mike esterl

@mikeesterl

state/enterprise editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; longer bio here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-esterl-6993244/

Atlanta

Joined February 2011

51Following

659Followers

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · May 24

How a Civil War soldier’s famous painting of a Confederate prison in Georgia came to life, helping shape Memorial Day, as researched and told by the AJC’s @JeremyLRedmon ajc.com/news/2025/05/h…

mikeesterl's tweet card. The story behind Thomas O’Dea's harrowing drawing of the Confederates' Andersonville Prison in Georgia. Memorial Day events will be held at the site this weekend.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 24

Monday is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Younger generations are sharing family stories as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles. Read one Georgia family's story from the AJC's @JeremyLRedmon ajc.com/news/on-80th-a…

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · May 24

Powerful Memorial Day story from AJC’s @joekovacjr about a Georgia reservist killed in Jordan and, many months later, a rediscovered cellphone ajc.com/news/2025/05/h…

mikeesterl's tweet card. A soldier's quest to find the owner of lost-and-found iPhone in Jordan led him to dial "Mama Bear," a call that allowed the Sanders family to "see" their late daughter again

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Mar 29

The Masters is coming to Augusta. Six months after Hurricane Helene, the greens are in good shape, but many homes surrounding the golf course still aren’t. And the roosters are still kind of freaked out, the AJC’s @joekovacjr reports ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Six months after deadly Hurricane Helene hammered Georgia, Augusta residents are still recovering as the city's famed Masters golf tournament looms.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Mar 29

Atlanta engineer retires after working for Georgia Power for 70 years. First he needed to get to the U.S., which is a remarkable story in itself, as the AJC’s @JeremyLRedmon reports. ajc.com/news/georgia-p…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Georgia Power engineer Pete Risse is retiring after a remarkable 70 years on the job.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Mar 29

On Friday night, thousands gathered in Macon to try to break the Guinness world record for largest kazoo ensemble. Yes, it’s a thing. With a long history. The AJC’s @joekovacjr reports from Middle Georgia. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Macon, Georgia tried Friday to break the world record for the largest kazoo ensemble, a mark set in 2011 in England with 5,190 participants at Royal Albert Hall.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Mar 10

St. Simons is Georgia's largest barrier island. It has old oak trees. And a traffic problem. The AJC's @VanBrimmerAJC tells how that's coming to a head in the battle over one beloved oak stand, and the long history behind it. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Feb 28

Macon, Georgia as the birthplace of the kazoo? The AJC's @joekovacjr does some digging. The story behind the legend... ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Feb 24

The story of Winfred Rembert, who was nearly lynched in South Georgia and went on to become a celebrated artist and Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirist, as told by the AJC’s @JeremyLRedmon ajc.com/things-to-do/w…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Today, Rembert’s painting of a lively scene inside a juke joint in his hometown of Cuthbert, “The Dirty Spoon Café,” is on display in the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Feb 24

The mysterious case of the dead woman and her missing fiancé on Georgia’s Lake Oconee, as reported by @joekovacjr in the AJC. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 31

Savannah is a popular destination for late night haunted ghost tours. So much so that residents complain it's hard to sleep. Now tour operators are up in arms over a curfew starting Saturday, as the AJC's @VanBrimmerAJC reports ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Savannah is starting a 10 p.m. curfew for walking tours in parts of the historic district after residents complained it's hard to sleep. Tour operators say it's overreach.

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 29

It's getting harder to get prospective jurors to show up in court. One Georgia judge set out to find out why. One reason is our changing relationship with the mail, but that's just part of the story, the AJC's @joekovacjr reports ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Jury duty is a requirement for most Americans, but more and more, getting them to show up is an arduous task. One Middle Georgia judge set out to find why.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 23

Cordele, in South Georgia, fancies itself the world’s watermelon capital. Then Winter Storm Enzo dumped 9 inches on the town. The AJC’s @joekovacjr takes you there ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Residents in South Georgia are still digging and sliding their way out of Winter Storm Enzo's snow and ice, even as Atlanta returns to normalcy.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 22

It's an "upside down" storm in Georgia, because more snow fell in the southern half of the state than Atlanta and mountains. Camilla, not far from Florida border, had 8 inches by 10:30 pm. Savannah also turned white. For more, visit AJC's live updates. ajc.com/news/atlanta-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. After snow fell in parts of Atlanta and across Middle and South Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, a sheen of ice is now coating roads across the state.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 21

Here's an update from AJC's @joekovacjr on that awful funeral home case in South Georgia, where 18 bodies were left to decompose for months and families were given fake "cremains." ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. The proprietor of a South Georgia funeral home where the remains of 18 people in various stages of decomposition were found in October has been indicted.

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 21

Exactly how "upside down" is this approaching snowstorm in Georgia? Schools in the mountainous north are open (for first time in more than a week) but schools farther south are shuttering. Read AJC's @FletcherPage story. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Students finally returned to campuses Tuesday morning across the Appalachian foothills region of North Georgia despite temperatures in the teens.

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 17

Fun read in AJC today from our reporter @FletcherPage about iconic Duane Allman guitar resurfacing next to hockey rink at Athens' new arena. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Duane Allman’s Gibson SG, one of the world's most valuable guitars, is included in a music collection on display in Athens, Georgia, at Akins Ford Arena.

mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jan 17

Some good reads this week from our AJC reporter @VanBrimmerAJC in Savannah: Orange Crush, Tybee Island HBCU beach party with history of conflict, begins new chapter. ajc.com/uatl/worth-the… New boat speed limits to protect right whales get deep-sixed. ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Dec 1, 2023

Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy, helped redefine the role of the first lady and advocated for decades on behalf of mental health and caregiving. Here's a link to the AJC's extensive coverage from the past two weeks: ajc.com/obituaries/ros…

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mike esterl@mikeesterl · Jun 23, 2023

A great read in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Black and white heirs of Confederacy leader Alexander Hamilton Stephens meeting at his former Georgia estate in search of truth and reconciliation. #ajc ajc.com/news/georgia-n…

mikeesterl's tweet card. Alexander H. Stephens was the vice president of the Confederacy, a Georgia governor, and a slave owner. Over the Juneteenth weekend his heirs - Black and white - gathered at Liberty Hall, his Georgia...

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