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Atlanta, GA

Extended-stay hotel residents told to relocate and then allowed to stay

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Extended-stay hotel residents told to relocate and then allowed to stay


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – People living at an extended-stay hotel on Pine Street in downtown Atlanta encountered some chaos and confusion after they received notice to relocate within three weeks because their building was being sold.

“It’s just heartless, it’s heartless,” resident Cedric Fuller said.

Fuller is one of many who said he was told by a group of security guards wearing tactical gear at the old Budgetel Inn that it was time to go.

“They scared them so bad. They had their guns, and they were telling them you’ve got to go. You have to leave and so they went by what they were saying from fear,” Fuller said.

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Residents received a letter on their doors June 1 saying that the building that they were living in was being sold and they had 21 days to relocate.

“Every day they’re knocking on our door asking us when we’re going to get out telling us we need to be out by the next day by noon. They already turned off the TVs and took out the vending machines and everything,” Resident Debbie Benford said.

Atlanta News First learned that a company called 1st Place Hospitality issued the letters and brought in a team to help with relocating families. 1st Place said the prior owner, JDH, asked them to help with the transition.

“We have no keycard; we have nothing to enter our room. We have no access to our room anyway whatsoever,” Deasia Dailey said.

Several people living at the hotel complained about the transition and said that their keycards were deactivated, and they had to have security let them in their units.

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It turns out, the new owners of the property said the residents were misled and that they are allowed to stay.

“We have no affiliation with that organization, we have no affiliation with the previous ownership,” Healthy Housing Foundation/AIDS Housing Foundation spokesperson Imara Canady said.

It prompted a meeting at the hotel on Tuesday with representatives from Atlanta Legal Aid, the Mayor’s Office and the new owners, the Healthy Housing Foundation which is affiliated with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“We’re not in the business of displacing individuals, we are in the business of assuring there is truly affordable housing for every person,” Canady said.

Atlanta Legal Aid said they will be representing some of the residents who were told to leave. Plus, the owner of 1st Place Hospitality said he is willing to use every resource to move the residents that left back in within 24 hours.

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JDH reached out to 1st Place and informed them that they were in the final stages of closing their property. They provided documentation which showed that their management team, through their on site property manager, had conveyed the closing to the guests over the last several months, in part of a pending sale.

First Place was allowed to be on property in an attempt to rehouse the guests who would have ordinarily been displaced.

June 21st was the timeline First Place was given by JDH and team members of First Place raced against the clock to get people rehoused. We utilized our properties to rehouse some Budgetel guests. We coordinated transportation, moving and hauling services, and helped guests develop a plan of action.

First place made clear, that we were not the owners and we were not involved in the purchase and sale of the property.

On June 9th, we surprisingly became aware that the property had been sold before the June 21st date and that ended our involvement because we had no knowledge of who the new owners are.

First Place has continued to work in the background with several guests we made contact with in an effort to ensure they are becoming stable again and have aided them with resources in that process.

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Furthermore, First Place and all of its properties are solely owned by Edward Fernandez. 1st Place is not affiliated with JDH, its partners, owners or shareholders in any way. First Place has purchased a property from JDH but it is not the property in question and JDH has no ownership interest whatsoever in that property.

Over 200 families were going to be displaced and made homeless as a result of the commercial real estate transaction that happened on 140 Pine Street. Both the purchaser and seller was aware of what they were causing. When I was contacted, I took the avenue provided as a means to alleviate that as much as possible. 200 families, mothers with children, elderly and disabled alike. I was not going to stand on the sidelines and allow it to happen. I did not and do not now own the property to evict anyone. I have never been involved until this situation arose where I saw that families were going to be discarded. My team never forced anyone to leave which is why there are still guests who remain. We simply blew the whistle extremely loud with the information that had been conveyed to us that the property was closing and we didn’t want anyone displaced as a result of it. We offered help in every way we could and this is documented. Our focus has always and will continue to be the people. And we are working around the clock to continue to improve things for those people.

I have no further comment- Edward Fernandez C.E.O. Of 1st Place

The Mayor’s Office said, “The Mayor’s Office recently became aware of a change of ownership at the location. The new owner held a meeting with residents and Atlanta Legal Aid today, which the Mayor’s Office also attended. We will continue to monitor the situation, and we appreciate ALA and other stakeholder’s commitment to ensuring an equitable outcome for residents.”

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Atlanta, GA

Server at Atlanta‘s Mary Mac’s Tea Room shares stories of waiting on former President Jimmy Carter

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Server at Atlanta‘s Mary Mac’s Tea Room shares stories of waiting on former President Jimmy Carter


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – For nearly 40 years, Marion Mims has served customers at Atlanta’s iconic Mary Mac’s Tea Room.

She has waited on a number of celebrities over the years, but none bigger than former President Jimmy Carter.

“When he came in and I waited on him, I almost started crying. I said I get a chance to wait on Jimmy Carter,” Mims said.

It’s a moment in time, Mims will not soon forget considering she waited on him many times. She remembers it like it was yesterday.

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Mims said Carter would sit at a round table back in the day when it was in the middle of the Atlanta dining room next to The Carter Center mural on the wall.

“He loved it. He loved the picture,” Mims said.

Carter also loved to order the fried chicken and vegetable plate with a side of Southern hospitality.

“I put my hand on his shoulder, and I said what can I get you to drink baby. I called him baby. I call all my customer’s baby,” Mims said. “He loved that. He just smiled.”

Mims said all the servers wanted to wait on Carter when he came in and not just because he was a gentleman, but because he was a good tipper.

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“I think the first time, I got $50, and the bill wasn’t that high, and I think one of the other servers got like $100 from him,” Mims said.

LIFE AND LEGACY OF JIMMY CARTER

Perhaps the real reason Carter loved to dine at Mary Mac’s was his special recipe for “Carter Custard,” which he gave the restaurant. And in his honor, it’s back on the menu this week only.

“It’s real peanuty, really, really peanuty,” Customer Crystal King said.

And just about as unique as Carter’s custard is on the menu at Mary Mac’s Tea Room are the number of photographs of the former president on the wall. He takes up more room than any other celebrity or dignitary and in one, he left a personal note.

“Thanks for putting the custard on the menu. This will be a great boost to my campaign. Love, Jimmy” the note dated February 1976 reads.

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“He was really down to Earth, he was real down to Earth,” Mims said.

The Carter legacy will live on at Mary Mac’s and Mims is just grateful to have been a part of it.

“He’s really going to be missed. He’s really going to be missed,” Mims said.



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Atlanta Hawks vs Utah Jazz: Spread and Final Score Predictions For Tonight’s Game

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Atlanta Hawks vs Utah Jazz: Spread and Final Score Predictions For Tonight’s Game


After losing three straight games, the Atlanta Hawks are hoping to close out their road trip strong. They have two games remaining on their longest road trip of the season and one of them is tonight vs the Utah Jazz. Atlanta is going to have to overcome the absence of Jalen Johnson, but Utah is also going to be without key players tonight. Keyonte George, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson are all out tonight for the Jazz while Lauri Markkanen is questionable. Utah has won two games in a row, but they have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this season. The Hawks could use a win tonight to get back on track, but they will have to do it without their All-Star caliber forward.

Our own Rohan Raman previewed the game earlier today:

“Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 7th in the NBA in PPG, 15th in FG%, 19th in 3PA, 18th in 3P%, 4th in FTA, 24th in turnovers, and 6th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 15th in points per 100 possessions, 18th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 25th in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

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The Jazz’s offense is solidly positioned within the middle of the NBA and hustles on the glass, but they do struggle to keep possession. Utah is 19th in the NBA in PPG, 17th in FG%, 11th in 3PA, 15th in 3P%, 8th in FTA, 30th in turnovers, and 8th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Jazz are 20th in points per 100 possessions, 14th in effective field goal percentage, 30th in turnover percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounding percentage, and 4th in free throw rate.

On defense, Utah ranks 26th in PPG allowed, 26th in field goal percentage allowed, 27th in three-point attempts allowed, and 17th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Jazz are 28th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 22nd in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The key to this game is going to be keeping the Jazz off the boards and taking advantage of their propensity for turnovers. I think the matchup between Kessler and Clint Capela/Onyeka Okongwu is going to be key because Utah thrives on second-chance points. If Capela/Okongwu can hold their own against the seven-footer, it’s going to be hard for a Jazz team down so much offensive firepower to hold pace.

Even though Collin Sexton is a difficult matchup due to his strength and shooting ability, Dyson Daniels should be able to bait him into a few turnovers. I expect Sexton to have a lot of plays as the ball-handler and Daniels will be tasked with shutting him down.

This is a game that I am very interested to see if Risacher can thrive in. The Jazz really don’t have a lot of good wing defenders and they will be focused on not letting Young beat them. If they decide to employ that strategy, I expect that Risacher will be able to take advantage of a lack of defensive attention on him.

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On defense, the Hawks should be able to shoot the Jazz out of this game. Getting back Bogdanovic means they will have their best two high-volume shooters (Hunter and Bogdanovic) in the lineup and ready to go against a defense that does not have the personnel to limit them. Mathews has also re-integrated himself into the lineup after struggling for a significant portion of the year and looked better as a quick-trigger shooter from deep.”

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Hawks are 6.5 point favorites tonight vs Utah and the total is set at 237.5.

While this is just one game out of 82, the Hawks could really use a win tonight. The Eastern Conference Standings are getting tight in the 4-11 spots and while the Hawks are not far out from being in the No. 4 spot, they are also not far out from being out of the play-in race. Every game matters in a competitive spot like that and even though Johnson is not playing, the Hawks are the better team. Trae Young has a huge game and Atlanta gets the win over the Jazz.

Final Score: Atlanta 121, Utah 115

Hawks vs Jazz: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game

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Atlanta, GA

1 killed and 1 injured in a shooting at the Honduran consulate near Atlanta

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1 killed and 1 injured in a shooting at the Honduran consulate near Atlanta


DORAVILLE, Ga. — A shooting Monday at the Honduran consulate just outside Atlanta left one person dead and another injured, and a suspect was in custody, authorities said.

The person who was killed was a Mexican citizen who worked as a security guard at the consulate, the Mexican Foreign Affairs secretary said in a statement posted on the social platform X.

Doraville police responded to a report of gunshots around 2:30 p.m. and found two people who had been shot, city spokesperson Emily Heenan said. One of the people was declared dead at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital for treatment, she said.

A suspect was taken into custody at the scene and was taken to the Doraville police station for questioning, Heenan said. She did not provide any information about a possible motive for the shooting.

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The shooting happened right outside the front entrance of the consulate, Heenan said. Officers remained at the scene to interview witnesses and gather evidence.

Heenan said she couldn’t release any more information about the victims or the suspected shooter because police were still in the process of contacting family members.

The Mexican government has offered help to local authorities and the family of the Mexican citizen and asked for a transparent investigation.



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