A.M. ATL: A community superfan fondly remembered
Morning, y’all! Overnight rain continues this morning, so watch out for flooded roads on your commute. Things should clear out by afternoon as temperatures approach the mid-60s.
- Donald Trump dominated Super Tuesday primaries across the country, winning 14 of 15 states. GOP challenger Nikki Haley is expected to suspend her campaign today, a move that would officially take the oomph out of next week’s primary here in Georgia.
Lots more to discuss in today’s newsletter, including an added bit of intrigue in the Fani Willis disqualification effort, Delta boosting its baggage prices and a new development in a decades-old Middle Georgia mystery. Plus: Emergency crews are on scene this morning at the iconic Midtown restaurant Mary Mac’s Tea Room, where part of the roof collapsed.
Let’s get to it.
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‘WE’RE GOING TO MISS HIM’
Communities are not defined by a mayor, or a map, or a murder rate. They’re defined — created — by people.
And in Tucker, Bud King was one of those people.
King, 57, grew up less than a block from the local high school. He was nine or 10 when he started showing up at football games. And basketball games. And baseball games. Youth to high school, he was there. For decades.
“Everything was Tucker High School, morning until night,” his brother, Jerry King, told the AJC. “He had to get to every game. He never missed a game for 20-something, 25, or maybe 30 years.”
Bud King, who was autistic, disappeared last month after taking a bus to one of his favorite restaurants. Authorities found his body over the weekend and ruled his death an accident.
The community he loved is reeling. And remembering.
- Said James Harty, Tucker High’s varsity basketball coach: “Anything he could do to help, he would. Anything he could do for the kids, he would.”
- Said Randall Rolader, a youth sports coach: “He could remember the batting averages of every kid in the major leagues, and the youth football leagues’ teams used him as their statistician.”
- Trea Hurst, another former coach and longtime friend: “Bud was just a magnetic person. He was the character of the party. Our community has stopped for about a week now. We’re in shock. We’re frozen. We’re going to miss him.”
Bud King is survived by his brother, his sister, his nephew and generations of admirers.
“We can’t understand how or why this happened to somebody who meant so much to everybody,” Hurst said.
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Keep scrolling for more news.
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WITNESSES WAITING
Defense attorneys leading the effort to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from Fulton County’s 2020 election interference case asked Judge Scott McAfee to accept new evidence. They say they have two more witnesses who were told Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade became romantically involved far earlier than they let on.
Meanwhile at the state Capitol: A bill allowing a controversial prosecutor oversight panel to begin its work earned final passage.
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MORE TOP STORIES
- Drug shortages have some Georgia patients struggling to find the medications they need to treat things like ADHD, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Amid ongoing court battles, state officials again canceled elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission. A majority of the all-Republican board, which oversees electricity and natural gas rates for much of the state, will remain in office after their terms expire.
- Delta joined other airlines in bumping up its checked baggage fees. One bag now runs $35, not $30. The second is $45.
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MACON MYSTERY
Sixteen-year-old Carlene Tengelson disappeared from her Macon home in 1972. There’s been no sign of her since but, decades later, an unexpected memento brought her family’s memories rushing back.
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NATION AND WORLD
As the latest round of negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ended without a breakthrough, President Joe Biden said “there’s no excuse” for not getting more aid to civilians in Gaza.
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Friday is the last day to order free at-home COVID-19 tests from the U.S. Postal Service.
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SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
- Braves: Ronald Acuña Jr. plans to be ready for opening day — and a series of upgrades at Truist Park will be, too. They include a new Jim Beam Bourbon Deck, a beer garden and an updated clubhouse store.
- Hawks: Jalen Johnson scored a team-high 26 points en route to a 116-100 road win against the Knicks.
- High school hoops: State championship games start today. Nearly half of the participating teams have never won a title.
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TIKTOK TIMEBOMB?
Like a lot of people, AJC columnist Nedra Rhone ate up the viral TikTok videos collectively dubbed “Who the (Expletive) Did I Marry.” But she was left wondering what the future has in store for their Atlanta-based creator, Reesa Teesa — because once you share your story online, it no longer belongs to you.
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ICONS ONLY
Our city helps drive American culture. Here’s the latest on what icons with Atlanta roots are up to.
- Reporter DeAsia Paige goes deep with Usher as the Atlanta R&B legend revels in his Super Bowl halftime performance and prepares for a new tour. (With video!)
- Dive in to the new memoir from RuPaul, the drag queen and TV personality who honed his image in Midtown.
- On this week’s episode of “The Monica Pearson Show,” Monica chats with prolific novelist (and former AJC reporter) Mary Kay Andrews.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Confusion, frustration grow over Cobb district map
» Teen shot outside Six Flags injured in another shooting last month
» Woodruff Arts Center’s future campus: an ‘open and welcoming park’
» Arches Brewing closing its Hapeville tasting room
» House leaders support raises for teachers, state employees
» Counselor accused of sexual contact with Villa Rica students
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ON THIS DATE
March 6, 1953
The president of Yale University visited Athens and, in yet another installment in the eternal genre, laments the youth of the day. American culture, Dr. A. Whitney Griswold said, was being lost “among oxidized juke boxes and television sets and petrified bubble gum.”
“We are the best informed nation in the world,” he said, “with the most primitive ideas of what to do with the knowledge.”
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
AJC photographer John Spink captured Lauren Adams on a sunrise run along Atlanta’s 17th Street. Her dog Eli (not pictured) joined in, too.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go, enjoy this lovely little ditty about an Acworth woman who’s spent 13 years of her life knitting caps for cancer patients: “The fact that she made this another of her life’s missions is remarkable. She is a force of nature.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
