Morning, y’all. Happy Monday, happy June, happy summer break, happy Pride. Also, happy wallet: Those Georgia tax refund checks of up to $500 should be coming soon, the state says. More info here.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR SUMMER CALENDAR UPDATE
Pull up your Google Cal or that Hunky Hometown Firefighter Calendar they were selling for charity (which of course, you had to buy). Summer’s going to be stacked in Atlanta, with several world and national events and the usual round of regional fetes. If you’re not taking part, you can at least know when traffic’s going to be especially bad.
⚽ FIFA Club World Cup: June 16 - July 5
- Atlanta’s hosting six games in the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup. Chelsea FC and Manchester City are two of the big international teams headed to Mercedes-Benz.
✊🏿 Juneteenth: June 14-15, June 19
- Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. and has been a federal holiday on June 19 since 2021. Of course, Atlanta’s been doing Juneteenth up for way longer. The 13th annual Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival begins June 14.
🔥 WWE Weekend Takeover: July 12-13
- Three major WWE wrestling events will rock Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
⚾ MLB All-Star game: July 15
- Truist Park is getting ready for its close-up, and the game itself is just part of the festivities. Don’t forget the Home Run Derby, the HBCU Classic and all the fun your little baseball heart can handle at the All-Star Village near the park.
🏈 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: Aug. 30
- For some reason, big events tend to overlap in the city. This is one, because it goes on at the same time as ...
🐉 Dragon Con: Aug. 28 - Sept. 1
- ... Southern Nerd Christmas. (You bet I’ll be there.) People in outrageous cosplays mingling with groups in college football jerseys, it’s either hotter than an oven or raining buckets; the perfect Atlanta weekend.
🎵 Big summer concerts: Beyoncé, Shakira, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band
READ MORE: Even more major summer events around the city
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A NEW REPORT ON HOMELESSNESS IN ATLANTA
The number of families experiencing homelessness in Atlanta increased 14% this year, according to a new report from the nonprofit Partners for Home. The group’s leaders cite a lack of affordable housing as a main reason for the rise.
However, the report also revealed some hopeful signs.
- The number of unsheltered people in the city has increased by only 1% in 2025.
- An expansion in permanent housing options has led to a 9% decrease in chronic homelessness.
- The number of homeless veterans and homeless young people ages 18 to 24 also decreased, by 3% and 6%, respectively.
Partners for Home CEO Cathryn Vassell says she hopes the numbers reflect a plateau that advocates can use to build new methods of housing stability.
MORE DEATHS AT EMBATTLED FULTON COUNTY JAIL
Two Fulton County Jail inmates died in the past week of May alone. Four inmates have died in the facility this year, matching the total for the entirety of 2024.
- Benjamin Pike, 55, was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead after efforts to revive him failed.
- Shon Disola, 53, died in a hospital after experiencing a medical emergency at the jail a week before.
Fulton County Jail faces long-standing scrutiny over poor conditions. An investigative report from the Department of Justice last November called conditions at the jail “abhorrent” and “unconstitutional.” It also found deputies and detention officers use unjustified force on inmates and the jail fails to protect inmates against violence.
Earlier this year, the DOJ and Fulton County Jail reached an agreement to improve conditions through facility upgrades and better access to mental health and education resources. The full list of promised improvements is here.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
⚕️ Georgia is the only state in the U.S. with work requirements for Medicaid. Congressional Republicans are now poised to pass a bill enacting similar requirements nationwide. Some hope it means more Medicaid recipients would return to work, but that’s not been the case here.
🚀 President Donald Trump will reportedly withdraw the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman is part of Elon Musk’s circle. Trump said he reached the decision after reviewing Isaacman’s “prior associations.” Are those two things related? The White House declined to elaborate.
BLACK HAIR CARE AND TARIFFS
Most industries are uniquely affected by the Trump administration’s tariff raises, and the Black hair industry is no different.
- Many braiders, stylists and other Black hair care professionals rely on hair and other beauty tools imported from China. A large amount of imported human hair also comes from India.
- April’s temporary 145% tariff rate on Chinese imports, and the lower current rate of 30%, has changed the way these professionals work.
- Now, some hair dressers have had to ask clients to bring their own hair for appointments. Others offer more limited services.
- Some stylists told the AJC the costs of their synthetic hair orders have doubled in the past few months.
It means more than wefts and bundles. Black women shoulder a different burden for beauty standards, because some spaces still see natural hairstyles as less “professional.” Maintaining Black hair can also be very expensive, whether natural or not.
NEWS BITES
Cool Atlanta wellness events to reset this June
Relax and let the universe blow in the dusty video game cartridge that is your brain.
Still waiting on a triumphant rise, the under-.500 Braves may just be ... this
Some very existential baseball thoughts from our own Ken Sugiura.
Delicious new dishes to try around the city this month
Featuring hibiscus tacos, pork belly doughnuts and more strange culinary bedfellows.
Johann Strauss’ famous ‘Blue Danube’ beamed into space
Imagine explaining to a neurotic Austrian hypochondriac from the 1800s that his little ditty would go to space. I don’t know how he’d take it.
ON THIS DATE
June 2, 1977
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: Carter OKs disaster aid to shrimpers. President Carter has declared Georgia’s six coastal counties a disaster area as the result of the frigid weather that all but wiped out the state’s vital shrimp population last winter … Gov. George Busbee’s office estimated the crisis could mean a loss of up to $20 million if the shrimp population is not renewed.
A reminder of how vulnerable some of our most treasured industries can be, and how important it is they get the support they need to thrive. Georgia’s oyster industry recently got a boost with new year-round harvest permissions.
ONE MORE THING
While contemplating the Blue Danube story in “News Bites,” I learned the tune is sometimes sung at Mexican birthday parties with the words “Queremos pastel (pastel, pastel),” meaning “We want cake.” Outstanding.
(There’s also a direct cultural line between European waltz/polka music and traditional Mexican music, but that’s a story for another day.)
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.
