Morning, y’all! It’s going to be a frustrating day for Atlanta bus commuters. Route changes for Atlanta Xpress commuter buses start today, and by “changes” I mean the discontinuation of 13 whole routes and overall decreased frequency. Happy Monday!
Let’s get to it.
A VERY POLITICAL WEEKEND
Millions turned out for nationwide anti-Trump protests on Saturday. While overwhelmingly peaceful, the demonstrations had an extra edge after a man shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses early Saturday morning. The suspected gunman was arrested Sunday night.
‘No Kings’ protests in Georgia:
- About 10,000 people attended rallies around the city, Atlanta police said.
- The Georgia State Patrol and DeKalb police deployed tear gas at a DeKalb demonstration, and eight people were arrested.
- Mario Guevara, an Atlanta-based Spanish language reporter known for his coverage of immigration raids in the area, was among those arrested in DeKalb despite bearing visible media credentials.
🔎 READ MORE: Scenes from downtown Atlanta protests
Large crowds also gathered in Athens, Macon, Savannah and many other cities across the state. AJC reporters were on the scene in all three locations, and talked to people about why they showed out. Read their dispatches here.
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MINNESOTA LAWMAKER SHOOTINGS
Vance Boelter, the man suspected of shooting two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers, was arrested Sunday evening in the state.
- Boelter allegedly shot and killed former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home Saturday.
- He also shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home about nine miles away, according to police. Both were seriously injured.
- Authorities allege Boelter wore a mask and altered his car to look like a police vehicle.
- Police haven’t released a motive, but writings recovered from Boelter’s suspected vehicle contained lists of prominent state and federal lawmakers as well as abortion rights advocates.
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the attacks “a politically motivated assassination.”
🔎 READ MORE: What police know about the suspect so far
This can't be who we are as a country. We need to make sure that people can participate in the political system freely without fear of violence.
🔎 READ MORE: Georgia leaders respond to attack in Minnesota
NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD FOREVER CHEMICALS STORY
Emory University researchers announced the results of a study testing the amount of forever chemicals in North Georgia residents’ blood. It’s not good.
- Many residents of Rome and Calhoun, both in Northwest Georgia, have higher levels of PFAS in their veins than most of the U.S. population. In some cases, several orders of magnitude more.
- Factories in the area have used such manmade compounds for decades, contaminating land, rivers and drinking water supplies.
- Locals have been sounding the alarm for just as long, and several lawsuits have been brought against chemical and flooring companies in the region.
- Emory wants to expand the study and further research how such exposure affects people’s health.
🔎 READ MORE: ‘I feel lost:’ Residents react to discovery of high PFA blood levels
TIME FOR THE CLUB WORLD CUP
The Club World Cup kicked off in Miami this weekend, and Atlanta games start today at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Now with new grass!)
What is the Club World Cup? The AJC’s Doug Roberson has a must-read guide, but in short, it’s like the World Cup for club teams around the world instead of national teams. (Like Manchester United instead of, say, the England National Team.)
Atlanta is hosting six matches: Three group stage matches, two round of 16 matches and a quarterfinal. Here are the dates of the group matches.
- Monday, June 16: Chelsea vs. Club Leon
- Thursday, June 19: Inter Miami vs. FC Porto
- Sunday, June 22: Manchester City vs. Al Ain FC
The round of 16 matches will take place on June 29 and July 1. The quarterfinal match is on July 5.
⚽ READ MORE: Get to know the teams coming to Atlanta
NEWS BITES
The Braves bullpen imploded again in 10-1 loss to league-worst Colorado Rockies
I’m surprised there weren’t visible clouds of noxious vibes at Truist Park after that one.
How Coca-Cola conquered the South and crushed the competition
If they were drinking the original Coca-Cola formula, everyone at the company would have been strung out on cocaine like a pack of soda business berserkers. That could explain some things.
Extremely on-brand for an American pope.
Men who stole $6 million gold toilet from English mansion sentenced to prison
It’s all laughs until you find out the title of the toilet art piece is “America.” ☹️
ON THIS DATE
June 16, 2000
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: New concert hall: 14th and Peachtree an option A day after approving a new campus master plan, the Woodruff Arts Center disclosed it has its eye on a prime Midtown corner – at 14th and Peachtree streets – for a new concert hall for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Oof, this one hurts. The new hall, an otherworldly confection designed by Spanish architecture great Santiago Calatrava, never came to be, and the ASO is still dreaming of an updated (and more acoustically ... elegant) space.
ONE MORE THING
As delightful as it would have been to have a Calatrava-designed symphony hall, I’ll be honest: The concept was a little outlandish even by his standards. Fun architecture fact, though: If you see similarities between Calatrava’s Atlanta Symphony Center plans and the 1880 Peachtree building, that’s no accident. The swooping tower was supposed to be a thematic companion to Calatrava’s scrapped complex.
If you’re not familiar with the midtown Atlanta skyline, 1180 Peachtree is the shiny double sail deal. And the AJC is right next door now! How lucky are we?
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
