Primary Tuesday
May 21 — Polls are open until 7 p.m. today for Georgia’s primary election. Our colleagues at Georgia Recorder take a deep dive into the races in play. You can confirm your voting location on this page.
🌞 Sunny and 86° today.
🗳️ The Atlanta City Council voted yesterday to make historic preservation part of the redevelopment of the Civic Center property.
⚖️ Judges in Georgia received thousands of pages of new documents in the case involving attempts to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis removed from Donald Trump’s election interference trial.
🎓 Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven held its largest commencement ever over the weekend with 300 graduates receiving diplomas.
🌟 Award-winning actor Angela Bassett delivered the commencement speech at Spelman College with a focus on empowering Black women.
🍔 Wendy’s will shutter its location on Buford Highway in Brookhaven after 50 years in business.
⛳️ Three local charities – Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Grady Health System – will receive a combined $250k thanks to Atlanta Gas Light’s 9th Annual Charity Golf Tournament.
🖊️ Thomas County Central High School senior Grayson Jones has won the 11th annual Poet Laureate’s Prize for an original poem written by a Georgia high school student.
🎟️ The presale for the two Atlanta Dream games versus Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever starts today at 11 a.m.
ELSEWHERE
⚖️ The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
🔮 Scarlett Johansson’s lawyers are demanding that OpenAI explain how it developed an AI voice assistant that she claims sounds uncannily like the star of “Her.”
➡ Ivan Boesky, a key figure in 1980s insider trading scandals and inspiration for the film “Wall Street,” died at 87.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Take 5 with Jamal Ahmad and Lil John Roberts
• 11-year-old lemonade stand founder gets store
• Around the State: GPB
AND
• Volunteer Opportunities
Have a good day,
Collin & Sammie
✈️ Ben Folds: Paper Airplane Tour lands at The Fred Amphitheater in Peachtree City on Sat., June 1! The Emmy-nominated artist is famed for his pop albums with Ben Folds Five plus solo projects, collaborative records, and performing with the world’s greatest symphony orchestras.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Take 5 with jazz artists Jamal Ahmad and Lil John Roberts
⛳ The best golf and jazz players understand one important thing, according to Teri Elam: the art of improvisation.
Golf and jazz were two of Teri’s father’s great loves, and at a recent event she was able to listen to great golfers in conversation, having fun and riffing off of each others’ stories. When she interviewed Jamal Ahmad and Lil John Roberts for this week’s Take 5, she felt like she was taking part in an extension of that conversation – an exercise in improvisation, if you will.
Both have been Atlanta residents for decades, Roberts by way of Philly but now steeped deeply in the Southside – “Colli Park,” as he puts it – and Ahmad anywhere jazz is playing, but especially at WCLK where he’s a DJ. You’ll find both artists in concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall on Fri., May 24, celebrating WCLK’s 50th Anniversary.
🎷 Click here to read Teri’s interview with the musicians, and to learn more about her father’s connection to jazz and golf.
Watch: Flyover video tour of ATL’s new commute at 285/400
SPONSORED BY PERIMETER COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
🚁 The Transform 285/400 Project, spearheaded by the Georgia Department of Transportation, has come a long way, with construction rolling toward completion later this year.
The 10.5-mile infrastructure upgrade is enhancing regional access and improving daily travel to the heart of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, and Brookhaven.
But don’t take our word alone. See the transformed interchange for yourself with this hyper-real flyover video tour.
2. 11-year-old Jase’s Lemonade founder turning mobile stand into a permanent Peoplestown shop
🍋 A lemonade shop owned by one of Atlanta’s youngest entrepreneurs will open later this year at Terminal South in Peoplestown.
Jase Kurtz, who founded Jase’s Lemonade when he was just seven years old, will take over the shipping container currently home to the Terminal South leasing office and transform it into a lemonade shop serving grilled cheeses and over 20 types of customizable lemonades and lemonade slushies.
Customers can create lemonade or slushie combinations with flavors like watermelon, strawberry, mint, and guava – and add drink toppings including gummy bears, sour worms, and Pop Rocks.
🥪 Learn more about Jase and his shop here.
3. Jason Carter and Jordan Fuchs discuss trust in Georgia’s elections
🗳️ If only every election administration discussion could be this cordial, constructive, and productive.
That was the mood at The Carter Center on Friday when Carter Center Board of Trustees Chair Jason Carter and Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs participated in a keynote fireside chat during the “Building Better Elections” forum hosted by The Carter Center and Rice University’s Baker Institute.
The event brought together officials, civil servants, and former secretaries of state from different political parties to find ways to help influence local practices and reforms using the Guiding Principles of Election Administration report first published in 2005 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and updated this year.
💬 Read excerpts from the conversation here.
✈️ Ben Folds: Paper Airplane Tour lands at The Fred Amphitheater in Peachtree City on Sat., June 1! The Emmy-nominated artist is famed for his pop albums with Ben Folds Five plus solo projects, collaborative records, and performing with the world’s greatest symphony orchestras.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Volunteer Opportunities
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HANDS ON ATLANTA
📦 Urban Recipe Inc. in Atlanta needs volunteers on Wednesday afternoon to assemble and fill boxes with food, package boxes securely for distribution, and assist in maintaining inventory.
🩺 Sadie G. Mays Health and Rehabilitation Center (pictured) is looking for volunteers for their 25th Annual Community Health Fair on Thursday morning. You will help with a variety of roles including setting up tents, tables, and chairs; directing parking and attendees; helping vendors unload; and distributing lunches.
🚮 The City of Atlanta’s Department of Public Works needs volunteers Friday morning for Operation Clean Sweep near Jonesboro Road. You will assist with the collection of litter and debris.
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📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
