Morning, y’all! First, an apology: Yesterday’s newsletter said Vidalia was in Camden County. It is actually in Toombs County. I hope this does not come as a surprise to anyone in Vidalia. Thank you, too, to the dozens of people who wrote in with kind corrections.
Let’s get to it.
ARMOUR YARDS STOP COULD STALL CLIFTON BRT FOR 10 YEARS
The Clifton Corridor bus rapid transit project could take between 13 and 18 years to complete if a new Armour Yards MARTA station is chosen as the northern endpoint. That’s notably longer than if the route were to end at Lindbergh Center as planned.
In light of a push by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to put both BRT and a new train station at Armour Yards, a new feasibility study by MARTA went back to the drawing board last year.
Armour Yards is “viable but presents notable risks,” MARTA officials concluded. It could add between six and 10 years to the BRT project’s timeline, which led them to recommended the project end at Lindbergh Center instead. The report was shared in December with members of the committee that oversees More MARTA projects.
- The Clifton Corridor is one of the metro’s largest employment centers not currently accessible by high-speed transit. It holds Emory University, the VA Medical Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to name a few.
- Armour Yards became a possibility instead of Lindbergh Center after Dickens named it as one of four potential new MARTA station locations. It’s mostly industrial today, home to MARTA and Norfolk Southern rail yards.
- SweetWater Brewing Co., the District NightClub and other businesses are also in Armour Yards, though, and officials see substantially more opportunity for redevelopment on the site given how close it is to the Beltline.
🔎 READ MORE: Take a deeper dive into the report and the cost of BRT
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MORE UNSETTLING OBSERVATIONS AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL
A new report from Georgia’s ACLU reveals reforms at the troubled Fulton County Jail aren’t going according to plan.
- Despite implementing a jail diversion program more than a year ago, people facing minor, quality-of-life offenses make up a growing portion of the jail’s population.
- On any given day, hundreds of people jailed on misdemeanor offenses could end up spending weeks or even months behind bars simply because they can’t afford bond, the report found.
- Deaths at the Rice Street facility are also an ongoing problem. Since 2021, 37 people have died while being detained at Fulton County, including five last year.
- “The county has not yet adequately addressed the causes or the consequences of chronic overcrowding, which is an over-incarceration problem,” an attorney for the ACLU said.
🔎 READ MORE: Other details from the report and where the jail has made progress
MAJOR UNANSWERED FBI RAID QUESTIONS
A week after the FBI raid that resulted in hundreds of boxes being seized from the Fulton County election hub, state leaders still have critical questions. Questions like:
- Where are the ballots? Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts says no one knows.
- Will there be arrests? Georgia House Democratic leaders are preparing for the possibility. “We know that Trump is vindictive. I would not be surprised if he followed up on his vindictive nature,” House Minority Caucus Chief Deputy Whip Saira Draper said.
- By what pretext did federal agents secure a warrant to seize the records? Fulton County filed a motion yesterday seeking the return of all 2020 records seized by the FBI. The motion also seeks to unseal the affidavit in support of the FBI’s search warrant.
- What does this mean for Fulton County voters? Chances are the seizure doesn’t mean the FBI will know how everyone voted, but there are larger privacy concerns. Pitts says state lawmakers need to step up to protect voters and pollworkers.
🔎 READ MORE: The latest on the FBI raid, from the AJC politics team
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🏛️ U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk confirmed Wednesday he won’t seek another term in Congress, joining a growing wave of Republicans stepping down from the U.S. House ahead of the midterm elections. The race for his northwest Georgia district is expected to be hotly contested.
💵 The Georgia House of Representatives has proposed property tax relief instead of income tax rebates as lawmakers debate how to spend some of the state’s massive budget reserves. Advocates say the $850 million property tax relief plan would average about $500 for homeowners.
🏭 A Korean automotive supplier plans to invest $30 million into a new facility in South Georgia, promising to create 200 jobs. Dongwon Autopart Technology, which makes parts such as door, seat and battery frames, will support Georgia’s automotive manufacturing network but did not publicly announce specific companies it will supply.
📦 A little more than a year into President Trump’s expansion of tariffs, Georgia small business owners and others say they’re still grappling with change and uncertainty.
NEWS BITES
Yes, Atlanta restaurants know you’re stealing forks, glasses and other things, and they hate it
Sorry to my local Waffle House for the mug I swiped in 2012. Come, let us all unburden our petty restaurant larceny sins. It will never happen again.
The 2026 AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt contest is now open
Secure your place in Atlanta history and closets all over the country.
Meet RuPaw, Atlanta’s 2026 Puppy Bowl rep
Boston terrier gang, it’s our time!
ON THIS DATE
Feb. 5, 1997
With appeals expected, Simpson case won’t go away anytime soon. So is the O.J. Simpson saga finally over? Has America seen and heard the last of the bloody glove and the barking dog, the knit cap and the Bruno Maglis, the scream-fests on “Geraldo,” the gouged finger and the Bronco fibers, the socks and the vials, the books and diaries and docudramas, the whole tempestuous mix of race and class and murder? Dream on.
[Narrator]: The O.J. Simpson trial did not go away. In fact, it embedded itself so deeply in the American cultural memory everyone still remembers where they were when that white Bronco motored down L.A.’s 405.
ONE MORE THING
Sometimes when I’m sad, I listen to WJFK radio icon Charlie Slowes’ call of the Washington Nationals’ World Series win in 2019. Every word of it is permanently spun into my nervous system. “Remember where you are, so you remember where you are right now, at 11:50 Eastern time. Remember where you were on Oct. 31, 2019.” Guess what? I do and always will. The brain is funny that way. (Undoubtedly, a much better memory than the O.J. Simpson chase).
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.
