Morning, y’all! Do you know what the heat index really measures? It’s that “feels like” temperature that takes into consideration humidity and shade. In short, it gives you a more accurate read of how miserable you’ll actually be outside. Anyway, the heat index in Georgia could approach triple digits today. Drink lots of water!
Let’s get to it.
THE AIRPORT, YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Credit: Zaire Breedlove / AJC
Credit: Zaire Breedlove / AJC
New Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport General Manager Ricky Smith wants people to spend less time in the airport. Same, sir! Y’all make it happen, and we, the traveling masses, will exit posthaste.
- Smith’s teams are finding ways to reduce wait times at bottlenecks like security checkpoints, restrooms and baggage claim.
- Leadership is even reviewing security checkpoint procedures in coordination with the TSA to figure out ways to improve the experience.
- The new restrooms in Concourse D, still under construction, will hopefully be models for future restroom improvements.
Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘I want to go spend my day at Hartsfield-Jackson.' People want to fly.
🔎 PLUS: The Trump admin ended the “shoes off” mandate at airport security, which could significantly trim wait times. Columnist Bill Torpy looks at whether two decades of padding barefoot on linoleum have made us any safer.
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A NEW AGREEMENT TO REPORT DEADLY FORCE
Credit: Christina Matacotta/AJC
Credit: Christina Matacotta/AJC
The Atlanta Citizen Review Board was revived in 2020 to look into cases of police deadly force. However, from 2020 to 2024, the group didn’t review a single case.
Now, Atlanta City Council has brokered a new agreement between the board and Atlanta Police Department hoping to change that. Some details of the agreement:
- The board is responsible for investigating all police shootings, custody deaths, serious injuries in custody and firearm discharges.
- The APD must report to the board any instances of deadly force within 24 hours.
- The board will have three days to report any decision to the police department, mayor and City Council.
- The whole of the agreement is enshrined in an 8-page document, which leaders say will improve transparency and accountability.
🔎 READ MORE: Leaders, citizens differ on whether the plan will work
The new plan is the result of six months of discussions following an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation into the Citizen Review Board and its lack of activity.
🔎 READ MORE: The painful case that put the board’s responsibilities in a stark light
SEX TRAFFICKING VERDICT
In a landmark sex trafficking trial, a DeKalb County hotel must pay $40 million to a woman who says she was forced to have sex with hundreds of men there when she was a teen.
- United Inn & Suites on Memorial Drive was found liable by a jury under a federal law that targets those who knowingly benefit from participation in a venture with sex traffickers.
- Very few cases like this actually make it to a jury, and this was the first one of its kind in Georgia.
The plaintiff’s attorney Pat McDonough also represents other sex trafficking victims suing Georgia hotels, and says this victory is a statement.
“This verdict puts the entire hotel industry on notice: Businesses that ignore trafficking will be held accountable,” McDonough said.
🔎 READ MORE: Attorney says dozens of girls may have been trafficked in the same place
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
✂️ The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to continue dismantling the Department of Education. Here’s what may happen next.
🚪 Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens named Courtney English as interim chief of staff for the city. She is one of Dickens’ top advisers and a former Atlanta Board of Education chair.
⚖️ MAGA members are frustrated by President Donald Trump’s newfound apathy toward the Jeffrey Epstein case. Despite touting it as a major policy issue during his campaign, Trump and top admin members like Attorney General Pam Bondi have recently downplayed the existence of a “client list” kept by the late child sex offender and financier.
A FIEND IN THE BEYHIVE
Credit: Julian Dakdouk
Credit: Julian Dakdouk
Beyoncé graced Atlanta with four dazzling “Cowboy Carter” shows and how do we repay her? By breaking into her team’s SUV and stealing unreleased music.
Obviously, we don’t share collective blame. Police still don’t know who broke into an SUV parked near Krog Street Market on July 8 before Beyoncé’s Atlanta shows, but they made off with laptops, personal items and hard drives containing “personal sensitive information for the musician Beyoncé,” policed said.
That information included “water-marked music, some unreleased music, footage plans for her show, and past and future set lists,” according to a police report. Intriguing.
🔎 READ MORE: What police know about the robbery so far
NEWS BITES
Delivery robots have been spotted around metro Atlanta
Thankfully, they’re more Wall-E than Terminator.
Someone hacked Elmo’s X account and posted racist stuff
If you had “Elmo saying slurs” on your 2025 Chaos Bingo card, it’s your lucky day!
Vote: Who will win the 2025 SEC Football Championship?
Generations-long feuds have started over less.
What to know if you’re headed to Truist Park for the All-Star Game
1. Do not, under any circumstances, run across Cobb Parkway.
2. Monument Garden is a great respite from the heat.
3. I’ll be there, too! Maybe we’ll run into each other.
ON THIS DATE
July 15, 1968
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: Firearms Fetish Confounds Experts. To take a gun away from some people is like trying to castrate them, one psychiatrist holds. Another contends that many people own guns because they are afraid of other people. “The gun represents masculinity,” Dr. Frank Pittman Jr. ... explains as part of the population’s craving for weapons.
A fascinating little piece that seems to be part of a feature series on gun ownership. The writers are lucky social media hadn’t been invented yet because they would’ve never heard the end of it.
ONE MORE THING
There are two places in the world where I don’t mind getting yelled at: TSA screening at the Atlanta airport and the drive-thru at Popeyes. The former is part of the experience at this point (and people really do cease to function in the TSA line). The latter is personal preference. Mean Popeyes drive-thru workers exude such power, I can’t explain it.
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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