Morning, y’all! It’s been a long, luxurious spring (needed more rain, though), but I think The Hot has finally come to stay for the summer. Can’t wait to be just a tiny bit sweaty from now until October.
Let’s get to it.
GA GAS TAX EXTENDED
Gov. Brian Kemp has extended the state’s gas tax holiday for another two weeks as fuel prices stay teeth-gnashingly high.
- The suspension saves drivers 33 cents per gallon on gasoline and 37 cents per gallon on diesel.
- It will go into effect this Wednesday, May 20, and run through June 3.
- The average price for regular unleaded gas in metro Atlanta was about $4.05 per gallon at the beginning of the weekend.
- That’s lower than the national average, which was $4.35.
🔎 READ MORE: What other relief could be on the way
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MAKING MATER PROUD
I owe a lot to the Writing Program at Syracuse University. Someday, I dream I will climb so high a plaque with my name will grace the threshold of a random bathroom in HB Course Hall.
Meanwhile, on a much higher plane of achievement, a sibling trio of Morehouse and Spelman grads just donated $2 million to their alma maters.
- Drs. George I. Crawford Jr. and Marcus H. Crawford are second-generation Morehouse men and their sister, Christine Crawford, graduated from Spelman and later served on Morehouse faculty.
- “We are who we are because of Morehouse and Spelman,” said Crawford Jr.
This is Black excellence.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ Georgia’s primary elections are tomorrow, May 19, so don’t forget to vote if you haven’t already! It’s been a chaotic primary season, and there’s plenty of uncertainty about who will prevail.
🏟️ SEC schools like Tennessee and Ole Miss are taking a page from the Atlanta playbook. These schools are working on entertainment districts similar to The Battery around Truist Park.
LOOK NOT UPON THE WAYMO DEATH SPIRAL
A northwest Atlanta neighborhood is reportedly a private freakout spot for self-driving cars.
- Residents on Battleview Drive said they’ve seen dozens of Waymos circling around the neighborhood’s cul-de-sacs with no drivers, passengers or apparent destination.
- A group of residents said they contacted Waymo, their City Council member, representatives and the Georgia Department of Transportation and haven’t gotten satisfactory responses.
- They’re worried about the safety of children and pets in the neighborhood. Also, it sounds very unnerving.
- Maybe they’re using the neighborhood as an unwitting cul-de-sac training course? Or the cars are taking the Waymo equivalent of a midday smoke break and don’t care who they frighten.
🔎 READ MORE: Waymo’s response to the situation
NEWS BITES
Community college student will be first woman to rep the US at world welding competition
Hell yes to this woman. I normally wouldn’t say “hell yes” in the newsletter, but c’mon. This deserves it.
Director Steven Soderbergh explains why he used AI visuals in John Lennon doc
(It’s because he was paid to use Meta’s artificial intelligence software. Art!)
“Cruises” being another word for “places far, far away from it all where the ocean swallows your thoughts, even if it comes with a slight risk of communicable disease.”
ON THIS DATE
May 18, 1973
McCord to tell public his story of Watergate. James W. McCord Jr., the convicted Watergate conspirator who blew the case wide open eight weeks ago, was to be the only witness Friday as the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities went into its second day of open hearings. One of five men caught inside Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate June 17, 1972, McCord is the man who wrote that now-famous letter to Judge John Sirica last March 21, offering to “tell all” in connection with the attempted bugging case.
A little history to kick off the week: Televised hearings on the escalating Watergate scandal began May 17, 1973.
ONE MORE THING
Wham bam, a nice short one today. Let’s get this Monday started!
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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.
