by Ty Tagami | Sep 9, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia’s public health agency is awaiting federal recommendations before setting its own COVID-19 vaccination policy but is willing to “play a larger leadership role” if there are disagreements, the state’s top health official said Tuesday.
Georgia might have to set its own course and priorities and “ensure that accurate information is out” if it disagrees with pending guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisors, state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey told the Georgia Board of Public Health at their September meeting.
If federal leadership is “absent” on the vaccination question, she said, “we have to step up and make sure that the public is being served.”
Toomey’s message was delivered as reassurance after misgivings were expressed by several board members.
Dr. James Curran, the board chairman and a former CDC employee, lamented “turmoil” at the federal agency under the new leadership of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Curran said Kennedy’s employee dismissals have culled the next generation of scientists at the CDC.
Curran also expressed doubt in the reliability of the CDC’s pending COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.
So did board member Dr. Lucky Jain, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. He said faculty with young children have been emailing him with concerns about how to ensure vaccine access. He said they fear Georgia will follow the lead of Florida, which is moving to end all vaccine requirements for school children.
Florida’s plan drew criticism from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“The ripple effect of removing vaccine entry requirements would affect all of us, not just those with children in school,” the Florida chapter president, Dr. Rana Alissa, said after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his surgeon general, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, announced the new policy.
Jain asked what Georgia was doing “to avoid a situation like what has happened in Florida.”
He wanted reassurance that vaccine access “isn’t diminished over time in Georgia” and said, perhaps jokingly — his comment drew laughter — “is there something that the board can independently do to petition the governor?”
Toomey responded that she spoke with Gov. Brian Kemp’s office about immunization earlier Tuesday.
“I think that there is a huge commitment and understanding of the importance of immunizations, particularly for children — for children’s health,” Toomey said. “And we intend to continue to carry that message.”
Jain also asked for clarity on a statement issued by Toomey’s agency last week indicating Georgia was awaiting guidance from the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy alarmed many observers by stripping the advisory panel of its members and gradually replacing them with his own picks.
Toomey clarified that she approved her agency’s message merely because she was waiting to make vaccine recommendations until seeing the federal guidance, which will affect insurance coverage and liability. She also said the state buys vaccine through a federal program, and it has not yet been shipped.
Georgia is not just saying “well, whatever,” she said. “We want to take action when there’s something we need to be addressing, and right now we’re waiting on that final approval because there are other factors within that that we have to consider.”
by Ty Tagami | Sep 9, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia has a new U.S. attorney, after the federal judges for the Northern District of Georgia appointed Theodore S. Hertzberg to lead the district office Monday.
Hertzberg had been serving as an interim lead after U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi appointed him to that role in May. He succeeded Richard Moultrie Jr., who took the job on an acting basis after then-U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan resigned in January at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
Hertzberg previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for nearly 10 years, working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia in Savannah, then moving to Atlanta in 2018.
He has prosecuted gang leaders, child sex predators, gun traffickers and armed felons, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Hertzberg practiced law in the New York office of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and served as a law clerk to Judge Kristi K. DuBose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. He graduated from Amherst College and the New York University School of Law.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 5, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Vincent LaBella did not see signs that his daughter was suffering until the police issued a warrant that allowed him to see the social media activity on her phone.
He had noticed that his young teen was glued to the device, but so were her friends. They would sit in the car together tapping out messages rather than talking.
Then, in early February, a day after Amaya LaBella hosted a small party at her family’s Buckhead home, she died by suicide.
Her Snapchat account told her parents why.
“Her whole friend group turned on her and there was a text chain one night that was going on for four or five hours,” Vincent LaBella said.
TikTok’s algorithm started feeding her sad songs and memorials of children who had died, he said. “And it just kept pushing her deeper and deeper in a hole.”
He called her phone “poison.”
LaBella was among several parents who testified at a recent legislative hearing about the impact of social media on children.
The Georgia General Assembly has already tried to rein in the platforms, passing a 2024 law that limited their access to children.
It had bipartisan support, but the industry sued and, in June, a federal judge in Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement.
So lawmakers are looking for another way to restrain them.
They may succeed, but the corporations have power and influence, and are sure to fight back, said Ben Pargman, whose son, Manny, was 18 when he died by suicide in December.
It happened nine days after the college freshman had turned in an English paper about smartphone dependency leading to anxiety and depression, Pargman told lawmakers at that same hearing.
He encouraged them to impose limitations on the industry but also tempered expectations.
“I applaud you for this undertaking and what you’re about to do,” he said, adding, “You’re going to get pushback. The industry is well funded. They are well organized, and you will hear from them.”
Pargman said in an interview that he expects it will take years for regulations to take hold, much like the lengthy battles to restrict smoking and to require seatbelts and air bags in automobiles.
In the meantime, he advised parents to learn about the industry’s practices and to talk about it with their children.
Like many who testified at the first hearing of the state Senate study committee, Pargman urged parents to read the book The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt, who teaches ethical leadership at New York University’s business school. Haidt reports that the marriage of smartphones and social media around 2010 birthed a generation of anxious and depressed adolescents, as mental illness diagnoses for undergraduates skyrocketed.
Pargman’s son graduated from high school in Sandy Springs, so he gets invited to talk to schools there. He tells students they are not broken if they feel depressed. They should talk with friends, parents or teachers about it. And if a friend discloses suicidal feelings, violate that trust and report it to an adult who can intervene.
It is better to lose a friendship than a friend, he coaches them, warning that they are “crash test dummies” for social media platforms and device makers.
But the main responsibility lies with parents, he said. In this era, knowing the risks, they should tell their kids to come to them if they are having suicidal thoughts.
“We don’t have those conversations with our children,” he said. “And in the absence of that conversation and in that silence our kids don’t know how to handle it. And where do they go? They go to their phones. And once they got locked into social media — and now AI — they’re on a downward spiral whirlpool into the pits of hell.”
That is what happened to Alex Peiser, said his mother, Sharon Winkler.
He was a happy kid, active in band, theater and his church group, she said, until a breakup with a girlfriend in 2014. He died a few days later.
Winkler had seen no hint of his spiral to suicide until she read the note he left behind.
He had gone online for support but found discouraging responses on Instagram. He also came across dark memes, such as images of corpses.
“He was sad because he had a breakup, so he would linger on these and the algorithm would say ‘oh good he wants more of this content’,” Winkler said in an interview after she testified at the legislative hearing. “So even though he didn’t type in ‘I want to see suicide content,’ he was getting fed it anyway just because he lingered on it.”
After three days of being “pummeled” with this he couldn’t take it anymore, she said. She told the lawmakers that the social media business model is to blame. Companies need to deliver users to advertisers, and their algorithms can zero in on what each person demonstrates they want to consume, she said.
Winkler said she learned from books such as “Subprime Attention Crisis,” by Tim Hwang of Georgetown University, who dissected the business model; and “Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life,” by Noah Giansiracusa, who teaches math at Bentley University.
Now, whenever her granddaughter by another son visits, she grabs the girl’s devices and tightens all the privacy settings on her apps.
Most parents probably do not know their way around these settings, though.
Schools do what they can to educate children and parents. That 2024 state law also required schools to teach students about the dangers of social media.
Samantha King, the director of technology and media services for the Savannah-Chatham Public School System, said the district is complying and offers such training for parents, as well.
So do some nonprofit organizations, she said, adding that it is not enough to address the problem.
“It’s not reaching the masses,” she said. “It’s only very small little pockets of people who take the initiative to learn more.”
She understands what parents go through. After her daughter changed schools, she and her husband decided to get her an iPhone. She is only 9, but King said she wanted to stay in touch with friends.
So King used parent controls to limit her daughter’s access to apps between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. so she can only play on the device when they are watching. She also cranked up the privacy settings, to limit what her girl can access and who can see her on interactive games such as Roblox, an app that experts warned lawmakers about.
It takes time, but anyone can do it, King said. Open the “Tips” app in iOS and search for “child,” then dive in.
She knows the day will come when her daughter has full control of her life online, so she plays Roblox alongside her and coaches her through other platforms, hoping to instill some wisdom.
“If I can keep sheltering her, I can maintain that level of innocence,” King said. “Once we open them up to so much, we kind of take that away unintentionally.”
Pargman’s son was exposed to platforms and apps before the risks were as well known. Pargman said he advises kids to treat mental illness like one treats the flu. Do not ignore it; get help.
“Talk about it. It’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re broken,” he said. “But you can be if you don’t address it.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
by Ty Tagami | Sep 5, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Educators in Georgia’s public schools blame long work hours, low pay and misbehaving and even violent students for teacher shortages that undermine education, says the latest annual workforce survey from the largest teacher association in Georgia.
Two-thirds of the 3,400 school district employees surveyed online in May by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE), 70% of them classroom teachers, reported feeling burned out, with a quarter reporting a major teacher shortage at their school.
The survey, which includes responses from all but three of the state’s 180 school districts, is the latest in a string of grim reports from the organization, which is again calling on state government to increase funding.
Among the most ominous findings: 8% reported deliberate assaults by students, often requiring medical attention. The rate was double for special education teachers and paraprofessionals.
“There’s just a lot going on with kids that is challenging for educators to respond to,” said Margaret Ciccarelli, director of legislative services for PAGE.
The organization cannot say whether the number of assaults is growing worse because it did not ask about that in past surveys.
“We added the injury question this year because it just has started to become a constant refrain,” Ciccarelli said. “Our legal department is receiving so many more calls about teacher injuries and the legal implications of those from the injured educators.”
Disruptive student behavior was the most common concern among respondents, a problem that PAGE notes can drive teachers from the profession.
“In their comments on these issues, many educators reiterate the difficulty of disruptive behavior and flag student apathy as a problem,” the organization’s report on the survey said. “Responding educators also express frustration with a lack of support and accountability from parents and administrators in resolving these challenges.”
It is one reason why only one in four teachers reported recommending the profession although, in a potentially promising sign, that is a slight uptick from just over one in five in the last survey.
Salary increases, especially for teachers after the second decade when automatic state raises stop coming, would keep more in the classroom and reduce the financial hardship, the report said, with 29% of teachers saying they work a second job.
More financial aid in college would reduce the cost of becoming a teacher and bolster sagging ranks, says PAGE. Two-thirds of respondents reported unpaid college debt averaging $34,000.
More funding for substitutes would ease the burden on teachers, a quarter of whom reported unmanageable workloads, with more than two-thirds working at least an extra six hours a week — during evenings and weekends.
Student mental health grants could make the work a little easier, with 53% of teachers saying disruptive behavior is a major problem, followed closely by chronic absenteeism (51%) and cellphones and social media (48%).
Lawmakers and Gov. Brian Kemp are already doing something about cellphones, requiring all public elementary and middle schools to prohibit student cellphone use during the school day starting next fall.
Kemp has also consistently raised teacher pay. But PAGE contends more funding is needed to keep teachers in the classroom, arguing that money spent on retention is money saved in the long run given the thousands of dollars it costs to recruit and train new teachers.
“We are asking for more money, but we’re asking for more money in some targeted areas based on what the workforce is telling us. We are not guessing at what we think would make a difference,” Ciccarelli said. “We have seen that this governor and this legislature are open to spending money that makes sense on public education as long as there is accountability and transparency, and we feel that we need to help them continue to do that.”
by Ty Tagami | Sep 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A former lieutenant of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is now running for the top job.
Gabriel Sterling filed paperwork to raise money for the Republican nomination Tuesday and indicated Thursday that he will, indeed, campaign for the office.
“Georgia elections are the safest in the nation and I will fight everyday to keep it that way,” Sterling said in a text message responding to a query about his plans.
Sterling signed his message as a “conservative Republican.”
His loyalties and those of his former boss were called to question by supporters of President Donald Trump after Trump lost his 2020 election in Georgia against Democrat Joe Biden. Trump famously called on Raffensperger to find enough votes to reverse his loss in the Peach State.
Raffensperger defended the accuracy of the results and dismissed claims of fraud. Sterling, who was the agency’s chief operating officer, backed up his boss, blasting such allegations, as “insanities, fever dreams [and] made-up Internet cabal.”
Sterling will be competing in the Republican primary next year against Kelvin King, who vowed to support the hand counting of ballots. Georgia voters currently enter their choice by touchscreen and receive a printout of the result. A machine then reads the result embedded in a QR code on the paper. Starting next summer, that QR code will go away under a new state law, and the secretary of state will have to devise a new method of voting.
King is married to State Election Board member Janelle King, who asserted at a legislative hearing last week that technical problems with the current ballot scanners caused flawed counts. (Raffensperger’s office responded that the machines were used improperly, attributing one erroneous outcome to human error.)
Janelle King was appointed to the board by House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.
Burns also appointed another candidate to an election-related role.
Rep. Tim Fleming, R-Covington, a former chief of staff for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, is also raising money for a secretary of state run. Burns appointed Fleming to lead a blue ribbon committee investigating election procedures and security. It has been traveling the state to hear from officials and the public, giving Fleming airtime.
A Democrat, Adrian Consonery, Jr., has also filed paperwork to raise campaign funds for a run at becoming the next secretary of state.
