Outreach and input
Tuesday, June 9 — This week brings news of a wine bar named after a beloved canine, Diego. Read more about Bar Schmutzi’s upcoming debut in East Atlanta Village below.
🦜 Speaking of favorite familiars, Rough Draft Atlanta is looking for high-resolution images of our readers with their furry and feathered friends for our July issues. Scroll down for photo submission details or submit here by June 12.
We also have more on Good Samaritan Gwinnett’s outreach efforts for uninsured Georgians through the “Compassion Heals” campaign.
Plus, Sandy Springs is inviting community members to share input on the city’s comprehensive plan on June 23. Specifics on the public workshop are in Hayden Sumlin’s story.
Let’s jump in for a few headlines:
🗳 Statewide early voting for the primary runoff is now open and continues through Friday.
🐦⬛ The State of Georgia is updating its protected species list for the first time in two decades and is seeking public input.
🚨 Atlanta’s own red tape is holding back the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD) from providing mental health services, respite housing, healthcare, and legal services, according to the director.
⚽ Finalizing your World Cup plans? Check out our list of watch parties, fan festivals, and soccer events taking place throughout the Metro this summer.
🕓 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter.
• Bar Schmutzi to open
• Good Samaritan Gwinnett
• Sandy Springs + ‘The Next Chapter’
AND
• Stories of Atlanta | Lance Russell
Little Bear owners opening a cozy wine bar called Bar Schmutzi in East Atlanta Village
🐕 Jarrett and Hallie Stieber of Little Bear will open Bar Schmutzi, an intimate wine bar taking over part of the former East Atlanta Animal Clinic space on Flat Shoals Avenue in East Atlanta Village. Real estate firm Canvas Companies is dividing the building into two distinct spaces.
Like Little Bear, Bar Schmutzi has a canine namesake: Diego, the Great Pyrenees puppy the Stiebers adopted last summer. Jarrett Stieber said the name references the dark spots on Diego’s snout that make him look like he stuck his nose in a chimney.
“Everything is lining up well and it feels like the moment to go for it,” Stieber told Rough Draft. “The inspiration [for Bar Schmutzi] came from wine bars in Europe, and a few other bigger North American food cities, like New York and Montreal.”
🍷 Read more in Sarra Sedghi’s report here.
RELATED
🍕 Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Curb Market added four new restaurant stalls on June 5, including a Chicago-rooted burger spot, a Mexican dessert vendor, a Caribbean fusion restaurant, and a local pizzeria brand.
Seniors Helping Seniors® In-Home Care Services Expands in Georgia
SPONSORED BY SENIORS HELPING SENIORS
❤️ Lara Smith, a former Publix pharmacist and longtime Brookhaven resident, has expanded Seniors Helping Seniors to serve Buckhead, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Decatur, Dunwoody, Stone Mountain, and Tucker. Her mission is to provide compassionate, relationship-focused care that helps local seniors remain independent and engaged at home.
Seniors Helping Seniors® provides non-medical in-home care services with a unique peer-to-peer caregiving approach. By hiring active older adults as caregivers, the company fosters meaningful connections, companionship, and trusted support between seniors and the people caring for them.
➞ Check us out today!
Good Samaritan Gwinnett joins statewide ‘Compassion Heals’ campaign
🫶 Good Samaritan Health Centers of Gwinnett signed onto the statewide “Compassion Heals” awareness campaign, launched by the Georgia Charitable Care Network.
The initiative is designed to strengthen the state’s healthcare safety net by amplifying the reach of charity clinics like Good Samaritan Gwinnett, ensuring that every uninsured Georgian has a path to high-quality, professional care.
The Good Samaritan Gwinnett is a nonprofit clinic with a location on Buford Highway in Norcross and on Commercial Court outside the city. According to Good Sam’s announcement, Georgia currently faces one of the highest uninsured rates in the United States.
🩺 Learn more about Good Samaritan Gwinnett here.
Sandy Springs invites community to help shape its future on June 23
⛲ Sandy Springs is inviting community members to help determine “The Next Chapter,” with input on the city’s update to its comprehensive plan and recreation and parks master plan.
The first public workshop for next year’s update to the Sandy Springs Comprehensive Plan and Recreation & Parks Master Plan is on Tues., June 23, from 6-8 p.m. in the City Springs conference center.
The comprehensive plan is the city’s primary policy document, guiding council and staff decisions related to future growth, land use, infrastructure, housing, and economic development. Sandy Springs must update the 20-year plan every five years.
🤝 Find out more here.
‘There’s a nickname for that’: Stories of Atlanta by Lance Russell
VIA SAPORTAREPORT
🗣️ What if you moved to Atlanta and suddenly couldn’t understand the conversation around you? Not because people were speaking a different language, but because they were speaking “Atlanta”.
Over the years, Atlantans have developed a remarkable habit of renaming the places, landmarks, institutions, and traditions that shape daily life. Some of those names are so deeply woven into the city’s culture that many residents use them without ever stopping to think about where they came from.
This week we explore the city’s unique talent for creating its own vocabulary and discover what those names reveal about Atlanta’s history, identity, and sense of belonging.
🖋️ Today’s Silver Streak was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
