In the Loop
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First Discrimination Complaint Filed Against Downtown Athens Bar
A photo of 90d's, presented by lawyer Ken Dious as evidence that the bar did not post its dress code as required by law.
A Statham African-American man is the first person to file a formal complaint under a new Athens-Clarke County law prohibiting bars from discriminating against patrons on the basis of race.
Kendrick Bullock and his brother, Broderick Flanigan, a well-known Athens artist and political activist, went downtown the night of Apr. 1 to watch a basketball game. Afterward, they decided to go to 90d's, a Clayton Street bar.
According to Flanigan, the rest of the group entered the bar but discovered Bullock was not with them. Flanigan went back outside, and found that doormen had denied Bullock entry on the grounds that his saggy pants violated the 90d's dress code.
As Flanigan points out in a video posted on the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement website, the dress code was not posted outside as required by law. They also disputed whether Bullock's pants were actually sagging.
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Podcast: Trump's Loose Lips and Chelsea Manning
On this week's episode, cohosts Marc Steiner and Baynard Woods talk first about the secrets Trump shared with Russian diplomats. Then, they are joined by Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future and a close friend and supporter of Chelsea Manning, to talk about Manning's release from prison.
Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.
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RIP Ed Turner, Athens' First Black City Councilman
Photo Credit: courtesy of Eric Turner
Edward L. Turner, an Athens civil rights pioneer who was the first African American elected to the Athens City Council (before city-county unification) in 1970, died Tuesday at the age of 73.
Athens Anti-Discrimation Movement leader Mokah Jasmine Johnson passed along this obituary from Turner's wife, Deborah, and lawyer Ken Dious.
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Turkish President's Bodyguards Attack Peaceful Protesters in D.C.
Photo Credit: Baltimore Bloc
Shortly after Donald Trump tweeted, “It was a great honor to welcome the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to the @WhiteHouse today!” members of Erdoğan’s security staff, many of whom appear to have been armed, attacked a peaceful protest across from the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.
“We were only 13 people [plus two children] but we were Iranian, Kurdish, Armenian, Ezidi, American, man and woman, and we were basically there to protest Erdoğan and the Turkish state’s fascist policies,” said Pooyan Bahar, one of the protesters who describes himself as a human rights advocate. “And we were attacked by Erdoğan’s security guards who basically outnumbered us five to one and they brutally attacked us.”
Erdoğan’s government has been engaged in a violent suppression of the press and a purge of universities, the military, police, civil service and political parties of opponents since a failed coup last July. But Turkey's campaign against the minority of Kurds, some of which has been engaged in long separatist struggle with the Turkish state, has been particularly intense, drawing comparisons with some of the worst atrocities in Syria.
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Commission Temporarily Bans Demolitions in Two Athens Neighborhoods
Photo Credit: Austin Steele/file
The possibility that the house at 398 Milledge Circle would be demolished galvanized neighbors to seek a historic district.
During a contentious four-hour called meeting Tuesday night, the Athens-Clarke County Commission approved moratoriums on demolitions and some construction on Milledge Circle and Castalia Avenue in Five Points and in the West Hancock neighborhood.
Both moratoriums apply demolitions and changes to facades and rooflines for one year while neighborhood residents, county planners and commissioners study ways to protect those neighborhoods' historic character. But they allow interior renovations and add-ons to the backs of homes, in an effort to appease opponents who are planning improvement projects.
On Milledge Circle, residents are fighting to stop homebuyers from tearing down historic residences to build larger suburban-style houses—which they said has happened three times already and could happen again at 398 Milledge Circle.
"You come to realize Athens has been at the center of a demolition derby, so to speak," Milledge Circle resident and historic preservation professor John Waters said. "You don't know what to expect next door to your property, or what it's going to do to your quality of life."
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Will Georgia's Campus Carry Law Let UGA Tailgaters Pack Heat?
Photo Credit: Randy Schafer/file
The campus carry bill Gov. Nathan Deal signed last month explicitly bans guns at Sanford Stadium while allowing them on many other parts of the UGA campus. But officials are still grappling with at least one gray area—what the poorly worded law means for tailgaters.
One scenario has raised an interesting question for Georgia: Given the fact that up to 100,000 fans, if not more, partake in tailgating festivities many hours before kickoff, how will the law be interpreted on its campus for a Saturday football game?
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Commission Will Vote Tuesday on Demolition Bans
The Varsity's owners plan to demolish this 160-year-old Queen Anne house at 853 Reese Street that was once owned by slaves-turned-dentists James and Charlotte Mack and renowned educator Annie Burney.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to temporarily ban demolitions and new construction on Milledge Circle and in the Hancock Corridor while protections are being considered for those historic neighborhoods.
Milledge Circle homeowners have been spurred on by the imminent destruction of 398 Milledge Circle, continuing a recent trend of home-buyers snapping up historic properties only to demolish the houses to make way for much larger structures. A majority petitioned the commission for a historic district earlier this month.
Across town, the Gordy family, which owns The Varsity, applied for permits to demolish seven structures on the same block as the fast-food landmark, including several historic houses. The neighborhood along Hanock Avenue west of Milledge—listed on the National Register of Historic Places—is under threat because it's zoned multifamily, which is likely to entice developers looking to tear down older residences for denser and more expensive housing, according to a recent study of the West Broad area. Some residents have called for the neighborhood to be rezoned for small single-family lots.
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Podcast: Comey Gets Canned
On this week's episode, cohosts Marc Steiner and Baynard Woods talk with Mark Trahant about Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.
Mark Trahant is an independent print and media journalist who writes at TrahantReports.com. He is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. Earlier this month, he became a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.
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