Morning, y’all! It’s Tyler again, warning you that high temperatures may push 90 degrees again later this week. That morning coffee on the patio should remain well within the realm of comfort, though.
Let’s get to it.
ORANGE APRON INVESTIGATIONS
Not too long ago, the feds busted up the largest organized crime ring ever to hit Home Depot. Prosecutors say that, over several years, the alleged perps parlayed stolen dimmer switches, circuit breakers and other smallish electrical equipment into a $7 million payday.
Wild enough, in and of itself.
But here’s the thing: Home Depot, the Vinings-based home improvement giant, wasn’t just a victim in this case. Or many others.
A few things I learned while reading Amy Wenk’s latest story, which dropped this morning:
- Home Depot has its own “organized retail crime division.” It consists of about 80 people, including investigators. Many of the latter are former federal agents.
- The corporation “closes” about 600 organized retail crimes every year, according to Scott Glenn, Home Depot’s VP of asset protection.
- It also has its own high-tech investigations center right here in Atlanta. Part of their efforts: a “crime-linking database,” machine learning and artificial intelligence.
They’re keeping further details secret, so as not to abet future bad guys. But the goal, Glenn said, “is to present the case on a silver platter.”
Think of it as a “you can do it, we can help” type of arrangement.
“What we’ve uncovered is so many cases where it’s tied back to a larger money laundering scheme that the government does care about,” Glenn said.
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BY THE NUMBERS: 12%
That’s the percentage of calls in which Atlanta police officers do not activate their body-worn cameras, according to a new city audit.
That’s a dramatic improvement over previous periods, the AJC’s Riley Bunch reports — but there are caveats, too.
- One sample found that, among calls that were recorded, footage started late or stopped early about one-fifth of the time.
That “could be either a mistake or an intentional effort to hide wrongdoing,” the audit said.
A CULTURAL MICROCOSM, WITH WAFFLES
“Patrons fight staff at East Cobb Waffle House,” read a Cobb County police press release that landed in my inbox Monday afternoon.
Evidently, a still-unidentified “group of teenagers” refused to leave and started knocking stuff off the counter. Some of them then jumped into the kitchen area. At least one staff member found themselves in a headlock and getting pummeled.
Shameful stuff.
But it does provide a segue to share a few responses to yesterday’s question about unusual experiences at Waffle House.
1️⃣ Reader Lanny and his buddy John walked in late one night to find just two other booths occupied: “One with a guy passed out on the table and one with some teenagers up way past their bedtime.”
The latter decided the former would look better smothered (in the WaHo sense) with napkins.
- “Must’ve been over 50 napkins covering this guy and he never woke up. They were in hysterics and we — John and I — were convinced ‘passed out guy’ was going to wake up and kill us all. But the steak and eggs were great!”
2️⃣ Just a few weeks ago, reader Tom found himself sitting at the counter next to an older gentleman who seemed confused: “Several staff members were talking with him, filling his coffee cup and asking general questions as to his well-being.”
Long story short, a Sandy Springs police officer materialized to ask some similar questions.
- More from Tom: “Minutes later several cars pulled in and one of the most heart warming reunions occurred with the gentleman’s daughter and family reuniting with a father that had been missing for almost a full day from his senior residence. The Waffle House staff were the heroes that day … and to me always represent the best of Southern hospitality.”
Waffle House is American humanity (good and bad), embodied in grease and yellow neon.
I think that’s why we keep going back.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💵 Democratic candidates for governor are embracing the tax cut. Said one: “This race will be about the economy. That’s the No. 1 issue. And frankly, that’s what we Democrats missed last November.”
🤔 Brian Kemp’s big jobs push becomes a “political thicket”: The AJC’s Greg Bluestein and Zachary Hansen went deep on what last week’s raid at a South Georgia Hyundai plant means for the governor.
⚖️ A judge dismissed a lawsuit over Cobb County school board maps. All it took was three years and a new map to govern elections in Georgia’s second-largest school district.
📝 Democrats released a Jeffrey Epstein letter allegedly signed by President Donald Trump. The administration also asked the Supreme Court to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid frozen, and jury selection began in the trial of the man accused of trying to kill Trump in Florida last year.
MORE TIME TO WINE AND DINE
This year’s Atlanta Food & Wine Festival will feature celebrity chefs and all the … well, all the food and wine you’ve come to expect.
Now spread over four full days. At a larger location.
The kinda-expensive-but-all-inclusive event opens its doors Thursday at the Home Depot Backyard (that big green space next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium).
You and a few thousand of your friends can expect more than 50 food vendors and 40 drink distributors each day, plus a theme embracing Southern cuisine more broadly.
“I think that's what makes Atlanta so amazing. We have some great national talent, but it really is putting our roots down and celebrating the chefs within the region."
NEWS BITES
As world gets hotter, Americans are turning to more sugar, study finds
So THAT’s why I ate most of a cheesecake over the weekend.
‘Star Trek’ plans YouTube show, Lego sets for 60th anniversary
There was a time in my life when I worked nights and didn’t have cable. Watched a whole lot of early-morning “The Next Generation” reruns. That and Netflix DVDs. Remember those?
Hope he got a prize because he’s (roughly) the 1,000th Brave to get hurt in 2025.
Atlanta doctor who ‘changed’ John Cena’s life talks hair loss treatments
Yup, the headline’s real. And spectacular.
ON THIS DATE
Sept. 9, 1901
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: Hope rises that chief will soon pass peril point. Through this quiet, peaceful Sabbath every word that came from the big vine-clad house on Delaware avenue, in which the stricken chief magistrate of the nation lies battling for life, was reassuring and tonight the chances of his recovery are so greatly improved that all of those who have kept the patient vigil at his bedside feel strongly that his life will be spared.
A lovely piece of writing updating readers on the status of President William McKinley, who was shot three days earlier. Absolutely deranged headline placement, though.
ONE MORE THING
Thanks for having me, y’all. A.J.’s back tomorrow, so send any complaints her way. I’ll be returning to my sports cave.
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
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
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