Life comes at you fast. Most of it is just smoke and mirrors. We're here to clear the air. Whether
it's the can't make this up moments or the hard truths hitting our streets in our state,
we're finding the signal in all that noise. No spin, no nonsense, just the facts, the fallout,
and the truth, and the truth. And a little bit of humor. Grab your coffee. It's time for the morning drip on WRTO.FM, Radio Free Georgia.
Hey, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the morning drip for Tuesday. It is July 21st, July 21st, 2026.
It's me, Grady D. It's me, Grady D. It's me, Grady D. It's me, Grady D. It's me, Grady D. It's me, Grady D. Here with you for another broadcast to cover news that I think is important. Some funny crap. It's not so funny crap. Information I think you need to know. Phone lines are open. Number is 229-520-5957. Again, that's 229-520-5957. Or you can text that same number, 24-7-365, 229-520-5957. Or shoot us an email. The email address, of course, is
morning drip at WRTO.FM. I hope you're doing well. I hope that you have been taking care of yourself through all of this excessive, excessive heat. Now we've got a tropical storm down in the Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico. It is not the freaking Gulf of America. I don't give a shit what the Trump administration says. What is it? Bertha? Is that the name of the storm? Anyway,
we're still looking at high temperatures. The real fill. Oh, we get a little bit of a reprieve today. The real fill is supposed to hit about 100. Tomorrow's 102. Thursday's 102. Friday's 103. By next Monday, and of course, take this with a grain of salt because it'll probably change.
The heat index might hit 105. But we're looking at temps of 90 today, 93, 95, 94, 93 by Saturday, 91 Sunday, and then 95 next Monday.
So again, as I've said, so again, as I've said, ad nauseum. If you happen to be in your job, have to work outside, make sure that you take adequate breaks, get in some shade, stay hydrated. And if you're in a warehouse environment, do the same thing. And if your boss gives you any flack about it, tell him to shut the hell up because Grady D, with the morning drip, said you got to take care of your health.
Speaking of health and education, we're going to cover a couple of things this morning dealing with the educational system here in the great state of Georgia.
But we're going to start out with me asking you a simple question. Do you play the lottery? If you live here in Georgia, do you play the lottery? My answer is yes. And I would go one step further and ask you, if you do play the lottery, do you always make it a point to go buy a store somewhere and buy your tickets there?
Or are you doing like I've been doing for a number of years now and taking advantage of the app that you can install on your phone? You can literally play the lottery in the comfort of your own home without having to go to a store or anything.
I mean, probably pisses the stores off, but this this has been something that you you've been able to do for a number of years.
It's harder to do it on a computer because they they do some geo tagging to make sure that you are located in Georgia, because if you're in Florida or Alabama, you can't play the Georgia lottery.
Apparently, at least the online versions, because it does geo geo track, geo tag, GPS, whatever you want to call it.
And I have found that it does not work all that great on a computer.
It actually they have to install some software so they can figure out where you're at.
And honestly, if you know anything about the way ISPs work, the IP address that you get may actually show that it's from a company that's located in another state.
Now, there is a way for those companies to allocate subnets or blocks or what have you and notate that they're in a different geographical reason.
But I don't necessarily have to do that, if I remember correctly.
Anyway, I went down a rabbit hole there.
Let's talk about the Georgia lottery.
The Georgia lottery has generated a record one point five four billion billion billion for education during fiscal year twenty twenty six.
It is the 11th consecutive year that it has contributed more than one billion dollars to Georgia's educational programs.
That's nearly 70 million dollars more than the previous year, bringing the lottery's total contributions to more than thirty one point three billion dollars since it began in nineteen ninety three.
That's a lot of money.
Lottery proceeds continue to fund the Hope Scholarship Program, of course, which has helped more than two point three million students attend college.
Georgia's voluntary pre-K program, which has served more than two point two million children.
And state leaders say the lottery's strong performance has helped restore one hundred percent hope tuition coverage at Georgia's public colleges and universities,
while also eliminating institutional fees, making higher education more affordable for Georgia families.
The fiscal year also produced the largest lottery jackpot in Georgia history with a nine hundred and eighty three million dollar mega millions ticket sold in Noonan.
And that was claimed earlier this year.
State officials say the lottery's continued success not only creates life changing prizes for players,
but it also provides a reliable source of funding for educational opportunities across Georgia.
Yeah, there's life changing opportunities.
Yeah, that's true.
There's a lot of people.
There's there's all kinds of horror stories out there about lottery winners and how they just can't deal with it or they go crazy and they're they're bankrupt within just a number of years.
And I've always told my wife, I said, look, I do play.
I play routinely.
I know it's I know I'm just pissing money away, but I only play Powerball one play two dollars each time.
I used to play the mega millions, but that damn thing went up to four dollars a play.
And I'm like, no, I'm not doing that.
And I've joked with my wife.
I'm like, I don't want to win a billion dollars.
What what would I do with a billion dollars?
That is so much responsibility.
And I know there's probably some of you out there.
It's like, dude, what the hell is wrong with you?
A billion dollars, nine hundred million strip out, what, thirty three percent of that?
You you you wind up with like five or six hundred million dollars.
That's institutional wealth.
That's that's family.
That's generational wealth, not institutional wealth.
That's generational wealth.
You know, if you play your cards right, you you pocket five hundred to six hundred million dollars.
You'll never have to work again.
Your kids will never have to work again and your kids.
Kids will never have to work again if you play it right.
You do the proper investments.
You know, just don't throw the money away.
And so I've always looked to the universe and said, look, I'm not I don't want to be greedy.
A couple of million dollars would be fine.
It'd pay off everything.
It would give us a nice little nest egg for retirement.
I could continue to work, but I wouldn't necessarily have to be worried about losing a client or anything like that.
But I'm not greedy.
Would I turn down five or six hundred million dollars?
No.
I mean, that would be ridiculous.
Could you imagine you just won five hundred million dollars after taxes and everything?
How do you feel?
I don't want it.
What?
I'd be like, dude.
But I can tell you this.
Fortunately, I believe we live in a state where you can stay anonymous because I believe this the winner in Noonan of this particular this particular ticket.
They stayed anonymous.
And that is the smartest thing to do.
Don't let anybody know.
Don't let anybody know that you won the lottery.
And I mean, don't suddenly go, you know, you got a two hundred fifty thousand dollar Porsche pulled up in your garage.
No, don't do crazy crap like that.
There's no need.
I would do repairs to my house, but I would do it in such a way that it would be like, well, this is normal stuff.
And if anybody asked, it was like, oh, I just took out a loan.
I'm not going to, you know, only my closest friends and family would know that I was a lottery winner.
I would never let the general public know.
But I would do upgrades to my house.
I might would do these upgrades, maybe buy some additional property, maybe build a modest house.
There's no way I'd be like, oh, yeah, I got to have a couple of million dollar home.
No, no.
Build up maybe by 10 to 25 acres.
Build a modest fifteen hundred to two thousand square foot single story house because my wife and I are getting older and going up and down stairs.
It's worse for her than it is for me right now.
But and as long as I can get fiber Internet there, that's the one thing that I'll pay a little extra for.
You know, if the provider is not there, I'll pay them.
If it costs one hundred thousand dollars to bring it out to my house, I'll pay the construction cost because that's the one thing I would have to have.
Anyway, those are all pipe dreams.
The good thing about this is the fact that it is helping the educational system in the state of Georgia and education is important.
Now, since we're on this topic of education, one other story is Georgia continues to rank among the nation's most affordable states for our education, placing fourth in the country for low in-state public college tuition.
And this is according to the U.S. News and World Report.
Tuition has remained relatively stable over the past decade, thanks in part to decisions by the state's Board of Regents, while programs like Hope, of course, and Zell Miller Scholarship help reduce costs even further.
Schools such as Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, also known as ABAC right here in Tifton, South Georgia State College, and East Georgia State College are among the state's most affordable options, with annual tuition starting at around $2,300.
That's not bad.
$2,300.
College is still too expensive, but that's more on the more reasonable side.
Georgia is also making it easier for families to save for future education through major improvements
to its path to college 529 plan.
A new law raises the maximum account balance from $235,000 to $550,000, while the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan Board has eliminated the plan's state administrative fee,
making it the lowest cost 529 college savings plan in the nation.
Let me read that to you again.
making it the lowest cost 529 college savings plan in the nation, right here in Georgia.
The plan offers tax-deferred growth, tax-free withdrawals for qualified education expenses,
and Georgia income tax deductions of up to $8,000 per beneficiary for married couples filing jointly,
and $4,000 for single filers.
Senate Bill 556 expands eligibility for state tax deductions on contributions to certain qualifying out-of-state 529 plans.
And state officials say the combination of affordable tuition, generous scholarship programs,
and enhanced college savings options is designed to make higher education more accessible for Georgia families.
Path to college funds can be used for college and universities, technical schools,
which I think is great because I think we need more people in the vocational sector,
in the trades, and not in college.
But that's just me because we're always going to need plumbers.
We're always going to need HVAC people.
We're always going to need electricians.
We're always going to need diesel mechanics.
We're always going to need heavy machinery mechanics.
Those are things that AI cannot do.
Can they assist with?
Yes.
But can they replace the hands-on human factor of being able to do all of this?
No, not yet.
Not until the robots take over.
But apprenticeships, K-12 tuition, and certain student loan repayments.
It gives families greater flexibility while helping students prepare for a wide range of educational opportunities.
And I'm 100%, 100% behind trade schools, vocational schools.
You know, you got Wiregrass over, headquartered out of Ben Hill County.
They've got a campus down in Valdosta.
I think they've got one.
Is it in Linux or somewhere else?
I forget.
I'd have to ask Deanna, who's the president.
We had a, as I've mentioned before, back around the end of January, beginning of February, we did, I did an interview with her.
And she's an old, old friend of mine.
But we did an interview with her about the vocational schools.
And yeah, what's the one we have here in Tifton?
Why am I drawing a blank?
Anyway, not to leave them out, but there's one here too.
I can't think of it.
Anyway, I think trade schools are better than college.
I'm not shitting on anybody that wants to go to college.
Just be prepared that when you get out of college, there probably aren't going to be any jobs for you, depending on what it is that you went in to study and major.
But if you go to a trade school and you go to learn about how to work with HVAC systems, work on cars, and yeah, even cars today.
I mean, you got to have a little bit of, you know, computer oomph because computers, yo, I mean, you have to connect to them.
And that's what, that's what helps diagnose these machines.
I mean, most modern vehicles, and I'm being facetious here, is, is basically a mobile computer on wheels.
That's it.
But if you go through those trade schools, you can usually find a job.
And within a number of years, if you have that entrepreneurial spirit, you can create your own, start your own company, man.
The number of, the number of HVAC companies that I have for clients, and then they've had employees leave and go start their own business.
And it seems like you would think, well, the market's saturated, right?
Apparently not.
It seems like there's enough work out there available for all of the HVAC companies that we have out there.
I know of four right off the top of my head that operate right here out of Tifton, Georgia.
And I know there are more.
Three of them.
Well, two of them are my clients.
One of them used to be my client.
So anyway, I pass it off to you.
Do you play the lottery?
What do you think about the amount of money that it has benefited the educational system right here in Georgia?
And if you have someone, if you have a kid that's getting ready to go to college, or maybe is a young one and you need to start planning for college, do you have a Path to College 529 plan?
And if so, what do you think of these new updates?
I mean, now you can put in up to $550,000 to be able to pay for college.
That is, that is awesome.
Anyway, phone lines are open 229-520-5957 or send me a text 24-7-365.
Same number, 229-520-5957.
Shoot us an email, morningjep at wrto.fm.
We're going to take a break and we'll be back in a bit.
Your alarm clock is a liar.
It says it's time to wake up, but you're still sleepwalking through life.
Stop the snooze.
Start the brew.
It's The Morning Drip on wrto.fm.
We're serving up unfiltered truth, questionable advice, and enough caffeine-fueled energy to power the entire Piedmont Plateau.
The Morning Drip.
Because sleeping in is for people with nothing to say.
Weekdays, only on Radio Free Georgia.
Hey everybody, welcome back to The Morning Drip.
It is me, Grady D, here with you this morning.
It is a Tuesday.
It is the 21st of July, 2026.
Like I said last week, we are barreling toward the end of July.
Getting into, is the dog days of summer in August?
I really don't hear that term much anymore.
Anyway, phone lines are currently open, 229-520-5957, or you can text 24-7-365, same number, 229-520-5957, or send us an email, morningdrip at wrto.fm.
All right, so we're going to stay in the educational system somewhat, but this is a little bit of a different story.
And it concerns a former teacher who has settled a lawsuit against the Oglethorpe County School District after being placed on indefinite leave over social media posts she made following the 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Michelle Mickens, I think that's how you say her name, wrote that she did not support political violence, but also described Kirk as a, quote, horrible person and said, quote, the world is a bit safer without him.
By the way, I happen to agree with her.
A, I don't believe that political violence is the answer, but at the same time, what's the old adage, you reap what you sow?
I mean, this is a man who professed that having deaths related to the freedom to own a gun being appropriate because of the fact that we need to maintain the Second Amendment.
You know, that takes a bit of cognitive dissonance to really figure that one out.
But after screenshots of the post spread online, the district placed her on leave, revoked her access to school systems, and allegedly encouraged her to resign.
The settlement provides Mickens with approximately $270,000 for alleged emotional distress and about $17,000 for attorney's fees while she agreed not to seek employment with the district again.
Basically, they're like, look, we fucked up, but will you just go away?
Represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mickens argued her comments were protected by the First Amendment because they were made on her private social media account as a private citizen.
The problem that we run into with teachers, and I've talked about this before, is they have this morality clause in their contracts, at least I've heard.
I've never actually seen the contract, I've never seen the clause, but I have heard reported in many instances that there is one, and I've brought this one up before too.
If you'll recall several years ago, there was a teacher who went out partying with some friends.
She was at a bar, and there were some photos taken of her, not doing anything risque, but, you know, having a good time.
She was fully clothed, had a drink in her hand, and the school system that she worked for fired her because of those, and those were posted on her own personal Facebook page, if I recall correctly.
It's not like she had access to the school system's Facebook page and posted it there and went, hey, kids, this is what you're supposed to do to blow off steam, right?
No, that was her personal life.
That's the thing that people don't seem to understand in this damn country.
The job is a job.
Your personal life is your personal life.
What, for most instances, what you do in your personal life shouldn't have a damn thing to do with your job, and it's none of your job's business what you do in your personal life.
As long as you're not doing anything illegal, breaking the law, you know, if you like to go to the bar in Taiwan on every Saturday night,
get rip-roaring drunk, but you're not hurting anybody, you don't go out and have a DUI or anything like that.
That's none of your job's business, all right?
And I realize that some of you probably disagree and is like, well, this is a teacher.
They're supposed to be of good moral character, and, you know, they're there to guide our children.
Look, I get that, okay?
But they're still people.
They're still human beings, all right?
So, the SPLC said the agreement reflects longstanding court rulings recognizing that public school employees retain constitutional free speech rights outside the workplace,
although those rights can be balanced against an employer's interest in maintaining effective operations.
I get that, too.
You know, if you're doing something in your personal life that actually directly affects the operation of the business that you work for, that's a different matter.
The case is part of a broader national debate over educational off-duty social media speech following Kirk's death and several teachers around the country face suspensions or termination after posting comments viewed as celebrating or justifying the assassination,
with some later being reinstated or reaching legal settlements and settlements.
The Oglethorpe County School District has not publicly commented on the settlement's terms.
There's also the one, I don't remember where this was at.
It wasn't in Georgia, I don't believe, but he's a former police officer, sheriff's deputy or something.
And, you know, he made some comments on his Facebook page, very similar in scope to what she she said.
And he got a he got a visit from the police department or the sheriff's department, and they wound up putting him in jail, I think, for 30 days for free speech.
They violated his rights because he didn't threaten anybody.
He just simply, like a lot of us who realized who Charlie Kirk really was, was just pointing out the fact that, as I said at the beginning of this story, you reap what you sow.
We don't condone the fact that he was assassinated.
That's the thing you need to understand.
At no point have I ever said that I condoned him being killed.
I think that was a tragedy.
I think it was a, you know, his kids have to grow up without a father, the wife, you know, don't get me started on her, Erica, but she has to grow.
She she has to continue on with her life without a husband.
And though there I'm going to walk a fine line here.
There is a time and a place for violence, not political violence, but there is a time and a place.
Sometimes you have to do something to get people's attention if you try to do the normal, you know, sanctions and this and that and the other.
But again, we should always, always, always try our best to democratically come to a consensus, come to a compromise in our disagreements.
Some would argue that the world is better off with him no longer in it.
You can make that decision on your own.
But when someone's out there basically stating on their own social media platform, their own personal platform that they think that even though they don't agree that he got killed, they can understand why.
And it's not something that was unexpected.
Doesn't make it right.
It absolutely does not make it right.
But it's not unexpected.
So there was a rash, a rash of these.
And there was a lot of folks on the right.
I mean, if you said one negative thing, anybody that literally was bringing up quotes, not just paraphrasing, but actually taking screenshots of things that Charlie Kirk had actually said,
were being, were being lambasted and browbeaten and threatened with the loss of their job or bodily harm or all kinds of stuff like that.
And it was coming from the right.
It was so vitriolic.
Anyway, that's my feelings on it.
You know, good for her.
I think it was a, I think it was a bad misstep by the school system to even put her through this.
I'm glad that she was able to settle with them.
Maybe the money makes things a little better and maybe she'll get a better job somewhere else.
You know, I don't know if this winds up making her blackballed, not being able to work in any, any school system in the country.
I would hope not.
But school systems that do this, in my personal opinion, are nothing but cowards.
They're nothing but cowards.
But what are your thoughts?
2-2-9-5-2-0-5-9-5-7.
Call it.
Text it.
Email us.
Morningdrip at wrto.fm.
We're going to take another break and we'll be back in a bit.
Broadcasting from the heart of South Georgia, wrto.fm is your home for independent voices,
liberated perspectives, uncensored conversation, and great music streaming 24-7.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Morning Drip for Tuesday.
It is the 21st of July, 2026.
I hope you're doing well.
We're getting into our final segment.
Phone lines are still open at 229-5-2-0-5-9-5-7 or you can text 24-7-365.
Same number, 229-5-2-0-5-9-5-7.
Or shoot me an email, morningdrip at wrto.fm.
All right, so our final story of the day deals with lawsuits.
Woohoo!
Now, this is dealing with a large-scale solar project in Irwin County, of all places.
So there's an Irwin County couple.
They have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop or modify a proposed 2,000-acre solar farm that
they say would dramatically alter the rural landscape around their home.
The lawsuit alleges the large-scale project, which is tied to next-era energy, would create
a long-term nuisance, reduce property values, increase safety and environmental risks, and
effectively surround their property with industrial solar equipment.
The couple also claim project crews trespassed onto their land and that drones associated with
development entered the airspace around their home.
The lawsuit also challenges the role of the Ocella-Irwin County Industrial Development Authority,
alleging that a tax incentive and bond financing arrangement unfairly benefits the developer.
In addition, the plaintiffs claim conflicts of interest involving an economic development consultant
with financial ties to land connected to the project.
Yeah, that's a no-no.
The suit seeks compensation for alleged property damage and loss of enjoyment of their home,
along with attorney's fees, punitive damages, and a jury trial.
This case comes as South Georgia communities continue, of course, to debate the rapid expansion
of large-scale energy products, which are linked to growing data center development.
Similar concerns have recently surfaced in neighboring Mitchell County.
Where residents question plans for a major power plant that could support future data centers.
And while this lawsuit focuses specifically on property rights and the proposed solar farm,
it highlights the broader regional debate over balancing economic development with the concerns
of nearby residents.
And we have talked about data centers for months now and how they've, nobody wants them in their backyard.
They don't want the noise.
They don't want the potential price hikes when it comes to power.
Now, the one thing I will say in this particular instance, and I'm not taking sides on this particular
development as far as the lawsuit, the 2,000-acre solar farm, if you will.
I 100% support solar energy projects.
I 100% support wind projects for power.
Unlike the current administration and the buffoon who is leading it that doesn't seem to understand
any of this, I 100% support these.
I understand this couple's concern and hopefully they can come to a resolution that benefits everybody.
But I am concerned because I saw my daughter actually emailed us a story this morning where you've
heard of eminent domain.
That's basically where the government can say, look, we're going to offer you what is considered fair
market value for your property, but if you don't accept it, we're just going to seize it and then you're
shit out of luck, right?
And that where they're needing to build new distribution networks, power lines, if you don't give up the goods,
they're going to take them.
And I personally, I don't, I've never liked the idea of eminent domain anyway.
I don't like being told that I have to sell my property, move out of my house and go find somewhere
else to live, especially in the current housing market.
Because, I mean, let's say fair market value for my property, which I don't honestly know what it is
right now.
But let's say I live in an area where fair market value is $400,000 and they're like, take it or take
this money or we're going to just take your property and give you nothing and kick your ass out.
So I take $400,000.
I may not be able to buy something that's comparable to what I just had to give up at $400,000.
So it could potentially put me in a financial hole or I have to settle for less house and land
amenities, whatever, than what I had.
Because some power company or some data center, some rich tech bro has decided that, you know,
they need to build straight through my property so that they can keep adding to the billions
and billions and billions that they already have.
I'm not against making money.
Don't misunderstand me.
I'm a business owner.
I like to make money.
But there comes a point where you have enough.
All right.
And if you think that's communist, then you don't understand socialism or specifically
democratic socialism, which I've talked about before.
It's all for the greater good of everybody.
But we got a we got a bunch of greedy motherfuckers in this world.
Hell, for all I know, you may be one.
I don't know.
I'm not judging.
But if you are, you need to read.
You need to take a long, long look at yourself in the mirror.
Anyway, that's going to wrap it up for this edition of The Morning Drip for Tuesday, the
21st of July, 2026.
The phone lines are now closed, but don't you worry.
You can still text that same number 24-7-365-229-520-5957.
Or you can shoot us an email, morningdrip at wrto.fm.
We'll be back tomorrow, hopefully, around 730 in the morning for another edition of The
Morning Drip.
Until then, take care of yourselves.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Try to stay hydrated.
Try to take breaks as often as you can.
Because no job is worth dying for.
All right, everybody.
Take care of yourselves.
Good morning.