Morning, y’all! Expect high temperatures around 70, with a chance of rain and some scattered storms this afternoon.
Get ready for a look inside Atlanta’s soon-to-open Public Safety Training Center, Donald Trump’s latest Georgia-based nomination — and the Falcons’ bold move at quarterback. Plus reader submitted book recommendations!
But first: light bills a-blazing.
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UP IN SMOKE
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Good gracious, y’all. They’re doing it again.
The state Public Service Commission unanimously approved yet another Georgia Power rate hike for folks like you and me. Starting Jan. 1, we’ll see our monthly electricity bills jump about 3.5% — or a little less than six bucks, on the average.
In and of itself? That’s just kind of annoying.
But the bigger picture is approaching bank-breaking territory, if it’s not already there.
- As my esteemed AJC colleague Drew Kann reports, the hike that got green-lighted Tuesday is the sixth since the start of 2023.
- Overall, the average residential customer stands to pay $43 more per month than they were just two years ago.
I’m making fuzzy-number estimates here — but that equates to darn near a 33% total increase. Even Commissioner Bubba McDonald suggested execs at Georgia Power and its revenue relishing parent, Southern Company, “suck it up a little bit.”
(He then voted for the increase anyway, of course.)
To be clear: Some of these rate hikes have been your garden variety annual increases. Others are tied to rising fuel prices and the enormous cost overruns associated with Plant Vogtle’s nuclear reactors.
- And we’re not out of the woods yet!
By the summer, we’ll know how much Georgia Power will charge for the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene.
Which left thousands of people without, you know, electricity. But I suppose that’s neither here nor there.
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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FEELING PEACHY
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Several hours after Georgia’s 16 Republican electors formally cast their votes for Donald Trump, the president-elect announced plans to appoint Herschel Walker — the former UGA football star and failed U.S. Senate candidate — as his ambassador to the Bahamas.
Which seems like a pretty plum gig, if you can get confirmed.
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STILL CHUGGING ALONG
A Fulton County judge sentenced Shannon Stillwell, a former defendant in the “Young Slime Life” gang and racketeering case, to probation and five years banishment from metro Atlanta on Tuesday.
- A trial for the case’s remaining defendants is tentatively set for February — and both sides expect it to go much more quickly than the record-breaking first installment.
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COLUMNIST CORNER
» Bill Torpy weighs in on Georgia’s prison crisis (sorry, commissioner), calling it a reflection of our collective inhumanity.
» Nedra Rhone, meanwhile, riffs on the recent legal wrangling over cancer-causing hair relaxers — and says it’s important for those companies to face accountability.
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EYEING AN OPENING
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
After more than three years of controversy, the death of a protester and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center is set to open soon.
The AJC’s Riley Bunch got a tour of the new facility in South DeKalb, which includes training sites for police and fire personnel.
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THE A.M. ATL BOOK CLUB
After revealing the AJC’s best Southern books of 2024, I asked y’all to offer some reading recs of your own (Southern or not, published this year or not, didn’t matter). Here’s a quick sampling of the submissions!
- 👩⚕️Kim suggested ”The Women” by Kristin Hannah.
- 🪖 Tom vouched for “The Demon of Unrest” by Erik Larson.
- 🦒 Janet loved “West with Giraffes” by Lynda Rutledge.
- 👣 Ethan adored “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
- 🌈 Meg offered up “Rainbow Black” by Maggie Thrash (who happens to be her daughter!).
Tyler’s two cents: Everyone seems to love “The Women,” which is historical fiction about nurses during the Vietnam War; I haven’t read “The Demon of Unrest,” but Larson is a nonfiction genius; and “Demon Copperhead,” a modern Southern retelling of “David Copperfield,” is truly excellent.
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PENIX TIME
Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP
Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP
The Falcons still have a path to the playoffs — and they’re changing starting quarterbacks.
Head coach Raheem Morris announced the move to rookie Michael Penix Jr. less than 24 hours after Kirk Cousins’ latest dismal performance, calling it “a football decision.” As opposed to one based on Cousins’ big ol’ contract, presumably.
Columnist Michael Cunningham says it’s the right choice.
- Michael Vick: This former Falcons quarterback accepted the head coaching job at Norfolk State.
- High school football: Tuesday’s newly crowned state champions included Pope (flag), Toombs County (A-Division I), Carver-Columbus (2A) and Milton (5A). Today’s final day of action culminates with Carrollton vs. Grayson fighting for the 6A title.
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EAT YOUR FEELINGS
West Egg Cafe closes Dec. 29, ending a 20-year run of providing breakfast, brunch and community to Atlanta’s Westside. But you can keep the memories alive with recipes for West Egg classics like churro waffles, fried chicken hash and black bean cakes!
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Atlanta’s tallest tower snags a law firm tenant
» Justice Department sues city of Brunswick over homeless shelter
» Georgia man sentenced for assaulting police in Jan. 6 riot
» TLC, Teddy Swims, Megan Moroney on Seacrest’s New Year’s Eve show
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ON THIS DATE
Dec. 18, 1903
Man can fly! The brothers in Kitty Hawk have proven it so!
OK, so those weren’t The Atlanta Journal’s exact words about the Wright brothers’ historic plane flight. But the paper was pretty jazzed: “The machine flew for three miles in the face of a wind blowing at the registered velocity of 21 miles an hour, and then gracefully descended to earth at the spot selected by the man in the navigator’s car as a suitable landing place.”
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
AJC photographer Miguel Martinez captured the Renaissance-y scene at a recent Bartow County planning commission meeting discussing a possible quarry at the 14,000-acre Pine Log wildlife area. Residents worry attempts to conserve the site are a “pipe dream.”
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ONE MORE THING
Tell your kids or grandkids that “Bluey” — that lovable cartoon dog from Down Under — is getting her own movie. For real life!
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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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