Morning, y’all! Oh, you think you missed the snow because you live near Atlanta? First of all, some areas of Georgia were dumped with eight inches of the stuff. Parts of the state are still under freeze watches, and don’t get me started on the power outages. It’s still something to keep an eye on. Now, let’s get nosy about how much state employees make. What? It’s our right to know how our government spends cash!
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HIT THE STUDIO, CAUSE I’M PAID IN FULL
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
How much do Georgia’s top state employees rake in? A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis reveals 15 state employees make $1 million or more a year, and more than 100 make more than $500,000 a year. On top of the massive pile of cash was University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart, who made $12.2 million in the fiscal year 2024.
Sports pays: College coaches often top their state’s payroll, which makes some sense since college sports programs bring in a lot of revenue. UGA men’s basketball coach Michael White had the second-highest state salary this year at about $3.6 million, followed by Georgia Tech’s head football coach Brent Key at almost $3 million.
Who else is making bank? Most of Georgia’s top earning state employees are university professors or department leaders. Down the line, there are doctors, economists, general luminaries and state government department heads. School superintendents make a lot, too — five in the state make more than $500K. Gov. Brian Kemp’s salary was about $182,000. Teachers in Georgia made an average of roughly $64,000 in 2024, according to the AJC’s data.
🤷🏾♀️ 🤷🏻♀️ 🤷🏽♀️ Wait, where are the women? As I read through the list, a little alarm bell went off in my head. Of the state’s very top earners, only a few mentioned were women.
Political data reporter Phoebe Quinton gave me a peek at the raw figures and, yep, I counted only 11 women in the top 121 earners on the state’s payroll. UGA Women’s basketball coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was the only woman to make $1 million or more.
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THE LAKEN RILEY ACT COULD BE LAW SOON
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
The Laken Riley Act, named after the Georgia nursing student murdered in 2024, is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk after being approved by the House and Senate. Now, it could be one of the first pieces of legislation Trump signs into law during his new term.
Let’s step back: What would the Laken Riley Act actually do?
The legislation is part of Trump’s larger push to crack down on immigration and ramp up deportations in the country. In short, it would require federal authorities to detain and possibly deport migrants charged with theft or violent crimes. It would also grant states more legal leverage to challenge federal immigration decisions.
The question is how such a law would be enforced.
Funding: The Laken Riley Act has no funding attached to it yet, but that could change. Republicans have proposed a $100 billion budget line for border security and immigration enforcement, so it could come from that pot if the money is approved. Democrats on the Appropriations Committee estimate the bill would cost $83 billion over the next three years.
Resources: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates it would need to nearly triple the number of detention beds and conduct more than 80 removal flights per week to implement the legislation’s requirements.
🔎 Some background on the Laken Riley case and how it has influenced politics
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BIRD FLU
A second flock in a Georgia commercial poultry facility has tested positive for H5N1, the highly contagious strain of avian flu that’s been ripping through poultry and livestock populations for two years. Public health officials are now worried it could become a full-blown pandemic.
Hmm. We don’t like the word pandemic. Pandemic is very, very bad. But don’t freak out yet, unless you work in the poultry industry or have a lot of chickens.
Can humans get avian flu through eating chicken or eggs?
To put the rest of us at ease, I asked AJC reporter Drew Kann, who’s covered the outbreak, the million-dollar question and … the answer is no. Or at least, it’s really, really unlikely.
“Chicken and eggs are tested for the virus before they enter the supply chain, and the USDA says the risk of infected meat or eggs entering the market is low,” he said. “In the unlikely case infected product were to enter the supply chain, they also say properly cooked chicken and eggs are safe to eat because the heat kills the virus.”
Humans can contract avian flu strains through inhalation or contact. It’s rare, but it does happen.
Georgia’s poultry industry is on alert, though: Georgia is the country’s top producer of broiler chickens. So far, experts say the domestic chicken market shouldn’t be affected by the losses unless more outbreaks roll in. Then you could see supply shortages or price increases.
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CARR RACING AND … MR. POTATO HEAD?
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is pushing hard to become the state’s next governor, and he says he raised more than $2 million in 40 days to get it done.
Carr is positioning himself as a mainstream Republican who supports President Donald Trump, but isn’t a die-hard.
Meanwhile, in South Georgia, a small single-candidate election for Sumter County soil and water district supervisor took a weird turn when write-in votes for nonsense people like Mr. Potato Head and Mickey Mouse somehow ended up counting toward the real candidate. It didn’t change the outcome, but election watchdogs say it’s an example of how votes can be altered. Obviously, officials want to find out how it happened.
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DELICIOUS ACCOLADES
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Congratulations to the more than 10 Georgia restaurants and chefs who have been named finalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards, one of the highest foodie honors you can get.
The full list is here. I loved reading about Kursten Berry from Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours in Atlanta. She’s nominated in a new category, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service, and told the AJC the honor was “mind-blowing.”
“I’m completely self-taught and I love what I do,” she said. “It’s a great feeling to be rewarded for something you really enjoy doing, and it’s shocking because there’s so many talented people here.”
Talent runs in the family: Berry’s mother, Deborah VanTrece, was a James Beard semifinalist in 2023.
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NEWS BITES
Need something from Home Depot? Now you can UberEats or DoorDash it
This will save at least one marriage about to be torn apart by the wrong size lug nut.
‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ will come to the Fox Theatre in Feb. 2026
Expect lots of people in robes-um!
Sports columnist Ken Sugiura attempts to derive meaning from the Braves’ lack of offseason action
C’monnn, acquire someone.
‘Stacked’ review: Sandwich influencer elevates hand-held meals to an art
New dream job: Sandwich influencer.
Conversation is a lost art. Here are some tips on how to revive it
“Hey, uh, so I read this really cool thing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution … "
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ON THIS DATE
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution, January 23, 1973: “I think Lyndon Johnson will go down as one of the great leaders of America.”
Former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. was among the many leaders who memorialized 36th President Lyndon B. Johnson a day after he died during a visit to his ranch in Texas.
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ONE MORE THING
Credit: AJ Willingham/AJC
Credit: AJ Willingham/AJC
Hey, look at the weird way my bird bath froze. No trees or overhangs above it. My contact at the National Weather Service didn’t have any guesses, but if you do, let me know!
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tellus@ajc.com.
Until next time.
