Morning, y’all! One of the most alarming parts of summer is going to the grocery store or wherever and running into a coworker who’s wearing shorts. I feel like a kid seeing their teacher out of the classroom. “You’re not supposed to be here! Why are you wearing that?!” Maybe that’s more an indictment of workplace culture. Or my social skills. Either way.
Let’s get to it.
ICE MOVES TO DEPORT PROMINENT ATLANTA REPORTER
Immigration and Customs Enforcement may deport Mario Guevara, the Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter who has closely covered ICE arrests and deportations in the area.
- Guevara was arrested while covering a DeKalb “No Kings” demonstration over the weekend.
- Video of Guevara’s arrest shows him walking near a parking lot, attempting to move away from advancing groups of police. He identifies himself as a member of the media and is knocked to the ground.
- Doraville Police Department records show he was charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly and pedestrian walking on or along a roadway.
- Guevara’s lawyer said when he was granted bond, they discovered ICE had lodged a “detainer” against the journalist.
What is a detainer?
- A detainer is a request for local jails to hold people in custody for longer so federal immigration officials can apprehend them.
- It is often a precursor to deportation but is not a final decision or a warrant. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office does not need to comply with the request.
Guevara’s lawyer says the journalist does not have permanent legal status but does have work authorization and is eligible for a green card through his U.S. citizen son.
🔎 READ MORE: The latest on Guevara’s situation
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TIME TO VOTE, GEORGIA
Primary elections to select candidates for Georgia’s Public Service Commission are today. Please contain your anticipation.
Put simply, this election is way more important than it sounds. Georgia voters haven’t been able to select PSC members for seven years because of lengthy legal battles delaying elections.
Here’s a refresher on what the PSC does, who’s running, how the election works and what the candidates have to say.
What does the PSC do?
- “The main thing the Public Service Commission does for most people in Georgia is it sets electricity and gas rates,” says AJC elections expert Mark Niesse. “So this has a direct impact on your personal finances. This is how much you pay on your monthly bill.”
- Since 2022, the PSC has approved six rate increases for Georgia Power customers.
🔎 READ MORE: Why some voter rights advocates say the board is ‘undemocratic’
Why has it been so long since the last PSC election?
- The 2022 PSC elections were delayed over legal claims that the PSC election structure dilutes Black votes in Georgia.
- Each of the five PSC members has to live in their corresponding district. However, elections for the PSC are statewide, giving power to Georgia’s majority-white voting populace.
- All five current members of the board are Republican, and one has never been voted on by the public because he was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021 after the most recent PSC election.
- Other board members have seen their terms expire during the election delay, yet remained in power.
What does today’s election look like?
- Remember, today’s election is just a primary, but you should still vote. Polling places have seen very low turnout for this election, which could affect how many polling places are open for any subsequent runoffs.
- There are two seats up for grabs, from District 2 and District 3. The AJC has full profiles on each of the candidates here.
- Despite the legal battles, the election structure hasn’t changed. All Georgia voters are eligible to vote on the positions.
CONTROVERSIAL SWAMP PROJECT STUCK IN THE MUD
A mining project near the Okefenokee Swamp is on hold because the company needs to cough up a $2 million permit before proceeding.
- Twin Pines Minerals battled with conservationists for years to be able to mine titanium dioxide a few miles outside of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
- It looked like the project would move forward in 2024, but a year later, the company still hasn’t produced the $2 million requested by Georgia regulators to pay for future restoration of the 820-acre site.
Aside from the obvious criticisms that would arise from a company mining titanium dioxide near a federally protected and ecologically fragile wildlife refuge, critics say it’s proof the company can’t be trusted to proceed responsibly.
🔎 READ MORE: Other complications in the already-complex mining plan
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🌎 President Donald Trump decided to cut his trip to the G7 short on Monday, shortly after he said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” He was expected to arrive at the White House early Tuesday.
☢️ Trump on Monday also fired a Democratic chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent agency that oversees nuclear safety. Christopher Hanson said his firing is “contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent.”
🫏 Fellow Georgia Democrats are meh on former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ run for governor. Sen. Jason Esteves, however, has collected several endorsements from city leaders.
📱 The Trump family is launching a mobile phone service called “Trump Mobile.” The phones will be made in the U.S. and will maintain a U.S.-based call center, according to Eric Trump, who’s heading the Trump Foundation while his father is president.
CRABBED AGE AND YOUTH
Living in Georgia can be rough if you’re older. Or younger. That’s according to two recent studies, at least.
GA ranks 48th among states for seniors who want to age at home.
- The Seniorly study ranked states based on things like housing prices, road safety, walkability and availability of medical and practical care.
- Georgia scored 50th in home-delivered meals and 43rd in walkability, but higher in home affordability and number of home health agencies.
GA ranks 39th among states for child well-being.
- A recent report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation examined areas like student performance in math and reading, the proportion of uninsured families, poverty levels and children experiencing mental health issues.
- Georgia’s highest ranking was in the area of education (32nd). Its lowest ranking was in the area of family and community.
- Some positive growth: Nationwide, high school graduation rates are up, and teen pregnancy rates are down.
🔎 READ MORE: Lots of interesting details from the report
NEWS BITES
Buy carefully. Wash often. Reexamine your attachment to strawberries.
Brave’s anticipated Usher bobblehead giveaway is this weekend
His little hand is making the famous A-town down sign. (That felt really corny to type out, by the way.)
Atlanta’s fourth-tallest tower is getting a glow-up and possibly a new name
Did it go through a divorce or something?
The Louvre is the most-visited museum in the world, by the way, so that’s not a good sign.
ON THIS DATE
June 17, 1963
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Tom-boyish ‘seagull’ leaps into man’s world of space. Valentina Tereshkova, a tom-boyish blonde with a winning smile and nerves of steel, has catapulted her sex gracefully into man’s world of space. Her feminine curves hidden in a clumsy space suit and he hair tied firmly inside her white helmet, the 26-year-old woman cosmonaut thrilled the world as she called from outer space: “This is Seagull, this is Seagull.”
“Catapulted her sex gracefully into man’s world of space” is one of the most off-putting things I’ve ever read.
ONE MORE THING
Even leaving Earth didn’t keep women from the perils of newspaper writers and their obsession with “feminine curves.”
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
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