Georgia Today: City council approves 'Cop City' funding; Safer railroad crossings; 'Best chef' named

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, June 6th. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the Atlanta City Council approves funding for the planned public safety Training center in a marathon session. The federal government is spending millions to make railroad crossing safer in Georgia. And the best chef in the southeast has been named. And he owns a restaurant in Decatur. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: After 14 hours of public comment, Atlanta City Council voted 11 to 4 to approve millions in funding for a public safety training center. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more on the community's reaction.

Amanda Andrews: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens released a statement praising the council's decision. Dickens said the center will make Atlanta a "national model for police reform with the most progressive training and curriculum in the country." Mary Hooks is an organizer in opposition to the center planned for the South Atlanta Forest. She says regardless of the council vote, the fight to stop the training center isn't over.

Mary Hooks: Today is actually not the decision day because the people have not yet decided. And so there's some potential works in the — to get this actually on the ballot.

Amanda Andrews: This week, leaders from several civil rights organizations and local politicians plan to announce a new initiative aimed at stopping the training center. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Peter Biello: And we'll have more on the Atlanta City Council vote on the Public Safety Training Center later in this podcast.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Federal help is on the way for three Georgia counties with dangerous railroad crossings. The Biden administration announced yesterday that Chatham, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties would be among hundreds of communities receiving part of a half billion dollars in grants created under the bipartisan infrastructure law. The grants will be used to make crossings safer and less intrusive for area residents and motorists.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Journalists at two Georgia newspapers announced a unionization effort yesterday as they seek better pay and working conditions from media conglomerate Gannett. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Georgia Gannett News Guild includes a group of reporters at the Savannah Morning News and the Athens Banner-Herald. Both publications are owned by Gannett, which on Monday saw a massive walkout of workers in seven states, but not in Georgia. 11 journalists at the Morning News and Banner-Herald signed a statement saying, quote, "Gannett's gutting of newsrooms has weakened our ability to adequately cover our communities," unquote. They accused the company of unequal pay, unrealistic workloads and diminishing morale. GPB requested comment from Gannett. In a statement, a company lawyer said Gannett respects the right of employees to, quote, "make a fully informed choice to unionize or not," unquote. The members of Georgia Gannett News Guild say they hope to soon formalize the union, either through recognition by Gannett or a majority vote of newsroom staff. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: A clinical trial for children with diabetes is currently being conducted in Atlanta. Children's Health Care of Atlanta is one of 38 sites testing an inhaled version of insulin. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Ellen Eldridge: Inhalable insulin is available now under the brand name Afrezza, but only for adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kevin Kaiserman is the pediatrician leading the study and works with the manufacturer. He says he expects Afrezza to help children manage their diabetes without multiple daily injections.

Kevin Kaiserman: You know, people have short lunch periods at school and, you know, this idea that you have to take your insulin at a certain period of time before you start eating is challenging for people.

Ellen Eldridge: Kaiserman says this insulin works faster and allows more flexibility for patients. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: As we mentioned earlier, this morning the Atlanta City Council voted to approve $31 million in public funding for the planned public safety training center known to opponents as "Cop City." This came after 14 hours of public comment from 1 in the afternoon Monday until about 5:30 this morning with a few breaks. About 400 people signed up to speak spoke. A handful were supportive. Most were opposed. The commentary, both for and against, were variations on a few themes. First theme: race and racism. Opponents say this facility would just reinforce what they call racist police practices. Robell Awake spoke about his experience as a Black resident of Southwest Atlanta with his daughter.

Robell Awake: On our way to day care in the morning, we sing songs as I try to avoid the potholes that have been there for years. I drive by neighbors waiting at bus stops with no benches, no shelters from the rain. We see unhoused neighbors and community members sleeping under makeshift shelters, and we see cop cars cruising our neighborhood all day, every day. I've been harassed on more than one occasion by the cops in my neighborhood. They make me feel the opposite of safe.

Peter Biello: Gary Spencer is senior counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and lives near the site of the training center. He says the policing promoted by this facility will not make Atlanta safer.

Gary Spencer: In fact, it will put our communities, particularly our Black and brown communities, in significant danger. Research shows that as police forces in the United States become more militarized, they become more violent. This is not only because of greater access to high-powered weapons and war zone training, but is also because militarization instills a culture that permits and even encourages a greater use of force.

Peter Biello: Marjorie Giles spoke in favor of the training center. She says she has two Black sons and knows firsthand the pain caused by law enforcement. But police violence against Black people should not be used by environmentalists.

Marjorie Giles: I resent those that use the pain and struggle of Black people to advance their cause. These strategic alliances and the racist attacks on our mayor will not stand. You cannot sling mud without dirtying your own hands. Thank you.

Peter Biello: Another theme: local credibility. Whether or not someone is from Atlanta has been a litmus test for the legitimacy of their views. Leaving aside whether ATL residency matters, most speakers identified as locals. Susie Duran, an Atlanta resident and Georgia State graduate, addressed this head on.

Susie Duran: I hear a lot about outside agitators, Twitter activists and words like culture vultures that hurt very deeply. You know, I wasn't born and raised in Atlanta. My parents relocated to Marietta following the 1996 Olympic construction boom. They were farm workers from Mexico, and I still have family members who are farm workers. And my dad was a construction worker and he worked in the scaffolds all over metro Atlanta, Chamblee, Buckhead, downtown until he fell over and broke his back and was temporarily paralyzed. I may not have been born and raised in this city, but I'm not an outside agitator.

Peter Biello: And the final theme is how much Atlanta actually needs this facility. Some speakers pointed out that the state already has a public safety training center, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. And then there was Clifton Kelly. He's an EMT for the DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department. He called the center a, quote, "gross misuse of funds." And he said it won't provide anything of value for EMTs.

Clifton Kelly: A giant simulated city in the woods where police will train in riot techniques, because they're scared of what will happen the next time they kill someone like George Floyd or Rayshard Brooks, does nothing for us.

Peter Biello: After all was said and done, those who want the Public Safety Training Center scored a big win with this morning's vote. And still the protesters who stayed all the way through the 14-hour session remained defiant, chanting "Cop City will never be built."

CROWD: Cop City will never be built! Cop City will never be built!

Story 6:

Peter Biello: In Georgia sports, Michael Vick is among the nominees for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame for the first time this year. Yesterday, the National Football Foundation released a list of 78 players and nine coaches on the Hall of Fame ballot. Vick played one season of college football before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. His professional career was interrupted by a nearly two-year prison term for his involvement in dogfighting. The Atlanta-based Hall of Fame will induct its 2024 class next year.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: A Decatur chef has been named the best chef in the Southeast. That's according to the prestigious James Beard Awards. Last night in Chicago, the James Beard Foundation named Terry Koval as the winner in a regional chef category that includes six states. Koval's restaurant, The Deer and the Dove, opened four years ago and specializes in locally sourced dishes. Koval has spent more than two decades in Atlanta's culinary arts business.

Peter Biello: And that is it for today's edition of Georgia Today. We do appreciate you tuning in. If you want to learn more about any of these stories or follow the latest developments, visit GPB.org/news and remember to subscribe to this podcast. We'll have more coming your way in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. If you've got feedback, we'd love to hear it. Email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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