← Georgia Today
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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, residents of an Atlanta suburb hit a deadline for a special election vote. Governor Brian Kemp is planning a trip to South Korea and Japan, and a class at Emory University considers changes to vaccine recommendations.
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You know, we're going to talk about polio. One week, we're going to talk about rotavirus. One week, we're going to talk about influenza.
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Today is Monday, September 22nd. I'm Sophie Gradas, and this is Georgia Today. Tomorrow is the last day to vote in the special election for a state Senate seat in a suburb north of Atlanta. GPB Sarah Kalis reports.
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Democrat Deborah Shigley and Republican Jason Dickerson advanced to the runoff after getting the most votes during the August special election. Shigley, the only Democrat, won roughly 40% of the 21,000 votes cast. The Republican vote was split six ways, with Dickerson coming out on top with just over 17% of the vote. The district, which mostly covers Cherokee county and part of north Fulton county, was was previously held by Republican State Senator Brandon Beach. Beach vacated the seat when he was nominated as U.S. treasurer. The district has historically been considered a Republican stronghold, but Democrats remain optimistic about Shigli's performance. Over 16,000 voters have already cast their ballot early. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kalis.
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Former state Judge Penny Brown Reynolds has announced her candidacy for Georgia's secretary of state. She's pledging to protect voting rights for all Georgians. Reynolds, who served in the federal government and hosted a TV court show, says she aims to improve voting access, support small businesses and enhance cybersecurity. She also says she will protect election workers from threats and harassment. The current secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, is running for governor in the 2026 election, leaving his seat open. Republicans Kelvin King and Tim Fleming, along with Democrat Adrian Consenary Jr are are also in the race for secretary of state. It has been nearly two decades since Georgia had a Democrat in the position. The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney's office has been barred from prosecuting a rape case after a local judge ruled last week that a prosecutor violated the defendant's constitutional rights. Bibb County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Monroe disqualified the office from prosecuting the case against Harold Housley Munro. Monroe ruled that an investigator spoke to the defendant while an assistant DA and another investigator were in the room without Housley's attorney present. The judge said he was, quote, astonished by the actions of the state agents. He ruled the investigation violated the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights to remain silent to avoid self incrimination and his Sixth Amendment rights to be represented by an attorney. District Attorney Anita Howard vowed to appeal the judge's ruling and to refer the case to another prosecutor's office. If the appeal is unsuccessful, governor Brian Kemp will travel to South Korea and Japan in October. The governor's office said on Sunday that the trade mission was planned well before an immigration raid rounded up hundreds of workers at a battery factory at the massive Hyundai plant in Southeast Georgia, which strained relations between Washington and Seoul. In addition to South Korea, Kemp is expected to attend the annual meeting of the Southeast U S Japan association for fostering economic and cultural ties between Southeastern states and Japan. Fantasy sports giant Prizepix plans to sell a majority stake of its company to a Switzerland based lottery operator. Prizepix, which is Atlanta based, and the Swiss company Alwyn International AG announced the agreement on Monday. The $1.6 billion deal expands Alwyn into the U.S. fantasy sports market. Prize picks cut the ribbon on a new headquarters in Atlanta just last year, eight Georgia food banks are getting at least $100,000 each from a public private partnership aimed at reducing food waste and expanding food access. The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced the grants on Friday from the Farm to Food bank program. Last week, a committee under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made changes to recommendations for well known vaccines for kids and adult and hosted a heated discussion on the safety of the COVID 19 vaccine. Just a few miles away, people who study epidemiology were having their own conversations at Emory University's Roland School of Public Health.
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All right, good morning everybody.
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In Robert Bednarcik's epidemiology course, every week they study a different disease and vaccine.
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You think about, you know, the old sci fi shows, and each week there was, you know, a specific monster that they were battling or fighting. And that's kind of what this is. You know, we're going to talk about polio one week, we're going to talk about rotavirus one week, we're going to talk about influenza and what worked and.
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What didn't and making vaccines to fight them. During Friday's class, student Alyssa Leal says she loves the deep dives. She wants to be able to talk about vaccines with anyone who asks so that I can then take and kind of like advocate and ease people's concerns for vaccines. Because they're all valid. Like they're valid concerns. So yeah. By the end of their meeting Friday, members of a key CDC vaccine advisory committee voted to keep a recommendation for COVID 19 shots, but only after patients and providers talk about its risks. The members appointed this year say they want more studies on even the minor side effects of vaccines. Public health experts warn the group is sowing confusion. Student Andrew Hederman says he tries to be optimistic.
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For me, I'm excited about it. I think having people interested in public health and vaccines and, you know, more medicine in general, I think is always a good thing.
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He hopes he's prepared to jump into the discussion by the time he graduates.
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It's rare to find a podcast that can actually change your life, but when the show's called Life Kit, that's kind of the whole point. I'm Marielle Segarra. Three times a week on the Life Kit podcast, we guide you through a topic we could all use help with, from personal development to healthy living to managing your dinero with takeaways so you can start living what you learn right away. Escucha el Life Kit podcast from npr.
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The US has named its World cup bobsled team and one of Georgia's own is on the roster. Ilana Meyers Taylor of Douglasville, a five time Olympic medalist and the most decorated black athlete in Winter Olympic history, will compete again as the Americans prepare for the Milan Cortina Games. She's joined by world champion Keisha Love and three time Olympic champion Kayleigh Humphries Armbruster. The 24 person squad will begin training in Utah this fall with races starting in Italy in November. And in other Georgia sports, Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris was not in a smiling mood after Sunday's 300 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He offered only one word, a terse no when asked if he was opening up the quarterback position for competition this week. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Was removed from the game in the fourth quarter quarter after throwing two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. That's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. We appreciate you listening. If you would like to learn more about these stories, visit gpb.org news and if you haven't yet subscribed to this podcast, you can take a moment right now and keep us current in your podcast feed. If you have feedback, we would love to hear it. Email us@georgia todaypb.org I'm Sophie Gradas and we'll see you tomorrow.