Morning, y’all! Trivia time, right off the bat: What is Georgia’s state motto? I’ve also hidden (largely by accident) the motto of another state in today’s newsletter. Answers at the very bottom.
Let’s get to it.
MORE MISUSE OF FLOCK CAMERAS IN GA
Cameras and license plate readers like those made by Atlanta-based Flock Safety supposedly help solve crimes. Increasingly, they’re at the center of them instead.
- Georgia has seen dozens of cases of law enforcement agents improperly using data from Flock cameras, leading to resignations, suspensions and even arrests.
- Just this week, three Bibb County sheriff’s deputies were arrested and accused of misusing their department’s access to the Flock systems for “personal” purposes to monitor people they knew.
- All three have resigned and face charges of stalking.
🔎 READ MORE: Details from the Bibb County incidents
Communities are starting to push back against the seemingly ubiquitous camera systems. A recent Dunwoody City Council meeting got heated after the city renewed its contract with Flock, over several residents’ objections. Residents in other cities, like Smyrna, have started movements to “DeFlock” their communities.
🔎 READ MORE: An overview of incidents and arrests within GA law enforcement agencies
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NOOO, NOT THE TREES
Atlanta’s reputation as a tree-studded “city in the forest” has taken a serious hit over the years as increased development whittles away our canopy.
- The city lost an average of 150 acres of tree cover a year between 2008 and 2023, according to new data from Georgia Tech.
- That’s about six Centennial Olympic Parks worth of trees, gone every year.
- Atlanta City Council set a goal in 2023 of reaching and maintaining an average of 50% canopy coverage across the city. The council commissioned the Tech study to monitor progress.
- The new report found 45.7% of Atlanta’s total land area was covered in trees in 2023, down from 46.5% five years earlier.
The report will be officially released today at a Community Development and Human Services Committee meeting.
🔎 READ MORE: Why Atlanta’s current tree preservation measures are so polarizing
MARTA HAS A SHORTLIST FOR NEXT CEO
I’ll defer to AJC reporter Sara Gregory’s lede on this story:
“A year after saying they wanted to look beyond the transit industry for its next leader, MARTA’s Board of Directors has named three finalists with long resumes working for transit agencies.”
Here are the finalists for our next Mr. MARTA:
- Current MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt
- Cleveland Ferguson, Jacksonville Transportation Authority
- Leroy Jones, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
MARTA has been without a permanent chief since former General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood stepped down last July due to work visa issues.
Hunt came on in an interim capacity last August and recently expressed interest in going for the permanent position.
We’ll know soon enough: MARTA’s board is expected to vote to name a new general manager and CEO at its Thursday meeting this week.
🔎 READ MORE: Background on the three candidates
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
⚕️ Rick Jackson extended a $35 million loan to an endangered Alabama hospital, giving his company control over the facility. He says he deploys philanthropy to “solve structural problems in healthcare.” However, Jackson’s state political policies do not address the reasons the hospital says it’s failing, such as staffing shortages and Medicaid limitations. The situation also gives a taste of what it could mean for Georgia to have a top industry executive running the state.
🐘 The Tillman Rally, an annual GOP gathering in Floyd County, attracted scores of Georgia GOP faithful this weekend. The rally is generally seen as a heat check for state Republicans, and this year, they talked unity and shared causes ahead of the fall midterms.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AJC SUPER 11!
This year’s Super 11 class is in! Every year, the AJC chooses the 11 top graduating high school football players in the state. In Georgia, that’s really saying something.
Read through their names, so you can say you knew of them when they were just starting out.
We also have bios and fantastic portraits of each honoree on our Super 11 page.
- Kelsey Adams Jr. OT, Langston Hughes High School
- Jordan Agbanoma OL, Grayson High School
- Kamarui Dorsey ATH, Hampton High School
- Marquis Fennell RB, Valdosta High School
- Moonie Gipson RB, Kell High School
- KJ Green Jr. LB, Stephenson High School
- DJ Jacobs LB, Blessed Trinity High School
- Elijah Patmon DL, Northside High School
- Ta’Shawn Poole ATH, Howard High School
- Jaden Upshaw WR, Lee County High School
- Gary Walker RB, Creekside High School
Ad astra per aspera, gentlemen.
Fun fact I had to Google: ATH, short for athlete, is the recruiting designation for a player who’s not tied to a position.
NEWS BITES
Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says
Never been more jealous of Alaska and Hawaii.
UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC accuse FIFA of ‘deception’ and ‘breach of trust’ over World Cup plans
World Cup? Very fun. World Cup politics? Very not fun.
As AI continues to haunt us, the thrill of collecting vintage computers is growing
Georgia has a museum for that! The Mimms Museum of Technology and Art (formerly the Computer Museum of America) in Roswell has a huge collection of rare and vintage computers. Take the teen who’s yearning for a pre-digital life.
Traditional plastic forks shed harmful microplastics. Plastic created from sugar is an alternative
Doctor: “The scans are back, and you’re 95% microplastics. It’s like the inside of a Beanie Baby. Perhaps you should try sustainable plastic forks and such?”
Me, dying: “But the texture is so eeeeeeeuugh.”
ON THIS DATE
Aug. 11, 1990
In Statesboro, 1,000,000 reasons to be ticked off. Georgia Southern University, known for its national champion football teams, has a new claim to worldwide fame — ticks by the truckload. The state’s newest university is now the home of the world’s largest collection of ticks, a “national treasure” that includes more than a million carefully cataloged ticks — including one well-pickled whopper, the size of a large acorn, that ranks as the world’s largest. The Smithsonian Institution dispatched three truckloads of ticks to the Statesboro school this week to form the core of a new research center on ticks and tick-borne diseases.
Three truckloads of ticks! Sounds threatening.
Meanwhile, the U.S. National Tick Collection is still going strong down at GSU.
ONE MORE THING
Let’s have some motto fun.
Georgia’s state motto is “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.”
The hidden motto was from Kansas, in the Super 11 section: “Ad astra per aspera,” or “To the stars through hardship.”
Both of them are leagues better than my home state of Maryland: “Fatti maschii, parole femine,” or “Manly deeds, womanly words.” A lot to think about there.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.