The scoop on Wednesday, March 2: 5 things to know this morning

Catrice Crawford (right), a poll worker, helps LeAnn Strom as her daughter Trina Sims (left) looks at The Ministry Center of First Baptist Church of Tucker on Tuesday. Tucker residents were electing their first mayor and city council members as the historic community prepares to become a full-fledged city. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: Hyosub Shin

Credit: Hyosub Shin

Catrice Crawford (right), a poll worker, helps LeAnn Strom as her daughter Trina Sims (left) looks at The Ministry Center of First Baptist Church of Tucker on Tuesday. Tucker residents were electing their first mayor and city council members as the historic community prepares to become a full-fledged city. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

1. Tucker elects its first mayor and city council. 

Tucker residents elected their first city leaders Tuesday, choosing a mayor and council to guide the community's transformation into a municipality. Frank Auman, a local business owner, appeared positioned to become Tucker's inaugural mayor as he was leading two opponents, according to incomplete election results. He supported cityhood as a way to protect the community's identity and guide its growth. Nearly three-quarters of Tucker voters supported forming a city during a November referendum, with supporters saying they wanted greater local control of their government and more attention paid to their needs. Read more. 

2. Henry voters approve E-SPLOST referendum. 

Henry County residents voted Tuesday to extend a one-cent sales tax through 2022.The money raised will help the school district improve its technology, build a new high school, middle school, performing arts center and make other much-needed enhancements.Voters overwhelmingly approved the referendum that calls for issuing bonds and raising money through an education Special Local Option Sales tax or E-SPLOST. Passage of Tuesday's referendum means the school district can now begin issuing some of its $325 million in bonds. Read more. 

3. Atlanta voters appear to approve water and sewer tax extension. 

Atlanta voters appeared Tuesday to overwhelmingly approve the extension of a penny sales tax that would pay for needed water and sewer improvements in the city. Results from the vote were incomplete as of press time Tuesday, but votes in favor of renewal had a decisive lead among the precincts that were reporting. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he was "very happy" about the results, calling the tax "absolutely necessary." If the vote had failed, water rates could have risen by about 30 percent in the city, he said. Read more

4. Hillary Clinton cruises to victory in Georgia. 

Hillary Clinton continued her sweep across the South on Tuesday, easily winning Georgia's Democratic presidential primary days after dominating in South Carolina.Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was no match for Clinton, who has benefited from heavily African-American Southern states to bounce back from a 22-point loss in New Hampshire. Exit polls Tuesday showed black voters made up 46 percent of the Democratic electorate in Georgia. Read more. 

5. House Speaker Ryan chides Trump, indirectly, over lack of KKK denunciation. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, on Tuesday scolded Donald Trump — without directly naming him — over the billionaire's refusal to sufficiently disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Even so, moments later, Ryan insisted to reporters at the Capitol that he still planned to support the Republican presidential nominee no matter who that person might be. Many Republicans on both sides of the Capitol are doing a similarly delicate dance, trying to fend off the taint of Trump's more controversial statements while not launching a full-out assault on the current Republican front-runner. Read more.