Morning, y’all! Well, it was nice while it lasted. Today is the last day before Georgia’s gas tax kicks back in. Gov. Brian Kemp elected not to extend the temporary suspension, enacted in March to defray ridiculously high gas prices due to the ongoing war in Iran. Might as well top up if you’re out and about.
Let’s get to it.
A NEW ERA FOR GRADY
Grady Health System opens a new freestanding emergency department in south Fulton County today that will serve people living in one of the city’s so-called “hospital deserts.”
- The emergency room, located between South Fulton and Union City, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- It’s part of a larger planned Grady South campus that will eventually feature a hospital and medical office building. The whole project is supposed to be completed in 2031.
- Many city residents south of I-20 live a significant ways away from any major medical facilities, let alone emergency facilities. The problem was exacerbated when WellStar closed two area hospitals in 2022.
- South Fulton and Union City residents shared personal stories with the AJC showing how accessible medical care can be the difference between life and death.
- Even when the stakes aren’t that high, having care nearby makes a world of difference for people with chronic conditions, special medical needs or limited transportation.
🔎 READ MORE: What the whole Grady South campus will include
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I’M AT THE BOTTOMS RALLY. I’M AT THE OSSOFF RALLY. I’M AT THE COMBINATION BOTTOMS AND OSSOFF RALLY.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms have launched a combined Georgia midterm ticket, aiming to unify Democratic voters and present a strong front against Republican challengers.
- The pair held a Sunday rally at the Tabernacle concert hall downtown, where some attendees sported shirts that said, “Vote your Bottoms Ossoff.”
- Bottoms and Ossoff cast themselves as top fighters against President Donald Trump and his administration’s agenda.
- Bottoms, who arguably has a more difficult row to hoe against her yet-undecided GOP opponent, said she’s “no stranger to tough fights.”
- Democrats want to build momentum on a promising primary turnout. Georgia Democratic voters cast around 150,000 more ballots than Republicans in May’s election.
🔎 READ MORE: The scene at the Tabernacle
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
⚖️ Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Brian Rickman will leave his position in July, in the middle of his six-year elected term. That’s a second vacancy on the court that Kemp can fill before he leaves office in January.
🏢 Software company Ministry Brands will move its headquarters to metro Atlanta after decades in Tennessee. The company handles more than $6 billion in payments a year for tens of thousands of churches and nonprofits.
🗳️ Lt. Gov. Burt Jones faced off against an empty lectern as Rick Jackson, his Republican opponent for Georgia governor, skipped Monday’s Atlanta Press Club debate. The AJC politics team compiled key takeaways from this week’s primary runoff debates ahead of Georgia’s June 16 election.
WHERE ARE ALL THE PRIVATE JETS?
There is only one group of people who should regularly ponder this question: aviation professionals.
Atlanta’s upcoming slate of eight World Cup games has been likened to “eight Super Bowls” coming to the city, and we’ve turned to possible indicators like hotel reservations to gauge interest. If private jet reservations are anything to go by, the massive influx isn’t there. Yet.
Experts say there’s been a bump around later-stage (i.e., more consequential) tournament matches in Atlanta, but nothing much for earlier games.
- “We don’t expect that it is going to be some huge surge event that is going to impact any activities or anything really large scale.” — Hunter Hines, director at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport
- “We’re all predicting it might just be slightly busier than a normal day.” — Clifton Adams, Fulton County general manager for Signature Aviation
However, there’s a general consensus that it’s too early to tell for sure. The private jet crowd moves differently than other travelers, and some could decide on a little last-minute World Cup getaway.
Meanwhile, normal Georgians are just hoping to get affordable ticket options.
NEWS BITES
🌈 🦈 ✨ Happpppppyyyyy Priiiiiiiide! 💅🏼 🐸 🌈
An Emory doctor shares advice for battling the heat during World Cup events
“I don’t need this,” you say. “Psh. I’m from the South,” you say. Then you have a headache and remember you haven’t consumed a nonalcoholic liquid in five hours.
How do you make vampires fly on Broadway? Wires, harnesses and lots of practice
In high school, I was part of a program where theater students reviewed other high schools’ productions for The Washington Post. A neighboring school got very ambitious with “Peter Pan,” and I had the fortune of watching in person as their Peter, rigged on a zip line, slowly crashed into the scenery and dangled for several seconds. Five stars. Anyway, lots of respect to anyone who does that kind of work.
ON THIS DATE
June 2, 1914
Twin bears, “Ike and Mike,” puma, leopard and gnu arrive at zoo. Bucephalus, the gnu, was the only one of the new arrivals at Grant park who appeared unhappy Tuesday morning. … A shaggy-maned, spindle-shanked creature, apparently with no eyes at all, Bucephalus did nothing all the morning but eat and rest in his fine new paddock down below the lake. … The female leopard, “felus pardus,” in her fine new spotted coat for summer wear, minced daintily around the cage, every now and then sniffing at the bars as if they would have tasted rather good done rare with tartar sauce. When the photographer pointed his machine at her, she took three velvet strides across the cage and stopped before it and grinned up at him wickedly … “Just like a woman,” said the photographer. “Pretends she doesn’t want it in the paper and then sticks her mug right in your face.”
Classic old newspaper article. Beautifully written, and then — bam! A weird and completely unnecessary detail about women.
As Producer Nicole said, “This is the price I pay for trying to find fun front-page animal stories.”
ONE MORE THING
To anyone wondering further about the “Peter Pan” incident, the young man was fine, and everyone onstage did an extraordinary job of getting on with the show. Theater kids are made of Kevlar.
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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