Morning, y’all! “Why are elections held on a Tuesday in November?” You may ask yourself this while checking your watch in the voting line or dashing across town to make it before polls close. Tuesdays always give off inconvenient vibes, and November is purgatory in month form. That wasn’t so for 19th-century farmers in the U.S., for whom late fall (after harvests) and weekdays (can’t miss church!) were an ideal combination. Thus, today, we vote.
Let’s get to it.
A LITTLE DRAMA FOR ELECTION DAY
Statewide polling places close at 7 p.m. tonight, but Atlanta voters will get until 8 p.m. to cast their ballots after a legal kerfuffle yesterday.
- Atlanta filed a lawsuit against Fulton and DeKalb counties after the Georgia Secretary of State’s office advised state law required polls to close at 7 p.m. because of the special Public Service Commission election.
- The statewide PSC races share a ballot with municipal elections. In Atlanta, that means the mayoral election and contests for City Council. That caused confusion over how late polling places could be open.
❗ Important note: Any voters in Atlanta who arrive after 7 p.m. to their polling place won’t be able to vote in the PSC elections and must cast provisional ballots.
READ MORE: Why state laws caused confusion over poll closing times
- What’s at stake in Atlanta: Voters will be choosing the city’s next mayor (likely a second term for Andre Dickens), city council president and all 15 council seats. Four of nine Atlanta school board seats are also in play. Review your Atlanta city election guide here
- What’s at stake statewide: Two seats on the five-person, Republican-majority Public Service Commission are up for grabs. This is the agency that regulates power rates, so the election is seen as a referendum on rising costs. Read more about the race here
- What’s at stake in your city: Plenty of other Georgia cities will be choosing mayors, city council members, school board representatives and other leaders. Make sure you get a say.
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WHAT’S A ‘HAWK’ LIGHT, EXACTLY?
This feels a little personal because there’s a crosswalk light situation on Peachtree Street close to the AJC offices that I can’t get the hang of. If I do get hit by a car there, know it’s probably my fault.
Anyway, it’s time to get familiar with the HAWK, or high-intensity activated crosswalk beacon. This unusual signal appears a few places in Georgia, like near Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and it confuses drivers even more than the dreaded roundabout.
What HAWK signals do: These lights are activated by pedestrians when they are ready to cross a street.
What the light sequence means:
- ⚫ No light: Proceed as normal
- 🟡⚫🟡 Flashing yellow: Slow down, someone is about to cross
- 🟡 Yellow: Prepare to stop
- 🔴 Red: No, seriously, stop right now.
- 🔴⚫🔴 Flashing red: “Proceed with caution if clear”
Doug Turnbull, the one and only Gridlock Guy, reports drivers have a lot of issues with the flashing red part, causing backups at crosswalks.
Next step: Don’t be overcome with performance anxiety when you encounter a HAWK signal in the wild.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🍎 The Trump administration will partially fund SNAP benefits for November after two judges ruled the government has to keep funding the program during the shutdown. SNAP costs more than $8 billion a month, and the administration will pull from a $4.65 billion reserve fund. No word yet on how those payments will be divvied up or when needy families will see them.
🐘 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been taking her Republican fellows to task on hot-button issues, most recently flaming Speaker Mike Johnson over health care coverage policy. She says she’s not interested in running for governor or Senate, but her rhetoric gives some GOP activists ideas.
💰 Donors on a Christian-oriented fundraising platform raised more than $30,000 to cover legal fees for Georgia State Election Board Vice Chair Janice Johnston. Johnston and another board member are accused of blocking access to public records after refusing to allow searches of their private Gmail accounts (which they use for official business). Critics say it’s quite the conflict of interest.
📦 Georgia-based UPS is juggling increased tariff duties. About 10% of the carriers’ 16 million daily packages need extra customs clearance now, leading to lots of delays and unhappy customers.
SPELMAN, CAU GET A MOMENTOUS GIFT
What can you do with $38 million? Atlanta’s own Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University get the pleasure of finding out.
- The unrestricted funds are a gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who also gave millions to Spelman, Morehouse College and CAU in 2020.
- Interim president Rosalind “Roz” Brewer said the funds will be used to “strengthen the entire student experience, modernize our technology infrastructure, and expand financial opportunity for scholars who call Spelman home.”
🔎 READ MORE: Scott’s generous record of funding education and equity
Meanwhile, Spelman just launched a search for a new president after former head Dr. Helene Gayle resigned last November. Among the requested priorities for the new leader: a focus on expanded affordability.
SOUTHERN RESTAURANTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Michelin’s inaugural American South guide for the best restaurants in the region is here, and Atlanta is the belle of the ball.
Eight of the 18 restaurants to receive a one-star designation are in the metro area. Emeril’s in New Orleans was the only restaurant in the new guide to earn two Michelin stars.
- Starred restaurants in other southern states: South Carolina (4), Louisiana (3), Tennessee (3), North Carolina (1), Alabama (0), Mississippi (0).
- Staplehouse, located in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, lost its star this year. In April, the restaurant discontinued its tasting menu format.
🔎 Read more: Find all the Bib Gourmand awardees, plus Atlanta’s recommended restaurants, which increased from 34 last year to 42.
❓ Trivia question: The Michelin Guide, as you likely know, is organized by the tire people and has a pretty cool history. Prepare yourself for this one. What is the name of the company’s mascot, generally known as the Michelin Man?
No multiple choice because I could never convincingly obscure the actual answer. Guess anything. Answer at the bottom.
NEWS BITES
The Braves have a new manager! Bench coach Walt Weiss called up to skipper
1998 Braves All-Star? Check. Bobby Cox connections? Check. Franchise tenure? Check. He’s got it all.
Atlanta rapper Jeezy set a Guinness World Record for the largest orchestra in a hip-hop concert
Legend behavior.
We love a sensible pullover.
How are the Atlanta Hawks doing at the beginning of the season?
They’re a little dinged up but trying their best.
ON THIS DATE
Nov. 4, 1995
Atlanta falls short in national honesty test. If there’s such a thing as a good place to lose your wallet, Reader’s Digest says it’s Seattle. The magazine left a trail of 120 “lost” wallets in 12 communities across the nation and kept track of how many were returned with the $50 cash contents intact. Seattle had the best rate of return, nine in 10. Of the two other big cities tested, St. Louis returned seven in 10 and Atlanta trailed with five in 10, according to the magazine.
Counterpoint: Maybe Atlantans just mind their business.
ONE MORE THING
The Michelin Man’s given name is Bibendum, because why wouldn’t you name a pile of tires after a phrase by classical Roman poet Horace:
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus (Now is the time to drink, now the time to dance with light feet upon the earth).
A refined soul, that Bibendum. Makes Blooper seem positively provincial.
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.
