Blog Topic: Breaking News

Grub Notes: Gov. Deal Signs Craft Brewery Bill and More Beer News

By Blake Aued | May 8, 2017 11:52am

Beer lovers will soon be able to buy up to a case of beer a day from their favorite brewery after Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law this morning loosening restrictions on breweries, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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In the Loop: Deal Signs Campus Carry; Hice Helps Pass Trumpcare

By Blake Aued | May 4, 2017 6:43pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Campus carry protesters at the Arch.

In spite of ongoing opposition in Athens, Gov. Nathan Deal has signed HB 280, this year's version of the "campus carry" legislation he vetoed last year.

Deal's veto statement last year included a full-throated defense of gun-free campuses, citing founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, who banned guns at the University of Virginia, and the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who ruled in District of Columbia vs. Heller that banning guns in schools and on government property is not unconstitutional.

Deal also cited several specific objections in 2016, and addressing those apparently was enough to convince him to sign HB 280 in spite of his general objections to HB 859.

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In the Loop: The Varsity Files for Demolition Permits for Surrounding Properties

By Blake Aued | May 4, 2017 4:06pm

Photo Credit: Athens-Clarke County Planning Department

853 Reese Street.

The owners of The Varsity have applied for permits to demolish a half-dozen structures on the same block, potentially allowing them to raze several historic houses to make way for a mega-development.

The permits are for 1076, 1086 and 1092 West Broad (the Dairy Queen that closed last year, a mechanic's shop and a house) and 835, 853 and 863 Reese Street.

The applications were filed Tuesday. Commissioner Melissa Link, who represents the area, said she has already exercised her power under county law to put a hold on those permits for 90 days.

"I have activated the 90-day delay, and I have every intention of seeking a long-term moratorium," she said.

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In the Loop: May Day March to End Deportation Draws 150

By Blake Aued | May 2, 2017 2:54pm

Photo Credit: Austin Steele

At least 150 people gathered in downtown on Monday—May Day, or International Workers' Day—to protest the deportation of undocumented immigrants in Athens.

"In our community there have been many cases of deportation," said Beto Mendoza, coordinator of the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition, which organized the rally. In many cases Immigration and Customs Enforcement has split up local families by arrested and deporting parents, while the children, who are U.S. citizens, stay behind, he said.

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In the Loop: Driver Injured in Prince Avenue Wreck

By Blake Aued | April 27, 2017 3:41pm

Photo Credit: Austin Steele

Bystanders gather around an injured driver after a wreck outside Hendershot's this afternoon.

A three-car wreck on Prince Avenue injured one person and startled dozens of others on the patio at the Bottleworks—and it could've been a lot worse.

Flagpole was on the scene, of course, since it happed right outside our office.

At about 12:40 p.m., according to witnesses, a purple sedan traveling westbound on Prince suddenly swerved or turned, hitting a white SUV and a silver hatchback.

The driver of the purple sedan was lying on the ground for several minutes before an ambulance arrived. He suffered a "serious injury," according to Athens-Clarke County police spokesman Epifiano Rodriguez.

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In the Loop: Downtown Hotel Construction Accident Injures Three

By Blake Aued | April 20, 2017 9:05pm

Photo Credit: Tim Denson

A parking deck at the Hyatt Place hotel under construction on Thomas Street partially collapsed earlier tonight, injuring three construction workers.

The accident happened around 7:30 p.m., as people were leaving the Envision Athens town hall meeting at the Classic Center next door.

Classic Center Executive Director Paul Cramer said he was not sure exactly what happened, but it appears that either a section of the deck collapsed, or a crane may have dropped a piece of pre-cast concrete onto the deck. Part of the deck was damaged, and a piece of concrete lay shattered on the ground nearby.

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In the Loop: ACC Is Making Crosswalks Safer All Over Athens

By Blake Aued | April 18, 2017 2:47pm

Photo Credit: Austin Steele

Workers install a pedestrian refuge island on Prince Avenue at Piedmont College Tuesday morning.

Athens-Clarke County workers are installing two pedestrian refuge islands on Prince Avenue this week, and similar improvements will be coming to other parts of the city within the next couple of months.

The Transportation and Public Works Department is installing the islands at mid-block crosswalks at Pope Street and Piedmont College. They give pedestrians a place to pause safely after crossing two lanes of traffic before crossing the other two.

"They're small, but they do provide some protection for the pedestrian," TPW Traffic Engineer Steve Decker said.

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In the Loop: Trump Advisor Roger Stone Thinks the Deep State Is Trying to Kill Him

By Baynard Woods | April 17, 2017 2:30pm

Photo Credit: Screencap via Infowars

Carter Page—the seemingly hapless, dead-eyed and bald-headed former-Trump advisor who is at the white-hot center of the controversy surrounding Trump campaign-collusion with Russia—looks like he tried to learn to smile like Putin but can’t pull it off. Yet he continues to accept offers to botch television interviews.

Last week, he refused to say who brought him into the Trump campaign as a foreign policy advisor on skittery appearances with Jake Tapper and George Stephanopoulos.

Speculation about Page grows, reaching a fever pitch in former British MP and rom-com novelist Louise Mensch's explosive, and seemingly unfounded, claim that Page delivered a video of Trump making policy promises to the Russians in exchange for hacking the election.

In conversation, long-time Trump advisor and Republican dirty-trickster Roger Stone—who, like Page is expected to testify before the House intelligence committee, and, also like Page suspects that he was the subject of a FISA warrant—told me that he also thinks that former campaign head Corey Lewandowski is responsible for Page’s presence on a list of Trump advisors—but added that Page had previously worked for Ben Carson’s campaign.

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In the Loop: 'Progressive Conservative' Antwon Stephens Announces Mayoral Candidacy

By Blake Aued | April 13, 2017 2:22pm

Stephens' Facebook profile features a photo of himself with Tiffany Trump.

Earlier today, I received a press release announcing a new candidate for mayor. Just one thing was missing: a name.

Apparently he announced on Tim Bryant's radio show this morning, but I didn't catch it. After some online speculation—Batman? "The Man With No Name," Clint Eastwood? Should we get the Hardy Boys on the case?—campaign manager April Carson was kind enough to fill me in. The candidate is Antwon Stephens.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because Stephens—then going by Keyantwon—was involved in a controversy as the 17-year-old head of the Athens Tea Party Patriots back in 2013.

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In the Loop: Campus Carry Opponents Plan Online Action

By Blake Aued | April 10, 2017 11:31am

Photo Credit: Poetry Action Network

As they did last year, the Poetry Action Network—a group of Athens writers led by Magdalena Zurawaski, Laura Solomon and Jenny Gropp—is taking to Twitter to oppose "campus carry" legislation passed by the Georgia legislature.

The Poetry Action Network is asking campus carry critics to download a sign here, print it out, take a picture of themselves holding the sign, and tweet the photo to @vetocampuscarry or @poetryaction, or email it to [email protected]. The photos will be tweeted at Gov. Nathan Deal all day in an effort to convince him to veto House Bill 280.

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