Morning, y’all! Let’s do a little check-in. Before you keep reading, mentally answer these two questions: What’s one thing you’ve accomplished this week? What’s one thing you’re grateful for? Remember, the mind shows you what you tell it to see. 🔮
Let’s get to it.
NEW BASS JUST DROPPED
Credit: Courtesy of Bud Freeman
Credit: Courtesy of Bud Freeman
Some Georgia fishing enthusiasts are about to say, “I told you so!” After years of peculiar black bass catches, scientists have identified two new species of the fish in Georgia rivers.
- Altamaha bass, or Micropterus calliurus, are found in the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers and the headwaters of the Ogeechee River. They’re smaller than your usual largemouth bass, with dark spots all the way to the tail and orange fin coloration.
- Bartram’s bass, or Micropterus pucpuggy, are found in the upper Savannah River Basin in Georgia and South Carolina. They’re also small, with black blotches and spots and a rosy pink tint on their fins.
For years, scientists and outdoorspeople thought the two fish may have been hybrids, but DNA analysis shows they’re distinct species.
Georgia can now boast 12 distinct species of largemouth bass. Wahoo! (It’s a fish joke.)
🐟 READ MORE: The findings were published in a new study
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SHERIFF HAS DIRE WARNING
“People will continue to die the more we cram people in these spaces.”
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat issued those strong words of warning to Atlanta City Council members, urging them not to end a lease that allows his department to house county inmates at the city’s jail.
A tale of two jails
- Fulton has a lease at the Atlanta City Detention Center. If the council ends the lease late next year, a flood of inmates would be moved to the county’s already-crowded and notoriously dangerous Fulton County Jail.
- The Fulton County Jail facility on Rice Street is already overcrowded and understaffed. Conditions in the jail were deemed “abhorrent” and “unconstitutional” by the U.S. Justice Department.
- Fulton County commissioners just approved plans for an estimated $1.2 billion renovation for the Rice Street facility, which includes a new medical and mental health building next to the main jail.
- Labat says it would be better to build a new jail.
However, other sheriffs say if Fulton County lowers its number of arrests for nonviolent crimes and makes more use of the county’s diversion center, it could address jail overcrowding.
🔎 READ MORE: City leaders talk arrests, prison plans and alternative justice methods
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ Democrat Debra Shigley will move into a runoff election to represent a stretch of Fulton and Cherokee counties that has been a Republican stronghold for decades. Shigley was the top finisher in a special election to replace state Sen. Brandon Beach.
🚪 President Donald Trump said he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and accused her of mortgage fraud. It’s an unprecedented move against an institution generally thought to be immune from political machinations.
💬 Cook, however, is not leaving. The Georgia-born economist says Trump doesn’t have the right to fire her. Her stand could trigger an impactful legal battle.
💸 U.S. tariff exemptions for small orders end Friday. The widely used customs exemption applies to shipments of $800 or less, which will have untold effects on shoppers and businesses.
CHICK-FIL-A GOES GLOBAL
Credit: Courtesy of Chick-fil-A
Credit: Courtesy of Chick-fil-A
The literate cows are taking over the world. Chick-fil-A will launch new restaurants in the United Kingdom and Singapore later this year, bringing Georgia-bred chicken goodness across the pond and beyond.
- The company wants to enter five overseas markets by 2030 as part of a $1 billion international expansion announced in 2023.
- While Chick-fil-A will always be Southern, international restaurants will be run by owner-operators born and raised in the countries they serve, the company said.
🔎 READ MORE: They’re joining other chicken chains in the expansion game
Trivia time: About how many KFC franchises are there outside of the U.S.?
A. 3,000
B. 10,000
C. 29,000
D. 600
Answer at the bottom!
NEWS BITES
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged
Who?
Advice for college applicants: Start early, stay real, limit use of AI
Poor kids. Don’t worry, someday this process will be a funny-yet-slightly-stressful memory, and you’ll never really know whether you did it right.
Scientists got a rare peek at the exposed interior of a star as it exploded
Excuse you — that sounds like a vulnerable time for the star.
The Braves open 2026 season with 6-game homestand
We’ll ignore the final month of this season and start again next year.
INTRODUCING “IT’S UATL”
Credit: Philip Robibero
Credit: Philip Robibero
Confession: I don’t listen to a lot of podcasts. The whole “unscripted yapping” thing isn’t for me. However, I’m super excited for the new UATL podcast, “It’s UATL.” Maybe it’s because I work with the women producing it, and they are as smart, cool and fun to talk to as you can get.
UATL reporters Nedra Rhone, DeAsia Paige, Najja Parker and Brooke Leigh Howard will host a weekly dive into hot topics in Black Atlanta culture. I chatted with Rhone, a UATL OG, to learn more.
AJ: What can people expect from “It’s UATL?”
Nedra: “We are a group of multigenerational Black women, so we have very different viewpoints based on our time in Atlanta. We wanted to have different voices in the room that are all very passionate about Black culture. It’s not preachy; it’s a conversation that you might have with a friend you love or your girlfriends or guys with their guy friends. You very likely will walk away with something meaningful or an understanding you didn’t have before.”
AJ: You’ve recorded a few episodes. What are some topics y’all are excited about?
NR: “We really like the first episode — it’s about Black love. I did an interview with Mara Brock Akil, the creator and producer of the ‘Forever’ series on Netflix, and she talked about her hope for representation in the media. So that was a lot of fun, even if some of us weren’t romance fans. In other episodes, we talk about Black family reunions, Black hiking clubs and online activism.”
ON THIS DATE
Aug. 27, 1996
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of The Atlanta Journal: Tiger on tour? Report says Woods going pro. Tiger Woods, the 20-year-old golfer from Stanford who won a record third consecutive U.S. Amateur title Sunday, has decided to join the professional ranks. … Butch Harmon, Woods’ coach, said Woods asked him if his game was good enough to play in the pros. Harmon told him it was. “The only player I can compare him to at comparable stages of their careers is Jack Nicklaus,” Harmon said.
I love reading about sports greats before they were sports greats. It’s like positive dramatic irony.
ONE MORE THING
The answer is C. 29,000!
It’s always C, isn’t it? I’ve been making news quizzes for years, and I still feel self-conscious about patterning out the answers. Also, that’s a lot of fried chicken.
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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