The Mark Arum Show 07-10-26 HR 3

No, I'll run this town to be near you. I stand alone. 1105 on, yeah, an extremely busy Newsday Friday. Welcome back, friends, Mark Aram and crew with you till noon. Coming up in 30 minutes, very excited in studio live, Tonito Atlanta. The guy that's been breaking news on business and restaurants, closings, and openings all around Atlanta. Going to finally see what Tonito Atlanta looks like in person. We might not be able to, depending if he wants to keep his anonymity, we might not be able to do the... He might have to wear a baklava or something. Well, we'll just turn off the video stream. Okay. You can watch the show live on YouTube or at WSBRadio.com. And Debra's got an amazing prize pack to give away in 30 minutes. But we also have prize pack right now. Last pair of tickets to see. Last pair of tickets to see Train at Ameris Bank Amphitheater tomorrow, July 11th. And these tickets will be digital, so you'll get them pretty quickly. Tomorrow. night tomorrow night. All right. Let's do the eighth caller to gentlemen, Jim. Caller number 8 to 4-7-0-750. Caller number 8 to 404-8772-0-750 wins our last pair of tickets to see Train tomorrow night, Ameris Bank, courtesy of the Mark Aram Show, N955WSB. I picked up some breaking news from President Trump on Truth Social. Where's Brent, our intern? We just need someone that just follows President Trump on True Social. and lets us know when there's breaking news. President Trump minutes ago posted this on his truth social account. I'm going to read verbatim. Quote, the Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue to continue talks. We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them under no uncertain terms. The ceasefire is over, exclamation point. Thank you for the attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump. So while talks might continue, the ceasefire is over. says President Trump. So I've been calling a re-escalation, not really, but President Trump there for all to read says the ceasefire is over. Any updates on the Iran War or the end of the ceasefire, I guess we'll call it. We'll give them to you throughout the day here on 955 WSP. Do want to hit on a couple local stories. One of my biggest pet peeves in Metro Atlanta, well, it's Atlanta traffic, right? I'm not alone. Everyone, everyone hate, and I am so blessed that when I come in, I rarely deal with any traffic. And if there is traffic, the WSP traffic team alerts me. I listen to Atlanta's morning news of Chris Chandler, so I know if it's taken an alternate route. But I am incredibly blessed that I rarely have to deal with Atlanta traffic. But super speeders and aggressive dryders and people that drive too slow in the three left lanes. Those are probably my biggest pet peeves. Not necessarily in that order. This is crazy. Someone was clock doing how fast on I-85, Deborah? 140 miles per hour, which is crazy. Do we know where on 85? So this was 85 heading northbound out of Kawita County.

South side 85 north okay 140 what who was the suspect what are they charged with what's going on this could fall under your dumb criminal stuff so there is a police officer he's on the side of the road you know checking speeds and all that running the laser and he realized somebody passed him at about 89 miles per hour clearly speeding I don't is it 75 in that part of 70-ish, probably. I mean, sometimes it's 75. Anyway, this person was doing 89, so they were speeding. So the deputies like, okay, I'm going to go stop this person. But while he took off to stop this SUV, along comes. A Ford Focus, weaving in and out of traffic, he sees the police officer speeds up to 140 miles. In a Ford Focus? That's the thing. A Ford Focus was able to go that fast. And so obviously, the police officer who was going to stop another car, but this other car thought, oh, he's going to pull me over, tried to outrun the police officer. That officer was able to do a pit maneuver and ended up stopping this Ford Focus, who he didn't even know. Had no intention of pulling over until he started speeding. Vinnie, get on the horn with the folks, the engineers at Ford. I don't even make focuses anymore. How the hell? That must have been a souped up, right? My mom has a focus. It does not go 140 miles an hour. 140 miles an hour and a Ford focus. And 140, I mean, a pit maneuver, you know, that Ford focus is done. You got that supercharged. Something. What time of day this was that he was able to go 140 miles per hour? Yeah. Weaving in and out of traffic. Let's see. You're a dumb criminal, but apparently you're a mechanical genius to be able to get your full focus to 140. Now, let's just assume the speed limit is 70 miles an hour down in Cayeta County at that section of 85. That's double. The speed limit. I don't know what this scofflaw is charged with, but you lose your license for the rest of your life. Reckless driving, felony fleeing, and driving on a suspended license. He already had a suspended license. Yeah, that's it. You're done. If you're going 140 and a 70 or even a 75, I'll give them the benefit of the down, say it was 75. Yeah, that's it. You don't, driving on our roads is a privilege, not a right. And I don't care if you are a MacGyver with that Ford Focus and you got it to go 140. Well, good for you. Take it to a track, not 85. That's it. If I'm the judge, you are for the rest of your life, not allowed to drive an automobile in the state of Georgia. That's just dangerous. That's a crazy. The big winner of the story was the guy that was going 89. Yeah, he got off, right? He probably saw the lights and he's like, dang, and this focus just comes around him. He's like, oh, never mind. Unless, can I go down a conspiracy theory well? There was the guy driving the 89 mile an hour car. Let's just say it was a Dodge Durango with a swim dad sticker. And it was packed full of heroin. Oh.

And he knew he's about to, and there's a, the guy trailing in the Ford Focus knows, oh, I can't let him get pulled over. So maybe it was a criminal conspiracy. It's like a narco run. Yes. So if you see the Dodge Durango get pulled over, focus, you got to go 140 to get the attention. Maybe that's what it is. But 140, no, you lose your license forever, ever, forever, ever, forever, ever. Georgia Aquarium, getting some new whales, Deborah. Are these the whale sharks or are these of the beluga varieties? These are the beluga whales. Now, we talked about this a couple months ago, that Aquarium in Maine was shut down. Remember, they weren't properly taking care of their whales and they weren't exactly sure. It was Maine. Okay. No, sorry, marine land of Canada. Okay. I knew it was in the same area. So they weren't taught properly taking care of their animals there. They shut down and they didn't exactly know what to do with all these whales. So a couple of them are coming here to the Georgia Aquarium. They are two beluga whales named Baylor and Zephyr. It's going to take a while to get them here. It's kind of hard to ship a whale. But they will be living in the Georgia Aquarium by the end of the year.

Have you ever been to the ballroom there at the Georgia Aquarium? You ever been to an event there? No. In the ballroom. You ever been there, Ben? We've got to get you an event there. There's two big windows there in the ballroom. You got the whale shark window, and then you got the beluga little playpen thing. And they are so interactive, the beluga whale. So smart. I debate whether or not they should be kept in captivity. I have problem. That's my thing with zoos and stuff. Like I feel it's nice to see those animals and then I feel bad that they're in cages. Yeah. But I guess if they're rescued from. Another Marine land. The Canadian. Yeah. Maine. Speaking of Maine, apparently Graham Platner has not yet officially withdrawn. What? Officially? Yeah. Does he have to do it by Monday? Yeah, I think that's the deadline. I think he's making everyone sweat. But he announced that video, but he has filed a paperwork to withdraw. So we'll keep you up to date on that. Finally, data centers, I don't like this. solution to this problem, right? We've had that, was it Douglas County that's voted no to the latest data center? No one wants these data centers anymore. So the next solution is to put data centers where, Deborah? Yeah, if you don't want a data center in your backyard, hey, let's go back to how America was formed. Let's just take over the Native American lands and build them there. Now, there are some tribes out there that have closed casinos and they're saying this is actually a big cash call for us, but you have the same thing saying, how much water is it going to take away from our lands? that we use for farming and agriculture as it is, how much energy is it going to take from the native lands? I know if you've ever been to like reservations, but they're basically their own states. Yeah, absolutely. They have their own schools and policing and everything. Sovereign land. Yeah. And so you have a 50-50. Some are all for it and some are like, do not build them in our lands either. The problem I have with this, and listen, I will defer to whatever natives want to do on their land, but it's not a big job creation thing. It's not a Hyundai plant. It's not a battery plant. It's a data center. It might spur some economic growth and bring in some money to the reservations. Is that they still called reservations? I believe there's still reservations. But you're not getting 300 jobs for the natives there. I just think the... The obvious solution is the United States federal land. We have so much federal land. And not all of it is Glacier National Park or Yellowstone or Yosemite. Like we have federal lands that don't have natural resources, aren't very attractive. We should just... Take 500, 1,500 acres of federal land that is of no other use. And that's where we put the data center. So people don't have to deal with losing water or raising electricity bills or any of that. I think that's the solution. Unless Elon Musk decides to put him in space. Oh, we do have an Elon Musk story. Elon Musk has plans for moon exploration. And I actually like this. So.

Again, SpaceX, Elon Musk, space exploration, I'm all for it. But Elon Musk wants to use robots on the moon to make it use these robots, land them on the moon, have them do all the work, get the natural resources there, the minerals, whatever, and have robots actually build like a space. development force on the lunar surface. That makes sense, right? If we don't have the atmosphere and the food and the shelter and the robots don't need it and they have AI, yeah, let them do it. Absolutely. I'm off for that. Let's, instead of robots taking job, I mean, someone's going to be like, well, that could be a job for someone. Yeah, but let the, that's a great place to use robots to build something is on the moon. A quick update. We did not go live to Utah this morning on the final day of the testimony and the, the would be. No, the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk. But recordings were played in text messages read in a Utah courtroom where a judge considering whether to proceed with the case against Tyler Robinson, the man charged in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Among those recordings, a police interview with Lance Twigs, Robinson's roommate and romantic partner. ABC's Kanye Whitworth has more. At that critical hearing in Utah, a never-before seen interview with witness alleging Tyler Robinson expressed regret. the day after Charlie Kirk was gunned down. My name is Lance Twiggs. Lance Twigs, the suspect's former roommate and romantic partner, received messages from Robinson that prosecutors say contained a confession. I just asked him in person what he said was true the night before, and he said it was. I started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn't done it. Prosecutors pointing to one note, Twigs says he found under a keyboard reading, I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk. and I'm going to take it. I believe this is the last day of the pretrial testimony. Spoiler, this is going to trial. Because the plea deal would... Robinson's attorney said they will only do a plea deal if the death penalty is taken off the table. Utah prosecutors are not going to take the death penalty off the table. So this is definitely going to trial. When we come back, we're going to get an update, a health update on Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. First off, congrats to Melissa from Jefferson. She won our final pair of tickets to see Train in concert tomorrow night. Enjoy the show. Melissa, enjoy the show.

Two by two. I'm a camel and a kangaroo. 737 on this fast moving Friday edition of the Mark Aram show coming up in just minutes. He's the Batman of the food restaurant opening and closure business. We're going to keep him anonymous. So you won't see his face on the live stream. Very excited to talk to Nito Atlanta Live and Steel. But first and foremost, once in a lifetime prize pack, what are we giving away right now? A pair tickets to see Leonard Skinnerden foreigner. This is the Double Trouble Double Vision tour coming to a Marysbank amphitheater on July 23rd. And the little bonus is you get a meet and greet with Foreigner here in the WSB Live Lounge on July 21st. That's more than a little bonus. That's awesome. You get a small, intimate concert. You get to meet Foreigner. I'll be there interviewing Foreigner. It's phenomenal. Tickets to the concert. Tickets to the Live Lounge. I'm going to make year in this one, though. We'll do the 23rd caller to Gentleman, Jim. Caller number 23 to 404.872.075 wins that amazing. Lifetime Prize Pack, courtesy of the Mark Aram Show at 955 WSB. Good luck to all my friends that are trying to win that prize pack. All right, very excited. I can't believe this is actually happening. Tonito Atlanta, live in studio. We're going to. Call you Tonito Atlanta. For folks that don't know, your algorithms out of whack, because you should be seeing him on Instagram and Facebook. I'm going to play one of your videos right now just to give folks that don't know who you are a little bit of what you do. This is one of the latest social media videos from Tonito Atlanta. Tonyto Atlanta out here in Beaufort, near the intersection of Beaufort Drive and Beaufort Highway, right across from the street from that new Starbucks that we previously reported on and nearby to that. former Wendy's that still sits there and that former Pizza Hut where right over here at Cross Road Shopping Center, this former Hardee's, which we previously reported this past. Rest in peace to all the Hardy's locations, but that's what you do. You are Batman on the streets of Atlanta. First with the information on restaurant closures and restaurant openings and business. First off, welcome to the show, Tonito Atlanta. I really appreciate your time. How did you get started? And when did you get started doing these amazing videos? Well, the videos are a more recent thing. Amazingly, a lot of people don't realize that. I've been doing a website for 18 years now. Wow. And the website started when I was at Georgia State. Okay. Literally a student in Georgia State. And actually, there is a radio connection. On that other radio station, there was someone that did things related to shopping, Jessica Shops. Okay. And she would tell people where to go shop and eat and things. And I'm like, I don't want to give away my secrets. But I will do. And what I am curious about is what's opening and what's closing. So I started that website then, literally in Georgia State and in 2008. And it's evolved since then. But I would say the Instagram has been in a bigger way, about a year and a half. And TikTok literally this past fall. Yeah. So Instagram, over 70,000 followers. Almost 80. I didn't even follow you. But, you know, the Instagram.

algorithm they know they're like all right aram likes food and beagles and baseball so you just kept coming in and i've actually played a couple of your cuts here because you are you're the first to break a lot of this breaking news when it comes to restaurants opening and closing i like to think i am how do people call you with tips do they slide into your dms how do you know about all this stuff I can't give away all my secrets. But yes, there's definitely some DM sliding. There's a lot of sourcing. And as I like to say, the city is my orange and I juice it daily. You do. And so that you just posted video from Beaufort. I played one earlier, the old Dairy Queen on North Avenue. I mean, your footprint is all across North Georgia. Yeah. I cover the majority of Metro Atlanta from, yeah, and I was even further north than Beaufort covering a furniture store opening very recently as well. But yeah, I've also covered some Wawa openings. That was at St. Simons. So, yeah, we're covering a lot of ground for sure. And so, I mean, obviously, you are passionate about this. You're out there in the middle of the summer filming videos in Beaufort, about a former Hardy's closing. What are you getting out of this? Is it just your passion? Are you able to monetize this? Monetize to some degree. There are people that obviously want to take advantage of the audience that I have acquired through tremendous work. Some obviously don't want to pay for it, but some do see the value in it. So there's that. And honestly, I'm just genuinely interested in what's going on and like being the source of information. So I mean, I don't want to bury elite. Folks want to follow you or hit your website up. Tell them where they can find your amazing content. So for those that don't know, Tonito Atlanta stands for Tomorrow's News Today because I deliver tomorrow's news today. Indeed. So it's Tonito Atlanta or Tonito ATL on social channels. And so, again, you've been, I didn't know I wasn't following you because you're always in my feed. I just assumed, but I apparently wasn't following you, but the algorithm knows that I am, you know, I am an avaracious user of your content because you're always showing up in my feed. Have you noticed trends? Like I mentioned Hardys. I love Hardys. Hardies are going away. Crystals are going away. What are some of the trends you've noticed in restaurants here in Metro Atlanta? It's honestly the fast food restaurants that one might think no one cares about that gets the most people excited in talking about, whether it's an opening or a closing. The owners of the Chastain recently revealed their opening a new restaurant in Morningside. I actually had that news months ago and didn't do anything with it. I haven't seen that much interaction on other people that have reported on it, yet I report on a... a new Chipotle or a new Hardee's or a new Wawa, and it's shared 40,000 times across multiple channels gets up to a few hundred thousand a few weeks later, and that seems to be what the majority of people care about and want to talk about. Yeah, it's remarkable. So like the two crystal locations, Northside Drive, Piedmont, I've frequented both of those over my 30 years in Atlanta. Both of those are turning into what? Raisin Cains. Which is a new chicken type. A fried chicken place that... Some might say rivals Atlanta's Zaxbys. Some might say is less flavorful than Atlanta's Axpies, but definitely are both inspired by Guthrie's, which is the OG of the chicken. What does that tell us about Crystal's future as a fast food operator? I think Crystal's days are probably numbered. They've gone through several private equity ownership changes. They've gone through a lot of just inability to update and upgrade. And I just...

So many of their locations are closing rather than renovating or opening new ones. Tonito Atlanta joining us live in studio on the Mark Aram Show withholding his true identity. Can't even see him on the live stream. I was hoping you would say, don't show my face. Because I like the fact that you're just this voice that breaks this breaking news on social media all the time. But it's not just food and restaurants, openings and closings. What are some of the other touchstones that you cover? A recent thing we covered was the closing of the LA Fitness in East Cobb. That's been there for many years. The locals were a car that used to be a Harris Teeter grocery store that many still have fond memories of, similar to people having fond memories of ETSIs. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Over in Buckhead. There's one in Buckhead and one in Dunwood. Oh, I love the Eatsies. I just spoke to a listener yesterday who says she Instagram messages them twice a year saying, please come back to Atlanta. So if anyone from Eatsies is listening, you have people that really want you back in Atlanta. But yeah, so supermarkets too, right? Supermarket closings and openings. Yeah. The primary stuff is retail restaurant, hotel, grocery store, convenience store, banking, multifamily. Those sectors. Obviously what gets the most people interested like yourself is restaurants. Yeah. But at times with the LA Fitness closure, I wouldn't normally write about fitness, though that used to be a grocery store. And from what I'm hearing, we'll soon become potentially one or two new retail stores. So a lot of things are interrelated in that sense. It's remarkable. And of all the videos you've done, and the website goes back to your days at Georgia State, what video has garnered the most views or was the most popular? That's a great question. I don't know that I know offhand what's been the biggest. What comes to mind, though, where you get at least the most interaction with folks? Really, I mean, if I talk about in and out. In and out? If I broke the news that the Barnes & Noble that's closing on Cobb Parkway and was becoming a new racetrack. A lot of commentary on both sides of that. For what it's worth, before that was going to become a racetrack. There was talk that was going to become a lazy dog and a Raising Canes. And that didn't come to fruition. And instead, we're getting this giant racetrack. But of course, that kind of ties in with the things I cover. Racetrack, though it's a gas station, is heavily investing in their food programs and also bought Potbelly. And it remains to be seen what they may be doing. But Potbelly, another story that because they have such a cult-like following, when I spoke about them, was hugely popular. Speaking of popularity, you become so popular, your voice is so recognizable. Have you been... outed out in public or people like wait you're Tony to Atlanta when I was filming my reel at the Barnes & Noble yeah on Cobb Parkway because it was so trafficked there and typically when I film reels I like to film low traffic areas low populated areas there there was just tons of people so I'm I'm doing my typical pan yeah and I definitely got spotted by three people okay who came up and talked with me and that was cool and I try to keep it to just three people. Well, listen, your secret's safe with me. I'll go to the grave, keeping you anonymous. Because I absolutely, what a great niche. I love it. And I love that you're gaining in popularity. And every time you break news, is it okay, by the way? I'm asking permission after the fact where if you have breaking news, I'll play the audio on the show. Is that okay? Please do. Please do. One of, it just came to me. One of the bigger stories this year had to have been when I revealed that Magic City was going to be opening.

at the Phipps Plaza Food Hall, that they were going to scrap the food hall, which has been a... Obviously, that was on April 1st, and it was a joke, but it was very widely well-received. And I even got a DM from the general manager of Phipps Plaza who thanked me for bringing notoriety to their food hall that no one knew about. That's fantastic. Final quick question. Do we know what's going to happen with... Not Magic City. What's the Spring Street? Shoe Show Place. Oh, gosh. Cheetah. Cheetah. Do we know what's going into the Cheetah location? My understanding is it's going to be student housing for nearby Georgia Tech. Oh, ironic. That is the ultimate plan. Isn't it ironic, don't you think? Tonito Atlanta. Breaking news out there. Such a thrill to meet you, man. Love your stuff. Again, social media and website. Tonito atl and tonito Atlanta.com. You're going to start selling merch? I should. Yeah, I should. Inspired by some others in Atlanta, I should be doing that. All right. It's been an honor. Keep up the good work, my friend. Thank you, Mark. 1148 on the Mark Aram Show. Congrats to Tim in Monroe, Georgia. Won the double trouble, double vision prize pack to see foreigner and Leonard Skinnerd and a private performance here in the WSB Live Lounge. Congrats, Tim. 1155 on the Mark Aram Show. I am late to the button, but I meant to play this audio coming in as we wish a happy... 46th birthday Jessica Simpson Simpson Simpson Pop singer really she what no yeah I apparently I met Jessica Simpson once don't remember but all right anyway happy birthday to Jessica Simpson real quick following up our fantastic discussion with Tonito Atlanta Taco Bell news Taco Bell pulling some items from their menu, not like the Chalupa or the Mexican pizza, but ingredients to items. What's the story behind this? I've never eaten at a Taco Bell, so you have to tell me, but I know what composes the things. They're pulling things like lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, cilantro, onion, all from the menu because of that big outbreak they've had, that explosive diarrhea outbreak that's been taking over like all the states and that's linked to these foods. How I avoided that, by the way. Or maybe I did get it, but my body's like, boy, that's not explosive. A normal day. You had a pink drink here. So they're not, so you're not going to get cilantro. How do you pronounce it? Cilantro? So whatever, I didn't even talk about you cilantro. Well, they're not serving it right now. Pico de gallo. Pico de gallo. Lettuce. Lettis isn't everything, isn't it? I would imagine. Guacamole. What are you serving without? Yeah, what are they going to do at Taco Bell without all these items? Again, I'd have never eaten there, so. You're missing out, Deborah. I am not. I am not. I saw a survey that said foodies also love Taco Bell. Well, I'm not a foodie. That's true. The Taco Bell on Beaufort Highway is the greatest Taco Bell in the world. They take pride in their food and their service at Taco Bell. I just want them to bring back the Maxi Melt. Please bring back the Maxi Melt. Now you know. Because of the Mark Aram Show. When something is built for the purpose of protecting the president, you know that's what was built for. It had one purpose and one purpose only with the Qatari plane while no one expects there to be any issues with it whenever anything's added on. No summit. Now you know.

They've been terms the loan that the EU agreed to start giving Ukraine both for its economic redevelopment and to allow Ukraine to purchase. Euro loan from the EU to Ukraine to help them fight their war with Iran. No, war with Russia. Now you know. Record revenue was driven by a pretty significant increase in airfare. And a journal constitution on record revenues last quarter for Delta Airlines. No. Uh, Tornito, Atlanta. mythical legend make sure you follow him he gets the start of the show i don't get kelly amonucci she covered three big delta story for us uh so kelly and tonito give me a follow holla at mark arum m a r k a r um stay safe have a great friday atlanta