Episode Details

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, September 6th. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, both the 14 year old suspect accused of killing four people at his high school and his father face charges. The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper sues the city of Atlanta over e-coli pollution, and researchers get funding for an idea they think could boost the value of the state's peanut crops. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The Apalachee High School student accused of killing two fellow classmates and two teachers on Wednesday, appeared in court this morning along with his father. Chase McGee has more from Barrow County, northeast of Atlanta.

Judge Mingledorff: In essence, you are charged with four counts of felony murder.

Chase McGee: The 14 year old suspect and his father both appeared in front of Judge Currie Mingledorff in Barrow County Superior Court. The juvenile Colt Gray was charged with four counts of felony murder. His father, Colin Gray, has been charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children. The charges stem from his allegedly providing a firearm to his son.

Judge Mingledorff: For a maximum total of possible penalty for the charges that you currently are facing of 180 years imprisonment.

Chase McGee: A preliminary hearing was set for both father and son on December 4th. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee in Winder.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The school shooting this week has put gun policy front and center as Republicans and Democrats campaign for the white House. Speaking at a rally in Phoenix yesterday, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance said school shootings are a fact of life and that the US needs to work to prevent them.

J.D. Vance: We've got to bolster security so that if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children that they're not able to. And again, as a parent, do I want my kids school to have additional security? No, of course I don't. I don't want my kids to go to school in a place where they feel like you've got to have additional security, but that is increasingly the reality that we live in.

Peter Biello: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, as vice president, leads the new white House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and in the past has supported banning sales of the AR 15 and similar rifles. Harris commented specifically on the shooting in Georgia, saying it is outrageous, quote, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: We generally agree as a society that mental health is important, but in Georgia, behavioral health care is often inaccessible, and this is especially worrisome in the wake of Wednesday's shooting. Parents are worried about their kids and how they're feeling. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more about the roadblocks to therapy in Georgia. Ellen, thank you so much for speaking with me.

Ellen Eldridge: It's good to be here.

Peter Biello: So why is it so difficult to find mental health care?

Ellen Eldridge: Well, one of the reasons it's very difficult to find mental health care in Georgia. And we're at the bottom of the nation when it comes to accessing mental health care. Has to do with insurance plans. I spoke with Tracy Hooper. She's a licensed professional counselor up in Ellijay, and she says one of the problems that her practice is having right now has to do with billing and pay, because she says most of her providers are moving to cash only payments because the insurance companies are setting the rates based on the client's health plan. And her rates haven't even gone up since 2008. She says she's still accepting Blue Cross Blue Shield, but she's torn about it.