Morning, y’all! It’s going to be a busy week with the end of the Georgia legislative session Friday. They call it Sine Die, and I can assure you your first try at pronouncing it will be wrong. Or at least mine was. But we’ll talk more about that later in the week! For now, let’s Monday!
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Exciting news! The Atlanta Journal-Constitution just launched AJC Her+Story, a new resource for women in business.
AJC Her+Story features profiles of women who have made their mark in metro Atlanta. We’ll also dig into the stats behind the business world to see where women are making gains — and where there’s still work to be done.
I talked with the AJC’s business team lead, reporter Kelly Yamanouchi, about why this series is so important.
➡️ On what people can expect from AJC Her+Story: “These stories are about how women are overcoming challenges professionally, and particularly what they’ve learned along the way. They will share their lessons with readers and give insights from these moments of success.”
“They’ll answer questions like, ‘What is the best piece of business advice you’ve received?’ ‘What’s one moment that has transformed how you approached your career?’ or ‘What can you do to distinguish yourself in an interview?’”
➡️ On creating a community of learning: “We are really looking for a novel way to connect with readers. We want to hear people’s suggestions on who the AJC should feature.”
Know someone the AJC should spotlight in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions.
More than business
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
The first AJC Her+Story profile looks at the achievements of Jasmine Crowe-Houston, CEO of Goodr, an Atlanta-based company that uses technology to address food waste and hunger. Crowe-Houston has become a highly respected thought leader for her business savvy and socially-minded philosophy.
➡️ Good is what keeps her going: Crowe-Houston’s done a little bit of everything: She owned a cupcake truck in Phoenix and had a side hustle helping celebrities such as rapper Future start charitable foundations. Through it all, she’s always found a way to make sure her ventures give back.
➡️ Solving an obvious problem: Crowe-Houston founded Goodr in 2017. Since then, the company’s reach has expanded to 15 states and served 30 million meals to people in need. While she’s addressing a critical issue in the Atlanta area, Crowe-Houston does so with the problem-solving acumen of a businesswoman.
“Hunger is not an issue of scarcity,” she said at the 2024 TEDNext conference. “It’s really about logistics. How do we connect this excess food with the millions of people?”
READ MORE: How Crowe-Houston built an empire for good, and what she learned along the way
By the numbers
In addition to profiles of powerhouses like Crowe-Houston, AJC Her+Story will also look at the state of women in business today. Some interesting stats to chew on:
- Women make up about 29% of executive-level positions in the U.S.
- In Georgia, 27% of people who serve on the boards of public companies are women — a record for the state.
- All of Georgia’s Fortune 500 companies had at least one woman on their board.
READ MORE: What the latest stats tell us about where women stand in the corporate world
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DOWN FOR THE (POLLEN) COUNT
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
The Yellowing: It’s back and worse than ever! No, really. Atlanta recorded its two highest pollen counts since 1990 this weekend, and it’s going to stay chartreuse and sneezy until at least mid-April.
- 14,801: The pollen count Sunday
- 11,159: The pollen count Saturday
- 9,369: The next-highest pollen count over the last 35 years, recorded March 20, 2012
What exactly is a pollen count? The pollen count represents the number of pollen grains per cubic meter of air over a 24-hour period. The pollen is collected on a special device and analyzed under a microscope, according to Atlanta Allergy and Asthma, who provided the stats above.
Not all of it is yellow: Yellow pollen only comes from certain trees. There’s other pollen in the air, too, but the visible stuff is a good scapegoat for our dusty, allergic anger.
If you thought that was fun, you’ll really love* today’s On This Date feature near the end.
*you will not love it.
FLYING WHILE BLACK
Credit: Kate Brumback/AP
Credit: Kate Brumback/AP
Federal appeals court judges in Atlanta may revive a 2022 lawsuit filed by comedian-actors Eric André and Clayton English against Clayton County and several of its officers. The two entertainers said they were separately stopped inside jet bridges on respective flights in 2020 and 2021, questioned at length by plain-clothed county officers, temporarily blocked from boarding their flights and had their ID and boarding passes taken.
The lawsuit alleged the stops were unconstitutional and targeted Black passengers. It was dismissed in 2023, but several influential Black artists encouraged the appeals court to revive it.
Clayton County has argued the encounters under a now-ended jet bridge interdiction program were “random and consensual.”
In counterpoint, appeals court Judge Jill Pryor recently asked how airline passengers are supposed to know, when confronted by law enforcement officers in an airport, that they are not required to comply with their requests.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💸 Those pay raises for top Georgia officials are off the table. State legislators voted against the salary hike proposals that would’ve made Gov. Brian Kemp the highest-paid U.S. governor next to New York’s Kathy Hochul.
📜 President Donald Trump said he is “not joking” about finding ways to serve a third term as president, in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.
🇬🇱 Greenland’s prime minister responded to Trump’s continued assertions that the U.S. will take over Greenland, saying “We do not belong to anyone else.” Trump has said military force is not off the table in seizing the territory of NATO ally Denmark.
💰 Wisconsin’s attorney general asked the Supreme Court to stop Elon Musk’s $1 million payment giveaways to Wisconsin voters who sign an online petition against “activist” judges.
MACON VIES FOR KAZOO GLORY
Credit: Jason Vorhees/The Macon Melody
Credit: Jason Vorhees/The Macon Melody
When the non-denominational heavenly host descends to free us from our earthly toil, I really hope they’re playing kazoos.
Macon got a taste of such a sweet by-and-by last Friday, when thousands gathered to break the world record for largest kazoo ensemble. Did they make it? You’ll have to read on to find out. Record or no, the sights (and, it goes without saying, the sounds) of the day were enough to fill any Georgian with pride.
🎶 Read Macon bureau chief Joe Kovac’s account of the day. Among his many observations: A child wearing a shirt that read “I Destroy Silence.”
NEWS BITES
All four No. 1s advanced to the men’s NCAA Final Four
That’s Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston. The women still have some Elite Eight games to play today.
Yankees use new weird-looking bats, mash nine homers in one game with them
Not so weird looking now, huh? (The MLB is surprisingly casual with their bat specifications, by the way.)
Braves fall to 0-4, but here’s why you shouldn’t panic
I don’t know, may be time to pack it in. Only 158 games left and all.
Atlanta United wins 4-3 over NYC: Inside the numbers
Yay!
ON THIS DATE
March 31, 1997
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: Today’s pollen count of 4,601 is highest ever measured in the city.
Just a reminder: The pollen count this past weekend, in 2025 CE, was 14,801!!! Should we scream? It feels like we should scream.
ONE MORE THING
I forgot on Friday but for those who celebrate, belated Eid Mubarak, y’all!
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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