Morning, y’all! Some important calendar updates: Georgians, taxes are due tomorrow. We got an extension because of Hurricane Helene complications. Oh, you’ve already done them? Aren’t you on the ball.
Speaking of on the ball, today is the last day to register for the AJC Peachtree Road Race! Come sweat and have fun in the world’s largest 10K this July 4th. It’s definitely one for the bucket list.
Let’s get to it.
IS THAT A SNAKE IN YOUR GUITAR?
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gets called to the airport, you know something weird went down. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, customs officers and USFWS inspectors are on the front lines of a new era of wildlife trafficking.
AJC reporter Danielle Charbonneau tagged along with USFWS inspectors as they sifted through shipments and shared some of their wildest stories.
🐍 The guitar snakes: Customs officers found two red-tailed boa constrictors relaxing in a passenger’s acoustic guitar, prompting a call to the local USFWS team. The two snakes now live at Zoo Atlanta.
🐠 Schrodinger’s fish: A shipment of fish from Thailand bound for pet stores passed muster, even though some of the fish appeared to be dead. Not dead, just sleeping, thanks to a yellow sedative chemical in the water. Though this instance was legit, the chemical is sometimes used by wildlife traffickers.
🐊 An alarming array of hunting trophies: One inspector unwrapped an unusually shaped parcel to reveal a large rug tastefully affixed with a taxidermied crocodile head.
Why wildlife trafficking? Illegal wildlife trade was estimated to be worth between $7 billion and $23 billion in 2016. Trafficking poses ecological and heath-related dangers, not to mention animal welfare issues. This is cool, though: USFWS inspectors regularly partner with the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta and Atlanta Botanical Garden to care for confiscated animals.
🔎 READ MORE: There’s more to unpack, like a hopeful story about two rare skinks that now have a home at Zoo Atlanta
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A TOXIC MYSTERY
For all its charms, Brunswick is one toxic place. Literally. The port city has four federally designated contaminated properties requiring long-term cleanup, more than any other city in the state.
New research from Emory University also reveals some Brunswick residents have unusually high levels of rare toxins in their blood tied to the polluted sites around them.
- Nearly 40% of the 100 Glynn County residents that participated in the study had high levels of a now-banned class of chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
- This isn’t news to Brunswick residents. Community members have long voiced concern over the possible effects of chemical plant runoff and wastewater from a shuttered pesticide plant.
The Emory study didn’t examine specific health impacts or pinpoint a cause. It does, however, lend scientific heft to Brunswick residents fighting for more accountability for their polluted surroundings.
🔎 READ MORE: What local activists have to say about the findings
POLICE TRAINING CENTER DETAILS
Atlanta’s public safety training center officially opened on Tuesday after years of controversy and public pushback. What does the center actually offer? Here are some specs:
- a 58,000 square foot academic building for classroom courses and training
- an ambulance simulator for first responders
- a 17,000 square foot leadership building available for use by community groups
- a driving course and skid pad to simulate narrow city streets
- a “mock village” used for staged emergencies like armed robberies
- a six-story burn building
- housing for police horses and K-9 units
Mayor Andre Dickens has championed the center since the beginning, when he voted in favor of the project while sitting on City Council in 2021.
“We were losing officers through attrition and other things — we were less safe than we are now,” Dickens told the AJC earlier this year. “So we did the right thing.”
🔎 READ MORE: Further details about the center’s capabilities
HOPE FOR THE OKEFENOKEE
Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is backing a Biden-era nomination for the Okefenokee Swamp to be added to the United Nations’ World Heritage List.
The honor would number the endangered Georgia gem among the world’s most prized — and most protected — natural and cultural places.
“This designation truly is the best of both worlds and will support our environment and local economy in Southeast Georgia for generations to come,” Perdue wrote in a letter urging the Trump administration to support the nomination.
❓ Did you know? The Okefenokee is the largest National Wildlife Refuge east of the Mississippi River.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
📋 Georgia voters are sharply divided on President Donald Trump’s leadership, a new AJC poll finds. Trump’s approval rating sits at 43% overall among those polled. About half of Georgians say they expect the economy to worsen over the next year. However, about 90% of Trump’s staunchest supporters say they’re pleased with his actions.
📵 Congress overwhelmingly approved the “Take It Down” act, addressing AI deepfakes and illegal “revenge porn.” Important stuff to know in this unhinged digital era of ours.
🇨🇦 Some takeaways from Canada’s federal election. The Liberal Party retained a parliamentary majority in what many saw as a rebuke of Trump.
📦 UPS will cut about 20,000 jobs and close some facilities. In January, the carrier inked a deal with Amazon to drastically reduce the number of Amazon packages it delivers.
NEWS BITES
A runaway kangaroo named Sheila shut down traffic on an Alabama interstate
The Mad Libs machine that writes the news is working overtime today.
Starbucks unveiled its first 3D-printed drive-thru in the US
This kind of construction has its benefits, but the texture looks eeheuuhhhggheuuugh.
Analysis: Keeping Kirk Cousins was the right choice by the Falcons
You’re stuck with us, Kirko!
I mean this will all the love in my heart: This is peak Georgia Man.
ON THIS DATE
April 30, 1927
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: Another signature of Button Gwinnett, famous as one of the three Georgians who signed the Declaration of Independence, was discovered Thursday.
The Gwinnett, as in Gwinnett County’s namesake! Look him up, this founding father seemed like quite a character. (“Quite a character,” of course, carries a strong implication of foolery. In this case, Ol’ Button tried to invade Florida and died in a duel.)
ONE MORE THING
I’ve dabbled in taxidermy myself, although I’ve never tried to take anything through the airport. Probably for the best. This little guy doesn’t have a name, but he’s very pleased to meet you.
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.
