Real life, real prize
Tuesday, May 5 —The 2026 Pulitzer Prizes were announced yesterday, with The New York Times taking three awards and “Pablo Torre Finds Out” winning for audio reporting. Atlanta author Brian Goldstone won General Nonfiction for “There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America,” an account of five Atlanta families navigating homelessness while working.
☁️ It will be mostly cloudy with a high of 78° today.
🤑 The state began issuing one-time tax refunds to qualified Georgia residents ranging from $250 to $500.
💰 Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens proposed a nearly $1 billion city budget for 2027, representing a 2% increase. The city council will host a series of public briefings about the budget throughout May, with final approval scheduled for June 1.
💈 A beloved Gwinnett County barber and double amputee was released from a South Georgia immigration detention center after a nearly year-long legal battle.
⚖️ The woman who fatally shot two people and seriously injured another in a 2022 Midtown shooting spree was found guilty but mentally ill and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
💝 More than 100 women gathered in Dunwoody on Saturday, armed with tiles, dice, and racks, to play mahjong and raise money for women diagnosed with breast cancer.
🏗️ Ann Hanlon, who leads the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts, will give the State of the District address, and local economic development and real estate leaders will speak at this morning’s Envision Perimeter event.
ELSEWHERE 🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱 The U.S. military sank six Iranian boats while escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran fired 15 missiles and four drones at the UAE, sparking fires at a key oil facility.
💊 The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court and temporarily restored access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
🎬 Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni settled their “It Ends With Us” lawsuit Monday, two weeks before trial. Terms were not disclosed.
🎗️ John Sterling, who called Braves and Hawks games in Atlanta before becoming the iconic radio voice of the Yankees for 36 years, died yesterday at 87.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Rodney Scott’s BBQ closure
• TrustDALE
• Theatre Review: ‘Mean Girls’
• Around the State: GPB
AND
• Volunteer Opportunities
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1. Atlanta location of Rodney Scott’s BBQ closed until further notice
🍖 Birmingham-based Pihakis Restaurant Group (PRG), which includes restaurants in Atlanta, faces $13.7 million in lawsuits and liens.
Since mid-April, the group has both temporarily and permanently closed 14 restaurants, including Psito in Summerhill and two locations of Hero Diner.
Last week, Rough Draft reported that the Atlanta location of Rodney Scott’s BBQ remained open. However, that changed on May 3 when the group indefinitely closed locations of the barbecue restaurant in Atlanta, Alabama, Tennessee, and Charleston, SC.
➡ Read more about the closure here.
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2. Patio designs that keep you outside longer
TOGETHER WITH TRUSTDALE
☀️ Step into most backyards and you’ll see it right away – a patio that looks finished, but feels forgotten.
The furniture sits untouched, the layout feels slightly off, and the space never quite pulls you in the way it should. It exists, but it doesn’t live.
Today, you’ll learn what separates a patio that gets occasional use from one that becomes part of your daily routine. TrustDALE will walk through how design choices, materials like patio pavers, and thoughtful planning shape a space that feels natural to spend time in, not forced.
🌳Check out the full blog here.
3. City Springs Theatre Company’s ‘Mean Girls’ makes ‘fetch’ happen
💄 Recreating iconography is hard. And there might not be a more culturally recognizable mid-aughts artifact than that of 2004’s “Mean Girls,” directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey.
But the difficulty of recreating mythos has never stopped anyone from trying. The musical version of “Mean Girls” hit Broadway in 2018, updating the movie for a new generation of teenagers. And now, City Springs Theatre Company’s recent production of the musical, which opened on May 1, is pulling a Gretchen Wieners and trying to make “fetch” happen all over again – to pretty stellar effect.
🎭 Read Sammie’s full review here.
4. Kidney donor and grandmother climbs Mount Kilimanjaro
⛰️ When Robin Ernstes of Canton finally summited Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro, she had been hiking for four days and could barely believe what she was doing.
She didn’t hike alone. She was one of 15 Kidney Donor Athletes who, like her, had voluntarily given up a kidney, and later decided to climb a mountain to raise awareness of the need for live donors.
The 66-year-old grandmother and the others who completed the summit had more proof – even after donating an organ, that you can live an extraordinary life.
➡Read more in this story from GPB.
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5. Volunteer Opportunities
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HANDS ON ATLANTA
👗 St. Vincent de Paul Georgia is looking for inventory sorting and tagging volunteers for their thrift stores on Wednesday morning in Chamblee. Expect to inspect and assess the condition of items, apply price tags, and prepare donations for distribution.
🥦 Stella Love needs volunteers for their free food giveaway in Roswell on Thursday morning. Roles include helping with intake forms, unloading food trucks, assisting clients with food boxes, and directing traffic.
🗑️ Clean Walk Alliance (pictured) seeks volunteers on Saturday morning for their cleanup event at Lenox Pointe in Atlanta. Look forward to picking up litter and helping to beautify public spaces.
🌞 Whether you’re searching for family-friendly activities at Lake Oconee, planning a relaxing lake vacation, or hoping to recreate the “good old days” with your kids or grandkids, this is the perfect place to slow down and make lasting summer memories. Plan your nostalgic summer getaway at Lake Oconee. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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