Georgia Today: Abrams-founded voter advocacy groups fined; Flu and COVID rising; RIP Nathalie Dupree

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Jan. 15. I'm Peter Biello. On this podcast, you'll hear the GPB news team's most recent reports. Your tips and suggestions for future episodes are welcome. Email GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. On today's episode, two voter advocacy groups founded by Stacey Abrams get hit with massive fines. Flu and COVID cases are quickly rising. And we remember Natalie Dupree, the celebrated cookbook author and television host, who over the years witnessed the diversification of Southern cuisine.

Natalie Dupree: There is Southern Italian, there is Southern French, there is Southern Chinese cooking. And the question is whether that helps it or hurts it.

Peter Biello: These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Ethics Commission is levying the largest ethics fine in state history on two Georgia voter advocacy groups founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams. The New Georgia Project and its affiliated Action Fund have admitted to campaign finance violations and will pay a $300,000 fine. Commission director David Emadi said the groups failed to disclose contributions and spending, among other violations.

David Emadi: I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, a Libertarian, Green Party. If people are breaking the law and illegally influencing an election, particularly the extent they did, that should that should upset you and you should want to see something done about it.

Peter Biello: Abrams stepped down from the groups before she ran for governor and says she wasn't involved. The group's lawyers previously argued the commission's Republican majority, including Emadi, were politically motivated.

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COVID

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Department of Public Health says flu and COVID numbers are going up quickly as people return to work and school after the holidays. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Ellen Eldridge: State health officials are reminding people it's still not too late to get vaccinated. Dr. Cherie Drenzek is an epidemiologist with the state Health department. She says it's typical to see COVID cases post holidays. And January is often when we see the highest rates of flu.

Dr. Cherie Drenzek: It is not too late to receive a flu vaccine, even though we may be peaking or close to peaking. We often have declines and then even spring waves as well.

Ellen Eldridge: Drenzek says ongoing genomic surveillance is critical for virus prevention and control over time. Meanwhile, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, activity is declining in Georgia, but remains high nationally. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Georgia's 2025 legislative session is underway. And among the top priorities for state lawmakers is Hurricane Helene relief efforts. GPB's Lawmakers host Donna Lowry spoke with Georgia Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Chairman Russ Goodman.

Donna Lowry: Chairman, let's talk about it — Chairman Russ Goodman. Let's talk about what your priorities are for this session.

Russ Goodman: Well, I think number one is hurricane relief and what we're going to do to help the communities that have been been devastated from Hurricane Helene. You know, where I live at. I mean, our family, we suffered a, really, a generational loss. And it's that way for communities all over where I live. I mean, literally, we went to — we went to sleep and — err, say went to sleep. The sun went down. And when it came back up, a third of our ag economy in the state of Georgia was gone. You know, of course I — Of course, there's our No. 1 industry in the state. And so literally, just to think about it in those terms, you know, $6.5 billion worth of damage in 12 hours. I've seen a lot of — I've seen a lot of, I've seen a lot of grown men fight back tears and break down and cry. And I'm talking about men that normally would just about soon as die and go to hell than show another man any vulnerability, you know? Just tough men that it's just broken a lot of hearts. And so I'm hoping that, you know, going into this session that we're going to have some measures that are going to help not only our farm families, but also the communities that — that have been devastated from the hurricane. So, you know, some of those things being things like reforestation, tax credits. You know, I'm hopeful that we can get some more money in the — you know, the state put some money over in the GDA, Georgia Development Authority, for low-interest loans to farmers. Their requests are already outpacing that the money was there. I would really like to see the state put some more money there. And you have to realize farmers, when we went into this, we know cotton's 67 cents a pound. I mean, cotton was 67 cents a pound the year I was born! I'm 47 years old, right? So, corn below $4 a bushel. So our ag economy was already suffering going into this. And then this hurricane comes and it's just — it's been tough. And, you know, I hope that we're also going to be able to some to help these — these local counties and local municipalities, I guess, help with the expense that they incurred from the hurricane. And we've still got a lot of — a lot of problems, a lot of things we're trying to — that need to be fixed: infrastructure, bridges, roads and things like that. So that's going to be a large portion of it.

Peter Biello: That was Lawmakers host Donna Lowry speaking with Georgia Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Chairman Russ Goodman. You'll find daily in-depth legislative coverage and reports on the issues and people that affect your life on the 55th season of GPB's Lawmakers. Tune into Lawmakers on your GPB TV station every evening at seven on days when the legislature is in session.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Repair work continues on a water main break that caused more than 20,000 residents and businesses in metro Atlanta's DeKalb County to lose water last night. A boil water advisory remains in effect for a large swath of the county, including the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University campuses. Atlanta public and City of Decatur schools are distributing bottled water to students. County officials say the break was caused by a ruptured 30-inch cast iron water pipe installed in 1941 and freezing temperatures.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The federal government is withdrawing proposed rules that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to try to save a vanishing species of whale. Environmentalists say the move announced today in the waning days of the Biden administration, will leave the endangered North Atlantic right whale vulnerable to extinction. Savannah congressman, Republican Buddy Carter, applauded the decision, saying it would protect harbor pilots, small business owners and the coastal economy. Maritime interests and wildlife conservationists have debated the proposed vessel speed rules for two years. Federal authorities say there's no way to implement the rules before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Monday.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized rules aimed at protecting workers and communities from cancer-causing ethylene oxide pollution. Ethylene oxide is the chemical used by an Atlanta medical sterilization company, Sterigenics, that has been at the center of multiple lawsuits over its emissions.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: The University System of Georgia has reduced the financial burden of attending college significantly in recent years. GPB's Chase McGee reports on an audit shared with the system's Board of Regents yesterday.

Chase McGee: The system's chief financial officer told board members the state is now paying about 60% of the cost of attending a USG school. Students pay the remaining 40%. The state's share of cost fell as low as 47% in the aftermath of the Great Recession more than a decade ago. The CFO says several factors helped them bring down student costs. Those include the General Assembly eliminating special fees that students had to pay and restoring full funding of the HOPE Scholarship, as well as a $1.6 billion infusion of federal money during the pandemic. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Southern culinary icon Natalie Dupree has died. The celebrated cookbook author and television host's obituary says she died on Monday at her home in North Carolina. The Virginia native had many Georgia connections, including the cooking school she founded at Rich's department store in downtown Atlanta, where she taught thousands of students. Her New Southern Cooking debuted on PBS in 1985. Speaking with GPB's Orlando Montoya in 2014, she reflected on the many culinary changes in the South since then, especially its diversity.

Natalie Dupree: That was our goal before we started doing the television series. We sat down and the list, the things that we wanted to do were to teach people how to cook and teach them about Southern ingredients. So that was always my mission. And it makes me feel very good that people still remember it after all these years. I just love it.

Orlando Montoya: I want to ask about how cooking on television has changed since your groundbreaking television series, New Southern Cooking, in the 1980s.

Natalie Dupree: Nobody really shows a mess anymore on television. What we did, what was called "Live to Tape." So if I made a mistake, which naturally I would rushing through a recipe and talking at the same time — and besides, I'm a mess maker anyway — so if I made a mess, I had to solve it on television and everybody saw that it could be solved. Where now everything is edited so highly that nobody really gets to make a mess anymore or fix it.

Orlando Montoya: You started the cooking school at Rich's department store in Atlanta in 1975. How has food education changed? I mean, how the people who come to your lessons changed?

Natalie Dupree: Well, it's it's become a real profession. And when I started the cooking school, most of the chefs in America were — were European or like an ethnic restaurant, like a Chinese or a Mexican. They were maybe of that cuisine. But now all sorts of people have been raised to a professional level. They're turning out chefs for the culinary schools. And I think that's one of the disservices that some of the television shows do, too, because they don't point out that cooking in a kitchen is a long, hard road up. The European chefs used to start when they were 16, working in the kitchen as peeling potatoes and working their way up until they were in their 20s when they really were considered a chef. Now young people go to school and think that two years they should come out and get a job.

Orlando Montoya: And not only that, but start a restaurant.

Natalie Dupree: And start a restaurant. That's right. That's right.

Orlando Montoya: What do you think is the biggest threat to Southern foodways right now?

Natalie Dupree: There is Southern Italian, there is Southern French, there is Southern Chinese cooking. And the question is whether that helps it or hurts it. And we don't know. Just like we didn't know it was New Southern Cooking when I did quick cooked green beans, whether or not that would hurt Southern cooking. And in fact, people don't cook their green beans for a long time anymore, although sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

Orlando Montoya: Do you have guacamole in Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking?

Natalie Dupree: Sure, We have guacamole in there because avocados, you know were part of Florida and part of the South and they're also part of our culture right now.

Peter Biello: Among Natalie Dupree's many contributions to the culinary world, she helped to found the Southern culture and culinary organization Southern Foodways Alliance. Natalie Dupree was 85 years old.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Former professional baseball and football player Bo Jackson is abandoning a $25 million judgment he won after accusing his niece and nephew of extorting him. In February of last year. Cobb County Superior Courts awarded Jackson the amount finding that his nephew Thomas Lee Anderson of Smyrna and niece Erica Anderson of Texas repeatedly threatened on social media to make false accusations about Jackson unless he gave them $20 million. In an order filed yesterday. Jackson and his niece and nephew entered an agreement that wipes out the $21 million judgment but ensures that the siblings stay at least 500 yards from Jackson at all times except at certain events like family functions and sporting events. At those events, however, the Andersons must not talk directly to Jackson or his immediate family members. Jackson, a native of Alabama, was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1982 but chose to attend Auburn University on a football scholarship. He played most of his baseball career for the Kansas City Royals and spent four seasons in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders.

Caption

Trevor Etienne

Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux, File

Story 10:

Peter Biello: And one more story before we go: The Georgia Bulldogs are losing a talented running back to the NFL draft. Trevor Etienne announced on social media today that he's declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft. He thanked God, his family coach Kirby Smart, and the UGA coaching staff and Dawg Nation for the support he's received. Etienne rushed 609 yards and scored nine rushing touchdowns last season. He spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Florida Gators.

Peter Biello: If you're like me, you are watching the weather forecast for next week very closely. Sometimes there are little snowflakes in my weather app and sometimes there are none. If there is snow, we will be reporting on it here on Georgia Today. Make sure you catch that coverage by subscribing to this podcast and check out GPB.org/news for the latest updates on snow or politics or whatever happens to be going on in the state. We appreciate having you as a listener. I'm Peter Biello. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon.

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