Morning, y’all! Happy Father’s Day weekend to all of the fathers and father figures (but not in a George Michael way). You are very loved.
Let’s get to it.
WAREHOUSE PRISONS SCRAPPED IN GA AND BEYOND
A warehouse purchased by the Department of Homeland Security in Social Circle is pictured earlier this month. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
The Trump administration has reportedly given up on its plans to turn large empty warehouses around the country into prisons for thousands of people.
That includes Georgia, where the Department of Homeland Security spent nearly $200 million purchasing warehouses in the tiny cities of Social Circle and Oakwood.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins conveyed to local leaders that the properties will no longer be converted into immigrant detention centers, as had been originally intended.
The plan to buy large warehouses unfit for human habitation and spend millions more to convert them to prisons sparked nationwide backlash and pointed resistance in Social Circle and Oakwood.
Leaders from both cities said their municipal infrastructure could not support the facilities.
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR CRESSWIND BY KOLTER HOMES
Premier lifestyle and new homes ready now
Explore new, Move-In Ready homes and start enjoying the lifestyle you’ve been waiting for. Cresswind by Kolter Homes brings together resort-style amenities, beautifully designed new homes and adventurous 55+ living. All designed around connection, wellness and everyday enjoyment. Choose from flexible floorplans and hundreds of personalization options that truly make your home your own. Model homes open daily.
John and Billie Harden (center) are shown in this archival image celebrating the achievements of Black Atlantans during the Jim Crow era. In the 1930s, the couple purchased Atlanta's beloved Black Crackers baseball team. (Courtesy of the Atlanta History Center)
Happy Juneteenth, the anniversary of the end of slavery in the U.S.
On June 19, 1865, the last enslaved people in the U.S. were freed in Texas. Or at least told they should be freed. It took a while for some enslavers to comply.
Oh, and the message got to them a little late. The Emancipation Proclamation, which declared enslaved people free, became federal law at the beginning of 1863. It took two and a half years for enforcement to reach Texas. Was the memo just lost in the post? Was the information deliberately withheld? Or did no one care to deal with it? Dealer’s choice.
67,442: That’s how many fans packed Atlanta Stadium for local match No. 2, between South Africa and the Czech Republic. We are doing this thing!
The AJC’s Gabriel Burns has a great read about how Atlanta’s soaking up the World Cup hype and fulfilling a citywide bucket list item.
“What’s occurring here now,” he writes of the noise and the passion, “is one of the few entities that makes our beloved college football still feel like child’s play.”
What’s up next?
The next World Cup game in Atlanta is this Sunday. It’s Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, and both teams will have something to prove. A game that may once have been heavily favored for Spain is now more evenly weighted in the public mind after Spain’s disappointing (for them) 0-0 draw with Cape Verde. Saudi Arabia had similar frustrations in their 1-1 draw with Uruguay.
South Korea’s pretty lavender ones are obviously the best.
South Korea lost to Mexico, but their jerseys counted as a moral victory. (Fernando Llano/AP)
ON THIS DATE
June 19, 1982
Senate approves Voting Act extension. The Senate gave civil rights groups a major victory Friday when it approved by an 85-8 margin a 25-year extension of critical sections of the Voting Rights Act to protect Blacks and other minorities from discrimination at the polling place. A massive bipartisan coalition rejected numerous amendments proposed by Sens. Jesse Helms and John East, both North Carolina Republicans, and Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., designed to weaken the law’s impact on electoral practices in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Alaska and parts of 13 other states that come under special provisions of the act.
This week, more than four decades after Congress approved a 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act, Georgia lawmakers put a plan to redraw the state’s political maps on hold.
The move marked a significant shift, the AJC’s Greg Bluestein writes, as Republican leaders only weeks ago signaled they were prepared to redraw congressional and state legislative boundaries after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened key provisions of the law.
ONE MORE THING
Anyone else have “Father Figure” stuck in their head now? My bad. Have a rejuvenating weekend.
Advertisement
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
-NEWS
A.M. ATL
Follow Us On
-NEWS
A.M. ATL
Follow Us On
A.M. ATL starts your day with the latest news from metro Atlanta, the state, nation and world. If you do not want this weekday newsletter, unsubscribe here.