Update: All streets have been re-opened and the issue has been cleared, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
Atlanta residents should steer clear of a section of Midtown as police investigate a suspicious package. The area from 11th Street to 14th Street is currently shut down.
🚔 What’s Happening: Atlanta Police Department officials are asking the public to avoid the area between 11th and 14th Streets while they investigate a suspicious package.
Police have not yet provided details about the exact location of the package or what made it appear suspicious.
🚨 Why It Matters: Your safety could be at risk if you travel through this area while police work to determine if the package poses a threat. Finding alternate routes now will help you avoid delays and potential danger.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
