Schrödinger’s weather
Jan. 16 — This weekend’s weather forecast is sounding a lot like Schrödinger’s cat — either we will see some snow or we won’t.
🏃🏽 Sandy Springs reporter Hayden Sumlin has hit the ground running his first two weeks on the job. You’ll see he has several stories below, including Sandy Springs Police honoring an auto shop owner, safety concerns along Roswell Road, and the latest in Sandy Springs water surcharges.
🌳 This afternoon, Hayden will be attending the sign unveiling for the recently renamed Tibby DeJulio Park at Windsor Meadows. We look forward to bringing you that story and many others next week.
Now for some local headlines:
👮🏼 The Sandy Springs Police Department is accepting applications for its Citizen’s Policy Academy starting Feb. 17. Learn how you can sign up.
✅ The Sandy Springs City Council recently voted unanimously to require the Fulton County Development Authority to get its approval before initiating projects in the city.
✡️ Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul was in attendance when the city of Sandy Springs hosted nearly a dozen mayors from across metro Atlanta for a dialogue with the Combat Antisemitism Movement on ways to fight anti-Jewish bigotry.
📍 Citybiz reports an Atlanta-based real estate firm has purchased the Perimeter Pointe retail property at the corner of Abernathy Road and Mount Vernon Highway, whose current retailers include Dick’s Sporting Goods, LA Fitness, and Office Depot. The buyer plans to turn the center into a mixed-use destination.
🫓 The Rough Draft dining team reports the Indian restaurant Saffron Darbar opened in Sandy Springs last week at the Hammond Springs Shopping Center on Roswell Road, which is also home to BeThai Restaurant, Clay’s Sports Bar, and Jinya Ramen. Take a look inside.
🍿 The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival announced the lineup for its 2026 annual event taking place Feb. 18 – March 15. Opening night festivities will be at Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, and many of the movies will be at The Springs Cinema & Taphouse. Check out the full schedule.
Thanks for reading!
Hayden and the Rough Draft Team
🎼 Be immersed in old-world elegance with Prague Philharmonia, led by Emmanuel Villaume, Fri., Jan. 23 at Sandy Springs PAC. Hear an early Mozart violin concerto, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Dvořák’s bright, lyrical Symphony No. 8. Get tickets. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Sandy Springs police honor former auto shop owner
🚗 Sandy Springs Police Capt. Andrew Spears said Charles “Eddie” Mobley always went out of his way to help neighbors at his auto shop, which was located where Veterans Park now sits on Roswell Road.
Helping seniors get air in their wheelchair tires and being an honest mechanic whom people could trust are just some of the reasons the Sandy Springs community remembers “Eddie.”
While Mobley passed away more than a decade ago, his generosity stuck with longtime police officers, spurring them to mount a campaign to memorialize the Vietnam War veteran on the site of his former auto shop.
🫶🏼 Learn more about “Fast Eddie” Mobley and his memorial.
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.
Roswell Road crash sparks renewed calls for safety in Sandy Springs
⚠️ It’s indisputable that Metro Atlanta drivers often exceed the speed limit along Roswell Road through the city of Sandy Springs. Residents are encouraging more action after a car flipped off the road and split a telephone pole in half during the first week of 2026.
Sandy Springs father Vladimir Shklovsky was on the scene immediately following the Jan. 5 collision that left two cars totaled outside of a local daycare and preschool.
He spoke about his concern during the Jan. 6 Sandy Springs City Council meeting.
👉🏼 Read what Shklovsky had to say.
Judge defends Sandy Springs’ water rate surcharge
💦 DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk ruled that the City of Atlanta is justified in charging residents outside of its jurisdiction a 21 percent surcharge for water.
The Dec. 19 court order is a setback for Sandy Springs residents who have battled the City of Atlanta over water rates and system maintenance for more than three decades.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said city leaders “were shocked by the judge’s decision” when asked about the setback in litigation.
➡️ Read more about the ruling and Mayor Paul’s reaction.
New drawing classes at Abernathy Arts Center
✏️ When artist John Horne talks about teaching drawing, he rarely starts with technique. He starts with people.
Over the years, in Metro Atlanta classrooms and studios, Horne has learned that the anxieties students bring with them — fear of failure, fear of not being “good enough,” fear of never getting it right — remain constant across generations. “Only the faces change,” he says. The work of an instructor, in Horne’s view, is not to rank talent or judge outcomes, but to meet students where they are and help them articulate where they want to go.
That approach anchors Horne’s two new offerings at the Sandy Springs Abernathy Arts Center — Figure Drawing: All Levels and Portrait Drawing: All Levels. Both launch next week.
🧑🏼🎨 Learn more from Rough Draft’s Sherri Daye Scott.
What’s it Worth?
🏡 This Buckhead estate, hidden beyond gates, features 17± acres with a limestone main residence and guesthouse, along with lakes, greenhouses, an equestrian stable, and a vanishing-edge pool.
❓ Guess the price below!
🎼 Be immersed in old-world elegance with Prague Philharmonia, led by Emmanuel Villaume, Fri., Jan. 23 at Sandy Springs PAC. Hear an early Mozart violin concerto, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Dvořák’s bright, lyrical Symphony No. 8. Get tickets. SPONSOR MESSAGE
What’s doin’ around Sandy Springs
🍷 Jan. 17:Italian wine tasting and small bites at il Giallo
⛸️ Jan. 17:Escape to Oasis Night at Skate Sandy Springs
🔮 Jan. 17:Intuition & You: Psychic Development at Phoenix and Dragon Bookstore
🙌🏼 Jan. 19: MLK Jr.: Life & Legacy at Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center
🗓️ Jan. 20:Sandy Springs City Council Meeting at City Hall attend in person or watch it online
💙 Jan. 22: Speed Dating (men seeking men) at Just Love Coffee Cafe
🗓️ Add your event to our free, online event calendar.
The Sports Section
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SCORE ATLANTA
🏀 BOYS BASKETBALL
- Holy Innocents’ (13-2): Friday vs. KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (13-3)
- Lovett (10-7): Friday vs. Hapeville Charter (2-9); Saturday @ Pace Academy (8-7)
- Mt. Vernon (14-2): Friday @ Mount Pisgah (5-8)
- North Springs (5-13): Tuesday @ Tucker (13-4)
- Pace Academy (8-7): Friday @ Forest Park (7-10); Saturday vs. Lovett (10-7)
- Riverwood (9-8): Friday @ Sequoyah (8-9)
- Westminster (16-0): Friday vs. Kell (6-11)
🏀 GIRLS BASKETBALL
- Holy Innocents’ (11-5): Friday vs. KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (5-7); Saturday vs. New Manchester (13-3)
- Lovett (7-6): Friday vs. Hapeville Charter (0-5); Saturday vs. Pace Academy (4-6)
- Mt. Vernon (0-11): Friday @ Mount Pisgah (1-7)
- North Springs (2-13): Tuesday @ Tucker (8-8)
- Pace Academy (4-6): Friday @ Forest Park (1-15); Saturday vs. Lovett (7-6)
- Riverwood (5-11): Friday @ Sequoyah (10-7)
- Westminster (15-2): Friday vs. Kell (13-3)