Morning, y’all! What are you mad about today? I’m mad about invasive creeping vines. (And a lot of other stuff, but you know how it is.)
Breathe in all of those frustrating feelings, and then release them in one big bubble. Feel it float away. You won’t keep us down today, vines!
Let’s get to it.
IN OCONEE COUNTY, A FAMILIAR STRUGGLE
A proposed bypass intended to ease traffic in Oconee County has ignited an emotional debate in the region.
On one hand, something needs to be done about easing traffic in rapidly growing Watkinsville.
However, that would likely mean cutting through farmland that has defined the area for generations.
- Watkinsville has grown by more than 40% since 2020 to over 4,000 residents.
- Oconee County is also part of a rapidly developing corridor north and west of Athens where farmland has already been paved over for subdivisions, warehouses and industrial parks.
- All of that growth creates bumper-to-bumper backups of commercial vehicles, even in the middle of the day.
- The Georgia Department of Transportation unveiled three possible bypass routes around downtown aimed at improving traffic flow.
- Even local leaders in favor of a bypass plan say they know how difficult the decision is.
- For farming families in the area, they’re preparing to choose between the legacy of their land and the ease — and possible payout — of going along with the plan.
🔎 READ MORE: Hear from locals and leaders split on growth and preservation
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LAWYER V. LAWYER
The Georgia Supreme Court has agreed to review a growing fight among Georgia lawyers about whether they can sue one another for illegally soliciting clients.
This lawyer-on-lawyer litigation aims to keep business competition fair. However, there’s a very real legal issue at its center.
An illegal practice that hurts victims
- Georgia’s legal community knows it has a problem with so-called “case running,” when people injured in vehicle wrecks and other incidents are aggressively encouraged to hire certain attorneys and law firms.
- It’s illegal in Georgia to solicit an injured person to be a litigant.
- It’s also a major violation of professional conduct for lawyers.
- Still, everyone pretty much agrees it happens anyway. The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association says no one wants to do anything about it. Last year, an attorney even resigned from his position on a State Bar of Georgia committee because he was frustrated that no one seemed to care about the case running issue.
🔎 READ MORE: How the case could change the entire industry in Georgia
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ Here’s when early voting starts for the June 16 primary runoffs. (Next week.)
💬 Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has a new focus for his gubernatorial runoff campaign: MARTA safety. After last weekend’s deadly stabbing on a MARTA train, Jones said he’d use his powers as governor to deploy Georgia State Patrol troopers to MARTA trains if necessary.
🎤 Meanwhile, the Trump administration says it’s going to investigate MARTA’s safety and security spending after the attack.
KEMP IN THE MIDDLE
I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t turn on the TV without seeing Rick Jackson or Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ face. They’re so familiar at this point, I almost feel obligated to include them on my Christmas card list.
- Jackson’s latest round of ads makes it look like Gov. Brian Kemp has, if not endorsed him, at the very least given a clear preference.
- The ad lifts from a Kemp interview with Politico. The governor praised Jackson as a “great supporter” and said the “race is ripe for a political outsider, especially someone who can self-fund.” But he praised Jones in that interview, too.
- Jones has also aired ads showcasing ties to Kemp.
➡️ Here’s the bottom line, though: Brian Kemp hasn’t endorsed Jackson or Jones.
TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS WEEKEND
🖼️ Mix up your museum routine with five underrated offerings in the area. Waffle House Museum? Delicious.
🦋 Antiques, a Greek picnic and a butterfly festival: 15 family-friendly activity suggestions.
🎲 Got the game show bug? Several immersive game show experiences have cropped up around Atlanta. Forge lifelong grudges among your family members without the pesky cameras!
🎭 Keep it on the low low: 20 free things to do in June including a comedy club and a lavender festival.
NEWS BITES
USMNT departs Atlanta to face Germany in its final friendly before World Cup
Ten more days until the World Cup comes to Atlanta — get excited/scared!
What it’s like to go inside New York City’s dank, dangerous, bug-filled sewers
By the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The New World screwworm fly reappears in U.S. to threaten $113B cattle industry
Sounds like something a bug named “New World screwworm fly” would do.
❓TRIVIA: Can you name all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? (I could not.)
ON THIS DATE
June 5, 1919
Political chains stricken from women after battle that lasts forty years. Action by congress on equal suffrage — subject of a fight of forty years’ duration — ended late today in adoption by the senate by a vote of 56 to 25 of the historic Susan B. Anthony constitutional amendment resolution. The proposed amendment, adopted by the house by a vote of 304 to 89, May 21, as the first act of the new congress, now goes to the states, ratification by legislatures of three-fourths of which is required for its incorporation in the federal constitution.
Fun fact: Georgia didn’t ratify the 19th Amendment until 1970, more than 50 years later. 🙃
ONE MORE THING
The four anthropomorphic turtle brothers of legend are Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo.
Imagine, for one moment, the pitch meeting for a show about giant turtles who eat a lot of pizza and practice martial arts with their rat sensei. No matter how you explain it, it sounds like something a four-year-old dreamt up while zonked on children’s Robitussin. Which is, of course, why it ruled.
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.
