Q: Who plays golf with President Barack Obama?
—Mary Edwards, Griffin
A: Obama plays golf with many people, including aides, friends, journalists, celebrities and other elected officials. Marvin Nicholson, a former bartender and caddy who is the president's trip director, had played golf with the president 117 times through early January, according to Time.
Nicholson, labeled “First Bro” by the magazine, had played in nearly three-fourths of Obama’s golf outings, which had reached 160 (through early January) since taking office in 2009. Obama played golf at least 11 consecutive weekends last summer, Time reported.
He rarely plays with other office holders, but in January played with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. Last month, Obama said Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Vice President Joe Biden are two of his favorite golf partners, but Boehner and Obama haven’t played together since 2011. The president played with Nicholson, sports journalist Michael Wilbon and businessman Glenn Hutchins at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Md., on Saturday.
Q: What happened to the TV station CSS, which was on my cable? I haven’t heard why they discontinued service. Did they go out of business?
—Marion Harris, Monroe
A: CSS, which was televised locally by Charter and Comcast, shut down on June 1, primarily because of ESPN's new SEC Network. "Without SEC games, the CSS will lose a major source of programming, revenue and viewership," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May. Twenty full-time employees lost jobs, the AJC reported.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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