Morning, y’all! Expect high temperatures around 90 and a few isolated storms today.
- We’re tracking developments in the Gulf of Mexico, where forecasters suggest a brewing storm could grow to a hurricane, hit Florida and deliver plenty of wind and rain to the Peach State.
- Former president Donald Trump makes a stop in Savannah this afternoon, too (unless he’s in Europe instead).
Otherwise, we’ve got the latest on Apalachee High School’s return to classes, falling homicide numbers and former President Jimmy Carter’s upbeat outlook despite 19 months on hospice.
But first: a massive Atlanta sports week, replete with reviled rivals!
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SEIZE THE DAY
Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Saddle up, sports fans.
It’s a unique sort of rivalry week ’round these parts.
The festivities start tonight with the Braves hosting the lowly, stinking Mets. Atlanta enters the crucial series two games behind New York for the final National League wild-card spot — and with just six games left in the season, it’s now or never.
Atlanta’s sending its three best starting pitchers to the mound.
“We know what we’re up against and we know what we gotta do,” catcher Sean Murphy said.
- Also tonight: The Dream try to stay alive in their first-round playoff showdown with the top-seeded New York Liberty (7:30 p.m., ESPN). They’ve already dropped one game in the best-of-three series.
Credit: Jason.Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason.Getz/AJC
Then there’s the football. Georgia Tech has the week off. UGA very much does not.
The Bulldogs head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a massive Saturday night matchup with the Evil Empi... I mean the Alabama Crimson Tide. They’re Saban-less these days, but still ranked fourth in the country.
And No. 1 in breaking Bulldog hearts.
- ESPN’s “College GameDay” gang will be there. Former President Donald Trump might be, too.
And on Sunday? That’s Falcons-Saints at the Benz, a time-honored exercise in mutual disgust and my wife getting mad at me for talking too much trash.
- The AJC’s Mark Bradley says the Dirty Birds will bounce back just fine after a rough loss to the Chiefs.
I tend to agree — and expect the Braves, Dawgs and Falcons to all come up big in the coming days. But which matchup has you the most intrigued?
Vote in our poll below. And don’t forget to sign up for the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter for complete coverage!
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‘A HUGE STEP’
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
Apalachee High School students returned to campus for an open house Monday (more photos here). Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called it “a huge step for us healing.”
Today will bring another one, as students attend classes for the first time since the Sept. 4 shooting that left two teachers and two young schoolmates dead.
- “Understand that there are safety measures in place,” Smith said, “and just because you cannot see them doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
- Authorities released an initial incident report from the shooting late Monday.
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TRENDING DOWN
Freshly released FBI data showed a notable drop in violent crimes in 2023, when compared to the previous year. Atlanta’s 21% decrease in homicides eclipsed the national figure of 12%.
Homicides are trending down again in 2024.
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SCHOOL PRIDE
“U.S. News & World Report” dropped its 2025 rankings of the nation’s top colleges. Emory University took top honors in the state, and Spelman College claimed the HBCU title.
- Check out the story to see where everyone else landed!
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RECORDS SOUGHT
A U.S. Senate panel asked hospitals in Georgia and several other states to provide documents related to their emergency abortion policies.
- The request follows a recent report by “ProPublica” about a Georgia woman who died in 2022 after staff at a Henry County hospital delayed postabortion care.
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HANGING IN THERE
Credit: David Goldman/AP
Credit: David Goldman/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter is approaching his 100th birthday, a milestone few expected when he entered hospice care in February 2023. He’s doing pretty well — and helping change folks’ perceptions of end-of-life care while he’s at it.
- So how rare is it for someone to stay on hospice care this long? One watchdog says just 10% of people who died while under hospice care in 2022 lasted 275 days or more.
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GET WRITING!
If there’s one thing Georgia’s film industry doesn’t have, it’s a way to nurture the screenwriters of tomorrow. But the Trilith Institute (a nonprofit arm of the sprawling Trilith Studios campus in Fayetteville) plans to change that.
- It recently launched new educational courses, a residency program and a professional development network called the Writers Room of Georgia.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Thousands flee southern Lebanon in search of safety and shelter
» Two Emory University students could be Jermaine Dupri’s next interns
» Metro Atlanta counties dismiss more than 45,000 voter challenges
» Hospital group buys 40 acres south of I-20 in Atlanta
» Atlanta task force reviewing inspector general’s office set to meet
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ON THIS DATE
Sept. 23, 1990
Some 200,000 Atlantans celebrated the city being named the host city for the 1996 Olympics by pouring into the streets for a parade. That’s Billy Payne, president of the Olympic organizing committee, enjoying a confetti shower.
A.D. Frazier, a longtime business leader and COO of the Games, died Monday. He was 80.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
AJC photographer Arvin Temkar captured State Election Board members Sara Tindall Ghazal (left) and John Fervier chatting before Monday’s meeting. They joined the board’s Trump-backed trio in advancing a new rule that would make pictures of ballots public shortly after Election Day.
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ONE MORE THING
I missed this the other day — and it looks fun! The Atlanta History Center plans to launch a new children’s exhibit, complete with a mini Fox Theatre.
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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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