Morning, y’all! Guess what? It’s Friday! Your weekend forecast includes temperatures in the mid-to-high 90s, but nary a thunderstorm in sight.
Otherwise, today’s newsletter offers the latest on a pair of UGA football players in trouble with the law, another controversy at Emory and an unsettling new installment from the AJC’s investigation into Georgia prisons. Former Wheeler High basketball star Jaylen Brown won an ESPY Award, too.
But first: an offer you … maybe can’t refuse?
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SURE WHY NOT!
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Francis Ford Coppola, the acclaimed director of films like “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” recently renovated a Days Inn in Peachtree City and you can stay there for as little as $170 a night.
I swear that’s not a Mad Lib.
As my colleague Savannah Sicurella reports, Coppola will indeed open such a facility later this month. He calls it The All-Movie Hotel. And there’s a back story that makes it a little less … random feeling.
Here’s the plot: Georgia, of course, is a major hub for movie production these days. Studios are particularly abundant on the south side of town.
- Coppola actually stayed at the now-former Days Inn while shooting “Megalopolis,” a (very expensive) passion project that recently debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Postproduction? He did that at the hotel, too.
He worked on the renovation at the same time.
As Coppola explained in a YouTube video: “When I didn’t want to think about the movie, I would think about the hotel. When I didn’t want to think about the hotel, I would think about the movie.”
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Now the twist: Starting July 25, there will be rooms available for regular Jills and Joes like us.
But lots of the other suites were classed up a bit, with the idea of movie stars temporarily calling them home. The hotel also offers all the amenities one might need to edit a movie, plus a private screening room.
- Wanna stay in the same room Coppola did during his “Megalopolis” era? Prepare to fork over about $460 a night.
That ain’t cheap. But compared to self-financing a $120 million movie that got mediocre reviews?
Smells like victory.
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
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INMATES AS WEAPONS
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
In their latest blockbuster story about Georgia prisons, reporters Danny Robbins and Carrie Teegardin highlight an unsavory trend: corrections officers allowing or even soliciting inmates to carry out violent attacks against fellow prisoners.
- “These rejects are the prison administration’s own personal henchmen,” one incarcerated person told the AJC.
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QUICK HITS
» A federal judge will sentence John Oxendine today, about four months after the former Georgia insurance commissioner pleaded guilty to participating in a health care fraud scheme.
» A longtime Muslim leader at Emory University’s Office of Spiritual and Religious Life resigned — and said it had nothing to do with the school’s investigation into statements he made about the war in Gaza.
» A new audit found issues with the way DeKalb County schools managed its sales tax program, which includes about $1 billion to fund various projects.
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‘MAMA ON FIRE’
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Alana Shepherd founded the Shepherd Center, Atlanta’s esteemed rehabilitation hospital, in 1975. Now 94 years old, she still revels in helping folks who sustained catastrophic injuries — just like her son did so long ago.
- “I do wonder sometimes, oh my gosh, how were we able to do this?” she told the AJC.
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A MIXED BAG?
President Joe Biden started his high-stakes Thursday night news conference by referring to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” He then defended his reelection efforts and delivered detailed foreign policy answers.
» More from the AJC: Biden’s Georgia donors step up support as election concerns persist
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BULLDOGS BEHIND THE WHEEL
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
University police arrested not one but two more UGA football players on reckless driving charges this week: starting linebacker Smael Mondon and offensive lineman Bo Hughley. A third, defensive back Demello Jones, is accused of racing with Mondon but was not charged.
That makes 19 driving-related arrests involving Bulldog football players since early 2023.
More sports highlights:
- The Braves bats couldn’t get it done in a 1-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. They start a new series in San Diego tonight (9:40 p.m. on Bally Sports Southeast).
- Hawks draft pick Zaccharie Risacher makes his Summer League debut tonight in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. on ESPN).
- The Atlanta Dream — who are enjoying record-setting interest this season — host the defending champion Aces tonight in College Park (7:30 p.m. on ION).
- Atlanta United season ticket prices are going up.
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GO! DO! ENJOY!
Looking for some weekend action? We’ve got ideas that are sure to strike your fancy, whether that means the Doobie Brothers, a comic book convention or “Bluey’s Big Play.”
» Also of note: The King Center’s first in-person “Be Love Day” begins this morning.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Lemuel Penn’s slaying by Ku Klux Klan still haunts northeast Georgia
» Morrow officer, suspect shot outside Clayton County restaurant
» Fulton board approves hiring of election monitors
» Blue Bird gets $80 million to convert old plant to make electric buses
» Kemp, Warnock deliver clashing Medicaid visions for Georgia’s poor
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ON THIS DATE
July 12, 1985
In what sounds like a fairly melodramatic news conference, Coca-Cola execs admitted that their experiment with “New Coke” was falling flat.
COO Donald Keough put it this way: “The simple fact is that all of the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people.”
The original formula returned to shelves several weeks later.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
AJC photographer Hyosub Shin captured Thomas Portis at work at the Southwest Paint and Decorating Center, the West End shop he’s owned for five decades. Atlanta City Council is considering a new program to help legacy businesses like his stay afloat.
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ONE MORE THING
Our friends in Columbus bring you the story of Sarah Oney, a local gal who gets to drive the legendary Oscar Meyer Wienermobile around the country. It’s just as delightful as one might expect.
“You look out the window,” Oney said, “and you’re guaranteed to see people looking at you … and just smiling.”
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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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