Morning, y’all! Welcome to Wednesday. Just a small chance of isolated rain and afternoon storms today, as temperatures approach 80 degrees.
This newsletter offers an update on metro Atlanta’s mail woes, new gun rules at the airport and Kirk Cousins’ thoughts on the Falcons drafting another quarterback. Also: Don’t freak out, but Kirby Smart’s Athens home is on the market.
Now. Let’s venture on over to the Beltline, shall we?
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DEVELOPMENT DISCORD
Miguel Martinez/AJC
Miguel Martinez/AJC
The Beltline is a lovely place to walk, or ride a bike, or dine al fresco. It’s also the home of perpetual angst (see: affordable housing, transit).
The latest installment of trail-based turmoil emanates from the toney, single-family neighborhood of Morningside.
That’s where developer Portman Holdings wants to transform an offbeat and aged shopping center called Amsterdam Walk into something much grander: office space, retail and some 840 residential units tucked into buildings as tall as 15 stories, right across from Piedmont Park.
As my AJC colleague Zach Hansen reports, many residents are up in arms.
Too dense, they say. Too much traffic. Signs line the streets, petitions circulate and neighborhood meetings get real tense.
“Anyone who wants to imply that the board has ulterior motives can go to hell,” Micah Coleman, a member of the Morningside-Lenox Park Association board, said at a meeting this week.
A majority of the board backed the proposal, arguing they’ve pushed Portman to scale things back some.
There’s also a lot of time left for continued feedback: the development still has to go through the neighborhood planning unit, planning committees and Atlanta City Council before anything’s set in stone.
“It’s not going to be agreeable to everyone,” Morningside president Don Campbell said, “but there has to be a compromise.”
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Keep scrolling for more news.
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MAIL MATTERS
Miguel Martinez/AJC
Miguel Martinez/AJC
After months of criticism over lengthy mail delays, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he’ll pause changes at processing plants like metro Atlanta’s Palmetto facility until at least next year.
- It’s unclear, though, what the immediate impact may be. DeJoy contends the modifications will ultimately improve service and delivery times.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» A national civil rights group asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate racial and sexual discrimination in Cobb County schools, citing the district’s removal of inclusive books from its libraries.
» Specifics are scarce. But police say three men suffered gunshot wounds while filming some sort of video at a northwest Atlanta shopping center.
» A judge scheduled an emergency hearing today in a lawsuit seeking to halt consideration of the new Gwinnett County city of Mulberry, which is on ballots next week.
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LEAVE ‘EM HOME
Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Police say they’re going to start arresting folks that show up at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport security checkpoints with loaded guns. Believe it or not, that’s a change in policy for the world’s busiest firearm confiscator.
» Airport expects 2.5M people over Memorial Day period
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TRUMP ON TRIAL
As Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial chugged along, defense attorneys hammered former fixer Michael Cohen over his motivations for cooperating with the prosecution. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson showed up, too.
» Analysis: Is Biden really trailing Trump by double-digits in Georgia?
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BEST IN SHOW
Sage, a black miniature poodle with one heckuva pompadour, won the Westminster Kennel Club dog show’s ultimate prize.
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COUSINS SPEAKS
Jason Getz/AJC
Jason Getz/AJC
New Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins participated in minicamp and spoke with reporters for the first time since Atlanta selected Michael Penix Jr. in the NFL Draft.
His take? “There is always going to be competition in this league. You just have to go out there and earn it.”
More sports highlights:
- Matt Olson drove in four and Chris Sale dominated again as the Braves beat the Cubs, 7-0.
- Georgia State’s getting a downtown baseball stadium.
- Georgia Tech football’s season opener in Dublin, Ireland, is set for a noon Eastern kickoff on ESPN. Georgia’s opener against Clemson in Atlanta will also start at noon and air on ABC.
- The Atlanta Dream start a new campaign tonight in L.A. Check out our season preview to get ready.
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EAT LOCAL
Red Lobster is closing up shop in Athens, Dublin and Roswell. You know who would never do that? Thomasville’s Plaza Restaurant & Oyster Bar, founded in 1916 and still chugging along as Georgia’s oldest eatery.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people come in and eat liver,” the owner says. (Don’t worry, they have lots of other stuff, too.)
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IDOL INCOMING?
Courtesy photo/ABC
Courtesy photo/ABC
Country singer Will Moseley — a 23-year-old Georgia Southern grad from Hazlehurst — is among the final three contestants on “American Idol.”
Ahead of Sunday’s finale, here are four reasons why he could win.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» André 3000 in conversation with the Bitter Southerner
» Out-of-state donors largely favor ex-Trump aide in 3rd District U.S. House race
» More Georgia public colleges to require admissions testing in fall 2026
» 2nd MARTA shooting in less than a week leaves one wounded
» Georgia county loses appeal in deputy’s trans surgery case
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ON THIS DATE
May 15, 1969
Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigned, just four years after his appointment.
The controversy driving the decision: Fortas’ acceptance of $20,000 from the Wolfson Foundation, the family nonprofit of scandal-ridden financier Louis Wolfson. He’s the only justice in history to step down over financial questions, but far from the only one to face such scrutiny.
File photo
File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
AJC photographer Natrice Miller captured servicemembers paying respects to Senior Airman Roger Fortson, an Atlanta native gunned down by Florida deputies last week, as his body arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. A public visitation is scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. Thursday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest.
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ONE MORE THING
Let’s end things with this lovely reminiscence about the magic (and aroma) of bakeries come and gone — and then maybe run out to get a doughnut or three?
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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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