Freaky Friday
Oct. 31 — The Atlanta Community Food Bank said it will tap into $5 million in reserves to purchase more than six million pounds of food as part of a SNAP crisis response plan. Meanwhile, the City of Atlanta put a moratorium on water shutoffs and evictions. See our list of where to get assistance, donate, or volunteer.
☀️ Sunny with a high of 60° today. It could drop into the 40s for trick-or-treating, so make sure to bundle up.
🗳 Today is the last day of advance voting in next week’s municipal elections. Find your early voting locations here.
📚 The Atlanta Board of Education will hold two public hearings as it prepares to vote on closing or repurposing 16 schools.
🌊 The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation will provide an initial $2.5 million to aid in hurricane relief efforts in Jamaica and other affected islands.
💼 Leadership Atlanta is accepting nominations for its 2027 class of business and nonprofit leaders.
🚇 MARTA has rolled out a new LGBTQ+ Pride design as part of its Artbound Bus Wrap program.
⏰ Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night as daylight saving time ends on Nov. 2.
ELSEWHERE
👑 King Charles III stripped Prince Andrew of all titles and honors and ordered him to leave his royal residence, amid renewed scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
📉 Soaring AI costs sent shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, plunging 11%, its worst day in three years
⚕️ The Trump administration has proposed new rules to limit healthcare access for transgender youth.
🍿 Domestic box office revenue for October is expected to be $425 million, its lowest level in 27 years.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Halloween weekend fun
• Film Review: ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
• The Sports Section
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
🟢 Green tokens, used at farmers markets to double the value of SNAP/EBT, can be redeemed anytime at any Wholesome Wave Georgia partner market, no matter when or where the tokens were purchased. For a map of WWG partners, click here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Spooky fun events for Halloween, Day of the Dead across Metro Atlanta
👻 Spooky season culminates this weekend with Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations happening across Metro Atlanta for kids and adults.
Between haunted houses galore, events at Georgia institutions like the aquarium and Fernbank Museum, and trick-or-treating at Ponce City Market, there’s a ton of creepy fun to have this weekend.
🍬 Check out the full list of events here.
DONATIONS NEEDED
🎹 Trinity United Methodist Church will host its Organ Spooktacular tonight as a fundraiser for preserving the church’s historic Austin organ.
Flavor and fun start in Chamblee
SPONSORED BY DISCOVER DEKALB
✨When the lights come on and the crowd roars, Chamblee shines brightest. The 3rd Spot Watch Party Series is more than a game watch – it’s a local gathering where sports, flavor, and friendship collide.
Savor dishes from global kitchens, sip a local brew, and let the energy of the city sweep you in. Every match becomes a moment, every fan a neighbor.
➞ Stay after the final whistle and discover Chamblee’s blend of international tastes, creative corners, and stories that make every visit feel like home.
2. In ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ shame is a state of mind
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
💉 “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is a title that evokes a feeling of complete and utter inadequacy, one that seeps through Mary Bronstein’s remarkably assured, piercing second feature directorial effort.
The film stars Rose Byrne as Linda, a mother pushed to her limit. Her daughter (who remains unnamed and unseen throughout most of the film) is seriously ill, has to use a feeding tube at night, and seems to be inching down the road away from recovery. Her husband (Christian Slater) is away on a weeks-long work trip. To top it all off, there’s a huge hole in the ceiling of her house, insulation leaking out like guts from a gaping wound, forcing her and her daughter into a motel room for weeks on end. And, no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to get anyone to fix it. Any of it.
Through the camera and with the help of Byrne’s nerve-fraying performance (she’s always been great, but here, she really solidifies her status as one of the best ranging actresses of her generation), Bronstein so thoroughly puts the audience inside of Linda’s head that it becomes a bit hard to discern between the subjective and the objective. It’s not so much that we can’t trust what’s happening to Linda, but rather that her reality is informed by her caustically harsh opinion of everything around her – including herself.
🐹 Click here to read Sammie’s review. You can also read her reviews of “It Was Just an Accident” and “Ballad of a Small Player.”
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
3. KSU bowl eligible for first time; NYC Marathon Sunday
BY RYLIE LIVINGSTON | SPONSORED BY NYO
⚾ The Blue Jays lead the Dodgers 3-2 in the World Series. Game Six starts tonight at 8 p.m. in Toronto (FOX).
🎽 The New York City Marathon is on Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m. on ESPN.
🏀 The Hawks play in Indiana tonight at 7 p.m., then travel to Cleveland Sunday at 6 p.m. (FanDuel; 92.9 FM)
🏈 The Falcons travel to Gillette Stadium Sunday to play the Patriots at 1 p.m. (CBS; 92.9 FM)
🥎 The AUSL and ESPN agreed to a three-year rights extension deal.
🏈 Here are this weekend’s local college games:
- No. 5 Georgia plays Florida on neutral ground in Jacksonville on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN, 95.5 FM)
- No. 8 Georgia Tech heads to NC State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN; 93.7 FM)
- Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and West Georgia are off this week.
- Kennesaw State beat UTEP 33-20 on Tuesday, making them FBS bowl eligible for the first time.
- Mercer travels to Furman on Saturday at 2 p.m.
- Morehouse hosts Allen University for Senior Day on Saturday at 1 p.m.
- Clark Atlanta heads to Kentucky State on Saturday at 3 p.m. (SIAC Network).
📺 The Connector, a Midtown student housing community, will host a Georgia Tech vs. NC State Watch Party on Saturday, as part of a new partnership with Georgia Tech Athletics.
🏈 The Score Atlanta game of the week is Milton at Roswell tonight at 8 p.m. Watch live on Atlanta News First (Channel 46) and the Peachtree Sports Network, beginning with the Georgia High School Countdown to Kickoff pregame show at 7:30 p.m. Postgame coverage airs live until midnight.
🟢 Green tokens, used at farmers markets to double the value of SNAP/EBT, can be redeemed anytime at any Wholesome Wave Georgia partner market, no matter when or where the tokens were purchased. For a map of WWG partners, click here. 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 Georgia Supreme Court hears cases that could shape the future of roads, car sales, and child custody
② MARTA rolls out new fare collection system ahead of World Cup (pictured)
③ Fulton County Schools cutting budget by $95 million to avoid ‘financial ruin’
④ DeKalb school board moving forward with forensic audit of ex-superintendent
⑤ Atlanta-based Carter’s closing 150 stores, lists tariffs among increased costs
🟢 Green tokens, used at farmers markets to double the value of SNAP/EBT, can be redeemed anytime at any Wholesome Wave Georgia partner market, no matter when or where the tokens were purchased. For a map of WWG partners, click here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
💭 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!
🔤 Don’t miss News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
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