Georgia Today: Vance to campaign in GA; AT&T workers continue strike; ATL pledges funds for homeless

Georgia Today

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, Sept. 3. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance plans a town hall meeting in Brazelton. AT&T workers across the South continue their strike, and Atlanta's mayor says the city will be dedicating $60 million towards addressing Atlanta's growing homeless population. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is stopping in Georgia later today. Vance will be in Braselton for a town hall at the Chateau Allen Winery and Resort. He'll be joined by Florida Sen. Rick Scott; former head of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon; and Missouri congressman Jason Smith. His visit comes as the presidential race in Georgia tightens. Some recent polls show Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris with a slight advantage. Georgia's 16 electoral votes could make the difference in a tight national race.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The Communications Workers of America say they are no longer interested in using a mediator to negotiate with AT&T. More than 17,000 technicians, customer service reps and other AT&T workers are entering the third week of a strike throughout the South, including in Georgia. The union calls the use of a federal mediator a delaying tactic. Over the weekend in Atlanta, striking workers spread out to encourage the public to sign a worker support petition. Richard Honeycutt with the union says the strike is impacting service to AT&T customers.

Richard Honeycutt: I mean, you can go to some of the AT&T sites where their products are being sold and you can see the customer complaints. People canceling service because they've been waiting five, six, seven days for repair that no one has shown up.

Peter Biello: AT&T says it's disappointed by the strike and that service has not been disrupted. AT&T calls the union's decision on the mediator unexpected and says regardless of whether a neutral mediator is involved, progress will not be made without a willingness to compromise.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A new health plan available in Georgia offers a $0 deductible in co-pay. Under Curative Health's plan, providers are covered regardless of network. Curative's plan focuses on prevention and early intervention. It also requires customers to have a baseline visit with their medical team. One feature of the plan is the Curative Zero card, which acts like a credit card. Curative insurance CEO Fred Turner.

Fred Turner: It's in their name, but it's fully funded by us, and it lets us basically provide access to providers that either don't want to or can't contract with us, and we just pay their cash price.

Peter Biello: Turner says the card also allows expanded access to therapists and doctors. Businesses with more than 51 employees are eligible to enroll.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced today the city will put $60 million to work helping the city's growing homeless population. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

Amanda Andrews: The first $50 million in funding comes from Atlanta's Homeless Opportunity Bond, with $10 million more coming from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The money will be used to create 700 units of long-term affordable housing, with onsite supportive services like health care and workforce training. Housing nonprofit partners for home says the Atlanta unsheltered population has grown by more than 60% since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, making these resources critical. The first 500 units are expected to be ready by the end of 2025. The city will continue to seek private donations, which are expected to bring the total funding to about $150 million. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Homelessness is not just an issue in Atlanta. A new initiative in Southeast Georgia's Brunswick aims to bring more funding, accountability and focus to help prevent homelessness. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports It brings several programs for the unhoused together under one roof.

Orlando Montoya: The initiative is called Under One Roof. It's a fund of the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation, a large grant-making nonprofit in Glynn County. It's already secured a $5 million pledge from a Colorado-based philanthropy and the support of Sea Island Company, a large area employer. Scott Stylin is Sea Island CEO.

Scott Stylin: One of the things that we thought was very critical to our success is to be fairly narrow and focused and extraordinarily accountable in what we do, so that we create the momentum that allows for that platform to grow.

Orlando Montoya: Under One Roof plans to support transitional housing, residential work and mentorship programs, including some that already exist. It comes partly in response to years of controversy in Brunswick over a local homeless day shelter, and perceptions about the unhoused and crime. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: An elected prosecutor in Northeast Georgia has pleaded guilty to unprofessional conduct for taking money from Hall County and the Prosecuting Attorney's Council of Georgia. Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard pleaded guilty Friday. Woodard is accused of misusing public money. Woodard was sentenced to 12 months of probation, ordered to pay $2,200 in fines, and was required to resign.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Macon's Middle Georgia State University has launched a new program aimed at bringing academic research to address stubborn local social issues. GPB's Grant Blankenship has more.

Grant Blankenship: It's called the Center for Middle Georgia Studies. Its purpose is to throw open the doors of the university to community groups in Macon, working to address problems like crime, homelessness and poverty. About a quarter of the city's residents still live below the poverty line. Center director Dr. Christy Roberts Lewis says they hope to offer support through customized research projects and organizational training for the agencies and nonprofits trying to effect social change.

Christy Roberts Lewis: We believe that our efforts collaboratively can lead to kinds of solutions that will help the community at a much larger in a much larger capacity.

Grant Blankenship: The center for Middle Georgia Studies has also hired longtime Georgia journalist of economic inequality, Charles Hayslett, as its first scholar in residence. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The U.S. Navy base at King's Bay on Georgia's coast, is expected to lose two of its oldest submarines. King's Bay employs about 26,000 military and civilian workers, making it an economic powerhouse in Camden County. But two Ohio class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines based there, the Florida and Georgia, are reaching the end of their lifespans. Their expected decommissionings in the next four years could take hundreds of jobs and people out of the area. But retired Vice Adm. Al Konetzi says he expects new Columbia-class submarines to take their place.

Al Konetzi: The first Columbia will be here 2030, 2031. that will bring in a very large influx of folks, both civilian and military. And that will ameliorate some of the problems with these two ships and their crews going away.

Peter Biello: The Florida returned to King's Bay in July after a two-year mission. The Georgia is currently in the Middle East as tensions in the region rise.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Farmers in Georgia are battling an unusually robust population of fall army worm this year. The army worms typically feed on corn crops. This year, they're also feasting on peanut crops and lawns. Pam Knox is an extension climatologist with the University of Georgia. She says the army worms are found all over the state.

Pam Knox: If you're having problems with your lawn and you're seeing things that are just, you know, the lawn becoming brown very quickly, it was probably worth it to scout and see if you're having problems with army worms.

Peter Biello: Knox says even though the weather has been dry lately, rain earlier this year has made conditions favorable for the pest. Army worms grow to about an inch long in maturity before turning into moths.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: A Georgia company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic, has released images taken during its first trip to the site since 2010. The images taken by RMS Titanic show the location of a bronze statue not seen in decades. Diana of Versailles was once the centerpiece of the Titanic's first-class lounge and embodied the ship's palatial design. It was last seen in 1986, and new images of it are now available on RMS Titanic's website. The trip to the remote corner of the North Atlantic Ocean, where the Titanic sank, happened as the U.S. Coast Guard investigates the June 2023 loss of the Titan submersible, which was owned by a different firm.

Story 11:

Peter Biello: Autonomous car company Glydways has been selected for a transit pilot program in College Park, southeast of Atlanta. Glydways are pod-like driverless vehicles, which in this pilot project will connect the SkyTrain at Georgia International Convention Center and the Gateway Center Arena. Glydways aspires to, quote, "revolutionize urban mobility and provide more equitable access" to affordable housing, jobs, education, health care, and community. The pilot project is scheduled to run through next year.

Story 12:

Peter Biello: A new report from the Associated General Contractors of America found more than 90% of firms had openings for hourly positions, while 88% of construction companies in the state had open salaried positions. The report cites unqualified candidates and unreliable new hires as the reason for the openings. Jeff Shoaf, CEO of the association, called for more federal investment in training for skilled trade jobs.

Jeff Shoaf: A recent report, released in partnership with the Progressive Policy Institute, found that federal officials invest four times more each year, encouraging students to earn four-year degrees than they do supporting workforce development programs for fields like construction.

Peter Biello: Georgia companies say that construction projects are experiencing delays, being scaled back or canceled altogether due to the shortages.

Story 13:

Peter Biello: In sports. Georgia Tech's 2-0 start has the No. 23 Yellow Jackets ranked for the first time since 2015. The Yellow Jackets next head to Syracuse for their matchup on Saturday. Chris Sale is on the bump tonight as the Braves host the Colorado Rockies at Truist Park for the first of a three-game series. Sale has a 15 and 3 record and a 2.37 ERA in his last three appearances. With less than a month left in the regular season, the Braves are barely hanging on to a wild card spot. And Mackenzie Cone is taking home a medal in swimming from the Paris Paralympics. The Clarkesville, Ga., native won the silver medal yesterday in the 400 meter freestyle S7. Her win follows that of another Georgian, Atlanta native Jia Pergolesi, who took gold in the 100 meter backstroke S13.

Peter Biello: And that is all we've got for this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks so much for tuning in. We hope you had a great Labor Day weekend, and we're going to be back tomorrow with the latest headlines. The best way to remember to come back is to subscribe to this podcast. That way we'll be there automatically in your podcast feed waiting for you tomorrow afternoon. And if you're looking for the latest headlines, remember you can always check our website, GPB.org/news. Now we thrive on feedback here at GPB and we'd love to hear yours. If you've got something we should know about or some feedback on this podcast, send us an email. The address is [e-mail]. That email will go to the whole production team. So send it. Again, [e-mail]. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you very much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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