Atlanta Beltline names developer for Murphy Crossing project

1 big thing: Revitalizing Murphy Crossing

2. Trail notes: Poll week

Illustration of an elephant trunk and a donkey hoof reaching for a peach.

3. A new U.S. House delegate?

4. "A Man in Full" is Downtown

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Do you see yourself with a new career?

5. Five-ish points: Post office named for John Lewis

Illustration of five peaches spelling out "5-Ish Points."

😎 Today's weather: Sweet, sweet relief. A high of 78.

Situational awareness: The Braves' single-game postseason tickets go on sale at 10am today. Get yours here.

Today's newsletter is 895 words — a 3-minute read. 

😋 Emma finally tried Rumi last night. Totally delicious. The noon. The Soltani. The tahdig!

🥟 Kristal needs to set aside time to make dumplings. 

This newsletter was edited by Jen Ashley and copy edited by Alex Perry.

Atlanta

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Atlanta. Written by Emma Hurt, Kristal Dixon and Thomas Wheatley.

Axios Atlanta

1 big thing: Mental health crisis calls spike  

Illustration of a heart rate line as if it were an ellipsis within a typing text indicator.

Georgia Power wants to increase electricity prices

2. 🔌 Kilowatts killing our wallets 

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Attorney must stay with defendants in APS cheating scandal

3. Attorney must stay with defendants in APS cheating scandal

Xi'an Gourmet House wins with simple menu and excellent taste

4. Go eat: Xi'an Chinese Gourmet

An overhead shot of spicy Chinese noodles with tofu, carrots and mushrooms

Now hiring: New job openings

5. Five-ish points: Explore our neighborhoods

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Today's weather: Sunny and hot, with a high of 92º.

Situational awareness: This afternoon, a state commission will award licenses to companies that want to produce low-THC oil. 

📚 Become an Axios Atlanta member and contribute $100 or more between now and September 30th to receive a copy of Axios' "Smart Brevity" book! Promotion terms apply.

Today's newsletter is 898 words — a 3-minute read. 

😩 Kristal strongly encourages you to isolate new houseplants to prevent pests from infecting existing plants. I'm speaking from experience.

🤫 Emma recently replaced a few hanging plants she just couldn't get to stay alive with...fake ones. 

🕺🏼Thomas hopes his houseplants like Dorothy Ashby because that’s today‘s soundtrack.

Two companies given OK to produce medical cannabis

1 big thing: Weed gets a green light

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2. An interior secretary visits Georgia

Do you clean your Herbie Curbie?

3. Do you clean your Herbie Curbie?

4. 🎡 North Georgia State Fair is back! 

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New jobs to check out

5. 🥳 Five points: Truist Park's 3 millionth fan

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🍂Today's weather: It's the first day of fall, but it won't feel like it. High of 93.

Situational awareness: The early rollout of the $350 cash assistance payments to those on Medicaid, SNAP and TANF benefits isn't going smoothly for everyone. 

The state’s Department of Human Services has been beset by complaints from people struggling to access or use the funds.

Today's newsletter is 893 words — a 3-minute read.

🧺 Kristal finally got her weekend laundry out of the dryer.

🚴 Thomas is driving to St. Simons and planning to ride bikes, drink kombucha and sing karaoke. 

🛻 Emma just learned that Thomas used to work as a pharmacy delivery guy. Ask him about it sometime. 

Georgia breweries come back strong

1 big thing: Brews you can use

Cobb school board approves rules to stop disruptions

2. Cracking down on school board disruptions

Nearly 40% of Atlanta workers now work from home

3. You're not the only one working on the couch  

4. 🌿 Pic du jour: All the houseplants

Fresh job openings around town

5. Five-ish Points: Johns Creeks' new Medley

Today's weather: Sunny with a high of 71. Lovely!

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Atlanta member Jennifer Moll!

Situational awareness: Atlanta United kept its playoff hopes alive with a scoreless draw against the MLS’s top team, the Philadelphia Union. The Braves swept the Phillies. 

Take that, Philly. (Let's not talk about the Falcons' loss in L.A.) 

Today's newsletter is 890 words — a 3.5 minute read. 

👩🏽‍🍳 Kristal is so happy that her copy of Marion Grasby's Just As Delicious cookbook arrived! 

Thomas is remembering the life of Marshall Rancifer, an outspoken advocate for Atlanta‘s homeless who will be laid to rest today. 

1 big thing: All eyes on Grady

Juniper Cafe one of Bon Appetit's 50 best new restaurants

2. Yep, it's tasty: Juniper Cafe

A photo of a noodle salad bowl with fried tofu, greens and carrots, framed by gold chopsticks and a soup spoon and a small cup of Sriracha

3. Not a ranking to brag about

4. Get out: JapanFest, Ween and food

A photo of a large crowded convention center hallway with Japanese signs

5. 😢 Five-ish Points: Say it ain't so, Zesto!

Illustration of a neon sign on a metal tower reading 5ish Points. 

It's Friday. We're here. We're doing it. 

Today's weather: Sunny and gorgeous. High of 84.

Today's newsletter is 905 words — a 3.5-minute read. 

🦌 Thomas is welcoming Casper the bontebok to Zoo Atlanta. 

🌴 Emma is off for a few days celebrating a beautiful couple's wedding in the beautiful Santa Ynez valley!

😭 Kristal is sad that another Zesto is closing.

Today's newsletter was edited by Jen Ashley and copy edited by Lisa Hornung.

National

Sen. Raphael Warnock (left) and Herschel Walker. Photos: Anna Moneymaker; James Gilbert via Getty Images 

In what's still a U.S. rarity — a statewide general election between two Black nominees — Georgia's Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker is accusing Democrats, and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, of using racism "to divide us."

Why it matters: In a neck-and-neck race for a seat that could decide control of the Senate, every vote matters. Walker's strategy may be an appeal to white voters as much as — or more than — voters of color.

Driving the news: "Sen. Warnock believes America is a bad country full of racist people; I believe we’re a great country full of generous people," Walker declares in his latest ad.

Walker sought to turn the tables on Warnock on Twitter last week, with a reference to a famous line in the "I've been to the mountaintop" speech that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on the eve of his 1968 assassination.

Walker told Warnock "straighten your back — because Joe Biden is riding your back." Remember: In addition to his role as U.S. senator, Warnock is senior pastor at MLK's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Catch up quick: Walker has said that he's "dealt with racism almost my whole life." But in an April interview with Axios, he recalled that his parents "taught me when I was a little boy, there's no color in right and wrong."

Walker has spoken about how, four decades ago, during a time of racial unrest in his hometown in which the budding football star was urged to join civil rights protests, he ultimately decided not to engage.

The other side: Warnock has a long record of speaking openly about racism from his pulpit. But it’s more nuanced than Walker’s ad suggests.

In a 2018 speech on the 50th anniversary of King’s death, he compared the civil rights icon's lifelong campaign against racism to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Warnock said of “the old sin” of racism: “We don’t like to talk about it in America. But you can’t heal a disease without a diagnosis. Without a diagnosis, there’s no prescription." Still, he urged: "Don’t give up on America."

Between the lines: Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University who specializes in political mobilization and race, said Walker's new ad doesn't appear to be geared toward Black voters.

“If he hopes to over-perform the typical Republican candidate in the state amongst Black voters, this isn't the ad to do it," she told Axios. "Because most Blacks acknowledge racism, both structural and interpersonal."

Instead, the message appears to be geared toward white voters, she said — specifically to “independents who are fatigued about talking about race.” Its effectiveness, Gillespie said, remains unclear ahead of the election. 

Partisanship aside, Gillespie said wins by Black politicians — from Warnock to Republican Sen. Tim Scott in South Carolina — point to change in the American South. “It's heartening to see that in states where 30% of the population is Black, that Black senators get elected," she said. 

“The days are gone where you could just unilaterally assume that a Black candidate couldn’t win anything statewide," she said. "But race is still an element, and we have to talk about it."

The intrigue: A recent Emerson College poll showed Walker winning 25% of the Black vote, more than double former President Trump’s 11% vote share in 2020. But an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll in July pegged Walker's share of the Black vote at 9%, and a Survey USA poll around the same time placed it at 5%.

Two Black Georgia Senate rivals; two takes on racism

Herschel Walker is out with a new ad accusing Democrat Raphael Warnock of using racism "to divide us."

2022 elections

<figure><img alt="Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker" height="721" id="c3131619-fe51-4548-a31d-f9ccbf481242" src="https://images.axios.com/vYCXpXgdqor2h6vUnub5BOGkct8=/2022/09/08/1662669223622.jpg" width="1280"/><figcaption>Sen. Raphael Warnock (left) and Herschel Walker. Photos: Anna Moneymaker; James Gilbert via Getty Images </figcaption></figure>In what&#x27;s still a U.S. rarity — a statewide general election between two Black nominees — Georgia&#x27;s Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker is accusing Democrats, and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, of using racism &quot;to divide us.&quot;Why it matters: In a neck-and-neck race for a seat that could decide control of the Senate, every vote matters. Walker&#x27;s strategy may be an appeal to white voters as much as — or more than — voters of color.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

The rollout of cash assistance payments that Gov. Brian Kemp allocated to Medicaid SNAP and TANF recipients isn't going smoothly for everyone.

Driving the news: The Department of Human Services, which is administering the $350 payments, has been beset by complaints from people having trouble accessing or using the funds at certain stores. 

Catch up quick: Kemp announced $1 billion of the state's federal COVID relief dollars would go towards these payments to adults and children last month. 

The first round of payments to 3 million eligible Georgians began going out via email this week for recipients to access via digital wallet apps like Apple Pay.

What they're saying: Thousands of people have been commenting on the department's Facebook page in the last day. One post garnered 5,500 comments and shares within two hours. 

Angel Butts of Fairburn, Ga. told Axios the virtual card was declined at gas stations, a grocery store and at Walmart. She said she had to leave a cart full of groceries at the Walmart register when the payment wouldn't work. 

"I was so embarrassed. I had my kids with me and they didn't understand why we couldn't get this stuff," the mother of four said. 

Butts said it was "chaos" at the Union City Walmart as other people appeared to struggle with the same issue Tuesday. "It was a lot of abandoned carts full of groceries," she said, explaining Walmart staff recognized the problem but couldn't fix it. 

The other side: In a statement to Axios, the department's Communications Director Kylie Winton said that more than $70 million in payments have already been claimed, "with tens of millions of dollars already spent at thousands of locations."

"Customers who attempt to purchase restricted items with their virtual card in store or online will have their card declined per the cardholder agreement." 

Winton said the department is working as quickly as possible to respond to a high volume of calls and social media messages. 

Details: The state restricted the funds from any "illegal" purchases or purchases of things like gaming, adult entertainment, liquor, tobacco or firearms, but no one contacted by Axios said they were buying such items when the card was declined. 

The FAQs also say the the card can be used online and in-person via a digital wallet, "anywhere Mastercard debit cards [are] accepted in the U.S." 

In a Facebook comment, Jennifer Young wrote: "Y'all can just keep my fake Monopoly money...save us the embarrassment of going shopping and getting declined in front of half your town and having to walk out with your kids not understanding what's happening." 

Jessica Fields of Rochelle, Ga. said after two days of hunting she has only been able to use the cards at one of fifteen gas stations, only sporadically at one McDonalds and only online at Walmart.

 "You're really lost with this card. It's really a gamble," she told Axios. She's been having to carry her kids in and out of retailers to test it at each place. 

"I was excited. I felt like that's a way to get ahead of bills. That's a way to get Christmas out of the way," she said of the initial announcement. 

Fields said she's also been helping elderly relatives who had no idea that selecting an "email" option of receipt meant they would have to use a digital wallet, nor how to use one. 

Of note: According to Facebook comments, others have struggled without phones new enough to facilitate digital wallet apps, or struggled in smaller towns to find stores that even accept tap-to-pay payments. 

Yes, but: Some recipients have reported on social media that they were able to use the funds. Butts says she was eventually able to use it on Walmart.com and to pay an online electric bill. But the uncertainty of where it will work, she said, remains frustrating. 

She was hoping to buy groceries, catch up on bills and buy her children school clothes, which she they need to try on in store. 

"They may have had good intentions but the way that they started rolling it out, I feel like it was irresponsible," Butts told Axios. "It felt like it was good, but it was an afterthought as well. Just trying to hush us up because of all the election stuff going on." 

Fraught early rollout of cash payments to Medicaid, SNAP recipients

A deluge of social media users complain they've had trouble accessing the funds.

Illustration of a despondent George Washington on the dollar bill

Georgia

The rollout of cash assistance payments that Gov. Brian Kemp <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="allocated" data-vars-click-url="https://dfcs.georgia.gov/services/cash-assistance-medicaid-snap-andor-tanf-recipients" data-vars-content-id="be07bc68-3446-43db-b2da-0bf640d7e36b" data-vars-headline="Fraught early rollout of cash payments to Medicaid, SNAP recipients" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://dfcs.georgia.gov/services/cash-assistance-medicaid-snap-andor-tanf-recipients" target="_blank">allocated</a> to Medicaid SNAP and TANF recipients isn&#x27;t going smoothly for everyone.Driving the news: The Department of Human Services, which is administering the $350 payments, has been beset by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="complaints" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaDepartmentofHumanServices/" data-vars-content-id="be07bc68-3446-43db-b2da-0bf640d7e36b" data-vars-headline="Fraught early rollout of cash payments to Medicaid, SNAP recipients" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaDepartmentofHumanServices/" target="_blank">complaints</a> from people having trouble accessing or using the funds at certain stores.

News

With a population of 43,000, Coffee County doesn't usually get much attention. In the past two years, that's changed.

What's happening: Interest in the county's handling of the 2020 election has broadened as details emerge about a team of consultants allied with former President Donald Trump.  In January 2021, those consultants accessed and copied some of its election server files. 

Some were hired by former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. 

Surveillance video reported by The Washington Post and the AJC yesterday brought to light even more visits to the county.

Accessing confidential election data is illegal.

The big picture: Some parties involved also appear to have been working to access election data in Michigan and Nevada. Others led the team running the so-called "audit" of Arizona's election results — all states that became top targets of "stolen election" theories by Trump and his allies.

Why it matters: On top of the criminal investigation of this breach, which could result in charges from the attorney general, it has become part of the Fulton County DA's investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which the DA outlined in her subpoena of Powell.

Catch up quick: The secretary of state investigated Coffee County over recount issues after the election. 

Its top elections official, Misty Hampton, resigned in early 2021 as the investigation was forwarded to the AG. The state determined Hampton had failed to follow training and state election rules about ballot management during the 2020 recount.

Threat level: Court filings say the groups allegedly copied election management software server hard drives and copied cast ballots via a borrowed scanner.

Hampton told The Washington Post this year that she had left the consultants unsupervised: "I don't see why anything that is dealing with elections is not open to the public. Why would you want to hide anything?” 

Yes, but: The problem with Coffee's election is not indicative of a broader problem with election security, insists Gabriel Sterling, a top executive in the secretary of state's office. 

"The real problem that's been pointed out here was you had a bad actor." 

"A bad actor, regardless of what system you have, a ballot marking device, hand-marked paper ballot, anything…they have access, they have passwords, and that's always going to be bad."

The state has a "distributed system" he said, so that even if one machine or server is accessed, others are protected.

The other side: Still, the fact of the breach shows a major vulnerability, a lawyer in the election security lawsuit, David Cross, told Axios. “The point being, to get that kind of unfettered access tells you that your security system is fundamentally nonexistent.”

What we're watching: In March 2022, the secretary of state's office reopened its investigation into Coffee County after learning of the possible breach; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has joined that probe. 

What's going on with Coffee County?

The tiny county typically doesn't draw much attention.

Illustration of an open lock on a voting ballot.

With a population of 43,000, Coffee County doesn&#x27;t usually get much attention. In the past two years, that&#x27;s changed.What&#x27;s happening: Interest in the county&#x27;s handling of the 2020 election has broadened as details <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="emerge" data-vars-click-url="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/15/sidney-powell-coffee-county-sullivan-strickler/" data-vars-content-id="cbaab0f1-3794-486b-9200-dd811a7d77c9" data-vars-headline="What&#x27;s going on with Coffee County?" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/15/sidney-powell-coffee-county-sullivan-strickler/" target="_blank">emerge</a> about a team of consultants allied with former President Donald Trump. In January 2021, those consultants accessed and copied some of its election server files.

When the new national mental health crisis line, 988, launched in mid-July, Georgia saw an expected increase in calls for help. Now, the state needs to allocate more money to support the surge in demand.

Driving the news: Georgia is one of the first states to report preliminary data from 988's first days online. And state officials saw a 14% increase in call, text and chat volume during that time from the year prior, or a total of more than 37,500 calls in 45 days.  

Why it matters: The new three-digit national suicide prevention and mental health hotline was designed to make it easier for Americans dealing with a crisis to call or text for help.  

Of note: Georgia's existing, 16-year-old crisis number, the Georgia Crisis and Access Line remains operational, but its staff is now answering both 988 and GCAL. 

What's happening: According to Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald, they expected an uptick in call volume with the rollout. And they expect the increase to continue. 

With the new line, the state has seen an increase in the number of "active rescues" per day, or cases that require an EMS or police response. In the first 45 days of 988 Georgia saw 10.5 daily average rescues, versus 8.5 the year prior.

About 97% of incoming calls and texts were answered in Georgia, with an average wait time of about 7.4 seconds, the department reports. 

The big picture: 988 nationally, which is being led by the Substance Use and Mental Health Administration, has seen a 45% increase in call volume, even without a large-scale marketing campaign. 

What she's saying: "I've been in the field for over 25 years. I truly believe that this is the biggest point of transformation in my career," Fitzgerald told Axios of 988. 

"Because I believe that in Georgia and everywhere, it's really going to expose the level of need for people all around the state."

Zoom in: The highest prevalence of calls per capita during the first 45 days was in Webster County, in southwest Georgia — more than double the rate in Fulton County. 

Fitzgerald pointed out they had already noticed rural Georgia's suicide rate spike 8.3%, even while more urban areas had been seeing fewer suicides.

Secondly, she said the state has worked with the Farm Bureau and the University of Georgia to spread rural awareness about mental health resources, which could also contribute to the prevalence.

Yes, but: The increase in call volume means the state will also need to increase its services for all levels of crisis, including increasing mobile response team bandwidth and the beds and nurses needed to treat some patients.

The department secured $20 million from the state and federal governments for its crisis response last year, but it has estimated it needs an additional $283 million annually, plus $150 million in one-time construction costs.

What we're watching: To meet the projected demand, the department expects Georgia needs to double its community crisis bed capacity.

Demand for mobile crisis services is expected to increase by as much as 176%.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Georgia's 988's rollout exposes more mental health needs

Since its launch, the volume of crisis calls and texts have surged.

Mental health

When the new national mental health crisis line, 988, launched in mid-July, Georgia saw an expected increase in calls for help. Now, the state needs to allocate more money to support the surge in demand.Driving the news: Georgia is one of the first states to report preliminary data from 988&#x27;s first days online. And state officials saw a 14% increase in call, text and chat volume during that time from the year prior, or a total of more than 37,500 calls in 45 days.

Two weeks after Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center announced it would close by Nov. 1, state and local leaders say they have come up with a way to fill the gap.  

Driving the news: On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp announced the state is giving $130 million of its federal COVID relief money to fund a 185-bed expansion at Grady Health System, the city’s remaining Level 1 trauma center. 

Kemp said the state will immediately send to Grady a 24-bed mobile hospital unit that was used during the early days of the pandemic.

Those join the 40 beds Grady already planned to add in the coming months. 

The big picture: Grady President & CEO John Hauper told reporters that after the expansion, targeted at the end of 2023, the coverage gap left by Atlanta Medical Center’s closure will be more than covered. 

While the Wellstar hospital was licensed for nearly 500 beds, he said its average adult patient load was actually 165 per day.

The confidence is a shift in tone from Grady's original statement about the closure, accusing Wellstar of having "clearly prioritized profits over people" with their decision.

Of note: With the new beds, Grady will become the largest Level 1 trauma center in the country in terms of number of trauma patients admitted, a spokesperson said.

Haupert said the expansion was already a long-term plan for the hospital, but the state funding has accelerated the timeline. In the last two weeks they’ve already begun recruiting new trauma surgeons. 

"Grady will be here. Grady is here. And Grady will serve," Haupert said.

What they're saying: "While the decision to close was certainly no one's preference, our job is to now move forward, to move forward together and find a viable solution to the needs of the impacted community," Kemp said.

"These are not Band Aid solutions," Kemp said, also highlighting the state's already-announced new funding formula designed to give Grady Health System and Augusta University Medical Center better reimbursement rates for those on public health insurance programs.

 The new formula means Grady will receive about $130 million in additional funding each year. 

The other side: In her own press conference Thursday, Democratic nominee for governor Stacey Abrams again blamed Kemp's decision not to expand Medicaid on the closure. Even though Wellstar has said that wouldn't have changed their decision, she told reporters she doesn't believe the hospital network was "wholly honest about what Medicaid expansion could have done."

The bottom line: In the short term, all of Atlanta's hospitals, including Emory Midtown, Piedmont Hospital and Southern Regional Medical Center (in Riverdale), will have to share the volume of patients who will no longer go to Atlanta Medical Center. All those providers participated in the discussions of the last two weeks, Kemp said. 

Threat level: Haupert told reporters that while the $130 million will help Grady build the new beds, the hospital still needs additional operational funding from DeKalb and Fulton counties to cover the expenses of treating more uninsured people. Right now, the two counties give Grady about $54 million per year.

While Fulton County has committed an additional one-time $11 million to give to Grady, Haupert said "more will be needed."

A plan to fill the gap left by Atlanta hospital closure

Two weeks after Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center announced it would <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="close" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/09/02/atlanta-reels-after-news-of-atlanta-medical-center-closure" data-vars-content-id="eda9e141-819a-4ed6-a183-3b5114ffc894" data-vars-headline="A plan to fill the gap left by Atlanta hospital closure" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/09/02/atlanta-reels-after-news-of-atlanta-medical-center-closure" target="_self">close</a> by Nov. 1, state and local leaders say they have come up with a way to fill the gap. Driving the news: On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp announced the state is giving $130 million of its federal COVID relief money to fund a 185-bed expansion at Grady Health System, the city’s remaining Level 1 trauma center.

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Stories

Fraught early rollout of cash payments to Medicaid, SNAP recipients

Georgia's 988's rollout exposes more mental health needs

A plan to fill the gap left by Atlanta hospital closure

Two Black Georgia Senate rivals; two takes on racism

What's going on with Coffee County?

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👍 Beltline project progress

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☎️ Crisis calls spike

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🏥 Filling the gap