Move it along, Monday
May 6 — It was not the best weekend for local pro sports. The Dodgers swept the Braves, knocking Atlanta from the top of the NL standings. Atlanta United fell to Minnesota 2-1 on Saturday night, leaving the Five Stripes winless in their last five matches.
🌧️ Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms with a high of 83° today.
🚨 The son of well-known Atlanta music producer Clinton “D-Billz” Dorsey has been arrested for fatally shooting his father at a Brookhaven apartment complex last Thursday.
🪧 Emory University’s faculty passed a no-confidence vote against President Gregory Fenves on Friday, and students are set to take a similar vote this week in response to the arrest of protesters on campus last month.
💦 Fulton County insists that the City of Atlanta provide a detailed accounting of the claims that the county owes $5.7 million in unpaid water bills.
💵 Sandy Springs department heads want to add 17 full-time workers to the city’s payroll, bringing the total to 637 employees for the 2025 budget.
🔎 Two high-ranking county officials testified Friday before a Georgia Senate panel that Fulton DA Fani Willis was free to hire special prosecutors to pursue the election interference case against former President Trump and pay them whatever she thought was necessary.
🚍 MARTA has selected its next Riders’ Advisory Council , an all-volunteer group dedicated to helping improve the transit experience for customers.
🌐 In his new book, “On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America,” journalist Abrahm Lustgarten predicts climate change will force migration patterns that will increase Atlanta’s population by 50%.
🎸 The City of Chamblee has announced the free Summer Concert Series lineup including Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience, The Platinum Band, and 10,000 Maniacs.
ELSEWHERE
🛶 Hundreds of people had to be rescued from flooded Houston, TX neighborhoods over the weekend after heavy rainfall swamped the eastern part of the state.
🌹 Mystik Dan, an 18-1 underdog, won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish on Saturday. NBC’s broadcast drew 16.7 million viewers, the largest for the race since 1989. (Dornoch and Society May, the horses with local connections finished 10th and 16th, respectively.)
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Mary Badham on ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
• Holocaust Remembrance ceremony
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
Have a great week,
Collin & Sammie
💸 Join Decide DeKalb in celebrating local businesses during this year’s Economic Development Week, May 6-10! Decide DeKalb will be uplifting DeKalb businesses and hosting events starting on Mon., May 6 with Business Resources 101. This free, in-person event is focused on funding and educational resources available to support your business growth. Learn more and RSVP here.
🐦 Boaty Boatwright got the job to cast 1962’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” through pure gumption. The now legendary casting director reportedly walked up to producer Alan J. Pakula at Sardi’s in New York City and told him she should be the one to find him an actress to play Scout, the little girl at the heart of Harper Lee’s seminal 1960 novel. Pakula had recently secured the rights for the book, which tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white lawyer in Depression-era Alabama who takes up a case defending a Black man against a false rape charge. The story unfolds from Scout’s perspective.Boatwright miraculously landed the job, seemingly through confidence alone. Weeks later, however, she called her producer in tears. She had been all over the country and couldn’t find the kid right for the part. The next day, she went to Birmingham, and everything changed.In Birmingham, Boatwright would find not only Phillip Alford, who would play Scout’s older brother Jem, but Mary Badham, who would go on to play Scout. Over 60 years later, Badham is back and approaching the play from a different perspective. She plays Mrs. Dubose in the touring production of Aaron Sorkin’s play adaptation of the novel, which is coming to the Fox Theatre May 7-12.
🎭 Learn more about Mary Badham and her connection to “To Kill a Mockingbird” here.
SPONSORED BY DECIDE DEKALB📈 DeKalb County is brimming with innovation and opportunity, and there’s no better time to discover why businesses thrive in DeKalb than during Economic Development Week (May 6-10). Decide DeKalb Development Authority is hosting a week-long celebration packed with informative events and resources for businesses of all sizes.🗓️ This Economic Development Week, Decide DeKalb is offering a unique opportunity to:
- Connect with valuable resources
- Shine on the silver screen
- Unlock the power of Tax Allocation Districts (TADs)
- Navigate the landscape of opportunity zones
- MADE In DeKalb Educator Graduation
2. Yom HaShoah remembrance at Greenwood Cemetery
🎗️ About 500 people, including U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, Deputy Consul General of Israel Anna Shteingart, a handful of state and local politicians, and dozens of Jewish community leaders gathered at Greenwood Cemetery in Southwest Atlanta yesterday to mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day (which is observed today in Israel).
George Rishfeld, a child survivor of the Holocaust, was a toddler when his parents handed him over to “righteous Gentiles,” who took him in “because it was the right thing to do. They saw me as a human being and not as a Jew.”
✡️ The 59th annual ceremony was also a rededication of the Memorial to the Six Million, which has recently undergone a complete renovation.
In addition to Ossoff, a handful of local and state politicians attended, including State Sen. Sonya Halpern, Reps. Betsy Holland and Teri Anulewicz, and Sandy Springs Councilmember Jody Reichel.
➡ Read more about what Ossoff and Rishfeld said in this story.
🇪🇬 Negotiations between Israel and Hamas stalled in Cairo today due to disagreements on the ceasefire’s duration, delaying hopes for a resolution and leaving Gaza’s residents and hostage families in prolonged uncertainty.
🇵🇸 Israel began instructing Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate to a designated zone, suggesting an impending assault on Hamas holdouts in the Southern Gaza enclave.
🇮🇱 Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing after a Hamas rocket attack killed three IDF soldiers. Hamas’s armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack which hit a main route for humanitarian aid.
📺 Citing threats to its national security, Israel banned Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which condemned the actions as “suppression of the free press.”
🇵🇦 José Raúl Mulino won Panama’s presidential election yesterday. He was a last-minute stand-in for former President Ricardo Martinelli who was banned from running after being convicted of money laundering.
🇨🇳 Chinese President Xi Jinping is in France kicking off a tour of Europe that will also include Hungary and Serbia. China’s leader was last in Europe in 2019 when relations were less strained than they are today.
🇨🇦 Canadian authorities have arrested three men in connection with the killing of a Sikh activist last year. It comes as the Canadian government published a preliminary report accusing the Indian government of possibly interfering in Canadian elections.
🇸🇩 Deadly starvation will soon be widespread in Darfur and elsewhere in war-stricken Sudan, says the United Nations’ World Food Bank.
🇬🇧 Prince Harry is set to return to the United Kingdom this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.
💂 London Mayor Sadiq Khan easily won a third term last week.
🎤 Musicians from 37 countries walked the turquoise carpet in style to kick off the annual Eurovision song contest in Sweden, where ABBA won the so-called Olympics of Pop Music 50 years ago with their earworm “Waterloo.”
🇧🇷 Madonna closed her recent tour with a free, final show at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach. More than 1.6 million fans are estimated to have attended.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we welcome guest curator and Certified Life Coach, Neha Negandhi. Tune in to these wellness podcasts for both clarity tools and insight into the happenings of our headspace.
🎙️ Negandhi pairs up with Shalini Somaskanda for “Lentil Soup for the Soul,” a podcast that resonates if you’re like many of us who face obstacles and spin our wheels seeking solutions. Listen to two friends chat candidly about shifting these blocks through introspection. Expect helpful professional interviews peppered with observant stories.
🎧 Explore the intersection of finding what works and how to get there by doing the inner work first in “Happiful: Finding What Works.“ This podcast is loaded with interviews featuring wellness professionals who tackle soft-landing and hard-hitting subjects.
🎙️ “This Way Up“ navigates the complexities faced by parents supporting children with mental health struggles. Co-hosts Andrea Nanigian and Emie Watters know firsthand the mental health journeys traveled by their own children, and they openly share their know-how. These are information-laden interviews with a keen “help first, ask questions later” approach.
🎧 Clinical psychologist Dr. Leslie Carr hosts “The Nature of Nurture,” and does a deep dive into the titular debate. She and her guests explore how our minds and mental health are shaped by lived experiences, offering valuable insights for navigating life, relationships, and more.
🎙️ Get insights, laughter, and connection with “Conversations with Rich Bennett.” Episodes on this podcast explore human connection stories from trailblazers to survivors, and all are laden with adversities and personal triumphs.
