SNAP benefits could end if shutdown endures; New agriscience building in Towns County

Summary

Georgia Today — October 28, 2025

Host: Peter Biello (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
Main Themes:

• Impacts of the ongoing federal government shutdown on SNAP benefits and food security
• Police accountability and ICE operations in Georgia
• Local headlines: New agriscience building in Towns County, Georgia legislature vacancies, and more

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Episode Overview

This episode of Georgia Today brings critical updates on how the prolonged federal government shutdown may leave millions without SNAP benefits, explores the community impact through local food pantries, and discusses the challenges surrounding ICE operations and police accountability. Other highlights include the opening of a new agriscience center in Towns County and notable changes in Georgia's political and business landscape.

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1. SNAP Benefits in Jeopardy Due to Shutdown

[01:04–04:53]

Key Points:

• Immediate Risk: If the shutdown continues, over 42 million Americans (including 1.5 million Georgians) could lose access to SNAP benefits for November.
• On the Ground Impact: Local food pantries, already strained by prior federal cuts, brace for increased demand as families turn to them for survival.
• Federal Deadlock: $5 billion emergency SNAP reserve cannot be used except for weather emergencies, per USDA. Political divisions continue over funding and reopening the government.

Voices from the Field:

• Cassie Collins, SNAP recipient
  • "I live alone and my SNAP benefits help me a lot. I'm a widow... they really helped me." ([01:46])
  • On the impact to families: "It's sad, especially with people with the children, you know, that's gonna suffer through this thing." ([02:09])
  • On resilience: "That's why I'm out here in the rain now and I have no business out here like this trying to get me some groceries." ([02:31])
• Kathy McCollum, CEO, Middle Georgia Community Food Bank
  • On food shortages: "You're seeing more empty spaces now than certainly we've had... At the end of January, every rack in here was full." ([03:02])
  • "For example, a few weeks ago, we realized that we didn't have peanut butter in the warehouse... we typically get that from USDA." ([03:24])
  • "We are good at taking money and turning it into food because we can buy what we need." ([03:44])
• Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-GA
  • "We're urging the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize that $5 billion to extend those SNAP benefits so people won't go hungry." ([03:49])

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2. Broader Shutdown Effects & Reactions

[04:59–06:49]

Main Points:

• Political Stalemate: Both major parties blame each other as the shutdown drags into its fifth week.
• Federal Employees Impacted: Air traffic controllers in Atlanta received $0 paychecks, highlighting workforce and safety concerns.
• Governor Kemp's Stance: Pressures Georgia’s Democratic senators to approve a temporary funding measure.

Notable Quotes:

• Rep. Lucy McBath, D-GA: "If we are not healthy, if we don't have access to affordable, accessible health care, then we can't work." ([05:20])
• Nicole Cerrunas, Air Traffic Controller: "This is a safety problem... it's just an additional stressor that we don't need." ([06:04–06:30])

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3. ICE Operations, Police Accountability & Masking

[06:49–14:22]

Discussion Topics:

• Recruitment & Training:
  • ICE is aggressively recruiting, showing videos of raids and appealing to prior law enforcement and new recruits.
  • Training varies: Former federal agents have abbreviated courses; new agents undergo foundational 12-week CITP training.
• Operations & Use of Aggression:
  • Concerns about adequacy of training for handling potentially aggressive or high-tension situations.
• Masking & Accountability:
  • ICE agents increasingly wear face coverings, citing doxing threats.
  • Raises questions over transparency and safeguarding constitutional rights.

In-Depth Interview with Scott Swedo (Retired ATF Executive)

• On Training:
  • "The law enforcement personnel that are criminal investigators go through quite a lengthy process... deportation officers... go through a much shorter program." ([07:32])
  • "If you were not prior law enforcement... you would have to go through this basic program, the CITP. And CITP right now is about 12 weeks..." ([08:38])
• On Preparedness:
  • "There's really nothing about dealing with riots or civil disturbances... that's very atypical for federal law enforcement. My expectation would be they'd have to modify the training program..." ([09:53])
• On Masking for Anonymity:
  • "The rationale is that the people... are presumed to be at risk because there's intelligence... actively attempting to identify them for the purposes of targeting them for harassment." ([10:59])
• On Accountability:
  • "If you have a civil rights violation accusation... you could file a lawsuit... the agency will match that number to a name and someone will be held accountable. But it's kind of a roundabout way..." ([12:16])
• On Cooperation with Investigations:
  • "If you want to predict the future, look to the past... in cases... dealing with ICE, they have complied so far." ([13:59])

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4. Georgia Political and Community Updates

[14:35–17:16]

Political Vacancies:

• Rep. Marcus Weedauer (R-Watkinsville): Resigns to focus on growing real estate business, leading to a total of four legislative vacancies.
• Upcoming Elections: Special elections planned for House Districts 121, 106, 23, and Senate District 35.

Community Milestone:

• Amy Gonzalez Jackson:
  Sworn in as Thomas County's first Hispanic female attorney, dedicating her career to supporting the Hispanic community, especially around legal rights and workplace justice.
  • "It's time to take this knowledge and this help down to a community who needs to know what's out there..." ([15:56])
  • On courtroom moment: "As I was getting sworn in, it kind of felt surreal to me... I just couldn't stop smiling." ([16:58])

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5. Education Spotlight: New Towns County Agriscience Building

[17:26–approx. 18:30]

Highlights:

• Facility Features: Supports welding, construction, electrical, plumbing, culinary arts, and agribusiness for middle and high school students.
• Community Impact: Helps keep students local by providing career training and alternatives to leaving for four-year colleges.
• Future Plans: Construction to begin on an agricultural barn for animal science instruction.

Superintendent Darren Barong:

• "We're giving them the opportunity to have a career, to be able to stay home and actually have a high paying job..." ([17:26])

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6. Business Headlines

[18:30–20:00]

• UPS: Cut 48,000 jobs in 9 months as part of new Amazon deal and cost-saving measures.
• Delta Airlines: Launching new Atlanta–Riyadh, Saudi Arabia route in October, among its longest.
• Saddle Creek Logistics: Closing Newnan, GA facility, eliminating 128 jobs.

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Memorable Moments

• Cassie Collins braving the rain for food:
  "That's why I'm out here in the rain now and I have no business out here like this trying to get me some groceries." ([02:31])
• Discussion of empty food pantry shelves:
  "You're seeing more empty spaces now than certainly we've had back in... At the end of January, every rack in here was full." — Kathy McCollum ([03:02])
• ICE masking rationale and challenges of accountability:
  "It's kind of a roundabout way of doing it, as opposed to the more straightforward way of... simply having a face visible." — Scott Swedo ([13:19])
• First Hispanic female attorney in Thomas County: "As I was getting sworn in, it kind of felt surreal to me... I just couldn’t stop smiling." — Amy Gonzalez Jackson ([16:58])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• SNAP Benefits and Food Insecurity: [01:04–04:53]
• Shutdown’s Broader Impact and Political Reactions: [04:59–06:49]
• ICE Operations and Accountability (Interview): [06:49–14:22]
• Political & Community Updates: [14:35–17:16]
• Towns County Agriscience Building: [17:26–18:30]
• Business Headlines: [18:30–20:00]

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This episode delivers a comprehensive look at how national policy decisions ripple through Georgia’s communities and institutions, spotlights efforts to meet immediate needs, and gives voice to those affected most profoundly by government inaction.

Transcript

[GPB Peach Jam Host]

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.

[Peter Biello]

Welcome to the Georgia Today Podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom on today's episode. SNAP benefits are set to end in November if the government shutdown continues. Townes county celebrates its new agri science building, and videos of masked ICE agents aggressively arresting people they suspect of being in the country illegally have raised questions about police accountability. But law enforcement agencies argue they're the ones at risk.

[Scott Swedo]

The rationale is that the people that are serving those warrants, the ICE officers, are presumed to be at risk because these people are being doxed.

[Peter Biello]

Today is Tuesday, October 28th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, will not be available to Americans who need help feeding their families for the month of November. That's if the federal government shutdown persists. Snap, the program once known as food stamps, is administered by the U.S. department of Agriculture. The as GPB's Grant Blankenship reports, the challenge for SNAP recipients to feed themselves comes amidst other gaps in the USDA food safety net.

[Grant Blankenship]

It's cold and drizzly when 69 year old Cassie Collins arrives at First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, starts down a series of slick steps looking for the church food pantry.

[Cassie Collins]

I live alone and my step benefits help me a lot. I'm a widow. I lost my husband like four or five years ago and they really helped me.

[Grant Blankenship]

Now Collins is among the estimated 42 million people around the country. That includes about one and a half million in Georgia alone who are preparing to go without their SNAP benefits for the month of November thanks to the government shutdown.

[Cassie Collins]

I have a neighbor that has about four children and she, she's just, you know, it's sad, especially with the people with the children, you know, that's gonna suffer through this thing.

[Grant Blankenship]

It's her first time here. As she carefully makes her way to the church basement, she says, making the rounds of pantries like this, this is how she's gonna make it through November.

[Cassie Collins]

That's why I'm out here in the rain now and I have no business out here like this trying to get me some groceries.

[Grant Blankenship]

The groceries she's picking up come from the warehouse of the Middle Georgia Community food bank where trucks and forklifts are busy moving food in and out of the loading dock.

[Kathy McCollum]

This is. This is the aisle that we have a lot of the food that comes from. The Department of Agriculture USDA Food Bank.

[Grant Blankenship]

CEO Kathy McCollum shows me the floor to ceiling shelves that supply about 160 food pantries in the region. But I'm seeing more empty space than I'm seeing full space.

[Peter Biello]

Right.

[Kathy McCollum]

You're seeing more empty spaces now than certainly we've had back in. At the end of January, every rack in here was full. That hasn't been the case.

[Grant Blankenship]

What changed is that in March, the Trump administration cut about a billion dollars in funding to USDA programs that used to steer food to community food banks like this one. That's why so many of these shelves are empty.

[Kathy McCollum]

For example, a few weeks ago, we realized that we didn't have peanut butter in the warehouse, and we typically get that from usda. But that was one of those gaps.

[Grant Blankenship]

In Georgia, the state the USDA says leads in peanut production. A food bank had no peanut butter. So McCollum has shifted to buying more on the open market.

[Kathy McCollum]

We are good at taking money and turning it into food because we can buy what we need.

[Grant Blankenship]

The USDA has about $5 billion set aside for SNAP recipients to be used during emergencies. And this is One says Georgia U.S. house Rep. Sanford Bishop. Today is day 24 of the government shutdown. Bishop's district in southwest Georgia is one of the poorest in the country. During a press conference on day 24, Bishop said he and other Democrats asked the USDA to free up that money. So we're urging the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize that $5 billion to extend those SNAP benefits so people won't go hungry. The USDA issued a memo saying releasing those funds would only be legal in a weather emergency and that Democrats who won't reopen the government have put SNAP in jeopardy.

[Cassie Collins]

Good morning.

[Grant Blankenship]

Back at the First Baptist Food Pantry.

[Lucy McBath]

Can you fill out one of these, please?

[Cassie Collins]

Yes, me.

[Grant Blankenship]

Cassie Collins gets one of the last bags available today. And she says she'll visit other pantries, too, unless she gets her November SNAP benefit.

[Cassie Collins]

That's what I'm gonna have to do and pray.

[Grant Blankenship]

For. GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship. And make it.

[Peter Biello]

Democrats representing Georgia and D.C. are sounding the alarm about the pain caused by the federal government shutdown, even as the pressure mounts for them to do something to end it. Representative Lucy McBath says her constituents understand why Democratic senators are demanding an extension of Affordable Care act. Subsidies before agreeing to reopen the government. What I have heard over and over.

[Kathy McCollum]

Again is that we understand what you're.

[Peter Biello]

Doing, we understand why you're doing it. Because if we are not healthy, if we don't have access to affordable, accessible health care, then we can't work. As the shutdown enters its fifth week, both major parties blame the other for the shutdown. The nation's largest federal employee union called on Congress yesterday to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure federal workers receive full pay. Meanwhile, Governor Brian Kemp said that it is, quote, past time for Georgia's Democratic senators to vote for the Republican continuing resolution. Air traffic controllers in Atlanta handed out leaflets to passengers at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport today explaining the effects of the government shutdown on them. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports air traffic controllers.

[Nicole Cerrunas]

Have now received their first zero dollar paycheck as the federal government shutdown continues. Nicole Cerrunas works in Atlanta. She says controllers like her work hard to keep air travel safe, but the shutdown is always on their minds.

[Peter Biello]

You cannot discount that this is a safety problem, though.

[Lucy McBath]

When controllers and other aviation safety professionals.

[Peter Biello]

That are coming to work to do the job that they're doing now, we.

[Lucy McBath]

Have this on our mind.

[Peter Biello]

It's just an additional stressor that we don't need.

[Nicole Cerrunas]

The shutdown comes as air traffic control staffing is near a 30 year low. The union representing them says this means they are often working with even fewer staff. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kalis. At Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport.

[Peter Biello]

Sports fans watching the Major League Baseball playoffs or NFL games may have recently seen commercials advertising jobs with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ads offer recruits the chance to do something about dangerous illegals. These ads, set beside videos of ICE raids in places like Chicago, raise questions about how much training the participants in these raids receive. For insight into those questions, we turn now to Scott Swedo. He's a retired ATF executive and former special agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division. Welcome to the program.

[Scott Swedo]

Thank you.

[Peter Biello]

These ads suggest ICE may be looking for people with previous law enforcement experience. So let's, let's start there. If someone has some law enforcement experience, what kind of additional training do you think they're going to receive to become ICE agents?

[Scott Swedo]

Essentially, the law enforcement personnel that are criminal investigators go through quite a lengthy process of training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training center, or fletc, which is down in Glencoe, Georgia. Whereas the deportation officers, the ERO personnel, go through a much shorter program. So kind of circling back to where this began. If someone is already a criminal investigator with DEA, the U.S. marshals Service, Secret Service, ATF, they've already been through the Basic Criminal Investigator Training Program, citp, so they would likely not have to repeat it. They would only have to go through the specialized ICE training, which is also delivered down at fletc. And last I recall, it was in the neighborhood of about 12 to 14 weeks.

[Peter Biello]

What about people who have no training at all and are motivated by the government's call to action to, as the commercials say, quite quote, catch the worst of the worst? Yeah.

[Scott Swedo]

So if you were not prior law enforcement in a federal capacity, for instance, let's say that you were a banker or a lawyer or a cocktail waitress or anything in between, or really even a local police officer, you would have to go through this basic program, the citp, the Criminal Investigator Training Program. And CITP right Now is about 12 weeks, as I recall. And that's kind of the foundational training for all criminal investigators that are in the federal government, no matter what agency they're working for. They, with the exception of FBI and dea, everyone goes through that same program. You could be Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, the Railroad Retirement Board, Department of Labor, Inspector General, anything like that. You would have to go through that same program.

[Peter Biello]

Is that enough time to train the people that we might be seeing now in videos coming out of places like Illinois, videos that may be disturbing to some people simply because it's capturing moments of intense aggression?

[Scott Swedo]

When you look at the training that's offered, there's really nothing about dealing with riots or civil disturbances or the sort of aggression that's kind of been manifested on tv, because that's very atypical for federal law enforcement. So my assumption is they will have to modify that training in the hsi/ice portion of the academy to kind of COVID that, because you're right, federal law enforcement is generally not equipped, nor are they trained, to deal with that. So my expectation would be they'd have to modify the training program because it's a reasonable expectation now, Peter, that that's something that they would be expected to face.

[Peter Biello]

I wanted to ask you about the use of face masks. ICE agents seem to be covering their faces so that it's not clear how they could be identified. Right. Is that a concern of yours, that ICE agents are wearing masks and could possibly, you know, be shielded by anonymity from any claims that they violated someone's constitutional rights?

[Scott Swedo]

My old agency created some very specific carve outs where agents were allowed to cover their faces but what we're seeing here, Peter, is really kind of a wholesale use where the agents, as kind of a standard operating procedure, are covering their faces. So in talking to retired law enforcement executives, to include people I know from ice, from hsi, Homeland Security Investigations, the rationale is that the people that are serving those warrants, the ICE officers and federal agents, are presumed to be at risk because there's intelligence that ICE has kind of publicly fronted that these people are being doxed, that there are personnel groups out there who are actively attempting to identify them for the purposes of targeting them for harassment. But if you're kind of a observer of these sorts of things on tv, and I certainly am, what you notice is that those people are wearing kind of other identifying indicia.

[Peter Biello]

So you're saying essentially that, you know, if these people are not visually identifiable, you can't take a picture of them and match it up against the database because their face is covered. In theory, you could use some of their identification on their clothing to, you know, if you have a civil rights violation accusation, you could file a lawsuit, and somewhere in the background, the agency will match that number to a name and someone will be held accountable. Is that what you're saying?

[Scott Swedo]

Yeah, that's. That's exactly right. It. It certainly would not be easy because you have people who are kind of similarly attired with the same kinds of uniforms and the. The indicia that they're wearing or the. The markings on their uniform may be very subtle or may require some sort of analysis or actually discovery through a legal process where, you know, a federal judge would have to compel the agency. Okay, we want. You need to turn over to the. To the plaintiff and the moving party. You need to. You need to turn over to them information about the operational plan, who was physically present and then. And make available for interview supervisors who could, like, visually identify, because they obviously would know who the personnel were that were conducting that enforcement operation. But it's. It's kind of a roundabout way of doing it, as opposed to the more straightforward way of. Of simply having a face visible.

[Peter Biello]

How confident are you that this administration would be forthcoming about the identity of any ICE agent who is accused of violating someone's constitutional rights?

[Scott Swedo]

That's a little tougher, Peter. I guess the only thing I could say is, is that if you want to predict the future, kind of look to the past. And I would say that in cases that have popped up along the way, including those dealing with. With ice, they have complied so far.

[Peter Biello]

Well, Scott Sweetout, retired ATF executive and former special agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division. Thank you so much for sharing your insight with us. We appreciate it.

[Scott Swedo]

Thank you, Peter.

[Peter Biello]

Another Georgia lawmaker is stepping down, bringing to four the number of vacancies in the House and Senate Republicans. Republican Representative Marcus Weedauer from Watkinsville announced today that he's resigning because his real estate firm is growing rapidly and requires more travel. In a statement, he said his work would take him away from the Capitol during the legislative session. Weedauer spent six years in the Georgia House and served as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on general Government, among other assignments. House Speaker John Byrne says a special election will be called to elect a successor for House District 121 in Clark and Oconee counties. Voters also must appoint a successor for Shelley Hutchinson, the Democrat from Snellville who resigned from House District 106 in September, and for Mandy Bollinger, a Canton Republican who died earlier this month, leaving House District 23 unrepresented. The Senate also has a vacancy after Atlanta Democrat Jason Estevez resigned from Senate District 35 last month to focus on his campaign for governor. A South Georgia native was sworn in this month as the first Hispanic female attorney in Thomas County. Jason GPB's Orlando Montoya reports.

[Orlando Montoya]

Amy Gonzalez Jackson grew up in Bainbridge and graduated from Valdosta State University before studying law and starting her career in Alabama. She said that she decided to bring her experience home, taking and passing the Georgia bar exam so she can serve her community.

[Lucy McBath]

I've done great here in Alabama and I love what I do, but it's time to take this knowledge and this help down to a community who needs to know what's out there for the.

[Orlando Montoya]

She said that she was inspired to serve by seeing people, but especially members of South Georgia's Hispanic population, exploited. She said many Hispanics either don't know their legal rights or are apprehensive about exercising them, such as after being injured in a car wreck or on the job.

[Lucy McBath]

People are injured in car wrecks and because they're worried about their immigration status or because they're worried about not having a proper driver's license, they're not seeking the help that they need. So so they're not getting the physical recovery, the medical help or even the financial recoveries, she said.

[Orlando Montoya]

Other Hispanics are scammed by handshake deals with employers who promise to pay their workers but don't, knowing that many migrant workers will be too scared to speak up. Gonzalez Jackson promised to speak up for them in court, including the one in Thomasville, where Judge William Whitesell administered her oath surrounded by her family members, friends and colleagues.

[Lucy McBath]

You raise your right hand and as I was getting sworn in, it kind of felt surreal to me because I said, you know, I have been working towards this for years, you know, years and years. They gave me the certificate and I just couldn't stop smiling. I took so many pictures with my family and we were all, you know, grinning as big as could be.

[Orlando Montoya]

Amy Gonzalez Jackson works for Serious Injury Law Group. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

[Peter Biello]

School officials in northeast Georgia's Towns county are celebrating the opening of a brand new agriscience center. The center opened earlier this month and offers space for students to pursue their studies in welding, construction, electrical wiring, plumbing, culinary arts and agribusiness. Darren Barong is superintendent of Towns County Schools. He says the facility is a win for the community as a whole and the middle and high school students who will use it. We're giving them the opportunity to have a career, to be able to stay home and actually have a high paying job, whereas before if you wanted a high paying job or you didn't have these classes, you're going to a four year college and you're probably not coming home, you're moving away. Towns county plans to start construction next month on an agricultural barn and fenced area for students working with animals. Atlanta based UPS says it has cut about 48,000 jobs during the first nine months of this year. The cuts follow a deal announced with Amazon in January to cut its volume in half by the middle of next year. UPS beat its quarterly earnings expectations. Shares rose on the news earlier today. UPS says it has realized cost savings of approximately $2.2 billion as of September 30th and anticipates total year over year cost savings of $3.5 billion. UPS has closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings since January and continues to look for more buildings to close. Atlanta based Delta Airlines announced new nonstop service from Atlanta to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, beginning next October. In a statement, the company said the new flight will strengthen the growth of commerce and investment between the US And Saudi Arabia. This new route is expected to be one of Delta's longest at more than 7,000 miles and take off three times each week. And Saddle Creek Logistics Services says it plans to close its facility in Newnan, southwest of Atlanta. The move cuts 128 jobs, including forklift operators, HR coordinators, managers, supervisors and warehouse workers. The company says it's been servicing a customer in the Noonan facility that has chosen to discontinue service. And that's it for this edition of GEORGIA Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, check out our website, gpb.org news and if we should be reporting on something but we haven't yet, could be we just don't know what's happening. That's why we rely on you to tell us what's going on in your community. And you can tell us by email. The address is Georgia todaypb.org that's also where you can send feedback on this podcast. Remember to subscribe to this podcast. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon with all the latest headlines. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

[GPB Peach Jam Host]

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.