A.M. ATL: 😲 Waffle fry freak out

Morning, y’all! Bundle up, because temperatures are sitting in the 20s right now and won’t get higher than 40 degrees or so.

More on the weather in a bit, but first: another session looms under the Gold Dome, a wild-looking “immersive experience” eyes Atlanta and a UGA football star heads to the NFL Draft.

Chick-fil-A finds itself in a potato-based pickle, too.

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CONTENTIOUS COATING

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

My kids are not just picky eaters. They’re culinary grudge holders.

My daughter used to inhale blackberries at a startling rate but stopped altogether after encountering one (1) that was too tart for her refined palate. My son only eats honey Uncrustables because he had a lukewarm strawberry one like four years ago.

So when I heard the hubbub about Chick-fil-A tweaking its recipe for waffle fries, I knew what I had to do.

Despite this only sort of being a new thing (the poultry lords say they’ve been testing it out for more than a year), the internet freaked. But the internet freaks about everything, so I thought I’d enlist the Decatur area’s fiercest food critics for my own independent test.

I bought a couple kid’s meals, waited a few minutes and asked: “Do y’all’s fries taste any different than usual?”

Both true statements! But the point is they detected no difference (even after I filled them in on the pea starch, which I was positive would give them pause).

The fries seemed the same to me, too — but you do you.

More haters means fewer folks in the drive-thru.

Where are the best French fries in Atlanta, fast food or otherwise? Shoot me an email to weigh in! Extra credit for nonobvious options.

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ABOUT THAT FORECAST …

Credit: John Spink/AJC

Credit: John Spink/AJC

The city of Atlanta and Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties all opened warming centers as frigid temperatures moved in Monday, and we’re only getting colder as the week progresses. We’re talking early morning wind chills in the teens.

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GUNS, GUNS, GUNS

» Authorities say someone shot and killed an unarmed security guard after trying to enter the Honduran Consulate in Doraville with a gun.

» MARTA police charged a third teen suspect in the shooting death of bus driver Leroy Ramos, who killed last week during a fare dispute in Decatur.

» An attempted robbery at a southwest Atlanta store ended with a shootout that left the suspect dead and a Fulton County deputy wounded, police say.

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HEADED NORTH

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Jimmy Carter’s remains depart Atlanta’s Carter Center this morning and head to Washington, D.C. (after a slight weather-related delay). This afternoon’s ceremony involving Vice President Kamala Harris and others precedes Thursday’s state funeral.

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IN SESSION SOON

The Georgia General Assembly returns to work next week and the AJC’s got you covered with a series of previews. First up: the budget and more election overhauls.

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REALLY BIG SCREENS

Credit: Courtesy photo/Cosm

Credit: Courtesy photo/Cosm

What exactly is Cosm, the planetarium-sized “immersive experience” coming to downtown’s Centennial Yards development? The AJC’s Zach Hansen went to a similar venue in L.A. to watch a live event.

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CHECKING IN WITH TRENT

ABC’s popular Atlanta-based police procedural “Will Trent” returns to TV tonight. Reporter Rodney Ho visited the set to touch base with five key cast members — and try to suss out what’s coming in the new season.

“I’m really proud of it,” Ramon Rodriguez, who plays the title character, told him. “It was important for me to start season 3 with a bang.”

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DRAFT ON TAP

With their disappointing 8-9 season officially over, the Falcons are locked into the 15th overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. What position do you think they should pursue?

Beat reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter figures the biggest needs lie at edge rusher, defensive line, linebacker, safety and maybe center. (Is that all?)

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MORE TO EXPLORE

» Prosecutor in Ahmaud Arbery case relocates after Cobb ousting

» Think it’s hard getting legal help? Try living in rural Georgia

» Is it time for Atlanta City Council to do away with proclamations?

» La Santa Tacos & Bar opens in Midtown

» Louisiana person is the first U.S. bird flu death, health officials say

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ON THIS DATE

Jan. 7, 1929

Atlanta prepared a hero’s welcome for Georgia Tech’s national championship football team, and the Journal was very normal about it:

“The Golden Tornado of Georgia Tech comes home Monday night, rushed on special trains from the sun-kissed scene of its triumph, through mountain snows and prairie blizzards, across ice-filled streams in the face of howling winds to receive the sunniest, roaringest, heartiest welcome that a city, pulsating with pride, can tender.”

(Yellow Jackets are cool and all … but I vote for readopting the “Golden Tornado” moniker.)

Credit: File photo

Credit: File photo

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Associated Press photographer J. Scott Applewhite captured House Republicans applauding the certification of Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory. All was calm outside the Capitol.

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ONE MORE THING

The new oldest person in the world is a 117-year-old soccer-loving nun in Brazil.

She credits her faith (among other things) for the longevity: “I’m young, pretty and friendly — all very good, positive qualities that you have, too.”

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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.