Early voting begins
Monday, April 27 — Early voting begins today across Georgia for the May 19 primary election. See where to cast your ballot in advance and check your voting status before you head to the polls. You can hear more from the candidates in today’s Look & Listen below.
⛅ Mostly cloudy and 77° today.
🔥 Two large wildfires are still burning in southeastern Georgia, with the Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County only 7% contained. A second blaze in Clinch and Echols counties has scorched more than 46 square miles.
🚨 Atlanta Police arrested one of the fugitives on its 10 most wanted list after a fiery crash on Friday.
⚖️ The family of a former Fulton County Jail inmate who lost both legs after suffering a medical emergency while incarcerated is suing the county.
🎓 Emory University dismissed a law student who sent threatening emails targeting Black, female, and transgender individuals.
🏆 The Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships begin today and run through May 3 in Peachtree Corners.
🌳 The Piedmont Park Conservancy set a record in raising more than $700,000 at its 29th Annual Landmark Luncheon last week.
👩🍳 Lorien Vilchez will become the first female executive chef of The Select in Sandy Springs.
🏀 The Hawks’ first-round playoff series with the Knicks heads back to New York tied 2-2 after Atlanta lost Game 4, 114-98, on Saturday. Game 5 is tomorrow at 8 p.m. (NBC, Peacock; 92.9 FM).
⚾ On the weekend when they welcomed former manager Brian Snitker to the club’s Hall of Fame, the Braves took two of three games from the Phillies to become the first team to reach 20 wins this season.
🏈 The Falcons received mixed grades for their 2026 NFL Draft class, which includes Georgia’s Zachariah Branch, one of eight Bulldogs selected. Georgia Tech had two players taken.
ELSEWHERE
🚨 An armed man breached security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington Saturday night, prompting Secret Service agents to evacuate President Donald Trump and other senior officials. Other key points:
- President Trump was unharmed and said he wanted to reschedule the dinner, although he later lashed out at CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell, calling her “a disgrace.”
- The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, CA, was taken into custody after a law enforcement officer was shot and injured.
- A note attributed to Allen indicated administration officials were his targets, “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.”
- Allen is expected to be arraigned today.
- Follow the latest.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Above the Waterline
• Hispanic business outreach
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
🎸 City Green Live and Concerts by the Springs brings unforgettable nights of music under the stars. Enjoy live bands, great vibes, and community fun in a beautiful outdoor setting. These events are free! Learn more and see the full schedule here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. The nurdles in our brains and elsewhere
ABOVE THE WATERLINE | BY SALLY BETHEA
🧠 The news about nurdles is not good. These manufactured plastic pellets – the building blocks of the plastics industry – are finding their way into our bodies, even deep into our brains. Less than five millimeters across, nurdles are about the size of lentils.
Other microplastics (nurdle-size fibers and beads) and invisible nanoplastics (molecule size) primarily originate from the degradation of larger plastic items, such as packaging, clothing, tires, and other everyday items.
Some are directly added to products like paint, cleansers, and toothpaste. Minuscule nanoplastics are particularly dangerous. They can cross biological barriers and enter human organs, even penetrating the blood-brain barrier.
👓 Read Sally’s full column to learn how to reduce your exposure.
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2. Norcross aims to expand economic development with Hispanic business owners
💼 Around 140 people networked and discovered resources available around Norcross at the inaugural Hispanic Business Outreach Event on Thursday at the Norcross Cultural Arts & Community Center.
Norcross Economic Development Director David Versel said the city intentionally designed an event to introduce Hispanic business owners to city and community resources. Future gatherings with the local business community and specific industries are planned, he said.
“The city takes pride in its diversity,” Versel said. “There are a lot of people who have been here a long time. There are also a lot of newcomers and a lot of immigrants, and we welcome everybody.”
📈 Read more about resources for Hispanic businesses in Norcross here.
3. King Charles to visit Washington; Record-breaking London Marathon
🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Oil prices topped $107 per barrel overnight after the White House cancelled plans to send envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for another round of U.S.-Iran peace talks, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also reportedly boarding two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
🇮🇱 Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, former Israeli prime ministers who once governed together, announced plans to merge their parties ahead of upcoming elections in a unified bid to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
🇵🇸 Palestinians held their first local elections in parts of the West Bank and Gaza in two decades on Saturday, with the Palestinian Authority calling the vote a step toward a long-delayed presidential election and eventual statehood.
🇬🇧 Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the U.S. will proceed as planned, including an address to Congress, marking 250 years of American independence.
🇬🇧 A car bomb exploded outside a police station in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, after attackers forced a delivery driver to transport the device, drawing widespread condemnation as an attack on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
🇯🇵 A wildfire that has been burning for six days in Japan has consumed more than 1,600 hectares, threatening a town that lost nearly 1,300 residents to the 2011 tsunami.
🇲🇱 Coordinated attacks by gunmen from multiple rebel groups swept across Mali, including a car bombing that killed the ruling junta’s defense minister.
🇲🇽 Ahead of hosting at least 13 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, Mexican authorities are raiding shops selling counterfeit soccer merchandise as part of a crackdown on trademark violations.
🇺🇦 Ukrainians marked the 40th anniversary of the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant – history’s worst civilian nuclear disaster.
🇭🇺 The European Union’s top court ruled that Hungary’s 2021 ban on LGBTQ+ content violates EU law.
🇬🇧 Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon in 1:59:30 yesterday, becoming the first person to officially break the 2-hour barrier. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha also finished under 2 hours, with both runners wearing Adidas’s new $500 Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, the lightest racing shoe ever made.
🗓️ Understanding China has never been more important. Join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta on May 21 for a free, virtual dialogue with Ker Gibbs, a leading expert on U.S.–China relations, global trade, and China’s political economy. Drawing on his recent book “The Fragile Dragon: Trade, Trump, and China’s Vulnerabilities,” Gibbs will offer a nuanced assessment of China’s projected power and underlying economic, demographic, and political challenges. Register today.
🎉 What’s actually happening in Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven? A lot. Find out at Envision Perimeter 2026, Tues., May 5, at Perimeter Summit. Rough Draft readers get 15% off tix with code roughdraft. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Candidates debate
With the May 19 primary election approaching, Georgia candidates are making their final appeals to voters through a series of debates and forums. We’ve got a roundup of where to watch and read the sessions below.
💻 The Atlanta Press Club continues its Loudermilk-Young Debate Series today and tomorrow. You can watch the debates today starting at 11 a.m.on YouTube. The gubernatorial debates stream live at 2 and 3 p.m. Yesterday’s debates included:
📺 11 Alive recently hosted a debate with the Democratic candidates for Georgia governor.
👓 Rough Draft’s Katie Burkholder reported on the gubernatorial candidate forum hosted by Leadership DeKalb last week.
🌳 Celebrate Atlanta’s urban forest! Root Ball 2026 returns Thurs., May 14, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at The Foundry at Puritan Mill. Proceeds support Trees Atlanta. Fun, food, live music, and silent & live auctions. Purchase your tickets now. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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