Morning, y’all! Are you ready for another day? Sometimes when I get my dog up in the morning I’ll act like it’s the most glorious and magical concept. “✨Let’s have a day!✨” I’ll say, in a way no normal human being would intone. Oddly enough, it gets me excited, too. I’m no better than a wonky 11-year-old Boston terrier.
Let’s get to it.
FORT STEWART SHOOTING
A U.S. Army sergeant shot five of his fellow soldiers at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia yesterday. All five victims are thankfully in stable condition, and the suspect is in custody.
- U.S. Army sergeant Quornelius Radford allegedly used a personal handgun and opened fire on his co-workers.
- Personal weapons aren’t allowed on Army installations, and it’s not clear how he got the weapon into the base.
- Five troops were injured in the attack, but are expected to survive.
- Fellow soldiers reportedly tackled Radford to the ground during the attack, leading to his arrest.
- Fort Stewart has a history of violent incidents. A U.S. Army sergeant was shot and killed by a colleague in 2022, and a former Army sergeant fatally stabbed a fellow soldier to death on the base in 2020.
🔎 READ MORE: Chance connections between the 2022 shooting and Wednesday’s attack
🔎 THE LATEST: Updates from the scene
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HEMP BUSINESSES SUE GA OVER REGULATIONS
A group of Georgia hemp companies filed a lawsuit against the state alleging a 2024 statewide hemp law has kneecapped the industry and could shutter local businesses.
- The new law went into effect last October. It limits sales of hemp products to people over 21, mandates product testing and banned certain products like many THC-infused foods.
- The plaintiffs say the restrictions “cause immediate and irreparable harm” to their businesses and go against the tenets of the federal 2018 Farm Bill that permitted the growth and sale of hemp products with less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC.
- One plaintiff said he lost 65% to 75% of his business from the new law.
- State legislators have tried to ban certain THC products in Georgia before, and are currently examining cannabis laws for possible changes.
🔎 READ MORE: Why GA hemp growers say the law is untenable for business
MEET THE SUPER 11
Ever year since 1985, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution selects the top incoming senior high school football players from across the state. These young men are the cream of the crop, and have already committed to some of the best college football programs in the nation. (Many, of course, will don UGA’s red and black).
I asked veteran Georgia high school football journalist Todd Holcomb why a Super 11 selection is such an honor. This is what he said:
“For an individual player, the tradition and history of this honor is unmatched in Georgia high school football. We’ve had Heisman Trophy winners such as Charlie Ward and Travis Hunter, and we’ve had NFL greats such as Champ Bailey and Hines Ward. It’s a club any high school senior would love to join.
“Many go on to fame in the NFL. Most become good college players. Maybe a few won’t, but that’s OK. It’s about the moment. It’s about the dawning of a new season and all the excitement that goes with that around the state of Georgia, which is so passionate about high school football. If you’re an AJC Super 11, no matter what happens from here, you’ve earned that moment.”
🏈 Meet this year’s AJC Super 11 in this overview, complete with very cool athlete portraits.
- Tyler Atkinson, Grayson High School
- Khamari Brooks, North Oconee High School
- Craig Dandridge, Cambridge High School
- Jorden Edmonds, Sprayberry High School
- Deuce Geralds, Collins Hill High School
- Tyriq Green, Buford High School
- Aaron Gregory, Douglas County High School
- Xavier Griffin, Gainesville High School
- Kaiden Prothro, Bowdon High School
- Jonaz Walton, Central-Carrollton High School
- Jontavius Wyman, Jonesboro High School
Congratulations, gentlemen!
🏈 PLUS: Super 11 player stats
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ The Voting Rights Act turns 60 years old, but its power has been eroding for more than a decade.
🧊 Homeland Security removed age restrictions for ICE agents to boost recruiting numbers for President Donald Trump’s deportation plans.
💉 HHS Secretary RFK Jr. pulled $500 million in vaccine development funding, specifically in developments using mRNA technology. mRNA vaccines are considered a momentous and lifesaving scientific achievement. Trump even said so himself in 2020.
🫏 Democrat Michael Thurmond says he’s running for Georgia governor. The former DeKalb County chief executive says he wants to be a “bridge-builder” and create bipartisan accord to counter Trump’s policies.
💵 The U.S. has officially started levying higher taxes on imports from dozens of countries, four months after Trump first announced plans to impose tariffs on most of the world.
COOL YOUR HORSES
Here’s a new “hot as ... ” phrase for you: Hot as a carriage horse in the Savannah summer. The Savannah City Council may soon tighten heat rules for the city’s already controversial carriage tour business, as some residents decry the sweltering conditions draft horses are expected to work through.
- The council is expected to amend the horse tour ordinance late this month, lowering the temperature threshold at which carriage operators must suspend tours.
- Currently, tours must be suspended at 95 degrees or a 110-degree heat index.
- The council could reduce the threshold by 10 degrees.
- Animal welfare groups have long criticized Savannah’s carriage tour industry, with some urging a ban on the practice.
🔎 READ MORE: Animal activists have staged public displays of protest
NEWS BITES
MLB will have its first female umpire during Sunday’s Marlins-Braves game
Good for her. I’m sure certain genres of male baseball fans are going to be very cool and normal about it.
Teen trinket retailer Claire’s files for Chapter 11 for the second time since 2018
Getting your ears pierced at Claire’s with the equivalent of a tiny hole punch was a rite of passage back in the day. Maybe some Auntie Anne’s afterward to celebrate.
Germans worry their beloved kebab sandwiches may get pricier because of tariffs
Not the kebab!
How those creepy jack-o-lantern-looking Labubus became the world’s — and Atlanta’s — favorite toy
They’ll definitely keep demons away because they’ll see a Labubu and be like, “Hmm, that nefarious imp probably has things covered here.”
ON THIS DATE
Aug. 7, 1923
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: Declaring she has two living husbands, Mrs. Myrtle Mullinax, Tuesday, in Fulton superior court, instituted proceedings seeking annulment of her last marriage. In the petition, Mrs. Mullinax sets out that in August, 1917, she married Samuel Belzer. Shortly afterward, it is alleged, Belzer left her, and believing him dead, she states she on September 16, 1922, married J.M. Mullinax. Recently, the petition alleges, she discovered that Belzer was still alive and residing here.
The old resurrected husband trick! Hate it when that happens.
ONE MORE THING
So, Auntie Anne’s … do we think it’s “awnty” or “ant-ee?” I prefer the former.
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.
