Greetings, Georgia.

It's Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.

A University of Georgia football player and a staffer for the football team were killed in an early-morning car crash in Athens on Sunday. Offensive lineman Devin Willock, 20, died at the scene. Chandler LeCroy, who was 24 and a staffer for the football program, died from her injuries at an area hospital.

In other news, researchers say older adults should spend more time with friends, because those who are socially isolated have a higher chance of developing dementia, a new study found.

Read on for Georgia Today.

TOP STORIES

✭ Biden visit underscores MLK's legacy and Atlanta's prominence on the global stage

President Joe Biden listens as Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., a senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, during a service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Blue skies and sunshine greeted President Joe Biden's arrival on Air Force One at Atlanta's airport while a cloud of classified documents dominated discussions on the Sunday TV talk shows.

Before introducing Biden, Warnock acknowledged rows of interfaith clergy members and elected officials, including former U.N. ambassador, congressman and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, current mayor Andre Dickens, former mayor and White House advisor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Sen. Jon Ossoff, whom Warnock called his “brother from another mother.” (He perhaps missed second-row Lucy McBath, the U.S. representative who served as his ally in pushing for the $35 Medicare insulin cap as part of the Democrat’s economic package which went into effect Jan.1.)   

Then the president spoke for about 25 minutes, opening his remarks by talking about his political heroes.

• "I have two... Bobby Kennedy... And no malarkey, Dr. King," Biden said.

• "Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a nonviolent warrior for justice…We come to contemplate his moral vision and commit ourselves to his path."

✭ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is having a moment. What does it mean?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., look at vote totals during the roll call vote on the motion to adjourn for the evening in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

When the House of Representatives adjourned on Jan. 3 and lawmakers went spilling out into the Capitol without being sworn in, most Republicans were visibly frustrated.

• "It's our job, it's not a popularity contest, it's not who we like and who we don't like," one member said to a throng of reporters outside the House chamber. "That is the failure of Republicans, the Republicans are the party of 'Never,' and it's always 'Never' when they don't like somebody — and that's how we failed the country."

About 90% of the conference voted for California's Kevin McCarthy three times that day, so the sentiment was not a surprise. But the speaker was: Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene.

GPB NEWS HEADLINES

With the new session, the Georgia Capitol is bustling with lawmakers and lobbyists. Starting this year, lawmakers’ conversations with lobbyists and others could be exempt from court proceedings. (Ross Williams / Georgia Recorder)

• Both the Georgia House and Senate rules have controversial new provisions shielding communication between lawmakers and third parties under legislative privilege.
   
• The streets of Athens were filled with red and black on Saturday as bulldog fans from across the state gathered for a parade at the University of Georgia to celebrate the team’s back-to-back national championship wins. 
   
• Georgia’s K-12 school funding formula, established circa 1985, is set for a redo.

WHO KNEW?

✭ 200+ movie extras needed for Disney+ series on MLK and Malcolm X

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (left) and Malcolm X (right) are the subjects of an upcoming TV series about the civil rights icons. (Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)

Movie cameras are returning to Macon later this month as Disney+ films an original civil rights era series about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Central Casting needs more than 200 movie extras in Bibb County for three days of filming from Sunday, Jan. 29 to Tuesday, Jan. 31, according to Aaron Buzza, Visit Macon’s Camera Ready Liaison.

Scenes will be shot in downtown Macon at the courthouse, First Presbyterian Church and the Capitol Theatre.

• “Probably the main driving force for them looking at Macon was the Capitol Theatre because it plays well as an historical theater as part of the story,” Buzza said. “From there, they were able to find other locations and make a bundle of locations here.”

Tune into GPB Radio and GPB.org at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. for Political Rewind.

• Wednesday's guests: Amy Steigerwalt, Ed Lindsey, Dave Wilkerson, Shannon McCaffrey
• Thursday's guests: WABE's Rahul Bali, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Kevin Riley and the AJC's Greg Bluestein

Check out our Political Rewind podcast:
 

• Political Rewind: Kemp to deliver budget address from Davos; ACA turning 10; YSL rappers on trial