Morning, y’all! Happy Monday. When it comes to candy, are you a chocolate person, a gummy person, some secret other thing? Apparently people are buying more fruity candy ahead of Halloween, and younger generations gravitate more toward the colorful, gummy and crunchy stuff than a good old chocolate bar.
Next up in the candy discourse, we’ll figure out which one of you is keeping the Jolly Ranchers industry afloat.
Let’s get to it.
AN EVENTFUL YEAR FOR HYUNDAI PLANT
It’s been a year since Hyundai Motor Co.’s Metaplant opened in Bryan County, Georgia. The massive site is Hyundai’s main hub for expansion in North America, which means international eyes are always paying attention to its goings-on.
And boy, has a lot gone on in its first year.
- An ugly immigration raid: A high-profile ICE raid at the company’s battery plant in September ejected hundreds of Korean workers and strained business tensions between Georgia and Korea.
- A pivot: After President Donald Trump gutted electric vehicle incentives, Hyundai added more focus to hybrid vehicles. However, company leaders say its growth efforts are still on EV models.
Meanwhile, what has the plant actually done for Georgia?
- Hyundai has to submit twice-yearly reports to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs in order to keep up with the unprecedented incentives (about $2 billion) Georgia offered.
- In June, Hyundai reported it hired 3,129 workers and invested $5.3 billion so far, according to reports obtained by the AJC.
🔎 READ MORE: Other ways the Hyundai plant has changed the area
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ATLANTA OFFICIALS QUIETLY PLAN A NEW HOSPITAL
New mystery project alert. Mayor Andre Dickens recently drew up a list of projects he wants to fund using tax allocation district extensions (TADs), and one of them is an enigma.
- “Project Robin” is listed as a $800 million “health venture.”
- The AJC has learned the plan includes a new hospital campus with community health clinics.
- A person familiar with the TAD proposal called it a “historic investment in addressing health care access disparities.”
- Atlanta sorely needs another hospital after the Atlanta Medical Center in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, and Atlanta Medical Center-South in the city of East Point both closed.
A lot of questions remain, like whether money to fund the project will ever materialize, where the hospital will be (a critical detail when thinking about what communities it will serve) and any identities of the forces behind it. Time to start theorizing.
🔎 READ MORE: What happens next for ‘Project Robin’
WOE! MORE BIRD FLU
More bird flu has cropped up in Georgia, but you probably don’t have to worry. Unless you’re a chicken. Or a poultry farmer.
- Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a particularly virulent strain of bird flu, was discovered in a commercial chicken facility in Northwest Georgia’s Gordon County.
- This is the third avian flu incident at poultry facilities in Georgia, but the first since January.
- The risk of human contraction is low, but public health officials say it has the potential to become a pandemic if left unchecked.
- Controlling avian flu outbreaks plays havoc with the poultry industry, as entire flocks need to be euthanized when the virus is discovered. That’s tough to think about on many levels.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💸 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will dry up on Nov. 1 as the government shutdown continues. The Trump Administration announced it will not tap a $5 billion federal emergency fund to keep money flowing to the federal food aid program.
🚧 RIP to the East Wing of the White House, which has been completely razed for a new ballroom. Here’s a look at some history made there.
💬 Kamala Harris is not ruling out another White House run. “I am not done,” she told the BBC, while speculating that a woman could likely become president in the near future.
✈️ Airport security lines are still much longer than normal in Atlanta because of the shutdown, so prep for any upcoming flights accordingly.
TOCCOA LIFTS UP A STRONGMAN’S LEGACY
In the 1950s and 1960s, the strongest man in the world was from Toccoa, Georgia.
- Paul Anderson was an Olympic gold medalist and world champion who began his internationally revered career lifting scrap from the junkyards and farm lots of his Georgia youth.
- An amazing bronze sculpture memorializes Anderson in Toccoa, inside a park dreamed up by a fourth grade class in 1999 and brought to life by community members who wanted to keep Anderson’s story alive.
When you grow up in a small town, to know that somebody got out and became famous, it gives you the idea that anybody can do it, no matter where you're from.
🔎 TODAY’S MUST-READ: Anderson shows how greatness grows in small towns
NEWS BITES
Five takeaways from the Falcons’ loss to the Miami Dolphins
None of them are good.
‘Star Wars’-themed burlesque parody called ‘The Empire Strips Back’ opens at Atlanta’s Pullman Yards
This is why puns were invented. (And yes, of course Jabba the Hut makes an appearance.)
Shaq’s customized luxury Range Rover vanished somewhere in Atlanta
Atlanta really loves to humble celebrities and their fancy cars.
Georgia Tech is still undefeated after beating ACC cousin Syracuse
I was on hand to watch the Yellow Jackets usher my alma mater gently into that good night, and let me tell you: The hype on the Georgia Tech campus is real. Bobby Dodd was packed to the rafters with white and gold, homecoming banners depicted all manner of abuse toward Otto the Orange and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I can’t even be mad. Enjoy your 8-0, you earned it.
ON THIS DATE
Oct. 27, 2001
Kindness is a candle in dark times. Heading out into the early morning darkness the other day, Shelby White was surprised to find his front steps lined with burning candles and rose petals. He called out to his wife, Georgia, to show her what some people had laid there during the night — a tribute to his son, Adam, who died in the World Trade Center attack. Together the couple stood there, thinking about what they’ve been through as a family, what the country has been through, and the power of a single act of caring.
At some point, I think everyone discovers the easiest way to feel better about the world is to help someone else, or just make a difference in someone’s day. It’s not magic, but it certainly feels like it sometimes.
ONE MORE THING
While the banners at the Georgia Tech game were lovely, some of them made the bug too sexy. Why does Buzz have to have bulging biceps and visible quads, while casting a knowing smolder upon his vanquished football enemies? He’s a wasp. Control yourself.
Also, nothing compares to this work of art from the Tech-Syracuse meeting in 2023.
Inspiring. I think about it at least once a month.
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.
