In the Loop
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Officials Urge Oconee County to Raise Taxes for Caterpillar, Road Improvements
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Given the costs of paying for the enticements to bring Caterpillar to the area, the need for new judicial facilities and the plans to build new roads and maintain the existing ones, Oconee County commissioners should consider an increase in the county’s property tax rate.
That was the message of Wes Geddings, county finance director, in the opening session of a day-long planning meeting held by the Oconee Board of Commissioners at a conference venue in Athens-Clarke County on Wednesday.
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Athens Power Rankings for the Week of Jan. 26
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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UGA Student Charged with Classmate's Murder
A University of Georgia student was shot and killed Tuesday, Jan. 13 during a drug deal gone wrong, according to Athens-Clarke County police.
Min Seok Cho, 21, was "transported by private vehicle" to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he was declared dead, according to police.
"Preliminary investigation indicates that the victim met the person or persons responsible for the shooting to exchange marijuana," police said in a news release.
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UGA President Jere Morehead Wants to Raise Pay for Faculty and Staff
Photo Credit: The University of Georgia
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead will push for raises for faculty again this year, he said during his State of the University speech today at the Chapel.
UGA employees received raises—albeit an average of just 1 percent—last year for the first time since 2008.
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Conservatives Target Athens Ben & Jerry's Over 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Shirt
Photo Credit: Photo via the Athens Ben & Jerry's Facebook page
Landon Bubb, a manager at the downtown Athens Ben & Jerry’s, posted a picture to the store's Facebook page on Saturday featuring company co-founder Ben Cohen wearing a “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” t-shirt.
The University of Georgia graduate posted the photo in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Hoping to spark a positive discussion about police brutality, he was met with hateful backlash. The photo went viral overnight, gaining upwards of 300,000 views, more than 3,000 shares and more than 1,600 comments. Supporters chimed in here and there, but the discussion is dominated by personal attacks and threats of a boycott.
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And the Flagpole Prince Avenue Flag Photo Contest Winner Is...
Krysia Haag gets honorable mention for the batch of creative Prince Avenue Photoshop images she sent us—astronauts landing in the crosswalk ("One small step for mankind"), a T-Rex rampaging through Flagpole's front yard, and the "Dukes of Hazzard" sendup you see here.
But we have to give the grand prize to photographer Matt Hardy and the ladies of the Secret City burlesque troupe, who literally stopped traffic when they ventured out into the crosswalk wearing nothing but a few strategically placed orange flags. Congratulations, y'all can pick up your Grit gift certificate at our office.
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Athens Power Rankings for the Week of Jan. 19
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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Athens Police and Citizens Talk Race and Bias
"Comply and complain" was the refrain police used over and over again during a town hall meeting with local law enforcement on Saturday.
A panel of community leaders briefly tackled a number of important issues—gentrification, low voter turnout, lack of minority representation in government—but in the wake of recent high-profile cases where police killed African Americans, the No.1 concern was the police department's relationship with minorities.
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