Georgia Today: Trump files against Fulton; regulations for EVs; teachers' retirement takes a hit

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, March 20. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode: Former President Trump tries to shut down any possible prosecution related to the Fulton County probe; state lawmakers look to regulate electric vehicles; and a local teacher's retirement fund takes a hit with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Caption

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference Friday, June 17, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.

Credit: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File

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Peter Biello: Former President Donald Trump is asking a Georgia court to essentially shut down any ability to prosecute crimes stemming from the Fulton County special purpose grand jury's investigation into 2020 election interference. GPB's Stephen Fowler reports.

Stephen Fowler: In a nearly 500-page filing, Trump's attorneys attack everyone from Fulton DA Fani Willis to jurors who spoke out after their service ended, arguing the entire special purpose grand jury process was unconstitutional. They also want a judge to disqualify Willis from the investigation, prevent any evidence compiled during the eight-month inquiry to be used in any sort of prosecution, and to quash the grand jury's final report. That report, which was partially released last month, recommends Willis pursue indictments against various people, but those sections are redacted until the DA decides what to do. Trump was never asked to appear before the body, and it's not clear if he's even facing charges in the probe. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

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Peter Biello: The Georgia House and Senate each have passed similar bills to regulate electric vehicles. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports lawmakers from both chambers are working toward a final version before the end of the legislative session.

Amanda Andrews: Each bill changes three key elements: Charging stations currently billing for time connected with charge per kilowatt hour, the Department of Agriculture would regulate the chargers, and charge an excise tax on the sale of electricity. The bills differ on how much tax EV owners will pay and when the new tax begins. Anne Blair is a senior policy manager with the Electrification Coalition, She says the excise tax could be a solution to the lost gas revenue, but not on top of an existing yearly fee.

Anne Blair: It should not be in addition to a flat fee for EV drivers. You know, we pay three different taxes right now in addition to the vehicle purchase tax.

Amanda Andrews: The latest version of the Senate bill would tax EV owners $0.26 per nine kilowatt hours, but not take effect until 2025. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

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Peter Biello: Georgia's Teacher's Retirement System lost about $33 million when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed earlier this month. That's according to TRS Executive Director Buster Evans. The loss is a small fraction of the system's $88 billion in total assets. Federal regulators guaranteed all deposits at the two banks and created a program to help shield other banks from a run on deposits. But investments like those made by TRS were not protected. Evans said the loss will not impact the retirement benefits of teachers, retirees or active members.

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Peter Biello: Georgia Ports Authority police officers would have more power under a bill passed by the state Senate today. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Port police would be able to make arrests for violations of state law within 1 mile of the ports of Savannah and Brunswick. Currently, they can only make arrests when city ordinances are violated at the ports themselves. Officers would also be allowed to investigate possible crimes within 1 mile of the ports. Republican State Sen. Ben Watson:

Ben Watson: Mostly it is a traffic issue at their gates. As you can imagine, they have hundreds of trucks in and out there, and at times there are accidents.

Benjamin Payne: Watson says the Ports Authority and neighboring police departments support the measure. There are about 200 port police officers with 30 to 40 on duty at any given time. The bill passed the Georgia Senate unanimously and has already passed the House and now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne.

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Peter Biello: Indoor Farming Company and packaged salad provider BrightFarms plans to build a regional hub in Georgia. The company expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and employ about 300 people on nearly 200 acres in Macon. But BrightFarms is not a traditional farm. The company's chief operating officer, John Schaefer, says they build semi-closed and climate-controlled hydroponic greenhouses to grow leafy greens more efficiently and sustainably.

John Schaefer: We do that for the health of the people and health of the planet. And so that was really our mission statement as a company and why we've seen traction from our customers in terms of having a product that in most cases is harvested and in the consumer's hand within 24 hours.

Peter Biello:  Schaefer cites Macon's access to water and agricultural labor as key reasons for the site's selection. An expected summer groundbreaking would come two years after New York-based BrightFarms was acquired by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.

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Peter Biello: This year's Vidalia onion season will begin April 17. The state agriculture commissioner and the Vidalia Onion Committee Friday announced the first day the famously sweet onions can be packed and shipped to grocery stores across the country. The pack date is determined by soil and weather conditions during the growing season. Vidalia is a trademark name for onions, grown only in 20 counties in South Georgia. Onions were a $168 million crop in Georgia, according to 2021 farm gate data. The vast majority of those were grown in Vidalia onion country, which includes top-producing Tattnall, Toombs, and Evans counties.

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Peter Biello: The Savannah Music Festival kicks off on Thursday. This year's bill includes musicians from across the world playing in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical and roots. With me now to discuss what to expect is Ryan McMaken, artistic director of the Savannah Music Festival. So what stands out to you as really special about this year's festival?

Ryan McMaken: The entire lineup is really an expansion of what we've always done. We have nine venues across the historic district in sizes from 200 up to 1,200. But we've added an outdoor stage at Trustee's Garden this year, so we have four days of concerts outside with a very different kind of format — a family fun zone there and some other activities like that, food trucks and everything else, so — and multi-artist bills.

Peter Biello: Let me ask you about the recent history of the festival. The pandemic canceled the festival three years ago, and then it returned in a different form in 2021. Last year it existed, but it was still kind of different. Are we basically back to the way things were pre-pandemic this year?

Ryan McMaken: We're definitely back to the way things were and then some — and really pleased to be to that point with all the stuttered restarting that we all had to go through. So this is a really good thing. It's an interesting time of year just thinking back because three years ago around this same time — it was actually March 11 — we got called to the mayor's office along with the St. Patrick's Day Committee. And we were just, what? 10 days out from our festival and had hit our ticket goal and had tons of momentum — and there it went. So it's great to be in a different position this time around.

Peter Biello: The pandemic did prevent you to some extent from bringing musicians from other countries, but now looking at your lineup, it seems like the festival's really opening its arms wide to musicians from other countries. I wanted to ask you, Ryan, can you tell us a little bit about those coming from other countries?

Ryan McMaken: I'd love to. You know, this festival has always been one of the more prominent world music presenters in the — in the Southeast. And we were held up a good bit with getting international artists in. But now for opening weekend alone, we've got Sona Jobarteh, a wonderful West African Kora player, and Natu Camara on a co-bill.

Peter Biello: Let's pause for a moment there and listen to some of this music here. Sona Jobarteh with her song "Gambia."

Sona Jobarteh: (Singing)

Peter Biello: Dancing a little bit in my seat here to Sona Jobarteh. All right. So we've talked a little bit about international artists coming to the Savannah Music Festival. What about artists from the U.S.? Which artists are you excited about?

Ryan McMaken: Well, absolutely. There's a number of octogenarians in jazz playing alongside some emerging artists. But we we're celebrating Kenny Barron's 80th birthday year, and he'll be playing with Dave Holland and Jonathan Blake. Really excited for that. A couple of other kind of elder statesmen would be Charles McPherson and Houston Person, who are playing on a co-bill. So some wonderful jazz. There's Etienne Charles, Harold López-Nussa, a Cuban piano player. Oh, and Cecile McLorin Salvant closing out the festival on April 8. But we also have a lot of American roots music, as always. So, Zydeco Dance Party with Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, the Infamous Stringdusters with Sierra Hull, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and then on opening weekend, we have two nights of Buddy Guy's farewell tour with different artists in support of him both nights.

Peter Biello: Let's pause for a moment to make room for Buddy Guy. This is his song "King Bee."

Buddy Guy (singing): I'm a king bee
Girl, I can buzz around your hive
I'm a king bee
Girl, I can buzz around your hive

Peter Biello: That is the legendary Buddy Guy, one of many artists performing at this year's Savannah Music Festival. You can find a link to the full list of musicians at GPB.org. Ryan McMaken, artistic director of the Savannah Music Festival. Thank you so much for speaking with me.

Ryan McMaken: It's great to talk with you, Peter. Thank you.

Peter Biello: The festival kicks off Thursday and runs through Saturday, April 8. Among those performing is the band Galactic, one of my favorites. So here is their song "Long Live the Borneo." By the way, don't forget to tune into GPB every Sunday evening at 8 p.m. for Savannah Music Festival Live.

Peter Biello: All right, we are done. That is it for today's edition of Georgia Today. Really appreciate you tuning in. Hope you had a great start to week. Hope you had a great weekend as well. It's a bit too cold for my liking, but I've been told that it's going to warm up later this week. Of course, anything can change. Anything's possible. But I'm looking forward to some sunshine. My dog is too. My dog, whose name is Kevin, doesn't appreciate having to go outside to do his business in this cold weather. So here's hoping for warmer days, yeah? All right. We've got more news coming out of the GPB newsroom this week. The best way for you to stay on top of it is to keep listening to this podcast. And of course, the best way to do that? You guessed it, is to subscribe to this podcast. We hope you'll do that now so we'll stay current in your podcast feed. If you've got feedback, we'd love to hear it. Send an email to Georgia Today@GPB.org. And if you like this podcast, leave a review; that'll help other folks find it. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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