Morning, y’all! Who is ready for the weekend? How about for the Fourth of July? Well, you have a little time to prep for that, especially if you are flying — today, July 6 and July 7 are likely to be the busiest days. We’ve also got fireworks spots for you to start scouting.
Let’s also take a step forward about one year, for all of you who are thinking ahead for the World Cup.
ATL GOV IS ON THE CLOCK
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
You’ve maybe considered the option before a trip: Should you rent out your home for extra cash while you’re gone?
Well, that question takes extra weight when it comes to the 2026 World Cup, which will bring soccer-hungry fans from around the world to Atlanta for eight matches. Officials peg each match as being the equivalent of the Super Bowl.
💵 Airbnb expects 6,000 of its users will be looking for places to rent in Atlanta during the tournament and that its hosts will add $4,000 in supplemental income.
But not so fast.
Atlanta’s lawmakers have, for years, attempted to set regulations around the short-term rental industry as part of an effort to curb unruly party houses and rental takeovers of single-family neighborhoods.
- In 2022, Atlanta’s lawmakers implemented regulations that required a permit to operate, but as of May, only around 2,200 people have applied for the license, while thousands more operate rentals without.
The City Council is currently mulling more changes — like a distance requirement between rentals (both 1,000- and 2,000-foot minimums have been floated) and a cap on the number allowed in multifamily buildings.
- Current short-term rental owners would be exempted from the new rules — but only if they’ve previously obtained a permit with the city.
🗣️ Council Member Byron Amos, who represents a district adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium: “Short-term rental is the best thing that happened to some, and it’s the worst thing to happen to others. It’s time that we address this as a city.”
🗣️ Rich Munroe, president of the Atlanta Metro Short Term Rental Alliance: “When you have these large events that come into town, what tends to happen is folks want to throw their house up there for a week or two to make some extra money. The unfortunate thing is there’s no real guidance, there’s no best practices, there’s no oversight for that.”
🔎 Read more: Inside Atlanta’s long-term debate over short-term rentals
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THE PERFECT HOME
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Some things are just right. And the choice to move a bronze, life-size statue of Otis Redding, Georgia’s soul-singing legend, to a prominent perch in downtown Macon is one of them.
It spent the better part of the past two decades in a small — and, as some might say, overlooked — waterfront park along the Ocmulgee River.
As the AJC’s Joe Kovak Jr. writes, a circular pool was added when the statue was installed on the street corner in May.
He writes: “Propelled by a pump below the surface, the water inside burbles. No, forget that. At the feet of a musical giant known for belting his heart out, one who died at age 26 and whose work flows on half a century later, water swashes. It sashays. It rolls.”
Ahh, beautiful.
🎵 The AJC has also had some crazy good coverage of Atlanta’s music scene. Don’t miss these.
- Women in Atlanta’s music scene see the federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs as exposing gender discrimination — and worse — as well as a chance to raise advocacy. (By DeAsia Paige)
- Is Atlanta still the Black Mecca of music? (Watch the video)
KEEPING BUSY
For the first time since the death of former President Jimmy Carter, supporters of the Carter Center are gathering this weekend in West Virginia for their annual fundraising retreat. Read this beautiful story from the AJC’s Ernie Suggs about all that.
Here are some more local options:
👟 Sneaker Con Atlanta: Buy, sell and trade sought-after sneakers. Streetwear, apparel and accessories will also be available, and you’ll be able to get free authentication and cleaning for your kicks.
🌶️ Atlanta International Night Market: A free festival in Chamblee that weaves cultural arts, education and cuisine into a gathering that displays metro Atlanta’s vibrant diversity, on Friday and Saturday.
🎥 Lawrenceville Movie Club: Bring blankets or lawn chairs, indulge in some goodies from food trucks and watch “Hook” outdoors at 7 p.m. tonight. The movie features Robin Williams as Peter Pan, Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook.
🍨 Eat ice cream: Eight heat-melting options to choose from.
DID AI DO THAT?
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Have you flown international through Hartsfield-Jackson lately? New biometric processes at customs and international boarding gates offer a glimpse into the possible future of airport security.
You still need your passport easily accessible. But if there’s no issue, a passenger can now walk through within a few seconds.
Within a few weeks, Atlanta’s Global Entry line will have other kinds of camera totems that can capture passengers’ images as they walk by — with no need for them to even stop.
🔎 Read more: How AI is revolutionizing the international terminal
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ The Republican Party is trying to install voter challengers and election cynics on metro Atlanta election boards, an attempt to put conservative activists in power over a system they distrust.
🗑️ Recycling participation citywide is about 23% — up from 11% in 2017, according to an audit. That lags behind the 32% nationwide rate, according to the EPA. The audit found that an education campaign and enforcement of rules for apartment communities could keep more reusable material from ending up in the dump.
🏛️ The Supreme Court is meeting today to decide the final six cases of its term, including President Donald Trump’s bid to enforce his executive order denying birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of parents who are in the country illegally.
PICK A LIFESAVER
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
A new kind of vending machine greets visitors to the Newton County Detention Center from its perch between the door and the cash deposit kiosk.
But it’s not selling candy or snacks or soda. It’s offering naloxone, an emergency medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, for free.
NEWS BITES
Did you see it? Meteor spotted over Georgia, Southeast, reports say
At this point, I’m guessing it was a pig.
Atlanta-filmed shows are Amazon Prime’s top 3 original comedies
“You’re Cordially Invited,” “The Idea of You” and “Coming 2 America.” I have seen ... part of one of these. Which was your favorite?
Leave it to the pros: Atlanta experts encourage fireworks safety
As my grandma used to say: There are a lot of idiots. Sometimes those idiots are us.
Atlanta sports reporter says Uber driver attacked her. Then social media threats came.
Please see yesterday’s newsletter.
ON THIS DATE
June 27, 1999
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Thrashers are No. 1 — in the draft —The Atlanta Journal. The Atlanta Thrashers still don’t have a coach, but the National Hockey League expansion team now has a player to build its future on. The Thrashers chose Patrik Stefan, an 18-year-old center from the Czech Republic, with the first pick in the NHL entry draft Saturday after moving up in a trade.
The Atlanta Thrashers joined the NHL in the 1999-2000 season. The team was sold and relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. Entrepreneur Vernon Krause is trying to bring hockey back in Forsyth County. Our readers over at the Sports Daily newsletter came up with a few potential names: The Flaming Thrashers, The Forsyth Sith, The Frozen Peaches, The Shiners and The Silverbacks.
ONE MORE THING
I’ve got a tradition I carried forward from my parents. It’s an open-door Friday night, anybody come over for drinks and food. I’ll (poorly) mix an experimental cocktail of my choosing. (Champagne-rum-ginger beer-honey, anyone?) It’s called Mandeling. But my process is about to change after reading Olivia Wakim’s story on the omakase craze that’s come to Atlanta. Hence forth, Mandeling will take place at Tiger Sun, in the hands of experts.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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