Four counties named 'sanctuary jurisdictions'; Mayor of Camilla arrested

Summary

Georgia Today Podcast Summary Release Date: May 30, 2025

Host: Peter Biello
Producer: Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News
Episode Title: Four counties named 'sanctuary jurisdictions'; Mayor of Camilla arrested

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1. Immigration Policies and Sanctuary Jurisdictions

In the opening segment, Peter Biello discusses the Trump administration's designation of four Georgia counties as "sanctuary jurisdictions." The counties identified are Fulton and DeKalb in Atlanta, Athens-Clarke County, and Douglas County. This designation stems from an executive order that threatens to withhold federal funds from jurisdictions accused of obstructing federal immigration laws.

Key Points:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) targets jurisdictions not enforcing federal immigration laws.
• The affected counties are part of major urban centers in Georgia.
• Legal challenges are underway against the executive order.

Representative Casey Carpenter’s Perspective: Republican State Representative Casey Carpenter from Dalton expressed his concerns regarding the immigration crackdown impacting his community. Speaking with GPB's Donna Lowry, Carpenter acknowledged the complexities of the law enforcement involved.

"You know, it's not the law enforcement guy's fault. He's following the law. I just think the law is messed up..." (01:57)

Carpenter admitted feeling conflicted about his support for former President Trump in light of these immigration issues, emphasizing the emotional toll on his community.

2. Election Interference Arrests in Camilla

The podcast delves into the arrest of Camilla's Mayor, Kelvin Owens, and two former election workers on charges of election interference. The indictment relates to the November elections when Owens attempted to utilize emergency powers to cancel voting. A judge intervened, ensuring that the election proceeded as planned.

Key Points:

• Camilla, a southwest Georgia town of 5,000 residents, has experienced long-standing political struggles within its racially divided council.
• The Georgia NAACP has expressed alarm over the arrests, highlighting concerns about political motivations and racial implications.

3. ADHD Diagnostic Tool Enhances Children's Mental Health Care

Ellen Eldredge reports on advancements in diagnosing ADHD among children. Dr. Melinda Willingham, an Atlanta-based pediatrician, discusses the use of QB Tech, an FDA-approved diagnostic tool that assists in accurately identifying ADHD, thereby reducing the chances of misdiagnosis.

Key Insights:

• Early and accurate diagnosis of ADHD can significantly lower the risk of developing further mental health issues.
• The integration of technology in diagnostic processes improves reliability and outcomes for children.

"One of the additional steps that I did was actually start using QB Tech, which is a FDA approved diagnostic tool that can assist with the diagnosis of ADHD, and I've been using that for more than 10 years," explains Dr. Willingham (03:58).

4. Atlanta Seniors Can Apply for Property Tax Relief

Senior citizens in Atlanta have a limited time to apply for the Anti-Displacement Tax Relief Fund program, which aims to mitigate the impact of rising property taxes. The program offers grants to eligible homeowners meeting specific criteria, including age, income, and residency duration.

Program Highlights:

• Applications close the following day from the podcast's release date.
• Funded by the Centennial Yards Housing Trust Fund, in collaboration with Invest Atlanta.

5. Atlanta Dancers Promote Hip Hop and Community Unity

A heartwarming segment features Joy Kuma Gasaway and Anthony Firefly Gasaway Jr., who have founded the community dance crew "Fire Nation." Their mission is to challenge stereotypes about hip hop and create inclusive, family-friendly events across the Atlanta metro area.

Community Impact:

• Fire Nation hosts free events known as "We On Fire Cyphers," fostering a safe and creative space for dancers of all ages.
• The crew’s inclusive approach aims to change perceptions of hip hop as solely "grimy" or "street."

"People still think that hip hop is very grimy, very street hood... when they see this, they see people that look like us. And it's a positive area, not just for adults, but for kids, too," shares Anthony Firefly Gasaway (05:48).

The crew is also set to be featured in a short film as part of the 2025 All Arts Artist in Residence program through WNET in New York, which will subsequently stream on GPB’s All Arts channel.

6. John Batiste's Inspirational Commencement Address

Grammy Award-winning musician John Batiste delivered a motivational speech to graduates at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) commencement ceremony. Emphasizing resilience and adaptability, Batiste shared personal anecdotes, including an impromptu piano solo during a power outage at Carnegie Hall.

Notable Quote:

"This is something that happens all the time in our lives as we walk around. We don't know who we're going to meet. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what we're even always capable of," Batiste stated (09:43).

During the ceremony, Batiste was also honored with an honorary doctorate, reflecting his contributions to music and education.

7. Georgia's Young Spelling Bee Competitors Achieve National Success

A fifth grader from DeKalb County, Sarv Daravane from Dunwoody Elementary School, earned third place in the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the youngest finalist at eleven years old. The competition saw Faizan Zaki from Dallas claim the championship by correctly spelling "eclaircissement."

Achievements Highlighted:

• Sarv Daravane had previously placed 22nd as a fourth grader, showcasing remarkable progress.
• The event underscores Georgia's strong presence in national academic competitions.

8. Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale Reaches Record Strikeout Milestone

In sports news, Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale made history by becoming the fastest pitcher to achieve 2,500 strikeouts, reaching the milestone in 2,526 innings. This accomplishment surpasses Randy Johnson's previous record of 2,107 and 23 innings.

Game Recap:

• The Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 in a doubleheader, with Sale contributing six scoreless innings.
• Grant Holmes is set to start for the Braves in the upcoming game against the Boston Red Sox.

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Conclusion

The episode of Georgia Today provided a comprehensive overview of significant local and state developments, from political and legal challenges to inspiring stories of community resilience and individual achievements. Host Peter Biello effectively navigated through diverse topics, offering listeners insightful perspectives and detailed reporting on matters that shape Georgia's socio-political landscape.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "You know, it's not the law enforcement guy's fault. He's following the law. I just think the law is messed up..." – Representative Casey Carpenter (01:57)

• "One of the additional steps that I did was actually start using QB Tech, which is a FDA approved diagnostic tool that can assist with the diagnosis of ADHD, and I've been using that for more than 10 years," – Dr. Melinda Willingham (03:58)

• "People still think that hip hop is very grimy, very street hood... when they see this, they see people that look like us. And it's a positive area, not just for adults, but for kids, too," – Anthony Firefly Gasaway (05:48)

• "This is something that happens all the time in our lives as we walk around. We don't know who we're going to meet. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what we're even always capable of," – John Batiste (09:43)

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For more detailed reporting and to stay updated on the latest stories, subscribe to the Georgia Today podcast and visit gpb.org/news. Your feedback powers this podcast—share your news tips, suggestions, and what you enjoy by emailing [e-mail].

Transcript

[Adam Davidson]

Planet Money helps you understand the economy. We find the people at the center of the story.

[Peter Biello]

Garbage in New York that was like a controlled substance.

[Adam Davidson]

We show you how money influences everything.

[Carmen Reinhart]

Tell me what you like by telling me how you spend your money.

[Adam Davidson]

And we dig until we get answers.

[Peter Biello]

I had a bad feeling you were.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

Gonna bring that up.

[Adam Davidson]

Planet Money finds out. All you have to do is listen. The Planet Money podcast from npr.

[Peter Biello]

Welcome to the Georgia Today podc. Here we feature the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, four Georgia counties are among those labeled, quote, sanctuary jurisdictions by the Trump administration. The mayor of a southwest Georgia town is arrested for alleged election interference. And Grammy Award winner John Batiste addresses graduates at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

[John Batiste]

That happens all the time in our lives as we walk around. We don't know who we're going to meet. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what we're even always capable of.

[Peter Biello]

Today is Friday, May 30th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. The Trump administration is putting pressure on four Georgia counties over immigration policies. The Department of Homeland Security today identified Atlanta's Fulton and DeKalb counties, Athens, Clarke county and Douglas county as sanctuary jurisdictions. An executive order threatens to withhold federal funds from such jurisdictions accused of obstructing federal immigration laws. That tactic is being challenged in the courts. Meanwhile, a Republican state lawmaker is pushing back on the immigration crackdown in his community. Republican state Representative Casey Carpenter represents northwest Georgia's dalton, where a 19 year old college student was arrested after being mistakenly pulled over for a traffic violation. The student, Ximena Arias Cristobal, spent weeks in immigration detention. Carpenter spoke to GPB's Donna Lowry.

[Casey Carpenter]

You know, it's not the law enforcement guy's fault. He's following the law. I just think the law is messed up. I think that they had to detain her. And it's unfortunate because I don't think when I, when I told people to vote for Trump and they asked me about this issue, I assured them that they were going to be focusing on hard criminals.

[Anthony Firefly Gasaway]

Do you feel like you've let them down or.

[Casey Carpenter]

Yeah, on this issue, absolutely. I wouldn't, I wouldn't recant my vote for Trump. I still think it's the best thing for the country. But on this particular issue, yeah, I feel terrible. I mean, this is. Our community's heartbroken over this issue.

[Peter Biello]

Athens Clarke County Mayor Kelly Gertz said he had not been contacted by the government. Gertz also said every Georgia locality has to attest to following state law that disallows what most people would term sanctuary policies. You can hear more of Donna's interview with Representative Carpenter on GPB's podcast. Battleground Ballot Box the mayor of a southwest Georgia town and two former election workers have been arrested on charges of election interference. An indictment Wednesday stems from the election last November in which the mayor of Camilla, Kelvin Owens, invoked his emergency powers to cancel the voting. A judge intervened to order the election to proceed. The town of 5,000 has been roiled by political struggle over control of its racially divided council for years. The Georgia NAACP says it's alarmed by the arrests. A Fulton County Superior Court judge decided yesterday Georgia Public Service Commission candidate Daniel Blackmun could remain on the ballot until he rules on an appeal. Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger disqualified Blackmun from the District 3 seat because he did not show he lived there long enough. Blackmun argues he moved to Atlanta in October but waited to change his registration to comply with voting laws. The Democratic primary is June 17. A diagnostic tool is helping doctors identify a common mental health condition affecting at least one out of every seven kids. ADHD GPB's Ellen Eldredge reports Doctors can.

[Carmen Reinhart]

Sometimes misdiagnose ADHD because their information is limited to what patients and caregivers tell them. Dr. Melinda Willingham is an Atlanta based pediatrician who treats children with the disorder. You, she says. Aside from listening, she administers a computer based test of attention and impulsivity. One of the additional steps that I did was actually start using QB Tech, which is a FDA approved diagnostic tool that can assist with the diagnosis of ADHD, and I've been using that for more than 10 years, Willingham says. The risks of developing mental health issues later on also declines with early treatment of adhd. For For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldredge.

[Peter Biello]

Senior citizens in Atlanta have until tomorrow to apply for a program that would help them keep up with rising property taxes. The Anti Displacement Tax Relief Fund program provides eligible Atlanta homeowners with a grant to cover some property tax increases. Eligible applicants must be over 60, have proof of ownership, a qualifying household income and have lived in Atlanta since 2015. The program was launched by the city of Atlanta and Invest Atlanta with funding from the Centennial Yards Housing Trust Fund. A group of Atlanta dancers is challenging stereotypes about hip hop music and creating community events for families across the metro area. GPB's Christy York Wooten has more.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

On a hot spring Saturday in Atlanta's old fourth ward park. Dancer Joy Kuma Gasaway is popping to don't stop the rock, a classic breakdancing hit from 1985. Kuma and her husband, Anthony Firefly Gasaway Jr. Have formed a community crew called fire nation to spread their love of hip hop dancing to people of all ages.

[Anthony Firefly Gasaway]

You know, a lot of people when we started this told us that you can't have a family friendly community event and it'd still be hip hop. People still think that hip hop is very grimy, very street hood, all that stuff. So when they see this, they see people that look like us. And it's a positive area, not just for adults, but for kids, too. And also that we're adults and we still dance and it's okay.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

The organization hosts free events in public spaces or private venues called we on fire cyphers. And today, on the edge of Atlanta's beltline, the beats have attracted young members of a Woodstock dance company on break from a nearby competition. I love to dance.

[Peter Biello]

Just like, I feel like you just can tell things that you can't say.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

With words, you know, and, like, I.

[Peter Biello]

Don'T know, especially here on both.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

Like, it's like, therapeutic.

[Benjamin Payne]

It is therapeutic.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

And you can be someone else while.

[Peter Biello]

You'Re on the stage.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

While crowds gather around, fire nation, crew members with nicknames like drums, panther and scar pull out all the stops for onlookers with liquid dance, robot moves and body rolls. Firefly says the group's connections go deeper than just a shared love of dance.

[Ellen Eldredge]

I had the idea and she had the pure mindset of let's create a safe space. And because of that, people started showing up to we on fire Cypher events. There were people that were coming in that were like, well, I'll just dance for fun. I never thought I could be, you know, fill in the blank, right? Or I just love music. I never thought I could do fill in the blank. And we on fire cypher stopped being just this, you know, escape for just dance. And it became a safe haven and a networking ground in a mini community that has so many veins and communities that there's just people we've connected with that never would have thought they would have anything to do with hip hop dancers.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

The fire nation crew will be featured in a short film as part of the 2025 All Arts Artist in residence program through WNET in New York. And ultimately that will stream on GPB through the all arts channel.

[Ellen Eldredge]

And I looked and read up on it. I'm like, people, it's like, all these people all over the entire country filling out forms and sharing information for this. And I had a moment of feeling like I did when we first started, can we do this? Like, is it like, can we? Are we really that big? Can we do that? And it was like, well, look at what we've done already.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

For Kuma and Firefly, building the Fire Nation means never losing sight of the original plan for this hip hop community.

[Anthony Firefly Gasaway]

My hopes are that this brings a bit more awareness to people for community events. I also hope that this can change the narrative for hip hop.

[Ellen Eldredge]

There's a lot of misappropriations and misconceptions about what is hip hop and what is just street. And we hope that with this whole project, the people that have been alongside us this entire journey will see a blessing from it, including like the people working with the film, the music people have the credits with their name being in the in the credits and everything. That's something to put on a resume and that they can look up for once in the scene and say, hey, we did that.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

For GPB News, I'm Christy York Wooten in Atlanta.

[Peter Biello]

Grammy Award winning musician John Batiste addressed graduates of the Savannah College of Art and Design at the school's commencement ceremony today. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

[Benjamin Payne]

Speaking before a record class of some 4,000 at the Savannah Convention Center, Batiste urged graduates to, as he put it, make peace with the unexpected. The jazz artist recounted the 2022 premiere of his American Symphony at New York's Carnegie hall and the lights went out, prompting him to improvise a piano solo.

[John Batiste]

Until the power came back on. And then we went into the first movement without a hitch. This is something that happens all the time in our lives. As we walk around. We don't know who we're going to meet. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what we're even always capable of.

[Benjamin Payne]

During the ceremony, Batiste was awarded an honorary doctorate by SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace. For GPP News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

[Peter Biello]

A fifth grader from DeKalb county placed third in the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee. Eleven year old Sarv Daravane, a Dunwoody Elementary School student, also becomes the youngest finalist in the competition. Daravane won Georgia's state spelling bee twice and placed 22nd in the national competition last year as a fourth grader. Faizan Zaki, a 13 year old from Dallas, won this year's national competition after spelling eclaircissement in sports, the Atlanta Braves returned home to Truist park tonight to host the Boston Red Sox for the first of a three game series Yesterday. Braves pitcher Chris Sale became the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts. He threw six scoreless innings to help the Braves beat the Phillies 9 3, thereby splitting the doubleheader. Sale reached the milestone in 2026 innings, surpassing the record of 2,107 and 23 innings set by Randy Johnson. Grant Holmes is scheduled to get the start for the Braves tonight. And that's a wrap on a busy week of news. Thanks for following it with us and we'll and we will be back on Monday. So make sure you subscribe to this podcast and check gpb.org news for the latest updates. As always, your feedback powers this podcast. Send us your news tips and your suggestions for improvement and tell us what you like too. Email address is Georgia todaypb.org I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.

[Adam Davidson]

Planet Money helps you understand the economy. We find the people at the center of the story.

[Peter Biello]

Garbage in New York that was like a controlled substance.

[Adam Davidson]

We show you how money influences everything.

[Carmen Reinhart]

Tell me what you like by telling me how you spend your money.

[Adam Davidson]

And we dig until we get answers.

[Peter Biello]

I had a bad feeling you were.

[Joy Kuma Gasaway]

Gonna bring that up.

[Adam Davidson]

Planet Money finds out. All you have to do is listen. The Planet Money podcast from NPR.