A.M. ATL: Does it matter what musicians think?
Morning, y’all! Expect more lovely weather (no rain, highs within a few degrees of 80) today and throughout the weekend.
News wise, we’ve got the latest on that mystery Powerball winner in Buford, Chick-fil-A’s new entertainment app and your ideas for game-changing redevelopment projects. Plus a look at Hurricane Helene recovery, one month out.
- It’s also the last day to request an absentee ballot for the presidential election.
Which leads us to the main act ...
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BOSS MOVES
Bruce Springsteen swaggered onto the stage at a high school football stadium Thursday night in Clarkston. played his hit “The Promised Land” and declared that Kamala Harris was ... ahem ... born to run.
More or less, anyway.
“There is only one candidate in this election who holds all those principles dear,” the rock icon said, referencing things like honoring the rule of law and protecting a woman’s right to choose. “Kamala Harris.”
It marked a memorable moment in a raucous rally that also featured former President Barack Obama, Tyler Perry and Samuel L. Jackson — but does it really mean anything?
- As my AJC colleague Rodney Ho reported this week, celebrity endorsements of all types date back at least a century in the U.S. of A.
- In a separate piece exploring Atlanta rappers’ endorsements, Jewel Wicker reported that debate remains on the efficacy of such endorsements.
BUT, she wrote: An August study from Harvard University found increased online voter registration when celebrities “participated in calls-to-action.”
That, of course, doesn’t equate to actually voting. Or voting for said celebrity’s chosen candidate.
- “Kamala can’t get a crowd in Atlanta unless it’s a free rap concert,” U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican, wrote on social media earlier this month.
While it’s Harris who’s really leaning into things (alleged Beyoncé appearance in Texas today included), Republican nominee Donald Trump doesn’t exactly shy away from celebrity endorsements either.
And gimmick or not, the AJC’s Greg Bluestein tells me, campaigns see a real purpose.
- Appealing to certain demographics aside, random people signing up for tickets to a free concert = an expanded list of voters to email and such.
Extra eyeballs ain’t a bad thing, either.
“Will there be many voters who say, ‘Yes, I voted for Harris because Bruce Springsteen said so?’ No,” Greg said. “But it guarantees attention throughout this news cycle, it guarantees energy and excitement. So this type of thing matters for campaigns.”
If you’re not plugged in to Politically Georgia as we speed toward the election (or checking out the AJC’s Voter Guide) you’re doing it wrong. Please rectify that — then find some more coverage below.
- Secretary of state’s office thwarts election cyberattack
- Know Your Stuff: Why most economists say Trump’s high tariffs won’t work
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A LONG, HARD ROAD
Tomorrow marks one month since Hurricane Helene swept through much of Georgia.
And as the AJC’s Matt Kempner reports in-depth, real recovery remains more hope than reality in many rural communities: schools disrupted, residents displaced, destruction still all around.
- “You went to bed Thursday night and had a house and, in a word, you were successful,” one local official said. “And then Friday morning you woke up and it was all gone.”
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A RELEVANT RAID
Federal agents raided the Ohio home Frank Sinito, chief executive of the company that owns Atlanta’s notorious Forest Cove apartment complex. It’s not clear exactly what agents were looking for.
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CHIKIN VIZN
Chick-fil-A isn’t launching a streaming service, as previously suggested. But the Jesus-lovin’ chicken chain IS dropping a new app with family-friendly animated shows, scripted podcasts and e-books.
- Expect “Chick-fil-A Play” to go live Nov. 18.
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MILLIONAIRE AMONG U.S.
We still don’t know who bought that $478.2 million Powerball ticket from the Valero gas station over on Buford Dam Road. But owner Sayed Ashraf suspects it’s a regular customer — and hopes to reap his own rewards, too.
- “It’s going to be, eventually, a very busy store,” he said.
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AUDACIOUS IDEAS
In yesterday’s newsletter, I wrote about Atlanta’s highway-capping Stitch project and asked y’all to send in other ideas for bold, money-is-no-object undertakings. A sampling of the submissions:
- 🤔️ A MARTA train circling I-285, complete with “an audio/visual train car for TikTok and Instagram artists.”
- 🏄♀️ A San Antonio-style riverwalk development along the Chattahoochee — or maybe the interstates just become rivers.
- 🤘 A very large letter A, “like the St. Louis Arch, or the Seattle Space Needle, or the Eiffel Tower, to be our signature sight for the world.”
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READY TO ROLL
Atlanta United is excited to start its best-of-three playoff series tonight (8:30 p.m. on Apple TV) — and honestly, why not?
The Five Stripes are one of just two MLS squads that didn’t lose to Miami and Lionel Messi this season.
- Braves: Tim Hyers, an Atlanta native most recently with the Texas Rangers, is Atlanta’s new hitting coach.
- College hoops: Former Kennesaw State coach Amir Abdur-Rahim died from complications during a medical procedure. He was 43.
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GRAB SOME ‘ZA, BRAH
Does “Atlanta-style” pizza exist? Nah. But do we enjoy a deluge of delicious spots to snag a slice? Heck yeah, we do.
- Case in point: These 11 new pizza spots around the city, offering everything from Neapolitan classics to pies inspired by Brazil. And Taco Bell.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Fire on Main Street in College Park shuts down three restaurants
» Man arrested in Florida, charged in woman’s Atlanta death
» Funeral planned for mother who died in Roswell apartment fire
» OSHA: No safety violations on set of Georgia-shot Eddie Murphy film
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ON THIS DATE
Oct. 25, 1960
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left the Fulton County jail after participating in a sit-in at Rich’s Department Store. DeKalb County then scooped him up, saying the arrest violated the terms of a previous driving arrest.
Judge Oscar Mitchell sentenced King to serve 40 months of hard labor before John and Robert Kennedy helped intervene.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
That time of year: AJC photographer John Spink caught Michael Perez of M.H. Lawn Services taking care of business in Midtown.
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ONE MORE THING
As homecoming season rages on at Atlanta’s historically Black colleges and universities, please enjoy Christopher A. Daniel’s delightful conversation with queens past and present.
“It’s an opportunity for us to give a young Black woman the power to be a positive influence on her community,” one said, “and to do it with the best possible visibility.”
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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.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
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