🚊 Amsterdam Walk developments

Make it Monday

May 13 — The Northern Lights came south over the weekendas increased solar activity lit the Metro Atlanta skies in multi-colored hues. Send us your photos and look for them on our social media.

☔ Rain and 67° today. The rest of the week looks like a mix of showers and sun with highs near 80°.

🚓 Three Atlanta Police officers were shot and wounded responding to a call of a man firing a gun in the Capitol View neighborhood on Saturday. The perpetrator was killed and two of the officers remain at Grady recovering from surgery.

🚨 Two people were shot and killed and four others were wounded during an altercation early Sunday morning at the Elleven45 Lounge in Buckhead.

⬇️ Georgia tax collections continued to trend downward last month, falling 5.4% from April of 2023, the state Department of Revenue reported.

🛒 Trader Joe’s plans to open a new store in the Chastain Market shopping center on Roswell Road in south Sandy Springs.

📬 U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff continues to pressure the United States Postal Service over widespread mail delivery delays . He’s asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for an update by the end of this week.

🏀 The Atlanta Hawks defied 3% odds to win the top pick in next month’s NBA draft. It’s the first time in franchise history that the Hawks have had the first pick.

😬 Legendary R&B singer Anita Baker canceled her Saturday night concert at State Farm Arena minutes before it was set to begin. As you can imagine, fans were not happy .

ELSEWHERE

🎓 Protests calling for U.S. divestment from Israel disrupted several college commencements , including at Emerson College and Virginia Commonwealth University. At Duke University, students walked out as comedian Jerry Seinfeld was receiving an honorary degree. ( Emory’s relocated graduation is at Duluth’s Gas South Arena this morning.)

⚖️ Michael Cohen, the former lawyer and fixer for former President Donald Trump, is expected to testify for the prosecution today in the New York hush-money case against Trump.

🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:

• Amsterdam Walk redevelopment
• Race horse rescue
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen: Athens, GA

Have a great week,
Collin & Sammie

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👽 Embark on an out-of-this-world evening at the Museum After-Hours event on Fri., June 14, from 5:30-9 p.m. at Computer Museum of America . Dress as your favorite sci-fi character and explore artifacts that once seemed like fiction through a scavenger hunt. Tickets include full museum access, light bites, and live music .

SPONSOR MESSAGE

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1. BeltLine transit a sticking point in Amsterdam Walk redevelopment

🚊 Some Virginia-Highland and Morningside residents want to see Amsterdam Walk redeveloped. But they say they won’t support Portman Holdings’ proposal to do so because the prominent developer is against light rail on the Atlanta BeltLine.

Amsterdam Walk, a small-scale retail district, sits on roughly 10 acres of property that fronts the BeltLine and connects Piedmont Park to the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

It is also located between the two high-profile neighborhoods where a battle has brewed for months over Portman’s plans to raze the existing structures to build a large mixed-use development, including hundreds of apartments.

“It was clear to me Portman was going to try and kill transit,” said Kay Stephenson, a 26-year resident of Virginia-Highland. “Transit on the BeltLine is the linchpin that makes it work. I just don’t see any way for the Amsterdam Walk development to work if everybody is coming and going from it in a car.”

➡️ Our Dyana Bagby takes a closer look at the ongoing controversy over the redevelopment plan.

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Don’t miss this priceless art auction

SPONSORED BY AHLERS & OGLETREE

💎 Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery invites you to their auction featuring the collection of iconic television writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson.

Since the 1970s, the duo has written award-winning episodes for “General Hospital,” “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns,” and “Santa Barbara.” Between writing television series episodes, the couple collected priceless art from around the world. The sale includes original works by Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Pablo Picasso, and more.

🗓️ The auction will begin at 10 a.m. on May 16. Join us live at 1788 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd., NW, or bid online .

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2. Family helps rescue race horses, provides pet therapy to seniors

🐎 Joy Lim Nakrin’s mother realized a lifelong dream by creating a rescue farm for horses and other animals in North Fulton.

Nakrin, an anchor on Atlanta News First, said her mother was an OB-GYN providing rural medicine on horseback in the Philippines before her retirement.

In 2021 the family moved to Milton to realize that dream, finding a place with a strong equestrian community and weather more favorable than the northeast. Joyous Acres rehabilitates aged-out racehorses into show jumpers.

Another part of the mission of Joyous Acres is the seniors program founded by her aunt. They invite a few partner nursing homes to bring residents over to visit the horses for pet therapy. They call the program “Seniors for Seniors.”

➡️ Read more in Bob Pepalis’ feature here.

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3. Putin replaces defense minister; Switzerland wins Eurovision

🇵🇸 More than 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated Rafah in Southern Gaza, as Israel prepares to move against Hamas operatives they say are in the city. President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continue to urge Israel not to invade Rafah.

🇮🇱 Today is Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day , marked by a one-minute siren during which the entire country stands still. At sundown on Monday, the country transitions into Independence Day.

🇷🇺 In a rare cabinet change, Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced his top military leader with a civilian economist.

🇪🇸 The party of Spain’s Prime Minister won regional elections in Catalonia, beating out pro-independence candidates.

🇦🇫 Three hundred people are dead following flash floods in northern Afghanistan .

🇧🇷 Brazil’s government evacuated thousands of homes and businesses around Porto Alegre as historic and deadly flooding threatens communities.

🇵🇱 A massive fire has destroyed a popular shopping center in Warsaw, Poland.

🇧🇭 Bahrain is hosting the 33rd Arab League summit , an alliance of nearly two dozen Arab nations.

🇨🇭 Switzerland’s Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest with “The Code,” becoming the first Swiss winner since Celine Dion in 1988. Croatia’s Baby Lasagna came in second followed by Ukraine, France, and Israel.

🎶 Here’s a mashup of all 37 countries and their 2024 songs.

🗓️ On May 15, join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta for a luncheon featuring a fireside chat with Governor Brian Kemp. Hosted by Rickey Bevington, delve into Governor Kemp’s journey from agriculture innovation to his tenure as Georgia’s 83rd governor. Register here.

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👽 Embark on an out-of-this-world evening at the Museum After-Hours event on Fri., June 14, from 5:30-9 PM at Computer Museum of America . Dress as your favorite sci-fi character and explore artifacts that once seemed like fiction through a scavenger hunt. Tickets include full museum access, light bites, and live music .

SPONSOR MESSAGE

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4. ‘Sense of Place:’ Athens, GA

“World Cafe Words and Music” — WXPN’s live performance and interview program from Philadelphia — recently explored Athens, GA for their series “Sense of Place.”

🎙️ This episode looks at the famous 40 Watt Club and delves into how owner Barrie Buck has kept the Athens club as “one of the most influential music venues in the early punk and new wave scenes.”

🎧 UGA’s student-run radio station WUOG is the focus of another episode, which includes interviews with current music directors Elizabeth Kim and Mal Holmes, who share some of the songs they say make the station, and Athens, special.

📚 Go deeper into the history of the quintessential college town in Grace Elizabeth Hale’s 2020 book, “Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture.”

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📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.

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The post 🚊 Amsterdam Walk developments appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta .