Morning, y’all! Expect high temperatures around 90 degrees and more storms this afternoon, after last night’s weather left a few thousand people without power.
Today’s newsletter shares the latest on an embattled Joe Biden, a trio of Braves headed to the MLB All-Star game and big changes at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. We also take a look at the week ahead (which includes big post-holiday crowds at Hartsfield-Jackson today).
But first: Let’s meet Atlanta Public Schools’ next superintendent, shall we?
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‘A TRUE VISIONARY’
Seeger Gray/AJC
Seeger Gray/AJC
It’s been 402 days since the Atlanta school board voted against extending the contract of Superintendent Lisa Herring. A full school year has passed without the district having a permanent leader.
That (likely) changes today.
During a 10 a.m. meeting, the school board expects to formally appoint Dr. Bryan Johnson as Atlanta Public Schools’ next superintendent. He became the sole finalist last month.
So who is Dr. Bryan Johnson? Johnson, 41, a Nashville native, led the school district in Chattanooga, Tennessee, from 2017-21. He then worked as a “chief transformation officer” at a trucking company before serving as an executive vice chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
As my AJC colleague Martha Dalton reports in her latest story, educators and other leaders from Chattanooga speak highly of him. Test scores and graduation rates rose during his tenure.
- Said one teacher: “No one can meet with Dr. Johnson and not feel his passion and his vision for students and for schools. Now, we may not always agree on how we’re going to get there, but he was a true visionary.”
- Said a school board member: “He is just a really dynamic leader, and he surrounds himself with good people.”
During a recent series of town hall meetings with Atlanta parents, Johnson repeatedly promised to listen to the community to fully grasp the issues facing the district. Parents urged him to, among other things, focus on equity in resources and chronic absenteeism.
“The more you understand what the challenges are,” Johnson said, “the more informed and equipped you are to make decisions, and so we want to make the right decisions.”
- He thinks APS is “poised and positioned to be the best urban school district in the country.”
Get caught up on Atlanta Public Schools’ superintendent search with the links below. And stay tuned to AJC.com and @MarthaReports for updates throughout the day.
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THE WEEK AHEAD
John Spink/AJC
John Spink/AJC
⚾️ Monday: First lady Jill Biden visits Columbus. The Braves start a pre-All-Star break road trip with stops in Arizona and San Diego. (More on both momentarily.)
🚰 Tuesday: Atlanta City Council holds an 11:30 a.m. work session to discuss water main breaks. Jury selection begins in actor Alec Baldwin’s on-set shooting trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
☹️ Wednesday: Meal-kit provider HelloFresh officially closes its Newnan facility, laying off more than 700 workers.
☀️ Thursday: The first day of the week without a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast.
⚖️ Friday: Former Georgia insurance commissioner John Oxendine is scheduled for sentencing in fraud case. The Atlanta Dream (which just dropped a third straight game) hosts the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
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AN IMPORTANT STRETCH
Eric Lee/NYT
Eric Lee/NYT
First lady Jill Biden will rally supporters in Columbus today. It’s the most significant campaign event in Georgia since the Atlanta debate, which triggered a wave of calls for her husband to step aside.
Congressional Democrats also return to Washington today. Reporter Greg Bluestein breaks down what could be a tumultuous week for President Biden.
Related coverage from the AJC:
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MORE TOP STORIES
» The National Park Service plans to expand operations of its shuttle to the top of Kennesaw Mountain while significantly limiting car and bike access. Cyclists = not impressed.
» A 39-year-old man drowned on Lake Rabun in northeast Georgia. His death followed that of an Atlanta teen in the waters near Tybee Island.
» What if your rental deposit worked for you? One local apartment operator is investing tenants’ deposits, earning them a profit and helping set them up for a better future.
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ATLANTA ALL-STARS
It ain’t last season’s ATL onslaught. But the Braves — who capped a series win with Sunday’s 6-0 victory over the Phillies — will have representation at next week’s MLB All-Star game in Texas.
Braves named to the National League roster include:
- designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, he of 23 home runs and 72 RBIs.
- pitcher Reynaldo López, your reliever-turned-ERA-leader.
- and pitcher Chris Sale, who simply doesn’t care about his age and injury history.
Also, in case you missed it: Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox made an appearance at the ballpark Saturday. Those are rare since his stroke in 2019.
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DIGGING UP THE PAST
Katelyn Myrick/AJC
Katelyn Myrick/AJC
Down on Ossabaw Island (just south of Skidaway Island, about an hour from Savannah), archaeologists and researchers are renewing their efforts to find and preserve history.
- Current projects on the very cool island: Excavating structures that housed enslaved individuals and rehabilitating the century-old Torrey West House.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
» Suspect in fatal Atlanta Beltline stabbing was escaped inmate, cops say
» Family establishes scholarship to honor young brothers killed in plane crash
» Gridlock Guy: The frustration of multiple presidential road closures
» Lawsuit that alleged Georgia underfunded its public HBCUs quietly dropped
» Photographer detained amid training center protest files lawsuit
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ON THIS DATE
July 8, 1981
President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
An appeals judge and former state Senate leader in Arizona, O’Connor later participated in the first televised confirmation hearing for a justice. She joined the high court in September of that year and served until 2006.
She died in 2023.
File photo
File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Ben Hendren for the AJC
Ben Hendren for the AJC
AJC contributor Ben Hendren captured saxophonist Jazmin Ghent rocking a solo during the Karen Briggs Contempo Orchestra’s weekend show at the Stockbridge Amphitheater.
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ONE MORE THING
Meet Melvin Self, the proprietor of a South Georgia fruit stand that hearkens back to an older era of roadside delights.
“Some of these young people ain’t never seen a roadside stand,” he told the AJC’s Joe Kovac Jr. “They take pictures of it.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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