Morning, y’all! It’s going to be dangerously hot over the next few days. Please use that as an excuse to neglect your outdoor chores. No one will judge you.
Let’s get to it.
GA POLITICIANS WANT LIMITS ON LICENSE PLATE READERS
Credit: Shaddi Abusaid/ shaddi.abusaid@ajc.com
Credit: Shaddi Abusaid/ shaddi.abusaid@ajc.com
Local lawmakers from both sides of the aisle say they’re interested in guardrails for Flock Safety cameras. The technology has come under new scrutiny after dozens of incidents of law enforcement personnel misusing license plate reader data for personal reasons.
What should those guardrails look like? That part isn’t clear.
- Georgia’s nominees for governor — Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson — both told the AJC they support new safeguards on the technology.
- House Speaker Jon Burns and state Sen. John Albers, who chairs the Senate Public Safety Committee, are among the powerful Republicans who say they want to balance concerns about privacy and individual safety with law enforcement claims that the technology helps solve crime.
- As chief political reporter Greg Bluestein writes, GOP leaders “seem likely to find willing partners across the aisle.”
Possible actions suggested by Georgia lawmakers
- tighter limits on how long motorist data is stored
- more regular audits to check for misuse
- tougher penalties for those who abuse it
- a block for agencies that illegally track people
- a limit on how broadly data can be shared across state lines
- a law enforcement task force to consider changes ahead of next year’s legislative session
🔎 READ MORE: Is this ... could it be ... bipartisan consensus?
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THE SEARCH FOR NONCITIZEN VOTERS TURNS UP FEW RESULTS
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Georgia have repeatedly warned of scores of noncitizen voters damaging election integrity. This tack is also used by the Trump administration to perpetuate false claims Trump won the 2020 election.
In response, Georgia recently conducted a citizenship review to root out such widespread fraud.
- The results found about 430 voters who cast ballots at some point over the past 30 years may not be citizens.
- Georgia currently has nearly 8.2 million registered voters.
- However you do the math, that makes for a vanishingly small proportion of possible (not proven) noncitizen voters.
The results track with previous state investigations.
- In 2024, Georgia election officials found 20 voter registrations out of more than 8 million to be noncitizens.
- Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said there’s a reason for these tiny numbers: Georgia elections are already secure. “Election integrity isn’t a slogan. It is the daily work of checking the voter rolls, verifying eligibility, sharing information with our counties and continually improving our systems,” he said in a statement.
🔎 READ MORE: The error-prone database the administration wants states to use
NEW INCENTIVE BOOSTS FILM INDUSTRY HOPES
Georgia film professionals are bullish on a possible new federal film industry incentive endorsed by Trump.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said Congress should immediately approve a federal incentive to create entertainment jobs, echoing efforts among Georgia industry leaders to do the same.
What would the incentive look like? Great question.
- No legislation has been drafted, and no lawmakers have stepped forward to sponsor it.
- If it comes, it could look like a rebate or a transferable tax credit or something else.
It’s not just Georgia that’s hurting
- Georgia has offered a 30% transferable tax credit for more than a decade, which effectively turned the state into a Southern Hollywood.
- However, a recent downturn in production has also affected Los Angeles and other major cities. Fewer productions are being made in general, and producers are increasingly moving projects overseas for more incentives and cheaper labor.
🔎 READ MORE: Breaking down the state of GA film and TV
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🛒 Keisha Lance Bottoms proposed temporary grocery tax relief for Georgia consumers. She says such a measure could provide cost-of-living relief for families while preserving local control.
💰 Fulton County commissioners unanimously approved a $4.4 million contract to modernize the elevators in the county’s troubled Rice Street jail. Sheriff Patrick Labat recently asked the county to expedite the project. He says frequent elevator breakdowns are continuing to pose safety and health risks to inmates and staff.
WE ARE NUMBER 1 ... FOR DATA CENTERS
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The Atlanta area has more data center space under construction than any other area, as of June 2026.
- It’s the first time Atlanta, long No. 2 in the U.S. for data center development, has surpassed Northern Virginia.
- The stat is measured by the amount of electricity developments are projected to consume.
And that leads us to this week’s “Flagship”!
I asked AJC’s resident data center expert Zach Hansen why Atlanta is such a hot market, and the answer has to do with, of all things, the 1996 Olympics.
- Communications infrastructure put in place during the Olympics meant Georgia was already primed for such construction.
- You can hear the rest of our fascinating conversation on this week’s episode of “Flagship,” the AJC’s podcast that goes behind the headlines.
- I wish I could say this was the first time I’ve trapped Zach into a long conversation about data centers, but alas.
Also this week, we hear from Keisha Lance Bottoms and that guy who rode the Fun Spot America roller coaster hundreds of times before it closed down. Not in the same interview, of course. What a party that would be.
Listen to “Flagship” on the AJC site or anywhere you get your podcasts. Just search “AJC Flagship.”
NEWS BITES
Dollywood will add new features to honor Dolly Parton, the ‘Dreamer-in-Chief’
They include a waterfall, stained glass windows and a new character called “Dream Maker” inspired by her Imagination Library. 🥹
Meet the next ‘Dancing with the Stars’ cast
Do you know how long this show has been on the air? Take a guess, I’ll put the answer in One More Thing.
Pabst Blue Ribbon offers $20,000 reward to help find 1,600 cases of stolen beer
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Pabst is kind of flattered.
Falcons still haven’t decided on Week 1 quarterback
It could be you!
ON THIS DATE
Sept. 3, 1985
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Survivor of Titanic disaster says ship should remain on ocean floor. The wreckage of the Titanic, the “unsinkable” victim of one of history’s most storied ocean disasters, has been found 13,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic … Repeated attempts over the decades to find the Titanic’s resting place had failed — largely because of the depth and the perennially harsh sea conditions in the area.
(Continued on another page): Marshall Drew, one of 21 living survivors of the Titanic’s sinking … “I don’t know what’s to be gained by looking for it.” Drew was 8 years old when he tearfully said farewell to his uncle and boarded lifeboat No. 11 with his aunt before it was lowered 70 feet from the Titanic’s deck to the dark sea. “It was like going down the side of a skyscraper,” said Drew.
And on the ocean floor it will remain.
ONE MORE THING
“Dancing with the Stars” premiered in 2005, which makes the show 21 years old. Fun fact: I covered “Dancing with the Stars” (for my job, not for fun) around 2010, so it holds a special and slightly incongruous place in my heart.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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