Atlanta News First

On Nov. 1, funding ran out for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, due to the government shutdown. 

Although a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to continue supporting SNAP, benefits remain in limbo. Georgia Democrats have called on the state to intervene, while Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced measures to assist those in need. 

For more coverage, visit atlantanewsfirst.com or download the Atlanta News First app. 

In the late hours of Oct. 26, 1970, and into the early morning hours of Oct. 27, the most famous armed robbery in Atlanta history happened. And it was right after the city's most famous sports event in its history, up until that time: Muhammad Ali's return to professional boxing in a sanctioned fight at Atlanta Municipal Auditorium against Jerry Quarry. 

Jeff Keating is president of Doghouse Pictures, and hosted a podcast entitled "Fight Night and the Million Dollar Heist."

The return of the champion ended with Atlanta’s most famous armed robbery in history.
On Oct. 26, 1970, Muhammad Ali returned to the right for the first time since his three-year suspension from boxing for refusing to be inducted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

The fight was being held in Atlanta at the Municipal Auditorium - site of Friday night wrestling, all-night gospel singing and President William Howard Taft’s 1909 pre-inaugural possum dinner - and what happened in its aftermath will live forever in Atlanta lore.

The two political candidates couldn’t have been more different. One man, descending from a family line of Baptist ministers and championing the values of temperance and chastity, promised law and order. The other belonged to a political party thriving on social disorder and looser interpretations of the laws regarding recreational pursuits.

Such a scenario could be easily imagined in any modern election, but it was exactly the case in 1848, when the newly renamed and incorporated city of Atlanta held its first mayoral election.

Early city officials purchased six acres in 1850 to be a public burial ground for a young-but-fast-growing town of Atlanta. 

Originally called Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place, this was the beginning of Oakland Cemetery. 

It was officially renamed in 1872. By then it had expanded to 48 acres, mainly due to pressures of the Civil War. In the late 19th century, families tended the plots of loved ones, creating an assortment of lovely gardens. Oakland became a popular destination for Sunday carriage rides and picnics.

As the 20th century unfolded, Oakland increasingly was surrounded by residential and industrial development. With the passage of time, many graves went unattended as descendants moved away or lost touch with their antecedents. After years of deferred maintenance and budgetary shortfalls, Oakland became a  deteriorating landscape of weed-choked lots and neglected monuments.

In 1976, Oakland Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and experienced a renewal of interest and attention from “friends” that would eventually take over much of the restoration and maintenance of the cemetery and become the Historic Oakland Foundation.

Through restoration projects, fundraising, willpower, and imagination, Oakland Cemetery and its stories have been saved from obscurity. Today, the cemetery welcomes 105,000 visitors a  year who stroll the grounds, attend a tour or special event, and come to learn about Atlanta’s rich history.

The product that has become the world's most iconic consumer brand was first served in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced “excellent” and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce a drink that has become a symbol of American capitalism all over the world.

ATLVault's Tim Darnell speaks with Bob Hope, himself a legendary public relations executive who once worked for Coke, about the product's history, legacy and its future. Welcome to ATLVault on Atlanta News First.

Its streets were traveled by some of the nation’s principled and most courageous. Its buildings were brick-laid by people who endured and persevered to leave behind a better city than they discovered.

Atlanta and the nation have taken a lot from Auburn Avenue. Now, the time may have finally arrived to give something back.

ATLVault talks with David Yoakley Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, about the legacy of Sweet Auburn.

One of the world’s most celebrated and influential speeches was delivered 60 years ago.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, capping the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” event.

King gave his speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is a recording of what became a speech that has inspired millions around the world.

The Heart of Atlanta Supreme Court decision stands among the court’s most significant civil rights rulings.

In Atlanta, two arch segregationists vowed to flout the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the sweeping slate of civil rights reforms just signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Pickrick restaurant was run by Lester Maddox, who would eventually become governor of Georgia. The other, the Heart of Atlanta motel, was operated by lawyer Moreton Rolleston Jr.

After the law was signed, a group of ministry students showed up for a plate of skillet-fried chicken at Maddox’s diner. At the Heart of Atlanta, the ministers reserved rooms and walked to the front desk. Maddox greeted them with a pistol, axe handles, and a mob of White supporters. Rolleston refused to accept the Black patrons.

These confrontations became the centerpiece of the nation’s first two legal challenges to the Civil Rights Act.

Ronnie Greene is the author of “Heart of Atlanta: Five Black Pastors and the Supreme Court Victory for Integration.”

Atlanta’s very first Super Bowl remains arguably the most exciting in NFL history.

The crime that happened only hours later remains the Super Bowl's most infamous.

Hours after the St. Louis Rams withstood a furious, late-game and last-second surge from the Tennessee Titans to win their first-ever NFL championship, two men were stabbed to death outside a Buckhead nightclub.

Ray Lewis - a Baltimore Ravens linebacker already well on his way to an NFL Hall of Fame career - was leaving Buckhead’s Cobalt Lounge when the fight broke out at the nightclub. Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar were stabbed to death

Eleven days later, Lewis and two friends - Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley - were arrested and charged with double murder. Lewis later pleaded guilty to obstruction, received one year’s probation, and was fined by the NFL for $250,000. Less than a year later, he would be named MVP of Super Bowl 36, which was won by the Baltimore Ravens.

Tim Livingston recently finished a three-year investigation into the murders, which remain unsolved. He is the host of 'The Raven,' and his podcast can be heard wherever you receive your podcasts.

On Sept. 5, 1955, two Atlanta businessmen - Joe Rogers and Tom Forkner - opened the very first Waffle House, located in DeKalb County's Avondale Estates community. Rogers started in the restaurant business as a short-order cook in 1947  at the Toddle House in Connecticut.

By 1949, he was a regional manager, then moved to Atlanta. He met Forkner while buying a house from him in Avondale Estates.

Today, Waffle House has more than 1,900 locations in 25 states.

Njeri Boss, vice president of public relations, and Virginia Angles, curator of the Waffle House museum, talk about this national iconic culinary brand.

On April 3, 1948,  the first Black police officers began patrolling Atlanta's streets around Auburn Avenue, marking the official integration of the Atlanta Police Department. Author Thomas Mullen discusses the challenges these pioneers faced in mid-20th century Atlanta. Mullen is the author of seven books, including Darktown, Midnight Atlanta and Lightning Men, written in the timeframe of 1940s and 1950s Atlanta.

On April 6, 1972, a fire began at the Triangle Refinery in Doraville, starting with an overfilled storage tank. Vapors from the tank reached nearby homes on Doral Circle and ignited a pilot light at one of the homes causing an explosion. The explosion then set three storage tanks on fire. 

In all, 300 people were evacuated from their homes, staying at nearby elementary schools, hotels, or with friends and family. Two people died in the fire, whose flames reached up to 400 feet and were visible from downtown Atlanta.

In 2022, Valerie Biggerstaff wrote a 50-year retrospective on the famous Doraville refinery fire, and shares her research with digital content producer Tim Darnell and ATLVault on Atlanta News First. 

Last week's assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk shook the nation and the world, and its aftermath continues to permeate every fabric of America's political consciousness.

Former state senator Jason Esteves would make history as Georgia's first Black and first Hispanic governor if he's elected in next year's historic 2026 elections. But first, he must win a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary, which is filled with four other candidates with the same aspirations. 

Esteves sat down with Atlanta News First Political Reporter Doug Reardon to discuss the issues he is emphasizing in his campaign, including the recent economic development boon awarded to Hyundai during Gov. Brian Kemp's tenure.

“If we can afford to give $1.8 billion to give to Hyundai, we can afford to give our small business owners across this state low-interest loans to the tune of a billion dollars,” he said. 

A stunning immigration raid in a tiny southeast Georgia town continues to politically reverberate across the nation, as the White House promises more such workplace operations to continue.

Also: Georgia governor's candidate Jason Esteves will be featured in Sunday's On The Record With Atlanta News First.