Q: How is it that Martin Luther King Jr. gets a memorial on the mall in Washington, D.C.? I was under the impression that only presidents were entitled to have a memorial.
—Andy Sims, Douglasville
A: Other non-presidents have memorials on the National Mall, including founding father George Mason of Virginia, who authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which served as a basis for the Bill of Rights. His memorial is near the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Other memorials on the National Mall include those remembering John Ericsson, a Swedish-born engineer/inventor best known for designing the iron-plated USS Monitor during the Civil War, and Scottish-born John Paul Jones, a naval hero during the American Revolution. In 1996, Congress passed a resolution authorizing the King memorial. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
Q: Several months ago, Frank Wren of the Atlanta Braves said he would no longer deal with the agent Paul Kinzer or his agency that represented Rafael Furcal because Wren thought there was something underhanded in the Furcal deal. Now that we are almost through the first off season since that statement, has Wren followed through with that?
—Ann Vogt, Dallas
A: That information is not available, according to AJC Braves beat reporter David O'Brien. The Braves don't talk about the players they've pursued, and thus which agents they've engaged in discussions, O'Brien said.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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