Fall into Friday
Oct. 4 — Officials warned of hazy skies and chlorine odors in metro Atlanta from the BioLab fire. Rockdale County schools shifted to virtual learning next week, while local leaders called for the plant’s closure.
☁️ Cloudy and 77° today. The weekend will be partly cloudy with highs in the low 80s.
🌀 Gov. Brian Kemp said during a briefing Thursday that the death toll from Hurricane Helene in Georgia has risen to 33. More than 200 people have died across the Southeast, making it the deadliest storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
❤️🩹 Our list of nonprofits, restaurants, and arts groups collecting donations for Hurricane Helene victims continues to grow.
🚒 The City of Sandy Springs will host a memorial service for its first fire chief, Jack McElfish, on Oct. 14 at city hall.
🚧 Eastbound I-285 motorists can expect overnight lane closures and traffic pacing between Riverside Drive and Roswell Road for bridge and median construction work through Oct. 12.
💰The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has awarded nearly $4.5 million to three organizations to provide job training to residents living in Atlanta’s Westside neighborhoods of English Avenue and Vine City.
🍎 A group of Dunwoody residents who have been assisting a terminally ill woman and her 11-year-old daughter have succeeded in fulfilling one of her final bucket list items – a trip to New York City.
💰 Ten Georgians, led by Chick-fil-A’s Cathy family, made Forbes’ annual 400 list of America’s richest people. Elon Musk topped the list at $244 billion.
ELSEWHERE
⚖️ Three former Memphis police officers were convicted of witness tampering in the Tyre Nichols case, but acquitted of the most serious charges. They still face potential murder charges in state court for the beating death of the Black motorist.
🚢 The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers has reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.
➡ The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two more tropical cyclones growing in the Atlantic: Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie. Currently, neither poses a direct threat to land.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Weekend events
• Film Review: ‘A Different Man’
• The Sports Section
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
Have a good weekend,
Collin & Sammie
📌 The Druid Hills Community Yard Sale is Sat., Oct. 5 from 9 am.-2 p.m., rain or shine. Use this map of participants to plan your pickin’! Druid Hills Civic Association organizes great events like these. Join today! SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Weekend fun: Decatur Book Festival, Candler Park Fall Fest and more
🎨 It’s a busy weekend of events and festivals around Atlanta. We’ve got the events you can’t miss.
Here’s a partial rundown of what’s happening:
🍂 Learn about these events and more by clicking here.
ANOTHER DON’T MISS
🏠 The Ansley Park Tour of Homes is Saturday and Sunday featuring nine homes and a church that offer a look back into the neighborhood’s rich history. The preview party, a fundraising event for the Ansley Park Civic Association, is tonight.
Fall dog care tips to prepare for the change in seasons
SPONSORED BY SCENTHOUND
🐶 October isn’t just the start of fall, it’s National Pet Wellness Month, and there’s no better time to prioritize your dog’s wellness and care.
Whether you have an active pup who loves fall hikes or a senior dog who needs extra comfort in cooler weather, CLICK HERE for some essential fall dog care tips to keep your dog happy, healthy, and cozy as the temperatures drop.
🐾 As your trusted partner in dog wellness, discover the Scenthound difference at our Buckhead, Dunwoody, and Tucker locations to get your dog all the care they need to thrive this fall!
2. ‘A Different Man’ delivers a caustic, darkly funny take on self-loathing and societal expectation
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🎭 There’s an episode of “30 Rock” where Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon dates an extremely handsome man (played by the extremely handsome Jon Hamm), and discovers the existence of The Bubble, a sort of alternate reality for very attractive people – a world where cops tear up their parking tickets, and people send them free drinks all the time.
“30 Rock” takes the bit past its logical endpoint, but it would be a lie to say that conventionally attractive people aren’t treated a little differently than everyone else. But writer/director Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” – which stars Sebastian Stan as a struggling actor with neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumors to grow all over his face and body – posits that even if you’re as good looking as, say, Sebastian Stan, beauty can only do so much. And a deeply insecure actor is the perfect focal point for a caustically funny satire about theater, self-loathing, and societal expectations.
💊 Read Sammie’s full review here.
🎞️ You can also check out her review of “The Outrun,” starring Saoirse Ronan, here.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
3. Falcons win in OT; KSU on national TV tonight
♂️ The Sports Section is Sponsored by Gameday Men’s Health Buckhead. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about a disease that affects one in eight men.
🏈 Kirk Cousins threw for a franchise-record 509 yards and four touchdowns, including a 45-yard game-winner to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime, as the Falcons beat the Buccaneers 36-30 last night.
🏀 Caitlin Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year after leading the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
⚽ Atlanta United is holding onto the faintest of faint playoff hopes. They play the New York Red Bulls tomorrow at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 7:30 p.m. (Apple TV+, 92.9 FM).
🏒 The New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres open the NHL season in Prague today at 1 p.m. (NHL Net).
🏈 The Drive for the GHSA State Title continues tonight with the Creekview Grizzlies vs. the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets, live on the Peachtree Sports Network at 8 p.m. Stream the game on Atlanta News First, ZEAM, and the NFHS Network.
🏈 GHSA extended the high school football regular season by one week due to Hurricane Helene.
🏈 Here are tomorrow’s local college games:
- No. 5 Georgia hosts Auburn at 3:30 p.m. (ABC, 95.5 FM).
- Georgia Tech hosts Duke at 8 p.m. (ACC, 93.7 FM).
- Kennesaw State hosts Jacksonville State tonight at 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network).
- Morehouse plays Tuskegee University in Columbus, GA at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).
- Clark Atlanta hosts Savannah State at 2 p.m.
- West Georgia hosts Austin Peay at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).
- Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and Mercer are off this week.
🏈 Tonight’s Kennesaw State vs. Jacksonville State game is KSU’s first Conference USA game and its third nationally televised matchup.
📌 The Druid Hills Community Yard Sale is Sat., Oct. 5 from 9 am.-2 p.m., rain or shine. Use this map of participants to plan your pickin’! Druid Hills Civic Association organizes great events like these. Join 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 Atlanta monitoring air quality after Rockdale chemical fire
② Atlanta real estate icon Jenny Pruitt dead at 85 (pictured)
③ Mall West End purchased for mixed-use development
④ Judge strikes down Georgia ban on abortions
⑤ How Atlantans can help with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts
💭 Test your knowledge of the week’s news in tomorrow’s News Quiz. Keep an eye out for our email at 8 a.m. or bookmark this page!
🛍️ Amazon has launched early Prime Big Deal Days sales across several categories, offering savings like a half-price Echo Dot ahead of the official Oct. 8-9 event. Support local journalism by using this link whenever you shop on Amazon and a portion of the proceeds will go to Rough Draft. SHOP WITH ROUGH DRAFT