Morning, y’all! I spent a hefty chunk of my adult life in Iowa, so I love me some corn. Knee-high by the Fourth of July! And I apparently passed the affinity along to my 1-year-old, who typewriters his corn on the cob like an absolute machine. But he and his sister are born Georgia Peaches. And after reading Joe Kovac Jr.’s vignette on Dickey Farms, it seems a trek to Middle Georgia is in order.
But, not for at least a few days. I’m afraid our Midwestern blood might boil.
🌍 This Just In: Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by President Donald Trump to end their “12-day war,” after Tehran launched a limited, retaliatory missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
However, Israel’s military said it had detected another Iranian barrage hours after the start of the ceasefire. Tehran has since denied violating the tentative truce and said it will respond if struck.
And so it begins
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
The highs this time of year are typically about 88 degrees. But this ain’t gonna be typical.
A heat advisory is in effect from 1 p.m. today to 8 p.m. Wednesday for more than 50 counties across the state, according to the National Weather Service. The heat index values are projected to reach up to 107 degrees, which means there will be an elevated risk for heat-related health impacts amid the high humidity.
Thunderstorms could be coming to cool things down Thursday, but until then, prepare. You can find a list of cooling stations here, but I can do you one better. Here is my heat-induced silver linings playbook.
🏊 Find a swimming hole: The Grant Park Pool and Candler Park Pool are free. The pools at W Atlanta-Downtown and Moxy Atlanta Midtown come with a side of not-free cocktails. Slide City Waterpark is coming to Atlantic Station June 26-29.
💆♀️ Treat yo-self: There are spas at the Waldorf Astoria and the Four Seasons; more holistic and personalized experiences at The Wellness Spot or Woodhouse Spa. Or if you are a glutton for heated punishment, there’s the not-so-hidden gem Jeju Sauna in Duluth.
🎥 Cinematic escape: Pick an AMC, any AMC. Or perhaps take a blast to the past at the Tara Theatre in Buckhead or Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. New options range from Wes Anderson’s latest to the horror “28 Years Later.” Midtown’s Plaza Theatre is playing the “Prince of Broadway,” with a portion of the proceeds going to nonprofit We Love Buford Highway.
🥶 Cryotherapy: I mean, why not?
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ICE overcrowding
South Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center is one of the largest immigration jails in the country. And it’s currently overcapacity.
As of June 9, the average daily detainee population there stood at 1,828, according to ICE data. Stewart’s capacity is 1,752 detainees.
- This mirrors issues nationwide. The federal government is currently holding more than 50,000 people in ICE detention, a roughly 25% increase since January. The agency is funded for 41,500.
This story from the AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan is worth your time. He provides an inside look at the conditions at Stewart.
“The people actually try to fight to get a bed, because 30 people just sleeping in the concrete floor, so the situation there is crazy,” said Dalton resident Jose Arias-Tovar, who, along with his teenage daughter, Ximena, were housed at Stewart. “Two toilets, two showers for many persons. You got people, they take a shower at 3 a.m. because they don’t have time to do it in the day.”
He added: “They don’t have enough food … It’s too much people now.”
🔎 More on the ICE, from the AJC’s Opinion Editor David Plazas: Journalists like Mario Guevara should not be arrested for doing their jobs
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
💰 Momentus Capital launched a $50 million initiative to help support and grow upstart developers and small businesses in metro Atlanta.
🚗 For the first installment of Patricia Murphy’s 2025 Georgia politics road trip series, she headed north to Dalton, a GOP stronghold. She found residents of the “Carpet Capital of the World” feeling fear and frustration over this administration’s immigration crackdown.
🛒 Kroger will shutter four “underperforming” metro Atlanta stores in the coming months as part of a national wave of closings.
More on the Line
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
The vision of a fully completed Atlanta Beltline just got a bit closer. The city opened 6.8 uninterrupted miles on the west side — from Pittsburgh Yards to Huff Road — marking the completion of the longest segment of the loop to date.
The newly constructed 1.3-mile pathway took more than two years to finish and honors some of the city’s most historic communities.
- The segment runs along Washington Park, which is home to one of Atlanta’s first planned Black suburbs, and through neighborhoods whose streets honor civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph E. Boone and Joseph Lowery.
🔎 From AJC Opinion: For Atlanta to be great, city must invest in infrastructure beyond the Beltline
Beauty schools
Georgia has some great schools if you want to, you know, learn. But it’s also got some real pretty ones, according to Travel & Leisure.
The publication’s list of the 30 most beautiful colleges and universities in the nation included two from the state: Berry College near Rome and the University of Georgia in Athens.
- Travel & Leisure notes Berry’s 27,000 acres of fields, lakes, forests and mountains and its “beautiful English Gothic-inspired buildings like the Ford Dining Hall, Ford Auditorium and Mary Hall.”
- For UGA, Travel & Leisure highlighted the iconic iron arch, the chapel bell and the Founders Memorial Garden, which features more than 300 plant species.
NEWS BITES
‘Shock and horror’: Skydiver dies after trying to deploy emergency parachute
More than 120 people die in car crashes each day, but that won’t stop us from driving. This headline alone will keep most from ever jumping from a plane.
Young Thug performs for the first time since leaving jail
This was his first public concert since March 2022. Fair to say it’s been a wild ride since then.
Atlanta United’s Jay Fortune injures foot, out for season
The injury bug is vicious this year for ATL sports.
Falcons’ Kirk Cousins featured in season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Quarterback’
Ahh, knock on wood. Knock on wood!
ON THIS DATE
June 24, 1938
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From The Atlanta Constitution: Gable and Shearer ‘cinch nominations’ to play leads in ‘Gone With the Wind.’ “Clark Gable and Norma Shearer appeared today to be cinch nominations as an all-star battery to carry the colors of ‘Gone With the Wind’ into the screen field when the picture goes into production, probably next December … Between takes of his current picture, Gable admitted he had been reading the script of ‘Gone With the Wind’ for the past week but stubbornly reiterated his personal opposition to playing the Rhett Butler part. ‘Naturally, I’ll do what they say,’ he declared, ‘but, get this straight: I’m still fighting against it…'”
Vivien Leigh eventually landed the role of Scarlett O’Hara opposite Gable as Rhett Butler. She won the Oscar for Best Actress. He lost the Best Actor award to Robert Donat. Perhaps if he’d had a better attitude ...
ONE MORE THING
The news can get a bit overwhelming. So get up and dance. Then watch this video, which will probably lead you down a TikTok rabbit hole for new music. Just be sure to scroll in the shade.
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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