Five things to know Thursday, Feb. 18:

1. How much would the average Fulton or DeKalb resident have to pay if sales taxes for MARTA were increased from 1 to 1.5 percent, as proposed? [Andria Simmons tells you in her commuting blog]

2. Reality TV star Angela "Big Ang" Raiola has died after battling stage 4 brain and lung cancer. She was 55. [Read more on this story here]

3. A day after state Sen. Vincent Fort spurned Hillary Clinton for his top rival, the former secretary of state's campaign ratcheted up the race for black endorsements in Georgia. [Greg Bluestein tells you the big way Clinton is doing it]

4. Georgia has executed former Navy sailor Travis Clinton Hittson for the gruesome 1992 murder of a fellow shipmate. [Rhonda Cook has the story on last night's execution]

5. It feels like winter again. Don't worry, though, it will feel like spring by this afternoon. [Get your Atlanta weather forecast here]

Bonus content

Throughout this month, we're covering Black History Month and bringing you 29 reasons you should celebrate it. Today's reason is No. 18, James Weldon Johnson, the author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter and civil rights activist.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT