AM ATL: 📈 Interest rates continue to rise

Good morning, people! Expect high temperatures around 70 with a chance of rain and a few isolated storms this afternoon.

Get ready to take a look inside Atlanta’s soon-to-open Public Safety Training Center, Donald Trump’s recent nomination to Georgia – and the Falcons’ bold move at quarterback. Plus reader-submitted book recommendations!

But first: lights on fire.

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Up in the smoke

Photo credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Photo credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

My goodness, people. They do it again.

The state Public Service Commission has unanimously approved another rate increase for Georgia Power for people like you and me. Starting January 1st, our monthly electricity bills will increase by approximately 3.5%. – or, on average, a little less than six dollars.

In and of itself? That’s just kind of annoying.

But the bigger picture is approaching bank-breaking territory, if it’s not already there.

I’m making fuzzy number estimates here – but that represents an overall increase of almost 33%. Even Commissioner Bubba McDonald Executives at Georgia Power and its revenue-happy parent Southern Company suggested “stopping for a bit.”

(Of course, he still voted for the increase.)

To be clear, some of these rate increases were annual increases in your garden variety. Others are related to rising fuel prices and the huge cost overruns associated with Plant Vogtle’s nuclear reactors.

By summer we will know how much Georgia Power will charge for the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

Which left thousands of people, you know, without power. But I suspect that is neither here nor there.

Not registered yet? What are you waiting for? Get AM ATL in your inbox every weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.

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FEEL PEACHY

Photo credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Photo credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

A few hours after Georgia’s 16 Republican electors officially cast their votes for Donald Trump, The president-elect announced plans to appoint Herschel Walker — the former UGA football star and failed U.S. Senate candidate — as his ambassador to the Bahamas.

That seems like a pretty great gig if you get confirmation.

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Still chugging along

A Fulton County judge on Tuesday sentenced Shannon Stillwell, a former defendant in the Young Slime Life gang and racketeering case, to probation and a five-year ban from metro Atlanta.

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Columnist corner

» Bill Torpy comments on this Georgia’s Prison Crisis (Sorry, Commissioner)and called it a reflection of our collective inhumanity.

» Meanwhile, Nedra Rhone continues to talk the recent legal battle over cancer-causing hair straighteners – and says it’s important for these companies to take responsibility.

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AN OPENING RIGHT NOW

Photo credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Photo credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

After more than three years of controversy, the death of a protester and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, The Public Safety Training Center in Atlanta is scheduled to open soon.

The AJC’s Riley Bunch was given a tour of the new facility in South DeKalb, which includes training facilities for police and fire personnel.

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THE AM ATL BOOK CLUB

After revealing the AJC’s Best Southern Books for 2024, I asked you all to do this Offer some reading recommendations of your own (Southern or not, released this year or not, didn’t matter). Here you will find a short selection of the submissions!

Tyler’s two cents: Everyone seems to love The Women, a historical fiction about nurses during the Vietnam War; I haven’t read The Demon of Unrest, but Larson is a nonfiction genius; and “Demon Copperhead,” a modern Southern retelling of “David Copperfield,” is truly excellent.

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PENIX TIME

Photo credit: Brynn Anderson/AP

Photo credit: Brynn Anderson/AP

The Falcons still have a path to the playoffs – and they change the starting quarterbacks.

Head coach Raheem Morris announced the move for rookie Michael Penix Jr. less than 24 hours after Kirk Cousins’ recent dismal performance, calling it “a football decision.” Presumably as opposed to a contract based on the grand old Cousins ​​contract.

Columnist Michael Cunningham says it’s the right choice.

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EAT YOUR FEELINGS

West Egg Café will close on December 29th, ending a 20-year history Providing breakfast, brunch and community in Atlanta’s Westside. But you can keep the memories alive with recipes for West Egg classics like churro waffles, fried chicken hash, and black bean cake!

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MORE TO DISCOVER

» Atlanta’s tallest tower snags a law firm tenant

» Justice Department sues city of Brunswick over homeless shelter

» Georgia man convicted of assaulting police during Jan. 6 riots

» TLC, Teddy Swims, Megan Moroney on Seacrest’s New Year’s Eve show

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ON THIS DATE

December 18, 1903

Man can fly! The brothers in Kitty Hawk proved it!

Okay, so those weren’t the Atlanta Journal’s exact words about the Wright Brothers’ historic flight. But the newspaper was pretty enthusiastic: “The machine flew for three miles, despite a wind blowing at the recorded speed of 21 miles per hour, and then sank gracefully to the earth at what the man in the navigator’s car described as had selected a suitable landing site.”

Photo credit: file photo

Photo credit: file photo

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Photo credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Photo credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

AJC photographer Miguel Martinez captured the Renaissance scene at a recent Bartow County Planning Commission meeting to discuss a possible quarry in the 14,000-acre Pine Log Wildlife Management Area. Residents fear that attempts to preserve the site would be a “pipe dream”.

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ONE MORE THING

Tell your kids or grandkids that “Bluey” – the lovable cartoon dog from Down Under – is getting her own movie. For real life!

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Thank you for reading AM ATL to the end. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at [email protected].

See you next time.