Play ball!

March 27 — The Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival is this weekend in Blackburn Park, offering music, food, and fun for the whole family. This year’s concert lineup includes The Head and the Heart, Max McNown, Soul Asylum, and Natasha Bedingfield. See more weekend events below.

☀️ It’ll be sunny with a high of 82° today. More sun, but cooler this weekend. 

🪙 With the demise of the penny, Georgia lawmakers are planning to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel. 

📰 A Georgia House committee unanimously advanced legislation restricting access to police body-camera footage, granting exemptions only to credentialed members of two state media associations. The full House must still approve it before it returns to the Senate.

💼 Georgia-Pacific named David Duncan president and CEO, succeeding Christian Fischer, who retired in October, and interim leader Mark Luetters. Duncan previously led the consumer products group.

🔎 DeKalb County School parents completed a decades-deep probe into consulting company HPM and an executive, finding that facility planning campaigns have a history of mixed and financially disastrous results.

🚌 Dr. Alexandra Estrella was sworn in this week as the new superintendent of Gwinnett County Schools. 

🛣️ Residents gathered at Tucker City Hall earlier this week to talk with engineers about upcoming safety improvements to the intersection of Hugh Howell and Rosser roads. 

🪕 The inaugural Norcross Porchfest is set for May 2, featuring free music across the historic downtown district.

📽️ Two years after becoming Out on Film’s first-ever executive director, Justice Obiaya is stepping down. 

ELSEWHERE

💰 The Senate voted overnight to fund large parts of the Department of Homeland Security, excluding immigration enforcement, after a 42-day standoff that has left tens of thousands of employees working without pay. The bill heads to the House.

📺 In her first interview since her mother’s disappearance, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie said she fears Nancy Guthrie, 84, was kidnapped for ransom because of her fame.

💵 President Donald Trump will become the first sitting president whose name appears on U.S. paper currency.

🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Here are updates from the war in Iran:

😄 Despite the White House’s claim otherwise, Bill Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, according to the Kennedy Center. 

🏅 The IOC barred transgender women from competing in women’s Olympic events, beginning in 2028.

🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:

• No Kings protests

• Film Review: ‘Forbidden Fruits’

• Freedom Plane comes to ATL

AND 

• Top Stories of the Week 

🏥 Join Move For Grady on April 25! Three intown biking distances and two run/walk options means there’s something for everyone. Come to move, stay for the party – plenty of food and drinks to celebrate at GSU’s Center Parc Stadium. SPONSOR MESSAGE

Photo by Katie Burkholder

1. More than 40 No Kings protests planned in Georgia tomorrow

✊ Another round of No Kings protests against the actions of the Trump administration are planned for Sat., March 28, with more than 40 in Georgia alone.

Time Magazine reports that with discontent over the Iran War, the economy, and the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, this weekend’s demonstrations could be the largest anti-Trump protests yet.

The nationwide movement was first held last June 14, the same day as the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, as a way to non-violently protest the presidential administration. More than five million people participated across more than 2,000 cities. More information about the No Kings movement and other events across Georgia can be found at nokings.org.

🙅♀️ More on this story here.

Don’t miss THE event of the spring – Move For Grady!

SPONSORED BY GRADY HEALTH FOUNDATION

🏃 It’s time to register for Move For Grady on April 25, Atlanta’s best ride/run/walk event supporting Grady! Choose one of three fully supported cycling routes or 5K or 10K run/walk courses that will show you Atlanta from a new point of view. Then stay to celebrate with great food, drinks and music at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.

❤️ Move For Grady raises funds to support Grady’s mission to build a healthier Atlanta. Register today, start training and join the party on April 25!

Photo by Sabrina Lantos

2. ‘Forbidden Fruits’ has trouble melding the old with the new

WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL

🍎 If there’s one thing you should know about the Fruits, it’s that they worship Marilyn Monroe like she was God herself.

This is one of the running gags in Meredith Alloway’s new film, “Forbidden Fruits,” written by Alloway and Lily Houghton and based on Houghton’s 2019 play. The Fruits – a witchy sisterhood of mall workers (think “The Craft” meets “Mean Girls”) – put Monroe on a pedestal above all else. But Marilyn, as she so often does, stands in as little more than a symbol to these girls. They have no interest in her as a person, only as a figure representing their own power – and maybe, that’s where their downfall starts.

“Forbidden Fruits” lives and dies by its aesthetic, a bubble of fantastical color and camp surrounded by the dry, boiling heat of suburban Texas – the mall an oasis for mischief amidst the washed-out drabness of the rest of these girls’ lives. It’s a throwback trying to both capitalize on nostalgia and pave its own way, riffing on 1990s and 2000s female-driven teen films about the performativity of female friendships and the obsessive, violent bonds that form between young women. It works best when it allows you to get lost in its witchy sauce, mesmerized by the soundtrack, the costumes, and its sapphic allure. But, the film has trouble merging its old school vibes with a newer, flatter performance style – one that doesn’t quite gel with the horror-comedy camp highs it’s trying to reach.

🧹 Read Sammie’s full review here. You can also check out her review of the new documentary “Marc by Sofia” and the animated Marcel Pagnol biopic “A Magnificent Life.” 

🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.

Photo courtesy of AHC/National Archive

3. Freedom Plane brings founding documents to Atlanta History Center

PLUS, WEEKEND EVENTS 

🛩️ The Freedom Plane has touched down in Atlanta, carrying cargo dating back to the birth of America. 

To celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary, the National Archives is exhibiting rare, founding-era documents around the country for the first time in history. The “Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation” will allow Americans to view the country’s history in their hometowns.

Atlanta is the second of eight stops around the U.S. The Atlanta History Center in Buckhead will host the exhibit as part of its centennial programming. The documents will be on display starting today through April 12, and the AHC is offering free admission to guests during this time.

📜 Rachel Spooner has more here.

MORE WEEKEND EVENTS

⚾ The Atlanta Braves open their season at home tonight against the Kansas City Royals. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m. 

⚽ The USMNT and Belgium play an International Friendly match tomorrow at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:30 p.m.

🎉 Little 5 Fest returns to Little Five Points tomorrow from noon-8 p.m. on Seminole Avenue behind The Vortex with music, art, and skating. 

🔫 Toy and game lovers will want to check out the Toylanta convention today through Sunday at Gas South Arena in Duluth.

🚈 TOMORROW: MARTA starts tap to pay! MARTA’s better Breeze fare payment system launches Sat., Mar. 28. Riders can tap to pay with a bank card or digital wallet or get a new orange Breeze card. Must change payment method by May 2. Discover a better way to pay.  SPONSOR MESSAGE

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 The Fox Theatre opens applications for ‘All-Access Pass’ program

② Iconic Atlanta radio host Gary McKee dead at 81 (pictured)

③ Sandy Springs launches program for environmental enthusiasts

④ Atlanta Braves celebrate 60 years with new stadium features and ticket deals

⑤ Parents employ innovative methods to protest DeKalb County’s school assignment project changes

🥂 Taste of Atlanta is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an epic night of two dozen chef-driven tastings, craft cocktails, wine and beer tastes, live music, and electric energy! April 16 from 6-10 p.m. at The Works. Tickets are on sale here. 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! 

🔤 Play News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.

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