Welcome to December
Dec. 1 — After Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, today is Cyber Monday, with a host of online sales. Adobe Analytics said that U.S. consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, up 9.1% from last year, while in-store traffic fell 3.6%.
🌧️ Scattered showers and a high of 52° today.
🏫 Atlanta Public Schools will host a final community meeting on its consolidation and redistricting plan, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m. at Herman J. Russell West End Academy.
📦 DeKalb Police are warning about an uptick in package thefts from porches in the Tucker area.
💾 Clean air advocates say unchecked growth in Georgia’s data center industry could harm public health.
🩸 Out On Film is screening “Chocolate Babies” tonight at 7 p.m. at Midtown Art Cinema, followed by a discussion, to mark World AIDS Day.
🐸 Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts will receive a 12-foot Kermit the Frog statue from The Jim Henson Company.
🏈 No. 3 Georgia will face No. 10 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Sat., Dec. 6.
🏈 After going 2-10 last year, Kennesaw State will play in the Conference USA Championship Game after upsetting Liberty 48-42 in double overtime.
🏈 The Jets hit a last-second, 56-yard field goal to beat the Falcons 27-24.
ELSEWHERE
❄️ A 45-car pileup in Indiana and a plane sliding off an Iowa runway highlighted travel chaos Sunday as a winter storm dumped over a foot of snow across the Midwest. More snow is expected today.
🤯 “Rage bait” is the Oxford University Press word of the year, reflecting the rise in manipulative online content designed to provoke anger and drive engagement.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Holiday Fun Guide
• Reader survey
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
Have a great week!
🏡 This down-to-the-studs, 3,300±-square-foot Morningside renovation includes a chef’s kitchen with a large island, a main-level primary suite, two en suite bedrooms, and a finished terrace level with a media room and an office. The home is listed for $2.495 million with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Holiday Fun Guide: Make merry around the Metro with these festive events
🎶 December is here, which means festive theatre, music, and celebrations are happening all month long.
From traditions like the Atlanta Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” and the Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol” to Voices of Note concerts and Winterfest in Virginia-Highland, there’s something for everyone this season.
🎅🏻 See our holiday guide here.
Celebrate the Holidays with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
✨ The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra warmly invites you to enjoy the holidays this December with festive concerts presented by The Coca-Cola Company. Revel in the joy of “Christmas with the ASO” from Dec. 11-14, featuring beloved carols and hymns that celebrate the season.
On Dec. 18 and 19, be uplifted by Handel’s “Messiah,” highlighted by the powerful Hallelujah Chorus and performed by world-class soloists. Finally, celebrate the spirit of the holidays from around the world in Sounds of the Season with orchestral favorites like Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and “A Holly and Jolly Sing Along,” Dec. 23.
➞ Visit our website for tickets and information.
2. Help shape the future of Rough Draft
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Take our quick annual reader survey and help us keep Rough Draft valuable for readers and the local businesses who support us.
It takes less than two minutes, and your feedback directly shapes how we keep growing in the coming years.
3. Deadly weather hits Southeast Asia; Witkoff to Moscow
🇭🇳 Early results from the Honduran presidential election show conservative Nasry Asfura narrowly leading. Late last week, Trump said he would pardon imprisoned former President Juan Orlando Hernández.
🇺🇸🇦🇫 The Trump administration halted all asylum decisions after an Afghan national who worked with the CIA was charged in a shooting that killed a National Guard member in Washington.
🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Isaac Herzog to pardon him on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
🇺🇦🇷🇺 U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow today to meet President Vladimir Putin, following weekend talks in Miami that President Donald Trump called promising for reaching a Ukraine peace deal.
🇻🇪🇺🇸 Lawmakers from both parties warned U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have committed war crimes after reports he ordered strikes to kill survivors of recent boat attacks in international waters.
🇮🇩🇱🇰🇹🇭 Weather disasters across Southeast Asia have killed nearly 900 people, with Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka reporting hundreds of deaths from cyclone-induced floods and landslides.
🇧🇷 Former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was ordered to begin a 27-year jail sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election.
🇬🇧 A gold pocket watch recovered from Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus, who died on the Titanic, sold for a record $3.6 million at a London auction.
🗓️ Want to learn more about international affairs and U.S. foreign policy? Subscribe to the World Affairs Council of Atlanta’s weekly newsletter for upcoming events.
🏡 This down-to-the-studs, 3,300±-square-foot Morningside renovation includes a chef’s kitchen with a large island, a main-level primary suite, two en suite bedrooms, and a finished terrace level with a media room and an office. The home is listed for $2.495 million with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Holiday listening
Rough Draft co-editor Collin Kelley has assembled five of his favorite holiday albums to kick off December. You won’t find Mariah Carey on the list, but there’s plenty of pop, jazz, and a collection of funny tales.
🥁 The first installment of “A Very Special Christmas” series from 1987 remains the best, with ’80s superstars like Madonna, U2, Whitney Houston, Eurythmics, and Stevie Nicks singing Christmas carols.
⛄ “50 Words for Snow” by Kate Bush isn’t a holiday album, but it will put you in a wintry mood with tales of a ghost haunting Lake Tahoe, a torrid affair with a snowman, and Stephen Fry narrating the title tune.
🎷 The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s hip and jazzy soundtrack for the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” remains as essential listening every season.
🥃 David Sedaris reads his collection of short stories “Holidays on Ice” with an assist from his sister Amy and Ann Magnuson, including the tale of working as an elf at Macy’s in New York.
🎄 If Ella Fitzgerald’s 1960 album “Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas” doesn’t put you in the mood, check your pulse. “Jingle Bells,” “White Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are just some of the classics on the track list.
🏡 This down-to-the-studs, 3,300±-square-foot Morningside renovation includes a chef’s kitchen with a large island, a main-level primary suite, two en suite bedrooms, and a finished terrace level with a media room and an office. The home is listed for $2.495 million with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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