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Allen Stone, Nicotine Dolls headlining Blue Stone festival By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com JON OSSOFF FOR SENATE/YOUTUBE

A screenshot shows a frame from “The Vote,” a TV ad uploaded to YouTube by Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reelection campaign.

Fear, votes, and money: The mechanics of attack ads By JOSHUA WILSON joshua@appenmedia.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Turn on the television in metro Atlanta this summer, and it’s hard to avoid them: ads warning that one candidate is dangerous, dishonest or simply wrong for Georgia. With hotly contested races for U.S. Senate and governor both underway, attack ads have become a fixture of daily life for Georgia voters — and one researcher said that is by design. David Schweidel, the Goizueta chair in business technology and a professor of marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, has spent years studying how political advertising shapes voter behavior. He said the basic definition of an attack ad is straightforward. “Attack ads are focused on your opponent,” Schweidel said, distinguishing them from ads in which “the candidate is promoting himself, saying, here is my record.” He pointed to the Senate race between incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mike Collins as a live example. Any Ossoff ad focused on what Collins “is doing,” what he “might do” or on the Republican’s character would be classified as an attack ad, Schweidel said — and the same holds true in reverse.

See WILSON, Page 7

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Blue Stone Arts & Music Festival will return to Sandy Springs in September with a diverse lineup of performances spanning rock, soul, R&B and country. The festival will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, with a market offering original creations from more than 60 artists, kids’ activities and a sports zone. There will also be food trucks. Performances on the City Green Stage will start at 4:30 p.m. Friday with duo Carl Wockner + Cat Ridgeway. That performance will be followed at 7 p.m. by Brother Maven and, at 8:30 p.m., Nicotine Dolls. On Saturday, Sept. 26, the festival will start with the Blue Stone 5K-9, an official Peachtree Road Race qualifier.

See FESTIVAL, Page 12

JAMIE GODIN/APPEN MEDIA

Pop-punk band Lit headlines during last year’s Blue Stone Arts & Music Festival on the City Green stage. This year’s festival, Sept. 25-26, will feature headliners the Nicotine Dolls and Allen Stone.

MARTA parking fees, free period changing By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Starting Monday, Sept. 14, long-term parking rates will increase by $2 per day — after 14 hours — at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s Dunwoody, North Springs and Sandy Springs stations, along with six others throughout metro Atlanta. The free parking period at

MARTA’s paid parking facilities will also decrease and require commuters to pay after 14 hours of parking, instead of 24 hours. The changes do not affect any of MARTA’s existing free daily parking locations. Once in effect, it will cost $10 per day — after 14 hours — to park at the North Springs station and $7 per day — after 14 hours — at both the Dunwoody and Sandy Springs

stations. The new parking rates are estimated to generate an additional $500,000 of annual operating revenue for MARTA, according to a press release. The increased fees will help recover the cost of recent systemwide upgrades that are helping move MARTA’s parking operation toward self-sufficiency.

See MARTA, Page 4

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2 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

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FBI ATLANTA/PROVIDED

FBI Atlanta’s Violent Crime Task Force, with the assistance of Atlanta Police and Sandy Springs Police arrested wanted fugitive Nasir Williams on Aug. 25. Williams was one of the shooters involved in the July 28, 2025, mass shooting on Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta, where one person was killed and 10 others were injured.

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Second suspect arrested in 2025 Atlanta mass shooting

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ATLANTA — Authorities have arrested a second suspect in a mass shooting in Atlanta that killed one person and injured 10 others in summer 2025. On Aug. 25, the FBI’s Atlanta field office announced that the agency’s Violent Crime Task Force, with the assistance of Atlanta and Sandy Springs police, arrested Nasir Williams on the evening of Aug. 24. The FBI said Williams was one of the shooters in the July 28, 2025, incident on Edgewood Avenue along a popular strip of bars in the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Jail records show Williams is charged with murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault. Santos Wyatt, 27, died from his injuries, and 10 others — seven men and three women between the ages of

By ATLANTA NEWS FIRST STAFF

18 and 29 — were injured. Nearly two weeks after the shooting, police announced the arrest of 19-year-old Rico Arnold on charges of murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault. At the time, police said investigators believed the shooting was the result of a fight, and that they were looking for three other suspects — two men and one woman. In response to the violence, local business owners formed the Historic King District Association earlier this year. Cyrei Daniel, the association president and owner of Sweet Me Good, said the group met with Atlanta police last month to discuss safety efforts and has noticed a heavier police presence recently. “We are grateful for that. I’ve been out meeting with officers. We see them

out here on a weekly basis,” Daniel said. But Daniel said securing the area requires more than just a temporary fix. “I think now where we’re at is how do we build a long-term strategy?” Daniel said. ”We can’t just put more cameras on the street. It’s all about, how does this community come together, and how are we supported by the city?” The FBI said a third suspect remains at large and that the agency will announce more information on that suspect in the coming days. Appen Media reports that the Sandy Springs Police Department assisted the FBI Violent Crimes Unit in a separate case, arresting a man wanted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office for multiple weapons-related offenses. He was taken into custody and transported to the DeKalb County Jail.

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DIGITAL DILEMMA

SCHOOLS

AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs | Sandy Springs Crier | September 3, 2026 | 3

Researchers, school districts study screen time use By JIM BASS jim@appenmedia.com DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Terms like “screenagers” and “iPad kids” have become common nicknames that define Generation Alpha and part of Generation Z. Statistics show why adults are increasingly concerned about children’s and teenagers’ screen time. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study conducted between July 2021 and December 2023, 50.4% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 had four hours or more of daily screen time. The study found anxiety and depression symptoms more than doubled in teens who surpassed four hours. The American Academy of Pediatrics previously recommended that kids be limited to two hours a day; however, that recommendation has been removed, and there is no set limit in place anymore. Instead, the academy recommends “the five Cs” for parents to evaluate screen time limits — child, content, calm, crowding out and communication. Due to the rise in screen time and easy access to social media among children and teenagers, local institutions, including school districts and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, are exploring different ways to catch up and keep kids safe and healthy. Preventative tool to save teens Outside of the classroom, students’ social media use has already been under investigation in courtrooms. According to a Los Angeles Times report, Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, was ordered to pay $942 million in total in a two-part New Mexico case, which also required the company to make its platform safer for young people. According to a Time report, it’s one of thousands of lawsuits filed alleging that social media apps owned by Meta, TikTok, Google and Snap are deliberately addictive to young users. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that more than 3,000 of those lawsuits can move forward. A Pew Research Center survey in 2025 found that 92% of teens ages 13 to 17 used YouTube daily, and over 60% used TikTok or Instagram. Of those teens, around 20% of them said they use YouTube or TikTok “almost constantly.” Locally, Children’s Healthcare

JIM BASS/APPEN MEDIA

Children’s Chief of Behavioral and Mental Health Dr. John Constantino poses for a photo at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on Aug. 17.

of Atlanta, in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, is beginning to conduct a study to develop a tool that detects when a child’s social media use is becoming “toxic” for the user. The study comes after an increased interest on children’s mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically the lack of safeguards for children on social media. Children’s Chief of Behavioral and Mental Health Dr. John Constantino is leading the study at the Children’s Pediatric Technology Center at Georgia Tech. The study will evaluate teens using a Georgia Tech-designed social media surveillance tool trained to monitor and detect mental health decline. Constantino’s team is recruiting participants ages 13-17, who will opt in to take part in the study. He said that while there is the generally perceived association with the “continued erosion of mental health of children” and screen time, he said that the Georgia Tech tool is looking to find the actual causal association, a much more difficult question. “[Georgia Tech] took an approach that asked a very specific question, which is, could you identify within social media activity of youth using smartphones, signatures that would directly predict risks for either erosion in their identity or literally suicidal thinking and behavior,” Constantino said. The tool tracks every exchange on a teenager’s social media use. Every

time the user interacts, such as watching a video or liking a comment, it records this data as a positive or negative. If it detects too many negative interactions, it will alert researchers. The exchange is put into an algorithm run by artificial intelligence. The tool takes all that information and calculates the statistical likelihood that the exchange is related to an “erosion in that part of their psychological self.” “When there’s enough of those vectors that are moving in the wrong direction that have already been shown to predict suicide risk, that’s when we would use that information to act on that signature in real time to help that user of the smartphone course-correct themselves and recognize when it’s becoming toxic to them,” Constantino said. The tool was developed by Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing professor Munmun De Choudhury, who is trying to craft it with sensitivity, hoping to maintain the privacy of the data collected as well. Both Choudhury and Constantino are hoping it can eventually save

teenagers’ lives. “We are trying to see how we can use A.I. for a good purpose,” Choudhury said. “What we are hoping is that once we can screen for risk, we will be able to connect this young person with the right type of intervention or care that they might need.” The tool works on a three-alert system. The first level occurs when the tool notices a teen’s social identity deteriorating but not to the level of an emergency, sending a message to the user encouraging the user to reframe, redirect or pause use. The second alert is triggered when the tool detects behavior requiring caregiver intervention, in which case a direct message is sent to the user’s parents. The third and highest level of alert triggers 911 because the tool has identified an imminent risk of harm to the smartphone user or others on their social network. Constantino said that the biggest immediate goal is to prevent teenagers from harming themselves.

See DILEMMA, Page 15

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NEWS

4 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

MARTA Route 5 changed after intersection improvements SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority updated a portion of Route 5 in Sandy Springs effective Aug. 22 to align with the two-way travel now

allowed on Johnson Ferry Road and Mount Vernon Highway. The roads opened for two-way travel in June. MARTA has simplified the bus route to run in both directions along the

south side of Veterans Park in Sandy Springs, rather than driving around it. Now, southbound stops align with existing northbound stops on Johnson Ferry Road, Mount Vernon

Highway and Roswell Road. The route changes are limited to this area; more details are available at itsmarta.com/ servicechanges. — Hannah Yahne

Temporary exits to open southbound on Ga. 400

MARTA:

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Two temporary exit ramps opened Aug. 29 past Exit 5 leading southbound on Ga. 400 for drivers to access the North Springs Station, Abernathy Road and Hammond Drive during express lane construction. Exit 5B is located approximately 0.6 miles south of the current Exit 5 and will be exclusively for drivers getting to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s North Springs Station and

The additional revenue will also support future upgrades to lighting and other security measures at the parking facilities. MARTA stations increasing to $7 per day — after 14 hours — include:

parking garage. Exit 5A will provide direct access to Abernathy Road and Hammond Drive roughly 1.1 miles south of the current exit. Construction activities are related to the Ga. 400 Express Lanes Project that’s building 16 miles of new express lanes in both directions on the state highway extending from Exit 5C in Fulton County to Exit 12 in Forsyth County. — Hannah Yahne

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MARTA stations increasing to $10 per day — after 14 hours — include: • College Park • Doraville • Lindbergh • North Springs

GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/PROVIDED

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Puzzles

Crier 8/20/26 Connect-It

PuzzleJunction.com

Connect-It

Each line in the puzzle below has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 5, 4 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!

Sandy Springs Crier..........................September 3, 2026 | 5

IS IT SOUP YET? 1. Coin toss result. Barber shop call. French ___ soup. 2. Soup with a lot of fiber. Acidic. Vetoes. 3. Hawaiian feast. Vegetarian soup, usually. Recipe direction. 4. Like many a cellar. Soup with spuds. Duck hangout. 5. Cream soup made from shellfish. Hurry. Big pitcher. 6. Reindeer herder. Baby buggy. Cattle rear end soup. 7. Soup from green reptiles. Visionary. Litter member. PuzzleJunction.com

Dunwoody Crier 8/20/26 Crossword

Across

1 Scarf material 5 Overdue 9 Glimpse 13 Boredom 3 14 Macaws 15 Blue shade 16 Island in the road 4 18 Swallow quickly 19 Tender 20 Tipster 5 21 Smacks 22 Summer (Fr.) 23 Terrarium plant 6 24 Big game 25 Even, in verse 26 “Shucks!” /20/26 Sudoku7 28 Young newt Is It Soup Yet? Crier 8/20/26 Kakuro 31 Ohio, for one PuzzleJunction.com How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle Dunwoody above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is 34 Sicilian erupter 1. first Coin toss Barber call. French ___ letter soup.is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each the letter of result. the second answer,shop and so on. The connecting 35 Niagara River answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues 2. the Soup with aonlot fiber. Acidic. Kakuro, alsoThe known as Cross Sums, is a challenging number puzzle, a crossword grid. The rules are easy: A number source for 3 answers theofpuzzle, line. Buteach here’srow, theVetoes. catch! clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line solved 1 mayin(or may not) style actually To solve the Sudoku column and above the diagonal line in a black square is the sum of the white squares to the right of it. A number below the diagonal line is36 the sum Protect those be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck! box must contain the numbers 1 to 9. 3. Hawaiian feast. Vegetarian soup, usually. direction. of the white squaresRecipe in the sequence below it. You may only use the digits 1 to 9, and a digit can only be used once in any sequence. within 39 Curved shape 4. Like many a cellar. Soup with spuds. Duck hangout. 40 Keats, for one 5. Cream soup made from shellfish. Hurry. Big pitcher. 41 West Pointer 42 Kitten’s cry 6. Reindeer herder. Baby buggy. Cattle give up their rear ends 43 Brass component for this soup. 44 Club ___ (resort) 7. Soup from green reptiles. Visionary. Litter member. 45 Mystery writer Ambler 47 Kimono sashes 49 Stew morsel 52 Dixie drink 54 Very, in Versailles 55 Jack-in-thepulpit 56 Cutlass maker 57 In the way place 59 Old dagger 60 Dance bit 61 Torcher’s Copyright ©2026 PuzzleJunction.com How to Solve: Kakuro, also known as Cross Sums, is a misdeed challenging number puzzle, solved in a crossword style grid. The rules are easy: A number above the diagonal line in a black square is the sum of the white squares to the right of Copyright ©2026 PuzzleJunction.com it. A number below the diagonal line is the sum of the white How to Solve: To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, squares in the sequence below it. You may only use the digits column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9. 1 to 9, and a digit can only be used once in any sequence.

5 3 8

4 6 1 7

8 1 5

6 7

PuzzleJunction.com

13 16

24 27

43 45

25 32

62 Richard Rodgers collaborator 63 Rocky peaks 64 Male turkeys Down 1 Schnoz 2 Harden 3 Crescent 4 Youngster 5 Work 6 Make a left or right and you’re there 7 Tense 8 Time zone 9 Raptor 10 Land measure (Brit.)

11 Orange feature 12 Hogs the conversation 13 Gaelic 17 Egyptian solar deity 21 Japanese coin 23 Touch 24 Doodle 25 Engrave 27 Dill seed 29 Penalty 30 Exam 31 Con game 32 Radial, e.g. 33 Machinist’s tool 34 Collar type 35 Cry of surprise 37 Colossal 38 Deck members

43 Energy 44 Soybean paste 46 Change, as a clock 48 Makes like a horn 49 Geometrical solid 50 Continental money 51 End of grace 52 One of the Brolins 53 Arm bone 54 Former Yugoslav leader 55 60’s hairdo 57 WW II craft (Abbr.) 58 Blubber

See puzzle solutions on Page 13

Solution

Solution 7 2 9 5 1 3 6 4 8

5 8 6 4 2 9 1 7 3

3 4 1 7 6 8 5 2 9

8 6 7 1 5 2 3 9 4

4 1 2 9 3 6 7 8 5

9 5 3 8 7 4 2 6 1

1 3 8 2 4 7 9 5 6

2 9 5 6 8 1 4 3 7

6 7 4 3 9 5 8 1 2

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6 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

EDUCATION

Fulton school board approves tentative millage rate increase By JIM BASS jim@appenmedia.com ATLANTA — The Fulton County Board of Education has approved a tentative increase of the school system’s millage rate to 18.08 mills. The proposed rate is up one full mill from last year’s millage rate of 17.08 mills. A mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. In Georgia, assessed value is 40% of a property’s fair market value, not the full market price. For a home valued at $450,000 on the market, the school tax, before any homestead exemptions, would be $3,254 a year. In a news release about the tentative increase, Fulton County Schools offered a tax rate calculator tool for homeowners to use to calculate their tax bill with the 18.08-mill rate. View it at fultonschools.org. The proposed increase follows an “extensive districtwide effort to identify savings and efficiencies

through the GLIDE initiative.” The district said the initiative — a datainformed strategy focused on growth opportunities, lean operations, investment in innovation, LOONEY diversified revenue and enhanced efficiency — has already saved $50 million. Superintendent Mike Looney said the increase is due to “significant uncertainty surrounding the county’s property tax process.” Fulton County does not yet have a certified tax digest, but school district officials said the district is moving forward with its financial planning and millage rate process. Fulton County Schools will hold three public hearings — as required by state law — to provide residents an opportunity to comment on the tentative millage rate. The board will then take a final vote on the matter.

FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS/PROVIDED

A graph presented during the Aug. 11 Board of Education work session shows the average scores of Fulton County students on the 2026 spring Georgia Milestones, compared with the state and regional averages for each topic.

Fulton’s Milestones scores average higher than state, region By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Superintendent Mike Looney said he and Fulton County Board of Education members are proud of students’ spring Georgia Milestones results from the 2025-26 school year, which outperformed state and regional scores. Chief Academic Officer Brannon Gaskins gave a presentation on last year’s end-of-year test results in math, science and social studies across certain grade levels at an Aug. 11 work session. Gaskins said there will be an in-depth presentation on the scores and the school district’s action plan to maintain the momentum in September. Results from the English language arts Milestones tests will be available in the fall due to the tests being replaced by a new assessment. Gaskins said the progress Fulton County Schools students made in math across all grade levels is “encouraging,” with more than 57% of students assessed scoring proficient or distinguished — a 2.5 percentage-point increase from last year. High school students taking Algebra: Concepts and Connections saw the largest change, with almost 45% of students showing growth in the subject matter. “While grades seven and eight remain relatively stable, the overall trend is clear,” Gaskins said. “More students are meeting or exceeding Georgia’s expectations in mathematics.” Eighth grade had the greatest gain in social studies, with an additional

2.7 percentage points of students scoring proficient or distinguished on the Milestones exam. However, fewer than 50% of students district-wide are reaching that level, with the district seeing a less than 2-percentage-point increase from last year’s scores in the subject overall. High school biology scores increased by 3.9 percentage points, raising the proportion of students’ knowledge labeled proficient or distinguished in the subject to almost 60%. Overall, nearly 2 percentage points more students scored proficient or distinguished in science. Looking at the results, Gaskins said the challenge now is to build on these practices to achieve the same level of acceleration at every grade level across the district. “The important message here is that our progress is not occurring in isolation,” he said. “Across every content area included … Fulton students are outperforming both the state and in our region. Board Member Franchesca Warren asked about support for students who are scoring below proficient levels. Gaskins said while those students do have support systems and classes in place to help close learning gaps, it’s important that the parent or guardian is engaged in their student’s learning as well. Board Member Lillie Pozatek said while the growth is exciting, the district can’t be finished making progress. “We’re competing against ourselves,” Pozatek said, “and we have one chance to do this right.”

Wilson: Continued from Page 1 Fear and anger stick Attack ads are not inherently more memorable than positive ones, according to Schweidel, but they tend to trigger the emotions that make messages stick. “What we found is the things that tend to stick with us are the things that evoke high arousal emotions,” he said. “In particular, things that evoke fear and anger tend to resonate with us. That’s the stuff that we share on social media. That’s the stuff that we choose to read online.” By contrast, he said, positive messaging rarely has the same pull. A candidate touting a strong economy might earn a shrug. “It doesn’t really excite me,” Schweidel said. “Whereas if I get you afraid of something, if I make you angry at someone — those are the things that kind of get us really riled up, and that’s what tends to be most effective.” Gabriel Sterling of Sandy Springs, the former chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office who ran unsuccessfully for that role earlier this year, put it more bluntly: there is no such thing as a rational voter — only a rationalizing one. “We use emotions much more as a sorting mechanism to make decisions, and then we rationalize it with our intellect after the fact,” Sterling said. “Attack ads are a much more gut emotional thing. Issue ads on real substantive discussion things do not move the needle at all. They just become background noise.” A modest but real effect on votes Schweidel’s research has found negative advertising makes an impact on both voter turnout and vote share, though the effect of any single ad is small. Citing a 2018 study, he said a 1% increase in a candidate’s own negative advertising was associated with roughly a 0.015% increase in that candidate’s total vote share. That may sound negligible, he said, but in Georgia’s tightest statewide races — decided in recent cycles by a matter of thousands of votes — even a marginal shift can matter. Sterling said he sees that modest effect play out in a different way — not who wins, but who shows up at all. He pointed to a statewide Republican primary race this year as a case study. Operatives and scholars had projected turnout between 1.2 million and 1.35 million, he said, but the eventual nominee spent more than $100 million — most of it on attack ads — and turnout came in at 950,000. The former state elections official said the drop was concentrated in metro Atlanta among college-educated suburban voters. “It’s not fatigue so much as a pox on both their houses,” Sterling said. “[Voters end up thinking] ‘all these people suck. What’s the point?’”

OPINION Beyond the ballot box The effects of heavy negative advertising don’t end on Election Day, Schweidel said. Partisan messaging from ads bleeds into ongoing media coverage, keeping conflict in the headlines long after the ads stop running. “It devolves from talking about actual issues into the mud-slinging contests,” he said. Asked whether negative ads are fueling the country’s rising “affective polarization” — the emotional, identity-based divide between the parties — Schweidel said he sees them more as a symptom than a cause. “We are in a very divided society,” he said. “It’s ‘us versus them.’ That’s how each side sees it. It’s not so much in favor of a particular candidate, but it’s ‘I can’t stand the other party, so that tells you who I’m going to vote for.’” He called Georgia “kind of a microcosm of the U.S.” as a genuinely “purple” state where large blocs of voters on the left and right — and a substantial middle — are left choosing between polarized options. “In my opinion, [that polarization] detracts from actually addressing the issues,” he said. Sterling called that reaction “active apathy” — not indifference, but active dislike of every option on the ballot. He said the effect compounds because suppressed turnout tends to thin out swing voters first, leaving a more partisan electorate behind. He cited the crossover voters who backed both Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in 2022 as the kind of bloc that disappears when attack ads dominate a race. Follow the money Negative ads also serve a fundraising function, Schweidel said, particularly in close, high-profile Senate races where outof-state money pours in. Campaigns and parties frame contests as existential — “the Senate hangs in the balance” — to justify appeals for donations from voters who don’t even live in the state. Notably, his research found candidateand party-funded ads tend to be more persuasive than ads from outside groups such as political action committees. “Maybe viewers are kind of, maybe not consciously, but they are able to tell, ‘Oh, this is a third party attempting to persuade me. I’m going to discount that a little bit,’” he said. Sterling agreed attack ads serve campaigns’ fundraising needs but noted they cut both ways — an ad attacking a candidate raises that candidate’s negatives, but it also raises the negatives of whoever is running it. This is a particular risk for the outside groups and PACs that often produce them, the former state official said. Going negative, earlier and earlier Comparative ads — the kind that lay two records side by side and let voters judge for themselves — have all but disap-

AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs | Sandy Springs Crier | September 3, 2026 | 7

made up their mind who they’re voting for. The undecideds aren’t listening to that fact check.”

DECATURISH FILE PHOTO

Gabriel Sterling of Sandy Springs served as chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and ran unsuccessfully for that position earlier this year.

peared, Schweidel said, in part because they lack the emotional punch of an attack ad. “That almost to me feels more like a rational appeal,” he said of comparative advertising. “It’s not as sexy as the extreme language.” Research on campaign advertising found that negativity itself is increasing, Schweidel said. Campaigns used to hold back and pivot from positive to negative messaging late in a race, aiming for a final push before Election Day. That is no longer the pattern. “Campaigns are going negative earlier and earlier,” he said. Little appetite — or ability — to regulate Political advertising faces few content or truthfulness regulations, Schweidel said, and enforcement is difficult given how quickly campaigns move. He traced part of the landscape back to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which he said “opened the floodgates for third-party spending.” Sterling, however, said money “is like water.” He said it finds a way into politics regardless of the legal framework and argued the more consequential unintended effect of the ruling was weakening the political parties’ role as a moderating filter. “The parties used to act as a buffer mechanism to weed out and be a little bit more responsible,” Sterling said. “Since the parties have been disconnected from it, there’s not a mediating mechanism.” Schweidel said he supports more oversight of political advertising, including on digital and artificial intelligence-generated content, arguing there is no reason platforms could not verify the claims made in political ads before they run. Fact-checking, however, does little to blunt an ad’s impact once it’s out in the world, he said — a dynamic that predates social media but has been accelerated by it. “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its boots on,” Schweidel said. “Even when you try to tell people this ad was wrong, the people who care about that have already

Ads that follow you Streaming has changed who even sees these ads, Sterling said. He estimated more than a third of Georgians now watch television through services like YouTube TV, which lets campaigns target individual voters rather than buying a broadcast time slot. “I can give a list to a vendor of Republican voters, or swing voters, I want to hit,” Sterling said. “It will follow you around if you go on vacation; if you open your streaming service, it will find you.” He said the result is that attack ads increasingly run with no public witness. Your neighbor may never see the ad built to move you, which means no one outside the target group is positioned to catch it, question it or call it out, he noted. Same ads, different battlefield Sterling, who has worked on presidential campaigns since 1988, agrees with Schweidel that attack ads are not the true cause of rising polarization. “I do not remember a time in my political life where we didn’t have attack ads at some level,” he said. He pointed to the U.S. presidential election of 1800 between incumbent John Adams and the eventual victor Thomas Jefferson as proof the tactic predates any modern cause. “They had the yellow, you know, the partisan papers,” Sterling said. “They literally called John Adams a hermaphroditic troll.” What has changed, in his view, is that voters no longer share a common set of facts to argue over. He pointed to social media algorithms that reinforce whatever a user already clicks on, creating parallel realities even among people who agree on the underlying events. “We are living in two different realities, even though all the facts are the same,” Sterling said. “We’re only having certain ones reinforced. And I think social media, more than the attack ads, is the bigger single problem.” Schweidel is looking at a related question from a different angle. The professor’s current research examines how attack ads shape the news coverage and social media commentary that AI systems draw on to summarize candidates for voters. “To what extent does today’s attack ad shape the way that AI talks about a candidate?” he said. “That is something that we’re looking into.” For now, Georgia voters can expect the ads to keep coming. With the Ossoff-Collins Senate race and the governor’s race between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms both unresolved heading into the fall, Schweidel offered little hope of relief before Election Day. “Unfortunately, they’re not going to stop,” he said. “We got another two, three months.”

8 | Sandy Springs Crier | September 3, 2026

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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

35th Atlanta Writers Conference important event for authors By KATHY DES JARDINS CIOFFI newsroom@appenmedia.com

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ATLANTA — Writers in search of literary agents or editors, take note: The Atlanta Writers Club just might change your life. Twice a year, the 112-year-old organization for established and aspiring authors hosts the Atlanta Writers Conference, a two-day, one-stop shop for all scribe-related subjects. From hands-on help with the craft of writing to possible literary representation and book deals, the event is something of a publishing beall and end-all. The club's next conference, its 35th, will be Nov. 6-7 at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel. Thirty literary agents and publishers will provide manuscript and query letter critiques, take pitches and conduct Q&A panels. While these sessions often sell out, more than half of November's panelists still have spots available, and all other weekend activities are open. In other words, there's still time to sign up for an event that has been life-altering for many Atlanta-area authors. "After nearly every one of the past 34 conferences, one or more writers have received representation offers from literary agents and/or publishing offers from the acquisitions editors they met with," said George Weinstein, the club's executive director and conference director. "Some writers have received sixfigure book deals," he said, "and one author so far — Becky Albertalli — has had her book turned into a movie and TV series." Weinstein said the 35th conference will include first-time sessions such as a legal issues seminar, one-on-one meetings with an entertainment lawyer and a marketing and public relations expert, and a workshop on perfecting the first five pages of a manuscript. "The conference also features pitch practice sessions, a book fair, a social mixer with agents and publishers, and an award ceremony with giveaway drawings," he added. While the twice-yearly events routinely draw writers from across the country, the 1,600-member club plans an abundance of activities for local members, 70% of whom are from suburbs along the Perimeter and farther north to Milton, Cumming and beyond, Weinstein said. w

Those offerings include monthly educational meetings and periodic workshops on the craft and business of writing, more than 60 critique groups, a selfpublishing conference, writing contests, the BELLON biennial Townsend Prize for Fiction, two mentorship programs and a craft of writing certificate program, he said. Toni Bellon, a Johns Creek author and longtime club member, has benefited from a number of those resources. She is also one of the conference's many success stories. Bellon published her first novel, "L.E.A.P.," in 2024. "Back in 2017, I was introduced to the Atlanta Writers Club by an exneighbor," Bellon said. Since then, she has regularly attended meetings and conferences to learn about the writing process and improve her skills. Five years later, at the November 2022 conference, she met Geoff Habiger of Artemesia Publishing. "In 2023, he offered me a contract for my first book," Bellon said. "Thanks to George Weinstein and all those who taught at the Atlanta Writers Club." For Bellon, literary lightning struck twice at another conference a year later. "The AWC also allowed my next book, 'The Cost of Sin,' to be picked up by Histria Books" and distributed by Simon & Schuster, she said. Bellon will launch "The Cost of Sin" at 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Bookmiser, 3822 Roswell Road, Marietta. Register on Eventbrite. In addition to discussing her new novel and the third book she's working on, she just might mention how the club has affected her life. "It has helped me become convinced that I am a writer," said Bellon, who retired as assistant dean of education at the University of North Georgia. "I wasn't sure I could call myself a writer until others told me my writing was good enough to be published. "It doesn't matter how many books I sell," she said. "Someone thinks they are good enough.” For more information about November's conference, go to atlantawritersconference.com.

OPINION

PAST TENSE

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The Sandy Springs home of John and Margaret Ball On Roswell Road, at the site of Big Trees Forest Preserve, James Tilden Lamberth lived on the farm of his grandparents, John W. Ball (1840-1920) and Margaret Adams Ball (1845-1905). The history in this article comes from Lamberth’s memories, as told to his daughter, Virginia Lamberth Allison, and VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF shared by Burt Terrell, a greatgrandchild of John and Margaret Columnist Ball. John W. Ball was one of 10 children of Peter and Margaret Robertson Ball, who came to Georgia from South Carolina in 1829. Their farmland extended from Georgia 400 to the intersection of Mount Vernon and Ashford Dunwoody roads. Margaret’s parents were Salathiel and Sarah Harris Adams, who arrived in 1835 and owned a farm where Murphey Candler Park is today. When John Ball returned home after fighting with the Confederate Army, he built a log cabin on his land. The cabin was one room, 15 feet by 30 feet, with a fireplace at one end and a door at the other. He later added two bedrooms. When the family was ready for a larger two-story house, he connected the two homes with a breezeway. Ball built both homes and the furniture inside them. James Tilden Lamberth was born March 18, 1902. His father was Jerry Tilden Lamberth, and his mother was Mary Lenora Ball Perkins. Jerry Lamberth died

“IMAGES OF AMERICA: SANDY SPRINGS,” KIMBERLY M. BRIGANCE AND MORRIS V. MOORE

In 1915, John Ball (center, behind table) gathered at home with his family for his 75th birthday. The home was located along Roswell Road where Big Trees Forest Preserve is today.

of pneumonia before James was born. His mother remarried, and her new husband had teenage children. James ended up living with his grandparents. Lamberth recalled that his grandmother was a seamstress who worked in the attic of the home. She carded cotton and used a spinning wheel to turn it into thread, and the thread was made into cloth. She also made bar soap from hardwood ashes. “Water poured over the ashes would seep out the bottom of the pit as lye, which she made into soap in a wash pot,” Lamberth said. Margaret Ball died when

Lamberth was 5 years old. Two large barns stood on the farm. One held corn and wheat, plus a pea thresher. The other had a corn sheller and was used to store feed for the mules and cows. John Ball built the pea thresher and the corn sheller. The family grew cotton for many years, until that was no longer profitable. Their farm provided all the food they needed except for items such as coffee, sugar, salt and soap powder, which they bought at the grocery store. One night in the middle of a cold winter, John Ball decided to try something new. “Sitting around the huge fireplace, my grandfather got out the Sears Roebuck catalog, which was only about an inch thick at that time, and found a sorghum cane juice extractor powered by a one-cylinder gas engine with two huge flywheels,” Lamberth said. Ball ordered the extractor without the engine and put his mule, Ol’ Ned, to work providing the power. Lamberth remembered that the mule worked hard and was cooperative when spoken to in a kind voice, but did the opposite if anyone shouted at him. John and Margaret Ball are buried in the Ball family cemetery, next door to the former site of their home. Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. Write her at pasttensega@ gmail.com. Learn more at pasttensega.com.

Fire companies replacing customer service with AI I needed to make a reservation for nine at the restaurant. It was going to be my tab, and I guessed I would be spending hundreds of dollars. I called the restaurant. The phone rang and rang. I hung up. Then RAY APPEN I called again. It rang Publisher Emeritus ray@appenmedia.com many times again, but finally my call was answered — by an automated voice. By then I had wasted a lot of my time and energy trying to spend a lot of money locally with this restaurant. I hung up again. It happens that I live close to that restaurant in Crabapple — close enough to walk there in about five minutes. So, still very unhappy, I got in my truck and drove there to make my reservation. It was 11:30 a.m., and the restaurant was supposed to have opened at 11 a.m. The door was open, but no one seemed to be at work yet, so I waited for maybe 10 or 15 minutes until an employee finally came around the corner and took my reservation. I complained to her about the automated voice. She shook her head — in agreement with me — and replied that she

also hated having to deal with machines instead of humans. I decided to find a different restaurant for my party of nine. I drive a Toyota Tundra and always get it serviced at a dealership — the one where I bought the truck new some years ago. One of the reasons for going to the dealership was its stellar — like impeccable — service. I loved going there, even though I generally paid a bit more than I could have paid elsewhere, because I enjoyed watching a business that was run so well, so spot-on amazingly. Then, one day recently, I called the dealership to ask a simple question about my truck. I needed to speak to someone in the service department. Instead of a human answering my call, I got an automated voice. The voice informed me that I needed to state which department I needed to reach and to leave a message describing my issue, and someone from that department would return my call. I hung up. I called back again and, again, was answered by a machine. I requested to speak with a human. The machine refused to transfer me to a human; it just repeated the “leave a message” response. I hung up again. By this time, I had wasted maybe 15 or more minutes. I tried a third

time, but this time I figured that if I told the machine I needed to speak with someone in sales “regarding purchasing a new truck,” maybe a human would come on the line. Bingo. Someone — a human — from the sales department picked up the phone. Imagine that. I thanked him for picking up and explained that I was really trying to reach someone in the service department to ask a simple question, and was there any way he could walk over and ask it for me. He did. After putting me on hold for at least another 10 minutes, he came back with the answer I needed. So the dealership will call me back if I leave a message — on its schedule, not mine. If I had wanted the answer to my question later, I would have called later. The dealership had no problem wasting my time, and not compensating me for my lost time, in order to avoid paying a receptionist to deal with a customer — to save a few minimum-wage dollars. The result is twofold: I no longer get my truck serviced every 5,000 miles at the dealership, and hell will freeze over before I buy another vehicle from that dealer. I previously bought a new truck and a new SUV there. So I ask you: Has artificial intelligence saved that dealer or that restaurant

money? What do you think? And, just saying, I am not picking on the dealership or the restaurant. I routinely stop doing business with those who disrespect my time — who place zero value on my time and my business — by using AI instead of going to the expense of retaining a human to answer the phone and treat me with some respect and consideration. The reverse is true as well. I go out of my way to do business with folks who do not use AI and instead make the investment in remaining a human-centric concern. Publix, for example, is running a national advertising campaign that emphasizes its continued focus on humanto-human personal service instead of AI. I will be a loyal Publix shopper forever. Publix gets it and puts its money where its values are. Smart Publix. The public will increasingly push back against much of AI-based communication and the companies that embrace it instead of valuing their clients — and especially their clients’ time. At Appen Media, our goal is always to personally answer the phone before the second ring. It is just who we are, and one of our values — to respect people’s time and humanity.

12 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

Festival: Continued from Page 1 The artist market, activity zones and food trucks will open at 11 a.m., with performances scheduled on both stages throughout the day. The City Green Stage will host a Zach Bryan tribute band to begin the performances at 1 p.m. A Bon Jovi tribute band will follow at 4 p.m. Original artists will perform R&B, soul and rock music throughout the day, with a headlining performance by Allen Stone at 8:30 p.m. Squonk + Joy Machine will put on multimedia performances both days on the Hilderbrand Stage. Festivalgoers won’t just watch the show; they’ll become part of it by helping power the whimsical joy machine. The Blue Stone Arts & Music Festival is produced by the city of Sandy Springs with the support of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and Nissan of Marietta.

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Continued innovation in digital media has changed the ways in which people buy, sell and interact with products and services. It has caused businesses to reassess the ways in which it communicates with potential customers and advertises its products. It has been well documented that these changes have had a destructive impact on local newspapers, which continues to be a primary source for local news, but is no longer a primary source for local advertising dollars – historically the lifeblood for reporters and their coverage. At Appen Media Group we want to address this conflict head on, and build new and innovative approaches to monetizing local news and creating a sustainable future for local journalism in metro Atlanta.

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THE APPEN PRESS CLUB

One solution is the creation of a membership driven organization called the Appen Press Club that is dedicated to recruiting people and companies to join as members. Members pay recurring monthly or annual dues that are 100% dedicated to sustainable journalism. By providing predictable revenue, Appen Press Club members and partners help fund the salaries and expenses of local reporters who will no longer be subject to the whims of marketing budgets and an ever changing advertising world. In turn, those reporters will provide the readers they serve with highly researched and qualified journalism focused on subjects that directly affect their quality of life.

To join go to appenmedia.com/join and follow the prompts to select your membership level and select your t-shirt size! Questions? Email Hans Appen at hans@appenmedia.com or call 770-442-3278.

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14 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

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Dilemma: Continued from Page 3 He said Children’s sees more than 3,000 emergency room visits annually due to suicidal crises. “Given the fact that it’s possible that a smartphone, if it included this surveillance function, could potentially save lives that would otherwise be lost because there’s no way to get to a child who is manifesting those kinds of risks ahead of time,” Constantino said. Participants will also donate their previously collected social media data, which is accessible to all users, to assist the tool. Of the 200 participants expected, most will be located in Georgia and around the metro Atlanta area. The study is currently in both “phase zero and phase one,” expected to last 18 months. Constantino hopes to have beta tests for a functioning prototype of a prospective surveillance agent in a smartphone within two years. “The technology moved faster than the grown-ups’ ability to make sure that the technology can be harnessed by young people in a way that’s safe, and it’s our job as adults to catch up,” Constantino said. “We’re trying to help that process.”

NEWS Screen time in schools In recent years, cell phones have largely been removed from the hallways and classrooms of local public school buildings. The goal is to reduce distractions and increase social engagement. However, district-issued laptops and devices that had become integral to virtual learning following the COVID-19 pandemic may also be limited in classrooms in favor of more pen-and-paper activities due to screen time concerns. Both Atlanta Public Schools and the City Schools of Decatur have begun looking into ways to limit screen time, with APS hosting a town hall meeting and considering a drafted policy that would implement screen time limits of one hour for Pre-K to 2nd grade, two hours for 3rd to 5th grade and less than half of 6th through 12th grade classes being on a screen. Decatur Schools discussed a partnership with EdTech Balance, a local parent group that is helping the district craft, implement and train teachers with screen time guidelines. CSD Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Burton emphasized in an Aug. 11 meeting that this technology should be mainly supplemental. “We know a fundamental truth in education, which is that direct

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Technology should be used strictly as a supplement and enhancement, and not a replacement for a teacher.” JENNIFER BURTON CSD Assistant Superintendent instruction from a teacher is critical,” Burton said. “Technology should be used strictly as a supplement and enhancement, and not a replacement for a teacher.” Burton said that the district wants to reduce “mirroring” when students view a PowerPoint on their screen that is also displayed on the board. The district seeks to reduce the volume of shared Google Docs and return to using more physical textbooks. “We have to minimize this digital friction and clear away that digital noise so students can focus on what matters most, which is learning,” Burton said. Burton said any guidelines would not apply to students with

Individualized Education Plans or a 504 plan that may require more technology. The district will limit email access, completely disabling access to Kindergarten through 5th grade, limiting middle school’s uses, while leaving high school’s access as-is. No official screen limiting times have been set yet, as they want to first evaluate and collect data on how technology is used in the class before applying timed restrictions. Lightspeed Classroom Management evaluated the district-issued laptop’s daily screen time by grade, finding that 6th-, 8th-, and 9th-graders spent the most time on screens during class in May 2026. Earlier in the Aug. 11 meeting, vice chair Hans Utz said that he doesn’t think its possible to remove screen time completely, but wants the district to look into minimizing it to mostly state requirements. “My perspective is if I could take a hammer to every screen out there, I would, but that’s actually not possible,” Utz said. “There are Georgia standards that require some amount of screens, so we’re going to have to meet those standards.” The EdTech Balance guidelines are not fully in place yet; Burton said it will take time but expects them to be implemented this school year.

16 | September 3, 2026 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

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