Georgia Today: University tuition fees increasing; Statewide drought; JD Vance in Athens

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Georgia universities will be getting more expensive this fall, a statewide drought creates perfect conditions for wildfires, and Vice President JD Vance was in Georgia yesterday to speak to students in Athens. 

JD Vance When you see a politician, or you see political movement, or you see an administration that isn't doing what you want to do, I think you have two choices. You can say, "Ah, to hell with those people," and check out of the process, or, you can say you know what, I'm going to get more involved. 

Peter Biello: Today is Wednesday, April 15th. I'm Peter B. Yellow, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1: 

Peter Biello: Georgia's Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week about a key legal question tied to the 2024 BioLab fire in Conyers. The case asks whether residents exposed to toxic smoke can force the company to pay for long-term medical monitoring even if they haven't shown physical symptoms yet. The justices are scheduled to hear the arguments April 21. In September, a federal judge overseeing the class action lawsuit said Georgia is unclear on that issue and asked the state's highest court to weigh in. The decision could shape how courts across Georgia handle toxic exposure cases moving forward. For more on what happened at the BioLab facility in Conyers, listen to Manufacturing Danger, The BioLab Story. Find it at gpb.org/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Georgia students attending the state's public colleges and universities will pay more for tuition in the academic year that begins this fall. The State Board of Regents yesterday voted to raise tuition by 1% for Georgia students and 3% for out-of-state students at University System of Georgia schools. The board cited increased enrollment in the state's higher education funding formula in announcing their decision. It's the fourth time in a decade that tuition has gone up. USG officials say the increase is well below inflation, and USG schools remain among the nation's most affordable. Also today, University System Chancellor Sonny Perdue announced that he will retire as soon as the board names his successor. His decision caps more than four decades in public service that began in Houston County and included roles in the state's Senate, two terms as governor, and as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Vice President JD Vance was in Georgia yesterday to speak to students in Athens gathered for a Turning Point USA event, GPB's Sarah Kallis reports. 

Sarah Kallis: In one of his first public appearances since war negotiations between the U.S. and Iran broke down in Pakistan, Vance told the crowd of hundreds to continue supporting the Trump administration even if they disagree with the war in Iran. 

JD Vance: When you see a politician, or you see political movement, or you see an administration that isn't doing what you want to do, I think you have two choices. You can say, "Ah, to hell with those people," and check out of the process. Or you can say, "You know what? I'm going to get more involved."

Sarah Kallis: During his remarks, Vance also praised President Trump's policies on immigration and the economy. The event was hosted by Turning Point USA, which advocates for conservative voices. Its CEO, Erica Kirk, was slated to speak, but event officials say she canceled due to unspecified threats. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Athens. 

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Residents and businesses in Valdosta will be under new outdoor water restrictions starting today. Under the rules, watering is only allowed between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m each day. The city says using water outside those hours could lead to fines or even service disconnection. The restrictions come as nearly half the state is now in extreme or exceptional drought — the worst conditions Georgia has seen in more than a decade. Valdosta city officials say the restrictions are aimed at protecting the water supply, especially during dry conditions. These dry conditions statewide, but especially in South Georgia, are creating the perfect conditions for wildfires. For more on the state of wildfires in Georgia, let's turn to Thomas Barrett. He's Forest Protection Chief at the Georgia Forestry Commission. Welcome to the program. 

Thomas Barrett Yes, sir. Thank you for having me. I appreciate the invite. You're absolutely right. We have been experiencing a lot more wildfires for the whole year really in the whole state of Georgia. But just like he said, South Georgia does kind of seem to be the hotspot right now. 

Peter Biello: What fires are you and your colleagues at the Georgia Forestry Commission watching closely right now? 

Thomas Barrett: Generally, the Forestry Commission here, lately, we've been averaging about 40 or so wildfires a day, so we'll pay attention to all those on any given day, but we have had a few bigger fires in the last two or three weeks that we're certainly keeping an eye on that are taking up a lot of our resources. The Sargent fire, which has actually started in Florida, kind of down below Fargo, burned up into Georgia, burned about 2,500 acres in the first afternoon that it started. So we were working very closely with resources from the Florida Forest Service, our agency — as well as two different federal agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service — to kind of contain that one in that first operational period. And then we've been mopping it up for about a week and a half now. 

Peter Biello: How does the fire activity now at this point in the year compare to this point in previous years? 

Thomas Barrett: We're on an uptick, I would say. We've been kind of increasing the number of fires and the acreages burned for the last couple of years. Last year was one of the busiest seasons we have had since 2016 and 2017. And this year is already — still two and a half months to go before our fiscal year, which is kind of the way we measure things, ends — so we're still with two and half months to go. We're already about a thousand wildfires above all of last year and about 10,000 more acres than where we were for all of last year. So we've definitely been on the uptick. 

Peter Biello: What kind of harms do these fires cause? Are we talking about hurting farms? Are we worsening air quality? Does it threaten homes, generally speaking? What harms should people be concerned about here? 

Thomas Barrett: Yeah, sure. All of those things, right? So obviously smoke from wildfires is a lot worse than most smoke that you would see on any given day. Prescribed fire smoke is not that bad and wildfires' smoke is definitely worse. And Georgia also has a really high percentage of homes that are in the wildland-urban interface. So homes are almost always threatened any time we have wildfires in the state. Not so much agriculture probably, but definitely the timber industry certainly is threatened anytime they have a wildfire. 

Peter Biello: Overall, what do you know about what's causing the various wildfires around the state? Are these caused by human activity? 

Thomas Barrett: Absolutely. And it's always been the case in Georgia and in the Southeast in general, but humans, you know, cause probably 95% of the wildfires. Most of them are accidental. The biggest, No. 1 cause for fires in Georgia is debris burning of mostly yard debris. And you know this is the time of year when folks are trying to clean up their yards — finally getting some warm days. Spring is in the air, for sure. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to get rid of [yard debris] of course is to burn those piles of leaves and limbs and their backyards. And so that's typically our No. 1 cause of wildfires is just careless debris burning. 

Peter Biello: Is your advice then to ask people to not burn their yard waste? Or to, if you're going to do it, stay with it and have some means of putting it out if it gets out of control? 

Thomas Barrett: Yeah, absolutely. So that's what we ask. Is — there's what I would call, for the most part, common sense things, but do it in an open area, have a tool, just like you said, a nearby water hose or rake or shovel or something that you can take measures if things do start to get away. And then the biggest thing is to stay with it. So don't leave it unattended. Stay with until it's out and make sure it is out before you leave. 

Peter Biello: Forecasts by the National Weather Service show like zero rainfall for the whole state of Georgia for the next week or so. I know that's a short time horizon, but how much rain would the state need overall to drop the wildfire risk to something more manageable? 

Thomas Barrett: Oh man, gosh, we need a lot. We probably are almost in that situation where we need one of those "rains with a name," as I like to say, some kind of tropical system. Obviously we don't want anything close to a repeat of Hurricane Helene from a couple of years ago, but a tropical system that brings a lot of rain later this summer would certainly be beneficial.

Peter Biello: All right, well, Thomas, thank you so much for speaking with me. Really do appreciate it. 

Thomas Barrett: Yes, sir. 

Peter Biello: That's Thomas Barrett, Forest Protection Chief at the Georgia Forestry Commission. 

Story 5: 

Peter Biello: A U.S. News and World Report rating of best senior living communities finds metro Atlanta stands out with a range of options. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more on what the magazine says about the area's memory care, assisted living, and independent living communities. 

Ellen Eldridge: Liz Pierce is the director of senior living at U.S. News and World Report. She says 78 Georgia communities were evaluated and 35 were recognized as best for one or more levels of care. 23 of those communities are in the Atlanta metro. 

Liz Pierce Top counties for recognized communities in the Atlanta area are Gwinnett County with four recognized communities, Cherokee County with four recognized communities, DeKalb County with three recognized communities and the rest are spread across the metro area. 

Ellen Eldridge: Pierce says the 80-plus population is expected to grow by nearly 25% in the next five years and to double by 2035. For GPP News, I'm Ellen Eldridge. 

Story 6: 

Peter Biello: A metro Atlanta woman is suing local and federal law enforcement officers over what she calls a botched pre-dawn raid of her Sandy Springs condominium in 2023. Kathy George filed the lawsuit yesterday saying officers ransacked her condo after first appearing at her door. 

Kathy George: And I open the door and I'm immediately lit up like a Christmas tree with dozens and dozens of guns and beams all over my body. 

Peter Biello: The man they were looking for already was in custody at the time of the raid. George claims her constitutional rights to due process and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure were violated. The U.S. Marshals Service in the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office declined to comment, citing pending litigation. 

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia soon could require human insurance agents to review any health coverage or treatment claim denied using artificial intelligence. A bipartisan bill regulating AI insurance reviews passed during this legislative session is among dozens of bills awaiting Gov.Brian Kemp's signature. The bill's sponsor, Marietta Republican state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, says she doesn't want to cut AI out of the insurance industry entirely, but guardrails are necessary. 

Kay Kirkpatrick These are life or death things sometimes. They affect people's health care, and so it's very important that we keep a human in the process. 

Peter Biello: Kemp has until May 12 to sign or veto the legislation. 

Story 8:

Peter Biello: In sports and baseball, the Braves face the Marlins again at home tonight for the final game of a three game series. Last night, Dominic Smith had a go-ahead three-run double in the eighth inning as part of a four-RBI night and the Atlanta Braves rebounded from a four-run deficit to beat the Miami Marlins 6 to 5. Smith, who drove in Atlanta's first run with a second inning single, is batting .395 with 15 RBIs. Bryce Elder gets the start for the Bravers tonight. 

Outro:

Peter Biello: And that is a wrap on this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We hope you'll come back tomorrow as well. If you subscribe to this podcast, we will be there in your podcast feed automatically. No need to remember. So subscribe now, you won't miss a thing. And if you wanna learn more about the stories you heard today or check out the latest headlines, you could always head over to gpb.org/news. Now your feedback is important to us. We wanna know what you're thinking about, what's happening in your community and how this podcast lands with you. So let us know. The email address is georgetoday@gpb.org. We appreciate your feedback. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We will see you tomorrow. 

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