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  Ag Official Explains the Myths of Food Stamps

  Blog: In the Loop

  

  Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

  Kevin Concannon, undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, toured the Athens Farmers Market and several local community gardens during a visit to Athens on Wednesday.

   

  All to answer the questions of a poultry science professor, Kevin Concannon, a U.S. undersecretary of agriculture, came to UGA last week to discuss the myths and misconceptions about people on SNAP (the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, though recipients now get their benefits on a debit card).

  Robert Beckstead, a poultry science professor at UGA, teaches a class about the effects of global agriculture on world culture. As part of that class, there is a project where his students are given the farm bill and asked to cut 20 percent of the budget.

  “The majority of the students,” Beckstead said, “whether they were lazy or that’s what they really believed, they said, ‘Well, we’ll just cut 20 percent from [food stamps].'”

  By Benjamin Tankersley | July 24, 2015

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  Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign Takes Shape in Athens

  Blog: In the Loop

   

  

  Photo Credit: Peter Searcy/Flickr

  Chants of “Bernie! Bernie!” rang loud as residents of Athens-Clarke County joined millions of people around the country by starting a grassroots committee in support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) for the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election.

  The committee had their first meeting Saturday at the Blind Pig Tavern before splitting up into subcommittees to focus on campaigning for Sanders, who identifies as a socialist but caucuses with Democrats. He’s running against Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley for the nomination.

  By Benjamin Tankersley | July 19, 2015

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  Meet the First Same-Sex Couple to Get Married in Athens

  Blog: In the Loop

  

  Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

  Moriah Martin (left) and Jordyn Dolente leave the Clarke County Courthouse after becoming the first local same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license since this morning's marriage equality ruling.

  Jordyn Dolente and Moriah Martin were the first couple to get a marriage license in Clarke County this morning after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

  "I never thought that this was going to happen, especially in Georgia," Dolente said. "We thought marijuana would be first."

  By Benjamin Tankersley | June 26, 2015

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  Aldi Is Coming to the Eastside

  Blog: In the Loop

  

  Following a meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission on Thursday, Aldi’s proposal to add a second Athens store at the intersection of Barnett Shoals Road and College Station Road is moving forward.

  The area in which the discount grocery store—which already has a location on Atlanta Highway—is proposed to be built is a five-acre plot currently inhabited by an old service station. The store and its 84 parking places would only represent about an acre and a half of that whole plot, leaving the rest to act as a buffer around the store. But to the south, near the Green Acres neighborhood, the buffer would be only 44 feet, along with a fence to screen the headlights of cars in the parking lot, leading some neighbors to voice concerns about a grocery store virtually in their backyards.

  By Benjamin Tankersley | June 8, 2015

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