Morning, y’all! When I was young, I used to practice my signature all the time. It felt like such a marker of adult sophistication. Little did I know adults develop a whole spectrum of signatures, ranging from “Signing My Marriage Certificate with a Fountain Pen” to “Dragging My Non-Dominant Pointer Finger over a Publix Checkout Trackpad.”
Let’s get to it.
THE COST OF THOSE TAX CUTS
Gov. Brian Kemp has signed all the bills he’s going to sign, and vetoed all the bills he’s going to veto. He did end up signing the bill to make certain races in metro Atlanta counties nonpartisan. Expect that one to meet with legal challenges.
- Kemp also trimmed $300 million from the state budget.
- That money, which would have gone to homeless veterans, K-12 student transportation, school safety equipment and other state programs, will be used to cover a deficit caused by the state’s new income and property tax cuts.
- (Remember, budgets are a different type of bill. Kemp can veto different parts of the budget individually.)
- Kemp says the $300 million will go toward covering a $1.3 billion deficit in the budget he attributed to a Republican-backed income tax bill. That bill promises to return $2.9 billion a year to taxpayers. That’s $2.9 billion less in state revenue a year, too.
🔎 READ MORE: Budget cuts by the numbers
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I-285 WILL SHUT DOWN FOR REAL THIS WEEKEND
Last week, the city braced for a weekend-long shutdown of half of I-285, only to be spared by the specter of bad weather.
Alas, we just delayed our fate. Here are the details for this weekend’s traffic nightmare:
- All north and southbound lanes of I-285 will be closed from Exit 9 at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Exit 7 at Cascade Road.
- That’s on the southwest side of the perimeter, below I-20.
- The closure will last from 7 p.m. Friday, May 15, through 5 a.m. Monday, May 18.
🔎 READ MORE: Nervous? Perhaps studying this map of planned detours will soothe you
TWO JUDGE CANDIDATES SUED THE STATE, BUT WE DON’T KNOW WHY
Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, two Democratic-backed candidates for the Georgia Supreme Court, sued a state-funded agency but requested the case be sealed.
The AJC asked a judge to unseal the case, saying Georgia voters have a right to know about the complaint during critical primary elections.
The judge refused, but there’s plenty of context around the suit.
- Jordan and Rankin filed suit against the Judicial Qualifications Commission last month. The commission investigates and prosecutes allegations of judicial misconduct.
- In 2024, another judicial candidate named John Barrow sued the agency, saying it tried to punish him for what it said were “partisan views.” He wrote a piece for the AJC explaining the issue.
- Barrow’s suit failed in part because courts said he shouldn’t have filed it publicly. That’s why this current pair of judges asked for their suit to be sealed.
A note on partisanship: Judicial races in Georgia are nonpartisan, but it’s still pretty clear where the lines lie. Jordan and Rankin are challenging two incumbent justices who were appointed by GOP leaders and are currently backed by Kemp and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
🔎 READ MORE: What the AJC’s attorney says about the case
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
⚡ Georgia Power has reached a tentative deal in two cases involving its storm damage and fuel costs that could lower the average residential customer’s monthly bill by about $4.04 starting in June.
⚖️ Brant Frost IV pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to a wire fraud charge tied to the collapse of First Liberty Building & Loan, marking a dramatic turn in a saga that has had ripple effects across Georgia GOP politics.
🏛️ A Georgia Senate Committee that spent the last two years investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has moved on to Stacey Abrams. The committee subpoenaed Abrams to testify at a Friday hearing as it probes campaign finance violations by two groups she founded.
🚴 A City Council member has tabled her proposal to separate “wheels and heels” on Atlanta’s Beltline amid concerns that creating a dedicated bike lane could eliminate the possibility of future light rail along the popular path.
HAPPY SUBSCRIBER WEEK!
First of all, shout out to all the A.M. ATL family members I met yesterday in the office during AJC’s Subscriber Week tours! It was a true delight talking to you. Unsurprisingly, everyone was knowledgeable, insightful and very kind. ❤️ (If I knew the tours were going on, I would have brushed my hair.)
AJC Subscriber Week is underway, and there are still a few spots left for exclusive, subscriber-only events. Check them out here.
In fact, tonight I’ll be at Fado Midtown hosting a sports/soccer-themed trivia night alongside former A.M. ATL host and current The Win Column host Tyler Estep!
If you would like to say hi to two former gifted kids with weird brains and too much baseball knowledge, swing by. We are actually cool in person, at least for a time.
NEWS BITES
Jason Collins, former Hawks player and the NBA’s first out gay player, dies at 47
Cancer sucks.
Why are peptides so popular right now?
If you weren’t sure what a peptide was and didn’t want to ask (me too), now’s your chance.
Who’s up for a European football getaway?
The tiny Atlanta jail cell that’s survived more than 100 years
The vibes in that box are probably atrocious.
ON THIS DATE
May 13, 2001
Road to freedom. In 1961, a group calling themselves Freedom Riders set forth on a perilous journey — to end segregation and take the civil rights movement into the heart of the Deep South. On Saturday, they went back. Boarding Greyhound buses, six of the original Freedom Riders left Atlanta for a 40th anniversary return through Alabama … “The goal now is to complete what we started in 1961,” said U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), sitting next to his 1961 seat mate, Jim Zwerg, a white former Fisk University student who was savagely beaten 40 years ago. “An interracial democracy, and to build one house, one family. We all must live together.”
It’s always a good day for some John Lewis wisdom.
ONE MORE THING
It’s beautiful weather for the Braves-Cubs series. As I was watching last night, I was reminded anew that Cubs fans are very, very scary. Have you beheld in person all of Wrigley Stadium sing “Go Cubs, Go”? I have, and I am haunted to this day.
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.
