Morning, y’all! The best part of having people in town is watching them react to the Atlanta of it all. Don’t worry, we run across seven lanes of Buford Highway to get to the pho place all the time. I’m about to merge on 75 — just close your eyes and pray. Why, yes, there are a lot of Georgia Bulldogs fans around, and I can’t guarantee they won’t bite. No, I don’t know why there are so many cops at the Waffle House. Must be a Tuesday.
Let’s get to it.
A LOT HAPPENING AT THE AIRPORT
It’s all clear at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a scary incident yesterday.
- The Cartersville Police Department received a tip from a Georgia man’s family that he was headed to the airport to “shoot it up,” streaming his movements and plans online.
- Police arrested Billy Joe Cagle, 49, near the airport’s TSA security checkpoint.
- They found an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition in Cagle’s truck, which was parked right outside the building.
- “We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
Meanwhile, in a comparatively minor yet still important situation, the ongoing government shutdown is doing a number on TSA staffing. Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson stretched all the way into the atrium and topped 30 minutes on Monday morning.
TSA agents got a partial paycheck last week and, if the shutdown continues, will go without paychecks next week.
🔎 READ MORE: Shutdown woes visible in security lines
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A QUESTION OF POWER
Georgia Power will lay out a plan today to handle increasing power demands from the huge data centers cropping up around the state.
Its solution? Gas, and lots of it.
- The utility’s officials want to build gas-fired power plants and add solar and battery storage to the power grid to the tune of 10,000 megawatts — about the capacity of 10 nuclear reactors.
- There are other options, but Georgia Power wants gas because it says the plants can be built faster than nuclear ones, are cleaner than coal and more reliable than solar.
- However, natural gas pollutes the air, is chemically volatile and subject to wide price swings.
- The utility will have to get its plan past the Public Service Commission, which will vote on it in December.
🔎 READ MORE: How the plan could affect customers
Remember, you have a say in who is on the PSC. Two seats are up for election in November. Early voting has started, and every registered voter in Georgia can cast a ballot for the races.
🔎 READ MORE: Georgia PSC candidates and their positions
ATLANTIC STATION TURNS 20
After 20 years, Atlantic Station in Midtown is one of the largest live-work-play districts in the South.
- The 8 million-square-foot development boasts 6,000 residents and 11 million annual visitors along with an ever-growing array of office buildings, apartments, hotels, event venues, restaurants and shops. It even has its own ZIP code.
- The site’s long journey is touted as a multifaceted success story. For one, it began as one of the polluted industrial sites known in the development world as “brownfields.”
- Atlantic Station is also one of the city’s most prominent use of the politically controversial tax allocation district plan, where property tax revenue growth is allocated to pay for infrastructure within its boundaries.
- What’s next? Developers know it’s a tricky time to be bringing more high-dollar investments into the project, and whatever comes next has to complement what has already made Atlantic Station an irreplaceable part of the city.
🔎 READ MORE: The history and controversies of Atlantic Station
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
⚖️ The Supreme Court will consider whether people who regularly use marijuana can legally own guns. This is sure to go over well with the 2A crew. Government attorneys say it is a justifiable restriction.
🚧 The White House has started demolishing part of the East Wing to make room for President Donald Trump’s $250 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom. Trump had previously said construction would not affect the existing White House structure.
✊🏼 The Atlanta No Kings rally attracted anywhere from 5,000 to more than 10,000 people, according to estimates. Even bigger numbers were seen across the country. The question is, what’s next for the movement?
HULU TAKES ON NOTORIOUS SOUTHERN CASE
The trial of Alex Murdaugh for the 2021 murders of his wife and son exposed the crimes of a wealthy, powerful South Carolina man to a shocked nation. A new eight-episode limited series on Hulu will add a big-budget dramatization to the mix.
- “Murdaugh: Death in the Family” was shot in multiple locations around Atlanta, from a home base at Assembly Studios in Doraville to Chateau Elan Winery & Resort in Braselton. Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier also serve as backdrops to the action.
- Writer and producer Michael D. Fuller explained the process:
“It helped to shoot the South as the South. And there was such a diverse and eclectic group of neighborhoods in Atlanta that stood in for different aspects of this story.”
🔎 READ MORE: Details on the actors and production
NEWS BITES
The Toronto Blue Jays clinch spot in the World Series against the LA Dodgers
See? It is a “World” Series.
Who’s next? A fun list of Atlanta United managerial candidates
There’s still time to throw your name in the ring, armchair manager.
Never underestimate the aviation enthusiast community. They are as stylish as they are cutthroat.
The project is called, and I’m not making this up, “Weird Looking Stools.” 10/10, we love a sophisticated poop pun.
ON THIS DATE
Oct. 21, 1954
Map puzzle for judges: Is isle in Ga. Or S.C.? The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday undertook to unravel the mystery of whether Barnwell Island in the Savannah River belongs to Georgia or South Carolina. The court … took under advisement an appeal from a ruling by Georgia’s Southern District Federal Court, which decided the island is in South Carolina. … [others] contended Wednesday that the Buford Convention of 1787 gave Georgia all islands in the Savannah River.
Puzzle solved: Barnwell Island is officially part of South Carolina.
ONE MORE THING
Quick, what’s one thing you accomplished yesterday and one thing you’re grateful for? Go out there and slay the day, my friend!
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.
