Friday pride
Oct. 11 — Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement begins at sunset tonight. The holiest day of the year for Jews, it’s marked by fasting and prayer, concluding with a shofar blast.
☀️ Sunny and 74° today. Sun all weekend with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.
⚖️ A Fulton County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force Gov. Brian Kemp to schedule an administrative hearing on whether to remove three members of the State Election Board.
🏫 City Schools of Decatur is investigating a report that a high school teacher wore a keffiyeh on Oct. 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
✈️ Despite slightly disappointing Q3 earnings, Delta Air Lines issued a strong Q4 forecast, citing resilient travel demand and strong holiday bookings.
🍳 Che Butter Jonez has opened in its new digs on Lavista Road in Brookhaven this week after relocating from South Atlanta.
🎃 On Oct. 31, Fulton County Probate Court will offer complimentary Halloween-themed wedding ceremonies to Atlanta residents.
ELSEWHERE
🇯🇵 Nihon Hidankyo, a group of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize this morning. The Nobel Committee recognized their decades-long efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.
🎗️ Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, died yesterday at 96. The Kennedy matriarch, who raised 11 children after her husband’s assassination, remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• My Sister’s Room thrives
• Film Review: ‘Saturday Night’
• Sports: Nadal announces retirement
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
Have a good weekend,
Collin & Sammie
🎤 Join us in downtown Alpharetta on Oct. 11-12 for the free Wire & Wood Songwriters Festival! Enjoy headliners Sixpence None the Richer and Neal Francis, plus over 30 other acts. Plan your musical getaway today! ( SPONSOR MESSAGE )
1. My Sister’s Room: Atlanta’s landmark lesbian bar endures
🏳️🌈 My Sister’s Room has been a cornerstone of Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ landscape since it opened in 1996 at Midtown Promenade. The welcoming bar quickly became a sanctuary for queer women and their allies.
Although the bar has moved to Decatur and East Atlanta over the years, it returned to Midtown in 2018. “Being back in Midtown is like coming full circle,” said co-owner Chase Daniels. “Where we are now is our favorite location. It has lots of foot traffic, a large stage for shows and performances, and a view of Atlanta’s skyline.”
The “secret sauce” to MSR’s longevity as one of the country’s few lesbian bars is being good business owners, Daniels said. That includes the ability to adapt to the needs of different generations of partygoers at MSR.
🍻 Read more in Dyana Bagby’s feature story.
ATLANTA PRIDE WEEKEND
🎉 Pride weekend is here with a host of events, a concert from Ava Max in Piedmont Park, and the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. Check out our guide.
🤝🏾 Our intern Lola McGuire sat down with one of the Pride Parade grand marshals, Darlene Hudson, who founded the Southern Unity Movement (SUM), which works to “build a more unified Black LGBTQ+ community through advocacy, education and recreation.”
Georgia Power hosts backpack and supply drives for families in need
SPONSORED BY GEORGIA POWER
🎒 This summer, Georgia Power employees teamed up with local organizations to host backpack and supply drives to support families in need. Spearheaded by 15 citizen chapters across the state, these grassroots efforts gathered more than 2,800 backpacks filled with essential school supplies, benefiting 20 school districts.
Georgia Power employees are not just giving back; they’re helping to create a supportive environment where education can thrive. It’s all about building a brighter future for students across Georgia, one backpack at a time.
2. ‘Saturday Night’ is too interested in its own importance
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🎞️ It’s Oct. 11, 1975, just minutes before the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” (then called “NBC’s Saturday Night”). John Belushi (Matt Wood) is missing, but Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) has found him. She watches as he glides around the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink wearing a bumblebee costume.
This is one of the sweeter scenes in Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” which chronicles the 90 minutes before the premiere of the counterculture comedy show that would become the juggernaut “Saturday Night Live.”
From the moment “Saturday Night” starts, Reitman tries to create a sense of anarchy, a sense that none of this should have worked, that everything is falling apart and no one really knows what they’re doing here.
“Saturday Night” depends greatly on mythologizing – especially with its creator Lorne Michaels – but with a few exceptions, the funniest moments in “Saturday Night” tend to be recreations of skits – the kind that sort of make you just want to go home and watch the originals.
🎥 Click here to read Sammie’s review.
PLUS
🎞️ Sammie says “The Apprentice,” “tells the how of Donald Trump, but not the why.”
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about entertainment. Subscribe for free.
3. Nadal to retire; Lynx upset Liberty in Game 1
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GAMEDAY MEN’S HEALTH BUCKHEAD
♂️ The Sports Section is Sponsored by Gameday Men’s Health Buckhead, offering testosterone, weight loss, peptide, and ED therapies so you can get back in the game. Learn more today!
🎾 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal, 38, announced his retirement after the Davis Cup in November. The 22-time Grand Slam champion, including 14 French Open titles, said “I feel super lucky for all the things I’ve been able to experience.”
🏀 The Minnesota Lynx beat the New York Liberty 95-93 in overtime in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Game 2 is Sun., Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. (ESPN)
🏈 The Drive for the GHSA State Title continues tonight with the Class 5A top-ranked Milton playing fifth-ranked Gainesville live on the Peachtree Sports Network at 8 p.m. Stream the game on Atlanta News First, ZEAM, and the NFHS Network.
🏈 The Falcons play at division-rival Carolina on Sun., Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. (FOX; 92.9 FM). Quarterback Kirk Cousins was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after a historic 509-yard, four-touchdown performance in last week’s win.
🏈 Here are tomorrow’s local college games:
- No. 5 Georgia hosts Mississippi State at 4:15 p.m. (SEC Network; 95.5 FM)
- Georgia Tech travels to Chapel Hill to play UNC at noon (CW; 93.7 FM)
- Clark Atlanta plays at Central State University (OH) at 1 p.m. (The Grio)
- Georgia State hosts Old Dominion at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+; 88.5 FM)
- Mercer hosts Princeton at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
- West Georgia travels to Central Arkansas at 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
- Georgia Southern hosts Marshall at 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
- Kennesaw State plays Middle Tennessee on Tues., Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.
- Morehouse is off this week.
🏀 The Hawks’ number one draft pick Zaccharie Risacher impressed in his preseason debut, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes during Atlanta’s 131-130 win over the Indiana Pacers earlier this week.
⚾ The Padres and the Dodgers play tonight in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. in a decisive Game 5 of the National League Playoffs. The winner faces the New York Mets in the NLDS (FOX).
🎤 Join us in downtown Alpharetta on Oct. 11-12 for the free Wire & Wood Songwriters Festival! Enjoy headliners Sixpence None the Richer and Neal Francis, plus over 30 other acts. Plan your musical getaway today! ( SPONSOR MESSAGE )
4. Top Stories of the Week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website. Follow @RoughDraftATL on Instagram for regular updates.
① 16 must-visit restaurants in downtown Decatur
② Parents push back on redistricting plan for Spalding Drive Elementary (pictured)
③ Atlanta School of Massage abruptly closes
④ The 2024 Atlanta Michelin Guide drops Oct. 28
⑤ Homeowner kills off-duty APD officer in alleged home invasion
Oops!
🙊 Yesterday’s subject line had a glaring mistake. Obviously, Hurricane Milton didn’t “stike” Florida. We regret the error.
📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
