Friday the 13th
Feb. 13 — Hawks forward Jalen Johnson earned his first NBA All-Star selection and is the team’s sole representative at this weekend’s festivities in Los Angeles. Johnson will play on Team USA STARS in the Sunday game, airing on NBC/Peacock at 5 p.m. Click here for a complete schedule of weekend events.
☀️ Sunny and 63° today. The weekend will see highs in the low 60s with a mix of clouds and showers possible on Sunday.
🏫 DeKalb County released a list of 27 schools that could be closed or repurposed due to declining enrollment. Community feedback is invited.
📹 Amazon-owned Ring canceled its partnership with Atlanta-based Flock Safety after public backlash over a Super Bowl commercial that fueled privacy concerns.
🔎 A new study on antisemitism reveals that 90% of Jews feel less safe after major antisemitic incidents.
🚨 Dunwoody Police launched an investigation after a surveyor found skeletal remains in the woods along Perimeter Center Parkway.
🌳 The Brookhaven City Council voted to authorize $172,000 to fund a variety of tree projects around the city.
🎭 City Springs Theatre Company leaders are worried that a potential change to the performing arts center’s partner program may impact its ability to produce shows at the venue.
📌 At its recent retreat, the Sandy Springs City Council discussed everything from a decrease in crime and new fire stations to housing affordability.
🥞 Belle & Lily’s Caribbean Brunch House in Chamblee will close after four years on Feb. 15.
OLYMPICS UPDATE
🏂 American Chloe Kim’s bid for a third straight Olympic halfpipe gold ended with an upset by South Korea’s 17-year-old Gaon Choi.
- Italy – 17
- Norway – 14
- U.S.A. – 14
ELSEWHERE
📉 Stock futures are down this morning ahead of January’s consumer price index report, following yesterday’s selloff driven by AI disruption fears that sent the S&P 500 down 1.6%.
🔍 The FBI released identifying details about a suspect seen on video at Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson, AZ home, describing a 5’9″-5’10” male carrying an Ozark Trail backpack.
♻️ The Trump administration revoked a scientific finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health, the central basis for fighting climate change.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• MARTA’s first BRT
• Film Review: ‘Wuthering Heights’
• Stokley Williams on Valentine’s Day
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
🏀 Bring the whole family out and celebrate Kids Day, presented by the Georgia Aquarium, on Feb. 22 as the Hawks hit the court against the Nets. The first 3,000 kids through the gates will enjoy a free shoe charm. Lock in tickets here!
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. MARTA to launch first bus rapid transit line this April
🚍 MARTA will launch its first bus rapid transit line in phases starting this April, ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup matches.
The Rapid A-Line will launch in two phases, with the first phase beginning Sat., April 18, as part of the transit agency’s new bus route network.
The five-mile Rapid A-Line will connect Downtown Atlanta to Capitol Gateway, Summerhill, Peoplestown, and the Beltline’s Southside Trail. There will be connections to the rail system at Five Points, Georgia State, and Garnett stations.
🚏 Find out more about the BRT here.
Rachmaninoff, Sibelius + Strings of Persia Festival
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
🎶 This month has something for every Atlanta Symphony Orchestra fan! From guest artists performing high-octane concertos (Rachmaninoff’s supercharged Fourth Piano Concerto and Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto) to Sibelius’s alluring Fifth Symphony and a Persian festival. Plus, modern compositions by female composers Angélica Negrón and Outi Tarkiainen, and Zemlinsky’s heart-scorned work based on The Little Mermaid.
✨ Enjoy a free pre-concert festival, Strings of Persia, celebrating Persian culture with food, art, live performances, and more before cellist firebrand Kian Soltani takes the stage on February 26 and 28.
➞ Get tickets here:
Feb. 19 and 21 | Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto
Feb. 26 and 28 | Sibelius Fifth Symphony
2. ‘Wuthering Heights’ captures what it feels like to fall in love with romance
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
💔 In an early scene in “Wuthering Heights,” Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) listens as his ward, Isabella (Alison Oliver) explains, in thorough detail, the plot of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” over tea in the garden. Isabella, who has just read the play for the first time, is completely entranced by the fate of the doomed lovers. Edgar, the unwitting victim of her obsession, is less so.
This is one of the most telling moments in Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” a loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 gothic novel about the passionate love affair between Catherine (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). In the press leading up to the release of “Wuthering Heights,” Fennell has spoken at length about her own obsession with this particular novel, and how in adapting Brontë’s work, she wanted to make the type of movie that played in her head while reading the book for the first time as a teenager. In this respect, Fennell feels not unlike Isabella – a young woman captivated by her first brush with all-consuming, madness-inducing passion.
There are certainly aspects of Fennell’s decision to make the movie she envisioned as a teenager that don’t quite work. But, if you’ve read “Wuthering Heights” (especially if you read it as a teenager) you know that it has the power to warp young minds in the way that not many stories do. Fennell’s film is not so much an adaptation of the novel as it is a visual representation of what it feels like to read “Wuthering Heights” – or, in Isabella’s case, “Romeo and Juliet” – and feel scandalized, shocked, and entranced for the first time. And in searching for that high, she wholeheartedly achieves something great.
📖 Read Sammie’s full review here.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
3. Stokley Williams brings healing through music to Tucker’s Londzell Theatre
🎶 R&B fans know Stokley Williams as a Grammy-nominated solo artist and lead singer of legendary band Mint Condition.
Gen Zers and avid TikTokers might recognize his velvety vocals from the sped-up version of his hit song, “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes),” which was featured in several videos highlighting dads and granddads as “heartbreakers” in their heyday. However, when folks come across the 58-year-old musician’s music, he intends not only to deliver melody, but healing in every refrain.
On Valentine’s Day, Williams will bring that energy to “Love and Laughter with Stokley & Friends” at Tucker’s Londzell Performing Arts Theatre. The concert and comedy show, which starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, will feature Williams, singer Kari Epps, and comedians JJ Williamson and Kelly Kellz.
💗 Find out more about the show here.
MORE V-DAY EVENTS
🎤 Andy Browne, former lead singer of punk band The Nightporters, will have an acoustic show at Thinking Man Tavern in Decatur on Saturday.
🍽️ Check out our roundup of Valentine’s Day dining specials and events.
🏃 Don’t miss the third annual Feeney Legacy Project 5K Fun Run! This event is a Northside Hospital Peachtree Road Race qualifier, stroller-friendly, and has a virtual option for supporters. On Sun., March 8, at Brook Run Park. Be a lifesaver. Sign up today.
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4. Top Stories of the Week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website. Follow @RoughDraftATL on Instagram for regular updates.
① Perimeter Mall submits plan to relocate food court to Macy’s wing
② Former Chamblee City Hall will become Spruill Studios in June
③ Tucker to install city’s first roundabouts to ease traffic and improve safety (pictured)
④ Sandy Springs leaders grill GDOT on SR 400 Express Lanes project
⑤ Trump administration ordered to produce information that led to Fulton elections raid
✨ Party like it’s 1985 at Spruill Center for the Arts’ 40th Artistic Affair! On March 28, join us for 1980s fun, open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more. Get your tickets today before the early bird discount ends!
SPONSOR MESSAGE
💭 Test your knowledge of the week’s news in tomorrow’s News Quiz. Keep an eye out for our email at 8 a.m. or bookmark this page!
🔤 Don’t miss News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
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