Georgia Today: VP Harris visiting NW Ga.; a new alternative to jail; Plant Vogtle finally running

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, April 3. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode: Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Northwest Georgia this week. Atlanta opens a new facility that offers an alternative to jail for those experiencing a mental health crisis. And the Georgia Power project decades in the making is finally up and running. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Peter Biello: Vice President Kamala Harris and two other high-level Biden administration officials plan to visit Georgia this week. It's part of a White House push to highlight the administration's spending priorities. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge was expected to visit a health care center developed with federal funds. In metro Atlanta's Gwinnett County today. Also in Gwinnett County, small business administrator Isabella Guzman is scheduled to visit business groups and tour downtown Norcross tomorrow. And Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to visit a solar panel manufacturing plant in Dalton on Thursday.

Story 2

Peter Biello: Georgia Power announced over the weekend that one of its new nuclear reactors at East Georgia's Plant Vogtle has generated electricity for the first time and successfully sent that power to the grid. The development has been in the works for decades. A company statement on Saturday said the plant's Unit 3 is now online and should be fully in service by May or June. In the meantime, they'll be raising the unit's power levels and conducting additional tests. The plant's expansion is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Those costs likely will mean higher rates for Georgia Power customers later this year.

Story 3

Peter Biello: Atlanta city officials broke ground Friday on a new center that will serve as an alternative to jails and emergency rooms for people in crisis. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more on the Center for Diversion and Services.

Amanda Andrews: The facility will help those dealing with issues around mental health, substance use or poverty. It's a collaboration between Grady Memorial Hospital and the Policing Alternative and Diversions program. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum says the center will address the limits of the criminal justice system.

Darin Schierbaum: The system has fallen short of assisting those that are in that state and encountering our police officers because of poverty, substance abuse and mental health crisis. And in 2021, the men and women that protect you on the Atlanta Police Department responded to over 9,000 calls of a person in a mental health crisis.

Amanda Andrews: The facility will provide basics like food and showers. They will also work with local agencies to provide long-term resources like health care and housing. It's expected to open in 2024. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews in Atlanta.

Story 4

Peter Biello: A new statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unveiled Saturday in a Vine City park in Atlanta. The unveiling coincides with the 55th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, which is tomorrow. The statue was inspired by Dr. King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. Artist Kathy Fincher designed the statue and co-sculpted it with Stan Mullins. That's according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Dr. Bernice King and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens spoke at the unveiling and former Atlanta mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young presented awards.

Story 5

Peter Biello: There are no major statewide elections this year, but that did not stop the Georgia Legislature from tweaking voting rules. GPB's Stephen Fowler reports on what passed and what could still change before the presidential cycle of 2024.

Stephen Fowler: The primary difference will be a near-total ban on local governments seeking outside funding to help pay for elections. Senate Bill 222 passed along party lines last week and would make it a felony to seek or accept such funds. Meanwhile, a bill that failed to get across the finish line would have banned absentee drop boxes completely, expanded the ability for any citizen to challenge voter eligibility and contained sections that might have violated federal voter registration laws. Those and other measures could return during next year's legislative session that doesn't start until January 2024. Lawmakers could also tackle the issue of what to change, if anything, about Georgia's runoff procedures before election season begins in earnest in the spring. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Story 6

Peter Biello: Despite rising mortgage interest rates, the median sale price of a home in metro Atlanta is still rising. The median sale price of $372,000 is 2% higher than this time last year. New listings and the number of homes sold are both down more than 20% year over year. The Federal Reserve's efforts to curb inflation by raising the benchmark federal fund rate has pushed the 30-year fixed rate higher, making borrowing more expensive on average. Freddie Mac's latest report on mortgage rates shows the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.32%. That's up 1.6% since this time last year.

Story 7

Peter Biello: A San Francisco-based OnDemand car rental delivery company has launched operations in Atlanta. Kyte says the city is its 15th U.S. market. Kyte, whose competitors, Zipcar and Flex Car, are already in the city, said yesterday that it's now renting vehicles in 29 Atlanta neighborhoods.

Story 8

Peter Biello: In sports, in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks yesterday,132-130. Trae Young made two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining in overtime to give Atlanta the edge. The Hawks are only one ahead of the 10th-place Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference and play at Chicago tomorrow night. In baseball, the Atlanta Braves face St Louis tonight after losing to the Washington Nationals yesterday. The Braves announced today they will retire number 25, worn by legendary Braves outfielder Andruw Jones. Jones will be honored in a special number retirement ceremony in September before the Braves take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2016. The Braves have already retired 10 numbers to honor legendary figures such as Greg Maddux, Bobby Cox and Warren Spahn. The retired numbers are on display on a left field facade in Truist Park. And in golf, Rose Zhang won the Augusta National Women's Amateur Saturday. The 19-year-old from Stanford has won the U.S. Women's Amateur, the NCAA title, and now the Augusta National Women's Amateur. The men move into Augusta this week as they prepare for this weekend's Masters Golf tournament, golf's first major of the year. Play begins with the annual par three tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Peter Biello: And that is all the news that is fit to broadcast on today's edition of Georgia Today. We appreciate you tuning in. Also want to send a shout out to my colleague Orlando Montoya for hosting this podcast and doing a stellar job while I was away in the back half of last week, it had been a minute since I'd taken some time off, so I appreciate being able to get away, visiting my in-laws in Sarasota. That Florida sun? It hits different. But I had a great time. Thanks again for listening and if you've got some feedback, we'd love to hear it. Send it by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. We will also take your news tips as well, so send them along — again, GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast — you know what I'm gonna say — do it now. That way we will be there on your podcast feed with all the news that is fit to broadcast on Tuesday afternoon. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

___

GPB's Georgia Today newsletter hits your inbox on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with top stories from around the state featuring news, politics and more. Subscribe here.