AM ATL: The price of procrastination

Hello, all of you! A familiar forecast today: temperatures in the mid-80s with scattered storms expected.

Separately, today’s newscast includes a break from the Fulton County lawsuit against Donald Trump, a longtime TV journalist moving on, and Tyler Perry on “stealing while black.” Plus a two-time Peachtree Road Race winner suspended for doping and a Georgia student accepted to more than 200 colleges.

Let’s go.

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WANTED: BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

It is extremely difficult to determine the exact cost of a water main break lasting a day (or two). The loss of business and tax revenue, the loss of wages, the cost of current and future repairs.

But man: that’s a whole lot of money.

The 1% sales tax on water and sewer repairs was voted on by Atlantans to extend last month’s numbers to produce about $1.1 billion over four years. It’s not enough, Mayor Andre Dickens said Wednesday.

“I will ask the federal government for more money, a lot more money,” he said. “This will be a figure well into the billions. It won’t be a small number.

Speaking of billions: There is no direct data on the overall size of the Atlanta economy itself. But my colleague Michael Kanell has reduced regional estimates to (conservatively) $53 billion per year.

This represents a potential average of $145 million per day, partially stopped.

Local businesses say they lost tens of thousands of dollars. The city launched a $5 million relief fund to help. Then there are ordinary workers.

“Most of us wait until the weekend, because that’s when we make all our money,” Kavonda Byrd, a waitress at Sun in my Belly restaurant in Kirkwood, told the AJC. “It was a big blow.”

And how can we try to avoid such blows in the future? More money.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are coming to town to participate in a citywide water system assessment. This will prioritize future upgrades.

Also coming: a series of small devices on Midtown’s water valves, meant to detect leaks (and notify authorities) more quickly.

City Council President Doug Shipman said a work session next week will determine what else the city can learn: “Infrastructure is not a sexy thing, and it’s often something that requires a crisis to focus policymakers. »

It’s a costly lesson — and one that a growing number of American cities are grappling with.

“Atlanta is not an island,” said Joseph Kane, an infrastructure expert at the Brookings Institution. “Atlanta is a wake-up call for the country.”

Mayor Dickens is scheduled to join “Georgia Politically” at 10 a.m. today. Tune AJC.com or WABE on your radio to listen to it.

Also: In yesterday’s poll, about 59% of you considered Snowmageddon Atlanta’s worst infrastructure fiasco. Agree to disagree!

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PENDING LAWSUITS

The Georgia Court of Appeals has issued an order staying proceedings in the Fulton County election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies, pending its ruling on efforts to disqualify the prosecutor from Fani Willis district.

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MORE TOP STORIES

» The FBI recently raided the Atlanta office of business owner Cortland Management as part of an investigation “into potential antitrust violations in the multifamily housing industry.”

» Fox 5 journalist Randy Travis, present on Atlanta televisions for 34 years, has taken a buyout. He doesn’t really know what his next move will be.

» Developer Thrash Group is converting a shuttered office building south of downtown into a 122-room boutique hotel called “Origin Hotel Atlanta.” It’s set to open this summer.

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PERRY REVIEW

In an opinion piece for the AJC, multi-hyphenate entertainment mogul Tyler Perry explains why he supports a racial discrimination lawsuit at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

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NATION AND WORLD

» An Israeli nighttime strike killed dozens of people in a school transformed into a refuge in Gaza.

» After years of delays, Boeing finally sent two NASA astronauts into space.

» Hunter Biden’s trial on federal gun charges continues after a day of deeply personal testimony.

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FROM PARIS

Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard will be part of the U.S. 3×3 basketball team at this summer’s Olympics in Paris. She is the third Dream player to make an Olympic team, but the first since 2012.

The Dream hosts the Liberty tonight (7:30 p.m. on Peachtree TV).

More sports highlights:

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RECIPE SUMMARY

The AJC food section is a treasure trove of recipes these days. Just an overview of the offers:

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MORE TO EXPLORE

» Cherokee elections board will remain bipartisan, but Democrats have doubts

» Riverkeeper threatens to sue over environmental impact of Hyundai plant

» Elleven45 club faces new lawsuits after fatal shooting

» Black-owned brewery in Atlanta, national program finalist

» Some are unhappy with the quality of College Park’s tiny house development

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TO THIS DATE

June 6, 1944

D-Day. Allied forces invade the beaches of northern France. Wright Bryan, editor of the Atlanta Journal, accompanied a group of paratroopers.

“The emergency lights, the small group of signal lamps, shone next to the door,” he wrote. “They blinked when the pilot flipped his switch, and before I could look up, they started jumping. …Before we counted to 10 seconds, maybe 11 or 12, but no more, our passengers had left us.”

“The Battle of Europe had begun,” he added later, “and our squadron had delivered the first infantrymen to their scene of action. »

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

AJC contributor Stephen B. Morton recently photographed Liberty County High School graduate Madison Crowell, who was accepted to more than 200 colleges and received nearly $15 million in scholarship offers.

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Thanks for reading to the bottom of AM ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at [email protected].

Till next time.