Ahlers & Ogletree hosts a Modern & Contemporary Art & Design auction on Sept. 2-3, featuring works by Keith Haring and Alex Katz.

Officers are investigating a stabbing near an Atlanta Kroger, and Atlanta police confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that the victim has died. Police responded to 725 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE on a stabbing call Sunday afternoon. The location is near the Beltline’s Eastside Trail. Police said the victim, who hasn’t been identified, died of their injuries at the hospital. A possible suspect has been detained. The investigation is ongoing. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

DBF lineup Saturday, Aug. 22 — The Decatur Book Festival unveiled the full lineup for its 21st annual festival, taking place Oct. 2–3 in downtown Decatur. Authors include Tomi Adeyemi, Brian Goldstone, Nghi Vo, and more. Check out the full lineup here. ☀️ Sunny with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s throughout the weekend. MARKET UPDATE 📈 The Dow jumped 517 points Friday as healthcare and crypto stocks rallied, though the S&P 500 and Nasdaq still posted their second straight weekly losses amid rising Treasury yields. LOCAL NEWS…

Chef Fuyuhiko Ito opened Japanese restaurant Sozou, the last of his three restaurants at the Spring Quarter development in Midtown

The DeKalb County School District is engaging community members from six school clusters to help shape the implementation of new and expanded schools starting in 2027.

Why all the hate? Sunday, Aug. 23 — The goal of my periodic Publisher's Note emails is to give readers a peek behind the scenes of Rough Draft and to share some of my thoughts on the business of local media. 👊 What's with everybody dissing Atlanta? Recently, a dust-up between the organizers of InvestFest and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens captivated some corners of social media (they eventually appeared to make up). Last week, Dickens unloaded on DNC leadership for not choosing Atlanta as the site for the 2028 Democratic Convention.

The Blue Stone Arts & Music Festival is scheduled to return to City Springs in Sandy Springs on September 25-26, featuring headliners Allen Stone and Nicotine Dolls alongside an artist market and interactive performances.

Meals On Wheels Atlanta is scheduled to host its ninth annual Power Luncheon on September 17 at 1705West to raise funds for local seniors through discussions on creativity and leadership.

Morehouse School of Medicine and Atrium Health have received approval to open a new teaching hospital at 675 Metropolitan Parkway SW, which will include a network of primary, urgent, and specialty care. According to a press release from the City of Atlanta, Atrium Health is committing more than $700 million in capital and clinical investment to bring a Level III trauma center to Southwest Atlanta. The new hospital will open with 50 beds with the ability to expand to more than 700 over time as community needs grow. It will deliver comprehensive acute-care, including around-the-clock emergency and Level III trauma care, obstetrics and a neonatal intensive care unit, adult critical care, advanced imaging, cardiac catheterization, interventional radiology and endoscopy.

All that glitters is gold with the Atlanta premiere of AU Room Show at Pullman Yards launching Thursday, Aug. 27, and running for a limited time through Oct. 11. Inspired by humanity’s centuries-long fascination with gold, AU Room Show explores the beauty, power, and temptation tied to it throughout history. Produced by Pink Puma Inc., in partnership with BucketListers and Pullman Yards, the 100-minute production blends aerial performances, music, contemporary choreography, and LED visuals. AU Room Show is created and produced by Polina Volchek, a former Cirque du Soleil soloist, four-time World Pole Sport & Artistic Pole Champion, world record holder and Master of Sports at the International Level.

Lethargic behavior. Slurred words. Unusual sleep patterns. Nausea and vomiting. Begging a doctor not to change a certain medication. All can be signs of misuse of fentanyl and other opioids, a hot-button concern for older adults who are more vulnerable to the lethal drug in various ways. At the same time, older adult usage and abuse of the drug is getting far less attention than usage and abuse by younger adults and teens, a disadvantage to those who are 55 plus. Dr. Tommie Richardson, a psychiatrist specializing in drug and alcohol addiction treatment in Smyrna, said the growth in the supply of fentanyl from China and Mexico has fundamentally changed the nature of the opioid crisis when compared to 10 or 15 years ago. 

Atlanta-based mental health nonprofit CHRIS 180 raised more than $915,000 at its 2026 CHRIStal Ball, held on Aug. 15 at Curate in Atlanta. More than 550 community members, sponsors and partners gathered in support of CHRIS 180’s work to heal children, strengthen families and build community, according to a press release. Funds raised through the annual event help CHRIS 180 provide trauma-informed mental and behavioral health services, foster care and adoption support, safe housing and programs. “The CHRIStal Ball is a powerful reminder of what is possible when our community comes together with a shared commitment to helping children, young adults and families,” CHRIS 180 President Cati Diamond Stone said in a statement.

It’s time to test your knowledge with this week’s Atlanta News Quiz! Click here to play, and please let us know how you do by sharing on Instagram, Facebook, or X @RoughDraftATL. This week’s quiz is sponsored by Jon Effron, Compass. 🦋 Now available for sale, one of Inman Park’s most special homes was built in 1892 by neighborhood developer Joel Hurt for his brother, Dr. Charles Hurt. 14-foot ceilings on the main level 12 fireplaces Showstopping lower and upper front porches Original architectural details throughout Grand, light-filled rooms Victorian grandeur everywhere you look 💫 Homes like this are rarely available. Schedule a private showing to experience this extraordinary home in person.

Republican Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore announced her resignation effective Sept. 4, prompting Governor Brian Kemp to appoint former Commissioner Stan Wise to fill the vacancy until the Nov. 3 election between candidates Josh Tolbert and Sheila Edwards.

Out on Film! Friday, Aug. 21 — Happy Friday, everyone! We've got a lot of film festival news today, not least of all that Out on Film has announced its lineup for 2026. There's a lot of exciting stuff here, but I'm most pumped for the Spanish film "La Bola Negra," which premiered at Cannes and won the Best Director award for Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (collectively known as Los Javis). Other highlights include the comedy "Before I Do" and the Billie Jean King documentary "Give Me the Ball."

Smothered and covered tacos? Friday, Aug. 21 — Waffle House is testing out tacos at various locations across North Georgia, including three in Sandy Springs. You can choose from seven different varieties to satisfy whatever you're in the mood to eat. 🍽️ Speaking of food, have you signed up for the Rough Draft dinner club yet? The next outing in Sandy Springs takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 15. We can’t promise you breakfast tacos, but we can assure you’ll have good food and conversation with other Rough Draft readers. 😎 We'll have lots of sun and temps in the upper 80s this weekend.

Tucker values inclusivity Friday, Aug. 21 — Katie here, back again with all things Tucker. This week's big story is all about the city's disability accessibility plan. Read on to learn more about how you can shape Tucker into becoming a more inclusive city. Plus: some exciting Tucker Pride updates and a look at the upcoming arts season. 🍃 Tucker leaders celebrated the soft opening of Johns Homestead Park on Aug. 15. In addition to repairing the dam in Twin Brothers Lakes, the City added a boardwalk, bridges, two bird blinds and a walking trail around the lakes to the 49-acre park.

The Decatur Book Festival (DBF) has unveiled the full lineup for its 21st annual festival, taking place Oct. 2–3 in downtown Decatur. Free and open to all, the festival takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in various locations, including the new Decatur Square Stage.  The 2026 Decatur Book Festival poster was designed by Vedika Mehra. This year's lineup includes authors working in literary fiction, picture books, romance and romantasy, nonfiction, science fiction, poetry, horror, memoir, chapter books and graphic novels for young readers, young adult, and many more.

Pataaka, a family-style Indian restaurant from Chef Anish Nair, opens at the Spring Quarter development in Midtown on Aug. 22.

The 2026 State of HIV Stigma Report released by GLAAD shows a growing divide between medical progress and public understanding, noting decreased knowledge levels and lower comfort with social interaction regarding those living with HIV.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has announced its much-anticipated return to Piedmont Park on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 pm with a free performance of orchestral favorites celebrating Atlanta, “The City in the Forest.” Finan Jones will conduct works by Beethoven, Mozart, and Vivaldi, among others. Mara Davis will serve as emcee for the evening. "The City in the Forest" theme evokes the great outdoors, beginning with music from Beethoven’s “Pastorale” Symphony No. 6, followed by Judith Weir’s Forest. Then, the orchestra performs works that lean into the concert’s summer-evening aspect, including one of Mozart’s most famous works, 

DNC diss Friday, Aug. 21 — MARTA is increasing its long-term parking rates by $2 a day and reducing the free period in its paid parking facilities from 24 hours to 14 hours beginning Sept. 14. The move affects all paid long-term parking locations in the system, but not MARTA’s existing free daily parking locations. 🌦️ Light rain with a high of 89° today, with sun and temperatures in the low 90s over the weekend. 🫏 Atlanta was not on the list of finalists to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention…

This article contains spoilers for the film "A Beautiful Lie." Tarnesha Small and Tiffany Yvonne Cox have a lot in common. They’re both military brats. They both started their journeys in the film industry in the acting world. And they’ve both recently made moves to step behind the camera.  “A Beautiful Lie” – written, produced by, and starring Small and directed by Cox – premiered at the 2026 Black Writers Weekend. Now, it’ll be playing at the BronzeLens Film Festival on Aug. 23 at the Tara Theatre. The film stars Small as Teri Lewis, a woman with a seemingly perfect life.

Community-centered art Thursday, Aug. 20 (7 Elul 5786) — Hi there, This week Y'alla is highlighting new voices, new events, and new ideas with our first reader letter from parent coach Jessica Dickson. ✉️ First, here's an update on the fraudulent letter being distributed to the Jewish community. It's been documented in Atlanta and New York. 🕍 The attacker on Central Synagogue, Larry Montes, is in court today. A rally was held yesterday by the Jewish community and allies in Midtown Manhattan. 👴🏼 Are grandparents trending? This High Holiday season, parents are staying back while…

Anthony Bourdain had a discerning eye. Anyone who has watched him on “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” or read his musings in “Kitchen Confidential,” can see that. Part of what made Bourdain so fun to watch was his sense of curiosity – about people, about the world, about food, and the intersections between those things. His discernment is evident in “Tony,” Matt Johnson’s movie based on the early chapters of “Kitchen Confidential,” following a teenage Bourdain’s summer working at a Provincetown fish shack. But it’s less so curiosity that drives young Tony’s (Dominic Sessa) gaze, and more wary aspiration.

Eggplant fries! Thursday, Aug. 20 — Hello, internet friends. Nobody needs reminding that the temperatures have been oppressive lately. You know what we do forget about, though? The perils of dehydration. If you've recently experienced out-of-character headaches, fatigue, or muscle spasms, those can all be signs that your body's screaming for more hydration. Stay on top of your water intake, and remember that you can also get hydrated by eating. I suggest picking up a watermelon and sprinkling salt on the slices — that way, you get some electrolytes, too. …

Rev. Dr. Joanna Moseley Adams, a pioneering Atlanta pastor and social justice advocate known for establishing various nonprofits and being the first woman hired in a full-time ordained position at Central Presbyterian Church, passed away at age 81.

MARTA is increasing its long-term parking rates by $2 a day and reducing the free period in its paid parking facilities from 24 hours to 14 hours beginning Sept. 14.  The move affects all paid long-term parking locations in the system but does not affect any of MARTA’s existing free daily parking locations. According to a statement from the transit agency, the increase supports maintenance and future upgrades to parking facilities, follows market conditions, and moves MARTA’s parking operation toward self-sufficiency. Stations increasing to $10 per day (after 14 hours):

A Colombian-born wife of an active-duty U.S. Army soldier avoided deportation after a required ICE check-in in Georgia on August 19, prompting Democratic congressional candidate Tony Kozycki to call for new federal protections for military families.

Rough Draft Atlanta is launching its first podcast. "From the Paper to the Pod," hosted by Summer Evans, is a behind-the-scenes look at the stories that appear in print, online, and in our daily newsletters.

Atlanta's iconic LGBTQ+ bar My Sister's Room is scheduled to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a birthday bash featuring various performers on August 22.

Developers are planning a 19-acre mixed-use redevelopment known as "The Canopy at Crooked Creek" on the Norcross-Peachtree Corners border, which aims to replace several commercial buildings with apartments, townhomes, and retail space.

After 10 days in isolation, a group of Georgia Tech students will be returning from Arkansas having completed their first simulated Mars mission. Southeast Analog is a program run by students at Georgia Tech interested in spaceflight. The SEA-1 Thalassa mission included six "astronauts" on a simulated Mars habitat in Arkansas and 30 crew in mission control on campus. Students in the Southeast Analog program worked in three shifts around the clock to do astronaut training, spaceflight operations, and research.

The City of Tucker is inviting residents to provide feedback on an Americans with Disabilities Act strategy through a survey and digital map available until August 31.

Tucker Pride is scheduled to release its community activity and coloring book during an event hosted by Infinite Realities on September 13.

Rough Draft Atlanta is partnering with Community Farmers Markets to let you know what’s in season at your local market. Each week, we’ll share a list of ingredients that are farm fresh, along with a couple of recipes that include those products. Here’s what you’ll find in the way of produce at the farmers market this week: Apples, peaches, figs, corn, beans, tomatoes, blueberries, muscadine grapes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, melons, eggplants, peppers (sweet peppers, poblano, shishito), raspberries, arugula, beets, bok choy, lettuce/mixed greens, microgreens, green onions, gourmet mushrooms (oyster, lion's mane, shiitake), herbs (chives, green onions, cilantro, basil, tulsi), carrots, and sweet potato greens.

Kroger Co. has settled a federal lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $75,000 following allegations of disability discrimination and retaliation against a former cashier.

Cancer breakthrough Thursday, Aug. 20 — The national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time, more than doubling in a decade, with interest payments this year totaling nearly $1.2 trillion, the government's largest expense outside Social Security and Medicare. Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, now executive director at Concord Action, said it "should be a wake-up call." 🌤️ Partly sunny with a high of 93° today. 🦠 Public health officials confirmed measles in an Atlanta-area resident, the state’s seventh case this year. Last year, Georgia had 10 measles cases and remains one of the states with a childhood vaccination rate below 95%, the target level for herd immunity.

Democrats have narrowed down their list of cities to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention. And Atlanta is no longer on it. The Associated Press reports that Boston, Denver and Philadelphia are the three finalists to host. Atlanta and Chicago, who were finalists for 2024 convention, have been removed from consideration. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement that the top three cities put forward “incredibly strong bids.” His statement did not give a reason for why Atlanta is no longer a finalist. The DNC host committee visited Atlanta, which last hosted the DNC in 1988, earlier this year as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other city and state leaders highlighted the new businesses, hotels and more going up in the downtown area.

In this week’s Quick Bites, get updates on a highly anticipated restaurant opening in Midtown, a Midwest restaurant chain’s upcoming locations around metro Atlanta, and a local bakery's expansion to Athens. We also have details on dining events, including the Wienermobile's stop at Red's Beer Garden.

The Southern touch Wednesday, Aug. 19 — The South has never needed an invitation to be part of the American fine-art conversation. We've shown up, regardless, with something significant to contribute — and always will. Proof of the first claim hangs an hour west of Atlanta, in Carrollton. The Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum is hosting "Nineteenth-Century Blues: A Quilt Study," the American Quilt Study Group's biennial traveling exhibition, through Sept. 15. Nine historic quilts drawn from across the Southeast, each carrying its own story, hang alongside 25 quilts made by AQSG members nationwide, each a fresh reinterpretation of a 19th-century Americana original.

⚖️ Best served cold Wednesday, Aug. 19 — It's Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. It's been an interesting few weeks for development in the city, with some major projects moving through the Dunwoody Planning Commission and heading toward the city council for consideration. Before we get to that and other stories of interest, here are a few newsy items. 🦋 The Dunwoody Nature Center's Butterfly Experience lands on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 5 and 6. 🌶️ Applications for the Atlanta Chili Cook-Off competition are now open.

Author Callie Murray discussed her historical fiction novel "The Brunswick" and its charitable success during a Norcross PDC meeting held on August 19.

Echoes of the past Wednesday, Aug. 19 — The arrest of My Sister's Room co-owner Jen Maguire early Sunday morning by an Atlanta Police officer following a noise complaint is still under investigation (read more below), but the incident has now gone national as questions swirl about law enforcement targeting LGBTQ+ establishments in this era of emboldened homophobia and transphobia. For me, it immediately brought to mind APD's notorious – and illegal – 2009 raid on The Eagle, which forced the chief to resign and led to a major overhaul of policing tactics.

To your health Wednesday, Aug. 19 — Happy Wednesday! Do you have hobbies? Not something that you've monetized or turned into a "side hustle" (*groan*). Not something you're trying to win or set a personal best in. Just something you do purely for joy and fun. For me, that's playing the ukulele. I grew up playing classical piano and singing in various choirs, so music is my first love. But sitting down at a piano these days is the opposite of fun. My fingers feel clunky. My sight reading is rusty.

Business and civic leadership organization the Buckhead Coalition has appointed Tommy Holder to serve as its next chair, effective January 2027. Holder, a longtime Buckhead resident and business and civic leader, will succeed Jonathan Rodbell, who served as chair for 2025 and 2026. “One of Buckhead’s greatest strengths has always been the people and partnerships that come together to move our community forward,” Holder said in a statement. “It’s an honor to serve as Chair of the Buckhead Coalition and build on the strong foundation already in place. Working alongside CEO Katharine Kelley, our members and community partners, I look forward to championing ideas, initiatives, and opportunities that keep Buckhead and the Metro Atlanta region thriving for years to come.”

During PDS Health's annual Smile Generation Serve Day on August 15, Dr. Shivani Mallishery and her staff at Chastain Park Dentistry in Sandy Springs provided free dental care to several underserved patients.

The Sandy Springs City Council approved $1.775 million in fee waivers for Woodfield Development to support the overhaul of the North River Shopping Center and the creation of a new city park.

The Atlanta Beltline announced Wednesday that it is expanding the ATL Spoke autonomous transit shuttle service to include the Atlanta University Center. The expanded route provides an additional connection to the already established service between the West End MARTA Station, the Atlanta Beltline Southwest Trail, and the Lee + White commercial district. According to a press release, the expanded route creates a new connection for AUC students and faculty, as well as residents and visitors, ahead of the fall semester at Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark-Atlanta. The shuttle service launched just before the FIFA World Cup matches began in Atlanta as part of a…

Police at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have ended a controversial drug interdiction program that involved stopping travelers on jet bridges, taking their tickets and searching their luggage, according to the organization that sued on behalf of two entertainers subjected to the encounters. A spokesman for the Policing Project at NYU School of Law said Tuesday that the Clayton County Police Department had agreed to settle the lawsuit by entertainers Eric André and Clayton English, with the dismissal was filed Friday in federal court. “It’s a major victory that Clayton County has confirmed that it has ended this program and is now taking steps to prevent this type of abuse from happening in the future,” André said in a statement.