Blog Topic: Breaking News
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In the Loop: Black Leaders Criticize UGA Over Slave Graves at Baldwin Hall
Photo Credit: Maxim DaPlug
Clarke County NAACP President Alvin Sheats (center) and Fred Smith, founder of the Athens Black History Bowl (right) are among those criticizing UGA's treatment of black remains found during construction at Baldwin Hall
A group of Athens African Americans is calling on the University of Georgia to reconsider its decision to reinter dozens of slave remains at Oconee Hill Cemetery.
"We are very upset by all of this," said Fred Smith, head of the Athens Black History Bowl, before the group's annual celebration Saturday at the Morton Theatre. "This is disrespectful to us as black folks."
The university discovered 27 gravesites while working on an addition to Baldwin Hall, which was built on top of Old Athens Cemetery, also known as Jackson Street Cemetery. UGA officials said in 2015 that they thought all of the remains had been removed during Baldwin's initial construction in 1938.
UGA initially thought the remains were white, but DNA analysis conducted by UGA anthropology professor Laurie Reitsema recently revealed that the vast majority were black.
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In the Loop: Campus Carry Bill Passes House Committee
Rep. Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton).
A bill that would allow people with concealed-carry permits to bring weapons onto the University of Georgia and other public college campuses cleared a key hurdle Monday.
The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee passed House Bill 280, sponsored by Rep. Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton), according to the AJC, sending it on for a likely but yet-to-be-scheduled vote before the full House.
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In the Loop: Richie Knight Is the First Candidate in the 2018 Athens Mayor's Race
The presidential race feels like it's barely over, and local elections are still 15 months away, but campaign season officially arrived again when young businessman Richie Knight declared his candidacy for Athens-Clarke County mayor today, joined by a few dozen supporters at City Hall.
Knight said he wants to "see a new generation take over the helm... We've been stuck in a rut the past 20-30 years."
His top priority, he said, is economic development—high-paying jobs to alleviate the city's 30-plus percent poverty rate. He said he would focus on recruiting businesses that will pay a living wage, although he hasn't settled on a figure of what a living wage should be. (It's $10.17 an hour in Athens, according to MIT.)
"We need to have real conversations with employers, not just about coming here, but about what it means to be part of the community, whom they should be hiring, wage amounts," he said.
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Homedrone: Kindercore Records to Open Vinyl Pressing Plant in Athens
The rumor has swirled around town for months, and now it appears that it's true: Kindercore Records plans to open a vinyl record-pressing facility in Athens later this year.
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In the Loop: The Proposed Mixed-Use Development Across From Athens Regional Is Dead
A mixed-use development on Prince Avenue that actually excited the neighborhood will no longer be happening.
Piedmont Athens Regional spokesman Mike Pilcher confirmed an Athens Banner-Herald report last night that the developers behind the project—Bryan Austin, John Stamm and Trey Wallace—have abandoned it. The project was slated for six acres next to the "flying saucer" Rite-Aid that are owned by the hospital and are currently used as a parking lot.
"The developer was unable to find an anchor tenant," Pilcher said.
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In the Loop: ADDA Splits Downtown Job, Hires Lynn and Ford
Lynn.
Rather than hire a single person to replace former Athens Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Pamela Thompson, the ADDA board has opted to split the job in two.
After hours of deliberation behind closed doors Friday night and again Tuesday afternoon, the board voted to hire David Lynn as director of planning and outreach, focusing on economic development, and Linda Ford as director of business services, focusing on parking and assisting downtown businesses.
"Instead of putting the weight all on one person, we're going to have two people with two distinct skill sets," ADDA board member Richie Knight said.
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In the Loop: Perdue Spokesman: Greensboro Rally Was 'Manufactured' and 'Disruptive'
Photo Credit: John Buckley
Athens for Everyone pushed back today against a spokeswoman for Georgia Sen. David Perdue who called a rally in Greensboro Friday "manufactured."
A4E, along with Indivisible Georgia District 10 and other local groups, organized a trip to Greensboro to speak to staffers for Perdue, Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. Jody Hice about their concerns about the Trump Administration. The rally drew about 500 people, including several hundred from Athens.
Perdue's spokeswoman dismissed those concerns in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday:
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In the Loop: 500 Gather in Greensboro to Tell Off Trump to GOP Congressional Staffers
Photo Credit: John Buckley
GREENSBORO — A large crowd of energized and vocal opponents of the new administration’s policies attended Friday’s constituent service meeting in Greensboro, hosted by representatives of Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican who represents Athens, and the state’s two senators, Johnny Isakson and David Perdue.
Some were wearing the pink “pussy hats” worn during the recent wave of demonstrations in Washington and in cities across the country, and many held up hand-lettered signs. The room was packed, and most of the crowd—estimated by Greene County Sheriff Donnie Harrison at more than 500—was standing in the back and along the sides of the room.
After the staff members introduced themselves to the crowd, Josh Findlay, a Hice staffer, said that it was “the largest crowd we’ve ever had” at this kind of meeting. He then announced that due to the crowd size, meetings would be held individually in nearby private rooms. At this point people, in the crowd began booing loudly and howling that they wanted to be heard by the legislators’ surrogates, and sustained chants of “Hear our voice!” “Cowards!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” rang out.
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In the Loop: No Plans to Redevelop Varsity Property, Commissioners Say
In spite of rumors that have swirled for months and recently intensified, Athens-Clarke County commissioners say they've been assured that the owners of iconic fast-food restaurant The Varsity have no imminent plans to redevelop the property.
The Gordy family, which owns the chain of seven restaurants, has assembled nearly the entirely block bordered by Milledge Avenue and Broad, Chase and Reese streets, including purchasing the Dairy Queen that closed last year and several homes.
Most of the rumors involve the property becoming a mixed-use development featuring a Publix grocery story, with The Varsity either becoming part of the new development or moving to Epps Bridge Parkway. Others have speculated that the Gordys merely want more parking for car shows and game days, or that the property will become student housing—which seems unlikely, given that its commercial zoning would only allow about 30 apartments.
ACC Commissioner Jerry NeSmith addressed the rumors at last night's commission meeting, saying that an agent for The Varsity and Publix called him Monday to assure him nothing is currently in the works.
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In the Loop: Commission Approves Ban on New Downtown Bars and Apartments
Photo Credit: Blake Aued/file
As expected, the Athens-Clarke County Commission approved a temporary ban on most new downtown bars and apartment buildings Tuesday night over concerns about overcrowding and the downtown drinking culture.
The ban covers bars with a capacity greater than 49 people, unless they open in a space that housed a bar within the past year, and apartments with more than three units. It will last for up to one year while a consultant conducts a study on downtown health and safety, and commissioners consider potential new regulations.
Mayor Nancy Denson said she placed the moratorium on the commission's agenda Monday afternoon to give officials a chance to get a handle on "crowding" and related challenges delivering services like garbage pickup, as well as "excessive drinking."
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