A.M. ATL: The price of procrastination
Morning, y’all! A familiar forecast today: temperatures in the mid-80s with scattered storms expected.
- Shortly after 7 a.m., Atlanta officials lifted the city’s remaining boil water advisory. More on all that in a moment.
Otherwise, today’s newsletter includes a pause in Fulton County’s case against Donald Trump, a longtime TV reporter moving on and Tyler Perry on “flying while Black.” Plus a two-time Peachtree Road Race winner suspended for doping and a Georgia student accepted into more than 200 colleges.
Let’s get to it.
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WANTED: BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact cost of a dayslong, business-shuttering water main break (or two). The lost business and tax revenue, the lost wages, the price of repairs current and future.
But buddy: it’s a whole heap of cash.
The 1% water-and-sewer-repair sales tax Atlantans voted to extend just last month figures to produce roughly $1.1 billion in its four-year run. That’s not nearly enough, Mayor Andre Dickens said Wednesday.
“I will be asking the feds for more money — lots more money,” he said. “That’s going to be a number that’s in the billions. It’s not going to be a small number.”
Speaking of billions: There’s no direct data for the overall size of Atlanta proper’s economy. But my colleague Michael Kanell whittled down regional estimates to (conservatively) put it at $53 billion annually.
That’s a potential average of $145 million per day, ground to a partial halt.
Local businesses say they lost tens of thousands of dollars. The city started a $5 million relief fund to help out. Then there are the everyday workers.
“Most of us wait for the weekend, because that’s when we make all our money,” Kavonda Byrd, a server at Kirkwood restaurant Sun in my Belly, told the AJC. “That was a major blow.”
And how do you try and prevent such blows in the future? More money.
Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are headed to town to help with a citywide assessment of the water system. That’ll prioritize future upgrades.
Also incoming: a series of small devices on water valves in Midtown that are supposed to detect leaks (and notify officials) more quickly.
City Council President Doug Shipman said a work session next week will help hash out what else the city can learn: “Infrastructure is not something that’s sexy, and it’s often something that takes a crisis in order to focus policymakers.”
It’s a costly lesson — and one with which a growing list of American cities are grappling.
“Atlanta is not an island,” said Joseph Kane, an infrastructure expert at the Brookings Institution. “Atlanta is a red flag for the country.”
Mayor Dickens is scheduled to join “Politically Georgia” at 10 a.m. today. Tune in to AJC.com or WABE on your radio to listen in.
Also: In yesterday’s poll, about 59% of y’all deemed Snowmageddon to be Atlanta’s worst infrastructure fiasco. Agree to disagree!
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PROSECUTION PENDING
Georgia’s Court of Appeals issued an order staying proceedings in Fulton County’s election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies, pending its ruling on efforts to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis.
- This is pretty standard procedure. But here’s more on how the Court of Appeals works.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» The FBI recently raided the Atlanta office of corporate landlord Cortland Management in connection with an investigation “into potential antitrust violations in the multifamily housing industry.”
» Fox 5 reporter Randy Travis, a fixture on Atlanta televisions for 34 years, took a buyout. He’s not sure what his next move will be.
» Developer Thrash Group is converting a shuttered South Downtown office building into a 122-room boutique hotel called “Origin Hotel Atlanta.” It’s on track to open for business this summer.
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PERRY OPINES
In an opinion piece for the AJC, multihyphenate entertainment mogul Tyler Perry explains why he supports a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
- “Every act of racial discrimination is a broken promise,” he writes, “an affront to our dignity, an insult to Atlanta’s history and a vestige of a history that America must leave behind.”
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NATION AND WORLD
» An overnight Israeli strike killed dozens of people at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza.
» After years of delays, Boeing finally sent a pair of NASA astronauts into space.
» Hunter Biden’s trial on federal gun charges continues after a day of deeply personal testimony.
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PARIS BOUND
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard will be part of the United States’ 3x3 basketball team at this summer’s Olympics in Paris. She’s the third Dream player to make an Olympic team, but the first since 2012.
The Dream host the Liberty tonight (7:30 p.m. on Peachtree TV).
More sports highlights:
- A disciplinary panel suspended Kenyan runner Rhonex Kipruto for six years after a doping investigation. Kipruto set the course record in one of his two recent victories at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
- The Braves lost 9-0 to the Red Sox, the first time they’ve been shut out in more than a year. Outfielder Jarred Kelenic left the game early with a wrist injury.
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RECIPE ROUND-UP
The AJC food section is a veritable font of recipes these days. Just a dash of the offerings:
- Make the Hawaiian mac salad from sandwich shop Leftie Lee’s.
- For a quick dinner, try flank steak and salad.
- Cleaning out the fridge? Make the most of those leftover ingredients.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Cherokee elections board to stay bipartisan, but Dems have doubts
» Riverkeeper threatens suit over Hyundai plant’s environmental impact
» Elleven45 club facing more legal action after fatal shooting
» Some unhappy with quality of College Park tiny home development
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ON THIS DATE
June 6, 1944
D-Day. Allied forces invaded the beaches of northern France. Atlanta Journal managing editor Wright Bryan flew along with a group of paratroopers.
“The jump lights, the small bank of signal lamps, were gleaming beside the door,” he wrote. “They blinked as the pilot threw his switch, and before I could look up, they began jumping. ... Before I had counted to 10 seconds — it may have been 11 or 12, but no more — our passengers had left us.”
“The Battle of Europe had begun,” he added later, “and our squadron had delivered the first foot soldiers to their scene of action.”
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
AJC contributor Stephen B. Morton recently photographed Liberty County High School grad Madison Crowell, who’s been accepted into more than 200 colleges and received nearly $15 million in scholarship offers.
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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.
