Morning, y’all! The days of seeing “For Sale” signs disappear within hours are over. Homes in the metro area are taking longer to sell, and buyer demand isn’t what it used to be. (An open house near me had so many bells, whistles, streamers and pinwheels I thought it was a birthday party.)
Let’s get to it.
WHEN ICE RIDES SHOTGUN
In at least two incidents in June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers joined Chatham County police officers to find and arrest immigrants near Savannah.
In one instance, police records specifically say an ICE agent was riding with an officer in the front seat of his car.
In the other, an ICE agent came onto the scene of a traffic stop, told the officer they suspected the two men in the vehicle were in the country illegally, handcuffed the men and put them in the back of the Chatham County police car.
Why is this unusual?
- While we’ve seen increased cooperation between local Georgia authorities and ICE — mandated by legislation backed by Gov. Brian Kemp — the cooperation usually happens after someone is apprehended, when placing people in jails or detention centers.
- A spokesperson for Chatham County Police said the department doesn’t have a formal arrangement with ICE, “nor do we make it a practice to have ICE agents ride as passengers in patrol vehicles.”
- The spokesperson also said the Department of Homeland Security specifically asked for “law enforcement assistance” in a predominantly Hispanic area of town.
- Rosie Harrison, head of a Savannah-based immigrant advocacy organization, says the rate at which ICE finds and arrests people leads her to believe they’re consistently working closely with local law enforcement.
- As for the localized dragnet, she said, “If this is not racial profiling, it surely looks like it is.”
🔎 READ MORE: What police reports from the Savannah incidents reveal
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GO TO JAIL?
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts proposed a new detention facility on the grounds of the controversial Rice Street jail in downtown Atlanta.
The new building would house up to 1,800 inmates with medical, mental health or other special needs. It would cost, along with repairs to the existing jail, around $1.1 billion.
🔎 READ MORE: Why Pitts stands behind the plan
The proposal comes on the heels of four new lawsuits against the Fulton County sheriff and others over grievous injuries sustained at the Rice Street jail. The facility was condemned in a 2024 Department of Justice report for “abhorrent, unconstitutional” conditions. Violence has been an ongoing concern.
🔎 READ MORE: Plaintiffs allege stabbings, beatings, brain damage
Now, back to the original question: How much does it cost to go to jail? One could argue it costs everything. The state of Georgia, however, has rounded it to about $75,000 a year.
The state’s new wrongful conviction compensation law entitles people to $75,000 for each year wrongfully spent behind bars. Even then, it’s not an automatic payout: Victims of wrongful conviction still need to fight political and legal battles to receive it.
🎥 WATCH: The wrongful conviction compensation law, explained
VOTER CANCELLATION ISSUES
Georgia’s undertaking one of the largest voter cancellation projects in national history. If you’ve accidentally been caught up in the canceled rolls, you have until Wednesday to contact your local election officials or simply reregister to vote. Learn more here.
- The state routinely makes massive voter cancellations, and voting rights advocates say it can easily lead to suppression and erasure of valid registrations.
- The cancellations are supposed to affect the registrations of people who have died, moved out of Georgia, or haven’t voted in several years. (Georgia employs a “use it or lose it” policy when it comes to this inalienable right.)
- An AJC analysis of voter data found at least 209,000 voters canceled during removals from 2017 to 2023 reregistered to vote. That’s one in five of the canceled registrations.
🔎 READ MORE: How GOP leaders make the case for regular voter cancellations
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ Speaking of voting, November’s going to be a big political month for Atlantans. The mayoral office, Atlanta City Council president and all 15 council member seats are up for grabs in the fall. Here are important dates for all the races.
🌿 A controversial weed killer could return to Georgia farms. Use of the herbicide dicamba was barred in 2024, but future EPA regulations could bring it back. Humans aren’t the concern here. Farmers and environmentalists report the chemical can kill nearby crops, vegetation and wildlife if it spreads.
FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL
Football! It’s almost football season in our lovely state of Georgia, and nothing says “football” like reading articles and researching schedules. Actually, now that I think about it, that’s a fair portion of a football fan’s activities. We’ll get you started.
Upcoming games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for you to attend or avoid:
2025 Aflac Kickoff Games:
- Aug. 30: Syracuse vs. Tennessee
- Aug. 31: Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina
Atlanta Falcons regular-season opener:
- Sept. 7: Falcons vs. Buccaneers
Coming in for the game? More research for you!
NEWS BITES
Postage stamp honoring Jimmy Carter unveiled
Your legacy’s on a different level once you make it to a postage stamp.
Cable’s MSNBC will change its name after corporate split from NBC
New career goal: the person who renames networks after ugly mergers or divestments. It doesn’t seem that hard.
Consider me sat.
Cambridge Dictionary adds ‘skibidi’ and ‘tradwife’ among 6,000 entries
Language is a living practice, and all words are ultimately made up ... but you don’t have to like what people are making up these days.
ON THIS DATE
Aug. 19, 1965
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: That uproar? What it was was Beatles. “What it was was not baseball. What it was was the Beatles. The commotion at Atlanta Stadium Wednesday night was 30-odd thousand teen-age children and a few assorted parents giving the British mop-head musicians a tumultuous welcome.”
Good to know parents suffering at a loud concert is a time-honored tradition.
Also, I knew there was a reason for the multiple double “was” placements (because honestly, who would do that?). It’s a riff on a 1954 Andy Griffith monologue called “What It Was, Was Football.” We love a random cultural reference.
ONE MORE THING
Fun fact: I went to Syracuse University, and my husband went to the University of Tennessee, which means A. Our sports cave color theme will roast your retinas, and B. We’ve been waiting years for this year’s CFB Kickoff Game. Go unspecified shade of orange!
Oh, speaking of sports, don’t forget to recommend A.M. ATL to your friends/enemies using the link below! You’ll be entered to win fancy tickets to the Sept. 20 Atlanta United game, where you’ll hang out with me. It’ll be a lot of fun. Do it!
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.
