Georgia Today: Kemp wants to redraw districts; Hospitals at risk of closing; New funds for bird flu

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Governor Brian Kemp calls for a special legislative session to redraw Georgia's congressional district maps. A former state prison warden has been indicted in connection with a contraband smuggling operation, and researchers at Georgia Tech get a boost in their work to stop the spread of avian flu. 

Mike Farrell: Chickens are fed probiotics in their diet. Probiotic bacteria are generally considered safe, food safe. So it's a very attractive platform to build a vaccine upon. 

Peter Biello: Today is Wednesday, May 13. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

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Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp is calling a special session of the General Assembly to redraw the state's political maps and address a looming deadline over how Georgians vote. Kemp's proclamation today calls lawmakers back to the state Capitol on June 17. The move follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted protections for majority-minority districts under the Voting Rights Act. It also follows the state Senate's decision not to address in its regular session a contradiction in Georgia law related to ballots. Lawmakers in 2024 required QR codes to be removed from ballots by July 1, but provided no alternative. The state House passed a bill to postpone the deadline, but the Senate failed to follow suit. 

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Peter Biello: Gov. Kemp also has signed into law a bill that requires nonpartisan elections for most local officials in Atlanta's five most populous counties. The Republican-backed law affecting elections and Democratic strongholds is generating backlash from local officials. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports. 

Sarah Kallis: After Kemp signed the bill on Tuesday, two Democratic district attorneys promised a lawsuit over the new law's constitutionality. Fulton County DA Fanny Willis and DeKalb County DA Sherry Boston called the new law an attempt by the GOP to give their candidates an edge in Democratic areas by hiding their party affiliation from voters. The new law also moves many local elections to May, when fewer voters typically turn out. Republican backers said the bill was about promoting public safety. It will not impact county sheriff's races and will take effect in 2028, unless halted by the courts. The move comes as Democrats have made steady gains in metro Atlanta swing districts. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis. 

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Peter Biello: Kemp signed that bill on the last day he had to sign or veto bills from the 2026 state legislative session. He vetoed a dozen bills, among them, one that passed with broad bipartisan support that would have created a Georgia music office to advance the state's music industry. Kemp said he supported the bill's goals, but lawmakers didn't fund it, and it's not needed. Industry advocacy group Georgia Music Partners said in a statement that it's disappointed the bill was not signed into law, but a movement focused on protecting, elevating, and investing George's music ecosystem will continue. Another bill targeting Savannah would have banned cities from requiring gun owners to lock up their guns and cars. Kemp said he supported the bill's goals, but it would have made law enforcement officers vulnerable to lawsuits. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he supports Gov. Kemp's veto and said, quote, "Savannah will continue doing everything legally possible to protect our residents, reduce gun thefts from vehicles and keep our neighbors safe."

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Peter Biello: Federal cuts to health care funding are putting Georgians at risk for losing access to health care. That's according to a new analysis from the Southern Poverty Law Center, GPB's Sofi Gratas has more. 

Sofi Gratas: The SPLC's report suggests that in Georgia, nearly two dozen hospitals are vulnerable to closure because they're overspending on uninsured and underinsured patients. Without Medicaid expansion, and with nearly a quarter drop in Marketplace Health Insurance Plan enrollment this year, report author Gina Azedo Thompson says the state's hospitals will be further burdened. Nine hospitals have closed in Georgia since 2005.

Gina Azedo Thompson: Now we have some structural and policy barriers in place to even further limit access to the doctor. We're going to see the impacts of that, especially in the rural Deep South. 

Sofi Gratas: This year, the state will spend over $200 million on projects at rural hospitals. That's part of a federal program to mitigate cuts from the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas. 

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Peter Biello: A former state prison warden has been indicted in connection with a contraband smuggling operation tied to a prison gang and the murder of an 88-year-old man in Southeast Georgia. The fatal 2021 in-home shooting of Tattnall County's Bobby Kicklighter set in motion an investigation that prosecutors now link to six counts against former prison warden Brian Adams. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today said Adams used his position at Smith State Prison to profit off gang activity. Adams is accused of bribery, money laundering, tampering with evidence and making false statements. Four people are charged in connection with Kicklighter's death, described as a botched murder for hire orchestrated inside the prison. 

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Peter Biello: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $2 million to researchers at Georgia Tech to develop an oral vaccine for chickens to help stop the spread of avian influenza. GPB's Chase McGee has more. 

Chase McGee: Over the last five years, around half a million chickens in Georgia have been culled in the fight against H5N1, the current prevalent strain of avian influenza. Mike Farrell is a principal research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. His team is working to develop an oral, bacteria-based vaccine that can be fed to chickens to prevent the virus. 

Mike Farrell: We take probiotics in the morning sometimes, some of us do. Chickens are fed probiotics in their diet, probiotic bacteria are generally considered safe, food safe, so it's a very attractive platform to build a vaccine upon. 

Chase McGee: Farrell says treating viruses with a bacterial vaccine is a relatively new idea, and it could have tons of applications for both chickens and humans down the road. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee. 

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Peter Biello: The founder of a Georgia investment firm that collapsed in what prosecutors alleged was a $140 million Ponzi scheme has pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge. The downfall of the company, First Liberty Building and Loan, rocked many in the upper echelons of the Georgia Republican Party. The company's politically connected founder, Edwin Brant Frost IV, allegedly scammed clients, family and friends with illusory promises of sizable returns on investments. Frost entered a guilty plea in a courtroom in Newnan, south of Atlanta, yesterday morning and is scheduled to be sentenced in August. 

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Peter Biello: In sports and baseball, Atlanta's Grant Holmes combined with three relievers, on a one-hitter to lead the Braves to victory over the Chicago Cubs last night, 5 to 2. Austin Riley and Mike Estremski, homered, and Didier Fuentes, worked three scoreless innings in relief. The Braves honored Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox and former owner Ted Turner in the first home game since both men died. The club had a moment of silence following a video tribute to both men and had a display set up with jerseys and photos in the Battery Plaza outside the park. The Braves will wear an embroidered number six on the back of their caps the rest of the season to honor Cox, who died Saturday at the age of 84. Turner died last Wednesday at 87. J.R. Ritchie gets the start for the Braves against the Cubs tonight. 

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Peter Biello: And former Atlanta Hawks player Jason Collins died yesterday after a battle with brain cancer. Collins played for the Hawks from 2009 to 2012 and was known for his defensive play. In 2014, with the Brooklyn Nets, Collins became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league. The Atlanta Hawks said in a statement, quote, "Collins' quote, 'courage and authenticity' broke barriers across professional sports." The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Jason Collins was 47 years old. 

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, go to gpb.org/news, and make sure you subscribe to this podcast. It's a great way to stay on top of Georgia news. And if you subscribe, we'll pop up in your podcast feed automatically every weekday afternoon. Now, if you've got feedback or maybe a story idea we should know about, the best way to reach us is by email. When you send an email, it goes to the whole team, so send it now. The email is georgiatoday@gpb.org. 

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