Take a load off, Thursday
Aug. 10 — Metro Atlanta added 66,730 residents between April 2022 and April 2023, boosting the population to 5.16 million, according to a new report from the Atlanta Regional Commission.
🌧️ A 50% chance of rain and 92° today.
🚨 A man died after being shot last night at Hosea Williams Drive and Howard Street in Kirkwood’s commercial district.
🚗 Multiple vehicles were damaged in a Wednesday afternoon shootout in a Grady Hospital parking deck.
⚖️ The Fulton County indictment against Donald Trump for alleged election meddling could come down next week, and officials are bracing for the impending media circus and protests.
🔎 Inman Park parents are rattled after loaded guns and drug paraphernalia were found on a local playground.
📹 Atlanta Police need the public’s help identifying persons of interest in a June homicide.
🚧 Work has finally begun on creating a connector of ramps and stairs from the BeltLine Eastside Trail down to Ponce de Leon Avenue.
NATIONALLY
➡ More than 36 people have died in intense wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui. In the main tourist destination of Lahaina, entire neighborhoods and historic buildings have been destroyed and people have fled into the water to escape the flames. “We just had the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All of Lahaina is burnt to a crisp. It’s like an apocalypse,” one resident told Reuters.
✂️ Co-working company WeWork warns there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business, putting the future of its 11 Atlanta locations in question.
🎗️Robbie Robertson, guitarist and songwriter for The Band, died yesterday at the age of 80. Robertson wrote some of the most influential songs of the ’60s and ’70s including “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
🕖 Today’s newsletter is ④ stories.
• Security vs. aesthetics
• Immersive Van Gogh
• Artist Aaron Artrip
AND
• Quick Bites
Have a good day,
Collin, Sammie, & Madison
🔮 Futurist Amy Webb is making a rare Atlanta appearance on Aug. 16! She packs the house at SXSW and advises Hollywood, the Pentagon, and Fortune 500 companies. Learn what Webb tells them about technological disruptions and AI, and how Atlanta can thrive in a fast-moving world. Learn more at AJC Live.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Security vs. aesthetics in Sandy Springs
🚨 Residents of Sandy Springs neighborhoods Cambridge Townhomes and Huntcliff Place are pushing the city council to rethink the use of concertina (or razor) on two projects.
The ongoing debate revolves around security for the Sandy Springs Police Department’s Fleet Maintenance Facility on Roswell Road and the new police and court complex on Morgan Falls Road. Both want to use fencing topped with wire.
“People’s homes are their largest investments so please do not consciously decrease our property values and make us appear to border a prison,” said Cambridge HOA President Leslie Odmark.
City Councilmember Melody Kelley said she was also concerned with the message it would send the community to see razor wire along the city’s Roswell Road commercial corridor.
➡️ Read more about the debate in Bob Pepalis’ story.
Get your Atlanta Food & Wine Festival tickets today!
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL 
🔮Don’t miss your opportunity to get tickets for the all-inclusive tasting tents at the upcoming Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, Sept. 22-24 at Historic Old Fourth Ward Park. Act now to lock in your tickets for unlimited food from 40+ top chefs from Atlanta and beyond, cocktails, live entertainment, and more!
😋 From walk-around tastings to gourmet gatherings led by the most prolific chefs and live cooking demonstrations, every aspect is artfully curated to ignite your senses and leave you with lasting memories. AFWF is the perfect opportunity to expand your palate and savor the best of the South and beyond!
🎟️ Get your tickets today!
2. The sound art of Aaron Artrip
🎇 “Dark Water/Bright Fire,” a solo exhibition of works by Aaron Artrip, will open at South River Art Studio on Friday. The series of prints on display feature geometric images generated by an unlikely source: a synthesizer.
“It was the visuals of it; I became entranced with the visuals that it created,” explained Artrip as we sat together in the living room of his East Point home where he makes his art.
“Music is my first love, it’s the thing that I truly fell in love with first. And I think I’ve just been exploring that rough art this whole time. Not music as a skill, but music as a sensorial experience.”
➡️ Read more about Aaron Artrip’s multi-sensory art here.
3. Van Gogh exhibit rebounds after rocky start
🌻 Although it had a rocky start, “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” at Doraville’s Exhibition Hub has recovered nicely, with thousands of patrons coming through the doors.
The expanded experience, featuring two immersive “wow rooms” in its 12,000-square-foot space, had its grand opening on July 20, but a massive afternoon thunderstorm knocked out all power along Buford Highway, leaving attendees touring the available exhibits using their phone flashlights.
“We are having hundreds on the weekdays and thousands on the weekends touring Van Gogh,” according to Exhibition Hub Executive Producer John Zaller.
➡️ Find out more about Van Gogh and other upcoming exhibitions.
DON’T MISS
📍 The Atlanta History Center in Buckhead is hosting the touring exhibition “Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See,” focusing on the lynching of the young boy and his mother’s refusal to let the world forget.
🔮 Futurist Amy Webb is making a rare Atlanta appearance on Aug. 16! She packs the house at SXSW and advises Hollywood, the Pentagon, and Fortune 500 companies. Learn what Webb tells them about technological disruptions and AI, and how Atlanta can thrive in a fast-moving world. Learn more at AJC Live.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Quick Bites
👨🍳 Cody Chassar (pictured) has been named the new chef de cuisine at Gunshow in Glenwood Park. He was previously the sous chef at Gunshow, and has worked at Nashville’s The Catbird Seat and Husk.
🥕 There are still a few days left to support National Farmers Market Week!
🍝 Chef Pat Pascarella’s Italian restaurant Grana opened at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody.
🐯 Auburn University named Atlanta-based chef Ford Fry as their second annual chef-in-residence at their teaching restaurant, 1856.
🍺 BrewDog Atlanta has a new menu.
🍗 Black Restaurant Week will be hosting its fifth annual culinary showcase, NOSH, today at State Farm Center. Get tickets here.
💃 Dirty Rascal is hosting a Beyhive Buckhead Drag Brunch on Sun., Aug. 13, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Trinity K. Bonet. Reserve your tickets here.
🥞 AltaToro in Midtown is adding weekend brunch.
🌮 El Tesoro opened its second location inside Wild Heaven Beer in the West End.