A.M. ATL: Sealing deals

Morning, y’all! It’s going to be very hot this weekend. “Sweat through the shirt walking through a parking lot,” “send a prayer of thanks to every scientific mind who helped birth modern air conditioning,” “can’t even get mad at people when they say HotLanta” hot. Be safe, be cool, look out for your neighbors.

Let’s get to it.

FLOCK FLAK

Flock cameras are everywhere in Atlanta, and leaders want better oversight. (Casey Sykes/AJC)

The Atlanta Police Department is conducting an independent audit of its Flock Safety cameras in response to dozens of incidents across the state of officers misusing the technology.

• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens ordered the “comprehensive review” of the department’s surveillance system and associated policies and procedures.
• APD told Atlanta City Council the findings of the Flock audit should be available in 30 days. So far, Georgia’s largest police department has not publicly announced any incidents of suspected misuse by its officers.
• Georgia is one of a handful of states with laws that criminalize the use of license plate reader data without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, which makes one wonder what’s going on in states where there are no such laws.

Flock is also making changes

• The growing Flock Safety backlash has spawned change: More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions nationwide have nixed contracts or deactivated their systems since the beginning of the year.
• Flock just announced changes to its operations starting next year, intended to raise accountability.
• They include mandatory use of its audit tool, which is currently optional, and stricter search rules.

🔎 READ MORE: What legal experts say about Flock’s value and risks

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AND YOUR NEW MARTA CEO IS …

Interim MARTA CEO Jonathan Hunt will be full-time MARTA CEO Jonathan Hunt. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Your old MARTA CEO!

The agency’s interim general manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt was unanimously chosen by MARTA’s board of directors.

• Picking an internal candidate was not board members’ plan when they began a national search last year, and Hunt initially said he wasn’t interested in the full-time job. Oh, how things change.
• Hunt inherited a full plate when he took over as interim CEO last summer. Board members said Hunt’s performance overseeing MARTA through the FIFA World Cup and an evolving slate of improvement projects showed he’s the best man for the job.
• “We could not be more excited to have Jonathan on board,” Board Chair Jennifer Ide said. “Through it all he led with passion, with dedication and with unwavering dedication.”

🔎 READ MORE: Now that he’s here for good, get to know Hunt a little better

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

💳 Equifax will pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the Atlanta-based consumer credit reporting giant of misreporting millions of credit scores because of a coding glitch in 2022.

🐘 Hard-line GOP activists in Georgia want a judge to say party officials exceeded their authority when they allowed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to register as a Republican on the May primary ballot. Georgia GOP members have punished Raffensperger and tried to paint him as a party traitor since he refused to help President Donald Trump illegally overturn his 2020 defeat.

PARAMOUNT EYES GEORGIA FOR POSSIBLE HQ

There’s a new level to the Georgia-based interest in that huge Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount merger.

• David Ellison, the chairman of Paramount, is reportedly threatening to move his company’s headquarters out of Los Angeles, and you’ll never guess what state is on his short list.
• Ellison’s threats come a month after a dozen states sued to block the merger, which critics say will create a dangerous media monopoly.
• Ellison’s overtures toward Georgia or another hospitable state are part of his pressure campaign to negotiate a settlement in the matter.
• As part of the deal, Paramount agreed to pay WBD $7 million a day (!!!) past Oct. 1 of this year if proceedings dragged on past that point.
• Now that the merger’s tied up in litigation, with a trial scheduled for March, Paramount could be on the hook for $1.2 billion in extra payments.

🔎 Also of Atlanta interest: Paramount execs say selling CNN is “on the table” if it makes the merger more palatable.

📺 READ MORE: Every time you think this deal can’t get messier …

NEWS BITES

Alpine resorts’ snowmaking equipment may be put to work fighting summer forest fires

[90s action movie voice] It’s a crazy plan, but it just might work!

MLB players emerge from cornfield before nostalgic ‘Field of Dreams’ game in Iowa

The only case where MLB players emerging from a cornfield isn’t terrifying.

Your in-flight life is getting higher tech. And we’re ‘only at the beginning.’

They want you to watch screen. Screen is your friend! Screen keeps the thoughts away. Spend money on screen! Watch content. Make a sports bet. Tell screen your biggest secrets. Screen wants you to be happy. Do not be sad, screen is with you always, even at 30,000 feet above the ground. Screen will never leave you, no matter where you go. It loves you so much.