404 Friday
April 4 — 404 Day, the annual celebration of Atlanta culture (and its OG area code), will stretch into the weekend with art, music, a parade, a pub crawl, and much more. Check out our roundup of all the events happening across the city, but it may be hard to find a pair of the special edition adidas sneakers.
🌤️ Partly cloudy with a near-record high of 88° today. The weekend will be a mix of sun and showers with highs in the mid-80s.
🏛️ Today is the final day of the 2025 Georgia Legislative session – Sine Die – with lawmakers hoping to get approximately 100 bills across the finish line.
🚨 Georgia Republicans have introduced a late proposal to shield police departments and the General Assembly itself from open records requests from the media or public.
🚁 Georgia Power will be using a helicopter and ground crews to perform maintenance checks on utility lines throughout April.
🏗️ MARTA announced Thursday that it will resume the long-delayed Five Points Station renovation project on May 17.
📎 The City of Atlanta has launched a program to support legacy businesses that have been in operation for 30 years or more.
🗳️ Sandy Springs City Council member Andy Bauman announced his bid for mayor on Thursday.
ELSEWHERE
📉 Stocks plummeted Thursday, with all three major indices having their worst days since 2020. The S&P 500 dropped 4.84%, the Dow lost 3.98%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 5.97%.
➡ The head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command was fired Thursday in an ongoing intelligence community shakeup.
🌀 Researchers predict an above-average Atlantic hurricane season with as many as 17 named storms.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Ten years of CHaRM
• Film Review: ‘The Friend’
• The Sports Section
• New restaurant openings
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
🏃 Join Move For Grady on April 26! With three cycling distances and two run/walk options, there’s something for everyone. Then celebrate your accomplishment – and support for Grady – with a fun finish line celebration at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Ten years of CHaRM: recycling center marks milestone with two locations and a third on the way
♻️ The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials – or CHaRM – is marking its 10th anniversary with a series of events at its DeKalb location and news of a third location coming to Atlanta’s Westside.
Managed by local environmental nonprofit Live Thrive, CHaRM was the brainchild of Executive Director Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe after her parents passed away and she was tasked with cleaning out their home.
“My parents were gardeners and they had old pesticides and herbicides, and there was nowhere to recycle them,” Ratcliffe recalled. “So, CHaRM started as a personal need and became a passion.”
🎉 More on this anniversary story here.
Who’s ready for spring and summer gardening?
SPONSORED BY LOVE IS LOVE COOPERATIVE FARM
🪴 The worker-owner farmers of Love is Love Cooperative Farm have everything you need to grow an abundant kitchen garden for the spring and summer.
In addition to an enormous selection of certified organic vegetable, herb, and edible flower seedlings, Love is Love Cooperative Farm’s Annual Spring Plant Sale & Family Day on the Farm offers free gardening and foraging workshops, activities for young folks, pop-up chefs, farm tours, music, artisan vendors, and more!
Stop by this Sat., April 5, from 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
💚 See the full schedule of events here.
2. A very good boy can’t save ‘The Friend’ from disaster
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🐕 During one scene in “The Friend,” an argument breaks out between two students in Iris’ (Naomi Watts) writing class during a peer review session. The argument arises between a girl and a particularly irritating boy, who is criticizing the girl’s main character. She’s too regular to be the main character of a story, he says. People like that are a dime a dozen. What’s the point?
The argument might as well refer to “The Friend” itself, which is (ostensibly) about regular people. Iris is a professor who lives alone in New York City, dealing with her grief over losing her colleague and friend Walter (Bill Murray) to suicide. As if dealing with that loss wasn’t enough, Walter has left his Great Dane, Apollo, under Iris’ care.
From that description alone, you can glean that “The Friend” is a heartbreaker – a movie about everyday people and the everyday problems they face, and how the love of a dog can make everything just a little bit better. Sounds great, right? It could have been! But “The Friend,” unfortunately, isn’t able to capitalize on its premise.
📖 Click here to read Sammie’s full review. You can also check out her review of the documentary “We Want the Funk.”
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
3. Braves’ home opener; Final Four weekend
⚾ The Braves are looking to get on track after a winless first seven games, which historically has not boded well for making the playoffs. Atlanta hosts Florida in their home opener tonight at Truist Park at 7:15 p.m. (FanDuel Sports South/Southeast; 93.7 FM)
❌ Atlanta will be without outfielder Jurickson Profar, who was suspended 80 games for the use of performance-enhancing substances.
🏀 The top seeds play in the Men’s Final Four tomorrow in San Antonio, TX
- Auburn vs. Florida (6:09 p.m.)
- Houston vs. Duke 8:49 p.m.
Both games are on CBS, and the winners will play for the Championship on Monday at 8:50 p.m.
🏀 The Women’s Final Four starts today in Tampa, FL:
- (1) UCLA vs. (2) UConn (7 p.m.)
- (1) South Carolina vs. (1) Texas (9:30 p.m.)
Both games are on ESPN, and the winners will play for the Championship on Sunday at 3 p.m.
⚽ Atlanta United looks to build on last weekend’s thrilling win over NYCFC when they host FC Dallas tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Apple TV+; 92.9 FM).
🏀 Hawks guard Trae Young joined his alma mater Oklahoma University as assistant general manager for men’s basketball. The Norman, OK native also donated $1 million to the program where he played.
🏈 NFL owners approved major rule changes for next season, including a new overtime format guaranteeing both teams a possession, and moving touchbacks to the 35-yard line. The controversial “Tush Push” ban was tabled.
🏃 Join Move For Grady on April 26! With three cycling distances and two run/walk options, there’s something for everyone. Then celebrate your accomplishment – and support for Grady – with a fun finish line celebration at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Top Atlanta restaurant openings from the last quarter
🍽️ Recently, Rough Draft Editor-in-Chief and Dining Editor Beth McKibben provided insights into emerging 2025 food trends in Atlanta.
Now, she offers her picks for the top five restaurant openings from the first quarter of the year. This is also the first batch of new restaurants Beth is watching closely in 2025, and she will monitor each restaurant’s progress over the coming months.
🥂 See the list.
5. Top Stories of the Week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website. Follow @RoughDraftATL on Instagram for regular updates.
① Fulton County Schools making cuts to balance 2026 budget
② Dunwoody’s April Fool prankster returns with head-turning sign
③ ‘Will & Grace’ creators talk new sitcom ‘Mid-Century Modern’
④ Outdoor Asian food festival Panda Fest debuts in Atlanta (pictured)
⑤ Lovett’s Slater Nalley finds his confidence on ‘American Idol’
🏃 Join Move For Grady on April 26! With three cycling distances and two run/walk options, there’s something for everyone. Then celebrate your accomplishment – and support for Grady – with a fun finish line celebration at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
💭 Test your knowledge of the week’s news in tomorrow’s News Quiz. Keep an eye out for our email at 8 a.m. or bookmark this page!
🔤 Don’t miss News Word Atlanta, our new, daily word game – Presented by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta’s premiere undergraduate learning experience.
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