Friday the 13th
Dec. 13 — If you’re looking for some holiday fun this weekend, head to Miracle on Peachtree in Buckhead, where there are activities galore, or to the Virginia Highland Winterfest, which kicks off tonight with a Tour of Lights. And don’t forget the Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes on Saturday and Sunday.
☁️ Cloudy and 54° today with similar conditions persisting through the weekend.
📈 Georgia tax collections rose by 2.3% last month compared with November of last year, the state Department of Revenue reported Wednesday.
🚍 MARTA officials say more than 100 bus shelters have been vandalized across the city and will have to be replaced.
💸 U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is pressing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to finalize a change that would keep most medical debt off credit reports.
🍎 The Fulton County Board of Education got an update on the district’s Student Support Services, which identifies students in crisis, offers counseling, helps improve reading skills, and gets aid from corporate and nonprofit partnerships.
🚙 AAA reports that a record 3.7 million Georgians will travel during the holidays this year, with residents journeying at least 50 miles from home from Dec. 21 to Jan. 1.
ELSEWHERE
🔍 A Justice Department watchdog’s report found no evidence the FBI instigated violence but says the bureau should have done more to gather intelligence before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
♟️ Indian chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, became the youngest world champion with a thrilling final win over China’s Ding Liren.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Where to eat in December
• Film review: ‘A Complete Unknown’
• The Sports Section
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
Have a great weekend,
Collin & Sammie
🌻 Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge are bringing the Yes We Are Tour to Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park on Fri., Sept. 26. Grab your tickets today and make plans for an evening of big hits and even bigger singalongs. This is a table set up – coolers and carry-ins are welcome. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Where to eat in Atlanta in December
🍷 “The Move” is your guide to the top food finds from Senior Editor Beth McKibben, who oversees restaurant and dining coverage at Rough Draft.
This week, let’s take a look at where you should be spending your hard-earned cash this December. From Korean food or holiday-themed pop-ups, to freshly baked biscuits, to delicious wines – whatever you’re looking for this holiday season, you should be able to find it here.
🍗 Check out the full list from Beth here.
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2. ‘A Complete Unknown’: the myth, the man, the legend
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🎸 In 2007, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” hit theaters and ruined the musical biopic forever. And no film felt the presence of “Walk Hard” more than James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line.”
“A Complete Unknown,” Mangold’s newest foray into the music biopic, is not as good as “Walk the Line,” and that makes “Walk Hard” a little more difficult to banish from your mind as you watch. The film, which tells the story of Bob Dylan, changes up the structure slightly – it doesn’t follow his entire life, and instead of some sort of addiction threatening to ruin his career, it’s his interest in rock ‘n’ roll.
But those same old tropes – nagging girlfriend, tortured genius who no one understands, etc. – still pop up throughout. Despite all that, “A Complete Unknown” is perfectly enjoyable, although it sometimes feels more like a glorified concert than a movie – something Mangold, who is particularly wonderful at staging a performance for the screen – can sort of get away with. But the biggest problem “A Complete Unknown” runs into time and time again is that it can’t get past the legendary status of its central figure.
🎵 Click here to read Sammie’s review.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
☕ Indulge your sweet tooth this Saturday at Livable Buckhead’s Hot Chocolate Crawl! Sip hot chocolate and cocktails, stroll through Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, and Peachtree Road, with live festive music. Check out the hot chocolate crawl route and join this free event! SPONSOR MESSAGE
3. Hawks enter NBA Cup semifinals; Mercer football set for national TV debut
BY: JIM BASS
♂️ The Sports Section is Sponsored by Gameday Men’s Health Buckhead, offering testosterone, weight loss, peptide, and ED therapies so you can get back in the game. Learn more today!
🏀 The Hawks will travel to Las Vegas to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup Semifinals tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. The matchup comes after the Hawks beat the Knicks in the quarterfinals 108-100 on Wednesday night (TNT; 92.9 FM).
🏈 Mercer plays at North Dakota State for the FCS Championship quarterfinals tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. The game will be the Bears’ first nationally televised football game (ABC).
🏈 John T. Grant Jr., the executive director of the Cricket Celebration Bowl, is this year’s honoree for the Atlanta Sports Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Coca-Cola. The Atlanta Sports Awards show will air on 11Alive tomorrow at 7 p.m.
🏈 The GHSA Football State Championships are set to be played Dec. 16-18 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (GPB/Streaming on NFHS Network) Here is a list of matchups for each class’s finals:
- Class 6A: Carrollton vs. Grayson on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.
- Class 5A: Milton vs. Langston Hughes on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
- Class 4A: North Oconee vs. Marist on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.
- Class 3A: Calhoun vs. Jefferson on Dec. 18 at 4 p.m.
- Class 2A: Carver vs. Burke County on Dec. 17 at 4 p.m.
- Class A Division I: Toombs County vs. Northeast on Dec. 17 at 1 p.m.
- Class A Division II: Brooks County vs. Bowden on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.
- Private: Hebron Christian vs. Prince Avenue Christian on Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.
🏈 After becoming SEC Champions last Saturday, No. 2 Georgia ended its season as the most-watched college football team in the country with an average of 8.6 million viewers per game.
🏈 The Falcons travel to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night at 8:30 p.m. After losing four straight games, the Falcons are looking to gather momentum for a playoff run with a win on the road.
⚾ Former MLB stars Dave Parker and Dick Allen were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on Sunday through the Classic Era Committee election
💥 Peachtree Battle Estate Sales presents a SIX MILLION DOLLAR designer-quality, women’s, men’s, and kids sale with a selection of 4,000 leather and fur jackets, coats, and more from the internationally renowned The Ivy Showroom. Today from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 800 Miami Cir. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Top Stories of the Week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website. Follow @RoughDraftATL on Instagram for regular updates.
① State removes list of low-performing schools eligible for voucher program
② The Best New Atlanta Restaurants of 2024
③ Howell Mill breakfast and brunch institution West Egg Cafe closing Dec. 29
④ Brookhaven couple opens Guiltless Glass Recycling in DeKalb (pictured)
⑤ Redistricting plan for Spalding Drive Elementary would send students to Woodland, Heards Ferry
💭 Test your knowledge of the week’s news in tomorrow’s News Quiz. Keep an eye out for our email at 8 a.m. or bookmark this page!
📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
🔤 Don’t miss our new, daily word game – you have six chances to guess a five-letter word connected to a news story.
