A.M. ATL: It’s panda time

Morning, y’all! I’m headed to a chateau in France next week to do whatever it is people do in French chateaus. (Read, brood, take long constitutionals in the fresh air, maybe see a chicken or two.) Cassidy Alexander and Adam Van Brimmer will be pinch-hitting, so you’re in for a treat. Be good.

Let’s get to it.

PANDA-PLOMACY

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are expected to arrive stateside soon, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Courtesy of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding)

China is sending two new giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta soon.

During his visit to Washington this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Ping Ping and Fu Shuang would come to Atlanta in “a few days.” The zoo isn’t sharing a timeline.

The new Atlanta residents will fill a panda-sized hole in the city’s heart.

But one person’s adorable animal guest is another’s powerful diplomatic envoy, and another’s conservation and research opportunity.

• In 2024, pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang left Atlanta’s zoo and returned to China after a quarter-century conservation partnership.
• Giant pandas have been a tool of diplomacy between China and other countries for decades.
• It began in 1972, when then-Chairman Mao Zedong offered the U.S. two giant pandas during President Richard Nixon’s visit to China.
• The latest panda pact also allows Zoo Atlanta to work with fellow researchers at the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

🔎 READ MORE: The politics of panda parcels

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ICE STOP ENDS WITH HOSPITALIZATION

A Guatemalan man was struck by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle during a traffic stop in Albany. He sustained a broken leg and spine.

ICE agents stopped a van on Sept. 17, and all three of the van’s occupants reportedly fled on foot and were pursued by federal agents.

The incident was described with different levels of detail by different agencies:

• An ICE spokesperson said Edgar Borromeo Cabrera-Gomez “lost his footing and slid under an ICE vehicle as the officer attempted to stop in front of him.”
• A statement from the Dougherty County Police Department said he “was struck by a vehicle.”

Cabrera-Gomez is an unauthorized immigrant who had previously been removed from the U.S. ICE said it will continue with his deportation process when he’s discharged from the hospital.

🔎 READ MORE: Details about the encounter and the aftermath

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🚂 The proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is controversial for many reasons. However, a former DeKalb County commissioner and city planner says the deal could build out Atlanta’s rail infrastructure, easing rail congestion in and around the city.

🏈 The Protect College Sports Act is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that would create national standards for name, image and likeness contracts in college sports. Georgia’s senators are split on supporting the bill.

🎬 Georgia’s struggling film and TV industry was dealt another blow in 2025 when Marvel started moving its film projects to Europe. In the aftermath, one Atlanta producer says the city could find a new niche as an indie production hub.

MORE GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS???

An aerial image taken in December 2024 shows part of the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area in Bartow County. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Earlier this week, we got good news about beach replenishment funding for Tybee Island.

Now, glad tidings from North Georgia:

• Bartow and Cherokee counties, along with the state, have agreed to acquire more than 14,000 acres of a former sprawling wildlife preserve and return it to public use and conservation.
• The Georgia Department of Natural Resources will acquire the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area. The site is the largest contiguous, privately owned forested tract in North Georgia.
• It’s also a top conservation target for the DNR and made the list of Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s “places in peril.”
• The deal saves the area from a much sadder fate. The owners of the land had previously been considering selling it for commercial and industrial use.

🌲 READ MORE: ‘A truly special and unique place’

THE GRANDMA HOBBY RENAISSANCE

Crafts like needlepoint, crochet, embroidery and sewing are trending as creative and therapeutic outlets. (Richard Drew/AP Photo file)

Crocheters, knitters, needleworkers, sewers and crafters of all kinds: It’s our time.

Some people call these “grandma hobbies,” which is true! Our grandmas did do them, and our grandmas were awesome. Still, I think “tradition and skill kept alive generation after generation by hands just like our own” sounds better than “grandma hobbies.”

• People are discovering the satisfying analog power of these pastimes, which engage you creatively and, research shows, help improve the mind.
• It’s part of a larger trend, in this oppressively digital age, of reviving physical media and offline experiences.
• There are hard facts to back up the boom: Data show the knitting yarn ball retail market size was around $6.21 billion in 2024, and is projected to grow to $9.89 billion in 2033.

The AJC’s Olivia Wakim talked to some Atlanta-area crafters about why we’re seeing such a handmade moment right now.

(Also in the article: plenty of classes and craft communities in the Atlanta area to keep you in yarn and thread for the rest of your life.)

NEWS BITES

More than 160,000 pounds of meat bearing false USDA inspection labels recalled