Blog posts by Blake Aued, Editor
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Athens Did Its Part to Help Elect Hillary Clinton (and More Local Election Results)
Blog: In the Loop
Most of us can empathize with this guy watching the results come in at Hi-Lo.
Most Flagpole readers probably are still processing Donald Trump’s stunning upset, the biggest since at least Harry Truman in 1948. If it’s any small comfort for local Democrats, you did just about everything you could to elect Hillary Clinton.
Turnout was higher in Clarke County this year than in 2012, with 4,000 more votes cast, and Clinton won 65 percent of the Athens vote, outpacing Obama by two percentage points. Trump won just 28 percent of the vote locally, six points less than Mitt Romney. Libertarian Gary Johnson won 4 percent—a bit higher than usual—and 1,137 people cast write-in votes, but looks as if third-party candidates drew more from Trump than Clinton, at least locally.
Still, Trump won Georgia handily, 51-46, which is about the usual margin we’ve come to expect here. I have thoughts on the national race—though I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t care, given the pundits’ record—and we’ll get to those, but first, some more local results:
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Where to Get Drunk and Watch the Election Results
Blog: In the Loop
Whether in despair or in triumph, you will be drinking tonight. Here's where to do it.
For Democrats: The Clarke County Democratic Committee will be watching results at Southern Brewing Co. It’s free, but a brewery tour that includes 36 ounces of beer samples is $12.
For Republicans: The Athens GOP is hosting its viewing party at Locos on Barnett Shoals Road.
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Reminder: Several Athens Polling Places Have Changed Locations
Blog: In the Loop
As you go to vote today (and you are voting, right?), be aware that several polling places in Athens have changed.
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The ABH Has Endorsed Donald Trump
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
This is the man Athens Banner-Herald owners Billy and Will Morris think should be president.
And what a great endorsement it was.
Please don't put us in jail, Mr. President.
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Man Accused of Harassing Voters at ACC Library
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: courtesy of Tim Denson
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections has received several complaints about a man holding up anti-Hillary Clinton headlines in front of voters in line at the ACC Library.
On Thursday, the man was sitting in a reading room located adjacent to a hallway where people were lined up for early voting. He was pressing a tabloid with an anti-Clinton cover up against the glass facing the hallway.
"It's obvious he wanted to be seen," ACC Elections and Voter Registration Supervisor Cora Wright said. "He's not just sitting there reading."
Athens for Everyone President Tim Denson said the man was "harassing" voters. He sent Flagpole a video of a confrontation with the man.
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UGA Provost Pamela Whitten Is a Finalist to Head the University of Tennessee
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Andrew Tucker/UGA
University of Georgia Provost Pamela Whitten is one of three finalists for chancellor of the University of Tennessee.
Whitten visited the Knoxville campus on Wednesday. She told faculty and staff at the forum that she is “a defender of an inclusive campus who understands the nuances of a Southern, football-crazed, land grant university,” the News Sentinel reports.
UGA President Jere Morehead hired Whitten as provost in 2014. Previously, she headed the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State.
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Athens Is Getting a Civil Rights Committee, and No One Is Too Happy About It
Blog: In the Loop
Every single Athens-Clarke County commissioner favors forming a local civil rights committee to deal with issues of discrimination in Athens, and so did almost every single one of the 100 people who packed City Hall for a commission vote on the topic Tuesday night. So why did most of them leave mad?
A bizarre 6-2 vote instructing county staff to bring forward a framework for the civil rights committee revealed rancor between not only the citizen activists pushing for the committee and the commissioners who approved it, but behind the rail as well.
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Early Voting at the Tate Center Is Crazy Right Now
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Houston Gaines
University of Georgia students are lining up in droves today to vote at the Tate Student Center—the first time Athens-Clarke County has set up an early-voting site on campus.
As of about 11:30 a.m., more than 800 people had already voted today at Tate, according to Student Government Association President Houston Gaines. He was kind enough to send some photos of lines snaking through the building and out the door, which are posted above and below.
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ACC Commissioners Will Probably Approve a Civil Rights Committee—But Which One?
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file
Hundreds of protesters marched on City Hall in September to demand a commission vote on a civil rights committee.
Tuesday's Athens-Clarke County Commission meeting just got a lot more interesting.
The commission is scheduled to vote on an ordinance banning bars from using bogus private events or selectively enforcing dress codes to keep out people of color. Local activist groups have been lobbying for a civil rights committee to supplement that narrow ordinance.
Until a couple of days ago, it seemed that a majority of commissioners were resisting that idea. Now, though, there are three different versions of a civil rights committee headed to the floor Tuesday.
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The Party's Back On at Frat Beach
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: UGA News Service
Glynn County workers and volunteers clean up "frat beach" after the Georgia-Florida game in 2012.
Glynn County, GA has decided to Make Frat Beach Fratty Again. Sort of.
Authorities at the beach community that’s a notorious party spot for UGA students on the Georgia-Florida football weekend have decided to scale back the police presence after cracking down on rowdy students last year, the Golden Isles News reported.
Last year’s “zero tolerance” approach will still be in effect, but police won’t be out in force on St. Simons Island roads like they were last year.
“Last year may have been a bit of overkill,” County Commission Chairman Richard Strickland said last month, according to the News. “We were trying to get their attention, to make them understand. We appreciate them being here, but at the same time we have laws and we want you to behave yourselves. But we are more than happy to have them here.”
Last year, after getting fed up with partiers trashing the beach, Glynn County commissioners sent a stern letter to UGA and Florida students warning them to behave themselves. They didn’t this year. Apparently coastal merchants complained that the heavy police presence hurt their business.
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RIP Athens Civil Rights Leader A.R. Killian
Blog: In the Loop
Killian in 2013.
The Rev. Archibald “A.R.” Killian, Athens’ first black police officer and an outspoken local civil rights leader for decades, died Tuesday at age 83.
Killian was born in Athens and served as a military policeman during the Korean War. After leaving the Air Force, he nearly took a job as a police officer in Los Angeles but returned to Athens instead.
When Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter integrated the University of Georgia in 1961, Killian let Holmes live in his house and protected him from white mobs.
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Moody's Downgrades Piedmont's Credit After ARMC Merger
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file
Athens Regional Medical Center, before it was renamed Piedmont Athens Regional earlier this month.
The investment rating firm Moody's isn't optimistic about Piedmont Healthcare's future after it acquired the hospital formerly known as Athens Regional Medical Center.
Moody's gave three upcoming bond issues totaling $406 million an Aa3 rating (i.e. really safe) but downgraded Piedmont's credit outlook to "negative" in part because of the debt the company is taking on to acquire ARMC and its subsidiaries, according to Saporta Report, a news site run by longtime Atlanta journalist Maria Saporta.
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Today's Sales at Avid Benefit the Pinewoods Library
Blog: Culture Briefs
Photo Credit: Henry Taylor/file
To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Avid Bookshop is donating a portion of today's sales—including online and phone orders—to the Pinewoods library, which serves a largely low-income Latino immigrant community off Highway 29 near Madison County.
The library expanding, and customers can also purchase books for the library from a wish list.
Avid owner Janet Geddis writes:
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Reminder: Early Voting Is Underway
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones
In case you haven't noticed, there's an election coming up, and not a moment too soon. Early voting started Monday at the ACC Board of Elections office and runs through Friday, Nov. 4.
As you can see from the photo above, there have been long lines already, even though early voting doesn't tend to pick up until closer to Election Day. People must be hyped about choosing between Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich. (Actually, the Athens Banner-Heraldreports that people just want to get it over with so they can preserve what's left of their sanity by ignoring the news for the next three weeks.)
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Tate Preacher Charged With Assaulting UGA Student
Blog: In the Loop
An itinerant preacher was arrested outside the Tate Student Center Tuesday and charged with elbowing a student in the face during a confrontation in front of about 200 onlookers.
The preacher, Ross M. Jackson, 33, "hit the student during a tense confrontation in which he and the student stood eye-to-eye, separated by a space of about one inch," the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
The student, Keaton Law, told the Red & Black that he was upset that Jackson was calling students "sinners" and "whores."
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Congressman Hice Urges Athens Republicans to 'Stay Focused,' Vote for Trump
Blog: In the Loop
They wouldn't mention him by name, but at least two Republican elected officials representing Athens are urging GOP voters to continue supporting Donald Trump in spite of the video that surfaced Friday of Trump describing sexually assaulting women and attempting to commit adultery.
"None of us anywhere will defend the comments that were made," U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Loganville) said in a brief speech at an Athens GOP meeting Monday night. "I will tell you this, if you are struggling with who to vote for, just remember the platforms the parties are running on."
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Hear a Track from Mike Mills' New Rock Concerto
Blog: Homedrone
Photo Credit: Anton Corbijn
Last month we told you that former R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills was working on a classical/rock hybrid called Concerto for Rock Band, Violin and Strings. Rolling Stone premiered a movement from the concerto called “Sonny Side Up” on its website last week.
The concerto is a collaboration with violinist and Mills’ longtime friend Robert McDuffie. Backing musicians include McDuffie’s Mercer University music students and Athens music-scene veterans John Neff (Drive-By Truckers), William Tonks and Patrick Ferguson (Five Eight).
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Chris Conley: Stop Calling Trump's Offensive Comments 'Locker Room Talk'
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Jim Hipple
Chris Conley, Flagpole’s all-time favorite Bulldog, wants you to know that “grab them by the pussy” isn’t locker-room talk.
The former UGA receiver, who now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, shot off a few tweets lasrt night aimed at those who’ve been dismissing Donald Trump’s controversial comments made on the “Access Hollywood” set in 2005.
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Athens Power Rankings for the Week of Oct. 10
Blog: In the Loop
Tony B.
Welcome to Athens Power Rankings. In the spirit of sports rating systems, through painstaking analysis, we rank the top movers and shakers in the Classic City each week. Who's hot? Who's not? Find out below.
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RIP Darius Weems
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Darius Goes West via Facebook
Darius Weems—the subject of the award-winning documentary Darius Goes West—died today at the age of 27.
Weems died of complications from Duchenne Musculary Dystrophy, the disease that confined him to a wheelchair for most of his life.
Logan Smalley, then a University of Georgia student, organized a trip to California for Weems in 2004, fulfilling his lifelong dream of traveling across the country, and documented it for the film, which has raised more than $1 million for DMD research.
The Darius Goes West Facebook page posted the following tribute:
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latest stories
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In the Loop | November 9, 2016 2:02pm
Athens Did Its Part to Help Elect Hillary Clinton (and More Local Election Results)
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In the Loop | November 8, 2016 3:42pm
Where to Get Drunk and Watch the Election Results
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In the Loop | November 7, 2016 10:49pm
Reminder: Several Athens Polling Places Have Changed Locations
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In the Loop | November 6, 2016 1:09pm
The ABH Has Endorsed Donald Trump
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In the Loop | November 4, 2016 12:03pm
Man Accused of Harassing Voters at ACC Library
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In the Loop | November 3, 2016 1:59pm
UGA Provost Pamela Whitten Is a Finalist to Head the University of Tennessee
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In the Loop | November 2, 2016 4:01pm
Athens Is Getting a Civil Rights Committee, and No One Is Too Happy About It
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In the Loop | November 1, 2016 1:28pm
Early Voting at the Tate Center Is Crazy Right Now
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In the Loop | October 31, 2016 1:45pm
ACC Commissioners Will Probably Approve a Civil Rights Committee—But Which One?
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In the Loop | October 27, 2016 1:35pm
The Party's Back On at Frat Beach
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In the Loop | October 26, 2016 2:40pm
RIP Athens Civil Rights Leader A.R. Killian
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In the Loop | October 25, 2016 1:39pm
Moody's Downgrades Piedmont's Credit After ARMC Merger
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Culture Briefs | October 21, 2016 10:31am
Today's Sales at Avid Benefit the Pinewoods Library
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In the Loop | October 18, 2016 4:33pm
Reminder: Early Voting Is Underway
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In the Loop | October 13, 2016 1:56pm
Tate Preacher Charged With Assaulting UGA Student
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In the Loop | October 11, 2016 10:02am
Congressman Hice Urges Athens Republicans to 'Stay Focused,' Vote for Trump
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Homedrone | October 10, 2016 4:28pm
Hear a Track from Mike Mills' New Rock Concerto
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In the Loop | October 10, 2016 2:04pm
Chris Conley: Stop Calling Trump's Offensive Comments 'Locker Room Talk'
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In the Loop | October 10, 2016 12:53pm
Athens Power Rankings for the Week of Oct. 10
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In the Loop | October 9, 2016 2:45pm
RIP Darius Weems