Morning, y’all! It’s Giving Tuesday, which always falls the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. What does that mean? Well, look around you. Who needs something you are able to give? It’s really that simple. Food is always a good start, but the head of one Georgia nonprofit has some other ideas, too.
Let’s get to it.
TAKING THE TRIAL TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Atlanta personal injury lawyer James Hugh Potts II is causing a stir in the legal world for posting videos of depositions from his cases on YouTube and TikTok. It’s not illegal, per se, but it brings up some interesting information-age questions about First Amendment rights, transparency and fragile legal processes.
- Potts posts depositions of defendants and their experts in his cases. (A deposition is a sworn testimony made out of court.) He says it’s for transparency. “People have a right to know about this stuff,” he told the AJC.
- While depositions filed in court are technically public, defendants in Potts’ cases claim they taint the jury pools and can lead to harassment.
- In October, a Cobb County judge ordered Potts to unpublish the deposition of a nurse defendant in a particularly gruesome medical malpractice suit.
- Potts calls it a “gag order” and plans to take his fight to the Georgia Supreme Court.
🔎 READ MORE: Lawyers weigh in on a twisty subject
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MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE AGAIN
A Buckhead high-rise will be a new site of Atlanta’s affordable housing push after the Atlanta City Council approved a $10 million loan to keep rents cheap(er than average).
- The Lofts at Twenty25 on Peachtree Road NE was previously known as the Darlington Apartments, built in 1951. The building became a local landmark because of a sign out front that displayed a real-time count of the city’s population.*
- The loan will preserve 623 units at the complex, according to city leaders. One-fifth of the units will be “deeply affordable” with rents at 30% of the area median income.
- The whole thing is in service to Mayor Andre Dickens’ goal of 20,000 new or preserved housing units by 2030.
Atlanta TAD update:
We’ve talked about Tax Allocation Districts, which can be used to fund certain development projects by borrowing from increased property tax revenues. Dickens wanted to extend some TADs for various development projects. Last week, though, City Council members said they won’t move forward with extension talks this year.
🔎 READ MORE: The state of Atlanta’s affordable housing mission
*You’ll never guess who made the sign: CNN mogul Ted Turner, when he was still a billboard executive.
A SWAT FIRST
Hats off to Kirstie Gentry, who became the first woman to join the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team.
- In her role as a medic, Gentry drives a van full of medical equipment, coordinates with the ambulance and treats victims, injured SWAT members or suspects on the scene.
- Naturally, SWAT training was rigorous: Gentry, a former EMT and detention officer, can tear down a door, clear a home in search of a barricaded suspect and proficiently use a rifle.
- Gentry and her Carroll County colleagues hope her success shows other women that they’re more cut out for SWAT work than they may think.
🔎 READ MORE: Gentry talks SWAT training and making a difference in a small community
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
✂️ Newell Brands, the Georgia-based parent company of well-known brands like Sharpie and Yankee Candle, will lay off 900 global employees and close about 20 Yankee Candle stores in the U.S. It’s part of a “global productivity plan” that leverages “automation, digitization, and artificial intelligence to simplify operations” for the company.
⚖️ Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is ready to “move on” after the dismissal of the sprawling 2020 election interference case involving President Donald Trump. Raffensperger has his hat in the ring for the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial election.
💬 Sam Foster came within less than 100 votes of becoming Marietta’s first Black — and youngest — mayor. As he said on the AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast, he’s definitely not done with politics.
INSIDE THE RETAIL WONDERLAND OF AMERICASMART
If you live in the Atlanta area, you’ve definitely been curious about AmericasMart, the massive downtown complex that houses the country’s largest wholesale retail market.
- There’s a reason it’s secretive. AmericasMart hosts more than 3,000 brands. With the exception of a few public spaces, it’s only open to retail buyers.
- The AJC team that visited the complex said they needed to be careful about what they showed, because the wares offered haven’t reached consumers yet and will likely dictate trends seasons in advance.
With clean, white lines and story after story of retail space soaring into the sky, the inside of AmericasMart has a kind of idealized commercial elegance to it. Like if heaven had a mall. Check out more in this AJC video.
NEWS BITES
A controversial infant Jesus was stolen from an artist’s Belgian Nativity scene
The phrase “controversial infant Jesus” really sparks the spiritual imagination, doesn’t it?
‘Soft clubbing’ parties are in, with reasonable early evening hours and less alcohol
Are you ready to get MILD?! Throw your hands in the air like you have children to tuck in later!
More than 50 Georgia-made gifts for everyone on your list
It’s the thought that counts, and the thought is “supporting Georgia businesses.”
Cobras, Comets and Atom Smashers: 51 truly unique Georgia HS football mascots
I am now a Cairo High School Syrupmakers fan for life.
ON THIS DATE
Dec. 2, 1913
Pretty Atlanta girl cuddles thousand dollars in feathers. ‘Quality King’ is one of the Orpingtons ... on exhibition at the Atlanta show. Miss Patterson is one of the many Atlanta girls who think chickens are ‘just too sweet!’ ‘My,’ she said, as she stroked ‘Quality King.’ ‘They say he’s worth a thousand dollars. Won’t you give me just a little five-dollar feather, please?’
Sorry uggos, no chickens for you.
ONE MORE THING
We can’t read “Orpington” and not investigate. It’s a British breed of chicken from Orpington, a town in the London area, bred for both meat and eggs.
I will now list actual chicken breed names to send you on your Tuesday: Australorp. Cinnamon Queen. Naked Neck. Cream Legbar. Barbu d’Uccle. Scots Dumpy. Deathlayer.
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.
