Names and faces

■ Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry is donating $ 2.75 million to older residents of Atlanta to help ensure they’re able to stay in their homes. A few weeks ago, Perry reached out to Mayor Andrew Dickens about providing assistance to people on fixed incomes who could lose their homes as a result of rising real estate taxes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Perry, ranked third among the world’s highest- paid entertainers by Forbes, is going to pay the back property taxes for 300 low-income seniors in Atlanta, the newspaper said. The assistance will cover city, county and school taxes. Perry will also cover any increase in taxes over the next 20 years for 100 low-income seniors. He’s already given $ 750,000 for the first year and has pledged $500,000 each of the next four years. The money will be administered by Invest Atlanta Partnership, the nonprofit wing of the city’s economic development authority.

■ Actor Robert Duvall was among more than 100 speakers at a Virginia town council meeting opposing a $ 550 million Amazon data center. Last week’s session at the local high school began early in the evening and didn’t conclude until well after midnight as the Town of Warrenton voted 4-3 to approve a special-use permit for Amazon despite the opposition. Duvall, 92, whose memorable films include “The Godfather,” “The Great Santini” and “Tender Mercies,” for which he won an Oscar, lives on a farm in Fauquier County. “We must all work to preserve the character of this town,” Duvall said. “The vast majority of town and county residents agree that this is a bad use of this site.” He got a standing ovation. The northern Virginia region outside the nation’s capital is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, which house the computer servers and hardware required to support modern internet use. As the centers have expanded, community opposition has increased, and neighbors have expressed concern over noise from the fans required to keep the machines cool. Others express concerns about the data centers’ need for electricity and the need to build high-voltage transmission lines to support them. The centers have also been a revenue boon to local governments, and last month Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a plan for Amazon Web Services to invest $35 billion in data centers across the state. In Warrenton, Amazon projects that about 50 workers will be employed. Supporters said the center will generate about $900,000 in annual tax revenue for the town.

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