Georgia Today: ICE eyeing Georgia warehouse; Blood supply shortage; Antiques Roadshow in Savannah

TRANSCRIPT:

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Sen. John Ossoff is seeking answers about a rumored ICE facility in an Atlanta suburb. The Red Cross warns of a serious blood supply shortage, and the beloved PBS series Antiques Roadshow made a stop in Savannah.  

June and Becky:  Mine was around $1,000 because I have different pieces from different eras. Hers was $1,500. $1,500 because it's a complete set.  

Peter Biello: Today is Monday, Jan. 26. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today.  

 

Story 1

Peter Biello: Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is asking Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for details about a rumored ICE facility planned for a warehouse in a tiny Atlanta suburb. GPB's Grant Blankenship has more.  

Grant Blankenship: Leaders in the city of Social Circle, population about 5,000, have been unable to learn anything new about the idea first reported in the Washington Post that ICE is eyeing a million-square-foot warehouse in the city. Now Georgia's Sen. Jon Ossoff has written a letter to DHS head Kristi Noem about rumored plans for holding up to 10,000 people slated for deportation there. Eric Taylor is the Social Circle city manager. He says about three-quarters of residents here voted for President Trump and the opposition is not political.  

Eric Taylor: The frustration here is that they're looking at a building that was not built for human habitation. This is not something, hands down, that the city can support.  

Grant Blankenship: Representatives from the company, which owns the Social Circle warehouse, told GPB they're under a non-disclosure agreement around ongoing negotiations.  For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship. 

 

Story 2:

Peter Biello: More than 200 people joined an online vigil last night hosted by the Georgia chapters of the groups Indivisible and 5051. They gathered to mourn Alex Pretti, the man shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis during an immigration crackdown. Noel Heatherlin paid tribute to Pretti.   

Noel Heatherlin: Bravery sometimes is shaking in your boots and doing something anyway, and that seems to be the type of person that Alex was.  

Peter Biello: Indivisible and 5051 call themselves grassroots organizers who speak out against the Trump administration to quote, "stop the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S." the groups are planning in-person events later this week. 

 

Story 3

Peter Biello: Thousands in Northeast Georgia remain without power and below freezing temperatures as a result of a major winter storm this weekend. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.  

Sofi Gratas: Georgia Power and the Habersham Electric Membership Corporation are reporting over 20,000 customers are without power from Gainesville up to Clayton as of Monday afternoon. That includes about 60% of White County, says Bryce Barrett with the local emergency management agency.  

Bryce Barrett: It's been said that this is like a Category 2 hurricane's come through our counties, even those that had generators and prepared, they're running out of fuel and food and they're saying, "Hey, will y'all's shelter take me?"

Sofi Gratas Two White County shelters do have room, but they're advising people to stay off the still-icy roads as utility companies, assisted by the National Guard, remove downed trees and repair power lines. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.  

 

Story 4

Peter Biello: The recent winter storm has led the American Red Cross to cancel hundreds of blood drives in several states, including Georgia. And the Red Cross says that's led to a serious blood supply shortage. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports now that the storm is over, they're asking people to help.  

Ellen Eldridge The Red Cross is trying to replenish its stored supply of blood, platelets, and plasma after losing more than 7,000 units of blood to canceled blood drives across the country. Garrett Reed is with the American Red Cross in Georgia. He says people with Type O blood, also referred to as universal donors, are particularly in demand.  

Garrett Reed: These are typically the donors that are being reached for those units for when we have trauma or we have a special need for a special patient. And then also our Black donors for sickle cell. Atlanta is the No. 1 user of sickle cell products of any city in the country.  

Ellen Eldridge He says nationwide, the blood supply has dropped 35% in the last month. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.  

 

Story 5

Peter Biello: More than 200 flights were canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport today in the wake of the storm. Numbers from the flight tracking website FlightAware also showed 23 cancelations at Savannah Hilton Head International Airport. We have a guide for your rights as a passenger in the case of a storm-related flight disruption at gpb.org/news. 

 

Story 6

Peter Biello: A federal judge in Macon has thrown out a Trump administration lawsuit that seeks sensitive information on Georgia voters. The U.S. Justice Department last month sued Georgia, two other states, and the District of Columbia for not turning over the data in an effort the administration says is to ensure election integrity. Senior Judge Ashley Royal of the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia on Friday ordered the lawsuit dismissed. He wrote that the case was filed in the wrong jurisdiction since the state's election administration takes place in Atlanta. The DOJ could re-file that case in the Northern District of Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has pushed back against the agency's request for voter data, including birth dates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. Raffenberger says the state already has turned over voting data, quote, "in accordance with state law that protects voters' privacy." 

 

Story 7

Peter Biello: A leader of one of humanity's greatest public health victories, the global eradication of smallpox has died. Dr. William Foege died Saturday in Atlanta, according to the Task Force for Global Health, which he co-founded. Foege was director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and he later held other key leadership roles. But his greatest achievement came before all that, with his work on smallpox while he was a medical missionary in Nigeria. He and his colleagues developed a ring containment strategy for the disease. A smallpox outbreak was contained by identifying each case and vaccinating everyone who they might come into contact with. Dr. William Foege was 89 years old. 

 

Story 8

Peter Biello: The University of Georgia is remembering one of its former presidents as a transformative leader who led UGA to national prominence. The university says Michael Adams, its president from 1997 to 2013, died yesterday. He's credited with reshaping the campus and spending more than a billion dollars on construction and renovation. UGA says during his tenure, the university also grew its enrollment, expanded its faculty and increased its fundraising, all while improving academic quality across the board. At the conclusion of his presidency, Adams' signature appeared on about 110,000 degrees earned by almost half of UGA's living alumni. Michael Adams was 77 years old. 

 

Story 9

Peter Biello: Construction on the Georgia Ports Authority's latest addition to its inland rail network is now 95% complete. The agency said last week that its Blue Ridge Connector, linking Northeast Georgia's Hall County with the Port of Savannah, will open for operation later this year. The $135 million project is aimed at reducing highway congestion, emissions and shipping costs. 

 

Story 10

Peter Biello: Tonight on GPB Television, the beloved PBS series Antiques Roadshow will premiere the first of three episodes recorded last year at the Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah. And the GPB team was there a year ago, getting a behind-the-scenes look at how the show is made. GPB's Benjamin Payne had the story, recorded last year.  

Benjamin Payne: If you've ever watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow, you recognize this sound. It plays after the big reveal of a hefty appraisal, when an expert on, say, creepy old dolls tells a guest that theirs is worth way more than the few bucks they got it for at a garage sale. But behind the scenes, there's a lot leading up to that moment.  

Speaker:  I'm Stephanie. I just need to see your things so I can make sure you get to the right expert.  

Benjamin Payne: It starts at a tent labeled "Triage," where volunteers sort each and every item into one of more than 20 categories.  

Stephanie: Okay, so you have collectibles; your binoculars will go to collectibles. This will go to glass, and then there's a little map here just to orient you.  

Benjamin Payne: The map comes in handy here at the Georgia State Railroad Museum, a sprawling outdoor venue in downtown Savannah that houses an antebellum train repair shop. Next to the shop's old 12-story smokestack is Tent B, where Amanda Everard appraises glass. She runs an auction house in Savannah and has been working with Antiques Roadshow for over 10 years.  

Amanda Everard: Can you tell me about your piece? Where did you get it? 

Guest: I don't know a lot about it. It was always sat on my grandmother's coffee table. I had it appraised about 30 years ago at a local event, and they told me at the time it was between $2,500 and $3,000.  

Amanda Everard: Let me get the magnifier.

Benjamin Payne: Everard pulls out her magnifying glass, giving the vase her expert eye.  

Amanda Everard: All right, so this is probably French, and it's lovely, green glass, and its got sterling overlay on it, in this wonderful Art Nouveau patterning to it, with the flowers and all the schoolwork. I think in today's market, it's probably not quite as expensive. Today, you're probably looking around $400 to $600, so, sorry.

Guest: Oh really? That much difference? Wow. Well, that's disappointing. 

Amanda Everard: I'm sorry.

Guest: That's OK.  

Benjamin Payne: Not great news, but over at the textile tent, it's a different story.  

June and Becky:  My name is June, I live in Roswell, Georgia. My name Becky and I'm in Albany, Georgia  

Benjamin Payne: Most guests carry their items, but these twin sisters decided to wear theirs.  

June and Becky:  This is my first Delta flight attendant uniform from 1973. And hers? Mine is from 1975 with Eastern Airlines, but the hat and the jacket are 1991.  

Benjamin Payne: June and Becky have been retired for years now, but they've kept their outfits in pristine condition.  

June and Becky:  Mine was around $1,000 because I have different pieces from different eras. Hers was $1,500. $1,500 because it's a complete set. Yes.

Benjamin Payne: More than they were expecting, but even so, the sisters say their uniforms are going back into the closet.  

June and Becky:  We'll hold on to them because so many things, they're valued at whatever, but they mean more to you than what the money is, so, you know, sentimental. And I don't know if our kids could fit in it, anyway.  

Benjamin Payne: Only about 100 of the more than 2,000 people who showed up to this taping made it on camera like June and Becky. Marcia Bemko is the executive producer of Antiques Roadshow. She says that's pretty typical and speaks to what's at the heart of the show for guests.  

Marcia Bemko: They'll have chatted with people in line, inevitably. And having that shared experience of shared humanity is really special and should be treasured forever and ever.  

Benjamin Payne: For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne at the Antiques Roadshow set in Savannah.  

Peter Biello: GPB's Benjamin Payne from May of last year. The first Savannah episode of Antiques Roadshow followed by a GPB produced behind the scenes documentary airs tonight starting at 8 on GPB TV. 

 

Story 11

Peter Biello: Chuck Lavelle is one of Georgia's most beloved musicians, best known for his time in the Allman Brothers Band. He's also played with his own band Sea Level with Dr. John, and he currently tours with the Rolling Stones. Chuck Lovelle is the subject of the next episode of Georgia Legends on GPB, which airs tonight at 9. It's hosted by Jeff Hullinger, who's with me now. Hey, Jeff.  

Jeff Hullinger: Hey, how are you? Good to be with you again.  

Peter Biello: Well, thanks. So, yeah, before Chuck Lavelle became a famous musician, he grew up in Alabama. Did he know as a child that, you know, his interest in music was going to mean a lifelong career?  

Jeff Hullinger: It's an amazing life that he has led, beginning with instructions from his mother. He has never had any kind of lessons outside of his mother's living room, and he told his mother one time when she was putting together dinner in the kitchen that he wanted to be a professional musician and he was a very young child probably in the first grade. So it was as though the stars had aligned for him. This is the kind of talent that you see at Juilliard or any of those places that seemingly were blessed by God.  

Peter Biello: Well, he is responsible for this classic, "Jessica," which I'm sure our listeners will recognize.  

Jeff Hullinger:  If you don't recognize "Jessica," you should turn in your Southern card, and you probably are much younger than any of us that are listening right now.   

Peter Biello: Could be, could be. So you asked him how he came up with this and he played the piano for you, which I imagine was an incredible honor. Let's hear a bit of his performance for you.  

Chuck Lavelle: And so I sat here while people were not around and worked on that and came up with the — the entrance and just that (plays piano)

Chuck Lavelle: And then, and then the— (more piano)

Chuck Lavelle: You know, just kind of a hello there, and then just took it from there, improvised.  

Peter Biello: What a wonderful experience to be there for a performance like that, Jeff.  

Jeff Hullinger: It was amazing to be inside of Capricorn Studios, which has been—

Peter Biello:  In Macon.

Jeff Hullinger: In Macon — which has been sort of refurbished and it is owned and operated for the most part by Mercer University and they have just done a marvelous job with it. If you get the opportunity to go to Macon, make sure you stop by Capricorn Records if you love music, if you love the South, if you love, the culture of, of what the South represents — The Allman Brothers, obviously and all of these great acts that have come through these doors to play these incredible tunes that are a soundtrack of our lives.  

Peter Biello: So he's been playing with the Rolling Stones for four decades now. What was his reputation at the time the Stones picked him up?  

Jeff Hullinger: He first met them around 1982 and, you know, he has become the musical director of the Rolling Stones and he described that as sort of keeping everybody in line. You know, we have this huge catalog, obviously, of what they have been playing since the early 1960s and he's sort of like a shepherd dog with the flock. He sort of keeps them from going outside of the pasture.  

Peter Biello: Well, because his personality type is that such that he kept notes on the songs and is in a state of seems like constant improvement.  

Jeff Hullinger:  Look, he's in an occupation where people are creative and mostly chaotic, destroyed by their own personalities, their own devices. Lavelle is — he's a unicorn. I mean, it's hard to imagine this sort of sane human being who might have been an accountant, might have an attorney, who also happens to be one of the most creative forces of the last 40 or 50 years in music.  

Peter Biello: And also — I did not know this — he's a tree farmer.  

Jeff Hullinger: He is. He has a property, his wife, that was their family plantation, their family parcel of land. And as the decades have progressed, he has learned more about trees, about the ecosystems, about how fragile all of these things are and how they are interconnected to our lives, much as music is. And he has won so many awards. You know, Gov. Perdue also put him on a land conservation group here in the state of Georgia. He is not someone who is merely making the public acclamation that he is interested in the ecology of the land, but he is actively involved in it every day of his life.  

Peter Biello: GPB's Jeff Hullinger is the host of Georgia Legends on GPB TV. An episode featuring the life of musician Chuck Lavelle runs tonight at 9.30. Jeff, thank you so much for speaking with me about this.  

Jeff Hullinger:  Thank you, Peter.  

 

Peter Biello: And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you want to learn more about these stories, check out gpb.org/news. And remember to subscribe to this podcast because we're coming back at you tomorrow afternoon. Send your feedback to us by email. It's the best way to reach the whole team. The address is georgiatodayatgpb.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We will see you tomorrow.