New voting system update; Water bill delinquency; Blackout prep

0:00Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB Newsroom. On today's episode, Atlanta is owed $236 million in overdue water bills. Amid a measles outbreak in Atlanta, under-vaccinated kids may be at risk. And an emergency preparedness challenge is happening tonight. It's up to us as a community to come together and have these plans. Today is Friday, September 18th. I'm Peter B. Yellow, and this is Georgia Today. An audit has found almost a quarter of Atlanta's water customers are behind on their bills. Atlanta Watershed Management presented the audit earlier this week to the City Utilities Committee. Those customers are behind to the tune of $236 million. Most of those accounts are individual homeowners, but others are well-known businesses. Councilmember Liliana Bactiari calls the findings, quote, insane.

1:03Are we able to go ahead and go after these commercial actors this year? I mean, Chick-fil-A, are you kidding me? Other delinquent customers include the federal government, Atlanta Public Schools, and Fulton County. A committee of state lawmakers, considering new voting systems for Georgia, met for the third time yesterday. GPB Sarah Callis reports. Lawmakers on the panel heard from Secretary of State Deputy Director of Information Technology for Voting Systems, Michael Barnes. About the time it will take to put a new system in place. He said the new system needs to be ready to go by the Presidential Preference Primary in March of 2028, and legislators should be ready to start delivering equipment to counties by Labor Day of next year. So it's going to require training at the poll worker level, training at the public level, and training at the legislative level, so that our lawmakers are aware of what is needed to execute a proper election, regardless of what voting system is selected. Other experts walked lawmakers through security features the new system should have. The changes are to comply with the state law passed in 2024 that removes QR codes from ballots.

2:05For GPB News, I'm Sarah Callis. An outbreak of measles in the Atlanta area has infected 10 children that's according to the state's Department of Public Health. Meanwhile, more families have likely been notified about possible exposure. GPB Sophie Grattis has more on current guidance to prevent infection. Atlanta's current measles outbreak has been linked to one daycare facility that the public health department has not identified. But measles is extremely contagious, and the virus can linger in the air for up to a couple hours. Share Gardner is an Atlanta area pediatrician. She says families with un or under vaccinated kids may be able to request a measles vaccine from their doctor for children as young as six months old. It would not harm the child and it would be protective, especially if a family had reason to believe that their child has increased risk for exposure. Otherwise, best practice for worried parents is to stay in places where there are lots and lots of children. It may and be their best interest to just wait. And if a child does show symptoms of measles, parents should call before seeking care outside the home. For GPB News, I'm Sophie Grattis.

3:07I haven't seen my son since 2012. This is Deborah Ties. The disappearance of her son, Austin, is one of the biggest missing person cases in the world. What do you want from me? I should just tell the mystery. I know that my son is somewhere alive. Listen to Where Is Austin Ties from MPR's Embedded and BBC Radio 4 on the MPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Nearly 300 Atlanta residents will participate in an overnight emergency preparedness challenge hosted by a local nonprofit. GPB's Amanda Andrews has more on the event that begins tonight. Blackout Atlanta is hosted by the nonprofit environmental community action. Teams of five people will navigate the city without cell phones or cars. They'll complete challenges around water readiness, first aid and communication. Executive Director Carla Lewis says this challenge is designed to help people not panic in an emergency.

4:09So that's why the team thought processes on board. They're vulnerable people in our communities. They're a senior citizen, disabled individuals, special need individuals. Are we going to just leave them behind? No, it's up to us as a community to come together and have these plans. Teams will compete through the night and prizes will be awarded Saturday morning. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews. Diesel prices in Georgia are the highest they've ever been at. $6.35 a gallon. That's according to AAA. The Auto Club says the price of diesel has gone up 46 cents in the past week. Georgia's diesel prices are about $0.9 lower than the national average. Higher diesel prices mean more expensive transportation for a long list of everyday goods. That's because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks and some businesses have already passed along costs to consumers in the form of added fees. In sports, the Braves face the Astros in Houston tonight for the first of a three-game series. The Braves are still trying to punch their ticket to the postseason and could win the division

5:09as early as Sunday. Tyler Mollie is scheduled to get the start for the Braves tonight. In basketball, Atlanta hosts the Chicago Sky tomorrow. This after Angel Reese scored 30 points in the Atlanta Dream's 103-59 victory yesterday against the Connecticut Sun. Saturday's meeting will be the third of the season between the two teams. In soccer, the Portland Timbers host Atlanta United and non-conference action tomorrow. And the Atlanta Falcons host their home opener against the Carolina Panthers Sunday. In college football, UGA faces the Arkansas razor backs on the road tomorrow. And Georgia Tech hosts the Mercer Bears tomorrow at noon. And that is a wrap on Georgia today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit gpp.org slash news. And please do subscribe to this podcast. We're going to be back in your feed Monday afternoon with all the latest headlines. And your feedback means a lot to us. We love it when you share story ideas as well. Tell us what's going on in your community. The email us. The address is Georgia today at gpp.org. I'm Peter B. L.O. Thanks again for listening. We will see you on Monday.