Georgia Today: 'Big Beautiful Bill' passes; Peachtree Road Race; Calls for removal of Brunswick DA

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, a look at what the passing of President Trump's massive new spending bill means for Georgia. Runners gear up for this year's Peachtree Road race in Atlanta, and five county leaders in Southeast Georgia want the Brunswick DA removed from office.

Jabari Gibbs: He does say that the buck stops with him and he has acknowledged that some of the hiring that he did back in January of 2024, that may have been a little bit, a little much.

Peter Biello: Today is Thursday, July 3. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: President Trump's big budget bill cleared a final vote in the U.S. House this afternoon. Georgia's 14 representatives voted along partisan lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats against. The passage came after the bill's opponents criticized its health care and food aid cuts, tax breaks for the wealthy, and rollbacks to renewable energy programs, among other objections. Before the vote, the Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report highlighting the bill's cuts to Medicaid. The organization's policy director, Isabelle Otero, said slashing the program's funding is a moral and civil rights matter leaving the health care of millions of Georgians hanging in the balance.

Isabelle Otero: Now isn't the time to sort of tighten some of these programs. It's the time for us to care more about how to get adults who are uninsured assistance, and kids who are uninsured assistance.

Peter Biello: Republicans praised the bill as advancing an agenda that they said voters approved with Trump's election, including tax cuts, immigration enforcement, and domestic production of oil and natural gas, among other provisions. South Georgia congressman Austin Scott addressed the bill's impact on Medicaid on the House floor last night.

Austin Scott: So when the Democrats are telling you that we're kicking disabled people off of SNAP or we're kicking disabled people of Medicaid, it is an absolute lie. Page 16, page 17 of the legislation, it will take about 60 seconds to read it.

Peter Biello: The bill now heads to the president's desk for his signature.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Among other provisions, the bill aims to advance domestic energy production with oil, coal and natural gas. Georgia Clean Energy advocates worry how that part of the legislation will impact the state's growing manufacturing sector. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more.

Sarah Kallis: The reconciliation bill makes significant changes to clean energy tax credit programs implemented by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those credits have helped to bring solar panel and electric vehicle manufacturing projects to Georgia. Stan Cross, the electric transportation director for the Southern Alliance on Clean Energy, says that 28,000 EV jobs in Georgia could be on the line.

Stan Cross: This bill injects uncertainty across the clean energy sector, which has the potential to shutter manufacturing, kill jobs, and cripple Georgia's progress.

Sarah Kallis: Proponents of the cuts say they reduce wasteful federal spending. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis.

Caption

Keith Higgins takes oath of office after winning the election for District Attorney of Glynn County.

Credit: File Photo

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Five Georgia counties have signed on to a request to remove Brunswick DA Keith Higgins from office. They're alleging that Higgins has misused taxpayer funding, among other things. This follows after more than a year of tension between Higgins and the counties his office oversees, with the counties alleging mismanagement and Higgins admitting to some mistakes while also citing the inability to hire enough staff. Jabari Gibbs has been reporting on this for The Current, and he's with me now. Welcome to the program.

Jabari Gibbs: Hi Peter, it's great to be here.

Peter Biello: Jabari, you write that "commissioners from the five counties" — that Glynn, Camden, Appling, Wayne and Jeff Davis — "believe Higgins' financial mismanagement and conduct have been so egregious that he represents 'an ongoing and escalating threat to the justice system and to the taxpayers of the Brunswick judicial circuit.'" So what do they claim he's done?

Jabari Gibbs: So, specifically they cite quite a couple of things. One of the chief complaints among the counties is that the DA has hired in excess without their approval.

Peter Biello: Hired in excess, meaning he hired too many people, essentially?

Jabari Gibbs: Too many assistant district attorneys. And essentially, that has been what is widely considered to be the catalyst for the budget overage that he owed to Glynn County, which is nearly a million dollars. And they say that this was one of the chief issues, along with the DA essentially not coming in and checking in with his financial department. ... He's supposed to have an accountant and an office manager who are overseeing his financials and are supposed to continually keep him — keep him briefed on how the office's financial health is, and the counties say that Keith has not done well as far as managing that department and he has essentially dropped the ball in that regard.

Peter Biello: I see. And what has DA Keith Higgins said about accusations that he hired too many people and that he wasn't keeping a close enough eye on the finances of the DA's office?

Jabari Gibbs: He does say that the buck stops with him. And he has acknowledged that some of the hiring that he did back in January of 2024 — essentially where he brought on a lot of DAs from neighboring circuits here in Coastal Georgia — he said that there may have been a little bit much. And he also says that he should have been briefed more frequently. But ... he also acknowledged that he is very dependent on his financial department to let him know if he can hire someone.

Peter Biello: So what has the impact been overall on the administration of justice in those counties?

Jabari Gibbs: First, above all, the DA has ceased to represent the state in juvenile court. So all of the five counties, the DA, he acts as the prosecutor in juvenile court and he has stopped doing that. And that has essentially led the counties to hire a private firm to prosecute juvenile crimes. And in addition to that, you know, we have over 2,400 pending felony cases throughout the entire circuit and the DA only has six prosecutors. So right now there are two prosecutors in Glynn, two prosecutors in Camden, one prosecutor in Wayne, and one prosecutor covering Jeff Davis and Appling County. So that has led to an incredible backlog of cases that would essentially be very, very difficult for the DA office to handle all together with the staff that he has right now and that has led to overpopulation in the county jails along the five counties and just a lot of people that are sitting in jail waiting to have their day — their day in front of the judge.

Peter Biello: So a complaint has been filed with the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission. Where do things go from here?

Jabari Gibbs: The PAQC will start initial investigation and that investigation will see if there is any merit to these claims. So, you know, obviously they'll be talking to individuals who are familiar with the situation and try to understand what the picture is. And what kind of escalates from there is after that initial investigation is conducted and they find that there is merit, and it's not dismissed, then it goes on to an investigative panel who will go through their steps to also find out if this situation has enough merit to go before another panel, which essentially has the ability to file charges, dismiss altogether, and if charges are filed, then the DA could be removed. But that is an incredibly long process and it's going to be incredibly difficult to do.

Peter Biello: Well, we thank you for your reporting on this. Jabari Gibbs is a reporter for The Current. We appreciate your time. Thanks.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Three property owners in Southeast Georgia are suing the Savannah suburb of Bloomingdale, alleging a pay-to-play scheme for commercial zoning. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: The federal lawsuit claims Bloomingdale officials approved two warehouse projects in 2020 only after the developers pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to help build a city gym. But when Stan Yates, Nan Van Wong, and Terence Trong applied for similar industrial zoning, they say the city denied their requests even after offering payments to the gym. The plaintiffs argued the city violated their right to equal protection under the Constitution and are seeking about $40 million in damages. The city of Bloomingdale did not respond to GPB's request for comment. So-called monetary exactions can be legal, but the Supreme Court has held they must fund a legitimate public interest related to the project. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: More than 53,000 runners are registered for Atlanta's 56th Annual Peachtree Road Race. GPB's Amanda Andrews spoke to organizers about how they're preparing for the annual Independence Day event.

Amanda Andrews: This year's Peachtree Road Race has the highest number of runners since 2019. This cohort will be the first to see new race day changes. The event will start 10 minutes earlier this year, and everyone who finishes will get a cool towel to help beat the heat. Rich Kenah is the CEO of the Atlanta Track Club. He says they also shut down the road early and planned a fireworks show.

Rich Kenah: So we're looking to create a fun festival-like atmosphere over multiple days where people can shop, dine, stay in a hotel and get that selfie underneath the start truss.

Amanda Andrews: The race will begin at 6:50 a.m. on July 4. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Conservationists are sounding the alarm over the grand opening of a new Buc-ee's in Brunswick. Opponents say the new mega travel rest station's bright lights at the I-95 exit could be deadly for baby sea turtles. At night, hatchlings rely on moonlight to find the ocean, but experts say unshielded lights from the Bucky interchange are pulling them in the wrong direction. Wildlife officials and advocates have asked the Georgia Department of Transportation to turn off or shield the lights before turtle hatching season begins mid-July. But GDOT says the lighting will stay on for now due to safety concerns with ongoing road construction.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Meanwhile, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island says the first sea turtles of the season have hatched. The center says during dawn patrol yesterday morning, their team found tracks and confirmed the nest had hatched, they said they were right on time, two months after the nest was laid.

Caption

Lake Lanier

Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman, File

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reopening seven parks at Lake Lanier in time for the Fourth of July. It comes a little more than a month after the Corps of engineers said they would have to temporarily close 20 parks at the lake because of staffing shortfalls. A few days after the announcement, U.S. congressman Rich McCormick, representing a district that includes the lake north of Atlanta, said the agency would close only 11 of the recreation sites. Now, seven more are reopening with the help of Forsyth and Hull counties. The Corps of Engineers says two parks will remain closed as they secure additional staffing resources.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: A local chef and restaurant owner will be on an episode of Food Network's Chopped airing this month. Chef Chelsea Ogletree, founder of Forsyth's Her Majesty Kitchen, took to Facebook to announce her debut on the show. The Chopped episode premieres Tuesday, July 8 at 8 p.m. On Food Network. Ogletree's restaurant specializes in Southern Creole cuisine such as shrimp and grits, gumbo and more. Her dishes will soon be on the chopping block, but we're rooting for her not to hear the infamous words, "You've been chopped."

Story 10:

Peter Biello: In sports, in Braves baseball, Jerickson Profar homered in his return to the Atlanta Braves after serving an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program. He went 2 for 4 overall to help lift the Braves to an 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. His single with two outs in the sixth may have been more important than the homer, as it sparked a seven-run outburst that allowed the Braves to take control. Braves first baseman Matt Olson had a grand slam among his three hits The Braves wrap up the series against the Angels tonight and are scheduled to start a three-game series against Baltimore Orioles at home tomorrow.

And that is a wrap for this edition of Georgia Today, and we're taking the Fourth of July holiday off. We hope you have a great holiday weekend. And if you wanna learn more about any of the stories we've got on the podcast today, check out GPB.org/news. And as always, your feedback is welcome by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening, and have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

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