Georgia Today: Snow; Barrow schools' new security measures; Kemp recommends more prison funding

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, Jan. 10. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, Barrow County schools take new security measures after last year's deadly shooting. Gov. Brian Kemp recommends more funding to strengthen Georgia prisons. And Georgians wake up to a rare blanket of snow. These stories and more coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Snow was blanketing north Georgia after a rare winter storm this morning. The National Weather Service reports the greatest snowfall amounts were around metro Atlanta, including 3.5 inches in downtown Atlanta and 4 inches at Stone Mountain. Snow and ice were likely to accumulate across the region today, making roadways treacherous. More than a million public school students got a snow day or were at home learning online. More than 1,000 flights were canceled today at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Four passengers were injured after a Delta Air Lines plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff from ATL. Delta said it was unclear whether the weather had anything to do with the incident. Electric utilities were reporting more than 1,000 customers without power. Emergency management officials warned that number could increase with more ice and winds.

GPB's Sarah Kallis has more on how the state is managing the wintry conditions.

Sarah Kallis: Leaders at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, or GEMA, thank drivers for staying off of the road this morning, allowing emergency vehicles to have easy access to roads and streets. GEMA meteorologist Will Langston urged Georgians to continue to stay home this evening and tomorrow morning as ice accumulates.

Will Langston: If we do see some of that ice accumulation occurring on the roads or if we see some of the liquid that's falling freeze later because the temperatures aren't getting much above freezing, that would make the roads that much more difficult to drive on.

Sarah Kallis: Power outages are possible as wind gusts move into Georgia, Langston said. He also noted that some parts of the state may see ice stick around until Sunday. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: Gov. Brian Kemp has released a plan to spend an additional $372 million to strengthen Georgia prisons. GPB's Grant Blankenship has that story.

Grant Blankenship: The recommendations flow from a report compiled for the state by outside consultants. Both it and a report by the federal Department of Justice found there are not enough correctional officers to safely run Georgia prisons. So among the first recommendations, Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver presented to Georgia House and Senate Appropriations committees was a request to raise the average correctional officer salary to about $48,000 a year. Oliver would also like to raise salaries for college-educated behavioral health counselors to the same amount. In the hearing, Sen. John Albas wondered if that's good enough.

John Albas: For requiring someone to have a bachelor's and in many cases a master's degree, that's a pretty low salary.

Grant Blankenship: The recommendations will have to be acted on by the General Assembly before Georgia prisons see any new money. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: Barrow County schools will install weapons detection systems at all of its high schools as early as next week. GPB's Chase McGee reports.

Chase McGee: County school board members approved the system's purchase at a special called meeting last night. Board chair Lisa Maloof addressed the meeting's timing a day after a student brought a gun to Apalachee High School.

Lisa Maloof: This was planned for in a few weeks as we had talked and presented our schedule of bringing this to you months ago. But in light of the recent events, we have moved this meeting to tonight.

Chase McGee: Apalachee High School is the same school where a 14-year-old shooter killed four people last September. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Caption

Fani Willis

Credit: AP Photo/John Bazemore

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked Georgia's highest court to review a lower appeals court's ruling that removed her from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others. The Georgia Court of Appeals last month ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case because of a, quote, "appearance of impropriety" created by a romantic relationship she had with the special prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case. In a petition filed this week, Willis asked the Georgia Supreme Court to review and reverse that decision.

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: Six days of funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter ended in Carter's beloved hometown in Southwest Georgia yesterday. GPB's Sofi Gratas was there.

Sofi Gratas: Early Thursday, florist Sherry Gerland began freshening up a memorial for Jimmy Carter in the middle of downtown Plains, getting rid of some of the flowers that had frozen and died. She straightens up a packet of Georgia peanuts placed atop the plaque.

Sherry Gerland: They actually wanted us to remove everything. And I'm like, "No, no, no. This is — this is sentimental."

Sofi Gratas: Jimmy Carter's funeral started and ended in Plains, which has welcomed thousands of visitors for the ceremonies from all over and of all ages, like 9-year-old Orion,

Orion: The nicest man on earth. And this, in the big print says, "in honor of Jimmy Carter."

Sofi Gratas: By sunset, a private service began at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter regularly taught Sunday school. Carter's official arrival to the church was marked by a military flyover. Lining the streets all day were people who loved him, like Plains native Tracey Stewart.

Tracey Stewart: Because he saw the common good and he saw us as equal. So his work has spoken for him. And at the end result, it's a well-done job.

Sofi Gratas: Supporters of the Carter family and the people of Plains braved freezing weather to watch the motorcade depart after delays in ceremonies during the day. Carter was buried in a private ceremony at his longtime home surrounded by family. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas in Plains.

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: A South Georgia producer of packaged baked goods, is acquiring a snack food company in a deal valued at nearly $800 million. Thomasville-based Flowers Foods said yesterday that it's buying Chicago based Simple Mills. Flowers Foods is the name behind brands including Nature's Own and Dave's Killer Bread. Simple Mills produces crackers, cookies and baking mixes.

Business news:

Orlando Montoya: U.S. longshoremen reached a contract agreement with ports and shippers yesterday, averting a potential strike that could have damage to the economy. A three-day strike back in October briefly stopped work at the Georgia Ports of Savannah and Brunswick.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded an $800 million contract for a comprehensive assessment of Atlanta's drinking water system. The agency said this week that engineering firm HDR will produce a report to guide improvements to the aging system. This comes after a major water outage last summer affected thousands of Atlanta residents and closed many businesses for days.

Business forecasters in Georgia expect the new year to bring a gradual slowdown to the state's economy. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports from Savannah.

Benjamin Payne: Robust growth, but slower than last year. That was the message from Ben Ayers, dean of UGA's Terry College of Business at an Annual Economic Outlook Conference this week. Speaking to business leaders at the Savannah Convention Center, he said Georgia would add fewer jobs than it did last year, but at a higher rate than the U.S. overall.

Ben Ayers: Most types of businesses in our state will continue to hire with the fastest growth in homebuilding and health services — homebuilding because we do expect that mortgage rates will fall at least a little.

Benjamin Payne: And that, he said, is due to more interest rate cuts expected this year from the Federal Reserve. Ayers projects a 25% chance we'll see a recession in 2025, slightly higher odds than typical years. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: The youngest of the original 13 Freedom Riders has died. Atlanta native Charles Person was a Vietnam War veteran who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1981. He spoke at Emory University last year about his 1961 rides into Alabama, where he and other riders were met by a violent mob of more than 100 people.

Charles Person: Everybody would spit on you. And the worst, of course, was when they would put a cigarette out on you. Boy, were we naive. How could we have anticipated what was going to happen when we got to Alabama? But I think we were prepared.

Orlando Montoya: Charles Person was 82 years old.

Orlando Montoya: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. I appreciate you tuning in today, especially since you have lots of choices in podcasts out there. But you'll always stay informed with Georgia news by listening to this podcast — and especially hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. If you have feedback for us, send that our way at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And as always, keep up with the latest Georgia news by going to GPB.org/news. I'm Orlando Montoya. Peter Biello will be back on Monday. Have a great weekend.

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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news