Happy New Year
Jan. 2 — Whether you caught the drone and firework show over the city of Atlanta, were streaming the “Stranger Things” finale, or were sound asleep as the clock struck midnight, we hope your 2026 is off to a good start.
🏢 The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the Roswell Road shopping center whose tenants include US Food CHEF’STORE and Hudson Grille has been sold to an investment firm. There’s no word on whether the sale may impact the current retailers. (Subscription required)
🟤 The Business Chronicle also reported UPS sold the office building it recently vacated next to its Sandy Springs headquarters to a California-based real estate investor and developer. (Subscription required)
🚨 WSB-TV shared the bodycam footage as Sandy Springs police chased a suspect on a golf cart who was wanted in connection with another incident.
🍝 Rough Draft’s dining team named Nonna Dora’s pesto pasta one of their favorite dishes of 2025. The Sandy Springs italian eatery was also recently named a Rough Draft 2025 best new restaurant.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2026.
The Rough Draft Team
✨ 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
Tibby DeJulio reflects on 38 years of serving Sandy Springs
🤔 As Council Member Tibby DeJulio completes his 38 years of community service in Sandy Springs, he shared some advice for his successors.
“They have to remember that serving on the city council is a public trust, and they have a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens when they serve on the city council,” DeJulio told Rough Draft. “Nobody’s ever gotten, or going to, get rich serving on the city council of Sandy Springs.”
👉🏼 Read DeJulio’s full reflection.
RELATED
🌳 Sandy Springs renamed Windsor Meadows Park in honor of Tibby DeJulio for his 18 years of work on the city’s creation and his 20 years on its city council. The park was renamed Tibby DeJulio Park at Windsor Meadows during the council’s Dec. 16 meeting, which was his last full meeting as a council member.
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Rough Draft 20 Under 20
👏🏼 Rough Draft Atlanta recently announced its annual 20 Under 20, recognizing students around the metro area who excel academically while giving back to the community in meaningful ways. Following are the Sandy Springs students who made the list.
Jaron Alexander, Riverwood International Charter High School — Alexander created a fundraising website for Experience Camps, a national no-cost program for grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver.
Luna Castro, North Springs High School — Castro is co-founder and project lead of the VAYU climate initiative, an eco-friendly terracotta cooling system designed to reduce extreme heat in vulnerable environments.
Isabell Cheroff, Tori McMillan, and Carter Rumph, The Lovett School —The trio raised money for the Blood Cancer United organization, earning the title of Student Visionaries of the Year.
Grayson Cooke and Finn Graber, The Lovett School — The tennis doubles partners founded Serve First, an initiative to close the economic gap in the sport they played most of their lives.
Jagger Kaye, The Weber School — Kaye helped guide Weber’s Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Student Visionaries team raising money for cancer research.
Oliver Membrillo, Mount Vernon School — Membrillo is the founder of CPR For The Earth Inc., a nonprofit that organizes monthly cleanups in polluted communities around Atlanta.
✅ You can read more about each student as well as find the complete list of honorees in the Sandy Springs Reporter delivered to your mailbox, or check out the paper online.
Sandy Springs @ 20
SPONSORED BYMWT WINDOWS
We wrap up our series celebrating Sandy Springs’ 20th anniversary with an article from the Sandy Springs Reporter founding publisher, Steve Levene.
Incorporation drove paper’s creation
📰 It was January 2006, a month after the formal launch of the City of Sandy Springs and six months since local voters had overwhelmingly approved the formation of the city from a northern slice of unincorporated Fulton County. I overheard some neighbors talking about zoning proposals being considered by the new city council. “How can I get more information about that?” I asked. My question was met with shrugs.
My first instinct was to look in the daily metro newspaper, but I found only limited coverage of what, at the time, was important news for my neighborhood. That doesn’t seem right, I thought; with so many issues confronting Georgia’s newest city, there should be a local newspaper for residents to read and rely on for up-to-date information.
👉🏼 Read more about the creation of the Sandy Springs Reporter.
ALSO
🏙️ Sandy Springs created its own downtown with City Springs.
👓 Click here for the complete Sandy Springs @20 series.
Online coverage of Sandy Springs @ 20 is sponsored byMWT Windows.Get a free consultation 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
What’s doin’ around Sandy Springs
🐾 Jan. 4:Mutts Gone Nuts: Unleashed! at Byers Theatre
🤝 Jan. 6:Power Sessions for Growth | Five Essential Steps of Strategic Networking at Greater Perimeter Chamber
🎻 Jan. 6: Bluegrass Monday at O’Reilly’s Public House (additional Mondays as well)
🩰 Jan. 8:The Sleeping Beauty at Byers Theatre
🗓️ Add your event to our free, online event calendar.
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