Morning, y’all! Welcome to weekend eve. Expect scattered storms today, clearer skies Saturday and more rain on Sunday, when high temperatures are expected to drop back into the low 60s.
- If you’re still on the hunt for something to do this weekend, we’ve got you covered. There are plenty of Earth Day events and other festivals to go around.
Otherwise, today’s newsletter takes a look at folks claiming unborn children on their taxes, introduces you to the man saving Atlantans from flat tires, and offers the latest on a former Brave’s push to earn a pension. We share Vidalia onion recipes and mourn a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, too.
Let’s get to it.
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SOUNDING OFF
Electorally speaking, Peach County — home of Fort Valley State University and Blue Bird school buses — is about as evenly split as it gets.
Over the last 40 years, residents of the Middle Georgia community have cast an almost identical number of total votes for Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. The majority has (narrowly) sided with the eventual winner in four of the last five elections.
“It’s a county that’s divided,” local flower shop owner Christina Deas recently told reporter Joe Kovac Jr.
That sounds a lot like the rest of the country and Georgia as a whole — and we at the AJC are ready to listen.
- As the November election rapidly approaches, we’re launching a monthly series of stories talking to voters in key counties across the state.
- Peach County is just one of the communities reporters are focusing on. The rest of the list includes other swing-y counties like Chatham (Savannah) and Washington (east of Milledgeville), plus deep blue Clayton County and ruby red Banks County.
The goal? Cut through the noise and learn more about voters like you.
Voters like Deas, who’s worried about abortion rights and the economy. And voters like 77-year-old Mickey Walker, who wonders about immigration and “what they’re teaching the children.”
Polls are one thing. Having conversations with everyday people — sussing out what really matters to them, and why — is another entirely.
The first installment is out now. There are plenty of photos, graphics, stats and other useful information baked in.
So go ahead and dive in, spend some time getting to know your fellow Georgians. And buckle up for another pivotal election in one of the country’s most pivotal states.
Voter voices stories:
- In Peach County, the race for the White House is always a toss-up
- In coastal Chatham County, voters swim against a sea of apathy
- Crossover voting is common in Washington County
- In deep red Banks County, voters cling to small-town life
- Clayton County counting on another ‘powerful’ vote for Biden
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
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RIP, DICKEY BETTS
Dickey Betts, guitar legend and founding member of pioneering Southern rock group the Allman Brothers Band, died at home in Florida. The 80-year-old battled cancer for more than a year.
The band formed in Jacksonville but lived and recorded in Macon — where fans mourned Thursday — for most of the ‘70s. Their drummer, Jaimoe, is now the last surviving original member.
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TAX BREAKS APLENTY
Gov. Brian Kemp signed two bills lowering state income tax rates Thursday, a move projected to save individuals and businesses about $500 million next year.
- On a different note: New data shows that more than 36,000 Georgians used an “unborn dependents” tax deduction in 2022. The state’s 2019 abortion law allows expectant parents to claim an embryo or fetus as a dependent.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» Former reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are due in a federal appeals court in Atlanta today as they seek to overturn their bank fraud and tax evasion convictions.
» Cobb County schools pulled four more books from their libraries, citing “vulgar” content.
» Reggie Joiner and Kristen Ivy — the founder and CEO, respectively, of a prominent Cumming-based nonprofit that trains church leaders — both resigned after admitting to an “inappropriate” relationship.
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ISRAELI RESPONSE?
U.S. officials say Israel hit Iran with a missile overnight, though questions swirled about the scale of the attack and the extent of any damage.
» Police arrest dozens of protesters at Columbia University
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JURY PROGRESS
In New York, Donald Trump’s hush money trial now has 12 jurors and one alternate seated. Once five more alternates are selected, the first-ever criminal trial of a former United States president will begin.
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BREAK UP THE HAWKS?
The Hawks disappointed from start to finish this season. The AJC’s Michael Cunningham says the only way forward is to end the Trae Young and Dejounte Murray experiment and ship one of the guards out of town.
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PENSION PLEA
Gary Cooper, now 67, spent 42 days with the Atlanta Braves — one day shy of qualifying for a big league pension. Now the Savannah native is petitioning for that final day of service time: “I’ll always be a major league baseball player. I just needed to be there one more day.”
- The Braves start a home series with the Rangers tonight (7:20 p.m. on Apple TV).
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ONION SZN
Those delicious Vidalia onions are now en route to your local grocer. Accordingly, we’ve got an assortment of recipes — from fried rings to bread pudding — to help take advantage of the sweet onion’s shamefully short season.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» CeeLo Green just bought Rico Wade’s old house
» OPINION: Accidents wait to happen at I-20 and Bill Kennedy Way
» Man dies in shootout after fleeing officers in Gwinnett, police say
» DeKalb officials recommend postponing plans to build 2 new schools
» Grady to open new ER near Union City
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ON THIS DATE
April 19, 1983
Eatonton native Alice Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She won for her now-classic novel “The Color Purple.”
“Well, I feel fine, but I guess I feel really happy for the people in the book,” Walker joked. “They’ll really like this.”
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
AJC photographer Jason Getz caught Boo Sun Hang working on a mural along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Peachtree Corners. The work by Hang and M. Moon Studio took about two weeks.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go: Meet Alex Benigno, Atlanta’s “Magnet Man.” For nearly a year now, he’s cruised around the city with magnets trailing behind his bike, picking up things like nails and screws — and saving folks like you a few headaches along the way.
“If I get to that point in life where people say they don’t need me anymore because they don’t know what flat tires are,” Benigno said, “then I’ve won.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
