Georgia Today: Renters rights for motel residents; Assistance denied for Troup; John Lewis stamp

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Thursday, June 22. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the state Supreme Court looks into whether residents of an extended stay motel should be afforded the full rights of a renter. FEMA denies Troup County's request for assistance. And a new stamp commemorates civil rights icon John Lewis. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Researchers at Georgia State University will study the effects of remote learning during the pandemic on the state's K-12 students. With the help of a nearly $2 million grant. GPB's Amanda Andrews explains.

Amanda Andrews: The study is through Georgia State's Georgia Policy Labs. The group uses science to find solutions for the needs of children and families and recommend policies to schools and governments. Researchers will ask why some students did better with remote learning than others and how to accelerate learning for students who fell behind. Professor Tim Sass is a lead researcher for the study. He says they're working with Dekalb, Fulton and Clayton County schools.

Tim Sass: Districts are starting to roll out surveys — DeKalb already has one in the field — asking parents about their experience with their children, remote learning and trying to understand the home environment and how that may have impacted students' learning during the pandemic.

Amanda Andrews: The study will take three years to complete. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied Georgia's request yesterday for a major disaster declaration stemming from storms in West Georgia's Troup County in March. The declaration would have brought more resources to help the county pay for cleanup and recovery. Local emergency management director Zac Steele says he's disappointed with the decision but understands how it was made.

Zac Steele: While there was a lot of damage in Troup County, unfortunately, statewide, it appears we didn't meet that threshold that FEMA was looking for.

Peter Biello: The storms included a tornado and damaged several bridges and left dozens of residents without homes. No deaths and only minor injuries were reported.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Gas stations in metro Atlanta's DeKalb County are preparing for a new ordinance requiring them to install or upgrade their security cameras. The law is aimed at deterring crime and helping with crime investigations, as GPB's Devon Zwald reports.

Devon Zwald: County officials say most gas stations already have some kind of security cameras. But the local law going into effect in July applies to all of the county's 248 gas stations. It requires high-definition cameras installed in specific places with data storage and other mandates tied to a business license. DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran Jackson says it's the first ordinance of its kind in the state.

Lorraine Cochran-Jackson: This is the responsibility of the property owner. But the long-term effect of this, I believe, will far outweigh the cost.

Devon Zwald: Six full-time compliance officers will enforce the ordinance. A spokesperson for the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores did not respond to a request for comment. For GPB News, I'm Devon Zwald.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: FBI Director Christopher Wray says crime aided by emerging technologies is a growing focus for the nation's top law enforcement agency. Wray made these comments while speaking at an Atlanta Press Club event Tuesday. He says the FBI is exploring new technologies to counteract the increasing threat.

Christoper Wray: Cyberspace today is rife with technically sophisticated actors stalking our networks, looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, data to steal. Our IC3, which is our Internet Crime Complaint Center, reported that losses from cyber crime jumped nearly 50% last year from $6.9 to $10.3 billion.

Peter Biello: Wray says much of their focus is on using artificial intelligence or A.I. to secure the nation.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Georgia election officials say they'll need six to nine months to install new software and hardware to update the state's voting system to protect against security flaws. Speaking at a Georgia elections board meeting yesterday, the state's deputy elections director pushed back against calls to update the system before the 2024 election cycle.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Supreme Court has set out a legal framework for deciding when a resident of an extended stay motel should be afforded the full rights of a renter. In a ruling published yesterday, justices sent back to a lower court a case involving a chain of extended stay motels and three residents the motels locked out of their rooms for nonpayment. GPB's Grant Blankenship reports.

Grant Blankenship: When apartment residents pay rent. They are legally in possession of their home. When they don't pay rent, they move through the weekslong legal process of eviction before being put out on the street. The motel residents in the case before the Georgia Supreme Court were not allowed that process by motel owners. The motel chain argued that the renters, some of whom had been residents for years, were guests and therefore subject to immediate expulsion. In their opinion, justices ordered the lower court to reconsider the case, not just in light of the literal language of the rental agreement, but also on things like who cleans the rooms, who decorates the interiors, and who controls houseguests and locks — all of which play into that legal precept of possession of a property. The case now goes back to a trial court DeKalb County. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Three congressional leaders unveiled a new stamp yesterday that commemorates the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon who served more than three decades in Congress. The stamp features a photograph of Lewis taken by Marco Grob on assignment for an August 2013 issue of Time magazine. The postmaster general said the Lewis Forever stamp will be issued in July.

And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Tomorrow on the program, we'll look at how the state's domestic terrorism law factors into the decision to protest. Some protesters opposed to the planned public safety training center in Atlanta, known to opponents as "Cop City," say the law is being used to silence dissent.

Cop City Protestor: That's a certain kind of law enforcement and it looks more like intimidation and repression. It's textbook intimidation and repression.

Peter Biello: That story tomorrow on All Things Considered and on this podcast. Remember to subscribe to this podcast. So we will refresh and your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. If you want to learn more about any of the stories you heard on today's episode, visit GPB.org/news. And as always, if you've got feedback, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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