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Morning, neighbors! This week: a Waymo caught fire just up the road on Cheshire Bridge, Mayor Dickens is publicly sparring with Fulton County over jail funding and tax districts, and Piedmont Park is about to host back-to-back festivals that'll test your parking patience. Grab your coffee and let's get into it.

- News — A driverless car fire near Cheshire Bridge, Dickens' public rebuke of Fulton commissioners over TADs, and ONE Musicfest's surprise 2026 hiatus all made headlines this week.
- Events — Piedmont Park goes big with the Artlanta Festival this weekend and the 44 Live Jazz Festival Saturday. Plenty of other smaller happenings this week too.
- Government — Fulton commissioners take up a TSPLOST ballot vote and data center tax breaks while City Council weighs the 2028 DNC host agreement and a Ponce/Bonaventure BeltLine rezoning.
- Construction — New restaurant buildouts are filed on N Highland and University Drive, an in-ground pool gets the green light on La Vista, and crews keep grinding through potholes on Cheshire Bridge.

Let's dive in.

NEWS

Virginia-Highland coffee shop creates community through classes and workshops
Ash Coffee in Virginia-Highland has begun hosting interactive classes and creative workshops for neighborhood residents, extending its role beyond serving morning coffee to include organized gatherings and skill-based sessions.

Waymo involved in fiery Atlanta crash, sparking debate over driverless car safety
A Waymo autonomous vehicle was involved in a fiery crash in the Cheshire Bridge area, an incident captured on video that comes as the company continues expanding its driverless taxi fleet testing across Atlanta streets.

Atlanta Mayor Blasts Fulton Commission Over Tax Allocation Districts and $1.3B Jail Plan
Mayor Andre Dickens criticized the Fulton County Board of Commissioners after it rejected a proposal to extend six tax allocation districts on the same day it approved a $1.3 billion financing plan for jail renovations.

ONE Musicfest Pauses for 2026 for Festival Reimagining
Organizers of ONE Musicfest, one of Atlanta's largest annual music festivals, announced the event will not take place in 2026 as they work on a restructured version planned for 2027.

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EVENTS | Presented by

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Monday, August 3
- Light Bites & Garden Insights | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Atlanta Running Meetup | 7pm - 9pm/Park Tavern

Tuesday, August 4
- Piedmont Heights Monthly Neighborhood Meeting | Piedmont Heights Civic Association
- Pete Seeger: Down by the Riverside | Tara Theater
- Simple Seasonal Ferments | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Garden Playtime | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Weekly Walking Club | Piedmont Park

Wednesday, August 5
- TCS Night at Tio Lucho's | Tio Lucho’s
- Canning Workshop - Peaches | Piedmont Park
- Deconstruct and Reassemble - August Literary Open Mic | The Supermarket ATL
- Figure Drawing - August | The Supermarket ATL

Thursday, August 6
- National IPA Day | Neighbor's
- O God My Heart TED Talk: Importance of Creation | Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
- Cocktails in the Garden | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Your Stepdad LIVE at Smith's Olde Bar | Smith's Olde Bar
- Garden Grooves | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Kid Fears, Equal Creatures, Will Orchard, Sloping | MJQ Concourse

Friday, August 7
- Artlanta Festival of Culture | Piedmont Park
- Camp Poncey-Hi Skyline Social | Hotel Clermont
- Shows for Seedlings: Summer Magic with Ken Scott | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Jaded x The Atelier SS26 Launch Party | The Supermarket ATL
- PEDRO SAMPAIO | District Atlanta

Saturday, August 8
- 44 Live Jazz Festival | Piedmont Park
- Green Market | Piedmont Park
- Frog Feeding | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Summer School for Artists | The Supermarket ATL
- Chan USA Tour | District Atlanta
- XION Saturday w/ Isaac Escalante at 2069 Events | 2069 Cheshire Bridge Rd

Sunday, August 9
- PJ Audenzia: Back to School | The Supermarket ATL
- Johnny Dynamite | MJQ Concourse

GOVERNMENT

Note: our information comes from posted meetings documents (agendas and minutes when available) — latest source document hyperlinked to each meeting.

Past Week Roundup

Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education
The Board of Education kicked off the 2026-27 school year with the Student Advisory Council's orientation on July 29. Students met the Atlanta Board of Education and the Superintendent, elected new officers to the council, and broke into committees for the year ahead. This was a kickoff session rather than a policy meeting, so don't expect any votes, budget changes, or new rules out of it. If you have a student interested in getting involved with district-level advocacy, this council is worth keeping an eye on as it ramps up its work this fall.

Meetings This Week
- Fulton County Board of Commissioners — Special Called Meeting | Aug-03, 10:00 AM | key topics: 2026 TSPLOST ballot referendum vote, transportation funding intergovernmental agreement, economic development status update
- Atlanta City Council | Aug-03, 11:30 AM | key topics: 2028 DNC host agreement vote, Ponce De Leon Ave/Bonaventure Ave BeltLine rezoning, private parking garage consumer protections, Council Civility Pledge
- Fulton County Board of Commissioners — Board of Commissioners | Aug-05, 10:00 AM | key topics: opposition to data center tax abatements, Westside affordable commercial space funding, November ESPLOST ballot agreement

CONSTRUCTION | Presented by

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Permits
- 1397 N Highland Ave NE — New restaurant build out filed for an existing suite. Another spot joining the Virginia-Highland food scene.
- 1180 University Dr NE — Commercial kitchen and restroom plumbing plus new gas lines for equipment. Looks like a food business is moving into this space.
- 1155 La Vista Rd NE — In-ground concrete pool with surrounding decking gets the green light. Expect equipment and trucks on site during construction.
- 181 Armour Dr NE — Full interior renovation for a new office tenant, including a reconfigured layout. Another sign of life in the Armour Dr commercial corridor.
- 1700 Piedmont Ave NE — Fire sprinkler relocation work issued near Piedmont Park. Routine but worth knowing if you're in the building.
- 562 Dutch Valley Rd NE — Commercial HVAC swap, including new exhaust venting. Standard upkeep work, nothing disruptive expected.

The rest of this week's activity stays small. Fifty four residential permits came through for routine HVAC, electrical, and plumbing work, nothing that should bring noise or traffic to your block.

Road Work

Under Construction
- I-85 Lighting Upgrade (I-75 to North of Lenox Road) — Crews are swapping out old HPS lighting for energy-efficient LED fixtures along this stretch, with pole and conduit replacement likely part of the job.
- SR 13 Resurfacing (SR 9 to North Fork Peachtree Creek) — GDOT is repaving this section of SR 13 to fix a low pavement quality score. The road hasn't been resurfaced since 2012, so you'll likely see lane work and possible delays as crews grind and repave.
- Buford Spring Connector Tunnel Lighting (I-85) — This project swaps outdated tunnel lighting for LED fixtures near I-85, with some conduit and wiring replacement. It sits just over a mile from VaHi, and tunnel work often means temporary lane closures during off-peak hours.
- Lavista & Shepherds Lane Signal Upgrade (DeKalb County) — Crews are upgrading traffic signals at this intersection. If you cut through this area, watch for temporary signal timing changes or flaggers directing traffic during the work.
- SR 9 Resurfacing (SR 3 to North of Paces Ferry Road) — Another OCI-driven repaving project, this one covers SR 9 and a connecting southern segment.

Service Requests
- Potholes — Crestridge Dr, Pasadena Ave, and Cheshire Bridge Rd each got two reports, with more on Wildwood Rd and near Saint Louis Pl and Briarcliff Rd. Crews are working through nearly all of them.
- Traffic Signal Repairs — Non-emergency fixes are underway on N Highland Ave and at the intersections of Piedmont Ave and E Morningside Dr, and Park Dr and Virginia Ave. A separate emergency repair at 10th St and Charles Allen Dr is already closed out.
- Downed Trees — Reports came in on Ponce De Leon Pl and Drewry St, and crews are still working both.

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Until next week,
VaHi / Morningside Busybody

Disclaimer: We use advanced data retrieval and analysis techniques across hundreds of sources, and may be prone to occasional error. Independently verify information with a secondary source, and please let us know if we got anything wrong via the feedback form.