Three big stories worth checking out

People attend to their vehicle on Interstate 16, near Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. A brutal winter storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three decades before slogging up the Atlantic Coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston, S.C., with a rare blast of snow and ice.

Credit: Robert Ray

Credit: Robert Ray

People attend to their vehicle on Interstate 16, near Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. A brutal winter storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three decades before slogging up the Atlantic Coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston, S.C., with a rare blast of snow and ice.

MyAJC.com provides in-depth coverage of the top stories affecting metro Atlantans. Here are three of the big stories from this past week.

Editor's note: Of course, Monday's College Football Playoff Championship featuring the Georgia Bulldogs is a big story for many in the state (and Alabama), but there's no way you can miss our online coverage at AJC.commyAJC.com and DawgNation all this weekend leading up to the game. Click here for the latest news on the Georgia Bulldogs and the big game. Here are three other big stories worth checking out this weekend.

Georgia is the first team to play a national championship game in its home state since LSU in 2012 Alabama-LSU in 2012 was last time two teams from the same conference played for the national title. Alabama and Georgia haven't met since 2015 (a Crimson Tide win in Athens). The last time these teams played in Atlanta was the 2012 SEC title game. (Another Alabama win.) From 2004 to 2015, Kirby Smart spent every season but one as a member of Nick Saban's coaching staff.

The big chill: While metro Atlanta faced temperatures below freezing all week (barely getting above freezing some days when the sun was out), our neighbors on the coast and in South Georgia also had a rare thing to deal with: measurable snow.

READ | Relief is in sight.
SNOWY SOUTH | The scene from Savannah.

FARTHER NORTH | Dealing with the 'bomb cylone.'

Legislators get back to work under the Gold Dome this coming week.

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At the Gold Dome: The week ahead marks the new session of the Georgia Legislature.  We've got your guide to the top issues for legislators and for the governor.

YOUR GUIDE | One person can make a difference.

THE ISSUES | Legislation on tap for 2018.

POLITICALLY GEORGIA | Your in-depth look at the Capitol.

A Delta flight attendant helps her colleague dismount from the engine of the retired Delta "Queen of the Skies" 747 airplane at Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018.   

Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

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Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

Airplane's era ends: Delta retired the 747. The jet was the last remaining 747 operated by a U.S. passenger airline. Like other Delta planes over the years, its last trip was to an airplane boneyard in Arizona.

VISIT THE BONEYARD | A look at the journey to the plane's final destination.