Morning, y’all! It’s here: fireplace weather. If you’re like my husband, who loves a good fire, your hearth will be tended with the divine intensity of Hestia from now until about April. Remember to keep your flues clean and your wood dry!
Let’s get to it.
A GUT CHECK ON HOUSING
In all probability, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is looking at another four years as leader of one of the most important cities in the South (and the country, if we may be so modest). The AJC is taking a close look at some of his current policies and how they may evolve.
How Dickens has taken on housing and what could happen next
- When he assumed office, Dickens promised to create or preserve 20,000 affordable housing units over two terms.
- Atlanta is close to building or developing 12,000 units through one term, according to the mayor’s chief of staff.
- Dickens has won praise for innovation on that front. Some developments include a fire station with attached housing, shipping container spaces for the unhoused and micro-apartments installed in an old motel.
- However, only about 2,000 of these units are priced for families making 50% or less of the area median income.
- Those who want to see more out of Dickens’ housing plan have concerns about how funding for the projects is managed. The death of Cornelius Taylor, an unhoused citizen killed during the clearing of a homeless encampment, has also epitomized concerns about Dickens’ plans to tackle homelessness in the city.
🔎 READ MORE: A look at housing promises made, kept, deferred
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POLL: GA DEMS WANT TO STAND UP TO TRUMP
A new AJC poll of likely Democratic voters in Georgia reveals party members’ top concerns. Among them: Dem leaders who are too soft on President Donald Trump.
- Economic issues were of top concern for likely Democratic and Republican voters alike.
- On the Dem side, “standing up to Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans” came in a close second, with 20% of respondents saying it should be the party’s top priority.
“Democrats are too meek,” said one liberal voter from Cobb County. “They need to go after Republicans with the same vigor they use to go after us. Too many times, we take the gentlemanly approach to politics.”
🔎 READ MORE: Why Dem leaders are reticent to match the GOP’s inflammatory rhetoric
We have more polls coming out, so if you have any questions about the fascinating world of poll methodology, let me know!
ASSORTED SHUTDOWN NEWS, NONE GOOD
Welcome to Day 29 of Minimally Functioning Government. Here’s what’s next.
- SNAP benefits expire this weekend, leaving millions without critical food assistance.
- More than 130 Head Start preschool programs will miss their federal funding grants on Nov. 1, leaving programs to scramble for local or donor funding.
- About 1.3 million military members will miss a paycheck this week. The Trump administration moved $8 billion from military research and development to fill in the gaps last pay period. No word on whether they’ll cover the difference again.
- Not to worry! The IRS is still keeping an eye on Georgia taxpayers, even with a significant portion of its staff furloughed. It’s a great time to do tax crimes*, though. “A government shutdown is a dream if you are trying to lay low from Uncle Sam,” writes tax attorney Judson Mallory. Here’s what to know.
*Please don’t do tax crimes.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
▶️ CNN’s making a big bet on streaming with All Access, which makes new wrinkles in the news media sphere and raises questions about a possible sale. The network’s CEO is asking for patience in the new venture.
🛻 GM will close its Georgia Innovation Center in Roswell, costing about 325 jobs. It’s part of the company’s pivot strategy in the changing automotive sector.
✈️ Air traffic controllers are also working without pay during the shutdown. Considered some of the most specialized workers in some of the most high-stress jobs, they’re now turning to DoorDash and other part-time gigs to make ends meet. (Nothing wrong with being a DoorDasher — just not a lot of natural crossover between the professions.)
BEACH PARTY BEEF
Coast Guard Park is ground zero for the annual “Frat Beach” party, a daylong bash held the Friday before the Georgia-Florida football game in nearby Jacksonville.
The park is the site of a closed U.S. Coast Guard Station and one of the few St. Simons Island beach access points that can handle a crowd. It’s long offered parking, a bathhouse and a broad dune crossover to the beach.
But this Friday, as more than 5,000 University of Georgia students, alumni and fans descend for the 2025 edition, the park won’t be as welcoming. A long-planned beautification project that began in September has closed much of the parking lot and the bathhouse has been demolished, replaced by just a few porta-potties.
🔎 READ MORE: Other consequences stirring angst among residents and environmentalists
NEWS BITES
Monday night’s historic 18-inning Dodgers win, by the numbers
Freddie Freeman was the hero of the night.
A cute interview with country star Brad Paisley, who made history with World Series anthems
Call him “Mr. More Baseball” now. Only downside? He’s a Dodgers fan.
Let’s take bets on whether it’s written in anapestic tetrameter.
Poll: How Americans will be celebrating Halloween
One of the best times of the year to get to know your neighbors. (Whether you recognize them without costumes later is always a toss-up.)
ON THIS DATE
Oct. 29, 1995
WORLDCHAMPS! Fireworks in the night sky, and champagne held high, and Jane kisses Ted again, and there’ll be confetti on Peachtree Street because Atlanta’s Braves are world champions at long and blessed last. Baseball’s dominant team in this decade but losers in two World Series, the Braves finally have won it all.
Raise your hand if you have a framed copy of an Atlanta Journal-Constitution edition celebrating a Braves World Series win. 🙋🏼♀️ What a great feeling.
ONE MORE THING
Anapestic tetrameter is a meter form that goes: da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM. Dr. Seuss (real name: Theodor Geisel) was a big fan. From “Horton Hears a Who”:
From the sun in the summer. From rain when it’s fall-ish,
I’m going to protect them. No matter how small-ish!”
(“Horton” was also an allegory for Geisel’s radical change in feeling about post-World War II Japanese internment and U.S. occupation of Japan, but that’s a whole other thing. da da DUM!)
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.
