Atlanta on WACN 21 News

Cosm Atlanta opens at Centennial Yards, bringing 'Shared Reality' to downtown ahead of World Cup

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:03:00 -0400

Downtown Atlanta’s massive $5 billion Centennial Yards redevelopment reached its most visible milestone to date with the grand opening of Cosm Atlanta, a 70,000-square-foot immersive “Shared Reality” entertainment venue that promises to redefine how sports fans experience live broadcasts.

The venue, located adjacent to State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, opened its doors to the public on June 10, 2026. The launch comes at a critical juncture for the city, positioning the brand-new entertainment district to capture thousands of international visitors arriving for the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches starting this month.

Fulton County issues boil-water advisory after Cascade Road water-main break

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:22:00 -0400

Fulton County issued a boil-water advisory Friday morning for parts of southwest Atlanta after a water-main break on Cascade Road SW sent water gushing into the roadway and forced emergency shutoffs that drained pressure in the local distribution network.

The advisory covers ZIP codes 30311 and 30331, county water-resources staff said in a 10:22 a.m. alert. Residents and businesses in those ZIPs should boil tap water for at least one minute before drinking, brushing teeth, washing dishes, or preparing food. The advisory also applies to ice made from tap water.

The 10 best ice cream spots in metro Atlanta, ranked

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Summer in Atlanta runs on ice cream. The good news: the metro has more serious ice cream shops than at any point in the last decade.

Here’s my ranked list, from best to best-but-not-quite-as-best.

1. The Varsity — Midtown

The original location, open since 1928, is the platonic ideal of an Atlanta ice cream shop. The frosted orange (a Technicolor orange-vanilla milkshake) is the only correct order. Yes, the hot dogs are also great. That’s a separate list.

Kyle Pitts is back. The Falcons finally have a tight end worth building around.

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400

For about 18 months, Kyle Pitts was the most-discussed tight end in the NFL and not for reasons the Falcons wanted.

A contract standoff. A question about whether he was a true #1. A 2025 season in which he put up respectable numbers but never felt like the player Atlanta mortgaged its 2021 first-round pick to get.

Through three days of training camp at Flowery Branch, that player is back.

Six restaurants to try this July, from a Vietnamese omakase to a Decatur seafood house

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0400

Atlanta’s restaurant openings this summer are unusually strong and unusually varied. After a sluggish stretch in 2024 and early 2025, the scene is back.

Here are the six openings I think are worth a booking — and one I’d skip.

Worth booking

1. Phở Bằng — West Midtown

The first dedicated Vietnamese omakase in Atlanta is also the first restaurant from chef Khánh Lê, who spent four years at NYC’s Di An Di. It’s an 8-seat counter, $145 a head, six courses that lean hard on regional Vietnamese flavors but skip the usual phở-and-bánh-mì hits. Bookings opened last week; the next available Saturday is August 16.

Hartsfield-Jackson sets new record for busiest day in airport history

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:30:00 -0400

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport logged its busiest day ever on Thursday, with 268,412 passengers moving through its terminals — a 4 percent jump over the previous record set in July 2019, the airport announced Friday morning.

The single-day total was driven by a confluence of factors, airport officials said: the kickoff of summer travel season, a major convention at the Georgia World Congress Center, and FIFA World Cup match-day traffic from fans heading to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Atlanta tech startup raises $80M Series B, plans West Coast expansion

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:00:00 -0400

A 4-year-old Atlanta fintech startup raised an $80 million Series B on Wednesday, one of the largest funding rounds by an Atlanta-based tech company this year.

The round was led by Sequoia Capital with participation from existing investors Founders Fund, Atlanta Ventures fund, and several strategic angels. The company is now valued at roughly $420 million post-money, according to a source familiar with the round.

The startup, which builds API infrastructure for small-business banking, has 95 employees today — most of them in Atlanta. The new funding will be used to open offices in San Francisco and Seattle, double the Atlanta engineering team to about 200, and accelerate product investment in AI-powered features.

Hawks trade for All-Star guard, reshape backcourt for 2026-27

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:00:00 -0400

The Atlanta Hawks pulled off the biggest trade of the NBA’s early offseason Tuesday night, acquiring an All-Star point guard from the Indiana Pacers in a deal that sends two future first-round picks and a young wing to Indianapolis.

The move is a clear signal: the Hawks are all-in on the Trae Young window, and they think they need a second star to make it work.

What’s in the deal

Hawks get: A 25-year-old point guard, fresh off his first All-Star selection, plus a 2027 second-round pick
Pacers get: Two future first-round picks (2027 and 2029, both lightly protected), a 22-year-old wing who showed real promise as a rookie, and a $6.8 million traded-player exception

The Hawks’ 2027 first-rounder is top-8 protected, converting to a 2028 second-rounder if it doesn’t convey. The 2029 first is top-5 protected. Indiana gets significant long-term upside, but Atlanta is the team trying to win now.

Atlanta City Council passes $19M emergency package for migrant shelter overflow

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 22:15:00 -0400

The Atlanta City Council voted 11–4 late Wednesday to approve a $19 million emergency spending package aimed at shoring up the city’s two migrant shelter sites, which have been operating over capacity for the past five months.

The vote came after nearly three hours of public comment, with speakers split between supporters who said the shelters are a moral obligation and opponents who argued the funding should go to longer-term housing for existing unhoused Atlantans.

Fulton County commission approves controversial data-center rezoning

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 21:00:00 -0400

The Fulton County Commission voted 4-3 Wednesday night to rezone roughly 280 acres in south Fulton for two new hyperscale data centers, clearing the way for what would be among the largest such facilities in the country.

The vote, taken at a contentious 5-hour meeting, was the most-watched local political action in metro Atlanta this year. More than 200 people attended in person; the meeting room spilled over into an overflow space.

Braves pitching staff quietly becomes one of MLB's best, despite trade-deadline doubts

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:00:00 -0400

For most of April, the question around the Atlanta Braves was whether the rotation would hold together long enough for the team to make a serious run.

Through April 28, Braves starters had a 5.12 ERA — third-worst in the National League. The bullpen was no better. The team’s World Series odds, per FanGraphs, had dipped to 8.4 percent.

Six weeks later, those numbers look almost quaint.

Since May 1, Braves pitchers lead the National League in:

DeKalb County embarks on largest road repaving program in a decade

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:00:00 -0400

DeKalb County is launching its largest road repaving program in a decade, spending $87 million to resurface 230 lane-miles of residential streets over the next two years, county officials announced Wednesday.

The program — funded by a mix of the county’s 2024 SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax), state gas-tax revenue, and federal infrastructure dollars — is the first time DeKalb has invested at this scale in residential paving since 2016.

BeltLine's Southside trail gap is finally closing. Here's what's opening — and what isn't.

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 18:00:00 -0400

The Atlanta BeltLine’s Southside trail — long mocked as the gap where the city’s signature greenway project abruptly ends in southwest Atlanta — is finally within sight of completion.

Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. confirmed Wednesday that the two-mile segment between the Oakland City MARTA station and the West End MARTA station is on track to open to pedestrians and cyclists by mid-October, ahead of the originally promised 2027 deadline.

For the residents of some of the city’s most park-poor neighborhoods, the news is real. It’s also a long time coming.

Piedmont Park gets major renovation, including a new public pool

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:00:00 -0400

Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s most-visited green space, is getting a top-to-bottom renovation that will close most of the park for nearly a year.

The $48 million project begins September 1, 2026 and runs through August 2027. The work will add a public swimming pool (Atlanta’s first in a generation), a redesigned playground, new restrooms throughout the park, and a complete overhaul of the park’s aging plumbing, electrical, and irrigation systems.

The Piedmont Park Conservancy, which manages the park under a long-term agreement with the city, is leading the project and funding about 70 percent of it privately. The remaining 30 percent comes from a 2024 parks bond passed by Atlanta voters.

Atlanta Public Schools launches universal free lunch program

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:00:00 -0400

Atlanta Public Schools will offer free breakfast and lunch to every student beginning this fall, regardless of household income, under a new policy unanimously approved by the school board Tuesday night.

The Universal Free Lunch program covers all 50,200 students across APS’s 87 schools — making it one of the largest school districts in the country to extend free meals to every child, regardless of need.

What’s in the program

Free breakfast for all K-12 students, served in classrooms or cafeterias
Free lunch for all K-12 students
Free after-school snacks at all schools with after-care programs
No paperwork — no income verification, no enrollment forms, no opt-in

The program is funded through a combination of:

Cobb County schools adopt new phone-in-pocket policy for high schoolers

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:00:00 -0400

Cobb County School District will require all high schoolers to keep their phones in lockable pouches during the school day, starting this fall.

The policy, approved by the school board in a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, applies to all 6 traditional Cobb high schools and about 23,000 students. It’s modeled on a program that started in Yondr and has been adopted by districts in California, New York, and elsewhere.

How it works

At the start of each school day, students will be issued a Yondr pouch — a soft, magnetic-locking case — at a designated checkpoint. They slide their phone in, lock it, and keep the case with them. The pouch has no key — only a base-station unlocking device at the school’s front office can release the phone at the end of the day.

T. Rex exhibition opens at Fernbank. Here's what to actually see — and skip.

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:00:00 -0400

The blockbuster T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator opens Saturday at Fernbank Museum in the Druid Hills neighborhood. I walked through the entire exhibit Tuesday so you don’t have to fight the first-weekend crowds unprepared.

What to actually see

The juvenile T. rex cast

The single best thing in the show is a life-sized cast of a juvenile T. rex — about 11 feet long, covered in downy feathers. It’s the first time a juvenile has been reconstructed at this size for public viewing, and it does a much better job than the giant adult skeleton of showing what the animal actually looked like.

Atlanta's data center boom has a water problem nobody wants to solve

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

I want to talk about something the Atlanta metro’s data-center boom has been quietly doing for the past three years, and that nobody in a position to do anything about it seems to want to discuss in public.

Water.

Hyperscale data centers — the massive warehouses that run cloud computing and AI training — use staggering amounts of water for cooling. A single medium-sized facility uses as much water per day as a small city. The largest ones use more than some Georgia counties.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium gets $200M renovation: what fans will see in 2027

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is getting another top-to-bottom renovation.

Team owner Arthur Blank has approved a $200 million capital project covering most of the fan-facing areas of the 9-year-old venue. The work will be done in two offseasons — this winter and next — so neither the Atlanta Falcons nor Atlanta United have to play a home game outside the building.

The project is Blank’s third major capital infusion into MBS, on top of the original $1.5 billion construction and a $55 million concourse overhaul in 2022.

Atlanta's high school football scene is quietly having its best season in a decade

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400

Metro Atlanta high school football is having a moment.

Three teams from the metro are ranked in the MaxPreps top 25 going into the 2026 fall season — Buford, Grayson, and Westlake — the most the metro has had in any year since 2014.

It’s a notable result for a metro that, despite producing a steady stream of NFL talent, has rarely had multiple teams competing at the national level in the same season.

Atlanta man exonerated after 22 years in prison, lawsuit against city begins

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 20:00:00 -0400

Marcus Holloway walked out of the Fulton County Jail at 4:47 p.m. Friday — 22 years, 3 months, and 11 days after he was arrested for a murder he has always said he did not commit.

DNA testing on a cigarette butt found at the original crime scene — never tested at trial — excluded Holloway as a contributor. A second test on a hairshaft found on the victim reached the same conclusion. The Fulton County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit moved to vacate the conviction within hours of receiving the lab reports.

Atlanta United's Five Stripes to become Five Stripes FC in brand refresh

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:00:00 -0400

Atlanta United is getting a new name — and it’s a bigger change than the club has made in its 9-year history.

Starting with the 2027 season, the club will officially be known as Five Stripes FC, dropping “Atlanta” from the front of its name and adopting a new crest, new kit, and a brand-new visual identity. The change was confirmed by the club’s front office on Tuesday.

The move is being framed by the club as an evolution, not a rebrand, but the visible changes are large. The crest — designed by the club’s in-house creative team with input from supporters’ groups — retains the iconic five gold stripes on a black field, but the shape, typography, and details are all new.

Atlanta mayor unveils $200M affordable housing bond proposal

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Mayor Andre Dickens unveiled a $200 million affordable housing bond proposal Tuesday morning, the largest single-purpose bond the city has ever put before voters.

If approved in the November general election, the bond would fund roughly 8,000 units of affordable housing over the next six years, with priority for renters earning less than $50,000 a year and homebuyers earning less than $80,000 a year.

The proposal is the centerpiece of the mayor’s second-term housing agenda and the most expensive ballot measure in Atlanta since the 2015 Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond.

How one Decatur family cut their grocery bill by 41% — and ate better

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 09:30:00 -0400

When Marisol and Trey Ackerman sat down in January to look at their 2025 credit-card statements, the number that jumped out wasn’t their mortgage payment or their car insurance. It was food.

The Ackermans — Marisol (a pediatric nurse), Trey (a software engineer), and their two kids, ages 6 and 9 — spent $1,142 a month on groceries in 2025. They live in a comfortable Decatur bungalow and shop mostly at the DeKalb International Farmers Market and the local Publix.

What Atlanta's economy actually looks like in 2026

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0400

By the numbers, metro Atlanta’s economy is in the best shape it’s been in 20 years.

Real GDP is up 3.4 percent year-over-year, the strongest growth of any major US metro
Unemployment is 3.1 percent, the lowest since 2000
Job growth has run positive for 41 straight months
Median household income is up 5.2 percent year-over-year to $78,400
Population growth is the highest of any US metro, with the metro adding roughly 70,000 new residents per year

These are the kind of numbers that economists describe as “the strongest economy of our lifetimes” — and they’re real.

MARTA board approves long-delayed bus network redesign. Here's what's changing in August.

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 19:00:00 -0400

MARTA’s board of directors voted 8–2 Thursday to approve the long-delayed NextGen Bus Network redesign — the first top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency’s bus map in roughly 40 years.

The new network goes live August 24.

If you ride MARTA buses in Atlanta, your route is almost certainly changing. Here’s what to know.

What’s getting better

The redesign follows a “high-frequency grid” model that has become standard in peer cities like Houston, Seattle, and Denver. The principle: concentrate service on a smaller number of routes that run every 15 minutes or better, every day, all day.