📚 What Sally Bethea is reading

Feeling Friday

July 7 — Scientists calculated that July 4 was the world’s hottest day on record. The global temperature reached 17.18° Celsius, which is 62.924° F, and nearly a full degree (C) warmer than average from 1979-2000.

🌧️ Scattered showers and 92° today. Rinse and repeat for the weekend.

🧪 Chattahoochee Riverkeeper has expanded its sampling area as a 15-mile stretch of the river remains closed due to an ongoing sewage spill.

🔎 Grady Hospital is asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who was struck by a car and hospitalized last month.

💵 Brookhaven City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution maintaining last year’s millage rate at 2.74 mills, which will produce $12.6 million in revenue.

🤔 Dunwoody dining spot The Hall at Ashford Lane is “closed until further notice” after being open for a little more than a month.

🚨 Fulton DA Fani Willis said additional security around the courthouse could be necessary if former President Donald Trump is indicted over election interference in the coming weeks.

NATIONALLY

⚕️ The Food and Drug Administration approved Leqembi, a drug to treat early-stage symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

🏛️ The right-wing House Freedom Caucus booted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, indicating that her high-profile spat with Rep. Lauren Boebert was the driver. “A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done,” said Freedom Caucus board member Rep. Andy Harris.

🕖 Today’s newsletter is 5 stories.

• Above the Waterline
• 38 years at Ray’s on the River
• Film Review: ‘Joy Ride’
• The Sports Section
AND
• Top Stories of the Week

Have a good weekend,
Collin & Sammie

🍅 Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival (#AKTF) returns on Sun., July 30 from 1-4 p.m. for an annual celebration of the juiciest fruit in Georgia: tomatoes. Passes include tastings and beverages featuring tomatoes from restaurants, bars, and other tomato-serving establishments. Tickets are here.
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1. What’s on your summer reading list?
ABOVE THE WATERLINE | A MONTHLY COLUMN

📗 Sally Bethea has always loved to read.

“Every summer, I looked forward to the Fulton County Library System’s reading program—diligently completing, often doubling, the ten-book requirement. In those days, the library system rewarded everyone who read at least ten books with free movie tickets to shows at the Fox Theatre,” she writes in her most recent Above the Waterline column. “My dad always took me; I still remember how excited I was to have this adventure with him.”

As we head into the dog days of summer, Sally has a number of great book recommendations to help you beat those long, hot days. From novels to nonfiction, she’s got you covered.

Plus, Sally’s debut book, “Keeping the Chattahoochee: Reviving and Defending a Great Southern River” – featuring stories from her days as the first executive director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper – is due out this month from the University of Georgia Press.

🔎 Check out Sally’s summer reading list here.

AND, FOR BOOK LOVERS

📣 This Sunday, Rough Draft is debuting a new, monthly newsletter called Stacks by Rough Draft. What began as a passion project by one of our summer interns is taking flight as its own newsletter.

Stay tuned for a special Sunday Publisher’s Note, and subscribe to Stacks at this link.

How to prevent dog skin conditions and keep your pup looking and feeling healthy
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Lynne Gomez worked at Ray's on the River for 38 years before retiring this June. — Lynne Gomez worked at Ray’s on the River for 38 years before retiring this June.

2. Ray’s on the River waitress retires after 38 years

🐟 After 38 years on the floor, Lynne Gomez has left Ray’s on the River.

If you’ve ever been to Ray’s, there’s a good chance Gomez was your waitress. She started serving at the Sandy Springs staple on Aug. 20, 1985, and retired last month. Throughout her years at the restaurant, she not only gained work experience, but a family as well.

Gomez used the word – family – multiple times when Sammie Purcell spoke with her on the phone about her time at Ray’s. She recently moved down to Fort Walton Beach, Florida with her husband. The beach is not a bad place to retiree, but she recalled the beautiful scenery she used to enjoy during her downtime at the restaurant.

“That’s really cool to look at, as far as the river goes, and the landscape and everything,” Gomez said. “It just doesn’t get old, you know?”

🌇 Click here to read Sammie’s full interview with Gomez.

Stephanie Hsu as Kat, Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sherry Cola as Lolo in "Joy Ride" (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel). — Stephanie Hsu as Kat, Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sherry Cola as Lolo in “Joy Ride” (Lionsgate/Photo Credit: Ed Araquel).

3. ‘Joy Ride’ is bringing the raunchy comedy back
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL

👯 It’s official – “Joy Ride” is the summer movie that will fill the raunchy, R-rated, comedy-sized hole in our hearts.

Adele Lim’s feature directorial debut is crude, physical, and comedic in a way that feels more akin to something like “The Hangover” than any other R-rated comedy of late. And yet, even with all of its bawdiness, there’s one particular moment in “Joy Ride” that, despite your best efforts, will have you silently tearing up in your seat.

As far as modern comedies go, this is pretty par for the course. From the recent “No Hard Feelings,” to “Trainwreck,” to “Booksmart” – these comedies, often centered around women, all have sentimental moments buried within their raunchy exteriors. Even “Bridesmaids” – a film where Melissa McCarthy has an unfortunate bout of food poisoning in a bridal shop (👈Editor’s Note: maybe wait til after breakfast to click that link) sink – has its fair share of sweetness.

Your mileage may vary on how well any of these moments work within the confines of their comedic hosts. But not since “Bridesmaids” has a film handled the combination of the obscene and the sentimental so well. For all of the tears I shed, “Joy Ride” is a properly raunchy road trip comedy that leans on the chemistry between the foursome at its center to make both the comedy and the heart work.

🏎️ Read Sammie Purcell’s full review here.

🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.

4. The Sports Section
A FRIDAY FEATURE | BY MADISON AUCHINCLOSS

🏀 The Atlanta Dream are riding a three-game winning streak and impressively leading the WNBA in the number of home sell-outs, having sold out four of their six home games this season. The Dream play the Chicago Sky away tomorrow night, but you can catch them at home again on Mon., July 10 – if you can get a seat!

⚽ After an impressive home win over Philadelphia last weekend and a busy week of roster moves, Atlanta United heads to Canada to face CF Montréal at 7:30 p.m. on Apple TV+.

📺 The ESPYS are next Wed., July 12 at 8 p.m. These awards celebrate the best athletes and their accomplishments in and out of their sports. You can vote on those awards here, and tune in on ABC.

🎾 Wimbledon heads into the third round this weekend. For the men, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz continue apace. Top American Taylor Fritz lost yesterday to Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, while fan-favorite Frances Tiafoe won in straight sets. Several American women are in contention to win the title this year with former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin playing Elena Svitolina today at 11:15 a.m.

🫶 The Washington Post’s inimitable sportswriter Sally Jenkins wrote a moving piece about the complex relationship between tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. The two were bitter rivals at the top of women’s tennis for years, but now battle a common opponent off the court.

⚾ The Atlanta Braves take the best record in baseball to Tampa for a three-game series with the Rays beginning tonight.

The MLB All-Star Game is Tues., July 11, but the weekend will be filled with activities before the main event. The Braves have eight players representing the National League, which is a full quarter of the 32-man roster. Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson are among those selected. TV: FOX.

🍅 Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival (#AKTF) returns to Westside Provisions District on Sun., July 30 from 1-4 p.m. for an annual celebration of the juiciest fruit in Georgia: tomatoes. Passes include tastings and beverages featuring tomatoes from restaurants, bars, and other tomato-serving establishments. Tickets are here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE