Morning, y’all! Temperatures are in the 50s this morning and will approach the mid-70s later on.
Today’s newsletter shares the latest on Gov. Brian Kemp’s bill-signing spree, rapper T-Pain’s encounter with a hit-and-run driver and the state of metro Atlanta’s housing market (hint: $$$). Plus: Max Fried’s masterful performance and a peek at East Lake Golf Club from above.
But first, let’s go to school.
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CAMPUS CLASHES
Credit: Bing Guan/The New York Times
Credit: Bing Guan/The New York Times
Pro-Palestinian protests continue to roil universities across the country, as students set up more campus encampments and administrators call in authorities who make more arrests.
Alice Tecotzky, a former AJC intern and current undergrad at New York’s Columbia University, described that campus as “a simultaneous hub of political fervor and a backdrop to the banality of college life.”
- “For the past few days,” she wrote, “most entrances to the campus have been closed, barricaded off and surrounded by police officers, many of whom are in riot gear. Only university students, faculty and employees are allowed to enter, and must tap their IDs before one of the few open gates.”
Encampments stretch as far as Michigan and California as students condemn the Israeli army’s actions in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack — and, in some cases, their universities’ financial ties to Israel.
» UN calls for investigation into mass graves at two Gaza hospitals
» U.S. Senate passes $95B package with aid for Israel, Ukraine
Most Georgia universities break for the summer within the next week or so, and AJC education editor Eric Stirgus said there’s been no outward sign of encampments popping up here.
But tensions certainly exist. And there’s still the opportunity for more.
- At Emory University, Jewish and pro-Palestinian groups have both said the school isn’t doing enough to keep students safe amid reports of harassment, discrimination and assault. A small protest appeared to take place without incident Monday night.
- President Joe Biden is slated to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College on May 19. Talk of a potential walkout in protest of Biden’s support for Israel immediately circulated around social media. A pro-Palestine faculty group subsequently issued a statement that read, in part: “Any college or university that gives its commencement stage to President Biden in this moment is endorsing genocide.”
As our friends over at “Politically Georgia” reported, Morehouse provost Kendrick Brown called a virtual meeting on Thursday to give professors with “different perspectives” on Biden’s appearance a chance to voice their concerns.
Stay tuned for the latest.
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NEW LAWS
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Gov. Brian Kemp signed Georgia’s new school voucher bill into law. The legislation gives parents who pull their students out of lower-performing public schools a $6,500-a-year subsidy for private or homeschooling. It’s funded with taxpayer money.
- Kemp also signed a tenant protections bill that says rental properties must be fit for human habitation, provides a pre-eviction grace period and caps the cost of security deposits.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» New federal rules set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes. Industry leaders in Georgia worry they won’t have money to meet the standard.
» An alleged drunk driver hit the car carrying T-Pain and his family near their Roswell home, then fled the scene. Consider the rapper unpleased.
» Police on Tybee Island arrested 54 people during last weekend’s Orange Crush beach party.
» Atlanta officials say they’re working on fixes for the city’s largest wastewater treatment plant, which has repeatedly released potentially dangerous levels of bacteria into the Chattahoochee River.
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A SELLER’S MARKET
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
Metro Atlanta’s spring housing market promises high demand and limited supply. And Georgia MLS says the average sales price now sits at $402,000 — a 6.6% increase over the same time last year.
“We will continue to see upward pressure on prices,” one analyst said. “It is simply the law of supply and demand.”
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TIKTOK IN TROUBLE
The foreign aid package expected to be signed by the president today also includes language outlawing the popular video sharing app TikTok in the U.S. unless its Chinese owners sell it to someone else.
- The legislation gives ByteDance up to a year to divest, so tell your favorite influencer not to fret just yet.
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FINISH THAT CEREAL
Bird flu recently made the unprecedented jump to dairy cows. Now regulators say they found “inactive remnants” of the virus in samples of pasteurized milk from across the country — but it’s still safe to drink.
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EAST LAKE FROM ABOVE
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
As you can see above, East Lake Golf Club is in the middle of course reconstruction. Check out more aerial photos snapped by the AJC’s Miguel Martinez right here.
More sports highlights:
- Max Fried threw a 92-pitch complete game shutout, leading the Braves to a 5-0 win over the Marlins.
- The NFL says its investigation into the Falcons possibly tampering during their pursuit of quarterback Kirk Cousins will “not conclude this week.” That means any potential penalties will not affect this year’s draft, which starts Thursday.
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THE MONICA PEARSON SHOW
The latest episode features the Indigo Girls, who chatted about their upcoming show at the Fox Theatre and their song “Closer to Fine” being featured prominently in the “Barbie” movie.
» INTERVIEW: Nancy Wilson of Heart still kicking at age 70
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Historic Atlanta fire station to be revamped with federal funding
» GOP House committee seeks records from Coca-Cola in ‘censorship’ probe
» New federal rule bars ‘noncompete’ agreements for most employees
» $138.7M settlement in FBI’s botching of Larry Nassar allegations
» Cityhood heats up in Gwinnett as hundreds attend town hall
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ON THIS DATE
April 24, 1998
James Earl Ray died at a Nashville hospital, 30 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. — and Coretta Scott King continued to question whether he was responsible for her husband’s death.
“Our resolve is just as firm as it’s always been,” she told The Atlanta Journal. “There will not be a finality until we know the truth.”
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
AJC photographer John Spink captured workers Ethan Nix (left) and Matthew Brooks tidying up the 40-foot “Koan” sculpture on Georgia Tech’s campus. Famed Atlanta architect John Portman, a Tech grad, designed the piece.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go, you should meet Allison Hill, the longtime Atlantan whose cookbook helped fund 100,000 meals for folks in need: “At a young age, I just realized there’s so much good to do for others, and why not try to do that as much as you can.”
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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.
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