Atlanta, GA
Woman escapes custody at Atlanta hospital after providing fake name: police
Atlanta police are searching for a woman they say provided them an alias before escaping custody while waiting for medical treatment at a hospital.
Amy Hightower, 53, escaped from Atlanta City Detention Center staff around 12:26 p.m. Tuesday, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. She was arrested the day prior during a traffic stop when she allegedly gave officers a false name due to having several warrants for shoplifting in surrounding jurisdictions.
Hightower was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment before taking off, police said.
“Obviously, whoever was assigned to watch this person wasn’t watching them,” Atlanta City Council member Michael Bond told FOX 5. The TV station reported the incident is the second in less than a year when an inmate in custody at the facility slipped away.
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Amy Hightower allegedly provided officers with an alias, Atlanta Police Department said. (Atlanta Police Department)
“The number one place people escape from is Grady, usually with the help of the people who work at Grady,” Bond said during a city’s public safety committee meeting Monday. He is calling for Atlanta correction officers to be at the facility for security.
“Like most departments, hiring and retention have been challenging for us,” Interim Corrections Chief Elder Dancy told city council members, according to FOX 5.
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Atlanta police vehicle on watch. (Getty Images)
Grady officials told FOX 5 the existing policy for inmates under treatment at the hospital is that the “custodial law enforcement agency must have one-to-one oversight of them at all times.”
Atlanta police did not say what medical treatment Hightower was awaiting while at the hospital. The investigation into her escape is underway, and police told FOX 5 there is no current threat to the public.
Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, on Jan, 21, 2003. (Frank Mullen / Getty Images)
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Hightower will be charged with giving a false name and escaping once she is located.
The Atlanta Braves have been the best team in baseball, and it’s not even close. The club is off to a 25-11 start with 8 1/2 game lead over second place. It’s been speculated year after year that the Braves were finally due for a breakout, though they’ve never met those expectations until now.
A Miraculous Championship Moment
Atlanta won the World Series just five years ago. You wouldn’t think it with how the club has played in the years since, but this team went on a miracle-run in 2021. The Braves only won 88 games in the regular season, but it was enough to win a middling National League East.
Ronald Acuña Jr. posted his best season since his 2018 Rookie of the Year campaign with a .283/.394/.596 slash line and 24 home runs. Freddie Freeman batted .300 with 31 longballs on the year. Even Austin Riley swatted 33 balls out of the yard. It was a stacked crew. The fact they only won 88 games is ridiculous in and of itself.
Atlanta bested the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS (3-1) before defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers (4-2) to make it to the World Series against the Houston Astros. This was a ridiculously good Astros club. Houston won 95 games to claim the top spot in the American League West. One of the major pieces of that club was their stellar starting rotation. Made up of Luis Garcia, Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr., José Urquidy and Framber Valdez, it was a beautiful thing to see the Braves defeat them in six games.
With key homers in the postseason from Jorge Soler (World Series MVP) and Eddie Rosario (NLCS MVP), the Braves eked their way to a World Series championship. They are the club that proves that getting hot at the right time is what matters most in a postseason run.
The Moment Passes, Falling Short Each Year Since
Despite making the postseason three consecutive years after 2021, the Braves didn’t make it farther than the NLDS. Atlanta won 100-plus games in 2022 and 2023 but disappointed in the postseason, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in both instances. They only won 89 games in 2024 but still managed to make the playoffs. Atlanta ended up getting swept in the NL Wild Card by the San Diego Padres.
But, in 2025, the Braves missed the postseason entirely. They finished fourth in the NL East with only 76 wins. It was a ridiculously poor season for an Atlanta team with much higher aspirations and expectations.
A lot of that was due to injuries and absences from the planned roster. Jurickson Profar served an 80-game suspension for PED usage. Acuña was sidelined with hamstring and Achilles injuries. Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep all missed significant time, forcing Atlanta to piece together their starting rotation.
But, beyond that, the offense struggled mightily. Despite having four players mash 20-plus homers (Matt Olson, Acuña, Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris), they failed to actually win baseball games due to their middling starting rotation.
Heading into 2026, the problem for Atlanta was that they didn’t make a single defining move this offseason to fix that. Their only real addition was bringing former Padres’ closer Robert Suarez to be the setup man for Raisel Iglesias. That has mostly fixed the Braves’ bullpen problems, alongside their myriad injuries not being a major issue thus far.
More than that, starting left fielder Profar is now serving a full season suspension after testing positive for PEDs yet again. Adding insult to injury (literally), a preseason injury to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim put a damper on Atlanta’s hopes for their 2026 offense.
Outpacing Expectations, Holding onto Top Spot
The Braves are on track to win 112 games. If they manage to accomplish that, it would be the most games Atlanta has ever won in franchise history. That’s due, in large part, to an all-around effort from the club.
The Pitching Finally Looks as Dominant as Billed
Across MLB, the Braves’ pitching staff ranks second in opponent batting average (.216), third in ERA (3.25) and fourth in WHIP (1.16) and runs allowed (129). The only rotation in baseball that has been better is the Dodgers. Chris Sale’s return to form has been a wonderful development for the club (2.14 ERA, 42.0 IP). Reynaldo López has pitched well (though not incredibly) with a 3.28 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. But the real story has been Bryce Elder’s breakout. The righty leads the club with a 1.88 ERA across his first seven starts.
Yes, the departure of Spencer Schwellenbach for most of the season hurts. But Spencer Strider is back (although off to a rough start after giving up three runs in just as many innings (3.1 IP). This rotation has been, and looks like it will continue to be lethal.
An Offense That Won’t Quit
The craziest part? The rotation isn’t even the best part of Atlanta’s season. The offense is. The Braves rank first in every major category except for on-base percentage with a .275/.341/.468 slash line and an .809 OPS. They’re second in MLB in home runs with 54. It’s hard to argue with numbers like that.
That offense has been buoyed by incredible performance after incredible performance. A resurgent Olson is batting .300 with 12 home runs and a 1.047 OPS. Drake Baldwin is showing zero signs of a sophomore slump, batting .313/.392/.531 as the club’s primary backstop. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II are finally breaking out alongside the emergence of Dominic Smith as an offensive threat. Acuña’s been slumping, that’s true, but it hasn’t even mattered with how much every other player has contributed.
There’s still questions of depth should injuries plague this club like they did in the past. The true test will be in the second half of the season. Can this Braves club make it through the dog days of the summer? Maybe. It would be great to watch this Atlanta team finally meet — and even exceed — the expectations set for them. Only time will tell.
The Atlanta City Council is working to form a 404 Day Advisory Committee following the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl at this year’s celebration.
The committee would be made up of city council members, community leaders, business owners, and various city department employees.
“We want folks to enjoy our parks. We want all folks to be safe in the city of Atlanta,” said City Council Member Andrea Boone.
The committee is asking for public feedback to evaluate what went wrong on 404 Day and to determine what needs to change.
“We want to hear from you. We want to know what are your concerns, what are the planning concerns, what do the business think? How should we exit and entrance the events,” said Boone.
Sixteen-year-old Tianah Robinson was shot and killed at Piedmont Park during this year’s celebration. She was an innocent bystander, according to police.
A month after her killing, authorities have not named a suspect in the case, despite requests from the public for help with the investigation.
“I remember her just being one of the most innocent persons in the world. Just pure kid,” said Martell Ellis, Robinson’s cousin.
Robinson’s family has been outspoken in calling for improvements in safety at city events like 404 Day.
“I want everybody to remember this is one of Atlanta’s best little people. We lost Atlanta’s best, a nd she had such a promising future, so we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again, we gotta make sure this was not in vain,” said Ellis.
The 404 Day Advisory Committee will meet for 180 days before presenting its findings and proposals.
Best place to live in Georgia
Georgia’s top spot on a recent Niche report list also holds the national crown: Atlantic Station in Atlanta is No. 1 on the list. Niche gave them an A+ in nightlife, health and fitness, commute, and “good for families.”
It’s based on 15 key metrics with the highest weight given to cost of living, percentage of residents with higher education, housing, and the public school quality.
One figure Niche didn’t rank was the crime, but there have been some noteworthy events in the last few months including 1 killed and 2 injured in a shooting a couple weeks ago and a chaotic incident with about 400 juveniles in December.
Cost of living in Atlantic Station
Despite its high mark on the list, Atlantic Station has real room to grow in cost of living, ranking B- by Niche. The median home value is reportedly just over $418,000 while the median rent is $2,145.
Patrons walk by the stores of Atlantic Station in Atlanta.
Atlantic Station is in Fulton County. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, single adults without children need to make $26.73 an hour. Two adults living together without children need to make $34.55 per hour if one is working, $17.28 if both are working. These figures obviously increase for families with children depending on how many they have.
Things to do in Atlantic Station
Here are some of the entertainment options available at Atlantic Station:
Best restaurants in Atlantic Station
These are some of Atlantic Station’s best restaurants according to lists from TripAdvisor and OpenTable:
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Toscano Ristorante Italiano at Atlantic Station
Top 5 places to live in Georgia
The top five Georgia spots on Niche’s list were all Atlanta neighborhoods. Here they are along with their national rankings:
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Atlantic Station at No. 1
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Buckhead Forest at No. 33
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Buckhead Village at No. 34
Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for USA Today. Find him on Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Niche gives Atlantic Station an A+ in nightlife, commute, health, more
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