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Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, the city of Columbus aims to strengthen ties with the Muscogee Nation. An Atlanta doctor is involved in a health care fraud crackdown. And kids in the Boys and Girls Club in metro Atlanta are getting more access to mental health care.
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We will also provide trauma informed training for the staff at Boys and Girls Club so that they can build their own trauma informed toolkits.
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Today is Wednesday, June 24th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. When the Trump administration dissolved USAID over a year ago, that disrupted the system sending a special food made from Georgia peanuts to starving children around the world. Two US Factories make this ready to use therapeutic food. Georgia based Manna Nutrition and Adesia in Rhode island, they're now looking for new channels of delivery. As GPB's Grant Blankenship reports, a production
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line chugs along as man and nutrition compliance officer Andrea Hines leads a tour of the factory for dignitaries from near and far, including colleagues, Adesia Nutrition and Trump administration officials.
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And we have an expansion that we'll walk past once that expansion is completed.
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Heinz points to cardboard cases sliding by on a conveyor belt.
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So each case represents two and a half lives that are going to be
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saved for a malnourished child. Three pocket sized packs a day for six weeks of what's like a sweetened peanut butter can mean the difference between life and death. This factory in Fitzgerald, Georgia, population about 8,000, is one of only two in the nation making this ready to use therapeutic food or rutf. For peanut farmer and Georgia Peanut Commission vice chair Joe Bodiford, this is a point of pride. A friend, a peanut sheller, used to bring back photos from trips to Africa where kids were given rutf.
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You got the before picture and you got the after picture. Now unless you're blind, you can pick them out. I mean, I think this is the best humanitarian effort that the peanut industry has or had.
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USAID had been responsible for over half the orders annually for RUTF before the Trump administration dismantled the agency over a year ago. Now orders are at a trickle and cases of RUTF are staggering, stacked beneath a huge American flag hanging from the rafters waiting to be deployed. That's why Manna put on this tour for the dignitaries, including a big lunch where they and Adesia heard from Alabama native Linda Blanchard.
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Especially Madam Ambassador.
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Welcome to Fitzgerald.
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So honored that y' all would take some time.
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How many of you show of hands?
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Blanchard is President Trump's ambassador to the United Nations World Food Program, and he explains his take on humanitarian aid.
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And now this president's doing it bigger
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and better with some changes.
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Instead of its continual aid without showing something and raising these countries up, it's more humanitarian trade.
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Humanitarian trade, or as some State Department documents call it, commercial diplomacy. The idea is that the US Will want something in return for food aid
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under a new umbrella. And it's dh and it is how we would all run our homes.
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DHR is the Bureau of Disaster and Human Response, a new arm of the State Department. It only has about an eighth of the funding of the former USAID research published in the medical journal the Lancet estimates that some 163,000 more children could die annually as a result of the end of usaid. Which is why we're thinking, I'm thinking
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if the State Department money takes longer
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then Maria Kasperian with Adesia says they have to find new ways to move their product with or without the US Government.
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Our ultimate need is getting these life saving foods to children when they need them. Which is now, right? The need didn't stop.
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For now, both companies are seeing what help is left from private philanthropy. Manna is also selling branded peanut butter to make up shortfalls. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship and Fitzgerald.
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The U.S. justice Department announced criminal charges yesterday against 455 people as part of a two week health care fraud crackdown. Officials say the fraud involved more than $6 billion in false claims submitted to insurers. Among those charged is an Atlanta doctor, Merle Rutledge Jr. Who prosecutors allege filed more than $4 million in false billings submitted to Georgia Medicaid. Grand jurors have declined to indict a former Bibb county deputy who prosecutors say wrongfully shot a man last year. Court records from Monday show a grand jury returned no bill on a case against former deputy Marquis Sandifer. Prosecutors sought to indict him on malice, murder and other charges for the fatal October shooting of Zachary Ward.
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Each story you hear on Planet Money starts with a what happens if we refund tariffs? Why are groceries so expensive? At npr, we stand for your right to be curious, because the forces shaping our world can be hard to see. Follow NPR's Planet Money wherever you get your podcasts and start seeing how the economy really works.
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Cumberland island is among the largest remaining undeveloped barrier islands on the east coast, but recent moves from the National Park Service have conservationists worried. GPB's Gillian Magtoto explains a coalition of
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conservation groups are urging congressional oversight of the National Park Service's management of Cumberland Island. The Park Service is currently negotiating land exchange agreements with existing owners, which it says will promote park connectivity, but the move could also expand residential development. Kelly Cox, with the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, says the agreements were advancing without public knowledge. The Park Service had actually been moving on the land exchanges that entire time in the background, without any public updates. The service has also proposed to more than double visitation numbers. The conservation groups hope Congress will pause both of these proposals until further public review. For GPB News, I'm Gillian Magtoto.
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A group of Columbus residents is traveling to Oklahoma this week to strengthen ties with the Muskogee Nation and deliver a letter from Columbus Mayor Elect Isaiah Hughley. In the letter, Hughley acknowledges Columbus role in the forced removal of the Muscogee people and pledges to build stronger cultural, educational and economic partnerships. The delegation is attending the 50th anniversary of the Muskogee Nation Festival in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The City of Columbus formally acknowledged last year that the city's land originally belonged to the Muscogee people. Kids from the Boys and Girls Club of metro Atlanta are gaining more access to mental health care thanks to a new partnership. GPB's Ellen Eldredge reports.
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The funding will pay two licensed therapists for children at two club locations and train staff over three years. Mental health provider Chris180, president and CEO Kennedy Katie Diamond Stone says this partnership will help serve everyone at the Boys and Girls Club in addition to providing mental health services for the young people on site so there are no barriers to care. We will also provide trauma informed training for the staff at Boys and Girls Clubs so that they can build their own trauma informed toolkits to ensure they are creating a safe space for these kids, stone says. That includes recognizing signs of trauma and learning how to respond. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.
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A Georgia company plans to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the Titanic. RMS Titanic, based in metro Atlanta's Gwinnett county, owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck. But its plans to sell artifacts including jewelry, currency and decor, is facing pushback from the U.S. government. In newly unsealed court filings, the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the auction violates the company's legal obligations to the site. The fourth of eight FIFA World cup matches in Atlanta is set to kick off at 6 o' clock tonight. Morocco versus Haiti will be the city's first World cup game played in the evening. That means downtown traffic was expected to be worse than usual. Many area employers were encouraging work from home arrangements today. With a big win tonight, Morocco could top its group. Haiti already has been eliminated from the tournament's knockout stage but will be looking to score its first ever World cup goal. One quick note, a correction on our part on Tuesday's podcast. In a story about the Okefenokee Swamp, we incorrectly identified the executive director of the Okefenokee Swamp Park. Her name is Kim Bednarek. We regret the error. And that is it for this edition of Georgia today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, check out gpb.org news. You can also find the latest World cup news there. Remember to subscribe to this podcast. We've got more news coming your way tomorrow afternoon, and you won't want to miss it. And if you've got feedback for us or perhaps a story idea you think we should know about, email us. The address is Georgia todaypb.org I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We will see you tomorrow.