Atlanta, GA

It’s back! Atlanta Pride returns with 3 days of revelry – Reporter Newspapers & Atlanta Intown

Published

2 years ago

October 6, 2022

It’s back! Atlanta Pride returns with 3 days of revelry – Reporter Newspapers & Atlanta Intown

The Atlanta Pleasure competition returns this weekend after a pandemic hiatus. The annual parade is present right here in 2019. (Photograph by Shawn Lierow)

After two years with out in-person occasions and no parade as a result of pandemic, the 2022 Atlanta Pleasure Competition will return to Piedmont Park in its full, colourful glory Oct. 8-9.

Government Director Jamie Fergerson foresees “a return to celebration, a return to gathering. I need folks to really feel protected and welcome.”

Organizers will intention to create an open, inclusive surroundings for LGBTQ+ folks, whether or not it’s their first time at Pleasure or their fiftieth, stated Fergerson, acknowledging how essential the occasion is to queer folks all through the Southeast, particularly these from rural communities or oppressive environments. It could be the one time they get to really feel like their genuine selves or see simply how various the LGBTQ+ group is.

Fergerson understands that innately. The primary time she noticed the Atlanta Pleasure Competition in 2001 was life altering.

“I used to be dwelling in Rome, Georgia, on the time, and my greatest good friend and I drove all the way down to Atlanta for Pleasure, and we didn’t actually know what we had been moving into,” she stated. “However we had been each within the means of popping out, which was tough and difficult.”

She was 19 on the time and attending school.

“The very first thing I keep in mind seeing was St. Mark’s Methodist Church decked out in rainbows. My grandfather was a Methodist minister, and my greatest good friend’s mother was a Methodist minister. Neither of us had grown up with a welcoming church. For us to see that on a church was an enormous wow, proper off the bat.”

Pleasure supplied a seismic shift to Fergerson’s considering.

“I had grown up believing that for those who had been homosexual or lesbian, that was a tough life,” she stated. “Being at Pleasure confirmed me my first large crowd of oldsters who had been dwelling pleased, full, productive lives in each occupation, each stroll of life.”

By the following yr, she was volunteering. In 2015, she turned govt director. Now she walks yearly on the entrance of the parade, surrounded by her household.

“For me, that’s an emblem of how a lot development and alter there was in our world,” stated Fergerson. “To be in that house with them, once I by no means even dreamed that was a chance, feels fairly magical yearly.”

At the least 350,000 attendees are estimated to attend Atlanta Pleasure occasions this yr, with 100,000 attending the Sunday midday parade, climate allowing. Among the many performers taking the Atlanta Pleasure mainstage might be headliners Flo Rida, Large Freedia and Betty Who.

This yr, committing to its mission of wellness, Atlanta Pleasure has partnered with group well being organizations and county well being departments to supply COVID testing and vaccines for COVID and monkeypox. As well as, masks are inspired however not required at indoor occasions.

When the 2021 competition was canceled, it created discord amongst some bar house owners who depend on an inflow of enterprise in the course of the competition.

Jenn Maguire and Jami Lancaster, house owners of My Sister’s Room, which relocated to Crescent Avenue in July, took problem with the choice and proceeded with their occasions as deliberate.

“It was very profitable,” Maguire stated. “All of us native bars, we had been capable of come collectively to make sure that we had a extremely good, robust Pleasure. It was truly probably the most profitable ones that every one of us have seen within the final 15 to twenty years, so it was very disappointing that the Atlanta Pleasure Committee didn’t have a Pleasure.”

This yr, My Sister’s Room has scheduled a number of occasions that includes acts resembling Lauren Sanderson, DJ Tatiana and Kia Barnes throughout competition weekend and has rented a second house for occasions at Park Tavern, adjoining to Piedmont Park. However not one of the occasions are formally related to the Atlanta Pleasure Committee.

“I’m pleased to see that the Pleasure committee is doing one thing on the park,” Maguire stated. “Kudos to them. They need to’ve achieved it final yr since that’s an outside occasion.”

Fergerson stated final yr’s cancellation was prompted by an unpredictable surge of COVID variants and was primarily based upon the recommendation of the Facilities for Illness Management and medical advisers from Emory and Grady hospitals.

“There have been a couple of bars who had been actually upset about it,” she stated. “Pleasure weekend is their greatest income weekend of the yr. And so they’re all small companies who got here by means of the pandemic, so it’s not shocking that they’d be upset in regards to the occasion cancelling. On the finish of the day, our mission is to advertise wellness locally, and that’s a special purpose than a small enterprise or a bar that’s seeking to host occasions and drive attendance and make cash from these occasions.”

Among the many performers looking forward to Atlanta Pleasure’s return is Taylor Alxndr, a drag performer and govt director of Southern Fried Queer Pleasure, a nonprofit that empowers Black queer and trans folks within the South. She is going to host Candy Tea: A Queer Selection Present on the Grey Tv Stage on Sunday and carry out in occasions at My Sister’s Room and different venues across the metropolis.

However it’s the competition in Piedmont Park, the place you may “see folks of older generations locally and younger infants from seven components of Georgia,” that she’s most trying ahead to.

Although she often works Pleasure week as a performer and activist, Alxndr stated she’s going to take time this yr to reconnect with the group she’s missed.

“The Saturday of Atlanta Pleasure, I’m planning to go to the park out of drag and simply exist and see folks,” she stated. “Whenever you’re performing, you’re all the time working. You do one present, contact up the make-up and go on to the following gig. Gotta do that, gotta try this. So I’m actually trying ahead to, for the primary time in years, spending a Saturday simply strolling by means of the park.”

Additionally desirous to return is David Cowan, the signal language interpreter whose full-bodied, emphatic interpretations of Gov. Brian Kemp’s pandemic press conferences and previous Pleasure performances have turn into viral movies.

“It is going to be a sigh of aid to be round our loving pals and households,” stated Cowan, the competition’s signal language coordinator and its first deaf Grand Marshal in 2017. “It’s time to have a good time that we survived by means of the pandemic and honor those that didn’t make it by means of.”

He famous that the pandemic induced added pressure to members of the group who lived by means of the AIDS disaster within the Nineteen Eighties.

“A few of us have been by means of that epidemic and perceive the emotions,” he acknowledged through e mail.

If all goes effectively, the pandemic would be the final thing on festival-goers minds. They’ll be too busy reconnecting with outdated pals and making new ones.

“Among the finest issues for me is that I see a whole lot of pals from completely different components of my life that I haven’t seen for a very long time,” stated Fergerson. “Notably as I’ve gotten older, as all of us work and have households and completely different obligations, Pleasure appears like a reunion. I like that.”

FESTIVAL PREVIEW

Atlanta Pleasure. Official Kick Off Social gathering: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, $50, Atlanta Modern, 535 Imply St., Atlanta. Competition: Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 8-9, free, VIP tickets $75-$175, Piedmont Park, nook of tenth Avenue and Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta. Parade: noon-3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, alongside Peachtree and tenth streets. 404-382-7588, www.atlantapride.com.

Leisure schedule

Saturday

Grey Tv Stage: Starting at 9 a.m. with Kashi Atlanta Yoga, Out Entrance Theatre, Atlanta Homosexual Males’s Refrain, Block Spoken Phrase, MOKSHA, Beautiful Gender, Sophia Dashing, Taking pictures Star Cabaret, Queer Gender Dance Social gathering

Coca-Cola Stage: Starting at 2 p.m. with DJ Babey Drew, Nouri, Neriah, Chrissy Chlapecka, Trinidad Cardona, Brooke Eden, Jax, Large Freedia, Flo Rida

Sunday

Grey Tv Stage: Starting at 3:30 p.m. with The Candybox Revue, Candy Tea: A Queer Selection Present

Coca-Cola Stage: Starting at 3:45 p.m. with Michel Jons Band, Betty Who, Starlight Cabaret

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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta visits Chicago after Young's 43-point game

Published

2 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Atlanta Hawks (20-19, ninth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Chicago Bulls (18-22, 10th in the Eastern Conference)

Chicago; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulls -2; over/under is 245

BOTTOM LINE: Atlanta visits the Chicago Bulls after Trae Young scored 43 points in the Hawks’ 122-117 win against the Phoenix Suns.

The Bulls are 15-13 against Eastern Conference opponents. Chicago is 10-13 in games decided by at least 10 points.

The Hawks are 13-7 against Eastern Conference opponents. Atlanta is eighth in the league scoring 17.2 fast break points per game. Jalen Johnson leads the Hawks averaging 3.6.

The Bulls average 118.1 points per game, 1.7 fewer points than the 119.8 the Hawks give up. The Hawks average 13.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.3 fewer makes per game than the Bulls allow.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nikola Vucevic is averaging 20.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Bulls.

Johnson is scoring 19.8 points per game and averaging 10.1 rebounds for the Hawks.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulls: 5-5, averaging 120.7 points, 48.1 rebounds, 30.8 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.8 points per game.

Hawks: 6-4, averaging 120.2 points, 42.5 rebounds, 29.8 assists, 11.1 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 120.4 points.

INJURIES: Bulls: Adama Sanogo: day to day (knee), Torrey Craig: day to day (leg), Ayo Dosunmu: day to day (achilles).

Hawks: Kobe Bufkin: out for season (shoulder), Larry Nance Jr.: out (hand), Jalen Johnson: day to day (shoulder), Cody Zeller: day to day (personal), De’Andre Hunter: day to day (foot).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta's Arctic air impact: Uncertainty looms over MLK weekend forecast

Published

11 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Atlanta's Arctic air impact: Uncertainty looms over MLK weekend forecast

Tuesday Night Weather Update

Clear and cold overnight with lows in the 20s to low 30s in town. Sunny and cool Wednesday afternoon. Milder by the end of the week and rain for Saturday. Here is the latest.

ATLANTA – Residents across Georgia can expect a mix of rain, cold, and the possibility of snowflakes in the coming days as winter weather patterns continue to shift.

What we know:

According to FOX 5 Storm Team Chief Meteorologist David Chandley, widespread rain is forecast for the weekend, with extreme northern areas possibly seeing snowflakes late Sunday into Monday. Significant snow accumulation is not expected.

“Yeah, this go-around into the weekend, really, we’re just going to see some rain across North Georgia,” Chandley stated. He added that next week’s forecast remains uncertain, with Arctic air potentially influencing weather conditions. “We’ve got a whole week to kind of hash that out. All the things can change.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday will likely be chilly but dry for much of Georgia. “It’s going to be chilly, but it looks like dry conditions for the MLK holiday celebration,” Chandley explained.

In metro Atlanta, Tuesday could bring a slight chance of wintry precipitation as temperatures drop. “January is very active, no doubt about it,” Chandley noted.

Metro Atlanta forecast

Tonight: Partly cloudy, low near 30°F.
Wednesday: Sunny, high around 48°F.
Thursday: Sunny, breezy, high near 53°F.
Friday Night to Saturday: Rain moves in late Friday, with showers likely Saturday. Highs in the mid-50s.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, high near 48°F. A few snowflakes possible in extreme North Georgia late.
MLK Day (Monday): Mostly sunny, high near 37°F. A slight chance of rain or snow.

Extreme North Georgia Mountains forecast

Tonight: Partly cloudy, low near 20°F.
Wednesday: Sunny, high near 42°F.
Thursday: Sunny, breezy, high near 46°F.
Friday Night to Saturday: Showers likely Friday night into Saturday, high near 49°F.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, low near 20°F.
MLK Day (Monday): Slight chance of snow, mostly sunny, high near 34°F.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the snow should move out before noon for the swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill. Highs will be in the 20s and lows will be around 12 degrees under mostly cloudy skies.

Possible snow in Georgia?

What we don’t know:

While the immediate forecast is becoming clearer, there is still uncertainty surrounding next week’s weather patterns. FOX 5 Meteorologist Jonathan Stacey highlighted the potential for snow but emphasized that forecasts remain in flux. “I know many of you are thinking about some snow because you’re hearing about some snow,” Stacey said. “At this point, all we can do is just pay attention and see what’s out there. As we get closer, we’ll look for consistency.”

Key questions remain:

Will Arctic air and other weather systems converge to create snow across Georgia?
How might fluctuating temperatures impact the likelihood of wintry precipitation?

Will it snow in Atlanta again?

The temperature is expected to take a plunge this weekend, with wet weather on the way. How likely is it that this precipitation will turn into snow? Here’s a look ahead with FOX 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Jonathan Stacey.

Snow next week?

Timeline:

Here is a look at the timeline of weather for the next week:

Tuesday: Slight chance of wintry precipitation in metro Atlanta as temperatures drop.
Friday Night to Saturday: Rain moves into the region.
Sunday to Monday: Snowflakes possible in extreme North Georgia; the rest of the state remains chilly with mostly dry conditions.
MLK Day: Chilly but dry conditions for holiday celebrations.

What’s next:

Meteorologists will continue monitoring weather models throughout the week. Residents are encouraged to stay updated via trusted local forecasts, including FOX 5, and prepare for any changes in the weather as Arctic air moves closer. “All we can do is just pay attention,” Jonathan Stacey advised, underscoring the importance of staying alert to new developments.

The Source: This article is sourced from original forecasting by the FOX 5 Storm Team.

Winter WeatherNewsGeorgia

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Atlanta, GA

PREVIEW: Suns Begin Long Road Trip vs Hawks

Published

19 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

PREVIEW: Suns Begin Long Road Trip vs Hawks

The Phoenix Suns (19-19) embark on a five-game road trip tonight when they take on the Atlanta Hawks (19-19), looking to extend their win streak to four games and move above .500 in a crowded Western Conference.

Phoenix could be facing a very short-handed Atlanta team tonight, as the Hawks listed Trae Young (illness) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee inflammation) as questionable, while Jalen Johnson (right shoulder inflammation) remains out.

For the Suns, only Jusuf Nurkic (illness) is out, while Grayson Allen (left knee soreness) is probable.

After having a game postponed due to weather conditions on Saturday, the Hawks have not played since falling to the Suns 123-115 last Thursday at Footprint Center. Meanwhile, the Suns have picked up victories over the Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets since this meeting.

With a fully healthy rotation, one big key for the Suns tonight is to continue to utilize their depth and solidify the lineups that work the best in this stretch.

Bradley Beal coming off the bench has provided a huge spark for that unit, but Phoenix’s other bench players have stepped up as of late as well.

In Sunday’s 120-113 win over Charlotte, the Suns ran a nine-man rotation and closed with a lineup that consisted of three bench players – Beal, Royce O’Neale and Oso Ighodaro alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. O’Neale and Ighodaro hit some huge shots in the closing minutes to seal the game.

The only bench player that did not play in the clutch was Allen after he left the game at halftime with left knee soreness after recording 13 points before halftime.

Phoenix’s bench all of a sudden looks like one of the best in the league, and it all began in the Atlanta game when Allen and Beal combined for 48 points. O’Neale returning from a six-game absence due to an ankle injury against Charlotte strengthened the unit even more.

With a depleted Hawks roster, expect Phoenix to once again try to take advantage of its firepower coming off the bench.

One area for improvement tonight for the Suns is their paint defense and rebounding. In their last two games, the Suns have been outrebounded by a combined 25 rebounds, giving up 15 offensive rebounds to Charlotte and 21 to the Jazz Saturday.

Mark Williams feasted against Phoenix’s centers in the first half Sunday, recording a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds in the first half alone.

However, the Suns made a lot of good defensive adjustments that worked against Williams (0 field goals in second half) and the Hornets down the stretch (won fourth quarter 27-15).

Phoenix will have to fine-tune its defense to make sure it comes out of the gates stronger, but has shown that it can adjust as needed on that side of the ball.

Right now for the Suns as they begin this road trip, it’s all about finding an identity on both sides of the ball and discovering the best methods for victory as they look to continue to build momentum.

Tonight’s game tips off shortly after 5:30 p.m. Arizona time.

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