A.M. ATL: The hole story

Morning, y’all! Did you see it? I did, collecting near the storm drains on my street. Pollen season is here. Monday marked the highest pollen count we’ve seen this season, and the yellow stuff is only going to get more abundant. Time to break out the essentials: allergy medication and a good pressure washer. (If you have any pollen cleaning tips, send them my way. Please.)

Let’s get to it.

THERE’S A HOLE IN NORTH AVENUE TONIGHT

Credit: Ben Hendren/AJC

Credit: Ben Hendren/AJC

Here’s the short version: Big hole on North Avenue by the Coca-Cola headquarters. Don’t know yet when it will be fixed. Traffic is being rerouted around it.

Here’s the long version, with a story: My first digs in Atlanta were in Georgia Tech student housing, and I remember there was a huge pothole in the middle of 10th Street for most of that summer. “Pothole on a busy road” is the transportation equivalent of the elephant in the room: Everyone avoided it, and no one talked about it.

One day, someone (perhaps a city worker, perhaps a local tired of ignoring the giant, dangerous pothole) put an orange construction cone in it, the top five inches peeking out above the asphalt like a groundhog. It was one of the funniest things I’d seen. It addressed the problem (and likely saved someone’s car), but absolutely did not solve it. If anything, it highlighted how badly it needed to be fixed.

Anyway, crews are still assessing a roughly 3-foot-deep hole that opened up on North Avenue in Midtown Atlanta on Tuesday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is still waiting for more information from city officials on what happens next.

The hole could be a sinkhole, which is a good excuse for some sinkhole facts:

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MARCH MADNESS COMES TO ATL

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

State Farm Arena is going to be rockin’ this weekend when the men’s NCAA Tournament comes to town for the South Regionals. Atlanta will host two games in the Sweet 16 round, and the winners of those games will face each other in the Elite 8.

Here’s the schedule:

If you’re heading downtown to catch a game, or want to find a good place to watch, we’ve got you covered.

🏀 A visitor’s guide to March Madness in Atlanta, including how to get around and where to park

🍻 The best watering holes to watch the games, where you’ll be guaranteed to be in good basketball company

🍔 Where to eat around State Farm Arena, whether you want a sit-down meal or something quick

🎡 Have some time downtown? Here are other things to do in the area to make your trip extra Atlanta-y.

SAVANNAH BRIDGE BEFUDDLEMENT

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

The National Transportation Safety Board has listed Savannah’s Talmadge Bridge as one of 68 spans in the U.S. with unprotected pier infrastructure that could make the supports vulnerable to vessel strikes.

The NTSB assessment is part of the board’s investigation of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March 2024.

However, some Savannahians* are a bit confused. The Talmadge Bridge is anchored on the riverbank, with the south end on the downtown shore and the north end in such shallow water it’s completely above the waterline at low tide. How could a vessel possibly strike there?

Regardless, the Georgia Department of Transportation has agreed to do a risk assessment and the CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority said it “doesn’t hurt” to take a look. The Talmadge Bridge is already getting work done to minimize the risk of another type of vessel strike, where too-high ships could clip the span while passing underneath.

*This is really the demonym — I looked it up. You learn something new every day.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🗳️ Georgia senators have proposed a bill that would reinstate paper ballots nearly statewide. The Senate Ethics Committee could vote on it as soon as today, but final decisions may have to wait until 2026.

📫 President Donald Trump is talking about privatizing the U.S. Postal Service. Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy resigned earlier this week.

⚕️ Five high-level officials at the Centers for Disease Control have announced their departure. It’s the latest blow to an agency already beset by federal cuts. The departures were not announced publicly.

📉 U.S. consumer confidence has fallen for the fourth straight month. That marks a 12-year low amid tariff concerns and inflation.

RICK ROSS WANTS TO SEE YOU SMILE

Credit: Chris Thorkilson

Credit: Chris Thorkilson

Rapper and business owner Rick Ross is getting into the tooth game. He recently announced a partnership with Smiles by Mario Montoya, a cosmetic dentistry in Sandy Springs, as a brand ambassador for the biz.

Ross has gotten work done with Montoya, a Colombian dentist whose practice in Colombia attracted big entertainment names like Nicki Minaj.

Ross said his success led him to reflect on self-improvement, including his teeth. “It came a time when I knew I wanted to make my smile better,” Ross said in an interview with UATL.

🦷 Cosmetic dentistry is big business right now. The global market for cosmetic dentistry was valued at $33.6 billion in 2022, according to market research. Cosmetic dentists can also achieve star status on social media platforms like TikTok, where Montoya has more than 40,000 followers. Atlanta has also seen a rise of unauthorized “veneer techs” doing complicated dentistry for cheap. Ross wants to offer a better option.

NEWS BITES

June Carter Cash, Kenny Chesney and Tony Brown to join the Country Music Hall of Fame

They’d make quite a collaboration. If only we had a time machine!

Napster sold to tech commerce company for $207 million

[Obi-Wan Kenobi voice] Now there’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time ...

You’ll soon be able to get your Chick-fil-A sauces in bulk

Oh, this could become very dangerous.

Credit: RCT

Credit: RCT

Past meets present in fanciful historical mashup ‘Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert’

I had many questions about this, so to clarify: This is a novel, and it’s written by Georgia icon Bob the Drag Queen. Against all odds, it makes sense now.

ON THIS DATE

March 26, 1959

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

From the front page of the Atlanta Constitution: Dope Scarce in Atlanta Addicts Say. Atlanta’s crackdown on dope traffic has made it harder to get narcotics here than at the Georgia State Prison at Reidsville, they say.

“We’ve cracked down on hard drugs so much it’s easier to get them in our state’s prison” is a wild thing to say.

ONE MORE THING

I can’t stop thinking about the Bob the Drag Queen novel, because the AJC’s Leah Tyler describes the premise like this:

“A curious event called ‘The Return’ has occurred, and select historical figures are back among the living in the 21st century. Cleopatra is an Instagram model. John D. Rockefeller and Jeff Bezos publicly battle over who is wealthier. And Harriet Tubman wants to record an album.”

Honestly? Sounds kind of genius.

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.

Until next time.