Thanks to help from opposing adversaries, Georgia got what at least appeared by the final score to be a 41-13 win against Oklahoma on Saturday.

here are 10 thoughts from an afternoon of handling business.

If there is a legacy game for Roquan Smith at Georgia, it’s the 2018 Rose Bowl. Ironically, Chris Cole’s version may have also been on Saturday against the Sooners.

Speaking of Cole….his scoop and score does not happen if not for the immaculate condition of the Sanford Stadium Turf.

Georgia was better than Oklahoma, but how much? Total yards were mostly even, but Georgia did what good teams do – take full advantage of a short field. The offense may have misfired in the second half, but the second quarter nulled that out.

Between the White Out and Stripe Out, can we please get back to simplifying things? Red or Black? Just wear what you desire.

There was no begging for it this week, but the crowd rattled Oklahoma on offense. See the multiple delay of game penalties and two burned timeouts barely into the second quarter.

There was concern at this time a week ago about how a possible absence of Nate Frazier would impact the offense. The answer? Not much. With what Chauncey Bowen was able to do and Dwight Phillips stepping up, Saturday showed how deep this position is for Georgia.

maybe in retrospect, it was a bad idea to reference Shane Falco in the Sugar Bowl to John Mateer.

The biggest break so far for Georgia? It’ll avoid Mississippi State and Kamario Taylor.

Hopefully, Georgia Tech being bad makes that game in November at 7 pm SEC Network kickoff.

Florida could be the toughest opponent on the schedul…so naturally this could be in a year with the game not in Jacksonville.

Go Dawgs!

.

You know the scene. You’ve seen it a thousand times. A college football coach stands alone on the sidelines, his players and assistants looking to him for answers that he doesn’t have. They’ve lost this football game, and lost it badly.

“Charley Pell’s off-the-books slush fund!” you think, “what must that guy be thinking in this moment?!?!”

As usual we have some ideas. Friends, this is Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables in the waning moments of Saturday’s 41-13 loss to your Georgia Bulldogs:

What was Brent Venables thinking?

A) “‘Defense wins championships’ my butt.”

B) “Thank goodness Lincoln Riley’s stinking it up at USC, that should buy me a little time.”

C) “Let me just set this Google news alert for ‘Dabo Swinney fired.‘ Just in case.“

D) “????There’s Mateer, I need beer, ‘cause to the playoffs we ain’t near…..????

As always, your speculation on what was going on in Coach Venables’ head are welcome in the comments.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Good morning, Dawg Nation. We’re a third of the way through college football’s regular season (boo!) and your Georgia Bulldogs remain undefeated (yeah!). The journey continues this Saturday with the Bulldogs taking on the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Red and Black open as a 24.5 point favorite over the “Dores, roughly the same margin by which they were favored over Arkansas. A weird thing that has occurred this season? The Bulldogs have covered the Vegas thread in each of the first four weeks of the season. I’m not sure the last time that happened, I just know that I haven’t seen it I. Awhile. It’s symptomatic of a Bulldog team that just hasn’t had a misstep all season. That’s a really rare thing in college football.

Vanderbilt will of course be quarterbacked by freshman Jared Curtis, last seen flipping his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt the day before Signing Day. Coaches who have faced Curtis have confirmed that he is a special talent.

I suspect an inordinate amount of attention is going to be focused on Curtis’s decision this week, and that if asked about Kirby Smart will call it an non-issue. And perhaps he’s right. But it will be the subplot of this game much to Kirby’s consternation.

Personally, I’m not too broken up about Curtis’s decision. Everyone has a right to make their own life decisions based on their own priorities. Some want to be developed, compete against the best every day, and be in the running for national championships. Others want to be told they could start as a true freshman and get a cameo in a Nate Bargatze movie. Life’s all about priorities, you know?

Dean Legge at SI has a good summation of the good, bad, and ugly from Georgia’s win over Oklahoma. Personally I’d like to focus on the third quarter slumber that the Dawgs fell into, playing probably their worst football of the season. As Kirby said postgame, great teams just don’t have those performance gaps. Because if you let up against another great team you can see the entire momentum of the football game change just like that. Ask Ole Miss during the LSU game or Ohio State after their loss to Texas. College football is truly a four quarter game. Kirby Smart’s challenge with his team remains getting them to play all four quarters against opponents they can beat to a pulp in two. Until later…

Go Dawgs!!!

AP Poll

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Notre Dame
4. Miami
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. Ole Miss
10. BYU
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Utah
14. Iowa
15. Oregon
16. Mississippi State
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Oklahoma State
20. Houston
21. SMU
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Kentucky
25. Missouri

Georgia Update

Georgia welcomed Oklahoma to Athens and immediately took a 28-0 lead before beating the Sooners by a final score of 41-13.

The Bulldogs maintained their #2 ranking in the AP Poll ahead of their clash with Vanderbilt at Sanford Stadium

Newcomers

#19 Oklahoma State, #22 Boise State, #23 UCLA, #24 Kentucky

Dropped Out

#13 Penn State, #16 Louisville, #18 Michigan, #23 Texas A&M

Ranked Matchups

#7 Alabama at #16 Mississippi State

#5 Ohio State at #14 Iowa

#8 Florida at #25 Missouri

Upset Alert

Everything is telling me that Alabama will soundly beat Mississippi State… everything but one. Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor is maybe the most entertaining and electrifying player in college football. If anyone is going to repeat Johnny Manziel’s performance against the Tide, it will be him. Give me the Bulldogs at home against the Tide as 6.5 point underdogs.

Mateer has led Georgia to a 28-0 halftime lead over the Sooners. Oops. My bad…..forgot where I was for a moment.

Yesterday was a perfect day for football. You may remember that DS (Dear Son) applied to UGA back in the day, and was accepted. Because UGA’s Engineering program was new back then, he opted to go to Death Valley by the lake. When he was there, we attended a couple of days during Parent’s Weekend, but this is the first time since he was in school that we’ve been able to attend any game together. He was supposed to come for the season opener in 2024 (UGA vs. Clemson in Atlanta), but ended up being unable to come. When this year’s schedule was announced, he insisted that he wanted to come for the Oklahoma game, since he’s now living on Tulsa Time.

He arrived Friday while I was still at work, having flown TUL-ATL wearing his Etienne jersey (Clemson, not UGA), since they drew the Pac12 After Dark game Friday night. We all took naps (since none of us are spring chickens anymore), and watched the Clemson game (full disclosure: Mr. Squillian & DS watched the whole game, I had to opt out when the score was tied 10-10). 

We planned to leave by 9:30, but ended up leaving just after 10AM. A quick stop by the local CFA, and a stop for gas, and we were on our way to the Classic City. We arrived at the deck before the busses started running, so we walked to the Dawg Walk. I hadn’t realized DS had never been to the Dawg Walk, so this was a new experience for him (*he had friends who went to UGA so if Clemson was away, he spent the weekend in Athens*). We entered there so I could show him where the UGAs are buried and get pom poms. I was very excited that they had put out black pom poms on the home side (part of the stripe Sanford initiative – there were black poms on the home side, red poms on the visitor side, but the end zones only had white poms in certain seats – they weren’t in our seats (but I had white poms from last week’s whiteout)). So now I have many, many red poms, but now I have black poms AND white poms!

I told DS he could have as much beer as he wanted, and he took full advantage. We got our souvenir cups, our CFA sandwiches from the same place I get them every game, and then I showed him:

This marker is directly across from the tunnel that leads to our seats. Podunkdawg chose these seats in May, before we lost her in August. She didn’t know this marker was there. She couldn’t have known. It was an emotional moment for us both, because the only people that could possibly miss her more than the two of us would be her husband and sons.

However, it is our intention to celebrate Georgia Bulldog Football Wins whenever and wherever they occur. The ugliness or beauty of any particular win is irrelevant for the purposes of the Winning Smart Victory Post. It is therefore my deepest honor and privilege to bring to you this week’s edition of: The Winning Smart Victory Post.

Coach Kirby Smart coached his 142nd game this week for the Red & Black. He currently boasts a 121-21 record and a 0.8521 winning percentage, having carded his one hundred twenty-first win overall in the fourth game of the 2026 season against the Boomer Sooners of Oklahoma.

At the identical juncture in their careers:

Vince Dooley’s 142nd game as head coach resulted in a Georgia Bulldogs win over Cincinnati in the eighth game of the 1976 season, giving Coach Dooley a record of 95-42-5 and a 0.6866 percentage.

Coach Mark Richt was 106-36 (0.7465) after a win over Yech in the final regular season game of the 2011 season.

One hundred and forty two games into his head coaching career Kirby Smart is fifteen games ahead of Coach Mark Richt and ahead of Coach Vince Dooley by 26 games. As of now, he is holding his own versus the two winningest coaches in Georgia Football History.

As always . . .

Go ‘Dawgs !!!!

If the Georgia Bulldogs played a football game last weekend then Nathan and Yara are here this week to review it. That’s just how the world works, Dawgs. Topics covered in this review include:

• Casting our gaze around the SEC: is it possible that Florida is actually good? And how is Ole Miss this bad?

• Nathan goes all “Memento Mori” in regard to Kirby Smart’s tenure at Georgia, and provides perhaps the most impressively specific sandwich order I’ve ever heard.

• Chris Cole, bestriding the narrow football field like a Colossus.

• Statistical truth: Two football teams in Athens got to very similar numbers on the stat sheet in very, very different ways.

• Like you and me, Demelo Jones and the rest of the UGA defense are apparently vulnerable to good Beers.

• Wait, has Yara now been officially converted to the Church of Bobo?

• Ask CBC: White out, black out, stripe out, all good as long as the Dawgs are playing all out.

As always we kindly ask that you like, rate, subscribe, and patreonize the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Welcome to Wednesday, also known as halfway to the Dawgs getting ready to face a fairly-common Homecoming opponent in Vanderbilt.

That’s not to discount the Commodores…its truthfully how the schedule has fallen. Vandy is not to be taken lightly, even if the late, great Lewis Grizzard did quip that “Spain couldn’t beat Vanderbilt!” When talking about the darkness of the Ray Goff era, it was perhaps at its darkest in that infamous Homecoming loss…but that’s enough of that trauma.

Thanks to the power of social media, ESPN’s SkyCast angle of Chris Cole’s fumble return is making the rounds. Simply put – its a masterpiece. In terms of crowd pops, it might be the biggest since the start of the Arkansas noon kickoff in 2021.

Speaking of the interwebs, here’s the reminder that there is wrong, and then there is Colin Cowherd wrong. Pro tip: Don’t let any of your Georgia Southern friends see the below…

I guess imitation is the most sincere form of flattery? A trademark of Jon Sumrall’s weekly regimen in Gainesville is “Bloody Tuesday.” If that sounds familiar – it is – as its a phrase that Kirby Smart made famous at some point after coming to Athens. Look, coaching is a lot of monkey-see, monkey-do. There are NO secrets. So you really think play designs are all devised on some secret cave? It happens through someone seeing something and saying, ‘hey, we should implement that.“ These coaches text back and forth and are going to know what one another does.

The always dialed in updates of UGA covered from The Red & Black include some NFL Dawgs updates

In terms of defensive players, one of the more famous European Bulldogs is Richard Tardits, aka Le Sack. He held the school’s sack record until David Pollack shattered it. The next one may be defensive lineman JJ Hanne of Germany orginally (Insert a Buford T Justice reference here if you wish). Hanne had to actually beg his mother to let him play football…that has ended up being a win for Georgia.

Go Dawgs!

Welcome to Tuesday, Bulldog Fans! Your Bulldogs are 4-0, and undefeated in conference play. 40+ points in each win, each by 4 touchdowns, ranked #2 in the land, and yet (we know, we know). These are the first world problems UGA fans face in this golden era of Georgia football. A wise man once told me, “in the absence of results, you’d better show effort”. And it seems to applicable to Bulldog football.

In the regular Monday press conference headlined by the UGA Head Football Coach, Kirby Smart stayed the course, giving the assembled personages such insight as how hard a player has worked in the offseason, that several players continue to grow and get better, that he likes tough, physical play, and that “effort counts twice” (See: Humphreys, Landon). Since I’m merely a grey-shirted preferred walk-on scout team member with no hope of scholarship in the world of college football bloggers, I’ll give this my best effort.

And if you want to know if a particular Bulldog is injured, practicing, rehabbing, questionable, or any other possible status ahead of this Saturday’s tilt, I have 3 words for you: check the availability report that comes out Tuesday at 8:10. Okay, that’s more than 3 words, but Kirby Smart will give you nothing else. That seems to be our M.O. going forward – wait until the conference mandated availability report. On brand, to be sure.

Not only did Chris Cole win the coveted and much sought-after defensive MVD award for his play against Oklahoma, he also received the slightly less coveted and minutely less sought-after SEC Defensive Player of the Week. Quite a 48 hours for the Junior Linebacker from Salem, VA.

They’ve finally decided that a 24+ point underdog visiting Athens is commonplace, so this weekend’s Vanderbilt game will be broadcast Saturday at 12:45 pm ET on the SEC Network.

But they also decided that current #2 Georgia visiting current #7 Alabama is worthy of a few more eyeballs. And that yes, Georgia football under the lights is truly electric and merits a night game. But not in Athens anytime soon. Thus we will see our Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa at 7:30 pm on ABC.

The good news is that no less than Pat Forde already has UGA beating the Tide in their house October 10. The bad news is that we lose in the Benz to the resurgent Gators. No matter your feeling of his prognostications, he makes a good point that the November 3rd initial CFP ranking show will be preferred watching to the mid-term election coverage.

We’re Number 1! We’re Number 1! According to the ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) is concerned. Frankly I hadn’t paid this much attention. So as I ponder, do I think UGA is the best college football team? I guess. We have our flaws, and I tend to find them in Athens a little quicker than at other programs. #JustBeatVandy.

No internal handling of player punishment, no conference mandated suspensions, no ACCPD reports (that we know of), no disappointing news to report here. Only positive vibes on this Tuesday of the second third of the Georgia Bulldog football regular season. Have a day friends, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Fish used for sushi travels a long way before ending up between a pair of chopsticks in Atlanta. That’s because most top-tier sushi restaurants and omakase operations opt for sourcing fish straight from the waters of Japan. The country’s fishing industry is among the most respected and disciplined in the world.

With direct access to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, many local sushi chefs source fresh fish from Japan through agencies or dealers at fish markets like Toyosu in Tokyo. But it wasn’t always this easy. In fact, up until just a few years ago, only a handful of suppliers, such as True World Foods, founded in the mid-1970s, worked with sushi chefs outside of Japan.

“[True World Foods] are the pioneers of getting fresh fish to Japanese restaurants,” said Jason Liang, chef and owner of Brush and its Michelin-starred omakase counter, O by Brush, in Buckhead. Sushi chefs would need to order fish a week in advance. Specialty fish needed to be ordered at least 10 days in advance.

A number of tourism and business initiatives over the years improved Atlanta’s access to top-grade fish used for sushi. Delta added new nonstop flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in 2020. Three years later, LA-based Japanese food supplier Mutual Trading Co., a subsidiary of Takara Holdings, Inc., acquired Japanese wholesale importer Yamasho, Inc. and expanded its services to metro Atlanta.

Now fish caught off the coast of Japan is flown in daily to the Atlanta airport – the busiest in the world – sometimes having been caught less than 24 hours before the flight.

Atlanta airport fuels sushi boom

Jorom Paler, chef and founder of pop-up sushi counter Mikasa Omakase at Larakin in Midtown, said the increase in flight routes to and from Japan allow Atlanta sushi restaurants and small operations like his faster access to fresh fish. It simply travels to Hartsfield-Jackson as cargo on returning passenger flights each day.

“Hartsfield is such an international hub, so with that strength, it allows so many of the products to be able to be shipped here,” said Sachiyo Nakato Takahara, owner of Nakato Japanese Restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road.

The extended flight lines increased the network, meaning that local sushi chefs no longer need to have their fish flown through LaGuardia or JFK in New York. Today, smaller, independent agencies and dealers act as the middlemen between Japan’s fishmongers and chefs from around the world, streamlining the sourcing process.

Paler works with one such company, which he calls his “fish concierge.” A team of 12 dealers represent him at Toyosu Market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings each week, providing Paler with live feedback and a list of recommendations based on seasonality or the latest local catch.

“I can order based on their recommendations, but can [also] ask for any ingredient and they can go to that side of the market and see what the price is there,” Paler explained of the convenience of working with fish market dealers.

Once his order is complete, each fish is packaged individually so the cold chain is never disturbed. Fish then travels to Haneda Airport, and then to Atlanta, either directly or via New York or Los Angeles.

“The cold chain is practically undisturbed, because once it’s in those cases, it’s all individually wrapped. At my omakase program, you’re basically eating current events,” Paler said.

He estimates the turnaround time for his fish orders is approximately 18 hours. A fish plucked from Japanese waters on Monday morning can make it to the counter at Mikasa Omakase in Midtown in under 24 hours.

When sourcing wild fish, chefs like Paler rely on their market dealers knowing the behavior and migratory patterns of specific fish. “I trust my fishermen enough to point me in the right direction,” he said.

Like Paler, Nakato also works with multiple fish-sourcing entities.

“Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, we had a direct source at the Tsukiji Fish Market who would pick out our fish products, and even some of the dry goods, and ship it over to us. Now, it’s multiple vendors,” Takahara said.

The ordering process at Nakato usually starts on Sunday or Monday. First, the staff determines what fish they used over the weekend and the additional fish the restaurant will need for the upcoming week. Nakato’s executive chef calls vendors on Sunday night, once the weekend rush is done, so fish orders will process on Sunday or Monday.

On Monday afternoon (Tuesday morning in Japan), the vendors will go to the market, auctioning and bidding on the seasonal products based on Nakato’s requests. The purchases are packaged on Wednesday and usually land in Atlanta by Thursday.

Nakato orders between 65 and 80 pounds of fresh fish per week, using a medical-grade Super Freezer to maintain cold storage during transit.

Takahara also noted that many species of fish change in taste as they age, resulting in promoted names. The aging stages of kanpachi promote from mojako to shiwoko and akhana, before reaching its general name, amberjack. Hamachi, kohahada, and suzuki are other examples of “shusseuo,” which translates to “fish that get promoted.”

The price tag

Fish pricing depends on species and size. Larger fish have to go through major auctions, which have more bidders and are more competitive. Bluefin tuna, for example, can reach nearly 10 feet in length, weighing in at 130 pounds.

“Every time we order, if we get whole tuna for [a] tuna cutting, that’s 200 pounds,” Liang said. The 20-course omakase at O by Brush seats 18 people and costs $285 per person, with optional wine pairings for an additional cost.

As a pop-up at Larakin, Paler offers six omakase experiences throughout the week. His 16-course omakase seats just ten people and costs $165 per person, with the option to add on wine or sake pairings for an additional cost. Paler’s fish orders vary by week, and by the number of reservations he secures. With a weekly average of 45 people attending his omakases, Paler’s fish orders can range between $2,200 to $3,000 per week.

Shipping fees also contribute to the typically high price tag for sushi. Liang said he recently paid $137 in shipping fees for 12 pounds of Hawaiian red shrimp to serve at Brush.

The other financial challenges sushi chefs regularly navigate are tariffs and fuel prices. Both nearly doubled this year. In July 2025, the U.S. imposed a 15% tariff on most Japanese imports.

Sourcing fish closer to home

While Liang sources about 60% of the seafood for Brush from Japanese waters, he remains conscious of the pricing and the restaurant’s carbon footprint, opting to source the other 40% from within North America.

Tuna can come from the Gulf of Mexico, while Liang sources rainbow trout from Virginia. Liang sources live eel from the Chesapeake Bay and shrimp from Hawaii, and can sometimes get mackerel domestically.

While these fish aren’t identical to those caught in Japan, the differences run very close. Liang experiments with dry-aging fish or using smoke to enhance the flavor profiles of fish sourced from North American waters.

“You can see the differences in oxidation color, but taste wise, even side-by-side, you can’t really taste the differences. I’m all about the taste,” Liang explained. “I am proud of sourcing domestic fish to my omakase and telling guests this is as good as Japanese fish.”

Liang receives two consistent Japanese fish deliveries weekly, and two to three domestic deliveries monthly.

In addition to cost (Liang often pays more for domestic fish), the biggest challenge with sourcing North American fish is finding seafood that’s been handled properly. “Japanese fish are handled with great care,” Liang said. “I always say they hold fish like they hold babies. [In the U.S.], they throw fish. The mindset’s different, and then the way we serve fish is different.”

That’s why chefs develop firm bonds with their fish dealers and agencies in Japan. Paler said the nature of doing business in Japan depends on building strong relationships. His fish concierge helps him understand the context around price fluctuations, which depend on fish migration patterns or major weather events.

But the bond between Paler and his fish market dealers in Japan, many of whom he’s met and become friends with during his travels to the country, goes beyond transactional. For Paler, their well-being comes first and foremost.

“This past month, Japan was hit with a large typhoon and two earthquakes in Kumamoto. I get a lot of my sea bream from that prefecture,” Paler said of a recent conversation he had with some of his market dealers.

“Before even asking about the fish, I was like, ‘Hey, is everybody okay?'”

The post How Atlanta’s sushi chefs source fresh fish from Japan appeared first on Rough Draft®.

Atlanta City Council member Michael Julian Bond is urging colleagues to reject the proposed sale of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County, warning that it would leave future city leaders without leverage.

Atlanta’s public safety committee on Sept. 28 advanced the resolution 4-2 to the finance committee, a move that would allow the City to sell the jail at 254 Peachtree St. for $68 million to Fulton County, which is outgrowing its current jails. Atlanta would lease back part of the facility, paying Fulton’s per-detainee costs associated with housing, food and medical care.

“In my own personal life, I wouldn’t sell my house and then turn around [and] try to negotiate to rent a room out of the house that I just sold,” Bond said.

Council members Bond and Antonio Lewis voted against the resolution, while Andrea Boone, Dustin Hillis, Wayne Martin and Thomas Worthy supported it.

A longtime member of the city council and son of the late civil rights leader Julian Bond, Bond said the City has an obligation to work with Fulton County on the overcrowding of jails.

Fulton County jail, also known as Rice Street, is under a federal consent decree after the U.S. Justice Department found the unsafe conditions violated detainees’ constitutional rights. Since 2022, the federal investigation has exposed two deaths, filthy living conditions and reports of excessive violence.

Bond has been advocating for over a decade to help Fulton County reduce the number of arrests. He suggested Atlanta – “the number one contributor to overcrowding” – form a joint authority with the county.

“Sharing the burden would be better,” Bond said, referring to water and sewer agreements in place between the parties.

Lewis said letters from District Attorney Fani Willis, Chief Public Defender Kenneth Days and incoming Fulton County Commission Chair Mo Ivory express opposition to the proposal. Nearly every part of Fulton County’s justice system is asking for additional resources, Lewis said. Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat needs funding to staff the jail. The courts, the prosecutors and public defenders have asked for additional personnel support, technology and operational supports, he said.

“A building does not solve that,” Lewis said. “It does not provide medical or mental health care. It does not move cases through the courts, reduce the backlog, maintain itself, or satisfy the requirements of the Department of Justice.”

Like Bond, Lewis wants to make Fulton County “part of [Atlanta’s] group project.” His idea: split the proposed $68 million to support Fulton County courts, medical and mental health services, future use of ACDC, and a joint health authority. Lewis said he “does not believe the city should remain in the business of incarcerating people.”

“Transferring another building to Fulton County without fixing the problems throughout the justice system in Fulton County is not a complete solution,” Lewis said.

“Atlanta taxpayers should not transfer the building and pay for the upkeep,” Lewis said. “Let us invest into a different type of partnership.”

“We would be dooming future mayors and future councils and future judges and our courts …” Bond said.

The resolution will appear before Atlanta’s finance committee on Sept. 30.

The post Atlanta council member Michael Julian Bond urges council to reject $68 million jail sale appeared first on Rough Draft®.

Track the latest gas prices via AAA.

The 30-day suspension order, which Kemp signed Monday, goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and runs through Oct. 29.

“Global markets remain unstable and are subjecting Georgians to unpredictable price shocks on basic goods and services,” said Kemp’s executive order, issued under his authority to declare a state of emergency.

The “inherently unpredictable” market shifts have been making it “difficult, if not impossible” for Georgians to manage their budgets, prompting the suspension, the order said.

The state motor fuel excise tax is 33.3 cents a gallon for gasoline and 37.3 cents a gallon for diesel.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Georgia is $4.19, according to Kemp’s office. Diesel averages $6.24 a gallon.

Diesel prices have more than doubled in recent weeks, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a statement, hitting farmers.

Kemp, in a statement explaining his decision, said he and lawmakers have been committed to helping Georgians and small businesses “fight through the tough times” with billions of dollars in relief.

Prior motor fuel tax suspensions cost the state about $200 million a month.

In March, Kemp signed a 60-day gas-tax-suspension bill after it passed the state House 163-4 and the state Senate unanimously.

Then, in May, he issued a state of emergency and extended the suspension a couple of weeks, into early June. The General Assembly retroactively approved the extension in a special session in June.

A spokesman for Kemp’s office said lawmakers can approve the new suspension whenever they next convene, noting that prior fall suspensions were ratified during the regular session, which starts each January.

The post Rising gas prices prompt Gov. Brian Kemp to suspend state fuel tax appeared first on Rough Draft®.

Over $1.5 million was raised during the 35th annual AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival and 5k Run on Sept. 26, surpassing the $1 million goal. 

Saturday’s event attracted over 3,000 attendees who walked and ran to support Atlanta-based HIV/AIDS services organizations. Highlights of the event include performances by headliner Kelly Rowland and contemporary R&B artist Algebra Blessett. 

The $1.5 million raised will be donated to AID Atlanta, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, A Vision for Hope, Aniz, Inc., Bridge of Light, Center for Black Women’s Wellness, Georgia Equality, Lost-n-Found Youth, Positive Impact Health Centers, Rustin Institute, Status: Home, and Trans Women of Color Healing Project. 

According to a 2025 report, Georgia ranked the highest in the country for new HIV cases. 

Related story: Georgia ranks fourth in U.S. for STDs

The post AIDS Walk Atlanta raises over $1.5 million appeared first on Rough Draft®.

For this year’s Norcross Cleanup and Recycle Day, participants need to enter the property from Buford Highway via Cemetery Street and exit from Lively Avenue.

Items brought for disposal must be of reasonable size and environmentally safe to handle. Proof of residency is required at the recycling drive. The city limits are shown on this Google Maps feature and on the city’s GIS map.

The event will accept materials for secure document shredding, electronics recycling, scrap metal recycling, single-stream recycling, glass recycling and bulk disposal. Residents may also drop off gently used medical equipment and select hard-to-recycle items, including natural wine corks, eyeglasses, hearing aids, sneakers, clean grocery bags, plastic plant pots, and clean towels and blankets.

Hazardous materials will not be accepted. Prohibited items include batteries, large car parts, motors, tires, oil, antifreeze, concrete, and household chemicals.

A1 Shredding & Recycling will provide secure document shredding, with a limit of five boxes per resident. Residents dropping off cell phones are encouraged to first remove all personal information.

The city is also looking for volunteers to help on the day of the event and support neighbors. To volunteer, contact Jalia Killings at jalia.killings@norcrossga.net.

View a complete list of accepted materials here.

The post Residents can clear out unwanted items at Norcross recycling event appeared first on Rough Draft®.