A.M. ATL: The beavers and the butterflies

Morning, y’all! I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you don’t have to eat “breakfast food” for breakfast. There’s actually no such thing as breakfast food. It’s a cultural illusion. Eat the cold spaghetti or leftover enchiladas, babe. Breakfast is what you make it.

Let’s get to it.

IT BEGINS WITH SOME WILD HOG

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

The 2026 Georgia General Assembly kicked off yesterday in the same way it has for more than six decades: with some delicious meat. The traditional Wild Hog Supper is a celebration of Georgia’s agricultural industry and supports the Feeding Georgia Farm to Food Bank program. Plus, it may be the last time certain politicians, lobbyists and state bigwigs are friendly with each other until the session closes.

The AJC’s politics team threw out some bold predictions for this legislative session. Among the most intriguing:

The identity politics that have taken center stage the last few years will be tabled in favor of economic issues and election-year priorities.
The Senate’s plan to end income tax by 2032 will invite lots of friction — and suggestions for possible alternatives.

Atlanta leaders have their own agendas they’d like to see discussed under the dome. They include:

Tax credits for small businesses
In-state tuition for DACA students
Water consumption reporting requirements for data centers
Penalties for crimes using artificial intelligence

🔎 READ MORE: What Atlanta wants, and why

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HOW MUCH BUC-EE’S IS TOO MUCH BUC-EE’S?

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

I know, perish the thought. Who could ever have enough beef jerky, roasted nuts and wall art of Highland cows? (Seriously, what is it with the cows?)

While the Buc-ee’s business is booming with 50+ locations nationwide and more planned in Georgia and around the South, all that success comes with growing pains.

Environmental advocates worry the supersized gas-and-grub palaces may expose communities to unhealthy levels of gas vapors, polluted runoffs and underground gas leaks.
The Cult of the Beaver has to fend off pretenders. Buc-ee’s knockoffs are cropping up, and the brand has even filed suit against an apparel company for riffing on their mascot’s famous profile.

▶️ WATCH: More Buc-ee’s stats and challenges

MORRIS BROWN PRESIDENT OUT AFTER YEARS OF REPUTATION REPAIRS

Atlanta’s Morris Brown College unexpectedly fired its president, Kevin E. James, on Monday. The historically Black college suffered a yearslong setback after a previous leader’s financial mismanagement and embezzlement got the institution’s accreditation revoked in 2002.

Accreditation isn’t just a cornerstone of a college’s reputation. It also opens up federal funding. Morris Brown regained accreditation in 2022 under James.
The scandal hurt admissions, too, which have been slowly improving.

James has made no secret of his feelings. He said his firing was the result of “board overreach and interference” and he will be pursuing action against the school.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

💳 Atlanta-based Global Payments, a giant in the world of payments processing, completed a complex purchase of its rival, Worldpay. The deal makes Global an even bigger player in online and in-store payments, serving about 6 million locations and processing some $3.7 trillion in payments per year.

🪧 Advocacy groups crowded the Georgia Capitol on the first day of the new legislative session to encourage lawmakers to protect civil rights through free speech, voting and reproductive health care laws. Contrary to rumors of mass protests, the gathering of citizens (a commonplace sight at crucial legislative periods), was unobtrusive and orderly.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BUTTERFLIES GONE?

Credit: Charles Seabrook

Extremely un-fun fact: North America’s monarch butterfly populations have shrunk dramatically since the 1990s, and could disappear completely in some areas by 2080.

Scientists have already identified the usual suspects: habitat loss, insecticides and climate change. However, a new study from the University of Georgia and Emory University adds a critical piece to the puzzle.
Researchers found rising temperatures are likely making monarchs more disease-prone.
They made the connection after investigating a debilitating parasite that’s been lethal to monarchs in recent years.

🦋 It’s worth reading into, because the relationship is complex and involves the butterflies’ preferred snack of milkweed. Basically, the plant emits toxins that may help monarchs fend off the parasite, but something about heat disrupts this delicate balance.

Now everyone is going to think about monarch butterflies all day. Sad. But interesting!

NEWS BITES

Falcons interview John Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel in coach search

I would absolutely watch a dating-style reality show of this.

Is a new Falcons uniform design coming soon?

Put beaks on the helmets, you cowards.

Mattel debuts an autistic Barbie doll

This is super cute, but neurodivergents know: Any Barbie is autistic if you use your imagination.

Home Depot takes its next step into AI. Here’s what that means for you.

Is AI going to bag up the leaves and put in a new toilet seat? No, didn’t think so.

ON THIS DATE

Jan. 9, 1998

Credit: AJC

Widow wins judgment for unauthorized donation of husband’s eyes. Three weeks after her husband died of cancer in 1993, Shelley McCown received a baffling letter from the Georgia Eye Bank. It thanked her for the donation of her husband’s eyes, even though he had made it clear — both on his driver’s license and verbally — that he didn’t want to be a donor. A DeKalb County jury on Thursday awarded McCown $418,000 in her lawsuit against two registered nurses and the Peachtree Hospice at DeKalb Medical Center for allowing the eyes of her 57-year-old husband to be removed without permission.

Yes, this is from a few days ago but c’mon! It’s too haunting to keep to ourselves.

ONE MORE THING

I’ve actually never been in a Buc-ee’s. My corporeal form has, but I store my spirit in a safe place beforehand because it’s easily spooked by shirts with sassy sayings. It would much rather nap in the glove box.

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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