Mooring to Monday
June 3 — Water was the talk of the town all weekend after a series of water main breaks left many Atlanta residents and businesses without water. Keep scrolling for our team’s coverage.
🌦️ Early rain should give way to sunny skies and 84° today.
📮 U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is vowing to put “maximum pressure” on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to improve service at the regional mail processing center in Palmetto.
🚆 Several Dunwoody-area MARTA parking decks will be temporarily closed during the month of June, according to an announcement by the transit authority.
💼 Atlanta business owners and city officials kicked off the Summer Youth Employment Program, which offers paid jobs to young people ages 14 to 24.
🎭 The Center for Puppetry Arts has announced programming for its 2024-25 season.
⚾ Georgia defeated Georgia Tech 8-6 in extra innings to advance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
⚽ Decatur FC who has yet to allow a goal in its inaugural season, beat Nashville 6-0 on Saturday.
ELSEWHERE
💒 Rupert Murdoch, 93, married retired biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, at his Californian vineyard on Saturday. It’s the Australian-born media mogul’s fifth marriage.
🎫 Live Nation has confirmed that its subsidiary Ticketmaster suffered a data breach that could affect more than 500 million customers.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Atlanta’s water woes
• SCAD Special Section: 60 Years of Civil Rights
• Invest Atlanta
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen: Stones podcasts
Have a great week,
Collin & Sammie
🏀 Don’t miss the 2024 Hawks Draft Party fueled by Georgia Natural Gas at State Farm Arena on June 26. Watch the Hawks secure the #1 draft pick live! Tickets are $5, benefiting the Hawks Foundation and its community partner, the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. Score tickets now!
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1. Atlanta’s weekend water woes
FOR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF THIS STORY, VISIT OUR WEBSITE
🚰 After two major water main breaks on Friday, and a series of smaller ones this weekend across Atlanta, the city’s water crisis is finally turning a corner.
As of 7 a.m. Monday, water had been restored to most of the outage area, but a boil water advisory was expected to last into Monday for some parts of the city. Repairs at a major break in the heart of Midtown were still ongoing overnight and water was shut off near the intersection of 11th and West Peachtree streets at 1 a.m.
📍 Here’s a link to an interactive map of boil water advisories.
🚒 Residents who need water can visit Atlanta Fire Department stations including Station 11 and Station 15.
The weekend was punctuated by multiple business and restaurant closures as well as issues at local hospitals and the cancellation and postponement of major events – including Megan Thee Stallion’s shows at State Farm Arena (held last night and tonight instead).
📺 Expect the issues and the city’s response to be front and center at today’s Atlanta City Council meeting at 1 p.m. You can stream it here.
🚿 Our team kept up with all the water updates over the weekend, paying close attention to the status of repairs, and you can read our coverage here.
▶️ Press Play: Flyover Tour of the ‘Transformed’ 285/400 Commute
SPONSORED BY PERIMETER COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
10.5 miles of highway improvements.
Reconstructed bridges for better connectivity.
New & improved underpassesand overpasses for smoother traffic flow.
The Transform 285/400 Project from the Georgia Department of Transportation has come a long way, promising significant enhancements to the daily commute through Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, and Brookhaven.
Experience these improvements firsthand with our hyper-real flyover video tour.
👉🏼 Watch it here.
2. Rough Draft partners with SCAD for student-led section
✊ For our June issue of Atlanta Intown, Rough Draft Atlanta has partnered with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to let the students run the show.
Atlanta Intown first collaborated with writing students at SCAD for a special issue of their reporting in 2011. To celebrate Intown’s 30th anniversary, we decided to do it again.
In honor of the 60th anniversary of the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, we asked a class of SCAD students to write articles with the theme of Civil Rights in mind. With topics ranging from book bans, to the life of gig workers, to how indie bookstores are shaping communities in Atlanta, each student found an interesting way to explore what Civil Rights means to them through a unique lens.
On our SCAD landing page, you’ll be able to find all of the students’ work, plus a note from Professor Paige Gray about the project.
3. Invest Atlanta to finance creation of 444 affordable housing units
🏠 Mayor Andre Dickens announced the Invest Atlanta Board of Directors approved resolutions at its May meetings to finance the creation or preservation of 444 affordable housing units in the City of Atlanta.
The approved financing will support the development of affordable multifamily housing in the Southside, Westside, and Downtown areas of the city at a range of area median incomes (AMI)—including some low-income housing at or below 30% AMI.
“The Invest Atlanta Board continues to prioritize affordable housing investments so more Atlanta residents have access to safe, quality housing in the communities they choose to call home,” Dickens said in a press release. “Thank you to the board and staff for this significant investment that puts us one step closer to our housing affordability goal and commitment to make Atlanta a city of opportunity for all.”
4. Sheinbaum to lead Mexico after historic election; D-Day 80th anniversary
🇲🇽 Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum will become Mexico’s first female president, according to the Associated Press. Sheinbaum, the protégé of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is a climate scientist whose grandparents escaped the Holocaust by fleeing Bulgaria.
🇮🇱 US officials are working to get Israel to accept a ceasefire proposal involving a six-week halt in Gaza hostilities, humanitarian aid, and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, despite opposition from some far-right Israeli officials, which threatens to topple the current government.
🇭🇹 Garry Conille has been named Haiti’s new prime minister.
🇺🇳 373 million Europeans in 27 countries are eligible to vote in this week’s elections for the European Parliament. They will select 720 Parliament members who decide whether Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen gets a second five-year term as European Commission President.
🇫🇷 Parachutists jumped from WWII-era planes into Normandy, France, starting a week of ceremonies honoring Allied troops who fought on D-Day 80 years ago.
🐼 The pandas are coming! The Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. says China has agreed to send two new giant pandas named Bao Li and Qing Bao by the end of the year.
🇫🇷 After Novak Djokovic’s five-set win at the French Open ended after 3 a.m., Coco Gauff criticized late tennis matches, calling them “not healthy.”
🗓️ Join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta for a Members Forum Salon: Exploring The Geopolitics of Global South on Wed., June 5.
🏫 The Galloway School announced Galloway Forward, a project to revitalize its campus with a new Upper Learning building, safer campus, renovated existing buildings, and preserved legacy, enhancing the learning environment and ensuring the school’s future excellence. Learn more.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
5. Paint It Podcast: Get ready for the Stones
The Rolling Stones, sponsored by AARP (not a joke), are at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night. To get you in the mood for Mick and the boys, including Georgia’s own Chuck Leavell, here are a few podcasts to check out.
🎙️ Disgraceland’s episode “The Rolling Stones: Fugitives in Exile” details what the Stones got up to while living in France to avoid British taxes that would eventually lead them to produce “Exile on Main St.”
🎧 “Under the Radar: A Rolling Stones Podcast” interviews Stones recording engineer and co-producer Chris Kimsey.
🎙️ iHeart Radio’s podcast series, “Stones Touring Party,” discusses the Stones’ iconic 1972 tour, featuring recordings of the Stones’ conversations with Rolling Stone magazine journalist Robert Greenfield.
🎧 Finally, here’s The Rolling Stones’ Iconic Moments from the 70s according to The Rolling Stones.
🧠 Did you miss Saturday’s News Quiz? Click here to test your knowledge of last week’s events.
📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.