Georgia Today: Fulton County documents; AJC cuts workforce; Showcase grant

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Fulton County is asking for the return of documents related to the 2020 election following a search conducted by the FBI. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution cuts 15% of its workforce. And if you run a small business preparing for the World Cup, a new effort may give you some help. 

Amanda Andrews: The initiative includes marketing grants of $5,000 to eligible small businesses in downtown Atlanta. 

Peter Biello: Today is Wednesday, Feb. 4. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Fulton County is asking for the return of documents related to the 2020 election following a search by the FBI of a warehouse in Atlanta. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports the legal motion was filed today. 

Sarah Kallis: In the filing, Fulton Commission Chairman Rob Pitts and the Board of Elections request the return of the 700 boxes of ballots taken from the Fulton County elections warehouse and for the affidavit supporting the search warrant to be unsealed, Pitts renewed his promise to use every tool at his disposal to fight. 

Rob Pitts: Fulton County, make no mistake, in my opinion, we are the poster child here of all the states, all the counties, all the cities that may involve. 

Sarah Kallis: Many questions remain about the FBI operation and what steps the Department of Justice may take next. President Trump has fixated on Fulton County election results after his 2020 loss in Georgia, repeatedly claiming the 2020 election was stolen despite a lack of evidence. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kalils in Fulton County. 

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Georgia state Rep. Sarah Draper is speaking out about last week's FBI raid on a Fulton County elections office. The Atlanta Democrat says the federal action is an attempt to undermine confidence in this year's elections. Speaking on GPB's Lawmakers, Draper says she believes the raid wasn't really about investigating the 2020 election. 

Saira Draper: This is not about 2020. This is about undermining the 2026 election. Because if you think you are going to win the 2026 election and your party is going to win the 2026 election, you don't want to undermine the results because that goes against your credibility. But if you're afraid of losing, you start laying the foundation now to sow doubt. 

Peter Biello: Baseless claims of voter fraud in Fulton County have been a focus of President Trump's since he lost the 2020 election. Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and two Georgia Democratic representatives are pressing the U. S. Department of Justice for answers following the raid. 

Story 3:

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports it is laying off 50 of its employees, and about half of those come from its newsroom. The layoffs amount to 15% of the newspaper's workforce. President and publisher Andrew Morse says the cuts were made to accelerate the paper's growth. He says, quote, "while these changes are difficult on a personal level, they will best position the AJC to continue delivering journalism worth paying for."

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Atlanta small business owners can now access an expanded list of resources, including grants and loans, to prepare for the World Cup. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports it's part of the Showcase Atlanta initiative. 

Amanda Andrews: The initiative includes marketing grants of $5,000 to eligible small businesses in downtown Atlanta to help prepare for large-scale events like the World Cup. Showcase Atlanta will also run a youth entrepreneurship accelerator, offering training for people under 21 interested in building a business. Mayor Andre Dickens says there will be additional opportunities for a select few participants. 

Andre Dickens: Those young entrepreneurs will receive a special ATL Youth Vendor License, which will allow them to obtain opportunities, funding, and a vendor space to sell their goods during the upcoming FIFA World Cup games of 2026. 

Amanda Andrews: Applications are open and a full list of grants is available on the Showcase Atlanta website. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews. 

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson used his State of the Judiciary address today to stress the importance of the rule of law. Speaking to State, House, and Senate lawmakers, Peterson said Georgia's judiciary is strong because the state's commitment to the rule of law is strong. He says protecting it means not reflexively questioning the court's legitimacy in the wake of an unpopular opinion. 

Nels S.D. Peterson: It's okay to disagree, even to protest, but the rule of law will not survive when the legitimacy of judicial decisions and those who make them is routinely questioned every time there's an unpopular outcome. 

Peter Biello: Peterson also called on lawmakers to support a resolution that would end partisan elections for probate judges. Partisan elections, he says, could undermine the public's perception of the judiciary as impartial. 

Story 6:

Peter Biello: A plan to increase visitor access at a beloved National Park Service unit in Georgia is drawing criticism. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports.

Orlando Montoya: Cumberland Island National Seashore is known for its untamed beaches, primitive wilderness, historic sites and wild horses. The coastal Georgia gem is relatively hard to reach compared to barrier islands in nearby Florida. There's no bridge to the island and the only way to get there is by boat. But the National Park Service has a plan that aims to increase visitor access: The agency has put forward a proposal that would allow more ferries, more campsites and more bikes, among other changes. Longtime island advocate Will Harlan of the Center for Biological Diversity says more access would lessen the visitor experience. 

Will Harlan: To overrun it with visitation, would destroy what is most sacred and beautiful about the island. 

Orlando Montoya: Some of the proposals include increasing ferry capacity from 300 to 700 passengers a day, increasing campsite capacity from 220 to 275 campers at one time, and increasing the number of miles allowed for bicycle access on the beach. The agency would not comment for this story, but the plan says expanded access to a diverse range of opportunities would provide beneficial impacts for visitors. The Park Service is taking public comments on the plan through Feb. 21. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya. 

Story 7:

Peter Biello: The Georgia House passed a bill yesterday aimed at controlling Georgia's invasive wild hogs. Farmers say the animals have wreaked havoc on crops and land. Rep. Rob Clifton sponsored the bill addressing the animals. 

Rob Clifton: House Bill 946 would remove the following barriers, therefore helping to remove even more of these invasive animals. Section 1 of the bill would allow residents and non-residents to trap and kill feral hogs without a hunting or trapping license. 

Peter Biello: Other provisions in the bill would allow hunters to shoot hogs from a vehicle and use drones to track them. The bill passed 163-1 and now moves to the Senate. 

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Atlanta-based Equifax reported fourth quarter earnings today of nearly $176 million. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The company says the U.S. mortgage and job markets were a drag on business, but Equifax's verification services saw significant growth. 

Story 9:

Peter Biello: A small conservative Southern college on the side of a mountain sets the scene for a new literary thriller and coming-of-age novel. Atlanta writer Sheri Joseph says she wrote Angels at the Gate in part to explore her own college memories. It's also an exploration of class, privilege, misogyny, and what happens in the dark corners of fraternities and secret societies. She recently spoke with GPB's Orlando Montoya. 

Orlando Montoya When did you get the idea to do this book? 

Sheri Joseph: Oh gosh. So I've been working on this book for about over 10 years. And that was probably around the time that I decided I was — I have three other books of fiction. And they are all really far removed from my personal life. And as I approached this book, I was thinking I wanted to get a little bit closer to my own experience, my own life. I really wanted to write about my college experience. So that was where I started really with the setting of the school that is my alma mater. I don't know if — should I talk about it here?

Orlando Montoya: Well, the school is called "Rockhaven." 

Sheri Joseph: Yes.

Orlando Montoya: And there is a city called Brookhaven that has a liberal arts school. But you didn't go to that one.

Sheri Joseph: I did not. No, I went to Suwannee, the University of the South in Tennessee.

Orlando Montoya: Yeah, just west of Chattanooga. It's a small liberal arts college like the one described in the book.

Sheri Joseph: Yes, very much like the one described in the book. There's very little that is changed other than the names of everything.

Orlando Montoya: Yes, because the events of the book mostly surround the mystery of a student's death, a student named Brantley who falls off the top of the carillon tower. 

Sheri Joseph: Yes.

Orlando Montoya: What are the circumstances that sort of get the plot of the going?

Sheri Joseph: So I have a narrator whose name is Leah Gavin. And she is — has a sort of contentious relationship with Brantley Sims. And, in the present time of the book, he has been dead for a year. His death is ruled an accident. And there's not a lot that is known about the specific details of what happened to him, except that he was drinking — this is a college that's kind of known for its heavy drinking — and that he was wearing his academic gown at the time that he fell off the tower. And other details are not known. It's not known if he was alone.

Orlando Montoya: It's a mystery 

Sheri Joseph: Yes. It's a mystery. 

Orlando Montoya: And that's what keeps you reading the book. 

Sheri Joseph: Yes.

Orlando Montoya: You learn clues along the way. But I also kind of want to talk about the secondary subject of the book. I think if there's two themes, it's this mystery but there's also Leah's self-discovery and finding out who she is. So talk about Leah.

Sheri Joseph: Okay, so Leah is kind of an outsider at this school, which has a sort of tight insider culture to it. There are people who come through this sort of affluent family connections. It goes back to the 19th century. There are families that tend to send their kids to Rockhaven.

Orlando Montoya: But Leah does not fit in. She is more crunchy, more granola, I think you would say?

Sheri Joseph: A little, yeah. She doesn't really quite know what her style is. She's lived a pretty isolated life mainly because she doesn't have siblings and she doesn't have any friends who are in this environment.

Orlando Montoya: She doesn't come from the family income that the others do. She's much poorer.

Sheri Joseph: Yes, she does not have money. And so part of the first thing that she has to figure out — because this is a school with a lot of traditions, a lot of — one of the traditions for this school is that there's a dress code. And it's skirts for women and coats and ties for men. And she doesn't own any skirts. And so she has figure out how to get herself some skirts with no money. And that just seems very much like a central coming-of-age concern, figuring out who you are in relationship to other people.

Orlando Montoya: I want to talk about fitting in in the fraternity sense, too, because this book is very much focused on what fraternity and sorority life is. Were you a Greek in college?

Sheri Joseph: I was. And I was in a sorority at this very particular school, very particular setting. So it's tiny, it's very isolated. It's 1,100 students on top of a mountain and there is nothing to do. So pretty much every student joins a Greek organization.

Orlando Montoya: I have to say I don't like a lot of the guys in these fraternities. They're very drunk all the time. They're very macho, hyper-masculine behavior of the bad kind. Why would anybody want to like these guys?

Sheri Joseph: So I think of the guys in this novel, the guys are really very nice. They're very nice boys. But this is the '80s. This is the late '80s. So the expectations for male behavior are a little more lax, I would say. And the ethos at this school is that it trains young gentlemen. It's about the education of young gentlemen. So they all do have the mindset of being a gentleman.

Orlando Montoya: But they don't act that way.

Sheri Joseph: They don't? You don't think so?

Orlando Montoya: Well, I mean, the fights, the drunken behavior. Basically, everyone is either a slut or gay. If you're a woman, you're called a slut. If you are a man, you are called gay. 

Sheri Joseph: Yes. Yeah.

Orlando Montoya: I mean why does this exist? Why do we have this type of behavior? This is — this is wrong.

Sheri Joseph: Yes, it is. It is. And it has changed now, I would hope. But yeah, this was the culture of the '80s, especially at this little isolated place, which is a fairly conservative school. One of the major problems that everyone is dealing with on campus is sexual repression of different kinds. And so yes, it is this slut shaming. And any queer person, like, doesn't really exist on campus. They are all in the closet, pretty much.

Orlando Montoya: OK, so we've talked a little bit about the culture. I wanna get back to the mystery, because this is what keeps the book going along. Brantley has fallen off a carillon tower. We don't know the circumstances. There are some clues. But over the course of the book's beginning, we kind of think that people are involved, but they're not saying they're involved. So it could be suicide. It could be he was pushed. Or it could be an accident. Are those sort of the three choices that we're presented at the beginning?

Sheri Joseph: Yes, that's essentially what has been worked out for everyone on campus to know that it's one of those options. It's ruled an accident because there is nothing otherwise to indicate that anything else has happened.

Orlando Montoya: But there are rumors, and there are little innuendos here and there, and people say things. 

Sheri Joseph: Yes.

Orlando Montoya: And so the reader kind of develops this thought of, well, what actually happened?

Sheri Joseph: Yes, and Leah, she gets to know some different people. She's in a particular social group from the beginning. It is a school where you tend to know your own social group and not —

Orlando Montoya: There are circles. There are cliques.

Sheri Joseph: Yes, exactly. And so she sort of accidentally winds up being the one person maybe on campus who has access to these different social circles that Brantley was connected to.

Orlando Montoya: I think it's a fabulous book. 

Sheri Joseph: Thank you. 

Orlando Montoya: It's for really for anyone who's struggling to fit in. And who hasn't struggled to fit in? It's about people finding their way in this great mystery, too. So thank you very much for talking with me about it.

Sheri Joseph: Oh, thank you for having me. It's been great.

Peter Biello: That was Sheri Joseph, talking with GPB's Orlando Montoya about her book Angels at the Gate. Orlando and I have more good books with Georgia connections on our podcast, Narrative Edge. Listen to Narrative Edge on your favorite podcast app or watch it on YouTube. 

Story 10:

Peter Biello: The Georgia State Senate yesterday recognized Aerospace and Defense Day at the Capitol. An Air Force flight simulator was set up in the Rotunda to highlight the industry and show off the country's latest high-tech fighter. Gov. Brian Kemp took a quick flight in the F-35 simulation. 

Brian Kemp Today, as it was mentioned, aerospace is Georgia's No. 1 export, totaling $12.6 billion in the most recent data that we have. And the industry itself, as was mentioned, is now the second-largest in the state, producing an economic impact of over $57.5 billion annually. Those numbers are literally out of this world. 

Peter Biello: The Senate also celebrated Girl Scout Day and Habitat for Humanity volunteers framed a house across the street from the Capitol for Capitol Build Day. 

Story 11:

Peter Biello: Atlanta-based Coca-Cola says it's launching a few new cherry-flavored beverages. The company says Coca-cola Cherry Float and Diet Coke Cherry will be available in the U.S. and Canada this month. Cherry Float features creamy vanilla notes and comes in zero sugar options. Coca-Cola first introduced Cherry Coke in 1985. 

Story 12:

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Braves announced today that the club has invited two dozen non-roster players to Major League spring training this season. The group blends younger prospects and veteran players, adding competition as the team evaluates depth across the roster ahead of opening day. Among the invitees is Atlanta native Aaron Schunk, a former standout at the Lovett School and the University of Georgia who previously spent time in the major leagues with the Colorado Rockies and now returns home looking to make an impression as infielder. 

Outro:

Peter Biello: And that is a wrap on this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks for tuning in. Make sure you come back tomorrow. Subscribe to this podcast now so you don't forget. And check gpb.org/news for the latest headlines or for updates to the stories on the podcast today. If you've got feedback, let us know by email. The address is georgiatoday@gpb.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you so much for listening. We will see you tomorrow. 

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