Morning, y’all! I’m back, and so are the eerily similar late-summer forecasts: Expect temperatures in the mid-80s and widespread storms.
Today’s newsletter also offers the latest on a big-name Democrat’s visit to the suburbs, the gospel music world grieving after a tragic plane crash and another Braves player down with an injury.
But first: the start of school, cellphone bans and how students might just find a way around them.
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LOCK ‘EM UP
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Many Atlanta students head back to school this week. (Yes, already! Full schedule in the calendar below.)
And in a few districts, that leaves administrators and educators with one question: How are these kids gonna try and circumvent our new cellphone bans?
- Over the summer, schools in Atlanta, Cherokee, Decatur, DeKalb and Marietta instituted some version of a ban, either district-wide or at specific schools.
Some will require students to lock their phones in a magnetic pouch until the end of the day; some have lockers; others simply plan to enforce “on silent and out of sight” policies with a little more fervor. The goal? Reduce distractions, focus on learning and human connections.
A noble mission, no doubt. But as the AJC’s Jillian Price reports, school leaders know full well what they’re getting into.
- “Right now, we feel like we’re winning, but we haven’t started school yet,” Marietta Superintendent Grant Rivera said.
Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, said kids are “usually more inventive than the adults who are trying to oversee the rule.”
- “Kids are gonna put dead cellphones in the pouches and then carry their actual cellphone with them,” he said. “Kids are gonna decide on a collective device that they all will use, and not turn in.”
Those are … actually pretty good little schemes. Not that we condone them.
Either way, it might be a rough first few weeks for everyone involved.
“I think for students, it’s going to be a lot harder to adjust to the work style, or into being focused on school all day long,” Midtown High senior Piper Boatwright said.
Read the full story for more details on how schools are cracking down on cellphones. And click here for more on changes coming to your local district this year, from new superintendents to new buildings.
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THE WEEK AHEAD
🏀 Monday: Newton County students head back to class. The Fulton County commission holds a meeting to discuss removing two more members of its beleaguered housing authority.
The U.S. women’s basketball squad starts Olympic action against Japan (3 p.m. on USA Network).
🗳️ Tuesday: Kamala Harris brings her presidential campaign to Atlanta. City of Decatur and Rockdale County schools start their new year.
The women’s gymnastics team final takes place at the Olympics. The Major League Baseball trade deadline hits at 6 p.m.
📉 Wednesday: The Federal Reserve meets — and maybe, possibly, finally lowers interest rates?
🍎 Thursday: Schools in Atlanta, Marietta and Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Douglas, Henry and Forsyth counties start their new year.
📚 Friday: Buford City Schools return to class.
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BESHEAR IN THE ‘BURBS
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear visited deep red Forsyth County to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s headed to Atlanta on Tuesday. Beshear also made his pitch to be Harris’ VP selection.
- “If you don’t know me, I’m the guy that last November beat Mitch McConnell’s hand-picked candidate,” he told the crowd. “And I’m the guy who beat Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate.”
» More AJC coverage: Privilege or burden? Black women as Dems’ backbone; Biden unveils Supreme Court proposal
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COPING WITH COVID
Bad news: The summer COVID-19 wave keeps on cresting. Good news: Most folks are riding it out just fine and hospitalizations are only trending up slightly.
- “What we’ve seen is a gradual decline in the severity of symptoms,” one doctor told the AJC.
» More health news: Emory researcher sees promise in new skin cancer treatment
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APARTMENTS ABLAZE
A massive weekend fire at the Bell Collier Village apartments off Howell Mill Road displaced more than 100 residents. The roof and part of the fourth floor collapsed, but everyone made it out safely.
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GOSPEL IN GRIEF
Credit: Wade Payne/AP
Credit: Wade Payne/AP
Condolences, memories and grief continue pouring in for the Nelons, the renowned Atlanta-based gospel group that lost three of its four members in a Wyoming plane crash.
- “I will wait, I will listen. I will follow, I will lead if that be God’s will,” one fellow musician wrote. “Just help me understand.”
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ANOTHER INJURY
The Braves beat the Mets, 9-2, for a second straight win. But they lost yet another player to injury: All-Star pitcher Reynaldo López left the game early with right forearm tightness.
We await MRI results. And the Braves can’t catch a break.
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MORE SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
» Bulldogs: Columnist Bill Torpy says the football team’s continued driving-related arrests aren’t the legacy coach Kirby Smart wants.
» Jackets: Check out these photos from First Saturday on the Flats!
» Falcons: Backup quarterback (and Collins Hill High grad) Taylor Heinicke sees the writing on the wall.
» Olympics, in brief: Simone Biles shakes off calf injury; LeBron and Durant dominate; American swimmers finish 1-2
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OUT OF THIS WORLD
Credit: Courtesy photo/Derek Blanks
Credit: Courtesy photo/Derek Blanks
Missy Elliot’s first-ever headlining tour landed in Atlanta over the weekend — and the AJC’s DeAsia Paige says the groundbreaking rapper “delivered a high-octane showcase that proved she’s still from the future.”
Decatur native Ciara joined the fun, too.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
» Delta built a premium reputation. Then it had a meltdown
» Gridlock Guy: Recent travel crisis bred desperation
» How a food court shooting led a 12-year-old chef to the kitchen
» Man charged with murder in 3-year-old son’s 2004 killing
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ON THIS DATE
July 29, 1969
Police charged Dahlonega’s fire chief with arson. The city clerk and four fellow law enforcement officers were charged, too.
The charges related to the burning of two unoccupied houses.
“According to statements, at least one burning was done for apparent spite to stop ‘undesirable’ individuals from moving in,” a state official said.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
AJC photographer Ziyu Julian Zhu captured 5-year-old August Lockhart throwing a dart during a back-to-school festival at Plazas Las Americas in Lilburn.
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ONE MORE THING
This year’s WSB radio Care-a-thon raised more than $2 million for the first time. The money goes to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Good job, y’all!
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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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