A.M. ATL: Waiting to exhale

Morning, y’all! Big night for men wearing brooches at the Oscars. Now, time to browse last night’s fancy red carpet fashions while still in your PJs.

Let’s get to it.

QUICK WEATHER NOTE

Severe storms were expected to hit Georgia starting late Sunday through early Monday morning.

Check your school district’s announcements this morning. A frigid cold front and rough storms are heading through Georgia today, and several districts are adjusting their schedules.

Expect blustery winds, lightning and heavy rain through the morning. All in all, a good day to stay inside.

🔎 READ MORE: The latest on today’s severe storms

Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.

AFTER FIVE-PLUS YEARS, ONE DECISION

Nygil Cullins, 22, died after being shot by Atlanta police officers at a Buckhead restaurant in May 2022.

In 2020, as the country responded to multiple citizens’ deaths at the hands of police officers, the Atlanta Citizen Review Board was expanded and given the power to independently investigate all police shootings and in-custody deaths in the city.

Now, more than five years later, the board has handed down its first ruling.

• The board ruled two Atlanta police officers were justified and following department policy when they fatally shot Nygil Cullins, 22, at a crowded Buckhead restaurant in 2022.
• The board cleared the officers of wrongdoing and unanimously agreed neither of them used excessive force.

Years of inaction

• A 2025 AJC investigation revealed the board failed to investigate nearly 40 cases where police had used deadly force between 2020 and 2024.
• City leaders, police departments and citizens all openly criticized the board and urged them to pick up the pace.
• The list of cases continues to grow and currently sits around 50.

Officer Alex Luebbehusen, one of the officers involved in the 2022 Buckhead shooting, said the investigative process was excruciating and slow.

“It took them long enough,” he told the AJC.

🔎 READ MORE: What happens next for the board

DATA PEOPLE

First comes data centers, then comes ... all the people who have to work in the data centers.

• A new workforce training center in Walton County will educate people to tackle the infrastructure jobs that make data centers hum.
• The 49-acre site will train dozens of workers at a time on electrical systems, fiber deployment, utility work and maintenance.

🔎 READ MORE: What this development says about Georgia’s data boom

It’s another symptom of Georgia’s growing data center infestation. There’s another whopper on the way, too.

• Data center giant QTS plans to build up to 12 million square feet (!!!) of server storage warehouses in Blakely, Georgia, also known as “The Peanut Capital of the World.”
• That’s roughly the footprint of seven Lenox Square malls or almost twice the footprint of the Pentagon.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

⏳ Rodney Taylor, the Gwinnett County barber and double amputee who has been in immigration detention for more than a year, may soon be deported. Allegations of his mistreatment attracted national attention.

🏥 The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will consider a $900 million hospital plan for south Fulton. The area is considered a “hospital desert,” and lost two hospital facilities in 2022.

🗳️ Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was sitting pretty as the presumptive nominee for Georgia governor. Then billionaire Rick Jackson entered the scene, and things are a bit uncertain.

GREENS ARE GOOD FOR YOU

Members of the Hibernian Society of Savannah march in the city's 2025 St. Patrick's Day Parade.

In Savannah, there’s one holiday that outshines birthdays, Christmas and even Halloween — and it comes with a lot of green. The coastal Georgia city is home to the United States’ second‑ or third‑largest St. Patrick’s Day parade, rivaling Irish heritage celebrations in New York and Chicago.

The annual march winds three miles through the city’s picturesque historic district, drawing tens of thousands of revelers and blending the best parts of a family reunion and a football tailgate — a scene that unfolds again tomorrow.

• The celebration launched on March 5 with the greening of the waters at Savannah’s iconic Forsyth Park fountain and builds to the downtown parade on March 17, the day honoring the fifth-century Christian missionary known as “the apostle of Ireland.”
• Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade dates back to 1824, when a local Irish society, the Hibernians, invited the public to join them for a procession and reception for a charismatic Roman Catholic bishop from Charleston, South Carolina.
• The family-friendly party takes over the city’s historic district with a march featuring bands, troops, floats and Alee Shriner Clubs snaking along the route.

☘️ READ MORE: All you need to know about the 2026 parade

Peachtree Street was awash in green Saturday as Midtown Atlanta hosted its 2026 St. Patrick’s Parade. Here’s a look at the sights, colors and costumes from the celebration.

NEWS BITES

“KPop Demon Hunters” wins Oscar for best animated film and best song

Now you’ll have “Golden” in your head all day. You’re welcome.

Here’s the bracket for the men’s and women’s NCAA March Madness tournaments

Let’s see how the ball bounces. (I’m sorry.)

Atlanta United won!

Yay!

Where to drink cherry blossom-inspired cocktails around Atlanta

Lovers of things flavored like grass, dirt, trees and flowers, it’s our time.

ON THIS DATE

March 16, 1922

Atlanta Journal installs big radio station: Newspaper is first in South with wireless. Atlanta is on the radio map of the world today. The big new radio station just completed by The Atlanta Journal on its own building has been duly authorized by C.H. Huston, acting secretary of commerce, and has been given a radio call — “WSB.”

WSB began broadcasting March 15 under the ownership of The Atlanta Journal. A day later, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, rival newspaper The Atlanta Constitution launched WGM.

ONE MORE THING

🎵 We’re going UP, UP, UP this is our moment! You know together we’re glowing, gonna be gonna be golden! 🎵