🚫 A.M. ATL: Stop taking guns to the airport

Morning, y’all! Has anyone else’s Atlanta commute been especially bad this week? Let me know. I have some theories. Nothing like starting your day with a little omg-I’m-so-late panic on the 13th floor of a parking deck! Take a few deep breaths. Remember time is a construct. Let’s get into today’s stories.

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GUNS AND TSA CHECKPOINTS DON’T MIX

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport caught more guns at security checkpoints than any other US airport in 2024, and it’s the ninth time in a row they’ve topped that list. (The little whirling light up “no gun” signs are there for a reason, folks.)

The Transportation Safety Administration says 440 guns were caught last year at Hartsfield-Jackson. For comparison, the next-highest number was 390 at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Again, you simply cannot take guns through security checkpoints. Please do not do this. It will ruin your day and stop things up and then some poor grandmother won’t get to Milwaukee in time for her grandson’s birthday.

There’s some optimistic news, though: There were fewer guns caught in Atlanta in 2024 than in the previous year even with an increase in passenger numbers, so things are going in the right direction. If you’re traveling with a gun, please make sure it’s checked and:

✅ packed unloaded

✅ locked in a hard-sided case

✅ declared to the airline when checking the bag at the airline ticket counter

Bottom line: Last year, the Atlanta Police Department made it clear that if you bring a loaded gun to a security checkpoint, you. will. be. arrested.

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ANOTHER SHOOTING INCIDENT KEEPS GUN VIOLENCE IN PAINFUL FOCUS

Gun violence, specifically in schools, is a top-of-mind concern across the state right now. Just yesterday, Lindley Middle School in Cobb County went into lockdown after police say a student suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The lockdown was lifted after police concluded there was no danger to other students, but the incident left the school community shaken and the student in critical condition.

A new AJC poll reveals voters are all split up on gun safety issues. About half (51%) of Georgia voters said they are “somewhat” or “very” worried about being directly affected by a mass shooting. Most Georgians (55%) also said they think stricter gun laws would reduce mass shootings, but only 28% said lawmakers should pass them. A majority — 58% — of the 1,000 voters polled did say they want to see more investment in school resource officers and metal detectors to keep people safe.

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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ABRAMS GROUP HAS TO PAY BIG

Credit: Miguel Martinez / AJC

The New Georgia Project, a voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, is on the hook for $300,000 for violating Georgia election laws. It’s an embarrassing end to a five-year fight for a group that had a big hand in increasing state voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election and beyond.

David Emadi, the executive director of the Georgia State Ethics Commission, called it “the most complex investigation in ethics commission history.” And if he thinks it’s complex, what chance do the rest of us have at understanding it? We’ll still try. The bare bones basics:

🗳️ Under Georgia state law, there’s a difference between a voting rights group – which can’t support a specific candidate – and an independent political committee, which can.

🗳️ After the State Ethics Commission began investigating the New Georgia Project in 2019, they found the group had used funds to engage in election advocacy by pushing for certain candidates through distributing campaign literature and other means. That’s only legal if the group registered as an independent political committee (which it did not) and disclosed how those funds were used (which it also did not).

🗳️ The investigation was hyper-political from the start. Abrams lost to Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018’s bitter gubernatorial election, and Kemp was the one to order the investigation into the group. From the beginning, the New Georgia Project denied the claims and said the whole thing was politically motivated even though there had been concerns from members of both parties about the group’s history.

It’s important to note, however, that Abrams herself has not been affiliated with the group since she left it in 2017 before running for governor.

🔎 Read more about the case – including why the attorney for the New Georgia Project said the group is “eager to put the matter behind them.”

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LESS HOME, MORE DEPOT

Credit: TNS

Home Depot is asking more employees to DIY themselves right back to the office at least four days a week. The big orange H is one of a slew of Fortune 500 companies putting the pressure on white collar workers to return to in-person work.

A Home Depot spokesperson gave the AJC what has become a boilerplate response for companies trying to coax people back under the fluorescent lights: “We think some of our most valuable work is done when we’re together in the same place.”

No matter how convincing they try to sound, poll after poll has shown people like working from home. It’s quieter. You can wear comfy shoes. You don’t need to tolerate that one colleague who’s never heard of an “inside voice.”

🔎 Do you work from home? Do you like it? Take the nonscientific poll at the end of the article and tell us!

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BYE BYE RED DYE

In huge food news, the FDA has banned the dye called Red 3 from foods. “Oh no, but it adds so much flavor!” False. It adds danger. Red 3 was banned from cosmetics 35 whole years ago because of potential cancer risks.

Today, it still shows up in all kinds of foods including some candies, snack cakes, maraschino cherries and even cough syrups.

Food manufacturers will have until January 2027 to remove the dye from their products.

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STITCHING TOGETHER

Credit: Katie Tucker/The Telegraph

When Darice Oppong lost her newborn son Judah David Oppong in April 2023, she turned to crochet as a way to keep her mind occupied through the grief. Now, the craft that helped soothe her heart has become a whole business. Through Judah David Creations, Oppong doesn’t just offer her own crochet projects, she also offers classes to teach others.

In the spring of 2024, Oppong worked with a licensed professional counselor at the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital in Macon to create a support group for NICU parents that included crochet.

“I feel like crochet is a metaphor for life,” Oppong said during one of her crochet classes. “Your life might feel like a tangled ball of yarn, but if you just take one stitch at a time, eventually you can make something beautiful.”

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NEWS BITES

Nurses top poll of most honest and ethical professions for 23rd year

You deserve it, y’all.

Pay tribute to Nathalie Dupree with recipes for fried chicken, grits and greens

The Venn Diagram of “Southern foods,” “comforts food” and “foods to make in fond remembrance” is a circle.

Tucker High School boy’s basketball coach earns 500th (!!!) win

500 cheers for James Hearty, who’s sporting a tidy career coaching record of 500-214.

Atlanta United considering a pursuit of former player Miguel Almiron

Quick! Manifestation time! Maybe if everyone wishes reeeeallly hard ...

Mockingbirds stay defensive and territorial all year long

I have a very specific list of Worst Birds and it is as follows:

1. Turkeys (menacing, mean, too large)

2. Canada geese (bitey, rude, love to traumatize children)

3. Crows (eidetic, vengeful, know they’re better than us)

But hey, mockingbirds, there’s always room for one more.

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ON THIS DATE

Credit: AJC

From the January 16, 2008 front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The people of Richmond, so accustomed to seeing symbols of the past in their old city, learned Tuesday that they had lost a beloved one to an upstart suburb hundreds of miles away. The Richmond Braves would become the Gwinnett Braves, team officials announced."

It was a sad day for our friends in northern Virginia when the now-Gwinnett Stripers left to be closer to the Atlanta mothership. (And what a beautifully melancholy lead from former AJC writer Mark Davis.) Of course their loss was our gain, and Coolray Field is one of the best places to spend a warm summer evening.

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ONE MORE THING

Did you know Earth has seven known quasi-moons? A quasi-moon is a large asteroid that orbits a star alongside planets, sometimes appearing to orbit the planets themselves. UGA student Clayton Chilcutt just won a worldwide contest to name one of Earth’s little hangers-on. He chose the name Cardea, after the Roman goddess of doorways and thresholds.

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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tellus@ajc.com.

Until next time.