Bill Torpy
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Metro columnist
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Articles by Bill Torpy
Does the crazy meanness ebb with MAGA’s electoral spanking?
On Wednesday, Don White, whose radio moniker was once “Liberal Don,” sent me a recent news article exploring the disappearance of the Neanderthals. “The Republicans have now gone the way of the Neanderthals,” he added. “Finally!” Later in the day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in, calling the midterm wipeout “close to an extinction-level event for Republicans.” The Neanderthal imagery is apt because there’s been much knuckle-dragging on the GOP side of the fence in recent years.
Day of reckoning comes for financier who fleeced the flock
The sad-faced fellow down the aisle from me in federal court had a sudden change of mind Monday afternoon. He now wanted to tell his story. Donald Joe Hubbard, who had worked in the finance industry, wanted to tell the judge how he had been wronged by Brant Frost IV, a Christian conservative activist and admitted Ponzi schemer. Hubbard was angered that half of the courtroom in Newnan was filled by dozens of Frost’s supporters. “Look at all those people over there,” he said pointing across the aisle.
Virtue signaling, a social media pile-on and a canceling in Decatur
There are few things more strident than a social media mob, fueled with righteous anger and certainty, pouncing on a hapless victim. Case in point, the Kiss and Tale Romance Bookshop in downtown Decatur, which was opened last year by two sisters after their film industry jobs started drying up. Their shop fits in nicely with the progressive Decatur vibe. They have an LGBTQ section carrying 169 titles and projections on their website that they are “inclusive” and a “safe space.” Doesn’t matter.
Decatur denies liability for crash at dangerous intersection
In May 2022, there was yet another serious crash at the intersection of North Decatur Road and Superior Avenue. Once again, a car blew through the red light and T-boned a vehicle. Once again, a driver was rushed to the hospital. Irene Kimball Sandler, a resident who lived nearby, took to Facebook to spout frustration: “I’m so sick of drivers running red lights! Especially this intersection. “We live nearby and experience it almost every day.” This turned out to be foreshadowing.
Ossoff makeup ads hint of Collins’ flagging foundation
September is here, and election silly season is back in full force. According to the latest wave of TV ads, the GOP wants me to believe U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is kind of a girly man, as Saturday Night Live’s Hans and Franz would say. A report from The Washington Free Beacon revealed Ossoff’s campaign this year has paid an Atlanta-area makeup artist $2,887, according to campaign disclosure reports.
Intown living boom is hurting Atlanta’s leafy image
The city of Atlanta wants its tree canopy to one day be 50%. That means on a hot afternoon in the future you could duck into a tree-shaded area in half of the city’s 135 square miles. That 50% figure is both random and aspirational. You have to aim for a target if you’re going to achieve it. In 2008, a study of satellite imagery determined that 47.9% of the city was covered by tree canopy. Ten years later it had dropped to 46.5%, according to an ongoing study conducted by a Georgia Tech professor.
What the Flock? Surveillance cameras causing citizens to fret
For years, I received frequent PR pitches concerning Flock cameras, about how terrific they are at fighting crime. The silent sentinels, ubiquitous on utility poles throughout metro Atlanta, are 24/7 “force multipliers,” police say. They’re there, rain or shine, watching over you, snapping photos of your license plate, along with a time stamp. Not only that, they capture identifying details about your vehicle: the make, model, color, dents, bumper stickers, etc.
The end of reading? Let the python videos roll.
In January, I started reading a thick book about digging the Panama Canal. We were set to visit Panama at the end of that month, so I figured some historical backstory was in order. It’s now July, and I’m finally finishing David McCullough’s “The Path Between the Seas” — five months since returning from the trip. I’ve always been a plodder when reading books. Still, I used to knock one out every couple/three months. To be true, McCullough’s “John Adams” moved more smoothly.
Foul Trump election probe slapped down by old-time conservative
The sycophants now heading the U.S. Department of Justice recently “surged” some 260 FBI investigative analysts to pore through piles of Fulton County election records. Those are the 600-some boxes seized by the feds in January. The aim of this overtime-sucking boondoggle is to find something, anything, that President Donald Trump can use to continue spouting his lie that he unfairly lost the 2020 election.
Georgians, once again, aren’t feeling The Vern
Last weekend, an excited Vernon Jones, a GOP candidate for secretary of state, stood alongside the MMA cage match being held on the White House lawn and vowed: “I’m ready to fight for Georgia.” Two days later, Georgia voters ended Jones’ fight with a devastating body shot, knocking him out. The chameleon-like former Democrat and perennial candidate got beat 2-to-1 in the GOP primary runoff by Tim Fleming, a former state rep who most Georgians couldn’t identify in a police lineup.
The World Cup’s almost here. Atlanta’s fixing up the guest room.
A decade ago, I met with downtown resident Stuart Jackson on Broad Street just south of MARTA’s Five Points station. He lived in a condo in the old Kessler’s department store and had been having an awful time with rampant misbehavior in the street below.
Three savage attacks and a disturbed suspect make random crime hit home
Not all crimes are created equal. It’s rare when a law-abiding citizen, who’s minding their own business in a very public place, is viciously attacked out of the blue by a stranger. When it does happen, in the case of a woman stabbed to death on the Atlanta Beltline this month — and in two previous cases, involving a postal employee badly beaten outside work and another woman on MARTA — the public is rightfully disturbed. Because they can see themselves as potential victims. That coulda been me.
DA Fani Willis’ revenge tour? Judicial races suggest an enemies list.
On first glance, the fact that three Fulton County prosecutors are running against sitting judges makes it seem like District Attorney Fani Willis’ might be on a retribution tour. Maybe even on second glance. Will Wooten, who was on the team prosecuting President Donald Trump, is running against Trent Brown, one of the two Georgia appeals court judges whose decision set in motion steps that killed the election fraud case.
Sly, sneaky or annoying, Rick Jackson has taken the lead in Guv race
You can’t help but almost feel a twinge of empathy for poor ole Burt Jones, the Trump-endorsed lieutenant governor who once saw it as inevitable that he’d be governor. But these days, the pfffffft sound you might hear at the state Capitol is the air going out of his campaign. The one-time front-runner in the Republican primary has been relegated to No. 2, the result of a $100 million Mack truck running him over.
404 fest not at fault for deadly mayhem? Residents beg to differ.
One of the two Neighborhood Planning Units that represent the neighborhoods around Piedmont Park opposed the 404 Day festival being permitted there. So did the Midtown Neighborhood Association. The city of Atlanta overruled their objections and granted a permit for a celebration of Atlanta named for its original telephone area code. But it seems the neighbors’ intuition was right. What transpired last Saturday in and around the park was a disaster.
The obnoxious GOP Sharia law ad and ensuing Democrat division
Nabilah Parkes, an ambitious young progressive politician, was looking for a way out of the state Senate, a place so divisive and hostile it sometimes seems like feeding time at the zoo. Parkes, who once embraced the label “Georgia’s AOC” after gaining support from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, had zeroed in on running for state insurance commissioner this year.
The tale of Sid Dorsey: A political trailblazer and murderous sheriff
The death in prison this week of former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey had me think of a strange episode in his office long ago that spoke to his ego, vanity and tenuous grasp of reality. I had been banging away at Dorsey with critical stories in late 1998, and convinced him to sit down for an interview to explain his actions. He had been pushing a medical contract for the jail that seemed fishy, and was carving out a lane as a political kingpin in the county.
Money for nothing? Atlanta’s $910K clerk contract still a mystery
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari: “If this individual was billing us every month ... we have a major problem ... Who signed off on this?” Sixteen boxes with over 100,000 signatures waited inside the City Hall Clerk’s office in September 2023. Oponents of Atlanta’s public safety training center presented their petition to have the matter of the training center included in a referendum. (Miguel Martinez/AJC) It’s a cushy retirement gig, if you get it. The pay?
Georgia GOP was in the bag for Burt. But there’s a problem …
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE The state GOP recently waived its neutrality rule, which keeps the party from backing one Republican candidate over another in its May primary. Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is currently the leading Republican candidate in the race to replace Gov. Brian Kemp. (Alex Brandon/AP 2024) King Louis the XIV once said, “I am the state,” an utterance that denoted absolute power.
TORPY: Calling for ICE surge in Atlanta is a cry for right-wing relevance
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Federal agents deploy tear gas as they confront protestors in Minneapolis, near the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, where federal law enforcement agents shot a person earlier on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. The shooting two weeks after an ICE agentÕs killing of Renee Good prompted escalating clashes between law enforcement and protesters.
Competing realities baked in before facts in Minneapolis shooting
OPINION Torpy: ‘Two competing accounts emerged quickly ... for two Americas that will never back up, never concede ...’ People gather around a makeshift memorial honoring Renee Good in Minneapolis, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer the day before. (John Locher/AP) The images of this American tragedy playing out on our streets are stark, and gory.
The bloody — and wonderful — mess of being a newspaper columnist
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Bill Torpy adds to the legacy of AJC columnists — and the legacy goes on. Lewis Grizzard, the quintessential Southern humorist and a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is shown in this 1979 photo. No, he didn't run for mayor. (AJC File) Writing a newspaper column is easy. Just open a vein and bleed. The origin of that description varies.
Times Opinion: Being white means you never have to say you’re sorry
I must admit, I've never been apologetic about having been born white. But now, thanks to JD Vance, I don't have to feel sorry about something I've never felt sorry about anyways.
Times Opinion: Being white means you never have to say you’re sorry
I must admit, I've never been apologetic about having been born white. But now, thanks to JD Vance, I don't have to feel sorry about something I've never felt sorry about anyways.
Being white means you never have to say you're sorry
I must admit, I've never been apologetic about having been born white. But now, thanks to JD Vance, I don't have to feel sorry about something I've never felt sorry about anyways.
Being white means you never have to say you’re sorry
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Torpy: ‘(Vice President JD) Vance might as well have made a fist and yelled “White power!”' Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (Jon Cherry/AP) I must admit, I’ve never been apologetic about having been born white. But now, thanks to JD Vance, I don’t have to feel sorry about something I’ve never felt sorry about anyways.
Newspaper to digital: How to keep reading the AJC without interruption
Copies of notable Atlanta Journal-Constitution headlines have been saved in columnist Bill Torpys basement. The newspaper is taking a new direction by becoming an all-digital news outlet. (Bill Torpy/AJC) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper is coming to an end quite soon. This year will be its last. The longstanding newspaper is taking a new direction by becoming an all-digital news outlet.
Perspective: The obituary, when folks are dying to get into the newspaper
I noticed Atlanta magazine recently had my old colleague, Kay Powell, write an advance obituary for the print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dying at age 157 on Dec. 31, 2025. Cause of death -- because newspapers always try to put that in obits -- was "succumbing to the burgeoning digital age coverage." Or perhaps, more accurately, assisted suicide. Powell became the AJC's chief obituary writer in 1996 and helped transform obits into folksy renditions of the decedents' lives.
Fani Willis-GOP showdown lives up to the hype. Now, let’s move on.
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Both teams were playing to their respective crowds. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to testify before a state Senate committee at the Capitol in Atlanta on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Arvin Temkar/AJC) Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis strode into the Georgia Senate investigative committee hearing room with a phalanx of aides and supporters, decked out in a flowing white coat trimmed by faux fur.
The obituary, when folks are dying to get into the newspaper
Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution obit writer Kay Powell in her home office. (Bill Torpy/AJC) I noticed Atlanta magazine recently had my old colleague, Kay Powell, write an advance obituary for the print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dying at age 157 on Dec. 31, 2025. Cause of death - because newspapers always try to put that in obits - was "succumbing to the burgeoning digital age coverage." Or perhaps, more accurately, assisted suicide.
The obituary, when folks are dying to get into the newspaper
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Kay Powell's desk was marked by a large black Styrofoam grave marker. It noted the gravity of her work, tempered with dark office humor. (AJC/2009) I noticed Atlanta magazine recently had my old colleague, Kay Powell, write an advance obituary for the print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dying at age 157 on Dec. 31, 2025.
Big party demand for mayoral inauguration pushes big ask for cash
The city of Atlanta gave the world rapper Andre 3000. Step aside, now there's Andre 250000. Mayor Andre Dickens is getting sworn in to office for the second time next month and his inaugural committee must raise a pile of money for the shindig. If you really want to show civic spirit, dig deep. "Sponsorship opportunities" start at $2,500 and continue upward to $250,000. That cool quarter mill will get you 30 tickets to the inaugural ceremony and 40 tickets to the inaugural ball.
Big party demand for mayoral inauguration pushes big ask for cash
ONLY IN AJC: TORPY AT LARGE If you really want to show civic spirit, dig deep. Andre Dickens addresses the crowd just after being sworn in as mayor of Atlanta during his inauguration ceremony at Georgia Tech on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (Ben Gray for the AJC) The city of Atlanta gave the world rapper Andre 3000. Step aside, now there’s Andre 250000. Mayor Andre Dickens is getting sworn in to office for the second time next month and his inaugural committee must raise a pile of money for the shindig.
A nod to editors, who catch reporters' srcewups … and ire
It was my first bylined story for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A former Junior Miss America - who once sang "Dixie" at Gov. Joe Frank Harris' inauguration - was getting out from a short prison stint. She'd been tossed behind bars after wrecking a car and irking a judge. The Junior Miss had been a brat, according to Cobb County officials, and had been taught a lesson for not performing her court-ordered community service. Upon release, she was hopping mad and ready to complain.
A nod to editors, who catch reporters’ srcewups … and ire
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Although sometimes uneasy, the relationship between reporters and those tasked with making stories ‘better’ is an essential one. When a reporter hands over their story to an editor, it can feel like hand over their baby, our columnist writes. (Arvin Temkar/AJC) It was my first bylined story for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A former Junior Miss America — who once sang “Dixie” at Gov. Joe Frank Harris’ inauguration — was getting out from a short prison stint.
The buzzing skies of Woodstock: Walmart drones make it Air Drop City
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Each week, it seems, another event shows us the future has arrived. In this case, it’s airborne, human-free delivery of merchandise. A Wing delivery drone carries a package through the air after taking off from Walmart Supercenter in Woodstock on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. The drone-delivery system can carry packages up to two pounds, dropping them at a designated landing zone at a customer’s home.
The buzzing skies of Woodstock: Walmart drones make it Air Drop City
Drones have been taking soldiers off the battlefields, so it's fitting that they'd take civilian delivery drivers off the streets. On Wednesday, Walmart trotted out a drone and pony show in Woodstock to let the public know about its new delivery service in six suburban locations in metro Atlanta. The retail giant will now deliver items weighing up to 2.3 pounds from the sky, lowering them onto your front or backyard via a sturdy string.
Trump case was a steaming mess, but a lost opportunity for justice
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Pete Skandalakis ended up with the case after he was unable to dump it off on any other DA in the state Booking photo for former President Donald Trump taken at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24, 2023. (Fulton County Sheriff's Office) In the end, Pete Skandalakis, the special prosecutor who got stuck with the case nobody wanted, smothered it with a pillow and tossed it in the dustbin of history.
Drive to cut state income tax a bad bet for regular folks
Let's start with this: The Senate Special Committee on Eliminating Georgia's Income Tax might as well be called the Special Committee to Help Our Ambitious Senators. That is, four of those sitting on this new committee are running in next year's race to be lieutenant governor. Also, current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the fellow pushing this publicity stunt, is hoping it helps his run for governor. The idea of ditching the state's income tax, which is now 5.19%, sounds great at first thought.
Drive to cut state income tax a bad bet for regular folks Original
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, speaks during the Senate’s Special Committee on Eliminating Georgia's Income Tax hearing at the Capitol in Atlanta on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. Tillery is chair of the committee. (Arvin Temkar/AJC) Let’s start with this: The Senate Special Committee on Eliminating Georgia’s Income Tax might as well be called the Special Committee to Help Our Ambitious Senators.
Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to play nice. Snow predicted in hell.
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks at a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. The House voted overwhelmingly to demand that the Justice Department release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender, an action that Republicans worked for months to avoid. (Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times) Marjorie Taylor Greene has apparently grown tired of being a punchline.
Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to play nice. Snow predicted in hell.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has apparently grown tired of being a punchline. Perhaps she's realized being a mean, bullying troll has no real future, especially if President Donald Trump implodes. Possibly it dawned on her that seriously reckoning with the nations' concerns is what matters. Or maybe we're just getting "Punk'd." Is Ashton Kutcher and his camera crew hiding around the corner?
Opinion: Is Atlanta’s recent youth movement the Democrats’ future?
My wife's trainer was excited to hear I was writing a story that included the 22-year-old who upset the Stockbridge mayor in the recent election. Her trainer is a youngish Stockbridge resident and likes what he's seeing. "They should have an age limit on politicians," he declared. "You hit 50 and you're out." I was chopping wood outside our home at the time and noted that I'm 67 and not dead yet.
Is the recent youth movement the Democrats' future?
My wife's trainer was excited to hear I was writing a story that included the 22-year-old who upset the Stockbridge mayor in the recent election. Her trainer is a youngish Stockbridge resident and likes what he's seeing. "They should have an age limit on politicians," he declared. "You hit 50 and you're out." I was chopping wood outside our home at the time and noted that I'm 67 and not dead yet, pointing to about a face cord of firewood I had just chopped.
Is the recent youth movement the Democrats’ future?
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE There’s a geezer logjam in politics and those at the bottom of the actuarial table are pushing their way up. Jayden Williams, 22, Sam Foster, 24, and Kelsea Bond, 32, reflect younger canddiates in 2025 municipal elections. Williams was elected mayor of Stockbridge. Foster nearly unseated the longstanding mayor of Marietta. Bond won a seat on the Atlanta City Council by 64% of the vote in a five-candidate race.
UGA's ‘Cardiac Kids' give sports bettors heart palpitations
Late in the fourth quarter last week, UGA quarterback Gunner Stockton took a knee, passing up on a sure touchdown, to preserve a 24-20 win against the rival Florida Gators. It was the prudent move to run out the clock, ensuring Florida would not get the ball back to wage a desperate comeback. In doing so, Stockton got a good bit of online hate. That's because the favored Bulldogs failed to cover the 7-point spread.
Sports betting can somehow make a Georgia win over the Gators not feel like a win
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Gambling on games puts a microscope on players, who can become a fan target even when they make the game-winning play. Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton takes a knee short of the goal line to clinch the 24-20 win over Florida on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. Had Stockton scored the easy touchdown, the Bulldogs would have almost certainly covered the 7-point spread instead of winning by 4.
A weird and macabre samurai sword attack. But strangely not uncommon.
When I heard that a samurai sword-wielding madman attacked a firefighter, severing his hand, I immediately thought of a man long ago with blood-sucking leeches on his fingers. But more on that later. Chad Wombles, a 46-year-old firefighter, was chatting with a police officer friend outside a Wrightsville gas station around midnight Oct. 27 when he was suddenly attacked by a sword-wielding stranger.
A weird and macabre samurai sword attack. But strangely not uncommon.
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE It seems people worldwide have had a limb severed by a sword-wielding attacker. Officer Jay Hood saved the life of his friend Chad Wombles, a Wrightsville firefighter, when Wombles was attacked by a man with a sword. (Courtesy of Wombles family) When I heard that a samurai sword-wielding madman attacked a firefighter, severing his hand, I immediately thought of a man long ago with blood-sucking leeches on his fingers. But more on that later.
The bitter battle to become Atlanta City Hall‘s second banana
ONLY ON AJC: TORPY AT LARGE Rohit Malhotra and Marci Collier Overstreet in contest to become just one step below mayor. Illustration by Philip Robibero Years ago, I was a Eucharistic minister at church, bringing Communion to shut-ins.
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