A.M. ATL: Highly raided

Morning, y’all! We’re back at it with the weather. Northeast Georgia and much of metro Atlanta are under a winter storm watch from Friday evening to Sunday morning. We could get strong winds and even a few inches of snow. Luckily, everyone is still well stocked on bread and milk from last weekend.

Let’s get to it.

FBI RAID FALLOUT

Boxes at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City.

Details are trickling in about the FBI raid at Fulton County’s election operations center. This one’s not going away any time soon. The latest:

• A spokesperson for the FBI’s Atlanta office wouldn’t say where the 700 boxes of ballots and other seized materials were taken.
• The head of the FBI’s Atlanta office appears to have left the agency just days before the raid.
• The Department of Justice hasn’t said a lot about the raid, but one DOJ official posted a photo of himself with Georgia conspiracy theorist and convicted election meddler Sidney Powell. “Good morning, America. How are ya’?” it read.

🔎 READ MORE: Live updates on the FBI raid aftermath

What could the DOJ do with the ballots and documents?

The AJC asked two experts what the DOJ’s plans could be.

• One said it’s unlikely they’ll find anything new to enter into evidence since the ballots were already counted three times. Instead, the Trump administration could say they found fraud from the raid but never produce evidence to back it up.
• Another pointed out a five-year statute of limitations listed in the warrant, which puts any actions taken in 2020 out of legal reach. Rather than answering questions, that fact just leads to more.

Local leaders worry it could signal an election takeover

• Even without hard evidence, the Trump administration could use the raid as an excuse to let the Georgia State Election Board, stocked with conservative MAGA loyalists, take control of Fulton’s election system.
• Lawmakers say this would effectively allow Trump allies to do whatever they wanted to skew statewide elections this year.

🔎 READ MORE: Why Democrats fear a takeover

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MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🚂 Norfolk Southern’s CEO says competitors are using “scare tactics” to disrupt the railroad’s planned merger with Union Pacific. The Atlanta-based company needs federal regulators’ approval for the blockbuster $85 billion merger. It would create the world’s first continental railroad, and opponents have raised monopoly concerns.

⚖️ GA Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger’s request to loosen spending limits in this year’s governor’s race was rejected by a judge. Raffensperger and other GOP hopefuls not named Lt. Gov. Burt Jones have criticized state campaign laws that give Jones a huge financial edge.

🧊 DeKalb County commissioners were urged by residents to approve a measure that would demand ICE “cease all tactical enforcement operations” in residential areas. The Board of Commissioners deferred action until at least next week to seek legal advice.

GREAT, GUESS WE HAVE A NEW SUPER FLU

Georgia excels at many things. One of those things is ... spreading the flu. Our state is 17th in flu activity, and a new flu strain is making things even more challenging.

• Subclade K, which some have deemed a “super flu,” is a highly mutated variant of the influenza A virus. It carries the regular symptoms but can leave people with stronger, longer illnesses.
• While we’re already deep into sickie season, doctors’ advice is the usual: Any vaccine is better than no vaccine, even this late in the game.

🔎 READ MORE: Why this flu season has been a tough one

WEEKEND PLANS

See the boys at The Battery this weekend.

Chop it up!

We’re a few weeks away from the best time of the year: baseball season. Braves fans, you can get an early appetizer when Braves Fest comes to Truist Park this weekend.

The offseason festivities will include opportunities to see Braves players and coaches, autograph sessions, photo stations, Q&A sessions, live entertainment (including music from CMA Award winners), food, shopping and time to hang around the ballpark when it’s searingly cold as opposed to searingly hot. More info here.

🎹 12 arts events to look forward to this week, including “America @ 250″ at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and “Carlyle Brown’s The African Company Presents Richard III,” a very meta production at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.

🛻 15 family-friendly things to do this weekend, including monster trucks and Black History Month celebrations.

NEWS BITES

‘Clueless,’ ‘The Karate Kid,’ ‘Inception’ among 25 movies entering National Film Registry

I smell a themed movie night!

Georgia Tech professor headed to the Grammys for Black poetry-inspired works

That’s a lot of excellence in one headline.

Everyone’s ditching their phones and going analog again. Here’s why

I think the sound of a single CD skip would rocket me back 25 years in time.

Where are those darn keys? Tricks for remembering where you put things

Step 1: Do not have a mental disorder that makes you forget things.

ON THIS DATE

Jan. 30, 1891

A correction. In our notice a few days ago of the new hotel at Marietta, Ga. — “the Leland house” — we stated that it was nearly finished. The new hotel is finished and handsomely furnished through and through. We are very sorry the mistake occurred, and will say that anyone thinking of spending a few months out of the city (to) enjoy the fresh breeze from the beautiful Kennesaw mountain, can find no better place than the Leland House at Marietta now open and ready for boarders.

Well, someone got a very unfriendly call from the Leland House.

ONE MORE THING

When I forget something and really can’t find it, my husband will say, “Do you want to do The Thing?” The Thing involves us calmly talking through my recent movements and the last places I remember seeing the item. Well, first, I have to get upset and say, “No, I don’t want to do The Thing!” That’s part of the magic of The Thing, I think. It works about 80% of the time.

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.