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Monday matters
Dec. 15 – Local elected and Jewish leaders called for solidarity following yesterday’s antisemitic terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that killed at least 15 people and wounded 40. Find more in Global Headlines below.
☀️ After a bitterly cold morning, it will be sunny and 42° today.
🩺 Today is the enrollment deadline to buy Affordable Care Act health insurance, with costs expected to rise after Congress failed to extend tax credits that lower monthly premiums.
🗳 Sandy Springs resident and Democrat Beth Fuller announced her candidacy for the Georgia House District 53 seat, which Deborah Silcox, a Republican, currently holds.
📲 Georgia senators on the special committee studying the impacts of social media and artificial intelligence on children said they will file bipartisan legislation to regulate tech use in schools.
🚇 MARTA continues to upgrade its Breeze payment system this week at the H.E. Holmes, Civic Center, and Midtown stations.
🎓 Healthcare education provider Concorde Career Colleges will open its inaugural Georgia campus in Atlanta’s West End.
ELSEWHERE
🚨 Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead at their Brentwood home. The LAPD is investigating what officials described as an apparent homicide.
➡ The suspect in Saturday’s deadly shooting at Brown University remains at large after a person of interest was released from police custody.
🏈 Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• World Cup on the Beltline
• Art at the airport
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
🏡 This newly completed 9,900± square-foot home on a 1± acre corner lot in Londonberry is listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The home features two premier primary suites, resort-style outdoor living, and a finished terrace level. A $100,000 buyer incentive is available if the home closes by Jan. 15, 2026. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Beltline officials discuss preparing the pedestrian trail for the World Cup
⚽ In conjunction with their fourth quarterly briefing, The Atlanta Beltline held a World Cup-themed panel on Dec. 11 at The Chandelier Room at Monday Night Garage in West End.
Moderated by local photographer Cam Kirk, the panel featured Beltline President & CEO Clyde Higgs, Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer Dallas Austin, City of Atlanta Director of Initiative & External Relations and interim Director of Showcase Atlanta Lamar Stewart, and Soccer in the Streets founder Kaseem Ladipo.
They discussed the Beltline’s role in bolstering small businesses, fostering relationships between locals and World Cup visitors, and sustaining an impact that lasts beyond next summer.
➳ You can find out more in Sarra Sedghi’s report here.
Holiday Classics Like Never Before
SPONSORED BY SCAD
🎵 This holiday season, don’t miss William Close & The Earth Harp Collective live at SCADshow in Midtown on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.!
Known for the world’s longest playable stringed instrument, the performance transforms the venue into an immersive musical experience. Enjoy a unique mix of holiday classics, original compositions, and well-known hit songs, all brought to life with stunning visuals.
✨ It’s the perfect way to celebrate the season with friends, family, or fellow music lovers. Purchase your tickets today!
2. At Hartsfield-Jackson, Georgia Tech turns movement into art
VIA SKETCHBOOK, A WEEKLY ARTS NEWSLETTER | SUBSCRIBE
✈️ Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is a place defined by motion. This year, that constant movement becomes the foundation of a yearlong exhibition from Georgia Tech Arts.
“Transport | Transform | Transcend: Innovations in Materials and Movements” opened Nov. 25 in Terminal T North and runs through November 2026. Curated by Birney Robert, the installations by Georgia Tech researchers and artists turn movement — through bodies, wireless signals, sound, and recycled materials — into something you can see, hear, and interact with.
The challenge: create work that registers in seconds but still invites deeper engagement.
➳ Read Sherri Daye Scott’s feature for more.
3. Sydney Hanukkah shooting; Chaos over Messi in India
🇦🇺 At least15 people are dead, and 40 are hospitalizedafter a father and son opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. The victims range froma 10-year-old to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. A bystander is being heralded as a hero after he tackled and disarmed one of the shooters.
🇨🇱 José Antonio Kastwon Chile’s presidency in a landslide, ushering in the country’s most right-wing government in decades.
🇨🇳 Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activistJimmy Lai faces life in prisonafter he was convicted in a landmark national security trial.
🇸🇾 President Donald Trump pledged “very serious retaliation” afteran ISIS gunman killed two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter in Syria, marking the deadliest attack on Americans there in years.
🇮🇱 Israel said it killedsenior Hamas leader Raed Saad, described as an architect of the Oct. 7 attack, in a targeted Gaza City strike.
🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russian missile attacks on energy infrastructure left a million Ukrainian households without power in freezing winter temperatures.
🇮🇷 Iran may move the government out of Tehran due to the country’s historic drought.
🇹🇭 Thailand’sparliament was dissolvedafter a constitutional fight over lawmakers’ powers, sending the country toward snap elections.
🇦🇺Reddit sued Australiaover its new under-16 social media ban, arguing the law forced intrusive, insecure age verification on all users.
🇮🇳 Angry soccer fans stormed a stadium in India after they failed to see Argentine star Lionel Messi despite paying for tickets and waiting in line for hours.
🗓️ Atlanta’s World Cup moment is here. Join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta for a dynamic fireside chat on Jan. 27 with Katie Kirkpatrick, President & CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, discussing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the city on the global stage. Reserve your table today.
✨ Join Brendan Murphy, Director of the Bearing Witness Institute, for a three-part series exploring Jewish-Christian relations – from early antisemitism to the Holocaust and modern reconciliation. Featuring survivor George Rishfeld, this program deepens understanding and strengthens our shared moral responsibility. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Atlanta in focus
🎙️ Peters Street. Morris Brown. Club 559. For any local who knows their stuff, all of these names are synonymous with Atlanta. And the new podcast“Atlanta Is…”is diving deeper into the institutions, art, and culture that make Atlanta unique.
Produced by Will Packer Productions and Complex, “Atlanta is…” features eight episodes that spotlight the stories behind Atlanta’s music scene, politics, film, religion, and more. To help determine story topics, the production team brought in a trio of experts.
Jewel Wicker, Maurice Garland, and Christina Lee all serve as hosts of the podcast. With seven of the eight episodes already out (the final one drops Wed., Dec. 17), the trio has covered everything from the influence of Atlanta’s Black churches on the rest of the world to the city’s status as a Mecca for Black businesses.
🎧Listen to “Atlanta is…” here.
🏡 This newly completed 9,900± square-foot home on a 1± acre corner lot in Londonberry is listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The home features two premier primary suites, resort-style outdoor living, and a finished terrace level. A $100,000 buyer incentive is available if the home closes by Jan. 15, 2026. SPONSOR MESSAGE
🔤 Don’t miss News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
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