Monday chill
Feb. 23 — If you’re headed to the airport today, there might be longer lines after the Department of Homeland Security sent mixed messages about the availability of TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry due to the partial government shutdown. You can track wait times at Hartsfield-Jackson here.
☀️ Winter is back, for now. After overnight lows in the 20s, the high will be 38° today.
⚖️ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a federal judge ordered a political committee controlled by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to stop spending money on his gubernatorial campaign.
💰 Invest Atlanta approved a $2 million grant for the construction of 65 senior units in the heart of Downtown Atlanta.
🍔 A public meeting is set for tomorrow for Tucker residents to learn more about a proposed Whataburger on Hugh Howell Road.
🏆 SCAD founder and president Paula Wallace was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of France’s highest civilian honors.
🧪 The Atlanta Science Festival returns March 7-21 with 150 educational and interactive events around the city.
⚽ FC Cincinnati beat Atlanta United 2-0 in both teams’ MLS season opener on Saturday. The Five Stripes, whose first home game is March 7, play at San Jose on Feb. 28.
AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS
🏒 The USA won its first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980 after Jack Hughes, with a freshly chipped tooth, scored in overtime to beat Canada 2-1 yesterday.
🏅 Final Medal Count Leaderboard:
- Norway – 41
- US – 33
- Italy – 30
ELSEWHERE
📉 Stock futures are lower this morning after President Donald Trump raised global tariffs to 15% from 10%, a day after the Supreme Court struck down his “reciprocal” tariff agenda.
🚨 A man carrying a shotgun and a gas can was shot and killed by Secret Service agents yesterday, after he breached the security perimeter of President Trump’s Florida residence.
❄️ After hitting mid-Atlantic states, another bomb cyclone is slamming the Northeast, burying New York City under up to 18 inches of snow, prompting states of emergency and travel bans across the region.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Chef certification
• Actress Cecelia Specht
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
🚈 MARTA bus routes change April 18! NextGen Bus Network is a smarter, faster, better system of bus routes to get you around the region. Find a map for your new route and more info here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Four Seasons executive chef earns top certification
👨🏽🍳 Axel Torres, the executive chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, earned the Certified Executive Chef (CEC) designation from the American Culinary Federation, the largest professional chef organization in the country.
Only a fraction of chefs working in the United States achieve the CEC credential, which is often compared to a bar exam for culinary professionals.
Torres oversees the culinary program at Brasserie Margot and Bar Margot, the hotel’s dining and cocktail destinations. He has been vocal about mentoring junior kitchen staff and building supplier relationships rooted in responsible sourcing.
➳ Find out more about Torres’ achievement here.
MORE DINING NEWS
🎂 Taste of Atlanta turns 25 this year and will hold a special event in April at The Works with chefs who helped build the city’s food scene.
Party like it’s 1985 at our 40th Artistic Affair!
SPONSORED BY SPRUILL CENTER FOR THE ARTS
✨ Dust off your cassettes and tease your hair, we’re having a FUNdraiser – so be there or be square!
Join us on March 28 as Spruill Center for the Arts kicks off the 40th year of Artistic Affair! Get ready for full-on 1980s fun, complete with an open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more.
2. Actress Cecelia Specht talks new role on daytime soap ‘Beyond the Gates’
VIA SCENE, A WEEKLY FILM & TELEVISION NEWSLETTER | SUBSCRIBE
🎭 Over 25 years after making her first soap opera appearance on “Neighbours,” actress Cecelia Specht is back in the soap opera game.
The Smyrna-based actress made her debut as Dr. Lia Whitmore on “Beyond the Gates” on Feb. 13, and is poised for a juicy storyline. “Beyond the Gates” – the first daytime soap opera to feature a predominantly Black cast since “Generations” – centers around the wealthy Dupree family and their lives within an affluent gated community.
“Beyond the Gates” has garnered favorable reviews since it began in 2025, and was recently nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards – the first daytime drama series to earn that distinction. Specht was excited to be a part of the team.
➳ Check out Sammie Purcell’s interview with Specht here.
3. Tourists urged to shelter in place after Mexican cartel boss killed; Ukraine-Russia war anniversary
🇲🇽 Major U.S. airlines suspended flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara after Mexican military forces killed cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, triggering roadblocks and vehicle burnings across Jalisco state. Tourists in the area are urged to shelter in place.
🇺🇦🇷🇺 Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and a recent study found that combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties are approaching two million.
🇬🇱 Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen rebuffed President Trump’s offer to send a hospital ship to the territory, saying “we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens.”
🇬🇧 The British government is considering removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
🇮🇷 President Trump said he is weighing a targeted strike on Iran and that he hasn’t ruled out a larger attack that may topple the government, as U.S. and Iranian negotiators prepared for talks in Geneva. Students clashed with pro-government Basij militia over the weekend.
🇰🇷 Yoon Suk Yeol, the disgraced former president of South Korea, was sentenced to life in prison for leading an insurrection by declaring martial law in December 2024.
🇬🇹 The Guatemalan government ended its month-long state of emergency in response to prison riots and police killings linked to violent gangs.
🇮🇳 India became the first developing country to hold the annual AI Impact Summit, highlighting the technology’s rapid influence on lower-income economies.
🐧 Antarctica was nearly the only earthly location to view this year’s first solar eclipse, an annual passing of the moon between the earth and the sun that creates what looks like a “ring of fire.”
🇳🇪 Paleontologists in Niger discovered a new species of dinosaur called Spinosaurus mirabilis, or “wonderful spine lizard,” that roamed the earth 95 million years ago.
🗓️ Time is running out – International Women’s Day is two weeks away. As Atlanta accelerates toward hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, secure your spot now to join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta for a powerful conversation with Georgia soccer icon Kelley O’Hara. This high‑impact fireside chat will cut straight into leadership, equity, and the global rise of women’s sports. Seats are disappearing fast – reserve yours before they’re gone.
🚈 MARTA bus routes change April 18! NextGen Bus Network is a smarter, faster, better system of bus routes to get you around the region. Find a map for your new route and more info here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Political pods & reads
For this week’s Look & Listen, we’ve selected some podcasts and articles that take a deeper look at the political drama playing out here in Georgia and across the nation.
🎙️“Bloomberg News Now” has an update on President Trump’s new global tariffs and which states might be fighting for refunds following the Supreme Court ruling on Friday.
🎧 The“Question Everything” podcast takes an in-depth look at the ICE detention of Mario Guevara, a pro-Trump independent journalist who was arrested during last summer’s No Kings protests in Metro Atlanta.
🎙️ The AJC’s“Politically Georgia” podcast breaks down the competing tax plans under debate in the Georgia Legislature – from eliminating property taxes to phasing out state income tax.
🎧PBS Newshas more on the death of Linda Davis, a Savannah special needs teacher killed when a suspect fleeing immigration officers crashed into her car.
🚈 MARTA bus routes change April 18! NextGen Bus Network is a smarter, faster, better system of bus routes to get you around the region. Find a map for your new route and more info here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
🔤 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.