Morning, y’all! Welcome to false spring in Atlanta. At least, I hope it’s false spring because I can’t handle many more 80-degree days in March.
Let’s get to it.
WHY IS EPSTEIN’S OLD PLANE IN GEORGIA?
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous plane, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” has been languishing for the last decade in, of all places, coastal Georgia.
This definitely requires an explanation.
- In 2016, the Boeing 727 was parked in the scrapyard next to the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. Epstein had just sold it, and the plan was to decommission the craft and prep the airplane for sale.
- While the engines were removed, much of the rest remains a time capsule of how it was the day it last landed: toiletries in the lavatories, used towels strewn about, monogrammed napkins and placements in drawers.
- Epstein accusers have described illicit activities they say took place on the Lolita Express. Teenage girls were allegedly recruited to “work” on the plane, giving massages or partying aboard with Epstein and some of his guests.
- A mysterious Wyoming-based company called Jet Assets Incorporated currently owns the plane and pays a monthly fee to house the dilapidated hull at the storage yard.
🔎 READ MORE: Four AJC journalists were allowed to tour the plane. Here’s what they saw
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THE DUST CLEARS IN DISTRICT 14
After Tuesday’s primary election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, Democrat Shawn Harris will face Republican Clay Fuller for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old congressional seat.
It’s just one race in one corner of the state, but it’s become a proving ground for Democratic and Republican strategies alike.
- Republicans breathe a sigh of relief: Party leaders were worried Fuller, a former prosecutor and conventional GOP figure, might have had to go to a runoff against controversial party figure Colton Moore. (Moore has a long history of tussling with fellow Georgia Republicans.) Lucky for them, that won’t happen.
- Democrats take their wins where they can get them: Harris is still a long shot for the deep red district, but he had a solid election night performance. So far, Democratic messaging on affordability has seemed to resonate in the area. Now, it’s time for the party to spend boatloads of campaign money.
🔎 READ MORE: Breaking down the bigger themes in this race
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🚂 The merger of Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific would eliminate the decades-old Norfolk Southern brand. However, the railroad company has no plans to leave its prominent office building in Midtown.
🚗 HB 809 proposed raising the minimum speed limit from 40 mph to 50 mph on certain Georgia highways. The bill fizzled out after Crossover Day at the Capitol, but the problem of too-slow drivers persists.
PREPARE FOR ... THE YELLOWING
It’s coming. Within weeks, every nook and cranny of the region will be covered in a fine dusting of tree sperm pollen. Oh, and it’s going to be bad.
Last March set a record for metro Atlanta with a pollen count of 14,801.
About 30% of people react to environmental allergens, mainly pollen, one doctor told the AJC.
There are legit ways to ease suffering besides “stay inside and take Benadryl.”
- Start allergy medication now, or about two weeks before pollen counts rise.
- Shower before bedtime
- Rinse your nose with a saline nasal wash
🔎 READ MORE: What else to know about pollen season
NEWS BITES
Do you really need a water filter? Here’s what experts say
Excuse me, that’s my emotional support water filter.
Britain is ejecting hereditary nobles from Parliament after 700 years
The Bridgertons are shaking in their Hessian boots!
Head priest of Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh accused of stealing baseball cards from Walmart
Today in “News Headline Mad Libs.”
Say how you feel: How opening up about feelings can deepen connections
Pass!
ON THIS DATE
March 12, 1931
Write your own solution of working wife problem. One of the most widely debated subjects of the day, “Can a working wife be loyal to a job and to a home?” is being submitted by The Journal to the women of the south for an answer. Is the working wife torn between conflicting loyalties? Does her mind, preoccupied with business, fail to grapple with the intimate problems of home? Is her divided interest a loss to both spheres? Do her children, if any, and her husband suffer from her business career? These are the questions to be answered. On March 23 The Journal will begin one of the most gripping serial stories in a decade, “Working Wives,” by Anne Gardner. In this story the problem is treated intimately and compassionately by a woman who knows all about it.
I would ask my husband if he suffers from my business career, but I only let him out of the basement on Tuesdays and Sundays. Makes it easier to grapple with the intimate problems of home.
ONE MORE THING
You bet your briefcase producer Nicole is neglecting her household duties to search the archives for the exciting conclusion of “Should ladies work???” Stay tuned!
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.
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