A.M. ATL: 🏆 Gwinnett’s Heisman favorite

Morning, y’all! It’s below freezing out there again this morning, but temperatures should hit the low 50s later on.

News wise, we’ve got your results from yesterday’s runoff elections, Bill Torpy’s take on acquittals in the “Young Slime Life” trial and a look inside the largely unregulated world of “alternative” vapes and edibles. Plus: our top 10 albums of the year from Georgia musicians!

But first, a local kid doing things the right way.

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‘A GOOD DUDE’

Credit: Illustration by Ric Watkins/AJC

Credit: Illustration by Ric Watkins/AJC

I could’ve been my generation’s Travis Hunter.

Like the current college football star and Heisman Trophy favorite, I attended Collins Hill High School in Suwanee (for a couple years, anyway). And we’ve got a long history of churning out fantastic athletes — I assume you’ve heard of Maya Moore.

My exploits, of course, are muted compared to Hunter’s (or Moore’s). Could I catch touchdown passes and interceptions for the University of Colorado? Would anyone mistake me for “arguably the greatest two-way player in the sport’s history?”

No.

Do people still talk about my high school feats? Like they do about the time Hunter jumped so absurdly high to block a shot during a basketball game that the ref panicked and called goaltending?

Also no.

But only because I gave up after I broke my wrist during eighth grade basketball tryouts.

“Out-of-the-world athleticism and quickness,” a former coach recently told AJC columnist Ken Sugiura.

Of Hunter. Not me. Alas.

More importantly: Did I work hard in high school? Treat people kindly and inspire my teammates? Take extra classes to graduate early? Eat peach rings and stay out of trouble? Elicit universally positive comments like these?

Not really!

I was named “most young at heart” at my alma mater (it’s a real superlative!). And I could totally be friends with Deion Sanders, Hunter’s head coach at Colorado.

But that’s about where the similarities end. Which is a good thing for Travis — and all the people rooting for him, too.

Make sure to read Ken’s full piece on Hunter’s legacy at Collins Hill. And check out more sports highlights below.

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EMOTIONAL OUTCOME

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

The jury weighing Fulton County’s “Young Slime Life” case acquitted the remaining defendants of murder and other charges Tuesday, ending the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s two acquittals and 13 total pleas (including the Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug) — with 12 more defendants still awaiting another trial at a later date.

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RUNOFF RESULTS

Did you vote in one of Tuesday’s runoff elections? More results here, but first a few highlights:

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ON THE FANI FRONT

While one Fulton County judge weighs whether Republican state legislators can subpoena District Attorney Fani Willis, another ordered her office to give certain records from its 2020 election interference investigation to a conservative nonprofit.

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BUZZHOUNDS BEWARE

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

As more and more Georgians search for “alternative” drugs for anxiety and pain (or, you know, just a good buzz), manufacturers are flooding the market with options.

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BEDEVILED IN DEKALB

Remember Druid Hills High School, home of the Red Devils — plus failing infrastructure, raw sewage and overcrowded classrooms? DeKalb County district leaders now say they don’t have the money to pay for their long-promised upgrades.

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HEADS UP, DRIVERS

» State officials plan to update the Peach Pass website and app later this month — and want commuters to make sure their account information (and balances) are up-to-date beforehand.

» The railroad CSX, meanwhile, plans to shut down several crossings near the Marietta Square for up to 48 hours, starting Thursday. Definitely won’t be a headache!

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PEACHY PRODUCTIONS

Credit: AJC photo collage

Credit: AJC photo collage

Latto? Megan Moroney? The Black Crowes? What was your favorite album by a Georgia artist in 2024? Music and culture reporter DeAsia Paige offers up her top 10 to help you decide.

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MORE TO EXPLORE

» Cobb cop shoots and kills family dog

» Atlanta drivers join Teamsters in effort to get Amazon contract

» DeKalb judge’s on-camera squabble sparks ethics investigation

» Koreans in Atlanta react to turmoil in Seoul amid martial law declaration

» Mother’s Best serving up fried chicken, nostalgia in Decatur

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ON THIS DATE

Dec. 4, 1957

Atlantans bundled up against the cold to vote for mayor, with the city’s Black voters helping push incumbent William Hartsfield past rabidly racist restaurant owner Lester Maddox.

Maddox lost the mayor’s race again four years later — but eventually became Georgia’s governor.

Credit: File photo

Credit: File photo

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

AJC photographer Arvin Temkar recently captured Priscilla Dellazizzo rehearsing for her role in Cirque du Soleil’s “’Twas the Night Before” holiday show, which runs through Dec. 15 at the Fox Theatre.

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ONE MORE THING

Atlanta’s New Year’s Eve Peach Drop is set to return this year — but Macon may have us beat. They’re imploding a whole dang hotel to ring in 2025.

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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.