A very French Friday
July 14 — Vive la France! It’s Bastille Day, which marks the storming of the Paris prison during the French Revolution in 1789. The Consul General of France in Atlanta has some celebration suggestions.
☁️ Mostly cloudy with a high of 92° today, tomorrow, and Sunday.
🔎 The question of who is to blame for the failure of Dunwoody’s The Hall at Ashford Lane may be as simple as looking at the financial history of its owner. Our colleague Cathy Cobbs continues her investigation into the failed dining spot.
🚊 MARTA has approved a $11.5 million contract for the final design of the Atlanta Streetcar extension from Downtown to the Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail and up to Ponce City Market.
✊ In a historic move, the actors guild has joined writers on strike, effectively shutting down most movie and TV productions worldwide.
🏞️ The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will decide what enforcement action to take after partially treated wastewater flowed into the Chattahoochee earlier this month.
🚌 Atlanta Public Schools is starting the process of transitioning its bus fleet from diesel to electric.
🚧 After years of land disputes, construction is expected to start at Brookhaven Park on July 24.
📈 Falling fuel prices and increased demand for international travel led Delta Air Lines to record quarterly revenue and earnings, boosting its forecast for the second half of the year.
NATIONALLY
⚕️ U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulators approved Opill, the country’s first over-the-counter birth control pill. The FDA said Opill “is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available nonprescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy.”
🕖 Today’s newsletter is ④ stories.
• DOJ investigating Fulton Co. Jail
• Film Review: ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1’
• The Sports Section: Women’s World Cup, Wimbledon
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
Have a good weekend,
Collin & Sammie
🔬 Help find a cure for Parkinson’s. Join the Atlanta Neuroscience Foundation for the first annual ATL on STAIRoids, the ultimate charity climb at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sun., July 16. Did you know that one million people will be impacted by Parkinson’s in their lifetime? Click here to register.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. DOJ launches investigation into conditions at Fulton County Jail
🔎 The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a “comprehensive investigation” into conditions at the Fulton County Jail.
During a Thursday press conference, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke said the investigation would look at living conditions, access to medical and mental health care, use of excessive force, and violence between inmates inside the jail.
The investigation comes on the heels of the death of inmate Lashawn Thompson, who was found dead in a mental health unit cell covered in bed bugs and insects last September. An autopsy report concluded that Thompson had died of “severe neglect,” according to Clarke.
⚖️ Click here for more information.
You say tomato, I say tomato
SPONSORED BY GEORGIA ORGANICS
🍅 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 in all the ways from Georgia restaurants, bars, and other tomato-serving establishments.
This annual fundraiser benefits Georgia Organics, the oldest statewide non-profit providing direct support to local and organic farmers, and celebrates the delicious Farmer Champion partnership between Georgia’s organic farmers and the culinary teams who make local ingredients shine.
🎟️ Tickets include tastings and beverages from local chefs and bartenders.
➡ Get your tickets today.
2. ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1’ stays fresh by honoring the past
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🏍️ In the latest “Mission: Impossible” installment, neither Ethan Hunt – nor Tom Cruise – has any intention of playing by anyone else’s rules.
In “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1,” Ethan and company are up against a new kind of villain – an all-knowing, mysterious artificial intelligence known as The Entity. In the midst of a global race for control of the AI – a race that includes a mysterious man from Ethan’s past (Esai Morales) – Ethan’s right-hand man Luther (Ving Rhames) tells him that if they want to win this fight, they need to start thinking like the enemy. They need to think like a machine – cold, logical, unemotional, unattached. But Ethan refuses, arguing their ties are the things that make them stronger, not the other way around.
This is the second film in a little over a year that can be read as a commentary on Cruise as one of the last of a brand of movie stars that no longer exist. “Top Gun: Maverick” dares to ask if we still need Cruise, or if someone from the younger generation has the juice to take his place (the movie comes down firmly on the side of Cruise). But “Dead Reckoning Part 1” stands in a long line of “Mission: Impossible” films – particularly those of the Christopher McQuarrie persuasion – that take that narrative one step further. This installment casts Cruise as the man come to save the movies from themselves, and “Mission: Impossible” continues its run of excellent blockbuster entertainment.
What continues to set the franchise apart is, of course, its commitment to practicality, but also its synergy with both Cruise’s place in the cinematic world and cinematic history more broadly.
🍿 You can read Sammie’s full review here.
📽️ Stay in the picture, even when there may be no pictures, with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Movie reviews, profiles, what’s filming where, plus more. Subscribe for free.
3. Eubanks’ magical run; Rapinoe retires
🏈 The fallout from the Jan. 15 car accident that killed a UGA player and recruiting analyst continues. Victoria Bowles, a former football staffer who survived the crash, has filed a lawsuit against the UGA Athletic Association and former player Jalen Carter.
➡ The Athletic Association sent The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a nine-page letter demanding the paper retract a recent investigative report that asserted the football program rallied to support several players who were accused of violence against women.
🎾 Wimbledon continues this morning with the men’s semifinals. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic faces Jannik Sinner of Italy at 8:30 a.m., and Spain’s Carlos Alcarez plays Russian Daniil Medvedev at 10:30 a.m. on ESPN.
➼ The winner of both matches will meet in the finals on Sunday.
🎾 On the women’s side, Czech Markéta Vondroušová faces Ones Jabeur of Tunisia in the finals tomorrow at 9 a.m. on ESPN.
🐝 Congratulations to Georgia Tech grad Christopher Eubanks who captured the hearts of millions in his magical run to the quarterfinals in his debut at Wimbledon (pictured).
⚾ The Braves kick off the second half of the season tonight with the best record in MLB. They start a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox at Truist Park at 7:20 p.m. on BSS.
🏀 The Atlanta Dream are on a six-game winning streak after beating the Seattle Storm this week. They play host to the Minnesota Lynx Tuesday at 7 p.m. TV: YouTube Primetime. Try and snag tickets for the game at Gateway Center Arena.
⚽ If you’ve been wondering where to take your summer vacation, FIFA is offering 20,000 free tickets to the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. The matches kick off Thurs., July 20.
🇺🇸 Team USA will include legendary Megan Rapinoe who announced she will retire at the end of the year. USA will face Vietnam on Fri., July 21 at 9 p.m. Keep up with all the action here.
⚽ Atlanta United lost to New England Revolution on Wednesday. They host Orlando City tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. TV: FS1 or AppleTV+.
🗞️ The New York Times announced it is cutting its sports department, and absorbing coverage from The Athletic, which it purchased last year.
🔬 Help find a cure for Parkinson’s. Join the Atlanta Neuroscience Foundation for the first annual ATL on STAIRoids, the ultimate charity climb at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sun., July 16. Did you know that one million people will be impacted by Parkinson’s in their lifetime? Click here to register.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Top Stories of the Week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website.
① Dunwoody food hall employees accuse owner of malfeasance regarding pay, hiring
② Chattahoochee River partially reopens after sewage spill (pictured)
③ Chick-fil-A plans new restaurant at Buckhead Place