Skip to main content
Georgia Public Broadcasting Logo
  • Watch

    Featured Specials and Programs

    • All Creatures Great and Small
    • Antiques Roadshow
    • PBS News Hour
    • Miss Scarlet & The Duke
    • Finding Your Roots
    • Doc Martin
    All Programs

    GPB Originals

    • Georgia Legends
    • Lawmakers
    • A Fork in the Road
    • View Finders
    • Georgia Outdoors
    • Your Fantastic Mind
    GPB Originals

    Browse by Genre

    • Arts & Music
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Food
    • History
    • News & Public Affairs
    • TV Schedule
    • GPB Programs
    • PBS Passport
    • TV Highlights this Week
    • PBS KIDS
    • Ways to Watch
    • Newsletters
    • Contact GPB
  • Listen

    Featured Programs

    • The Daily
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Serendipity
    • John Lemley's City Cafe
    • Fresh Air
    • Here and Now
    • Code Switch/Life Kit
    • Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
    All Programs

    Podcasts

    • GA Today
    • Salvation South
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • Football Fridays in Georgia
    • Narrative Edge
    • Peach Jam Podcast
    • A Fork in the Road
    • Radio Schedule
    • GPB Classical
    • Radio Programs
    • Podcasts
    • GPB News
    • Find Your Station
    • Ways to Listen
    • Contact GPB
    • Newsletters
  • Learn

    Featured

    • Chemistry Matters
    • Classroom Conversations Podcast
    • GASHA Go! World
    • Georgia Farmcraft®
    • Georgia Classroom
    • Georgia Studies Collection
    • Econ Express
    • Let’s Go Enviro
    • Let's Learn GA!
    • Lights, Camera, Budget!
    • Live Explorations
    • Physics in Motion
    • School Stories
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • VR in the Classroom
    • Writers Contest

    For Kids & Teachers

    • GPB Games
    • PBS KIDS
    • PBS LearningMedia

    • on Twitter
    • on Facebook
    • on Email
  • News

    Featured Programs & Series

    • Lawmakers
    • Lawmakers: Beyond the Dome
    • 1A
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • GA Today Podcast
    • Storycorps
    • Narrative Edge

    More GPB News

    • Politics
    • Georgia News
    • Justice
    • Arts & Life
    • Health
    All GPB News
    • Radio Schedule
    • Radio Stations
    • GPB Apps
    • Podcasts
    • Contact GPB News
    • Follow Us on Apple News
    • Newsletters
  • Sports

    GHSA Sports

    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Cheerleading
    • On Demand
    • GPB Sports Blog
    All Sports

    High School Football

    • Scores & Schedule
    • On Demand
    • Teams
    • Rankings
    • Brackets
    • Heads Up Georgia
    Football Home
    • GPB Sports App
    • GPB Sports Blog
    • GPB Sports OnDemand
  • Events

    Browse by Type

    • Community
    • Donor
    • Kids & Family
    • Screenings
    All Events

    Browse by Category

    • Education
    • News
    • Sports
    • Television

    Sign up to receive GPB Event announcements via Email.

    Sign up

    • on Twitter
    • on Facebook
    • on Instagram
  • Kids & Families

    For Kids

    • Video
    • Games

    For Parents & Caregivers

    • Kids & Families Blog
    • Kids & Families Events
    • GPB KIDS - Ways to Watch
  • Support Us

    Support GPB

    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Sustainers
    • GPB Passport
    • Leadership Giving
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donations
    • GPB Next
    • Matching Gifts
  • Search
GPB Passport icon GPB Passport icon Passport
GPB donate icon GPB donate icon Donate

Media Utility

  • TV Schedule
  • Podcasts
  • Apps

Don't Miss

Don't Miss:

  • Support GPB Today
  • New Podcast: Manufacturing Danger: The BioLab Story
  • TV Highlights This Week
Listen Live Listen Live Watch Live Watch Live
GPB Passport icon GPB Passport icon Passport
GPB donate icon GPB donate icon Donate

Messages

Section Branding

Primary Content

Mark Rice

Ledger-Enquirer staff writer Mark Rice covers education and other issues related to youth. He also writes feature stories about any compelling topic. He has been reporting in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley for more than a quarter-century. He welcomes your local news tips and questions.
Reporter, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Media Partner

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer staff writer Mark Rice covers education and other issues related to youth. He also writes feature stories about any compelling topic. He has been reporting in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley for more than a quarter-century. He welcomes your local news tips and questions.

Bottom Content

News Stories by Mark Rice

Foster Lambertus, left, and Jerry Ludy pose for a photo in 2021 at Ludy’s Christmas Lights Spectacular in Columbus. Courtesy of Foster Lambertus

Tagged as: 

  • Art & Design

The creator of the largest Christmas lights display in Columbus retired. Meet his successor

Foster Lambertus was among those throughout the Chattahoochee Valley whose holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Ludy’s Christmas Lights Spectacular. Now he's picking up the torch himself.

December 23, 2024
|
By:
  • Mark Rice
Nancy Boren, right, executive director of elections and registration for Muscogee County, answers questions during a training session for election auditors and monitors Nov. 13, 2020. Bipartisan teams of Democrats and Republicans began a manual audit of Columbus’ 80,000-presidential votes in Council Chambers at the City Services Center.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

Muscogee County elections board sues Georgia panel to block controversial new rule

The Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration has sued the State Election Board in Georgia to block a new rule requiring a hand count of ballots, saying the move is too late in the process and it will “dramatically” alter election work.

October 11, 2024
|
By:
  • Mark Rice
This 10-foot great white shark vanished off Georgia in April and resurfaced five months later in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Canada, OCEARCH reports. OCEARCH Facebook screengrab

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

10-foot shark disappears off Georgia, shows up 1,700 miles away, satellite tag reveals

As strange as it sounds, a 10-foot, 3-inch great white shark sporting a satellite tracking tag managed to swim more than 1,700 miles without giving away her location, according to the nonprofit OCEARCH.

October 10, 2024
|
By:
  • Mark Rice
A mysterious congregation of alligators was recorded in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, and researchers are trying to figure out what caused the rarely witnessed occurrence. Marty Welch video screengrab

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

‘There’s gators everywhere.’ Mass alligator gathering investigated in Georgia canal

A rarely witnessed congregation of American alligators was recorded in southeast Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, and researchers are trying to figure out why it happened.

July 24, 2024
|
By:
  • Mark Rice
A family living in eastern Georgia found this alligator hiding in their fenced-in backyard. It’s unclear how it got there. Facebook

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

Alligator mysteriously turns up in Georgia family’s fenced-in backyard, photos show

A Georgia family is mystified as to how an alligator got into their home’s fenced-in backyard on St. Simons Island, about an 80-mile drive south from Savannah.

March 18, 2024
|
By:
  • Mark Rice
  • Load More

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News

Footer

Footer First Nav (Main Menu)

  • Watch
  • Listen
  • Learn
  • News
  • Sports
  • Events
  • Kids & Families
  • Support Us
  • Search

Footer Second Nav Menu

  • Help Center
  • About GPB
  • Contact Us
  • Closed Captioning
  • Directions
  • Studio Production
  • Program Submissions

Footer Third Nav Menu

  • Support Us
  • Careers
  • Accessibility
  • FCC Public Files
  • Drawing Rules
  • News Media Request
  • Open Records and Document Retention Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Georgia Public Broadcasting

260 14th St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
United States

(404) 685-2400 In Atlanta
(800) 222-4788 Outside Atlanta
ask@gpb.org

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News
© Copyright 2025, Georgia Public Broadcasting. All Rights Reserved. Georgia Public Radio® GPTV®