Morning, y’all! Friday, Friday — what a beautiful word. Unless you work weekends. Even then, weekend workers have their own personal Fridays, be it a Sunday or whenever. It’s really more of a vibe than a set day. May the spirit of Friday be with you.
Let’s get to it.
IN GEORGIA 2020 ELECTION CASE, AN UPHILL BATTLE FOR THE NEW GUY
Pete Skandalakis, the veteran prosecutor now in charge of the Georgia 2020 election interference case, has his work cut out for him. The case against President Donald Trump and others is so complex, some legal minds think Skandalakis may not be able to pursue it even if he wanted to.
Some big questions he’d have to answer:
- How much of Fulton’s case against the president still stands under the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision from 2024.
- What from Trump’s alleged criminal conduct could be considered part of his “official” duties as president (thus immune from prosecution), and what’s fair game.
- How to factor in policy memos from the U.S. Justice Department saying presidents can’t be charged while in office.
- How to handle the divisive, sometimes dangerous political weight of the case.
You know it’s a rough road, no matter what the decision, when a fellow Georgia DA says they “feel bad honestly for Pete and what he’s inherited.”
🔎 READ MORE: Options, outcomes and opinions about this new phase of the case
MORE PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY FOR DATA CENTERS
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs board set out new rules for how new plans for data centers are evaluated by regional planners. Sounds like scintillating stuff, right? It actually is.
- Many communities in Georgia have gotten tired of secretive multi-billion-dollar data center proposals, since the complexes can monopolize local power and water supplies.
- Like other large economic development projects, data center proposals are often kept under wraps, and info is bound up in nondisclosure agreements.
- Through changes to Development of Regional Impact reports, a common step in the development process, people may get to know more about the giant energy gobblers being built around them.
🔎 READ MORE: New rules also end a pause in proposals
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BRASELTON CHIEF ARRESTED FOR CAMERA-BASED STALKING
Braselton’s police chief resigned Wednesday, just hours before he was arrested on stalking and harassment charges. Michael Steffman is accused of using police cameras to carry out the crimes.
- A monthslong investigation into the claims “revealed that Steffman misused the automated license plate recognition systems to harass and stalk multiple individuals,” according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
- In August, a woman sought a temporary protective order against the chief, saying he used license plate readers to track her whereabouts, called her from various phone numbers and followed her to two locations.
- Data from license plate readers are typically used to track wanted suspects or stolen vehicles, and there are a lot of laws about how the information can be used and even how long it can be stored.
🔎 READ MORE: Information from the case and what happens next
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💬 The Georgia GOP’s new “special adviser” has liked and posted antisemitic, xenophobic and hateful things online. Brad Barnes, who has described himself on X as “Christ Centered,” also talks a lot about ethnonationalism (our spell check does not like that word) and “mass remigration.”
🚗 The Cumberland autonomous vehicle program in Cobb County is expanding. The self-driving Cumberland Hopper just got a $6.6 million federal grant to complete a 3-mile route connecting Truist Park, Cumberland Mall and other local attractions.
WEEKEND PLANS
Hope you’re ready for holiday merriment, because it’s coming whether you like it or not.
🦃 Acworth Turkey Chase: Rock your favorite turkey-themed haberdashery for this Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race qualifier.
🌲 Georgia Festival of Trees: This annual event benefits antitrafficking programs AND includes a Jimmy Buffett tribute.
🩰 A Very Grinchy Christmas: It’s a ballet mashup of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and “The Nutcracker.” Genius.
✨ More weekend ideas: An Atlanta Botanical Garden favorite, an Agrifest — the list goes on.
NEWS BITES
Matthew McConaughey raves about Sanford Stadium, Georgia fans after first visit
“It was alright, alright, alright!” — Matthew McConaughey, probably.
Area cocktails to commemorate the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
No such thing as a “too niche” cocktail.
Who Georgia football needs to root for in order to make the SEC Championship game
This weekend, we’re all Auburn fans.
Consumer advocacy groups urge parents not to buy AI-powered kids’ toys
You think we would have learned from the Furby craze. (Now I’m imagining an AI Furby. Terrifying!)
ON THIS DATE
Nov. 21, 1950
Atlanta’s first bitter cold ... caused a self-styled California parole violator to surrender ... Ray Chapman of San Jose surrendered to city policemen at the Greyhound bus station. He said it was too cold and he was “just tired of dodging the law.”
Honestly? Relatable.
ONE MORE THING
Before anyone writes me an angry letter about not liking turkeys, it’s more of a healthy mix of respect and fear. Those buggers are mean, big, strong and smart. Have you ever been late to plans because there was a wild turkey on the roof of your car? It’s a lowering experience.
Take care of yourself this weekend!
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.
