The (mostly) good news edition Nov. 26 — It's Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. It's Thanksgiving week, so this newsletter, like most people's belts, will be tight. First, some headlines. 💡 If you are a holiday lights fanatic, we have the perfect story for you. Stephanie Toone, who covers DeKalb and Tucker, has scouted out some of the best homes that go all-out for the holidays. Check it out here. Also, if you have a favorite home not listed, let us know. 🎄 Spruill Gallery just opened its Holiday Art Fair in the little house on Ashford Dunwoody Road, and I can personally vouch for it – a great display of unique art at affordable prices.

Giving Thanks Nov. 26 — Remember in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" when Snoopy whipped up a meal of toast, popcorn, jellybeans, and ice cream sundaes? That's the Thanksgiving I'd like to have. However, you're spending tomorrow, I'm sending my thanks for reading Crosswalk and Georgia Voice this year. Here are a few pre-holiday headlines: 👋 After years of anti-LGBTQ+ screeds, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday night that she would resign from Congress on Jan. 5 after battling with Trump over the release of the Epstein files. 👎 The Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD denounced a report from the U.S.

The prosecutor newly assigned to oversee Georgia’s election interference case against President Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants has announced he will not pursue the matter further. Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, assumed control of the case last month after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed. According to the Associated Press, a judge ruled last year that Willis’ romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed created an “appearance of impropriety,” disqualifying her from continuing the case. While the case was unlikely to advance against Trump during his presidency, charges were still pending against 14 other defendants, including former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Skandalakis’ decision effectively ends the prosecution for all remaining defendants.

This week, per a Rough Draft reader request, we're sharing Kyma's recipe for its eggplant stew with onions and tomato sauce.

🍁 Winding down November Nov. 26 (7 Kislev 5786) ✍🏼 Y'alla is collecting Birthright Israel stories as the organization celebrates 25 years with a celebration on Tuesday, Dec. 9 in Sandy Springs. Send us your fondest memories and we'll share them in an issue of Y'alla. 🗳️ Have you taken the Jewish parent survey? 🦃 Here’s a Jewish Thanksgiving recipe to try. Hopefully the weather will behave for a warm, dry Thanksgiving Day. After all, you may need a cousin walk after dinner. 🫶🏽 As always, thanks for reading!

A Florida multimillionaire spent years collecting what he thought was quite the art collection. Turns out, it was all a sham. In a lawsuit filed in federal court last week, he accuses his lifelong friend, an Atlanta auctioneer, of selling him $20 million in counterfeit artworks. The lawsuit says Allan Baitcher and his company, Peachtree Antiques, falsified authentication reports for more than 800 pieces of artwork. Many of those pieces came from high-profile artists like Salvador Dalí, Jackson Pollock, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat and many more. It accuses Baitcher of creating several fake websites, email addresses and phone numbers for authenticators to verify the legitimacy of the artwork being sold.

Electric vehicle owners will eventually have another 26 places to recharge when motoring through Georgia after the state awarded $24.4 million in federal funding to build chargers along highways and interstates. “This investment will help further secure our status as a national leader in innovation and infrastructure for years to come,” Gov. Brian Kemp said of the money from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Act, which took effect in 2021 during the administration of President Joe Biden, allocated $5 billion nationwide over five years to foster a network of electric vehicle charging stations.

Banana fiber angels showcase traditional East African craftwork reimagined through Johari Africa’s cross-cultural artisan network. (Courtesy of Johari Africa). At the Johari Africa gift shop in Clarkston, the holidays arrive with color, texture, and stories stitched into belts, bags, bracelets, and other handcrafted goods. The shop, which sits inside the Amani Women Center’s headquarters on Church Street, holds the memories and traditions of many places at once—Kenya, Ghana, Burma, Afghanistan, and more.  The women who make Johari’s apparel, bags, jewelry, and home goods come from refugee and immigrant communities across the region.

The best dishes Rough Draft Dining Editor Beth McKibben and Dining Reporter Sarra Sedghi ate from Atlanta restaurants in November 2025, including squash pancakes from Pure Quill Superette, ceviche from Cuzco Peruvian, akami tuna crudo from Celestia, and shakshouka from Diyar Al Yemen.

Wednesday's word Nov. 26 — If you're still looking for a place to dine out tomorrow for Turkey Day, check out our list here. And if you're cooking, don't miss the North vs. South smackdown on Thanksgiving side dishes to see which region makes the best. ⛅ Clouds and 64° today, but getting colder overnight with Thanksgiving morning temps around 35°. 🗳️ Today is the final day of early voting in local municipal runoffs, including mayoral races in Roswell and Sandy Springs, plus several city council and school board contests in Atlanta.

A screenshot shows the gun that was recovered from the woods, which was allegedly dumped by an armed fugitive. (Brookhaven Police) For the second time in a week,Brookhaven Police, using available technology, including drones and its Real Time Operation Center, has arrested an armed fugitive who allegedly assaulted a woman on Buford Highway. Police were called to Pollo Campero Restaurant in the 3300 block of Buford Highway on Nov. 24 in response to a triggered "hold-up" alarm, according to Lt. Jake Kissel, the department's public information officer. When officers arrived, they were told by restaurant employees that an unidentified woman had been chased into the establishment by the suspect, who was armed with a handgun.

Table Talk: Edgewood Avenue bar demonstrates love thy neighbor in real time Nov. 25 — Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the table. 🦃 The New York Times published 61 Thanksgiving hot takes last week, asking staffers like Kim Severson, along with recipe developers and restaurant folks, their opinions on everything from the optimal time to serve the holiday meal (2 p.m.) to the best side dish (cranberry apple sage stuffing) to whether lasagna is an acceptable main (yes). All hail the comments section on this story. As for my Thanksgiving hot take: If the cranberry sauce doesn't include ridges from a can, get it out of my sight and off my table.

Pre-Turkey Tuesday Nov. 25 — Welcome to a pre-holiday edition of Silver Streak! ➙ Wondering what restaurants have dine-in and takeout options on Thanksgiving Day? We have a list below to help you prepare. Planning to take in some holiday lights? We also have a roundup of residential locations that are decking the halls – and the yards – for you to check out. Plus, "eatertainment" concept, Painted Park, has won a Historic Renovation Award. More specifics are below. And now for a few headlines: ✈️ Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is expecting to see…

Georgia's Less Crime Act provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for contributions made to approved law enforcement foundations, allowing individuals and corporations to directly influence the quality and effectiveness of policing in their communities.

Guests for the first of two ribbon-cutting days for the new units at Georgia Power's nuclear-powered Plant Vogtle lounge on a temporary patio on May 29, 2024. Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News Professional staff for Georgia’s Public Service Commission say Georgia Power is vastly overestimating its need for new generation capacity due to the growth in data centers and that customer bills could rise because of that. The assertion was made in two separate reports prepared as written testimony by two different groups of experts as part of the PSC’s approval process for Georgia Power’s request for an unprecedented amount of new capacity the company says is demanded by the growing data center sector.

A Georgia Congressman who voted for legislation last week mandating the release of documents connected with child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein said on Monday that it does not go far enough and that he wants further investigation. The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week with votes in favor by all 14 members of Georgia’s Congressional delegation, including Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Tifton. House Resolution 4405 became law the next day after the Senate passed it and President Donald Trump signed it, and on Monday Scott issued a statement saying the language did not achieve everything he felt was needed.

Hug the Block – a meal, celebration, and act of service rolled into one – returns on Nov. 26 for its sixth year in Sweet Auburn. In what's become a yearly tradition for Our Bar ATL, the Edgewood Avenue bar closes to the public the night before Thanksgiving and throws an event specifically meant to assist the area's homeless population. 

Here's the story of the high-flying funny money that flew too close to the sun…and then… There are times in life when a moment crystallizes in your mind, and increasingly, at least for me, when you can anticipate when that latest 'hot topic,' is about to jump the shark. My father is an astute businessman and longtime savvy investor in many things, however, he is not the guy up to speed on all things new and different. A few months back, he pulled me aside to apparently share something of great value in confidence.

DeKalb County School District is investigating an alleged sexual assault involving three students on a school bus that occurred on October 22, and has met with all the students' families to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.

Thirty indie bookstores in and around Atlanta are participating in the fourth annual Atlanta Indie Bookshop Crawl, an event coinciding with Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29 encouraging shopping at small book sellers across the metro area. Like a bar crawl, participants are encouraged to traverse the city to discover new independent book sellers. Each shop will stamp your “passport”; collect five stamps for 10 percent off, 10 for 15 percent off, 15 or more for 20 percent off, and all of the 30 stores to enter a raffle.

Ben Whishaw in Ira Sachs' "Peter Hujar's Day." (Photo courtesy of Janus Films) While out director Ira Sachs was working on the film “Passages” with actor Ben Whishaw, he discovered Linda Rosenkrantz’s book “Peter Hujar’s Day.” He thought it would make an interesting next project for him and Whishaw to collaborate on. “I knew that we shared an interest in queer history, specifically queer artists like Peter,” Sachs said. “By the time I finished the book, I said ‘Let’s make a movie of this.’”  The film is based on a taped conversation between Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) and trailblazing queer photographer Hujar (Whishaw), in which the artist talks about a day in his life in New York in the 1970s.

Tuesday takeaways Nov. 25 — The Georgia High School Association suspended 39 Gainesville players after a brawl halted Friday’s playoff game at Brunswick, but the team still plans to face top-ranked Hughes on Friday as it appeals the ruling. ☔ Showers and 72° today. 🚨 John Siggers, the owner of an eponymously named Tucker salon and the subject of an employee lawsuit, has been arrested and charged with two counts of sexual battery. 👗 Jeffrey Kalinsky is reviving his boutique, with a new Jeffrey opening in Buckhead Village in August 2026.

Metro Atlanta is home to a variety of residential holiday displays, from the "largest residential Christmas light display in Georgia" to smaller displays, all of which can be viewed mainly for free with the help of a helpful map and guide.

Metro Atlanta distilleries ASW Distillery and Minhwa Spirits received high awards on Nov. 9 at The Tasting Alliance's World Spirits Competition in San Francisco, winning Best in Class for bourbon and soju.

Sandy Springs celebrated its 20th anniversary with a community picnic on Nov. 22, featuring a video in which children interviewed city staff and leaders about the city's formation.