Fat Tuesday
Feb. 17 — Today is Lunar New Year and the start of the Year of the Fire Horse, which symbolizes intense energy, passion, and rapid change. We’ll have more down below about where to celebrate in Atlanta. It’s also Fat Tuesday, the final day of Carnival before Lent.
🌤️ Partly cloudy with a high of 72° today.
⚖️ Colin Gray’s trial opened with prosecutors arguing he ignored his son’s violent threats and gave him the rifle used in last year’s Apalachee High School shooting.
🚨 An elementary school teacher was killed Monday after a man fleeing ICE agents rammed her vehicle in Savannah.
🗳️ Early voting is underway to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congressional District 14, with 18 candidates remaining to vie for the seat.
💊 A bill that would allow the sale of HIV prevention medication at pharmacies in Georgia passed the House last week and is now being considered by the Senate.
🚨 A part-time DeKalb police officer was fired after an October incident at a Tucker library, where he accosted a transgender woman.
🚆 Work began on a free, on-demand transit link between the ATL SkyTrain at the Georgia International Convention Center and the Gateway Center Arena in College Park.
🎸 Our managing editor, Cathy Cobbs, was rocking out to Heart at Gas South Arena on Sunday night and filed this review of the hit-filled concert.
🎬 The 26th Annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens tomorrow night with a reception featuring 12 chef-hosted restaurant stations and a screening of “Once Upon My Mother.”
AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS
🥇 Douglasville, GA’s Elana Meyers Taylor won Olympic gold in monobob yesterday, becoming the most decorated female bobsledder and Black athlete in Winter Olympic history with six medals.
🏒 The U.S. women’s hockey team beat Sweden 5-0 to advance to the finals, where they will face Canada on Thurs., Feb. 19, for the gold medal.
- Norway – 28
- Italy – 23
- U.S. – 19
ELSEWHERE
🎗️Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and reshaped Democratic politics, died this morning at 84.
🎗️ Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall, whose films included “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Apostle,” and “Tender Mercies,” died yesterday at 95.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Above the Waterline
• Celebrating Lunar New Year
• TrustDALE
• Around the State: GPB
AND
• Volunteer Opportunities
🏢 Priced at $229,000, this ninth-floor Atlantic Station condo features floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, a private balcony, deeded parking, a pool and other resort-style amenities. Listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, it’s ideal for an easy in-town lifestyle or a true lock-and-leave retreat. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s decades-long fight for clean water pays off
ABOVE THE WATERLINE | SALLY BETHEA
🏞️ For the past 32 years, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) has persisted in its efforts to restore and defend the hardest-working river in Georgia. That labor is varied, challenging, and frustrating, but also satisfying, writes Sally Bethea in her most recent Above the Waterline column.
Five million people depend on this waterway, which flows diagonally across North Georgia from the mountains, through Atlanta, to the Alabama state line, then downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. It supplies drinking water and so much more.
The Chattahoochee downstream of the city was considered one of the most polluted waterways in Georgia in the 1980s and 1990s. When state and federal agencies repeatedly failed to take any meaningful action to clean up the bacteria-laden water that threatened public health, recreation, wildlife, and property values, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper stepped in.
🌊 Read Sally’s entire column here.
Orthopedic issues? This is how you Get Better.
SPONSORED BY PEACHTREE ORTHOPEDICS
🧑⚕️ Peachtree Orthopedics has 43 leading physicians, with specialists in every body part – providing expert, focused care that is designed for the quickest recovery and the best outcome.
Our UrgentORTHO Clinics offer same-day, evening, or even Saturday hours. So come when it works for you, get seen quicker, incur less cost, and avoid the E.R.!
📲 New patients can use our AskORTHO feature – a free online resource where you can chat with a live Peachtree clinician.
Peachtree Orthopedics has served Atlanta for over 70 years with a commitment to helping you return to the things you love. No matter your orthopedic challenge – they’ll help you Get Better too.
➞ Learn more or book an appointment here.
2. Where to celebrate Lunar New Year 2026 around Atlanta
🏮 Starting today through March 1, billions of people around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year, a multi-day holiday that kicks off the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar and marks the upcoming arrival of spring.
2026 ushers in the “Year of the Horse” – more specifically, the “fire horse” – which only happens every 60 years. The combination of the fire element with the Chinese zodiac’s horse is associated with certain traits, such as creativity, risk-taking, the pursuit of progress, and transformation.
Candy Hom has created a list of her favorite Atlanta-area restaurants and festivals celebrating Lunar New Year, including low-key dinners and parties full of dancing and fun.
😋 Check out the full list here.
3. Tax refund scams: What to watch for
TOGETHER WITH TRUSTDALE
🧾 Tax season brings anticipation for many households expecting a refund. It also brings opportunity for scammers who want to intercept that money before it reaches you.
According to a recent FTC Consumer Alert, text messages and emails claiming your refund has been processed or approved are often phishing scams designed to steal your personal information. These messages can look official, using government logos, urgent language, and references to the IRS or your state tax agency.
The goal is simple: to get you to click a link and hand over sensitive data. Once that happens, the scammer may attempt to redirect your refund or use your identity elsewhere. But the folks at TrustDALE have your back when it comes to tax season scams.
💰 Learn what to watch out for here.
4. ICE bought a warehouse in Social Circle — the city wishes it hadn’t
💸 The warehouse 50 miles east of Atlanta near Interstate 20 is not much to look at.
It’s really just a box: a more than 1-million-square-foot, gray structure dotted with semi-trailer loading docks. It’s built to be a distribution center. Communities across the country have been shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security wants to use warehouses like this one for detention space amid the ongoing immigration crackdown.
While other attempts to lease or buy properties like this one on East Hightower Road in Social Circle have fallen apart, this one is a done deal. A sales deed shows DHS paid just under $129 million for the space. Social Circle City Manager Eric Taylor really wishes it hadn’t.
➡ Read more in this story from GPB.
🏢 Priced at $229,000, this ninth-floor Atlantic Station condo features floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, a private balcony, deeded parking, a pool and other resort-style amenities. Listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, it’s ideal for an easy in-town lifestyle or a true lock-and-leave retreat. SPONSOR MESSAGE
5. Volunteer Opportunities
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HANDS ON ATLANTA
🍅 Grady Health System needs volunteers on Wednesday morning in Atlanta. Plan to sort, pack, and distribute food and fresh produce to Grady patients.
🎨 Callanwolde Fine Arts Center (pictured) is seeking volunteers to assist with an arts camp for Title 1 elementary schoolers on Thursday morning in Atlanta. Serve morning and afternoon meals, help instructors and students with art activities, and supervise pick up and drop off.
🌳 EcoAddendum is looking for volunteers on Saturday afternoon in Sandy Springs to help restore and beautify Old Riverside Park Forest. Expect to handle tools like clippers, pruning saws, and shovels.
🏢 Priced at $229,000, this ninth-floor Atlantic Station condo features floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, a private balcony, deeded parking, a pool and other resort-style amenities. Listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, it’s ideal for an easy in-town lifestyle or a true lock-and-leave retreat. SPONSOR MESSAGE
🇨🇳 A correction: An item in yesterday’s newsletter misstated the number of people traveling in China for the Lunar New Year. Officials expect 9.5 billion trips to be taken over the holiday period, not 9.5 billion people to travel. We regret the mistake.
🔤 Don’t miss News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
📤 Have a friend or colleague who would enjoy getting this newsletter? Forward them this link to subscribe.
