Georgia Today: High rate of STDs; Black Heritage sites; Georgia counties listed as fastest growing

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, April 10. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, free STD tests are being offered to combat Georgia's high rate of infection. There's a new project to identify and document Black Heritage sites around the state, and two of the fastest-growing counties in the country are in northeast Georgia. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Peter Biello: Georgia has some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the country, but many people are unaware. Because of that, several counties in Southeast Georgia will hold free testing events this month. GPB's Sofi Gratas has details.

Sofi Gratas: Seven counties in the coastal Public Health District have scheduled free STD screening events starting this week. Public health departments statewide routinely offer STD testing, but with sliding scale fees. Mandy Anderson is a public health nurse in Glynn County, where they're hosting a no cost screening event on April 13. Glynn had 750 STD cases in 2021, and Anderson says they're likely undercounting.

Mandy Anderson: A lot of people say that they feel like if they don't have any symptoms, then they don't have anything. And that is definitely the most common misconception.

Sofi Gratas: STD screenings through DPH are confidential. Visit CoastalHealthDistrict.org for a full schedule. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 2

Peter Biello: Northeast Georgia's Dawson and Lumpkin counties are among the nation's fastest-growing counties. That's according to newly released numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. The populations of the two counties grew by 5.8% between July 2021 and July 2022. They are tied for fourth in the nation behind Whitman County, Wash., Kaufman County, Texas, and Sumter County, Fla.

Caption

In Georgia, advance voting begins Feb. 19 and ends March 8 for the 2024 presidential preference primary. Election day for the primary is March 12, 2024. There will be no voting from March 9 to 11, 2024.

Story 3

Peter Biello: Early voting began today and the runoff election for mayor and for city council seats in the newly formed Cobb County city of Mableton. Voters approved the incorporation of the city in November's election. In last month's election, two city council seats were decided when candidates received more than 50% of the vote. Two ballot drop boxes are available for voters from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until Friday. After Friday, voters will have to cast ballots at their polling place on Tuesday the 18th. Early voting also began today in the runoff for Clayton County sheriff. Voters can cast ballots through Friday from 8 p.m. to 7 p.m. and in person on the 18th from 7 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Story 4

Peter Biello: A federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, on Friday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to rescind its approval for the abortion drug, mifepristone. The case is likely headed to the Supreme Court.  The ruling, which was set to go into effect on Friday, could face a hold while litigation plays out. That's after the Justice Department and a manufacturer of the drug appealed the ruling today. A decision on that action is expected by Thursday. Meanwhile, mifepristone, which the FDA has said is safe and effective, is still available. But it’s uncertain what will happen if the Texas is ruling is upheld, says Allison Whelan with the Georgia State University College of Law.  

Allison Whelan: Whether or not that means the drug comes off, the market would remain to be seen, one that would be up to both the manufacturers and the FDA. 

Peter Biello: Many abortion providers say they’ll continue to offer medication abortions using just one other drug, misoprostol, though access to medication abortions overall would be limited. 

Caption

The Springfield Log Cabin School was built in 1935 for Black students in Taliaferro County. The school provided a center for Black cultural and educational activities in the community from its inception through the civil rights era.

Credit: Halston Pitman / Nick Woolever / MotorSportMedia for Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation

Story 5

Peter Biello: State officials have launched a new project to identify and document Black heritage sites across Georgia. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports the effort is aimed at shoring up gaps in existing historic preservation resources.

Orlando Montoya: The Georgia Department of Community Affairs' Historic Preservation Division has dozens of publicly accessible reports that document historic resources. These reports are used for everything from national register listings to private grants and development applications. But the collection hasn't always been inclusive. So Rebecca Fenwick of Savannah-based Ethos Preservation is among those helping efforts to honor untold stories in Black history.

Rebecca Fenwick: More often than not, Black history is most remembered in family histories that have been passed through generations and historic photographs and personal collections. And that is the resource we are really hoping to tap.

Orlando Montoya: Georgians can add their stories at GeorgiasFullStory.com. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Story 6

Peter Biello: A new study by the apartment rental website RentCafe.com finds homeownership among millennials in the Atlanta metro area has risen dramatically in the last five years. The study found that home ownership has increased by more than 128%, and that millennials renting a place to live has dropped by almost a third. The study's authors say millennials reached a historically high median income of $108,000 last year, which may have contributed to the rise in home ownership.

Story 7

Peter Biello: A Valdosta company that sells supplies to schools in Georgia and North Florida, is planning on closing its doors after nearly 45 years in business. Learning Tree Educational Resources says it'll vacate its warehouse by the end of May. Owner and founder Robin McGhin Senior says it's been hard to compete with companies like Amazon.

Robin McGhin: Everybody's ordering online now and it's about killed the school supply business. At one time there were little companies like ours all over the place, and now they're just about all gone.

Peter Biello: McGhin says he expects to sell most of his remaining inventory by next month.

Story 8

Peter Biello: The University of Georgia Golf Course has been certified as an Audubon Cooperative sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses. Certification requires proof of a high degree of environmental quality in areas such as environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management and chemical use reduction. For the University of Georgia's golf course, that has meant expanding native vegetation, removing invasive species and conducting water quality testing. The course is considered one of the best collegiate courses in the country and is now one of more than 900 courses in the world to hold the certification from Audubon International.

Credit: File photo

Story 9

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Braves take on the Cincinnati Reds tonight for the first of a three-game series at Truist Park. This comes after a loss to the San Diego Padres yesterday, 10 to 2. It was the team's third consecutive loss to the Padres after winning the home opener on Thursday. Left-handed pitcher Dylan Dodd took the loss for his second major league start, giving up seven earned runs over four and a third innings. Braves manager Brian Snitker says losing three times in a row is just part of the game.

Brian Snitker: You're going to go through those ruts. I mean, we had a pretty good first week and now it's — it's kind of — it's baseball. And you're going to you know, you just have to fight through it.

Peter Biello: The Braves offense was hampered in part by the loss of strong players to the injured list. Michael Harris II is out with a lower back strain and Travis D'Arnaud is out after suffering a concussion.

Story 10

Peter Biello: One of the largest electronic music festivals in the country will take place in September just outside of Rome, Ga. The Imagine Music Festival is Sept. 14 through the 17th at Kingston Downs in Floyd County. Phase 1 of the festival's recently announced lineup features more than 50 acts, and there's more to come. Many of the attendees of the four day event will stay in their tents, cars, or RVs on nearby campgrounds, with others using a shuttle service from downtown Rome. Aside from music, the festival includes vendors, VIP amenities, and world-famous pool parties.

And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. But we do appreciate you listening. Thank you so much for being there. We hope you join us tomorrow as well. We've got more stories to come. Best way to remember to come back is to subscribe to this podcast and we will be there in your podcast feed tomorrow. If you've got feedback, please do let us know. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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