Morning, y’all! Happy Friday. I’ve been seeing a lot of pretty black and blue butterflies around my house lately. I looked them up, which led me down a gorgeous garden path of butterfly names: Gulf Fritillary, Horace’s Duskywing, Sleepy Orange, and my two favorites, Eastern Comma and Question Mark. Lepidopterology is awesome.
Let’s get to it.
A TESTY CDC HEARING
Things got ugly yesterday on Capitol Hill as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a group of U.S. senators to answer for the recent tumult at the CDC.
Over the three-hour hearing, Kennedy fielded questions about changes he’s made to vaccine protocol and health care policy, against the recommendations of leading scientists and medical groups.
- U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff both called on Kennedy to resign.
- Kennedy could not recall how many Americans died of COVID-19 and accused a senator who asked Kennedy about his agency’s autism research of “talking gibberish.”
- Some of Kennedy’s Republican colleagues said the HHS head’s leadership has made Americans unsure of who to trust about important medical information.
- On a related note, pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia have paused their COVID-19 booster schedules due to uncertainty and confusion from the CDC’s changing policies.
🔎 READ MORE: More takeaways from Thursday’s hearing
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VAMPIRES ❤️ GEORGIA
When you think Covington, Georgia, you’ve gotta think sexy, melodramatic vampires. CW fans know what’s up.
- The small town east of Atlanta was the site of the popular 2000s show “The Vampire Diaries,” and film tourism related to the show has buoyed Covington’s economy and provided a tourism blueprint for other film locations in the state.
- When Epic Events and Entertainment canceled the upcoming annual Covington TVD Convention this November, locals vowed to save it.
- They’re not even doing it for financial gain (although that would be nice). They’re doing it for the fans who can’t recoup money already spent on tickets.
- “We’re trying to support a fandom that has supported all of us for a good many years, and it was time to give back,” said Angi Henderson, a Covington native who runs the “Vampire Diaries”-inspired Mystic Grill restaurant.
- It’s a must-read for anyone who admires small-town spirit — and vampires.
🔎 READ MORE: How Covington businesses are pitching in
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🪖 The District of Columbia sued the Trump administration to halt Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, saying the move amounts to “involuntary military occupation.”
💬 Epstein survivors have a vocal Georgia supporter: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene pushed back on Trump’s claim the Epstein controversy is a “hoax.” She has advocated for survivors and is one of four Republicans to join Democrats in an attempt to force a House vote on the issue.
🔨 Home Depot completed a $5 billion acquisition to boost business among professional contractors. The company picked up Tucker-based GMS Inc., a distributor of specialty building products.
📱 Google must pay more than $425 million in damages for improperly tracking people’s smartphone activity between 2016 and 2024, according to a federal jury’s ruling.
WEEKEND PLANS
Fall is festival season. Name it, there’s probably a festival about it. Let that guide your weekend choices.
🐼 Panda Fest: Enjoy Asian food and merch from more than 80 vendors, plus cultural performances at this city favorite. (No live pandas, though.)
🎶 Harvest on the Hooch: Bask in the magic of our favorite river with local craft beers, music, kids’ activities and farm animals.
🏡 Brookhaven Porchfest: Brookhaven, it’s time to put your best foot forward with this house-to-house stroll accompanied by music and good food.
🛻 Monster Jam: Sorry, ahem. [Intense angry radio guy voice] 👹 MONSTER JAM! 👹 Come see cars with aggressive names and cool art fight other cars with aggressive names and cool art!
🍂 More weekend ideas: Festivals on festivals, fun runs and an Agatha Christie play.
THE ULTIMATE HIP-HOP QUESTION
“If you had to explain hip-hop to aliens visiting Earth, what songs would you choose?”
That’s the question the AJC’s video team posed to Georgia Tech Associate Professor Joycelyn Wilson, who teaches a hip-hop class combining analysis and STEM concepts. It’s fascinating (learn more about it here).
The AJC newsroom is full of hip-hop heads and people with excellent music taste, so I couldn’t just NOT ask them the same thing. That simple question turned into a giant, fascinating message thread that consumed a good part of my Thursday afternoon. Here are some answers from my colleagues to add to your own “Hip-Hop 101″ playlist.
- “Big Pimpin’” by Jay-Z because it captures the braggadocio, catchiness, crudeness, fun and rap flow present across the genre in one song. - Jaquetta W., Quality Control
- “Standing Ovation” by Jeezy. “These are more than words. This is more than rap.” 👏🏾 - Brandisha H., strategic operations manager
- “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio because it was the first time some of us old white people actually listened to rap. - Nancy C., Quality Control team lead
- “Elevators (Me & You)” by Outkast meets them exactly where they are. - Christopher D., Black culture reporter
- “Paid in Full” by Eric B. & Rakim - Rod B., Sr. Sports Editor
- The OutKast “ATLiens” album - Gavin G., UATL editor/team lead
- “Step Into a World (Rapture’s Delight)” by KRS-One - Rosie M., legal affairs reporter
- “Juicy” by Biggie - Jessica F., growth marketing
- “Shook Ones, Part II” by Mobb Deep - Keith L., videographer (who asked the initial question, so this is all his fault)
- “What’s My Name” by DMX - Girard H., Sr. Director of Integrated Marketing
- “White Lines” by Grandmaster Flash - Kathryn W., Quality Control
- “They Reminisce Over You (TROY)” by Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mike J., UATL senior editor
- “Supa Dupa Fly” by Missy Elliott, “Hard Core” by Lil’ Kim - DeAsia P., culture reporter
Also mentioned: More Missy, Warren G., Public Enemy and De La Soul. Well, that’s your weekend vibe sorted!
NEWS BITES
LSD shows promise for reducing anxiety in new study
Weekend plans?
Weekend predictions: Will the Falcons win or lose against the Bucs?
Win, of course! Putting it out in the universe.
More price hikes leave Braves fans feeling unvalued
My inbox is always open for grumbling about ticket prices.
When I say I don’t like AI, I don’t mean this kind.
ON THIS DATE
Sept. 5, 1911
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: Atlanta Postal Service Continues To Grow Worse. Complaints against the mail service the postoffice is giving Atlanta and surrounding territory continue ... Five or six hours or a day’s delay in delivering a letter may not be noticed ordinarily ... But a great deal of mail is of vital importance and then delays cause hardships.
Filed under “Things that could have been written today.”
ONE MORE THING
I’m off Monday and Tuesday, so be nice to Tyler Estep, please!
Also, there’s still time to enter our Atlanta United ticket giveaway, where you can hang out with me and watch the game from the sweet suite seats on Sept. 20. Keep scrolling to enter.
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.
