Rough Draft Atlanta

12/05/2025

CDC vaccine committee overturns decades-old hepatitis B recommendation for newborns

Members of a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, met in Atlanta on Dec. 4. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee voted to eliminate a recommendation that all newborn babies receive a vaccine against hepatitis B, ending a policy that has been in place since 1991 to protect Americans against an incurable liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, cancer and liver failure. The current three-dose series for hepatitis B includes one vaccine administered to infants within 24 hours of birth, and subsequent booster shots given one month and six months after the initial dose....

12/05/2025

$5 million gift aids St. Vincent de Paul Georgia in helping the homeless

Dreary December Dec. 5 — It's Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Tucker. This newsletter is full of advice, with the first being "don't look at your weather app until Wednesday." I like to call this particular weather pattern "early February." Here are a few newsy items that may help you forget this nasty weather. 🥶 Tucker's version of the North Pole will have its big opening tomorrow at the Tucker Town Green. In good news, you won't actually be at the North Pole, where tomorrow's high will be -15....

Get through the dreary December with news from Tucker, including a new ice rink, holiday lights, a generous gift to help the homeless, and more.

12/05/2025

Indie Craft Experience’s ‘Holiday Shopping Spectacular’ returns

The Indie Craft Experience will celebrate its 20th anniversary this upcoming weekend by hosting its annual “Holiday Shopping Spectacular” in Atlanta. The two-day market, taking place Dec. 6-7 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will feature more than 100 artists, makers and vintage curators from across the Southeast region. During the event, Atlantans will get the chance to shop for various handmade and vintage goods, in addition to meeting the artists behind the creations. The Indie Craft Experience says that the Holiday Shopping Spectacular gives attendees the opportunity to “support artists, creative entrepreneurs and the local economy,” with each purchase directly fueling “someone’s craft, passion and livelihood.”...

The Indie Craft Experience will celebrate its 20th anniversary this weekend by hosting its annual “Holiday Shopping Spectacular” in Atlanta

12/05/2025

Original musical ‘Mamma Dearest: Here We Joan Again’ to premiere at Out Front Theatre

Blake Fountain, the playwright behind "Mamma Dearest: Here We Joan Again." (Photo courtesy of Blake Fountain) A new holiday musical comedy is premiering next week at Atlanta’s Out Front Theatre Company. “Mamma Dearest: Here We Joan Again,” comes from playwright and drag performer Blake Fountain, also known as Tugboat. The show is described as an ABBA-inspired holiday comedy that combines the musical “Mamma Mia!” and the 1981 film “Mommie Dearest,” based on Christina Crawford’s memoir of the same name about her tempestuous upbringing under her adoptive mother, the actress Joan Crawford. ...

The musical "Mamma Dearest: Here We Joan Again," from playwright Blake Fountain, premieres at Out Front Theatre Company next week.

12/05/2025

😋 Bon appétit!

Season of giving Dec. 5 — We hope you enjoyed time with friends and family for Thanksgiving. This newsletter includes ways you can celebrate the rest of the holiday season and help those who need support this time of the year. 🚨 The GBI is investigating a shooting involving Sandy Springs Police at Dunwoody Place and Roswell Road on Thursday morning. ✨ Sandy Springs’ annual holiday celebration Sparkle Sandy Springs takes place on Sun., Dec. 7. Festivities include a parade and lighting of a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah. 🚂 Several Sandy Springs businesses are serving as Toys for Tots drop-off locations, including…...

Discover how to celebrate the holiday season and support those in need in Sandy Springs. Find out about local events, charities, and more.

12/05/2025

Charleston’s Lewis Barbecue makes its much-anticipated debut at Ansley Mall

Texas-style barbecue restaurant Lewis Barbecue opens at Ansley Mall in Piedmont Heights on Dec. 8, featuring an open-air smokehouse, large outdoor courtyard overlooking the Beltline, a walk-up ordering window, and cocktail bar called Bar Lewis with a 1970s-era Texas atmosphere....

Texas-style barbecue restaurant Lewis Barbecue opens at Ansley Mall in Piedmont Heights on Dec. 8, featuring an open-air smokehouse, large outdoor courtyard overlooking the Beltline, a walk-up ordering window, and cocktail bar called Bar Lewis with a 1970s-era Texas atmosphere.

12/05/2025

Today's newsletter recap: Fri. Dec. 5

⚽️ The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final Draw is today at noon. There’s a Buckhead watch party if you want to catch the action live.

🎅 Atlanta’s Santa Speedo Run takes over Midtown tomorrow

📺 Netflix wins the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery

🏈 Big weekend ahead for the Falcons and UGA.

🍽️ Don’t miss our roundup of new Atlanta restaurant openings in November & Sammie Purcell’s review of “Jay Kelly" when you subscribe to our newsletter at the link in our bio.

12/05/2025

Rough Draft’s top 10 Atlanta food and dining stories of 2025

Rough Draft's most-read food and dining stories of 2025 included big restaurant openings, trending budget-friendly menus and meals, the legacy of Your DeKalb Farmers Market, this year's new Michelin guide, and The Colonnade's loyal regulars....

Rough Draft's most-read food and dining stories of 2025 included big restaurant openings, trending budget-friendly menus and meals, the legacy of Your DeKalb Farmers Market, this year's new Michelin guide, and The Colonnade's loyal regulars.

12/05/2025

Tucker residents can get free shade trees through new program

Crews planting trees through the Front Yard Tree program in Tucker.(Photo courtesy of City of Tucker City of Tucker and Trees Atlanta are inviting residents to get in on a new program that will add a canopy to Tucker neighborhoods–at no costs to homeowners. The Front Yard Tree program is a partnership with Trees Atlanta and a number of local municipalities. Cities including Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Chamblee, Decatur, and Doraville have taken part in the program. A variety of trees are available including Tulip poplars, Sycamores, White oaks, Willow Oaks, Shumard Oaks, Tupelos, and Bald cypress....

City of Tucker partners with Trees Atlanta to offer free shade trees to residents. Apply now to add a canopy to your neighborhood.

12/05/2025

⚽ FIFA World Cup draw

Hey, Friday! Dec. 5 — If you see a bunch of people running down Peachtree Street in Midtown in their underwear tomorrow afternoon, don't be alarmed. It's just the annual Atlanta Santa Speedo Run to raise money for HIV/AIDS prevention nonprofit Joining Hearts. ☔ Scattered showers with a high of 48° today. Saturday and Sunday will be overcast with potential rain. ⚽ The FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw is today at noon in Washington, DC. There is a local watch party outside Fado in Buckhead Village. 🔎 The GBI is investigating an…...

Get the latest news and events in Atlanta, including the Atlanta Santa Speedo Run, FIFA World Cup Final Draw, and restaurant openings.

12/05/2025

Bezos Foundation awards $5 million to Chamblee nonprofit for housing support

Anthony, a 64-year-old Army veteran, is one of thousands of Georgians supported by St. Vincent de Paul Georgia. The Chamblee nonprofit recently won a $5 million Bezos Foundation grant. (Photo courtesy of SVdP) A gift just in time for the holidays will allow St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Georgia, one of the state’s oldest and largest social services nonprofits, to help thousands of individuals facing homelessness. On Dec. 1, the Chamblee-based organization announced that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are fueling its continued work in the community with a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund....

St. Vincent de Paul Georgia receives $5 million grant from Bezos Foundation to support individuals facing homelessness in Georgia.

12/05/2025

Julia Jackman talks adapting a graphic novel for ‘100 Nights of Hero’

(L-R) Maika Monroe and Emma Corin in "100 Nights of Hero." (Photo provided by Independent Film Company) 2023’s “Bonus Track,” Julia Jackman’s directorial debut, is a teen romance rooted in the types of romantic movie tropes we’re all familiar with. But if “Bonus Track” is a little tropey, it’s also undeniably sweet, forefronting a q***r relationship and handling that tenuous connection with care. Jackman’s latest film, “100 Nights of Hero,” also features a q***r romance, but in an environment far removed from the familiar halls of high school. Based on the graphic novel “The One Hundred Nights of Hero” by Isabel Greenberg, the film takes place in a historical-adjacent world that feels just a tick or two off from our own....

Filmmaker Julia Jackman talks adapting Isabel Greenberg's graphic novel into her film, "100 Nights of Hero."