Govt. shutdown continues; Affordable Care Act preview; UGA releases study on coyotes

Summary

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Georgia Today Podcast: Episode Summary

Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Sophie Gradas (Georgia Public Broadcasting)

Overview

This episode of Georgia Today dives into three major stories impacting Georgia: the ongoing federal government shutdown and its ripple effects across the state, an early look at Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") insurance options for Georgians, and a newly released University of Georgia study challenging assumptions about coyote population control.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Government Shutdown: Impact and Relief Measures

Segment Start: [00:56]

• Status Update:

  • Federal government remains shut down with lawmakers in Washington at an impasse.
  • Many federal employees in Georgia, including CDC workers, are furloughed and struggling financially.

• Local Support Initiatives:

  • Atlanta officials announce immediate relief for transportation security workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, including free parking and meal vouchers.
    — Quote:
    “Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Congresswoman Nekima Williams announced the three new measures taking effect next weekend.” (Sophie Gradas, 01:36)

• SNAP/EBT Program Disruptions:

  • The shutdown directly impacts low-income Georgians relying on SNAP benefits at the Forsyth Farmers Market in Savannah.
  • Due to a funding gap (resulting from a lapsed USDA grant), the market temporarily suspends a program that doubles SNAP benefits. An anonymous donor provided short-term relief, but long-term prospects are unclear. — The market continues to accept SNAP vouchers.

2. Affordable Care Act: Window Shopping and Rising Costs

Segment Start: [02:24]

• Plan Preview Period:

  • Georgians can "window shop" health insurance plans via the Georgia Access marketplace ahead of open enrollment beginning November 1, 2025.

• Premium Concerns & Federal Assistance Cuts:

  • Displayed premiums are estimates, but rate filings suggest significant increases. Insurance providers cite cuts to federal assistance and anticipate that healthier people may leave the marketplace if enhanced premium tax credits are not renewed.
  • Natasha Taylor (Georgia Watch) advises caution:
    — Quote:
    “Is just keeping in mind that the rates are going to go up. Congress is still in a stalemate over health care spending.” (Heather Gaia quoting/echoing Natasha Taylor, 03:14)

• Democratic Party Pep Rally:

  • At the party’s Carter Lewis Dinner in Atlanta, national and local leaders discuss the shutdown’s broader implications and campaign messaging.
  • Notably, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker denounced Trump-era immigration policies and called for resilience: — Quote (J.B. Pritzker):
    “The most patriotic thing we can do for our country right now is to raise the alarm about the danger we are in, build the resistance we need to preserve democratic ideals we hold so dearly and plant and water the hope necessary to sustain us through the difficult days ahead.” (03:53)

3. Additional Headlines

Segment Start: [04:22]

• ICE Recruitment Campaign:

  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spends nearly $1 million on TV ads in Atlanta to attract local law enforcement as national deportation efforts escalate. Bonus incentives reach up to $50,000 per recruit.

• Georgia Election Interference Case Delay:

  • With a judge’s deadline for appointing a prosecutor looming, the head of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council requests an extension, citing missing case files.

• Funeral Home Director Indicted:

  • Chris Johnson (Douglas, GA) faces 38 new charges—both felony and misdemeanor—after authorities discover 18 decomposed bodies at his funeral home.

• Manufacturing News:

  • School bus seat manufacturer IMMI opens a new plant in Macon with Bluebird Corp., adding 80 jobs to the area.

4. UGA Study: Why Killing Coyotes Doesn’t Reduce Populations

Segment Start: [06:34]

• Research Findings:

  • Lethal control of coyotes is largely ineffective.
  • Within two years after control efforts end, coyote numbers rebound and stabilize at prior levels. — Quote (Heather Gaia):
    “And then within two years of those efforts being stopped entirely, the coyote densities were back up to where they had been before any... control efforts had started. And now we've found that they appear to be pretty stable at that level.” (07:00)

• Best Management Practices:

  • The most effective solution is not eradication but discouraging coyotes by removing food sources and encouraging them to move away from urban environments. — Advice:
    “Work with neighbors to make sure the coyotes have no food available, and work to create a better environment for them in the woods away from your home.” (Chase McGee, 07:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• J.B. Pritzker on Democratic resilience:

  "The most patriotic thing we can do for our country right now is to raise the alarm about the danger we are in, build the resistance we need to preserve democratic ideals we hold so dearly and plant and water the hope necessary to sustain us through the difficult days ahead."
  (03:53)

• Heather Gaia on coyote populations:

  "Within two years of those efforts being stopped entirely, the coyote densities were back up to where they had been before any lethal control efforts had started. And now we've found that they appear to be pretty stable at that level."
  (07:00)

• Actionable coyote management tip:

  "Work with neighbors to make sure the coyotes have no food available, and work to create a better environment for them in the woods away from your home."
  (Chase McGee, 07:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------| | 00:56 | Government shutdown and local effects | | 01:36 | Relief measures for federal workers in Atlanta | | 02:24 | SNAP program disruptions at Savannah market | | 02:52 | Affordable Care Act window shopping begins | | 03:39 | Democratic pep rally / J.B. Pritzker speech | | 04:22 | ICE recruitment, GA legal/civic headlines | | 06:34 | UGA coyote study highlights | | 07:00 | Heather Gaia's findings on coyote populations | | 07:10 | Practical coyote management advice |

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Tone and Style

Georgia Today delivers broadly accessible local and national news with a measured, informative tone, focusing on clarity and directness, while occasionally incorporating impactful rhetoric and actionable advice from guests and officials.

Transcript

[GPB Announcer]

Georgia is the new hotbed for musical talent, and the music industry knows it. Record executives are turning their eyes to the Peach State to discover the next big thing. On GPB's Peach Jam podcast, you'll hear those rising Georgia artists before anyone else. Listen and discover the sound of what's next on the Peach Jam Podcast from Georgia Public Broadcasting.

[Sophie Gradas]

Welcome to the Georgia Today Podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom on today's episode. Washington lawmakers remain at a standstill over reopening the federal government Georgians get a first look at their Affordable Care act plans and a new study from UGA highlights the challenges of managing coyote populations in the South.

[Heather Gaia]

Coyote densities were back up to where they had been before any lethal control efforts had started, and now we've found that they appear to be pretty stable at that level.

[Sophie Gradas]

Today is Monday, October 6th. I'm Sophie Gradas and this is Georgia Today. Washington Lawmakers remain under a federal government shutdown, showing few signs of progress here in Georgia. Many furloughed federal workers say they're living paycheck to paycheck. Furloughed CDC workers spoke to former Atlanta state senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Estevez at a campaign event on Friday. Transportation security workers at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport are getting some relief during the government shutdown. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Congresswoman Nekima Williams announced the three new measures taking effect next weekend. They include free parking and meal vouchers during the funding lapse. And the government shutdown is impacting at least one farmer's market in Georgia that serves people under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or snap. The Forsyth Farmers Market in Savannah said on Friday that it would suspend spend its program doubling SNAP benefits at the market because of a funding gap experienced by its partner, Wholesome Wave Georgia. Wholesome Wave gets its funding for the Match program from a U.S. department of Agriculture grant. An anonymous donor did step in to fund the program this past weekend, but the program's future is still uncertain. The market is still accepting SNAP vouchers. Georgians looking for a new or different health insurance plan under the Affordable Care act can start comparing plans before open enrollment starts on November 1st. It's called window shopping, but the premiums people see now are just estimates. And they could go way up. Window shopping on Georgia's state based marketplace Georgia Access started on October 1, 2026. Plans might look much higher. That's because in rate filings, insurance companies have justified increases in monthly premiums across several plans, citing cuts to federal assistance. They also expect healthy people will drop their insurance if Congress doesn't extend Enhan premium tax credits past the end of the year. Natasha Taylor of the consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch says people will not know the real cost of their health insurance until January as they're shopping for plans ahead of time.

[Heather Gaia]

Is just keeping in mind that the.

[Sophie Gradas]

Rates are going to go up. Congress is still in a stalemate over health care spending. Georgia Democratic leaders struck a defiant and hopeful tone at an annual pep rally and fundraiser over the weekend. Sarah Kalis reports. The Carter Lewis Dinner in Atlanta offered a peek at the party's messaging heading into an election year.

[Sarah Kallis]

The guest heard from party leaders, including Illinois Governor J.B. pritzker, who centered his speech around condemning President Trump's policies on immigration enforcement, including the call up of the National Guard. He also spoke about a path forward.

[Political Speaker]

The most patriotic thing we can do for our country right now is to raise the alarm about the danger we are in, build the resistance we need to preserve democratic ideals we hold so dearly and plant and water the hope necessary to sustain us through the difficult days ahead.

[Sarah Kallis]

Georgia's two Democratic senators were not in attendance as the federal government shutdown continues. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

[Sophie Gradas]

U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement spent almost a million dollars on television ads in Atlanta last week. It's part of a national campaign aimed at recruiting local officers to join the agency as the Trump administration ramps up deportation efforts. ICE is offering signup bonuses of up to $50,000 as many local law enforcement agencies struggle to meet staffing demands. The head of a nonpartisan agency tasked with finding a new prosecutor for the Georgia election interference case is asking for more time. The judge overseeing the case on Friday ordered the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia to appoint a prosecutor in 14 days or he would dismiss the case. The agency's director today asked for an extension to that deadline, saying his office hasn't received the case file yet. A South Georgia funeral home director is facing more charges after an investigation found 18 decomposing bodies at his place of business. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Friday announced 38 new felony and misdemeanor counts against Chris Johnson of Douglas. Johnson was arrested almost a year ago in a disturbing case that shook many in the community. He previously pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including abuse of a dead body. An Indiana based manufacturer of school bus seats celebrated the opening of a new plant in Macon last week. The company, immi, or immi, partnered with Macon based school bus maker Bluebird Corporation on the facility employing 80 people.

[GPB Announcer]

Georgia is the new hotbed for musical talent, and the music industry knows it. Record executives are turning their eyes to the Peach State to discover the next big thing. On GPB's Peach Jam podcast, you'll hear those rising Georgia artists before anyone else listen and discover the sound of what's next on the Peace Jam podcast from Georgia Public Broadcasting.

[Sophie Gradas]

A new study from the University of Georgia highlights the difficulty in managing coyote populations in the South. GPB's Chase McGee has more.

[Chase McGee]

You might view coyotes as something of a pest predator. They seem to pop up in both urban and rural areas. But researchers at the University of Georgia found that lethal removal of coyotes often doesn't do much to shrink their population. Researcher Heather Gaia says coyote populations bounce back quickly and then stabilize.

[Heather Gaia]

And then within two years of those efforts being stopped entirely, the coyote densities were back up to where they had been before any loose hill control efforts had started. And now we've found that they appear to be pretty stable at that level.

[Chase McGee]

She also says the best thing you can do to control populations is to help them move on, work with neighbors to make sure the coyotes have no food available, and work to create a better environment for them in the woods away from your home. For GPB news, I'm Chase McGee.

[Sophie Gradas]

That is it for today's edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about these stories and hear more, too, visit gpb.org news and if you haven't yet subscribed to this podcast, take a moment right now and do it. Keep us current in your podcast feed. If you do have feedback, we would love to hear it. Email us at GEORGIA Today. I'm Sophie Gradas and we'll see you tomorrow.

[NPR Announcer]

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