Georgia Today: Law enforcement K-9 training over weekend; Honoring fallen heroes; First Frog Walk

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, a new court ruling may mean more health care for Georgia kids on Medicaid. Lawmakers push major corporations to oppose redistricting. And what listening to frogs can tell us about the state of the natural world. 

Erin Cork: They're an indicator species. They are going to do well if they have healthy ecosystems. 

Peter Biello: Today is Tuesday, May 26. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

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Peter Biello: The state of Georgia may have to provide more care to sick kids. A federal court has found some of the state's policies for kids on Medicaid don't satisfy federal requirements for adequate care. The ruling in the case originated with a 3-year-old boy with a rare metabolic disease. A lower court ruled that the Georgia Department of Community Health didn't approve enough nursing care for him. Without enough care, the boy could have died. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld that lower court's order. The ruling could influence how Medicaid is administered in Georgia and in the rest of the court's jurisdiction, which includes Alabama and Florida. A DCH spokesperson said today that the agency was still reviewing the court decision and had no comment. The agency's lawyers had argued in court that the decision to limit the child's nursing hours was legal because it followed agency policy. 

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Peter Biello: Georgia lawmakers signed a letter opposing Republican-led redistricting efforts and urging major corporations to defend voting rights. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports from the Congressional Black Caucus. 

Amanda Andrews: The letter from the Congressional Black Caucus was signed by Reps. Lucy McBath, Nakima Williams, Sanford Bishop, and Hank Johnson. It states that redistricting will, quote, "dilute Black voting strength" and, quote, "silence Black communities." Georgia will redraw the state's political maps in June, following a Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The new maps will take effect in 2028. The caucus is asking companies to send statements condemning attacks on voter protections, report corporate political spending, and join civil rights advocates defending Black political power. They've given companies until June 9 to respond. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews. 

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Peter Biello: Metro Atlanta's Gwinnett County honored fallen military and public service heroes yesterday during its annual Memorial Day ceremony. Officials honored DeKalb County police officer David Rose who died in the line of duty in August 2025. Before joining the police academy, Rose served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. DeKalb County Police Sgt. Trey Jones was Rose's lead instructor while at the police academy. He spoke about Rose's composure during difficult moments. 

Trey Jones: I often wondered whether the composure came from his military background or whether it was just simply who Rose was. I eventually realized it was both. He possessed a quiet confidence that didn't strengthen him, it strengthened everyone around him. 

Peter Biello: Gwinnett County Police officer Pradeep Tumang was also honored yesterday. Tumang died in the line of duty on Feb. 1 of this year during a dispatch call. Assistant Chief Joel Witt of the Gwinnett County police department said the Tumang family immigrated to the United States when Pradeep was 9 years old. 

Joel Witt: Pradeep was indeed molded by adversity and shaped by circumstance. From refugee camps to a patrol car in Gwinnett County, he chose a life of service. He carried his family's story, their sacrifices, and their hopes with him every time he put on a badge. 

Peter Biello: Rose and Tumang's names were added to the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial. 

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Peter Biello: State troopers have arrested 259 people for driving under the influence over the Memorial Day holiday travel period so far. The Georgia Department of Public Safety said yesterday that law enforcement agencies statewide have reported nine fatalities on Georgia highways as of yesterday morning. One of the more alarming charges involves a driver who was clocked at speeding at 172 miles an hour in metro Atlanta's Douglas County. 

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Peter Biello: Plans on Jekyll Island have supporters worried about the future of the state-owned barrier island. GPB media partner The Current reports the Jekyll Island Authority, which oversees the island's conservation and development, is planning for significant growth and visitation. The proposals will add up to 185 new hotel rooms, an increase of 13%, and parking, in what's now a wooded lot. A petition urging officials to quote, "rein in" overdevelopment garnered more than 2,000 signatures in a week.

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Peter Biello: Horse-drawn carriage tour operators in Savannah are suing the city over an ordinance that they say would put them out of business. Savannah City Council members last year approved regulations prohibiting horse-drawn carriage tours when the temperatures reach 85 degrees or the heat index reaches 100 degrees. In a lawsuit filed last week, three companies claim the ordinance runs afoul of a state law that prohibits municipalities from regulating livestock. 

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Peter Biello: Georgia law enforcement officers and veterans recently traveled to Marietta to attend a free training for police dogs and their handlers. GPB's Ellen Eldridge was there. 

Ellen Eldridge: Police officers from specialized K-9 units in Conyers, Marietta, and Cobb County gathered with their dogs at a water park in Marietta. Bo Poole is with the Cobb County police department. He's playing the bad guy. 

Bo Poole: Getting bit by some dogs, doing some training. You wear the bite suit, you get the dog amped up, you learn how to how to catch the dog and where he can bite you without hurting himself and hurting you. 

Ellen Eldridge: To the dogs, it's a game. 

Bo Poole: And then how to engage with them to kind of make it fun for him while you're playing — almost like you're playing, keeping him engaged, keeping him in contact with you. 

Ellen Eldridge: But for the law enforcement officers, the experience could mean the difference between life or death. Spike's school fund covers all training and certifications that the handlers often have to pay out of their own pockets. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge. 

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Peter Biello: Frog calls are a common sound in Georgia and across the South during the spring and summer. Usually these vocal amphibians are heard and not seen. Recently in Jackson County, experts led kids and some adults to see some elusive frogs in the wild and to learn what frogs can tell us about our environment. Emma Auer of WUGA in Athens reports. 

Erin Cork: This is a northern cricket frog. 

Child: It's the ittiest-bittiest frog ever!

Emma Auer: It's getting close to dark as a group of about 30 kids and their parents set off into the woods by Winder Highway in Jackson County. Here, the treeline holds an incredible secret: acres and acres of wetland teeming with insects, plants, and yes, frogs. Erin Cork is an amphibian biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and she's here to help lead something called a frog walk. 

Erin Cork: Frog walks, yeah, they take you into just nature, and you're going to hear other things. We saw a luna moth that had just emerged earlier on the path. So maybe we'll see some more cool insects tonight, too, along with along with the herp species. 

Emma Auer: Those so-called herp species include frogs, the main attraction of the evening. This is the first frog walk hosted by the Oconee River Land Trust, an organization that conserves land around the state of Georgia and beyond. Hadrian Turner is a land steward with the ORLT. He says that one major way to protect frog species is through preventing wetlands like these from being developed. And one way to do this is to conserve the land through something called an easement. 

Hadrian Turner: Once the easement is placed, it basically restricts some of the use of the property, like certain development rights, certain cutting hardwoods, it implements much larger stream buffers, and that agreement stays tied to the deed of the land. 

Emma Auer: This evening, the group is setting off onto an easement given to Jefferson City Schools by a group of duck hunters who owned it before and wanted it protected. Environmental Sciences teacher Liz French says students look after this place. 

Liz French: High schoolers come and do water quality sampling. That's a big thing that we've been doing continually with our high school environmental science classes. 

Emma Auer: Scientists Turner and Cork agree that this protected land is doing well. The proof: all the singing frogs. 

Erin Cork: They're an indicator species, they are going to do well if they have healthy ecosystems. 

Emma Auer: As the sky turns dark and the barely worn path is lit up by headlamps, more and more frogs start to sing. Cricket frogs, bull frogs, and even the bird-voiced tree frog all add their songs to a growing chorus. 

Erin Cork: Guys, that's a pretty cool frog call here, because it's kind of rare in this area: the bird-voiced tree frog. 

Emma Auer: Derek Pope attended the frog walk. Already a nature enthusiast, he says he learned to recognize frog calls. 

Derek Pope: I thought the frog walk was fantastic, just having experts point out species that you might recognize the call, but not actually know. 

Emma Auer: He also says he had no idea that this wetland existed off of the Northeast Georgia Highway. Hadrian Turner, the events organizer, says that was part of Frog Walk's goal. 

Hadrian Turner: You wouldn't know this was here driving by and, you know, Jackson County, among other counties around here, is under extremely high development pressure. So it's really important to show people that, like, every little bit counts. 

Emma Auer: And here they plan to spread the word, one frog walk and class at a time. For WUGA, I'm Emma Auer in Jackson County. 

Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you wanna learn more about these stories, visit gpb.org/news and remember to subscribe to this podcast because we're coming back at you tomorrow afternoon. Your feedback is welcome, of course, and the best way to get it to us is by email. When you send an email to us, it'll go to the whole team. The address is georgiatoday@gpb.org. 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