Morning, y’all! True story: I once kept a gym membership two years after I stopped going because their cancellation policy was confusing. No, I didn’t forget. I worried about it almost daily. Sadly, a “click-to-cancel” rule that would make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions was blocked by a federal judge before it could take effect. With that reminder, maybe today is the day to finally cancel that service you never use. (We all have one lying around.) Here’s some help.
Let’s get to it.
THE CARTERS’ BELOVED CAREGIVER ON HER PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY
Mary Prince, the woman who spent decades as a caregiver for Jimmy Carter’s family, has lived a thousand lives.
Prince served as a nanny to Amy Carter, the Carters’ daughter, when she first met the family 54 years ago. Through the decades, she cared for two generations of Carters and became a beloved member of the presidential family.
AJC Political Insider columnist Patricia Murphy caught up with Prince at a ceremony to dedicate the Plains Post Office to President and Mrs. Carter. It’s a lovely article packed with fascinating details.
- Prince was paired with the Carters through a work program for convicted criminals. She had spent time in jail on a murder conviction. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter staunchly believed Prince was the victim of a wrongful conviction. She was eventually granted a full pardon by the state of Georgia.
- Jimmy Carter dedicated his book, “Sharing Good Times,” to Prince, “whom we love and cherish.”
- “President Carter taught me a lot about life, about trust in life,” she said. “Because when I went to prison, I lost trust. But my love for kids remained.”
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LAWMAKERS VISIT FLORIDA ICE FACILITY
Democratic lawmakers condemned the new immigration detention center in Florida after visiting the site on Saturday as part of a state-arranged tour.
The 3,000-bed facility, built on an airstrip in the middle of swampland, has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Lawmakers were blocked from viewing the site before this weekend’s visit.
- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and fellow Florida Democrats said the temperature in some of the interior areas reached 85 degrees, groups of more than 30 people were kept in the same caged-in area with limited access to toilets and sinks, and the facility was crawling with bugs.
- “There are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut the hell down,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This place is a stunt, and they’re abusing human beings here.”
- Republicans on the very same tour said they didn’t see anything wrong.
- Detainees and their relatives have also reported dangerous, unsanitary conditions at the center. Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman called such claims “completely false.”
🔎 READ MORE: More details from inside the facility
OTHER STORIES WE’RE WATCHING
Two people were killed in a shooting at a Kentucky church Sunday. The rampage began as a traffic stop. The suspect shot and wounded a police trooper, stole another car, drove to Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington and opened fire. More here.
Heavy rains brought a stop to the ongoing search for victims of Texas’ catastrophic floods. It’s the first time the search has been paused since the rising Guadalupe River ravaged the area July 4. At least 132 people were killed in the floods. Authorities say more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County. More here.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💵 Keystone Foods, a Tyson Foods subsidiary, now faces a federal fine related to a deadly explosion at a facility in southwest Georgia last December. The U.S. Department of Labor said the company failed to protect workers against fire hazards.
⚖️ The Justice Department fired additional lawyers and support staff involved in prosecutions against President Donald Trump.
💰 The EU is delaying retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in hopes of reaching an agreement by the beginning of August. Trump recently announced an imminent 30% tariff on goods from the EU and Mexico.
📦 UPS recently vacated an office building next to its Sandy Springs headquarters, relocating around 500 employees and adding more empty workspace to a market flooded with offices in transition.
CATCHING UP ON ALL-STAR WEEK
MLB All-Star events are in full swing (ha!) around Truist Park in Cobb County. Georgia natives got their chance to shine in Friday’s HBCU Swingman Classic. On Saturday, the celebrity softball game pitted pro sports Hall-of-Famers against some social media influencers. Quavo was there, too.
The festivities have also boosted local businesses in the stadium-adjacent Battery and along Cobb Parkway.
Tonight is the Home Run Derby, and the actual All-Star Game is Tuesday.
Oh, and I’ll be there. Follow me on Instagram @AJWillinghamATL so I can take you along, and let me know if there’s anything specific you want me to check out.
NEWS BITES
Check out all the AJC’s Falcons preseason position previews
It’s never too early to stress out about football.
Breakfast cereal sales have been in decline for decades
That’s shocking, honestly. We ride for Golden Grahams in this house.
Hungary’s oldest library is fighting to save thousands of old books from a beetle infestation
The bibliophile community has a new nemesis. Count your days, beetles.
Chuck E. Cheese opens arcades for adults, including one in Buford
Is the actual Chuck E. Cheese there, though? He might be. He might be looming behind the Skee Ball as we speak. Waiting. Watching. Plotting.
ON THIS DATE
July 14, 1985
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: The whole world watches Live Aid benefit for Africa. They threw a party for Africa here and in London on Saturday. The whole world showed up. Live Aid, the mega concert brainchild of Irish rock singer Bob Geldof, came off as a joyful, profitable attempt to entertain an estimated 1.5 billion TV viewers worldwide, 90,000 sweltering fans in John F. Kennedy Stadium and 75,000 more in London’s Wembley Stadium — while proclaiming itself “a concert to end world hunger.”
Forty years ago, Live Aid changed media, music, celebrity activism and live performances forever. Oh, and it actually did help reduce the raging famine in Ethiopia. Not sure I’d call it “a party for Africa,” though.
ONE MORE THING
RE: The gym membership thing. In my defense, it was one of those really inexpensive gyms. I know, I know. I have mental problems. A lifetime subscription to them, actually.
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.
