Christmas Eve
Dec. 24 — Santa Claus is already delivering presents on the other side of the world, and will make his way to Metro Atlanta tonight. You can track his progress on NORAD’s official Santa Tracker, and don’t forget the cookies and milk.
🌞 Unseasonably warm and mostly sunny with a high of 70° today.
💰 Tonight’s Powerball jackpot is more than $1.7 billion.
⚖️ Atlanta Housing Authority executive Tracy Jones has been federally charged with housing assistance and pandemic relief fraud.
🎄 Here’s a roundup of what’s open and what’s closed over the extra-long holiday weekend.
ELSEWHERE
📈 The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in two years, with third-quarter GDP jumping 4.3%, lifting the S&P 500 to a record high as investors hope for a “Santa Claus Rally.”
⚖️ The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Illinois, ruling federal law likely barred using the military for domestic law enforcement.
🔎 A third batch of Jeffrey Epstein records released by the Department of Justice includes indications that President Trump flew on Epstein’s plane at least eight times in the 1990s.
🚔 British police charged Russell Brand with new counts of rape and sexual assault after two more women came forward.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• GSU gets student success grant
• Atlanta Wind Phone
• Perimeter CID looks back
AND
• Gula Indonesian Desserts
🏀 ATL – Celebrate the holidays with Hawks basketball! Big games vs. top opponents like the Spurs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, and Timberwolves await. Secure your seats today to be a part of the action. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. $4.6M grant to help GSU students earn bachelor’s degrees
💰 A grant from the Gates Foundation will help Georgia State University improve student success.
The school plans to use the $4.6 million to help students seamlessly transition from Perimeter College associate programs to the Atlanta Campus or GSU’s fully online bachelor’s degrees.
Georgia State says this will result in efficient, affordable routes to graduation and career advancement.
➳ Find out more about the grant here.
Fashion meets art at the High Museum!
SPONSORED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM’
👗 Experience Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements – a bold, breathtaking exhibition celebrating avant-garde fashion visionaries who blurred the line between haute couture and art. Only at the High, the exhibition’s sole U.S. stop.
➞ On view through Feb. 8, 2026.
2. Atlanta Wind Phone art installation to be relocated to Oakland Cemetery
📞 The Atlanta Wind Phone, currently part of the public-art project “The Space Within” in Woodruff Park, will soon have a new home.
The Grief House, a nonprofit that organizes experiences and gatherings for the grieving, has been looking for a new and lasting home for the phone, which offers Atlantans a unique and symbolic way to “call” loved ones they have lost.
The Grief House is now working with the Historic Oakland Foundation to relocate the display to Oakland Cemetery.
➳ Find out more about the installation here.
3. Perimeter 2025 Wrapped: Top Moments of the Year
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PERIMETER COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
🎉 What did Perimeter do in 2025? A lot, and we’re just getting started. From new trails and commute solutions to surprise pop-up events and major wins, this year was packed with momentum across the district.
🚐 We provided safer ways to move, more reasons to stick around after work, and stronger connections across the community.
➞ Dive into our Perimeter Wrapped to explore the standout moments that shaped 2025.
🏀 ATL – Celebrate the holidays with Hawks basketball! Big games vs. top opponents like the Spurs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, and Timberwolves await. Secure your seats today to be a part of the action.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Gula Indonesian Desserts expands a family’s restaurant legacy on Buford Highway
😋 Gula Indonesian Desserts opened just a few months ago, but has already become a go-to for desserts and snacks on Buford Highway.
Located in the former Mango Mango space at Pinetree Plaza, Gula Indonesian is run by Chef Gloria Ariesandi and Angie Ariesandi, the daughters of Daniel Ariesandi and Ninik Sulistjani, the owners behind Indoeats Foodmart at the complex and Java Indonesian Foodmart.
Gula is a family affair. Ariesandi and Sulistjani’s granddaughter, Emma Ariesandi, oversees front-of-house operations at Gula. For Gloria and Angie Ariesandi, it also expands upon their parents’ restaurant legacy on Buford Highway, including the types of Indonesian foods found in Atlanta.
➳ Find out more about the restaurant here.
🏀 ATL– Celebrate the holidays with Hawks basketball! Big games vs. top opponents like the Spurs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, and Timberwolves await. Secure your seats today to be a part of the action. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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