Public Service Commission Primary Elections; Job Corps students sue Dept. of Labor

Summary

Georgia Today Podcast Summary

Release Date: June 18, 2025
Host: Peter Biello
Produced by: Georgia Public Broadcasting

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Public Service Commission Primary Elections: Low Voter Turnout

Timestamp: 01:11 - 01:52

The primary elections for Georgia's Public Service Commission (PSC) concluded with notably low voter engagement. According to Chase McGee from GPB News, only approximately 200,000 Georgians participated, representing just under 3% of the state's active voters.

• Election Outcomes:
  • Republican Incumbent Tim Echols secured victory in District 2.
  • Democrat Alicia Johnson will challenge Echols in District 3.
  • Democrats Keisha Waitz and Peter Hubbard will proceed to a runoff next month, with the eventual winner set to contest against Republican Fitz Johnson.

Currently, the PSC comprises five Republican members. This election cycle was particularly significant as it was the first since 2022, following a legal delay over allegations of voter discrimination against Black Georgians.

Chase McGee remarked:
"It's the first election for the Commission since 2022 following a delay after a lawsuit alleged the elections discriminated against black voters."
(01:34)

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Job Corps Students File Lawsuit Against Department of Labor

Timestamp: 01:52 - 02:43

Seven Job Corps students nationwide have initiated legal action against the U.S. Department of Labor, challenging plans to close all 99 Job Corps centers, including those in Albany, Atlanta, and Brunswick.

• Program Significance:
  Job Corps provides vocational training to vulnerable youth, with thousands enrolled across the country. The proposed closures threaten to leave many students without essential training and housing, potentially forcing them back into homelessness.

• Legal Proceedings:
  The lawsuit, spearheaded by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Public Citizen Litigation Group, marks the second legal challenge against the closure. However, it is the first where students themselves are plaintiffs.

Adam Pulver, Public Citizen Attorney, stated:
"It's not a waste to spend money to make young people's lives better."
(02:28)

A temporary restraining order is currently in place until June 25th, providing temporary relief while the case progresses.

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Senator Jon Ossoff Criticizes Defunding of Military Family Housing

Timestamp: 02:52 - 03:25

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff voiced strong opposition to the Trump administration's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, particularly targeting allocations for military construction and family housing in Georgia.

• Key Points from Senator Ossoff:
  • Highlighted a "substantial defunding" of family housing accounts for the Army and Navy.
  • Criticized the state of privatized family housing at Department of Defense (DoD) installations, labeling it as a "mess."

Senator John Ossoff emphasized:
"Privatized family housing at DoD installations is a mess."
(03:09)

Ossoff has a history of scrutinizing military housing conditions, notably at Fort Gordon in Augusta. During the same Senate hearing, a Marine lieutenant general announced plans for a new communications facility at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, aiming for swift construction.

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Local Legal and Community Updates

Indictment of Former Fulton County Jail Employee

Timestamp: 03:25 - 04:16

A former jail employee in Atlantis, Fulton County faces federal indictment for allegedly using excessive force against compliant, non-resisting pretrial detainees. Sergeant Khadijah Solomon is accused of repeatedly deploying stun guns, heightening concerns about civil rights violations, especially after Fulton County recently settled claims regarding misconduct at its troubled facility.

Cafe Momentum: Supporting Trauma-Affected Youth

Timestamp: 04:16 - 04:45

Ellen Eldredge of GPB News reported on Cafe Momentum in Atlanta, a 12-person staff initiative dedicated to aiding young individuals impacted by trauma.

• Program Highlights:
  • Provides justice-involved youth (ages 15-19) with paid opportunities to develop life skills and self-confidence.
  • Benjamin Wills, Executive Director, noted the transformative impact of trauma-informed training:
    "The staff took the trauma course from Chris180, calling it a powerful front porch for conversations."
    (04:35)

Adam Pulver added:
"A real highlight of the course was people understanding that they had some trauma that they were responding out of and then them beginning to work through that."
(04:35)

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Tyler Perry Faces Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Timestamp: 04:54 - 05:41

Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has been sued by Derek Dixon, an actor from Perry's political drama, "The Oval." Dixon alleges sexual harassment, assault, battery, and professional retaliation, seeking $260 million in damages. Following the allegations, Dixon reportedly relocated from Atlanta to Los Angeles to distance himself from Perry's production environment.

• Tyler Perry’s Response:
  Perry's attorney dismissed the claims as false and defamatory, asserting that Perry "will not be shaken down."

---

Focus on Caregivers: Interview with Leslie Poole

Timestamp: 05:41 - 10:41

In a comprehensive segment on caregiving, host Peter Biello interviewed Leslie Poole, Innovation Manager at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers.

Rosalynn Carter’s Advocacy for Caregivers

Timestamp: 05:48 - 06:30

Leslie Poole shared the origins of Rosalynn Carter's (the former First Lady) dedication to caregiver support, rooted in her personal experiences from a young age. Caring for her ailing grandfather and assuming family responsibilities underscored the challenges and rewards of caregiving.

Current Advocacy and Resources

Timestamp: 06:33 - 07:10

The Institute employs evidence-based research to understand and address caregivers' needs. Programs focus on problem-solving, self-care, and specialized care for conditions like advanced-stage Alzheimer's.

Georgia's Resources for Caregivers

Timestamp: 07:16 - 08:20

Leslie Poole highlighted key resources available in Georgia:

• Area Agencies on Aging: Vital for localized support and information.
• Unusual Caregiving Resources: Including emergency preparedness programs tailored for caregivers, ensuring they receive assistance during crises like hurricanes or severe weather events.

Merger with the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program

Timestamp: 08:28 - 10:33

The Rosalynn Carter Institute is merging with the Carter Center's Mental Health Program, aiming to:

• Expand the Institute’s national and global reach.
• Share and integrate international best practices for caregiver support.
• Enhance resource offerings to ensure caregivers feel supported and recognized.

Leslie Poole expressed optimism about the merger:
"It means that we can spread our reach and we can also look at the best practices that have been happening all around the world."
(08:28)

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Additional Local Stories

Decatur County DA Dismisses Bonds Over Monkey Breeding Facility Proposal

In Decatur County, the district attorney has dismissed bonds related to a controversial proposal to establish a monkey breeding facility for medical research. Community concerns center on potential environmental, health, and quality of life impacts. Three lawsuits challenge the facility's approval.

Launch of the Nation's First Professional Cheerleading League

Georgia is set to host its team in the newly established professional cheerleading league, Varsity Spirit's Pro Cheerleague. The league, promising payment for athletes aged 18 and older, aims to sustain cheerleaders' careers post-college. The Georgia team, based in Atlanta, will compete alongside teams from Dallas, Miami, and Southern California.

Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend Highlights

• Austin Riley led the Atlanta Braves to a dramatic 5-4 comeback victory over the New York Mets with a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.
• Following a disappointing 10-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the Braves face the Mets again, with Chris Sale slated to start.
• Celebrities Quavo and Druski will participate in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game at Truist Park, part of the All-Star festivities leading up to the July 15th game.

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Closing Remarks

Peter Biello concluded the episode by wishing listeners a happy Juneteenth and encouraging them to visit gpb.org/news for more stories. Feedback and subscriptions are welcomed to stay updated with future episodes released every weekday afternoon.

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This summary captures the essential discussions and insights from the Georgia Today podcast episode released on June 18, 2025. For full details and additional context, listeners are encouraged to tune into the episode directly.

Transcript

[Chase McGee]

DBHDD is reminding Georgians to ask their doctor about alternatives to opioid pain medication. Alternatives like over the counter medications and physical therapy can be used to manage pain. More [e-mail].

[Peter Biello]

Welcome to the Georgia Today Podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode Voting in the Public Service Commission primaries come to a close with low voter turnout Job Corps students sue the U.S. department of labor and Senator John Ossoff criticizes the defunding of maintenance programs for military housing.

[Senator John Ossoff]

There is a substantial defunding of family housing accounts for the army and the Navy. I think we all know that privatized family housing at DOD installations is a mess.

[Peter Biello]

Today is Wednesday, June 18th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. Primary elections for Georgia's Public Service Commission have come to a close with low voter turnout across the state. GPB's Chase McGee has more.

[Chase McGee]

According to data from the Secretary of state's office, around 200,000 Georgians voted in the PSC primaries. That's just under 3% of the state's active voters. Republican incumbent Tim Echols won in District 2 and will face off against Democrat Alicia Johnson in District 3. Democrats Keisha Waitz and Peter Hubbard will head to a runoff next month. The winner of that race will run against Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson. Currently, the five member commission is comprised of all Republicans. It's the first election for the Commission since 2022 following a delay after a lawsuit alleged the elections discriminated against black voters. For GPB news, I'm Chase McGee.

[Peter Biello]

Seven students from across the country are suing the U.S. department of labor over plans to shut down all 99 Job Corps centers, including those in Albany, Atlanta and Brunswick. GPB's Grant Blankenship has more.

[Grant Blankenship]

Thousands are enrolled in the program aimed at providing vocational training to vulnerable young people. One of the plaintiffs is a student from Turner Job Corps center in Albany, where GPB reported last week that many fear returning to homelessness if the program ends. The suit, brought by the Southern, the Poverty Law center and Public Citizen Litigation Group, is the second court challenge to the closure plan, but the first brought by students, says Public Citizen attorney Adam Pulver.

[Adam Pulver]

I thought it was really important for the young people who are being faced with losing housing, losing health care to put a face to what's actually at issue and what's at stake here. It's not a waste to spend money to make young people's lives better.

[Grant Blankenship]

Temporary restraining order and the first suit is in place through the 25th of June. For GPB news, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

[Peter Biello]

Georgia US Senator Jon Ossoff is questioning the Trump administration's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for military construction and family housing in Georgia. At a Senate hearing yesterday, he said the spending plan could reduce the armed forces ability to hold contractors accountable for substandard housing.

[Senator John Ossoff]

There is a substantial defunding of family housing accounts for the army and the Navy, including for programs that provide essential maintenance of and oversight of privatized family housing. I think we all know that privatized family housing at DoD installations is a mess.

[Peter Biello]

Ossoff has spent years investigating military housing conditions, especially at Fort Gordon in Augusta. At the same hearing, a Marine lieutenant general committed to pushing a new communications facility at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany towards swift construction. A former jail employee in Atlantis, Fulton county has been indicted in federal court for allegedly using excessive force against people in custody. Sergeant Khadijah Solomon is accused of repeatedly using stun guns on compliant non resisting pretrial detainees. The indictment, announced Monday, comes months after Fulton county agreed to resolve claims of civil rights violations at the Troubled aging facility. The 12 person staff at Cafe Momentum in Atlanta is working with young people impacted by trauma, GPB's Ellen Eldredge reports. The program is designed to help young people succeed.

[Benjamin Wills]

Cafe Momentum offers justice involved youth between 15 and 19 a paid opportunity to learn life skills and gain self confidence while working at the restaurant. Benjamin Wills is the executive director of the nonprofit restaurant. He says the staff took the trauma course from Chris180, calling it a powerful front porch for conversations.

[Adam Pulver]

A real highlight of the course was people understanding that they had some trauma that they were responding out of and then them beginning to work through that and us beginning to talk about that, he said.

[Benjamin Wills]

The impact on the staff has been an added benefit. For GPV News, I'm Ellen Eldredge.

[Peter Biello]

Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry is being sued by an actor from one of his TV dramas. Derek Dixon worked on the political drama the Oval. He accuses Perry of sexual harassment, assault and battery and professional retaliation. He he seeks $260 million in damages. Dixon would eventually move from Atlanta, home of Perry's production studio, to Los Angeles to put distance between the two of them. The lawsuit was filed Friday and was first reported Tuesday by tmz. Perry's attorney says the allegations are false and amount to a scam saying Perry, quote, will not be shaken down. All this week, GPB has been turning the spotlight on the importance of caregivers in our state. Let's turn now to Leslie Poole, innovation manager at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers. Leslie Poole, thank you so much for speaking with me.

[Leslie Poole]

Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Peter Biello]

I want to start with Rosalynn Carter's advocacy for caregivers. What drove that advocacy for her?

[Leslie Poole]

It started when she was 12, so she has been a lifelong family caregiver. Her grandfather got sick and had to be cared for in the family home and her mother took on the role of primary caregiver and then she had to kind of get the house sett care for her younger siblings. So learning what family caregiving is happened at a very young age for her. So when you look at her life, it really shows her demonstration of the love that she has for family caregivers and really understanding the journey they go on. It's not all fun and there's some really hard parts in it, but also there can be some really beautiful parts as well.

[Peter Biello]

And how does the Rosalynn Carter Institute advocate for caregivers today?

[Leslie Poole]

A couple of different methods, I would say. The one that really sticks is we do a lot of evidence based work, so we do a lot of research. We listen to caregivers, we really try to see where they at, where they're at. So what really makes a difference in a caregiver's life? What do they really need to know? Whether that's teaching problem solving to caregivers, whether that's teaching caregivers how they can care for themselves and then also care with somebody with advanced stage Alzheimer's or. And that's how we spread the word in the field and really show what's making the difference.

[Peter Biello]

So what resources does Georgia have for caregivers that people giving care right now may not know about?

[Leslie Poole]

First and foremost, we tell all of our caregivers, if you're located in the state of Georgia, know where your area agency on aging is. They have a lot of information to help you. They have a lot of information they want to help you with. They don't know you're out there, so you have to come and say, hey, I'm a caregiver. What is there for me? I also tell people to not be scared to, to look for what I call unusual caregiving resources. So one of the things I'll tell you is that we did a lot of work at RCI with emergency preparedness for caregivers. We realized very early on in my tenure at RCI that a lot of everyday resources that people in our community, especially non Caregiving peers in our community have access to are not really focused on if you're caring for someone else. So if you are worried about the new hurricane season that's coming up or bad weather, don't be scared to go out and reach out to your first responders or your emergency management offices. They want to help you. They just need to know where you are.

[Peter Biello]

The Rosalynn Carter Institute is merging with the Carter Center's mental health program. Can you talk a little bit about how that merger is going to help the RCI meet its goals?

[Leslie Poole]

So the merger is super exciting in several different capacities. One, it brings all of Mrs. Carter's work under one big house. So we're all in the same space together, which is really fun to think about and all the things that we can do. I think when we look about caregiving and how this merger is going to advance caregiving, it's going to do it through two things, really, primarily. One, we are now from a national organization, national resource. We then become global, which means we get to share globally what we've done for the past 40 years and how we've helped caregivers in our home country and what that looks like. And then also it allows us to really get best practices from other countries that have been doing it, that other countries that have taken on caregiver initiatives and implemented it through a national sense and really taking care of their caregivers through a bunch of different resources. How can we take that and bring that back over here so that all caregivers feel seen, they feel supported, they feel like somebody's there for them, and we're using what's been established already for decades and decades. So it's really gonna be helpful in seeing what others are doing, but then also showcasing what we've done and how we can help and then different kind of sectors of the world. And that's really exciting and it's really hopeful. I would say in a world where caregiving can be a really doom and gloom journey, I don't make light of the fact that caregiving can be really hard. I've seen it through doing dementia caregiving for a long time, both personally and professionally, and helping people navigate that through veteran caregiving and caregiving of our veterans and what that's like, it can be a really hard journey. But I think knowing this merger is coming, it's really hopeful because it means that we can spread our reach and we can also look at the best practices that have been happening all around the world.

[Peter Biello]

Well, Leslie Poole, innovation manager at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers thank you so much for speaking with me.

[Leslie Poole]

Thank you, thank you.

[Peter Biello]

And you can find all of GPB's coverage of caregiving at gpb.org caregiving the district attorney in South George's Decatur county on Monday dismissed bonds from the city of Bainbridge that residents feared could be used to support a proposed facility to breed monkeys for medical research. The massive plans by the company, Safer Human Medicine worry residents concerned about potential environmental, health and quality of life impacts. Three lawsuits are challenging the proposed facility. Georgia is getting a team in what's being billed as the nation's first professional cheerleading league. Varsity Spirit's Pro Cheerleague promises to pay athletes 18 and older, giving cheerleaders a chance to keep them competing after college. The league is starting with four teams including Dallas, Miami, Southern California and Atlanta. The Georgia team is led by Casey Jones and Roger Chander, founders of the Marietta based cheerleading program the stingray. All Stars 2 at Aliens will play in the MLB All Star Celebrity Softball Game at Truist park next month as part of Major League Baseball's All Star festivities. Quavo, best known for his work with the rap duo Migos, will participate for his third time and comedian, actor and entrepreneur from Atlanta Drew Ski will participate. Druski gained fame on social media with his coulda been record sketches and Instagram lives alongside established celebrities Drake and Kevin Hart. No word on what positions either will be playing on the field. The event is one of several events beginning the second weekend of July leading up to the Major League Baseball all star game on July 15th. And speaking of baseball, Austin Riley hit a basis loaded sacrifice fly to deep center field in the 10th inning last night, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 54 comeback over the New York Mets. And this follows an embarrassing 101 loss to the especially bad Colorado Rockies on Sunday. New York, which leads the NL east, has dropped four in a row for the first time this season. The two teams face off again tonight at Truest Park. Chris Sale is scheduled to get the start for the Braves. That's a wrap on the podcast today. Thank you so much for listening. Hope you have a great Juneteenth tomorrow. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit gpb.org news and if you've got feedback, let us know. The email address is georgia todaypb.org subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing going forward. We publish on weekday afternoons. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. Have a great day.

[NPR Host]

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.

[NPR Host]

We show you how money influences everything.

[Leslie Poole]

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

[NPR Host]

And we dig until we get answers.

[Senator John Ossoff]

I had a bad feeling you're going.

[Leslie Poole]

To bring that up.

[NPR Host]

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