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Georgia Today: GA native wins Super Bowl and judge rules on 2020 election investigation
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On the Monday Feb. 13 edition of Georgia Today: A Georgia native is celebrating his Super Bowl win and a judge has ruled on a special jury investigation into attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election
Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Feb. 13. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the judge makes a decision on the release of documents related to the special grand jury investigation into attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election. The key figure in that investigation says he won't run again. And we'll learn more about the Georgia native who kicked the game winning field goal in last night's Super Bowl. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.
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Peter Biello: A Fulton County judge ruled today that most of a special grand jury report into interference in Georgia's 2020 presidential election should be kept private for now, while other parts could be published later this week. GPB's Stephen Fowler has more on the judge's decision.
Stephen Fowler: Judge Robert McBurney said the special grand jury's report into what laws were broken and who likely broke them is thorough. But because of due process, shouldn't be made public unless or until the district attorney's office actually brings criminal charges. But some things can be made public and likely will later this week on Thursday: the introduction, conclusion and a section expressing concern that some people lied to the jury under oath because none of those sections name names. Fulton de Fani Willis said at the hearing over this report last month. Decisions are, quote, imminent. It's not clear if anyone involved in the case will appeal the judge's order. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.
Peter Biello: Among those allies of President Trump central to the case is Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, who reportedly is not running for another term as state party leader. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Shafer announced his decision to party leaders in an email on Friday. It comes amid dissatisfaction among some in the party over GOP losses in the 2020 election and Schaefer's backing of pro-Trump candidates.
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Peter Biello: The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $1 billion from the federal Superfund program to clean up 22 toxic waste sites across the country. About $50 million will go to clean up lead contamination in a residential neighborhood in Atlanta. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says the project has been waiting for years to access federal funds.
Sen. Raphael Warnock: The West side lead project will be able to reduce those wait times so that EPA can accelerate the removal of lead from people's properties. This helps our children.
Peter Biello: Experts say it's unclear exactly where the lead came from, but it is likely from metal foundries that were once common on Atlanta's west side.
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Peter Biello: Workers in seven counties who lost income as a result of the severe storms on Jan. 12 have until Friday to file initial claims for disaster unemployment assistance. The federal program offers assistance to self-employed businesspeople, farmers, loggers and others not eligible under the state's program. That's according to a release from the Georgia Department of Labor. For more information, visit DOL.Georgia.gov.
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Peter Biello: Director Tyler Perry is the focus of a new exhibit opened this month in Macon in what's billed as a first of its kind retrospective of Perry's career. GPB's Ashley Pemberton has more.
Ashley Pemberton: The exhibit at Macon's Tubman African-American Museum lays out the details of Tyler Perry's life from his early career milestones to more recent work. Tubman Museum executive director Harold Young says the exhibit is a first for the museum and a dream of his to bring to life.
Harold Young: I compared him to a Harriet Tubman, where he has reached back and pulled people with him; that after he has gotten to a certain level, he's pulled people back with him and helped so many different people.
Ashley Pemberton: Perry's body of work includes writing over a dozen stage plays, directing close to 60 feature films, and a New York Times bestseller. The exhibit runs through at least the next two years. For GPB News, I'm Ashley Pemberton in Macon.
Story 5
Peter Biello: Beyonce has added Monday, Aug. 14, as a third show to her stops in Atlanta as part of her Renaissance world tour. Mercedes-Benz Stadium said Friday the addition is due to high demand. Beyonce Fan Club pre-sale tickets went on sale today. There are a couple of presales scheduled for later this week and verified fan ticket sales start on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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Peter Biello: In last night's Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Chiefs kicker and Georgia native Harrison Butker launched a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining to put the Chiefs on top. Butker is a graduate of Georgia Tech and Atlanta's Westminster School when the Westminster Wildcats were looking for a kicker. Butker made the transition to football from soccer. With me now is the high school coach who helped him do that, Westminster assistant football coach Joe Sturniolo.
Joe Sturniolo: When Harrison was a freshman, he was actually playing just soccer. He had not started playing football yet. We were having spring practice that year and we were looking for a new kicker and our senior kicker from the year before I had talked to about signing a replacement and said, Coaches, the guy, this is the band with me, that's a soccer player. I think he might be pretty good, but hasn't came out the end of his freshman year and had never really kicked a football before, had just been a soccer player, but decided he wanted to give it a try. And ironically, I was in the soccer press box and his mom was outside the press box talking to another mom, and I heard her say they want Harrison to play football, but I'm just not sure about football. You know, he's always been a soccer player. He's never been a football player. I'm just worried a little bit. And I stuck my head out and said, Let me introduce myself and had a conversation with Elizabeth. She consented. Now, she's an absolute huge football fan, and I know she was enjoying the Super Bowl as well.
Peter Biello: So what's it like for soccer players who want to be kickers to transition? And did Harrison sort of follow the traditional role or was there something different or special about the way he did it?
Joe Sturniolo: Well, what he did was work harder than anybody else I've ever seen. His work ethic was unbelievable. The transition for a soccer player, it's a little bit of a different kick. Obviously, the the eye foot coordination, the ability to kick the strength and the leg. All of that transfers over from soccer. Well, with the motion of kicking a soccer ball and the motion of picking a football are different. Your hips in a different place. You make contact in a different place. And it's all because of the trajectory that you want on the ball. Some people make the tradition well, some are not very good at it. Harrison worked very, very hard, not just in season in the off season as well, too. He was constantly looking for for ways to improve. That meant going to camp somewhere, spending extra time where he and I out there, there was many a night that he and and Izzy, who's now his wife, spent on the field with him, kicking and Izzy chasing footballs down by the goalpost while I was critiquing along the way.
Peter Biello: So Harrison was a football player. He's a kicker. He was a soccer player. He was also in band. He played the tuba in band. How did he juggle all those extracurricular activities?
Joe Sturniolo: He is a very dedicated person. A very committed person. Doesn't worry a whole lot about social media, social activities, things along those lines. He focuses his focus is tremendous. That's part of what's made him such a great kicker in the NFL is his focus. I mean, last night, obviously, he missed the first kick last night. One of the things that we try to teach kickers, there's nothing less important than the last kick and there's nothing more important than the next one. His ability to just set aside whatever happened and say, okay, that happened. What did we learn from it? Now let's go get ready for the next one.
Peter Biello: So you must be feeling some measure of pride right now.
Joe Sturniolo: Oh, absolutely. But, you know, somebody asked me last week, you know, how would you feel a beat kicks, you know, a game winning field goal. And I said, I'll be tremendously proud. But I'm proud of Harrison, whether he made a field goal whether he didn't; the man that he has become is tremendous, phenomenal father, phenomenal figure in the Kansas City area. And he serves as as an altar assistant in Latin Mass and teaches kids how to do that as well.
Peter Biello: Have you kept in touch with him over the years?
Joe Sturniolo: Absolutely. I texted with him last night.
Peter Biello: Oh, What did he have to say last night?
Joe Sturniolo: Not much. We kept it short last night. I talked a little bit with him before the game and and then after the game. It was right after the game. So he was still on the field when I sent my last text and I said, you know, I got a few questions, but obviously, no, I'll wait till later. I want you enjoy the night and we'll talk later this week. And he just said, Thanks, coach. Love you.
Peter Biello: Well, Joe Sturniolo, thank you so much for speaking with me and sharing your thoughts about Harrison Butker. Really appreciate it.
Joe Sturniolo: You're quite welcome. Nice. I'm glad to talk with you about it. I'm glad to spread the word about him. I could not be happier for Harrison Butker.
Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe to this podcast and keep us current in your podcast feed. And if you are enjoying this podcast, please leave a review. It'll help others find us. And if you've got feedback, of course we love to hear it. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org.
I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.
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