Morning, y’all! A new day, a new month, a new opportunity to begin. Am I psyching myself up to do some long-put-off chores? Perhaps. If I can, you can. Welcome to May!
Let’s get to it.
IT COULD BE A CHIPPY COMMENCEMENT SEASON
It’s commencement season! Congrads, everyone. Every year brings a new crop of luminaries to the South’s fine academic institutions to inspire and encourage a new generation of thinkers. Here are some coming to Georgia:
- Paralympian and two-time bronze medalist Jarryd Wallace will speak at the University of Georgia’s spring commencement ceremony May 9.
- UPS CEO Carol Tomé will speak at one of Georgia Tech’s undergraduate ceremonies on May 2 and Oglethorpe University’s ceremony on May 3.
- Actress Taraji P. Henson will speak at Spelman College May 18.
- Author and activist Cornel West will give the commencement speech at Morehouse College May 18.
- Music superstar Usher will give the commencement speech at Emory University May 12.
🔎 READ MORE: Other commencement speakers coming to Georgia institutions
While commencement season is a time of celebration, President Donald Trump’s policies affecting research, scholarship, free speech and human rights could be a hot topic for commencement addresses. Last year, protests over the war in Gaza marked several end-of-term celebrations in Georgia. We could see more this year.
🐘 Trump’s own speech will draw protests: The president will give a commencement speech at the University of Alabama this evening. At least two demonstrations are reportedly planned. Two high-profile Dems, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, are expected to attend.
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WHAT REAL GEORGIANS THINK ABOUT TRUMP
A new AJC poll reveals Trump’s approval sank overall in Georgia during his first 100 days in office. However, the president’s policies have pleased his most loyal political devotees.
🔎 READ MORE: A concise overview of Trump’s first 100 days
Numbers tell a story, but it’s incomplete without the input of real people. The AJC spoke to business owners, parents and workers around Georgia to see if and how Trump’s policies have affected their lives.
“Limiting the care or resources for a group that is more at risk for a disease than other groups. How is that going to benefit all Americans?”
- Whitney Wharton, an Emory University researcher whose four-year grant for Alzheimer’s research was canceled because it included a focus on LGBTQ people.
“It might take a while, but we’re hopeful we’re going to gain back the business.”
- Brian Richburg, a Georgia shrimp boat owner who says tariffs on imported seafood will help revive his struggling industry and bring wild domestic-caught shrimp back to the U.S.
“Nothing about (wine tariffs) benefits us in America. Not one bit.”
- Sarah Pierre, an Atlanta wine store owner who says she’s stocking up due to tariff uncertainty, which could affect European imports and render wine store shelves bare.
“I don’t know what the end game or real strategy is. I don’t know where it’s going to go. I don’t think our society is equipped to stand on its own to manufacture all the things we consume.”
- Jennifer Barbosa, owner of International Supply Partners, which manufactures, acquires and distributes personal protective equipment to businesses, colleges and government institutions. Barbosa says she’s agnostic on Trump’s tariff gambits and is focused on finding proactive solutions.
“Trump is saving this country.”
- Phillip Crawford, a Jan. 6 defendant pardoned by Trump who says Trump needs to go further and jail prominent Democrats like Nancy Pelosi.
“The problem is that the gangs ask you for money. And people like us, with low incomes, we have no way of paying them. And what the gangsters do then is they go and they kill you.”
- Kenia Velásquez, a Honduran immigrant whose husband was arrested outside a Tucker church and is facing deportation. She says life in the U.S. under Trump is still preferable to gang violence in Honduras.
HOUSES: EXPENSIVE
Take a swig of whatever fortifying beverage you’re nursing. You’ll need it. The numbers are in, and this is how much a family needs to earn to buy a house in Atlanta in 2025:
💸 $118,400 💸
That’s the lowest figure, based on the calculations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which say a home is considered affordable when its annual costs are 30% or less of a household’s yearly income.
Based on February Federal Reserve numbers, the median metro Atlanta household will make $89,565 this year.
However, metro Atlanta is relatively affordable. Nationwide, households are spending about 46% of their income on housing. Southern cities like New Orleans and Jacksonville are also less affordable.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🍑 Publix emerged as the grocery anchor for North DeKalb Mall’s $850 million next chapter. The Florida-based grocer is the first new tenant announced for the project, which ranks among metro Atlanta’s largest mall redevelopments to meet the changing tastes of shoppers.
📖 Trump’s 100 days closely followed the conservative Project 2025 playbook. What’s next? Find out in this video breakdown.
🗳️ Two Democrats won Tuesday’s special election for seats on Cobb County’s Board of Commissioners. The board now has the same Democratic majority it’s had since 2020, with the exception of the past few months when a Democratic member was removed over a district line dispute.
DON’T LET IT BURN
Georgia’s summertime burn ban goes into effect today in 54 counties across the north and central parts of the state. The yearly ban, in place since 2005, prohibits the burning of yard and land-clearing debris between May 1 and Sept. 30. Campfires and cookouts are still allowed, though.
Why is it important?
🔥 Air quality: Experts say debris burns contribute to dangerous levels of smog, which can harm people’s lungs and be especially dangerous for people with heart disease or respiratory conditions. Also, nothing smells like “Bad For You” more than the noxious plumes of a good ol’ tire fire.
🔥 Wildfires: Fire begets fire, and Georgia doesn’t need any more of that. The state has already seen a 68% increase in wildfires this year compared to the recent five-year average.
READ MORE: What to know about the summer burn ban
NEWS BITES
Watch dogs wear fancy clothes in this weekend’s “Mutt Gala” in Piedmont Park
They’ll be dressed to the ca-nines. Watch out for the pup-arazzi! (I’m so sorry.)
Tennis great Andre Agassi wins his professional pickleball debut with partner Leigh Ann Waters
Imagine playing pickleball against Andre Agassi. He’d traumatize the whole community rec league.
Think before Googling medical symptoms, especially with the rise of AI
You’ll either get raging health anxiety, or the AI will accidentally recommend an oil change.
What you’ll see at All-Star Village fan fest at this year’s MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta
This actually looks awesome. Just keep Blooper far, far away from me.
ON THIS DATE
May 1, 2005
From the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It was like Jennifer Wilbanks had come back from the dead ... Hours earlier, the fiancee who had vanished three days earlier called to tell him she had been kidnapped to New Mexico. But she was alive and well.
Jennifer Wilbanks, the real-life runaway bride, spun a terrifying tale that she was kidnapped and assaulted. Turns out, she didn’t want to get married. Her story ignited a media firestorm centered right here in Georgia, in her hometown of Duluth.
ONE MORE THING
Earlier this week, I mentioned Manuel Paez Terán, who was killed in 2023 near the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. A kind reader pointed out I did not use Terán’s preferred pronouns of they/them. Respecting people’s identities is important, so apologies for that!
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
