there will be freezing rain and ice or snow at the end of this week in parts of North Georgia. The National Weather Service is increasing its confidence in a wintry mix forecast. Meteorologist Dylan Lusk is with the agency's Peachtree City office.

Dylan Lusk: This far out, the details are still kind of fuzzy when we talk about winter precipitation in Georgia. Literally one degree in temperature makes a huge difference. But we're pretty confident at this point that we're going to see, especially in northern Georgia, some kind of winter weather.

Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp today ordered state agencies, including the Departments of Transportation and Public Safety, to prepare for the storm.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Republican Party has expelled former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan from its ranks for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president last year. The party's executive committee yesterday demanded Duncan stop calling himself a Republican and banned him from attending any state GOP events. It's the latest rift in an intraparty clash that began when Duncan refused to support former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Duncan responded to the ouster on social media, saying he believes the party should have more important concerns.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: One person has died and another has been injured in a shooting yesterday at the Honduran consulate just outside Atlanta. Doraville police responded to a report of gunshots yesterday afternoon. A suspect was taken into custody at the scene. A Mexican citizen who worked as a security guard at the consulate was killed. That's according to a statement by the Mexican foreign affairs secretary. One other person was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Jimmy Carter's state funeral has moved to Washington, D.C., after observances in Georgia.

MUSIC: "Hail to the Chief"

Peter Biello: "Hail to the Chief" and a 21-gun salute came as the 39th president's remains were placed into a special air mission jet to the nation's capital from Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more.

Sarah Kallis: Carter's American flag-draped casket left the Carter Center at his namesake library for a final time as a U.S. Army band played "Amazing Grace." The Carter Center says over 23,000 people attended Carter's public repose. Wendy Davis was one of those mourners.

Wendy Davis: Well, I'm a longtime fan and admirer of the president and just felt like this was an appropriate way to pay my respects.

Sarah Kallis: Funeral proceedings for Carter continue in Washington, D.C. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Former President Jimmy Carter is being remembered as a global humanitarian and statesman. But he was also something that many of us can relate to: a film buff. And he had a big hand in making Georgia's now-booming film and TV industry what it is today. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.

Sofi Gratas: Before Georgia became home to the studios that churn out superhero movies, it was known for some more humble classics. Think Driving Miss Daisy, My Cousin Vinny, Smokey and the Bandit. Go back further and we find the film that really kicked it all off: Deliverance, released in 1972. Despite some of the more traumatic plot points, people seem to resonate with the North Georgia scenery featured in the movie. They flocked to Rabun County for whitewater rafting tourism, which is still alive today.

Lee Thomas: And it brought money to a very poor part of the state.

Sofi Gratas: That's Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office.

Lee Thomas: When Jimmy Carter saw that, he thought, you know, we should try to get more of this. It doesn't require roads to be built or factories or anything. It just kind of comes in and dumps money.

Sofi Gratas: Carter, then Georgia governor, created the Georgia Film Office the following year. The idea was to have a dedicated team that could coordinate with producers from all over the world. Thomas says it worked.

Lee Thomas: For one, you had the governor of our state that was out there saying, you know, we want this business.

Sofi Gratas: She says Carter was committed to making sure projects went off without a hitch. The office was tasked with finding permits and scouting locations for all sorts of films.

Lee Thomas: Maybe glaciers are tough for us, but pretty much every location we can find.

Sofi Gratas: So Georgia was already at an advantage when the state legislature passed tax credits for film and TV producers in the early 2000s in an effort to compete with increasing industry incentives in other states.

Lee Thomas: People already recognized us as a place where films were made.

Sofi Gratas: This legacy of Carter's is testament to something he would do later on, too, says Christopher Escobar of the Atlanta Film Society.

Christopher Escobar: President Carter actually holds the record of watching more films than any other American president.

Sofi Gratas: During his four-year term, President Carter watched something like 400 films, occasionally inviting staff, too. Records show he had varied taste.

Christopher Escobar: You know, Bambi and The Godfather, Young Frankenstein, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, French Connection, Star Wars, True Grit. Oh, we also did Rocky.

Sofi Gratas: Oh wow. And store this for future trivia games: As the first new president since the Vietnam War, Carter made history when he invited a highly decorated American filmmaker for a private screening of a soon-to-be released film —

Robert Duvall (in Apocalypse Now): I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Sofi Gratas: Apocalypse Now.

Robert Duvall (in Apocalypse Now): Francis Ford Coppola talks about how President Carter holds a special place in his heart. So there's there's both personal and official capacities in where we see that President Carter's legacy in filmmaking and in the art form is going to be felt for generations.

Sofi Gratas: Escobar, who runs the historic Plaza and Tara Theaters in Atlanta, says now even with a strong foundation, there is a lot of uncertainty in how Georgia's film industry will manage what's coming. For the first time in a while, film and TV production overseas is starting to outpace that in the U.S.. There are other changes, too. When Jimmy Carter created the film office, more often than not, audiences could expect to recognize local spots on the big screen, and locals could expect big business. Lee Thomas with the Film Office admits some of that disappears with the rise of big-budget films.

Lee Thomas: You kind of lose that film tourism aspect when everything's built on a stage.

Sofi Gratas: But Thomas celebrates the industry growth, and she says former President Carter did, too.

Lee Thomas: Just like all of us, I think he was amazed at how big the industry had — had gotten.

Sofi Gratas: She says it will take continued investments and incentives to keep that industry in Georgia. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: President Joe Biden approved legislation this weekend, renaming the post office in Plains, Ga., after former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter. The facility on Main Street will now be known as the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Post Office. The effort was led by Georgia's congressional delegation, including both U.S. senators.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. We do appreciate you tuning in. We hope you'll come back tomorrow. The best way to remember to do that is to subscribe to this podcast. When you do, we will pop up automatically in your podcast feed. And remember, you can always check out the latest headlines at GPB.org/news. Our email box is open for your suggestions. If you've got feedback on this podcast and on the news we're covering, let us know. The address is Georgia Today@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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