Morning, y’all! Expect another cloudy day with high temperatures around 80 degrees. And make sure to wish former President Jimmy Carter a happy 100th birthday! Here’s how you can mark the occasion.
- The Peach State POTUS would also approve of celebrating with the Braves, who made fans sweat a bit but clinched a playoff berth — and start postseason action tonight in San Diego.
More on that momentarily, plus the latest on Hurricane Helene, test scores and a judge nixing Georgia’s strict abortion law again.
But first: Living in a constant state of calamity.
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DRIFTING DRAMA
Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
I consider myself a relatively optimistic person. Really, I do.
But man, sometimes it sure feels like we live in a perpetual disaster zone.
Fresh off historic hurricane-fueled rainfall, much of southwest Atlanta and surrounding Fulton County cities went under a boil water advisory Monday — as an apocalyptic-looking cloud of gas fled the chemical plant where it originated and wafted across a significant swath of the region.
“Where is the disconnect?” Conyers resident Connie Raines told the AJC. “That’s a question we need to figure out. Where were the big sirens?”
Officials are still figuring out what, exactly, happened at the nearby (and oft-troubled) facility of BioLab, a manufacturer of pool and spa treatment products.
Rockdale officials lifted a countywide shelter in place order last night — then issued a new warning this morning urging residents to stay inside if they see the cloud in their vicinity.
The plume, they said, is “banking down and moving throughout the county” again.
Newton County schools are closed for a second straight day.
- Meanwhile, folks from Gwinnett County to South Fulton and beyond spent the day complaining of eye and throat irritation — and wondering what was contained in the haze they saw and smelled.
Air tests conducted by federal, state and local authorities focused on “chlorine and related compounds.”
“We didn’t see any concentrations of those chemicals in that air that would seem unsafe to the public,” Bryan Vasser of the Environmental Protection Agency said.
- Which is not as insane a piece of wording as the mass text alert the EPA later sent out. That message ended with the phrase “Chemicals levels are UNLIKELY TO CAUSE HARM TO MOST PEOPLE.”
Emphasis theirs.
Health experts, meanwhile, say it’s hard to estimate the hazards and urged folks to take precautions. Those include staying inside and turning off the air conditioner.
Just another normal start to another normal week in Atlanta, right?
But hey, look on the bright side: There’s a new storm brewing in the Atlantic!
Stay tuned to AJC.com for the latest. And keep reading for more on the $160 billion hurricane that already pummeled parts of Georgia.
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STRUCK DOWN
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
In an order issued Monday, Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney declared Georgia’s law banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy unconstitutional. He cited “a review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty.’”
That means the procedure is again allowed up until about 22 weeks of pregnancy. But expect more legal wrangling.
- “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene,” McBurney wrote.
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CRIME & COURTS
» The judge in Fulton County’s Young Thug gang and racketeering trial accused a prosecutor of “really poor lawyering.”
» Police say a man driving “a dark-colored Tesla with dark rims” is on the run after shooting at another driver on Ga. 400 in Sandy Springs.
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STORM POLITICS
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Former President Donald Trump visited Helene-stricken Valdosta on Monday, turning the storm that killed at least 25 Georgians into a campaign issue and attacking Vice President Kamala Harris. (He did raise money for relief efforts though!)
Rural Georgians, meanwhile, are still struggling for things like power, water and food.
- “Tough as it is, there’s a lot of personal outreach,” Al Crace, city manager in the tiny town of Alma, told the AJC. “It’s just good to have friends, families and good neighbors.”
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MAKING THE GRADE?
» The newest batch of statewide test results showed that Georgia SAT scores ticked down a bit but still beat the national average.
» Students across Georgia improved their scores on annual Milestones testing last school year, officials said, attributing the uptick to changes in state math standards.
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NEVER A DOUBT
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The Braves dropped Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader with the Mets in dramatic fashion — but rallied in Game 2, winning 3-0 to clinch their seventh straight playoff berth.
After battling through a year of injuries, they start their best-of-three postseason series against the Padres tonight in San Diego (8:38 p.m. on ESPN).
- The big question: Will Chris Sale, who won the National League’s pitching Triple Crown, bounce back from back spasms and take the mound? It’s not looking good.
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LET’S GET IT PERCOLATIN’
R&B icon Mary J. Blige announced a new tour — and it’s coming to Atlanta in February. General ticket sales start Friday.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» What dockworkers strike could mean for Georgia
» Democrats sue over new election night ballot-counting rule
» FuelFest honors Paul Walker at Atlanta Motor Speedway
» Uncle Phill’s brings cheesesteaks to East Atlanta
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ON THIS DATE
Oct. 1, 1920
Did you know there used to be a golf course at Piedmont Park? It opened 104 years ago to great fanfare and an immediate declaration of its status as “one of the most beautiful in the whole country.”
It closed in 1979, freeing up 70 new acres of green space along 10th Street.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
AJC contributor Jenni Girtman captured Atlanta Hawks stars Bogdan Bogdanovic (left) and Clint Capela waiting their turn to take photos on the team’s media day. Here are 10 things beat reporter Lauren Williams learned from the interviews!
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ONE MORE THING
Ryan Mutombo said this about his dad, humanitarian and Hawks great Dikembe Mutombo, who died at age 58 after battling brain cancer:
“My dad will forever be my hero. Not because of his success — not because of the millions who, over the last four decades, have come to know and love him. My dad is my hero because he simply cared. He remains the purest heart I have ever known.”
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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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