In the Loop
-
9d's Bar Will Be Closed This Weekend After Reaching Agreement on Discrimination Complaint
Photo Credit: Blake Aued/file
Kendrick Bullock (left) and his brother, Broderick Flanigan, discuss a discrimination complaint they filed against 9d's Bar at a May 2017 news conference,
The East Clayton Street bar 9d's will be closed today and Saturday while its alcohol license is suspended after agreeing to a consent order with the Athens-Clarke County attorney's office on an April 2017 discrimination complaint.
Kendrick Bullock alleged that 9d's denied him entry for a dress-code violation in April 2017 in spite of the bar not having a dress code publicly posted as required by a local anti-discrimination ordinance passed in 2016 in response to numerous complaints that student bars downtown were unfairly using dress codes to keep out black customers.
In addition to closing for two days, 9d's agreed to go on probation for 12 months, pay a $350 fine and:
-
Gov.-Elect Brian Kemp Calls for Unity in UGA Speech
After a divisive campaign, Gov.-elect Brian Kemp called for unity Tuesday in his first major speech since winning a close and hard-fought election. Taking a different tone than what voters heard on the campaign trail, he appealed to state legislators to “put politics behind us.”
The speech at the University of Georgia’s Biennial Institute, a three-day training session for state legislators, came months after Kemp emerged from a bruising Republican primary in July and just weeks after he repeatedly called Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams a radical extremist.
“It’s time to shed the labels and work together as Georgians. It’s time to stand up for our communities, our families and our Georgia values,” Kemp said. “It’s time to protect the vulnerable. It’s time to do the right thing—even when no one is looking.”
-
UGA Shuts Down Dorm Room Grilled Cheese Mogul After Red & Black Article
Photo Credit: Mack Male/Wikimedia Commons
When student newspaper The Red & Black published "Is the grill hot? Inside a UGA freshman's grilled cheese empire" on Dec. 6, my first thought, like many people, was, "How long will it take the university to shut this down?"
The answer was five hours.
After all, 18-year-old Charlie Williams—who delivered $3 grilled cheese sandwiches and other tasty snacks to fellow residents of Oglethorpe House, aka O-House—was clearly operating an illegal business. I didn't go to UGA, but I'm pretty sure we weren't allowed to have hot plates at Ole Miss, and I'm very sure the health department would say that running what basically amounts to a Papa John's (minus the tomato sauce, garlic butter and racism) out of your home is not kosher.
Sure enough, the follow-up came Saturday: "Too hot to handle: UGA housing shuts down grilled cheese business."
-
UGA, Clarke County Schools Will Open Late Tuesday
Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Clarke County public schools will open two hours late due to the threat of icy roads early Tuesday morning.
Elementary school classes will start at 9:40 a.m., middle schools at 10:25 a.m. and high schools at 10:45 a.m., the Clarke County School District announced. School doors will open a half-hour before classes start. Buses will run on a two-hour delay, and breakfast will not be served.
Earlier today, Gov. Nathan Deal announced that state government offices will not open until 10 a.m. Tuesday. His office listed Clarke as one of the counties that could be affected by black ice on roads.
The National Weather service says black ice and icy spots can be expected in parts of North Georgia tonight and Tuesday morning as temperatures could drop below freezing.
-
Democrats Make Slight Gains in Oconee County
Public Service Commissioner Chuck Eaton.
Republican Brad Raffensperger got 67.1 percent of the vote in Oconee County in the runoff for secretary of state on Tuesday, up just slightly from his 66.8 percent vote on Nov. 6.
Democrat John Barrow received 32.9 percent of the vote in Oconee County on Tuesday, up from the 30.7 percent he received in the three-way contest on Nov. 6.
In the Public Service Commission race, incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton received 68.1 percent of the vote in Oconee County on Tuesday, down from the 69.4 percent he received on Nov. 6.
Democrat Lindy Miller received 31.9 percent, up from the 27.3 percent she received in the three-way race on Nov. 6.
-
ACC Attorney Says Board of Elections Illegally Closed Meeting
Savannah Cole/file
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections broke state law when it went into executive session in September to discuss opening an early voting site at Cedar Shoals High School, according to the ACC Attorney’s office.
Tension continued in the Board of Elections on Tuesday as they discussed the closed-door meeting. The attorney’s office concluded the board was in violation of the Georgia Open Meetings act. Assistant county attorney John Hawkins provided the results of the review to board members.
On Sept. 4, the BOE decided to go to executive session to discuss “personnel matters” since more poll workers would be needed for an additional early voting location. Under the Open Meetings Act, the board is permitted to go to executive session if it involved personnel matters. However, other topics were discussed, and the personnel exemption is meant to cover discussions about specific employees or candidates for positions, not hiring more personnel in general.
-
Athens' John Barrow Loses Bid to Become Georgia Secretary of State
Republican Brad Raffensperger defeated Barrow in a runoff Tuesday.
Democrat John Barrow lost his bid to become Georgia's secretary of state Tuesday to Republican Brad Raffensperger, and Republican incumbent Chuck Eaton kept his seat on the Public Service Commission, defeating Democrat Lindy Miller.
Barrow's loss means that a Republican will be running Georgia's elections in 2020—when President Donald Trump and one of his staunchest supporters, GOP Sen. David Perdue, are on the ballot—and 2024, when Gov.-elect Brian Kemp will be up for re-election.
It also comes amid widespread accusations among Democrats that voter suppression efforts under Kemp, the former secretary of state, cost Democrat Stacey Abrams the gubernatorial election.
-
Barrow Urges Athens Democrats to Get Out the Vote in Runoff for Secretary of State
Photo Credit: Blake Aued
"Whoever wants it more wins," Athens Democrat John Barrow told a small group of supporters during a last-minute campaign stop on Monday night, just hours before polls opened for a runoff election for secretary of state. "We need all the hay in the barn we can get."
Barrow is running to be Georgia's top election official, and Stacey Abrams supporters need no reminder of how important that position can be after her narrow loss to Republican Brian Kemp last month amidst widespread accusations of voter suppression and irregularities at the polls.
"Y'all know the stakes," Barrow said. "I'm running for an office nobody knew anything about. Now the whole country has gotten a crash course."
Page 32 of 235, showing 8 posts out of 1877 total, starting on # 249, ending on 256