A.M. ATL: Staying on the rails

Morning, y’all! A good Sunday makes for a better Monday, and few Sunday traditions please me more than hearing opera singer Timothy Miller sing “God Bless America” at an Atlanta Braves matinee. The voice of an angel with a very strong diaphragm.

Let’s get to it.

MARTA SURVIVED THE WORLD CUP. NOW WHAT?

Keep it up, MARTA! (AJC)

Let’s be honest. Despite the untold hours of work MARTA leaders and employees poured in before our long-awaited World Cup spotlight, it was never a given that things were going to run smoothly.

For the most part, they did. Now, we’ll see if MARTA can keep it up.

In his latest column, “Gridlock Guy” Doug Turnbull lays out some interesting insights about MARTA’s generally successful World Cup run, and what we can look for next.

It may not go everywhere we want it to go, but it went where it had to

• MARTA’s rudimentary rail lines are a pain for regular commuters, but proximity won out this time.
• With five stations within walking distance of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena and the surrounding area, visiting World Cup fans told Turnbull the service was cheap, convenient and better than other cities.
• Yes, better than other cities! Let’s name names: “Fans told me Atlanta’s transit situation for the World Cup was so much better than in Dallas, New York (really, New Jersey) and Boston, where fans had to take long expensive commuter trains or shuttle buses to far-flung stadiums,” Turnbull writes.

What MARTA needs to keep up

• MARTA avoided any major incidents of crime or violence during the tournament. Whether that was because of increased police presence, or general “let’s behave while the world is watching” vibes, Turnbull says regular ridership needs to benefit, too.
• MARTA ran trains more often and integrated options. Riders were easily linked up with rapid shuttle buses and secondary transit, making commutes more seamless.
• MARTA made it through even though many fare gates were out of service. This is a long-term problem the agency is working on, but remains unresolved.

Of course, it’s easy for us to make diagnoses, but such improvements require significant resources and investment.

🔎 READ MORE: More nice things visitors said about MARTA

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NOTES FROM THE GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

Georgia's Democrats gathered to discuss their midterm agenda. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms headlined a summit of Georgia’s Democrats this weekend as the party looks toward a promising-but-certainly-not-promised slate of midterm elections.

• Cost-of-living challenges are near the top of the party’s platform this cycle.
• So is the drumbeat against President Donald Trump. This was especially important to Bottoms, whose opponent, Republican Rick Jackson, has promised to be “Trump’s favorite governor” if he wins.
• “He may want to be Trump’s favorite governor, but I want to be yours,” Bottoms said. “I am working to be the favorite governor of everyone in the state who wants to elect a leader who is thinking of them, thinking of their families, their communities, and working to find meaningful ways to make their lives better.”

🔎 READ MORE: More from the convention in Savannah

🟥 How red is Georgia’s leadership, anyway? Very. GOP members hold all the state’s constitutional offices, nine of the 14 U.S. House seats and have majority control in both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🎥 Georgia film and television production spending slipped to $2 billion over the last year, marking a ten-year low. This is down from $2.3 billion during the previous fiscal year and less than half of Georgia’s all-time high in 2022.

🚗 Hennessy Automobile Companies, one of Atlanta’s largest luxury auto groups, was sold to a Houston-based group for an estimated $1.3 billion. The automotive retail industry has seen almost six years of record-setting acquisition activity, and Hennessy is the latest Atlanta-area family-owned dealership of its kind to be sold to bigger groups.

ONE MUSICFEST NOT RETURNING TO ATLANTA

One Musicfest, an annual event honoring Black music and culture, will not return to Atlanta this year, organizers announced last Friday.

• Since its founding in 2010, One Musicfest has grown into one of the most prominent Black-owned music festivals in the country, attracting over 100,000 fans each year.
• Ludacris, Future and Doechii were among last year’s headliners.
• Organizers described the decision as a “pause” to find “new partnerships” and “bolder creative experiences.” They said the festival will be back in action in 2027.

🔎 READ MORE: The history of One Musicfest and what we know about the decision

MOORE LOVE, MOORE ACCOUNTABILITY

That's Moore like it. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

When Bellwood Coffee painted over a Grant Park mural of beloved Atlanta journalist Jovita Moore this April, people were outraged.

• The mural was a genuinely stunning tribute to the longtime Channel 2 News anchor, who died of brain cancer in 2021.
• But — what a concept! When Bellwood Coffee brass saw they’d made a mistake in the public’s eye, they fixed it.
• The founders of Bellwood Coffee publicly apologized and recommissioned local artist Tommy Bronx to repaint his original work.
• They also added a new menu item, the JoMo, chosen by Jovita’s family, and will donate $2 from every JoMo sold in August to the National Brain Tumor Society.

🩶 READ MORE: Nedra Rhone reflects on a bittersweet reconciliation

NEWS BITES

Braves sweep Nationals to win five straight

I might love Timothy Miller’s singing, but as a Nationals fan I do not love this.

AI-assisted staging draws boos at the Richard Wagner festival in Germany

You do not want Wagner’s ghost haunting you! The German composer was a real megalomaniacal weirdo and he’d probably love to haunt you, and he definitely will if you use AI with his work.

Top dogs ride waves at annual World Dog Surfing Championships

When you feel like the world is going to heck, remember we still have surfing dogs.

A discarded SpaceX rocket is on a high-speed collision course with the moon