A.M. ATL: Doctor discipline

Morning, y’all! Like a daily special at your local diner, I’ll be in your inbox for one morning only. Get it while it’s hot.

Let’s get to it.

WHAT’S UP, DOC?

People should be worried about how infrequently Georgia imposes serious disciplinary action against physicians, according to one of the authors of a new study on the topic.

• The Georgia Composite Medical Board issued roughly 13 serious disciplinary actions per year between 2023 and 2025, according to an analysis by the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. That means it ranks lower than all but one state.
• The study looked at disciplinary action like the suspension or removal of licenses for unsafe practices.
• Georgia would have to increase its serious disciplinary actions by 500% to reach top-ranked Alaska’s rate, the study said.

🔎 READ MORE: Report supports AJC investigation that Georgia is lax in disciplining doctors

Not to say “I told you so,” but this does corroborate previous reporting by the AJC, which showed:

• Georgia’s medical board is among the nation’s weakest thanks to a lack of funding and a timid approach.
• It’s enabled practitioners across the state to promote questionable treatments or operate outside their specialties.
• Patients are paying for the lax oversight.

🔎 READ THE INVESTIGATION: Risky medicine: How Georgia became a haven for unproven treatments

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DREAM DRAFT

What’s the best thing you’ve ever found in a desk drawer? It doesn’t matter, because it wasn’t the only handwritten draft of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

• Xernona Clayton, the longtime Atlanta civil rights leader and broadcasting exec, found the draft among the belongings of her late ex-husband, who was a trusted King aide and speechwriter.
• The seven yellow legal pad pages are covered in King’s handwriting, including entire sections that he crossed out as he tried to find the right words for his historic 1963 address.
• The document will go up for auction in January, and could sell for $10 million that will be donated to various charities, including the King Center.
• There’s some worry that the rediscovered pages will end up in a private collection rather than be available for public viewing. In 2006, Atlantans raised $32 million to keep 10,000 of King’s papers in the city.

The pages will be on display at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights from Nov. 16 through Nov. 22, before moving to Chicago and New York.

🔎 READ MORE: Long-lost handwritten draft of King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech could fetch $10 million

DON’T HOLD BACK, BURT JONES

After a nasty campaign feud, an unexpected primary loss and a party-shaking midterm result, Lt. Gov Burt Jones sat down with the AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast to unpack it all.

The full episode doesn’t release until next week (we’ll let you know), but we’ve got an intriguing preview. Jones says he puts responsibility squarely on Rick Jackson and his campaign for the GOP’s significant losses in Georgia.

“It’s good to be unfiltered,” he said.

🔎 FREE TO READ: Other GOP politicians disagree

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🗳️ A Latino voting surge is reshaping Georgia’s political map. Latino communities that swung toward Trump in 2024 moved sharply back toward Democrats this year, including in Republican strongholds.

🫏 Participation by voters under 35 jumped in the midterm election, while participation by every other age group fell. The turnout shift overwhelmingly benefited Democrats.

✈️ Atlanta is one of the first cities to deploy a new AI-powered tool to help air traffic controllers. So far it’s rerouted more than 200 flights nationally, saving an average of about 10 minutes of flight time and nearly 80 gallons of fuel. Some labor unions remain circumspect.

A NEW LIFE FOR THE GROVE THEATRE

The Grove Theatre, an 85-year-old institution on Atlanta’s Westside, has known many forms: a roller skating rink, a pawn shop and most recently, an eyesore and sad reminder of better times.

That’s about to change.

• The Grove Park Foundation has begun restoring the long-shuttered theater, a milestone in a nearly 10-year journey to revitalize the historic structure.
• The building will be transformed into a flexible space for the visual and performing arts, with space for hosting events, community meetings and other gatherings.

“(We’re) making sure that our residents are here to enjoy all these great amenities because they’ve toiled for so long when these amenities were blighted,” said Gavin McGuire, the Grove Park Foundation’s executive director.

“The intersection of community, culture and commerce is what the theater represents.”

🔎 READ MORE: A little history, plus what’s being done to ensure a better future

NEWS BITES

Explore Atlanta’s neighborhoods through a new lens with these creative clubs

Keep it moving.

This TED conference is nixed, organizers say

Organizers said they have to make strategic decisions about where to focus their resources. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what I say when I want to cancel plans.

November brings new cafes, holiday markets and fall lattes

I expect to be overly caffeinated for the rest of the year.

Braves sign right-handed relief pitcher Evan Phillips to 3-year deal

If a right-handed pitcher gets $35 million, how much would a left-handed pitcher get?

Cargo ship strikes bridge between New Jersey and Philadelphia, causing major backups

Really not ideal.

ON THIS DATE

Nov. 13, 1988

Discount Fare Changes Make It Harder to Fly Cheaply Over Holidays. Major carriers are eliminating some of their most popular discount fares and tightening restrictions on others, which will force many more passengers to pay full coach fares to travel on short notice. Most of the major airlines have been trying to boost profits amid unusually heavy traffic this fall.