Georgia Today: RNC convention; Public Service Commission election; COVID vaccine recommendation ended

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode: Georgia Republicans wrap up their state convention in Dalton. The election for Georgia's Public Service Commission suffers from low voter turnout. And U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did away with COVID vaccination recommendations, but some worry the change could affect those with long-term complications.

Alan Weintraub: People who have not contracted COVID — if they stay up with their COVID immunizations, there's a much smaller likelihood that they will develop Long COVID.

Orlando Montoya: Today is Monday, June 9. I'm Orlando Montoya, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia Republicans wrapped up their state convention in Northwest Georgia's Dalton over the weekend. They overwhelmingly reelected their party chairman, Josh McKoon, and heard from several candidates seeking office. Those candidates included Dahlonega state Sen. Steve Gooch, running for lieutenant governor.

Steve Gooch: We need to stop the left from turning Georgia into the next California. We need defend the America First agenda that President Trump ignited.

Orlando Montoya: There were a few surprises at the convention, with ideological purity and loyalty to President Trump becoming through lines of the two-day meeting. No one unexpectedly launched a campaign for the raft of federal and state offices up for grabs in 2026.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: Now, there is a high-stakes election taking place in Georgia right now, but so far only a slow trickle of voters are taking part in it. A Georgia Secretary of State webpage shows fewer than 36,000 voters — that's about one-half of 1% of the state's active voters — have cast ballots in primary elections for the Public Service Commission. That's the statewide body that regulates utilities, with influence over electricity rates, energy policy, and booming industries, including data centers. It's the first time in five years that voters are electing commissioners in two districts because of a lawsuit that delayed the elections. The five-member commission is currently all Republican.

Caption

In 2024, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported six measles cases. In January, Georgia's first new measles case of 2025 has now spread to two family members.

Credit: GPB / File

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: The nationwide outbreak of measles is getting just a little bit worse here in Georgia. The state Department of Public Health is reporting one more case. The agency says the case is in an unvaccinated metro Atlanta resident who was a family member of a person confirmed with measles back in May. This is the fifth measles case in the state this year. In 2024, there six cases of measles.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Fewer people are likely to be vaccinated for COVID after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Last month said COVID vaccines no longer will be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. The change worries some people with long-term complications. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: Long COVID, a chronic condition experienced after coronavirus infection, has left many people unable to work and ineligible for disability. Alan Weintraub is a former physician from Newnan who caught COVID before vaccines were available. He said his ongoing symptoms forced him to quit practicing medicine and he questions changes to the vaccine guidance.

Alan Weintraub: For people who have not contracted COVID and Long COVID, if they stay up with their COVID immunizations, there's a much smaller likelihood that they will develop Long COVID.

Ellen Eldridge: Last week, a top COVID vaccine advisor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta resigned following the changes. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

​​​​​​​Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: A one-of-a-kind medical facility for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is opening in Macon. The center, run by River Edge Behavioral Health and Mercer University's School of Medicine, will offer both inpatient crisis care and outpatient services under one roof. It's the only medical facility in the U.S. to offer overnight and immediate comprehensive care for people disabilities in or not in a crisis. The inpatient side opens this week and the outpatient side will follow later this summer.

Caption

Raphael Warnock

Credit: Screenshot of King Center livestream

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia's Sen. Raphael Warnock says Georgians are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage if the Trump administration-backed reconciliation bill passes in both the House and Senate. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: The proposed federal reconciliation bill would implement additional eligibility requirements for Medicaid, including work requirements, increase some co-pays, and double eligibility checks. It would also eliminate higher staffing requirements for nursing homes, where a majority of Georgia seniors are on Medicaid. But Warnock says over 70% of Georgians on Medicaid are children. They will be most impacted.

Raphael Warnock: So they're literally taking health care from children and then burdening those same children with the huge national debt.

Sarah Kallis: The White House says changes to Medicaid will prevent waste and abuse and protect taxpayer dollars. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis.

​​​​​​​Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: How to get more people to volunteer to help their fellow citizens? Well that is the question that the nonprofit founded by former President George H.W. Bush is looking into. The Atlanta-based foundation, the Points of Light Foundation, is leading an effort to double the number of people who volunteer with U.S. charitable organizations. They'd like to increase the number from 75 million annually to 150 million annually in 10 years. The organization's CEO announced the campaign last week. Their ambitious goal would represent a major change in the way Americans spend their time and interact with nonprofits. It also coincides with federal funding cuts that threaten the financial stability of many nonprofits.

​​​​​​​Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: South Korean solar panel manufacturer Qcells plans to expand into the solar panel recycling business. The company's announcement today promises to grow its already large campus in Northwest Georgia's Bartow County. It's unclear how many jobs or how much investment the new Qcells facility will create or when it will open, but it appears to be smaller than the one that an Arizona-based company, SolarCycle, promised to build in neighboring Polk County.

​​​​​​​Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: Warner Brothers Discovery says it will split into two separate companies later this year. The spinoff announced today will put the company's cable networks, including Atlanta-based CNN, into different ownership from its streaming and studio operations, including HBO. The move comes amid continued upheaval in the entertainment industry, and three years after a Warner Brothers Discovery was created in a merger and split involving AT&T.

​​​​​​​Story 10:

Jeffery Richards, Producer: We are so honored to receive this award…

Orlando Montoya: A musical that made its English-language debut in Georgia and opened on Broadway in November won six awards at yesterday's Tony Awards. Maybe Happy Ending, a charming and quirky romance between robots and a futuristic career, won six awards, including Best New Musical. The production debuted in Seoul in 2016 and premiered in English at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta in 2020. A post on the theater's social media page last night read in part, "we knew this show was special and we are so thrilled that the world agrees."

​​​​​​​Story 11:

Orlando Montoya: In sports and the business of sports, U.S. Soccer reached a construction milestone as it builds its national training center in metro Atlanta's Fayette County. The facility was topped out on Friday, and project leaders say they're on track to complete it before Atlanta hosts eight matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more.

Amanda Andrews: The 200-acre training center includes 13 grass soccer fields, two turf fields, two sand fields, and several other options for indoor play. The facility will be the new headquarters for U.S. Soccer operations from community programs to professional matches. Chief Financial Officer Shell Adams says they looked at several locations in the U.S. before choosing Atlanta.

Shell Adams: Weather was a big, important piece of it. International Airport, our teams are traveling all over the United States. They're traveling in and also out, and then also internationally as well. And then really the partnerships that we could have with the community, with the government.

Amanda Andrews: The facility is expected to be complete by spring 2026. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

​​​​​​​Orlando Montoya: And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. Many of the stories that you hear on Georgia Today are delved into in a little bit greater detail on our website, GPB.org/news. Check that website out 24/7 for the latest Georgia news. We welcome feedback at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And, as always, subscribe to this podcast: Hit that subscribe button so that you always stay current with us in your feed. I'd like to thank you for joining me today on Georgia Today. Peter Biello will be back tomorrow. I'm Orlando Montoya.

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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news