![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-1-1.jpg)
Mother Earth Monday
April 22 — Today is the last day to register to vote in the May 21 primary election. Check your voter status here.
🌞 Sunny and 67° today. The rest of the week will be a mix of sun and clouds with highs in the mid-70s.
🗳 The City of Atlanta is putting a 1-cent sales tax renewal referendum to pay for water and sewer projects on next month’s primary ballot.
🩺 Gov. Brian Kemp reiterated his opposition to expanding Medicaid in the state during a media forum last week.
🍽️ Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday that Atlanta will participate in one of 16 public-private partnerships receiving federal funding to address equitable food access and economic empowerment in underserved communities.
🔥 Popular Jamaican restaurant Dat Fire Jerk Chicken near Mercedes-Benz Stadium was gutted during a grilling accident on Saturday.
🗣️ The Fulton County Commission updated its ethics and anti-nepotism policies to cover elected officials.
🎉 Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole Hayes’ foundation will sponsor the upcoming student prom at Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta. Mays graduates will also receive automatic acceptance to Atlanta’s Morris Brown College.
✡️ Passover starts at sundown tonight. The eight-day holiday marks the emancipation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt and is observed in part by eating unleavened bread (matzah). For last-minute planners, here are some kosher wine and local food tips. Chag Sameach to all who celebrate.
ELSEWHERE
💰 The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The bill moves to the Senate where it is expected to pass.
⚖️ Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
🎸 Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Foreigner, and A Tribe Called Quest were named to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• How local biz views a TikTok ban
• The art of Elizabeth Hautau Karp
• The joys of chilled red wine
• Global Headlines
AND
• Look & Listen
Happy Earth Day, too!
Collin & Sammie
🍸JF&CS invites you to sip, savor, and support at The Tasting Experience. Guests can enjoy a silent auction, delicious tastings from some of Atlanta’s best restaurants and caterers, and spirits and wine from local distributors while supporting Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Services of JF&CS. Click here to purchase.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-2-1024x639.png)
1. Small business owners worry over possible TikTok ban
➡ Tacked onto the congressional aid package noted above is legislation that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year.
📱 Local TikTokers gathered last week to discuss how the platform has helped their businesses, expressing worry over how a potential ban could affect them.
The TikTok-hosted event at Sugar Baby Creamery in Atlanta included business owners Lynda and Paul Truong of Love & Pebble, a skincare company; Glennda Baker, a local real estate agent; Josh Wikoff, CEO of Peachtree Hearing, an Atlanta audiology practice; and Robert Lucas, a self-taught cake artist and baker.
The business owners discussed how they became involved with TikTok and the growth that they’ve experienced since. During a question and answer session, the TikTokers talked about how their businesses would be impacted should Congress decide to ban the app.
➡️ Read more of Sammie’s report here.
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-3-3.png)
Explore Olmsted’s legacy at the 56th Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour
SPONSORED BY DRUID HILLS CIVIC ASSOCIATION
🌻 Experience the charm and history of Atlanta’s treasured Olmsted neighborhood at the Historic Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour, April 26-28.
Frederick Law Olmsted, the mastermind behind America’s most iconic parks and estates, seamlessly integrated natural landscapes with residential development – not only for aesthetics but for the health and well-being of residents. Druid Hills continues to be a shining example of his legacy, having preserved its unique heritage and natural beauty amidst Atlanta’s growth and challenges.
🏡 Each home and garden on the 2024 Tour is a showcase of true Druid Hills stewardship; we invite you to come see why. Visit druidhillstour.org to learn more about these unique properties…the ones you’ve always wanted to peek inside and now have the chance to!
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-4-1-1024x683.jpg)
2. The chaos of a garden at night: the art of Elizabeth Hautau Karp
🌼 With the swipe of her brush, artist Elizabeth Hautau Karp brings forth vibrant, joyous blooms that seemingly burst out of the darkness of a canvas.
One recent sunny morning, Isadora Pennington stopped by Karp’s home studio to check in on her current projects, learn about her process, and see her workspace. The piece she was working on had a dark background, a common trait in a lot of Karp’s work. The dark background of the piece gave birth to a flurry of life, offering a glimpse of the freedom of motion one would expect from a field of wildflowers.
“When I try to describe them, it’s that I’m a small child and it’s midnight in the garden, and I’m on my hands and knees crawling through, just being an observer,” said Karp.
🖼️ Read more from Isadora here.
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-5-1-1024x724.png)
3. Women + Wine: the rosés and chillable reds you should be sipping this spring
🍷 One of the best things about living in a “city in the forest” is watching how beautifully spring blooms in Atlanta. The weather is warm, the sun is out, and festival season is underway.
There are plenty of quaffable white wines to sip, and cool, chillable reds to pour. Spring also ushers in new rosé vintages, with those from 2023 starting to hit shelves.
Atlanta-based wine consultant Whitney Blue has her eye on a few bottles people should be drinking as we head into the warmer months.
🍾 Check out more in our latest Women + Wine column.
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-6-3.png)
4. Israel intel chief resigns; Dubai floods; Joy in Wrexham
🇮🇱 The head of Israel’s military intelligence resigned today. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva had previously accepted responsibility over the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 and left another 253 as hostages.
➡ Related, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to strongly oppose reported U.S. plans to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank.
🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed optimism that the U.S. $61 billion aid package, prioritizing air defense and long-range artillery, could significantly bolster Ukraine’s chances of victory against Russia.
🇦🇪 Historic flooding hit normally sunny and dry Dubai last week. The United Arab Emirates got a year’s worth of rain in 24 hours.
🇪🇸 In Spain’s Canary Islands, thousands of people protested what they say is a tourism model that drives up housing costs and strains resources. Protestors are demanding limits on the number of tourists and foreign property purchases.
🇰🇪 Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir set a new women’s only world record at yesterday’s London Marathon. Her time of 2 hours, 16 minutes, 16 seconds broke Mary Keitany’s previous record of 2:17:01.
🏴 Wrexham AFC, the Welsh football team made famous by its celebrity owners, was promoted to the third tier of English soccer. “This is the ride of our lives,” actor Ryan Reynolds said.
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-7-2.png)
🗓️ Join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta for “Europe at a Crossroads: Navigating the 21st Century.” Keynote speaker, Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director of the Center on the United States and Europe at The Brookings Institution, will provide insightful analysis of the evolving landscape of Europe on May 8 at 11:30 a.m.
🍸JF&CS invites you to sip, savor, and support at The Tasting Experience. Guests can enjoy a silent auction, delicious tastings from some of Atlanta’s best restaurants and caterers, and spirits and wine from local distributors while supporting Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Services of JF&CS. Click here to purchase.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-8-2.png)
5. Of recent interest
🎙️ Rough Draft’s Senior Editor Beth McKibben joined 99X’s “The Morning X with Barnes & Leslie” to discuss her latest food coverage.
🎧 Longtime New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling retired last week. Sterling spent nine years in Atlanta calling games for the Braves and the Hawks, including the marathon game on July 4, 1985, when Braves pitcher Rick Camp homered in the bottom of the 18th inning.
🎙️ Follow along with the criminal trial of former President Trump in NPR’s “Trump’s Trials” podcast which is updated almost daily.
🎧 On the latest episode of “The New Yorker Radio Hour,” NYU professor Jonathan Haidt discusses his new book, “The Anxious Generation,” and has tips and tricks for those of us looking to make technology work for us instead of being beholden to our phone’s notifications.
🎙️ The Young Thug / YSL trial has slipped from the daily headlines but continues in the Fulton County Courthouse. iHeart decided not to renew the critically acclaimed “King Slime” podcast with local journalists Christina Lee and George Chidi. Hear the final episode here.
![](https://roughdraftatlanta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD-9-1.png)
Even the advertisers are interesting
📧 Today’s newsletter was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.