Morning, y’all! For the next few days, 10 million birds will fill the Georgia skies at night. That’s not a threat! It’s migration season and a great time for birders to get breathtaking views. Or, for horror writers to get some twisted ideas.
Let’s get to it.
TECH COMPANIES SUE GA OVER NEW LAW
Credit: Dreamstime/TNS
Credit: Dreamstime/TNS
A new law will go into effect in Georgia July 1 that state lawmakers say will protect children’s activities online. It contains a few parts:
- Children under 16 must have their parents’ permission to create social media accounts.
- Websites must verify customer ages.
- Certain online advertising will be limited for child users.
The idea is to reduce cyberbullying and the mental health risks kids face on social media.
Tech companies fight back: Several major companies are now suing the state to overturn the law, saying it violates First Amendment rights of children, teens and the tech companies themselves.
- The suit was brought by NetChoice, a technology industry group that represents Facebook, Google, YouTube, X, Amazon and other companies.
- Georgia is now the eighth state to be sued over age-related restrictions on websites. NetChoice already successfully challenged similar laws in Arkansas and Ohio.
A tough battle for parents and leaders: Unfettered access to social media and the internet poses known mental health and safety risks to young users, but it’s been a challenge to find effective means of protection — after all, how do you keep a generation shaped by social media off social media?
Social media platforms, for example, already ban users under 13, which doesn’t stop persistent and tech-savvy preteens. Pew Research Center numbers show more than a third of the 95% of teens 13 to 17 who use a social media platform do so “almost constantly.”
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GEORGIA WOMAN AWARDED $70 MILLION AFTER MEDICAL NIGHTMARE
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
Jessica Powell was 28 years old in 2013, when she was hospitalized for a stomach virus and complications from a hormonal condition. Somehow, her health deteriorated so much, doctors had to amputate both her legs above the knee.
A jury in South Georgia awarded Powell $70 million this week, siding with her claims that doctors botched her care and improperly dosed her with medication that cut the blood flow to her legs.
The jury split blame between three doctors involved in Powell’s care, along with Albany Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates and Albany Vascular Specialist Center.
According to Matt Cook, a lead attorney for Powell, it took jurors in Dougherty County just over half an hour to come to a decision.
“That should tell you everything you need to know about who was right,” he said.
READ MORE: How one medical emergency turned into a life-changing ordeal for Powell
CHANGES ON THE ATL ARTS SCENE
Credit: Courtesy of High Museum of Art
Credit: Courtesy of High Museum of Art
Two exciting new changes are afoot in the Atlanta arts scene, both led by powerful women.
👠 Atlanta’s High Museum received a multimillion-dollar gift from fashion entrepreneur Lauren Amos, who also serves on the museum’s board. The gift will fund new fashion initiatives, including a new curatorial position and expanded fashion exhibitions.
🎨 The National Black Arts Festival, based here in Atlanta, appointed Leatrice Ellzy Wright as the nonprofit’s new president and CEO starting in July. Ellzy Wright was the National Black Arts Festival’s program director from 2002-2012. Since 2013, the organization has focused on smaller events throughout the year, but Ellzy Wright hopes to bring the once-influential festival back to its former glory. (Oh, and in the meantime she led programming at New York’s iconic Apollo Theater. NBD.)
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🏁 Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff would be neck-and-neck in a hypothetical Senate race, according to new AJC polling. Kemp has kept mum on any plans after his governorship is over, and GOP colleagues want him to run. Ossoff is making national headlines with his strong critiques of the Trump administration.
🚪 National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his deputy are leaving the Trump administration weeks after The Atlantic ran a pair of bombshell pieces revealing Waltz had added the magazine’s editor-in-chief to a Signal chat discussing military plans. He may not be going far, though: President Donald Trump just nominated Waltz as United Nations ambassador.
⚖️ The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to strip 350,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. of their Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to live and work legally in the U.S. due to strife in their home countries.
🪖 Cost-cutting measures are headed for the Army, at the order of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
🎥 VIDEO: A group of laid off CDC workers formed a coalition to demand more action from Democratic leaders. They made their voices heard at a recent town hall.
WEEKEND PLANS
Festivals! Drinks! New places to eat! Fun things to explore! The weekend starts now. Make the most of it.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
🇲🇽 Ring in Cinco de Mayo early with drink and dinner deals around the city.
🍿 Enjoy some air conditioning: Fancy a movie instead? There are plenty of new releases hitting theaters and streaming services in May. Also, calling all “Pride and Prejudice” 2005 girlies: Did you know some AMC theaters are hosting showings for the movie’s 20th anniversary? Netherfield Park is let at last!
🧅 Weekend cooking: It’s a great time for Vidalia onions. Well, it’s always a great time for Vidalia onions because they’re delicious and really hard to mess up, recipe-wise. Fiddle around with these three simple onion recipes and find a new oniony go-to.
🎉 Plenty more fun weekend ideas around Atlanta here, like the Beltline Lantern Parade, a rodeo and the DeKalb Latino Family Festival. Make it a good one!
NEWS BITES
Weiner wonderland: Hundreds of dachshunds chase record in Hungary
We’ve found it, folks: the perfect headline.
Way to steal our thunder, Ronan.
Do you really need that extra ChapStick? How to reduce office clutter
Excuse me, that’s my emotional support office clutter.
Now we’re all going to spend the day trying to wrap our heads around a truck carrying millions of dimes??? Why not split up that load? Feels like too many dimes for one truck.
ON THIS DATE
May 2, 1960
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: Get Out the Furs — It’s Opera Time. Break out the furs, gowns, jewels, tuxedos, top hats, limousines and field glasses, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Metropolitan Opera Week once again in Atlanta.
Relatable newspaper content! Whomst among us, am I right? (On a related note, Wagner’s “Siegfried” closes this weekend at The Atlanta Opera if you want a real operatic experience. And by “real,” I mean a five-hour mythical melodrama by one of opera’s most iconic megalomaniacs. Yes, there’s a food break. Top hats optional.)
ONE MORE THING
The Kentucky Derby is this weekend, too, and it features a horse name Journalism. I love Journalism. Journalism is the best in my book. I hope Journalism wins.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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