Georgia Today: Kemp cuts state's healthcare budget; Water boil advisory; Waymo suspended

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Gov. Brian Kemp made some major budget cuts to state health care. Heavy rain this week caused serious flooding in some parts of metro Atlanta. And more rain is coming, but the state's drought picture may not clear up because of it.

Pam Knox: We have a long way to go before the drought is over. 

Peter Biello: Today is Friday, May 22nd. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1

Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp signed his final budget this month, making big changes to state funding to pay for tax cuts. Some of that will come from cuts to health care spending, as GPB's Sofi Gratas reports. 

Sofi Gratas: Almost $80 million in health-related spending was slashed during last week's budget signing. Spending on Medicaid-funded care and its federal matches saw the biggest hits, along with behavioral and mental health care. An $11 million expansion to programs that support people with disabilities had bipartisan support but was vetoed by the governor. Darcy Robb with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities says she feels let down. 

Darcy Robb: I really think it's very important now to just keep up the awareness about this issue. This is an area in which our state is very much behind and has been for decades. 

Sofi Gratas: The cuts are meant to help the state close an expected billion-dollar budget shortfall resulting from Senate and House tax break bills. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas. 

Story 2

Peter Biello: This week, sudden rainstorms caused serious flooding in some parts of metro Atlanta. Meanwhile, the entire state of Georgia is still in a drought, and that probably won't change anytime soon. GPB's Chase McGee has more. 

Chase McGee: On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that three-quarters of the state are considered in an extreme or exceptional drought. According to their scale, that means the ground cracks in places, grazing land is lost, and agricultural producers face economic losses. Pam Knox is an extension climatologist at the University of Georgia. She says these sudden storms are not enough to snap the drought, but more rain is in the forecast. 

Pam Knox: So I am hopeful that the rain that we see over the next week or so is going to provide at least a little bit of improvement, but we have a long way to go before the drought is over. 

Chase McGee: Knox says that it'll take larger, shifting weather patterns, like entering an expected El Niño, to produce that necessary change. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee. 

Story 3

Peter Biello: And speaking of that rain earlier this week, Waymo has suspended driverless car services in Atlanta after one of its vehicles was stranded by Wednesday's flooding. The company says the vehicle was not occupied and was recovered. Waymo says it's updating its software to improve vehicle performance around flooded roadways. 

Story 4

Peter Biello: Georgia's Department of Natural Resources is warning the public about the threats posed by an invasive lizard that can grow up to 4 feet long. Argentine Tegus come from South America but have been spotted in South Georgia. Since 2018, 30 tegus have been caught or killed in Tattnall and Toombs counties alone. Tegus will eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds and the endangered gopher tortoise and possibly spread diseases. Daniel Sollenberger is a senior wildlife biologist with Georgia Department of National Resources Wildlife Resources Division. He says they're often quick and hard to catch, so he's encouraging people to kill any tegus they see. 

Daniel Sollenberger: If you're not in a position to, you know, use a firearm or something like that, try to document it with a photo and let us know and you know we can perhaps give some guidance or maybe help you know try to put a trap out or something like that. 

Peter Biello: Sollenberger says so far Argentine tegus have been spotted in 30 Georgia counties. 

Story 5

Peter Biello: Hurricane season begins June 1st and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects a below average year for storms in 2026. NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs says this season's forecast estimates the formation of eight to 14 named storms in the Atlantic. That's about five fewer than projected last year. GPB's Jillian Magtoto, our environment and climate reporter in Savannah joins me now to talk about Noah's recent briefing. Jillian, welcome to the program. 

Jillian Magtoto: Hi, thanks for inviting me. 

Peter Biello: So Jillian, this sounds like good news for the East Coast. What changes in the weather can we thank for a below average hurricane outlook? 

Jillian Magtoto: The primary driver is the growing likelihood of an El Niño happening, which is a Pacific Ocean warming event beginning in the spring. This year, the Pacific Ocean has already risen to near record high temperatures. So NOAA is predicting not only a 98% chance of an El Niño, but also an 80% chance of a moderate to strong El Niño. 

Peter Biello: And how does El Niño in the Pacific reduce the chance of storms forming in the Atlantic? 

Jillian Magtoto: El Niño creates something called vertical wind shear, or changes in wind speed and direction as you move higher into the atmosphere. It's also what causes turbulence as an airplane moves up and down. But hurricanes need calm air to form. So scattered storms crossing the Atlantic will likely have a harder time becoming more organized systems. That's why we'll see fewer named storms on the East Coast. But the reverse will be true for the Pacific Ocean. So the West Coast will likely see an above average storm season. 

Peter Biello: And when was the last time there was a forecast like this? 

Jillian Magtoto: The most recent strong El Niño event was in 2015, and it produced the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Pacific. For the Atlantic, it resulted in just 12 named storms, three of which were hurricanes, and none of them made landfall on the East Coast. 

Peter Biello: Okay, so that does sound like very good news for the East Coast. Should we prepare any differently though? I mean, is it okay to relax a little bit? 

Jillian Magtoto: Unfortunately, no. Helene was a category 2 hurricane when it hit Georgia, and it claimed about 200 lives across the Southeast. NOAA predicts up to three hurricanes this year will reach at least a category 3, so we still need to be prepared. NOAA officials also warn that it doesn't take a hurricane or even a name storm to cause flooding, tornadoes, and other severe impacts to an area. They advise people to stock up on medicine, power, and food while lines are short and the weather isn't bad. And also, they are urging the public to become familiar with local evacuation routes. 

Peter Biello: Many of our storms like Hurricane Helene have come through the Gulf and impacted places like Valdosta and then traveled north and caused a lot of damage across the state into Augusta. So that sounds like what you're saying, pretty good advice for everyone in Georgia. 

Jillian Magtoto: Right. While NOAA wasn't able to provide any particular information on how storms will track, everyone should be preparing now as the season arrives in just days. More information for how you can prepare can be found on hurricanes.gov. 

Peter Biello: That's GPB's Julian Magtoto, our environment and climate reporter in Savannah. Thank you so much for speaking with me. 

Jillian Magtoto: Thanks, Peter. 

Story 6

Peter Biello: A large swath of downtown in East Atlanta is under a boil water advisory. The city's Department of Watershed Management alerted residents this morning to a power failure at a water treatment plant that prompted the advisory. It comes nearly two years after a series of water main breaks caused a six-day crisis of widespread outages, business closures and boil water advisories in the heart of the city. 

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Peter Biello: More than two and a half million people are expected to travel through Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport over the Memorial Day travel period. Airport officials expect today to be the busiest travel day. Meanwhile, Auto Club AAA expects more than 1.2 million Georgians to drive 50 miles or more over the holiday. It comes at a time when gas prices are at their highest in four years, hovering at $4 a gallon. 

Story 8

Peter Biello: The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is launching a summer swim guide as the unofficial start of summer kicks off this weekend with Memorial Day. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Riverkeeper will test water samples at popular recreation sites for E. Coli bacteria and publish the data on an interactive dashboard every Friday. They say the swim guide is meant to help people decide if it's safe to swim at popular spots along the Chattahoochee River. 

Story 9

Peter Biello: In Macon, the Memorial Day observance began early yesterday with the rededication of a memorial to the city's only recipient of the Medal of Honor. GPB's Grant Blankenship has more. 

Grant Blankenship: The family of Marine Sergeant Rodney Davis traveled from across the country for the event, where an ROTC student read Davis' Medal of Honor Commendation, describing how he threw himself on a grenade during a firefight in the Vietnam War. 

ROTC Speaker: Absorbing with his whole body the full and terrific force of the explosion. 

Grant Blankenship: And giving his life for the men in his platoon. Davis' brother Gordon Davis also spoke. 

Gordon Davis: He was my little brother. I know him for a whole different reason. 

Grant Blankenship: Gordon Davis remembered his little brother as a tall, skinny kid who grew into a father with two children at home before he gave his life. 

Gordon Davis: For a person to do that has to have some real inner beliefs about what they are doing. 

Grant Blankenship: Davis said those beliefs were pride in service and a love of country. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon. 

Story 10

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Jazz Festival takes over Piedmont Park this weekend with free admission and performances by jazz greats including The Roots, Esperanza Spalding, Christian McBride, and more. But one beloved Georgia singer's return is generating a lot of buzz too. Donnie Johnson, who goes by his first name professionally, is a staple of the Atlanta music scene, a relative of Marvin Gaye and Les McCann, and a former backing vocalist for Curtis Mayfield. He spoke with GPB's Kristi York-Wooten. 

Kristi York-Wooten: Donnie has been a staple in the Atlanta music scene for decades and will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his debut album, The Colored Section, at the Atlanta Jazz Festival on May 24. 

Donnie Johnson: Welcome to the colored section... 

Kristi York-Wooten: You grew up in Atlanta. I know that both of your parents, I believe, were involved in the church. And tell us about some of your early love for music. 

Donnie Johnson: Well, my parents were, you know, in the 70s, they were still partying before they became preachers. So I heard the emotions and Michael Jackson and Natalie Cole. But when they came back, went back to the church, you know, of course, there was more gospel music, The Clark sisters, The Winans, The Hawkins. And that's just growing up and directing the choir and singing just really trained me, you 

Kristi York-Wooten: You're known for your vocals and your arrangements that recall Stevie Wonder and your own cousin, Marvin Gaye. How did you meld these sounds together to kind of create what you did on "The Color Section" and your sound in general? 

Donnie Johnson: To be totally honest, I love American music, period. You know, listening, growing up, you know, I listened to gospel, you heard Mahalia, but you heard Ella Fitzgerald. You heard The Mamas & the Papas, and Simon and Garfunkel. It really honestly comes natural. 

Kristi York-Wooten: Talk about the scene in Atlanta at the turn of the millennium when you were writing these songs. 

Donnie Johnson: We were just going into a new phase of the club that we used to frequent and sing at that was called the Yin Yang. Still grooving, still had the vibration of the cultural community. Always in that space, you felt comfortable. I mean, cause right across the street was Loretta's. So, you know, I went back and forth, you now. Know, the drag queens and then go with the, you know, capoeira people doing that. So that's what it was to me. 

Kristi York-Wooten: Just, it was that classic blend that Atlanta does of those sounds and scenes and everything. So what is "The Color Section" because a lot of people may not know the scene that it came from. 

Donnie Johnson: It's really about welcoming everybody, you know, because it's a very, you know country that teaches separation and discrimination. You know, I really, really don't look at any race or people and see them and hate them. It's how you treat me. So basically it's welcoming all races, sexual orientations, and identities. 

Kristi York-Wooten: People think of the album as almost like a concept album. So that brings me to the Atlanta Jazz Festival and how you're going to present the album as a whole. 

Donnie Johnson: Khari Cabral Simmons is the musical director, and I have my friends' singing background with me from 25 years ago, so that's gonna be real fun. They're excited. 

Kristi York-Wooten: Well, Donnie, thank you so much for joining us, and we're looking forward to the full performance of "The Colored Section" at the Atlanta Jazz Festival on May 24th. 

Donnie Johnson: Thank you. 

Peter Biello: Donnie is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his critically acclaimed debut album by performing it in full at the festival on Sunday. Hear Kristi's full interview with him at gpb.org/news. 

Peter Biello:And that's a wrap on a busy week of news. Thank you so much for listening to Georgia Today. We hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend. We hope you can stay dry. There's a lot of rain expected for this weekend. And we are not going to drop a podcast on you on Monday. So be sure to subscribe to this podcast and listen on Tuesday and check gpb.org/news for the latest headlines. If you have feedback or a story we should be pursuing, let us know by email. The address is georgiatoday@gpb.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you on Tuesday, May 26th. 

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