Sweatin’ to the oldies
Friday, Aug. 14 — After a national search, MARTA’s board of directors named Jonathan Hunt, who has served as interim leader for a year, as the permanent CEO and general manager. Board Chair Jennifer Ide said, “We believe that [Hunt] has MARTA headed in the right direction.”
🥵 Scattered afternoon thunderstorms and a high of 96° today, with a heat advisory in effect from 1 p.m. today until tomorrow night. Here are ways to stay cool in extreme heat.
📹 Flock Safety announced new safeguards yesterday, including shrinking default data retention from a month to a week, after criticism over police abuse of its license-plate tracking cameras. The ACLU called the changes minor.
💰 Atlanta-based Equifax agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from a 2022 coding error that impacted millions of consumers’ credit scores.
🗣 U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins told a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant that the government owed compensation to Americans wronged by a “weaponized” justice system, prompting criticism from Sen. Jon Ossoff’s campaign.
📈 The 11-county Atlanta region added almost 54,000 residents over the last year, bringing the population to 5,339,164.
🖥️ The Marietta City Council approved a contentious rezoning for a data center near I-75 and Delk Road, despite opponents’ concerns over noise and energy use.
🏢 Selig Enterprises plans to build a 13-story, 375-unit apartment building across the street from the Hotel Clermont on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
🗣️ The Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District is seeking feedback on a plan to better connect the Northlake district.
🏈 The Falcons host the Broncos in their preseason opener tonight at 7 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Tua Tagovailoa starting at QB as Michael Penix Jr. continues to recover (Fox 5; 92.9 FM).
ELSEWHERE🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israeli settlers have besieged three Palestinian homes in a West Bank town for five nights, cutting water and power, prompting U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee to call the settlers “terrorists,” an unusually sharp rebuke.
⚖️ Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, is expected to plead guilty today to federal charges in connection with the fatal shooting.
🤖 Spotify said it will start labeling AI profiles that are posing as human artists.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Midtown Green
• Film Review: ‘The End of Oak Street’
• Our intern’s favorite photos
• Upcoming Events
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
🏈 Grill master, gear hauler, or family QB: there’s a tailgate vehicle for every Atlanta football fan. From the Ford Bronco to the Toyota Sienna, Flexcar’s month-to-month lease lets you pick the ride that fits your game day and everyday life. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. New Midtown park takes shape, programming to begin in September
🏞️ Midtown Atlanta’s newest greenspace, Midtown Green, will open to the public and begin hosting events in September.
According to an update from Midtown Alliance, improvements at the 98 14th Street property include installation of a storm drainage system and regrading and leveling the site to create an open, multi-use lawn and walking paths around the perimeter.
Midtown Alliance said in an Aug. 13 social media post that public events at the park will include film screenings, lunch from food trucks accompanied by live music and lawn games, and the Midtown Artisans Market.
🧺 Read more about future plans for the park here.
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2. ‘The End of Oak Street’ offers clever dinosaur action, thin script
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🦖 To make an enjoyable dinosaur movie there’s really only one thing you need to do: make sure you nail all the bits where the dinos go “chomp chomp.”
“The End of Oak Street” is filmmaker David Robert Mitchell’s crack at the genre, and the dinosaur action is more clever and amusing than any recent dregs of the “Jurassic Park” franchise. And that’s a very good thing, given that the script (also written by Mitchell) feels a tad underbaked.
“The End of Oak Street” is attempting to operate as a very subtle level of spoof (perhaps sometimes too subtle), and when it’s nailing that specific balance of arch, gleeful meanness, it’s a pretty entertaining watch. But when it leans too far into pastiche, copying the beats of blockbuster action movies (particularly, it will come as no surprise, those of Steven Spielberg) instead of leaning into Mitchell’s particular sensibilities, it loses its bite.
🐶 Click here to read Sammie’s review. You can also read her review of the film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” here.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
🚆 Join the fun this September! Perimeter Connects is popping up at Perimeter MARTA stations with free coffee and bagels, a plant giveaway, live music, and more to celebrate Transit Month. Stop by and discover how you can earn rewards for riding transit all month long. SPONSOR MESSAGE
3. Intern Ansley Kelly shares her favorite photos from the summer
📷 Rough Draft photojournalism intern Ansley Kelly is part of the 2026 Atlanta Press Club cohort of summer journalism interns placed at local news organizations.
From the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival and Decatur FC matches to the Atlanta Jazz Festival and Atlanta Streets Alive, Ansley was at the city’s biggest events of the summer.
As she heads into her senior year at the University of Georgia to complete a degree in journalism, Ansley shares some of her most memorable photo assignments.
FROM THE RD TEAM
🙏🏼 Thank you, Ansley! You are a rock star and give us hope in the future of journalism!
4. Upcoming Events
🎤 Ella Mai brings her “Do You Still Love Me?” tour to Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park tonight at 8 p.m.
🎸 The Sundogs Present: The Tom Petty Show on Saturday at Variety Playhouse at 8 p.m.
🏀 The Atlanta Dream host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sun., Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. at State Farm Arena.
🦋 Commune with the butterflies at Chattahoochee Nature Center’s Breakfast with Butterflies on Sun., Aug. 16, from 10 a.m.-noon.
🖼️ The Oglethorpe University Museum of Art is hosting Conversations with Collections – an interactive event inviting visitors to take a fresh look at the museum’s permanent collection – on Mon., Aug. 17, from noon-5 p.m.
5. 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 Nearly 40 years in, Atlanta Chinatown is in the midst of a revival
② Two locations of Buckhead steakhouse Hal’s will open in Midtown and Roswell (Pictured)
③ Atlanta chain Hungry AF announces new Tucker location
④ Criminal Records celebrates 35 years with concerts on Aug. 15
🚚 Cornhole boards, coolers, speakers: the Chevy Silverado hauls it all. Need alumni-tailgate polish instead? Try the Lincoln Navigator. Whatever your game day style, Flexcar’s month-to-month lease has the right vehicle waiting, no long-term commitment required. 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.
🍽️ Meet other RD readers IRL at the August Rough Draft Dinner Club on Aug. 25.
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