Morning, y’all! Happy Friday. A warning: Wet stuff may fall out of the sky today and tomorrow. It’s called rain — you may remember it. Oh, and to add a little spice, temperatures will plunge back into the 40s Sunday. Who knows what happens after that! A haboob? A firenado? Anything goes.
Let’s get to it.
NEW MARTA TRAIN CARS DELAYED ... AGAIN
The long-anticipated, fancy schmancy new European-style MARTA train cars won’t go into service until the first week of June. That’s cutting it very close for Atlanta’s World Cup games, which start just days after.
- The cars were originally scheduled to go into service in 2025, then early 2026, then spring. At least that should make you feel better next time you miss a deadline.
- They’re supposed to be very, very cool: Stadler, the Swedish company building the cars, said there’s no other train like it running in North America.
- It’s also the first design change for MARTA cars in almost 50 years.
MARTA is in the “don’t panic, don’t panic” stage of preparing for this summer’s World Cup festivities. The transit agency is trying to erect new fare gates, beautify stations, reopen the streetcar and complete rapid transit projects all in the next few months.
🔎 READ MORE: Why MARTA leaders are optimistic it’ll all get done
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WEEKEND PLANS
Second Sunday at the High Museum of Art: Enjoy free admission to the High with family-friendly programming, drop-in art making, music and other fun stuff. You must check out the Minnie Evans exhibit. I think about it every day.
Atlanta Boat Show: Cue the “Home Depot” theme music. Get your dad on, see some boats, attend a fishing clinic and let the kiddos “ooh” and “ahh” at fine watercraft.
Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale: The definition of a hidden gem. Explore and shop for Braves bobbleheads, aircraft trading cards, full-size galley carts, airport and Sky Club seating — all the conversation pieces your home needs.
MORE INFO on the above and plenty of other ideas here
Weekend spotlight: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
The Oregon Ducks and the Indiana Hoosiers invade downtown tonight, and the winner will score a place in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
The good: There will be a rockin’ (and free) Fan Fest next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium with all of the football pageantry you can imagine. Deets in the link above.
The bad: Traffic in the area will be gnarly.
THE END OF THE STACEY ABRAMS ERA, FOR NOW
Stacey Abrams, the two-time Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, says she won’t run for the position again in 2026.
- The former House minority leader has been a huge player in blue Georgia politics since her gubernatorial run in 2018, when hopes were high she’d become the nation’s first Black female elected governor.
- Abrams says she will continue fighting against America’s slide toward authoritarianism.
- “Authoritarian movements follow a recognizable pattern. My highest calling this year is to expose this playbook, mobilize resistance, and help us reclaim our moral leadership,” Abrams said.
🔎 READ MORE: An analysis on Abram’s role in Georgia so far and what may be next
ANOTHER DATA CENTER? FOR GEORGIA? GROUNDBREAKING
The first huge Georgia data center proposal of 2026 is in, and it’s a whopper.
- Wallace Jackson Data Center Campus in Spalding County would cost $3.7 billion and include 10 data center buildings spanning nearly 5 million square feet, covering more floor space than three Lenox Square malls.
- The Atlanta area is now the world’s second-largest data center market, and proposals are piling up. However, residents and local jurisdictions have started pushing back on the influx of massive, energy-hungry, environmentally risky complexes.
- The Georgia Department of Community Affairs paused the process for reviewing data center proposals last summer to reevaluate its procedures. It resumed the flow of proposals for review in November.
🔎 READ MORE: The data center frenzy isn’t expected to slow down
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💉 The CDC’s updated childhood vaccine schedule omits some key shots, and it’s creating chaos for Georgia doctors who have to advise confused parents on the best course.
🚂 Major rail competitors formally expressed their opposition to the Norfolk Southern-Union Pacific merger. Criticism of the mega-merger has grown since the summer, with other industry voices joining in. It’s shaping up to be a long fight over the deal.
NEWS BITES
If you’re gonna drink, why not make it fancy and meaningful?
A taste of nature can provide balance and calm during the workday
It could also increase your chances of walking into the woods to begin anew. How does your email find me, you ask? It never will.
‘Worst in Show’ CES products include AI refrigerators and AI doorbells
Necessity is the mother of invention, and she definitely didn’t give birth to an AI doorbell.
Really gifted dogs can expand their vocabulary by eavesdropping on their owners
Some of you dog parents out there can’t admit you don’t need to worry about this.
ON THIS DATE
Jan. 9, 1948
Television permit granted to WSB. Television broadcasts for The Atlanta Journal’s radio station WSB were approved Thursday in Washington by the Federal Communications Commission. … Contracts for equipment, including a 600-foot tower and antenna ... were let in December. The studios and tower will be located on a 20-acre tract near the intersection of Peachtree and Beverly rds., N. E. … the new station will be able to send television programs within a 40-mile radius of the tower and transmitter.
Just nine months later, those plans paid off: On Sept. 29, 1948, WSB-TV signed on as the first TV station in Georgia and one of the very first in the South.
ONE MORE THING
FYI, “haboob” is the (Romanized) Arabic word for an intense dust storm event typically caused by air pressure changes from thunderstorms. Not likely here in Georgia.
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.
