Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Sept. 23. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Appalachee High School students return to class three weeks after the shooting that claimed four lives. A Black voting rights group leads registration drives at three Georgia HBCUs. And some of Georgia's coastal communities get grants to help build more housing. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Caption

Community members and students gather around a flagpole on the Apalachee High School campus near Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 8, leaving flowers and messages to memorialize the four people killed in the Sept. 4 shooting there.

Credit: Andy Miller for KFF Health News

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Students in Northeast Georgia's Winder return to Apalachee High School this morning, nearly three weeks after a gunman killed two students and two teachers there. GPB's Chase McGee has more.

Chase McGee: Rows of busses pulled into the school parking lot on Monday. Some of them painted with messages saying "Chee strong," a slogan repeated on billboards and posters around the county. Students weren't expected to open books. Instead, they had to familiarize themselves with the changed campus. J-Hall, the scene of this month's shooting, is now completely blocked off. The classes that met there will now meet in a county-owned building 4 miles away. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith says the community has shown strength and resiliency.

Jud Smith: The love that we give our kids and the love that we give our parents and our staff and teachers, it will always prevail over what happened.

Chase McGee: Students will get back to their classes on Tuesday. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: With just over a month before Election Day, presidential candidates continue to court Georgia voters. GPB's Sarah Kallis has the latest.

Sarah Kallis: Vice President Kamala Harris pitched her stance on abortion to a crowd in Cobb County Friday. The speech came days after a ProPublica story found a woman in Georgia died after delayed abortion care. Harris stood in front of signs that said "Trust Women" and slammed Trump's stances on abortion.

Kamala Harris: We're saying that we're going to create public policy that says that a doctor — a health care provider — will only kick in to give the care that somebody needs if they're about to die?

Sarah Kallis: Former President Trump is also reaching out to Georgia voters. He will hold a rally in Savannah on Tuesday. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A nonpartisan Black voting rights group held registration drives at three historically Black colleges and universities in South Georgia last week. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Black Voters Matter took its bus tour to Albany State, Fort Valley State and Georgia's oldest public HBCU, Savannah State. That's where junior and Vidalia native Mya Bird registered to vote for what will be her first presidential election.

Mya Bird: As I've gotten older, I've started realizing like, okay, the presidential election involves our future, our lives and especially as college students, our funding and college.

Benjamin Payne: Melinee Calhoun is an organizer with Black Voters Matter.

Melinee Calhoun: When you're on campus, a lot of times students feel like, Well, I'm only here for school, but for those four years you're living in that community. There may be things in your community that you want to see change and your vote can make the difference.

Benjamin Payne: Georgia's voter registration deadline for the presidential election is Oct. 7. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne at Savannah State University.

Caption

HBCU

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Georgia's HBCUs are flexing their political and economic muscle. A new report shows they have $1.6 billion in economic impact in the state. The United Negro College Fund this month detailed the jobs, student lifetime earnings and other financial windfalls that they create. The fund's CEO, Michael Lomax, called HBCUs "resilient institutions coming back, quote, "stronger than ever" following the pandemic.

Michael Lomax: These institutions do more to impact local economies than are really given — they're given credit for. Most of their students come from a geographic area near where the institution is located. And when they graduate, guess where they go? Back into the community that they came from.

Peter Biello: The report included Georgia's nine HBCUs, among others nationwide.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Coastal Georgia is the beneficiary of a fifth round of grants through Gov. Brian Kemp's Rural Workforce Housing Initiative. Brunswick and Chatham County will receive just under $5 million for infrastructure, supporting 129 housing units. The governor launched the program early last year during his annual State of the State address to the General Assembly. The grants are overseen by the One Georgia Authority. The city of Brunswick will get $2.5 million to build water, sewer, road and drainage improvements, which will enable dozens of homes to be built, and Chatham County's grant of $2.3 million will go towards infrastructure projects for both single and multifamily homes.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The Georgia Department of Public Health expects a 46% increase over the next decade in the number of Georgians diagnosed with dementia. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: Cognitive decline creates challenges for workers and employers. Nancy Treaster is from Duluth and hosts The Caregivers Journey, a podcast for dementia caregivers. She transitioned to part time work a decade ago when her husband developed dementia. She then fully retired when her father-in-law's Alzheimer's disease progressed.

Nancy Treaster: And I was 62 at the time anyway. So, you know, "work, it's fine. It's time to give up work." And that's really when I felt like I was doing giving up work because I was old enough to retire. But at the same time, I loved my job. I'd worked there 26 years, but at the same time it was time to give it up.

Ellen Eldridge: The Georgia chapter of the Alzheimer's Association recommends training employers on the warning signs of dementia and the laws governing Americans with Disabilities Act. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia's average gas price fell below $3 per gallon for the first time since January last week and continued to decline this week. Fueled by weak demand and lower crude prices, auto club AAA said today the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Georgia is now $2.94, down from $2.98 last week.

Caption

Opera

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Opera plans to build a $45 million performing arts center on the city's popular bike and pedestrian trail, the Atlanta BeltLine. The opera said today the center will transform an existing clubhouse overlooking the historic Bobby Jones golf course in Northwest Atlanta. Construction on the project is expected to be complete by 2027.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: In sports, the Atlanta Falcons had plenty of opportunities to beat Kansas City, but miscues and trouble converting on third down helped the Chiefs hold on for a narrow 22 to 17 victory yesterday. Atlanta lost starting center Drew Dolman to an ankle injury and starting right tackle Caleb McGary was sidelined with a knee injury. In baseball, Michael Harris II tripled, single and scored as the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 5 to 4 yesterday. The Braves are now two games behind the New York Mets for the third NL Wild Card, which makes the two-game series against the Mets this week important if the Braves want to play some October baseball. The Braves are off today, but expect to start Spencer Schwellenbach tomorrow against the Mets and Chris Sale on Wednesday.

And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We appreciate you being there and listening to Georgia Today. Because you value this service, we hope that you'll support it with a gift in any amount, because everything you hear from GPB, whether it's on the air or in a podcast, is made possible by people just like you. Give at GPB.org, or call (800) 222-4788. If you want to learn more about any of the stories you heard on this podcast, visit GPB.org/news. We've also got new headlines there all the time, so check it out. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, do it now. That'll keep us current in your podcast feed. If you have feedback for us, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email. The address is [email protected]. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

---

For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news