A.M. ATL: It’s a no from me

Morning, y’all! Birds get so angry at each other. Sometimes I swear I’m overhearing a lecture at the feeders. What can they possibly be so upset about? What capacity do birds have for interpersonal dramatics? Probably not the best pre-coffee thoughts.

Let’s get to it.

DOJ CAN’T HAVE PERSONAL INFO OF FULTON ELECTION WORKERS

Election workers wait for ballots to arrive at the Fulton County Election Center during the 2026 Georgia primary elections. (Bob Andres for the AJC)

A federal judge rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s attempt to obtain the identities and personal information of thousands of 2020 Fulton County election workers.

• The judge called the breadth of the demand “staggering,” and added the records “would not lead to information that could be used to charge anyone with anything, at least not any viable charge.”
• The DOJ’s demand is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to seize information from Fulton County’s elections unit, a campaign that escalated with a January FBI raid.
• Last week, it escalated again when an internal memo revealed the FBI ordered 260 analysts to hastily complete thousands of records checks related to Fulton County’s 2020 election.

🔎 READ MORE: Judge says people should be ‘concerned’ about DOJ’s actions

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NO-GO FOR OFF-GRID DATA CENTER BOOSTER

A “pop-up” power plant built to supply a Georgia data center with off-grid power is in violation of state law and must stop construction, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division says.

• The power plant is being built to serve an adjacent data center, also under construction, about 40 miles east of downtown Atlanta in Covington.
• The EPD says both the power plant and data center developers broke state air pollution laws by installing power generators without a permit.
• In Georgia, air permits are required before construction of any facility that can generate air pollution can begin.
• The explosion of data center construction in the region has led to multiple instances of developers ignoring environmental and municipal regulations to set up energy sources for the power-hungry facilities. Don’t expect this problem to go away easily.

🔎 READ MORE: Georgia’s PSC is considering an investigation into the issue

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🌳 Peoplestown’s Four Corners Park — once a vacant lot where generations of residents gathered to play softball — is poised for a major transformation after Atlanta nonprofit Park Pride secured a $9.4 million Bezos Earth Fund grant, one of just eight awarded nationwide.

🏢 The Environmental Protection Agency could vacate its regional hub in Atlanta’s largest federal office building and lease a much smaller workspace elsewhere.

🏟️ As SEC schools embrace entertainment districts inspired by developments like The Battery, UGA athletic director Josh Brooks is weighing future possibilities for open land near campus.

BOXES OF POSSIBILITY

A host of entrepreneurs use a three-story shipping container for their businesses in West Midtown near Inman Yard. (Estela Muñoz/AJC)

For years, shipping containers symbolized global trade. Now, they’re becoming a launchpad for Atlanta entrepreneurs.

Across the region, startups and established companies alike are repurposing the steel boxes as business spaces.

• A 24-hour grocer operates out of Pittsburgh Yards.
• Off Chattahoochee Avenue, a business park with two dozen container suites is home to hairstylists, barbers, a florist, a phlebotomist and a 3D-printing business.
• Nationally, even Starbucks and Smalls, a chain of slider sandwiches, have experimented with containers as a way to quickly open new locations.

The appeal mirrors the reason shipping containers revolutionized global trade in the first place: they’re modular, durable and, at scale, cheaper and faster to build with than traditional construction, said Eric Rubin, who runs 1130 Chattahoochee Avenue Suites.

“If you’re doing a one-off building, stick construction probably makes more sense,” Rubin said. But containers make a lot of sense to build with at scale, he said. “It’s very reliable, and with helical pier foundations, if we ever have, like, the apocalypse happen, this will be the last structure standing.”

🏗️ Read more: As Atlanta grapples with a lack of affordable commercial space, developers are turning to shipping containers as a lower-cost alternative.

NEWS BITES

Egypt fans are devastated by rough World Cup loss. Atlantans can relate

And we have the therapy bills to prove it.

What’s offside, and other soccer questions you may be afraid to ask

Rule No. 1: It’s not offsides, with an s. People get really mad when you say that.

What Atlanta restaurants are doing to accommodate diners on weight loss drugs

“Sure, I can automatically box up half of that!”

Braves’ Monday night loss to the Mets might have been worst of the season

Just make it to the All-Star break, guys.