Blog Topic: Breaking News

In the Loop: Meet the First Same-Sex Couple to Get Married in Athens

By Benjamin Tankersley | June 26, 2015 1:03pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Moriah Martin (left) and Jordyn Dolente leave the Clarke County Courthouse after becoming the first local same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license since this morning's marriage equality ruling.

Jordyn Dolente and Moriah Martin were the first couple to get a marriage license in Clarke County this morning after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

"I never thought that this was going to happen, especially in Georgia," Dolente said. "We thought marijuana would be first."

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In the Loop: Athens Reacts to the Marriage Equality Ruling

By Blake Aued and Carolyn Crist | June 26, 2015 11:54am

Photo Credit: Calvin Elvert

A pro-marriage rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Apr. 28, when justices heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges.

This morning, the Supreme Court released a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across the U.S., including in Georgia. Flagpole is gathering reactions from local experts, politicians and the LGBT community. We'll update this post as those reactions come in.

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Homedrone: Here Are the 2015 Flagpole Athens Music Awards Winners

By Gabe Vodicka | June 25, 2015 11:44pm

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Homedrone: 2015 Flagpole Athens Music Awards Finalists Announced

By Gabe Vodicka | June 17, 2015 1:36pm

Photo Credit: Chelsea Kornse

Family and Friends

Nearly 2,000 ballots were cast during the voting period for this year's Flagpole Athens Music Awards, and now you can check out the list of finalists in all 20 categories by clicking over to the Music Awards homepage.

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In the Loop: Rockdale Chief Deputy Scott Freeman Is Athens' New Police Chief

By Blake Aued | June 9, 2015 12:52pm

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Athens-Clarke County

Athens-Clarke County Manager Alan Reddish has hired Scott Freeman as ACC's new police chief, effective July 6, from among 64 candidates, the local government announced today.

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In the Loop: UGA Student's Letter Reveals Tiananmen Square Coverup to the Chinese People

By Blake Aued | June 4, 2015 1:59pm

UGA student Gu Yi distributed this photo to media outlets with his letter.

This is ancient history for most UGA students, but in the first week of June in 1989, the Chinese military confronted student-led protesters calling for reforming the autocratic government in Beijing. It was the Arab Spring of my generation—except it didn’t work. The government redoubled its crackdown on dissidents.

Even today, merely mentioning the Tiananmen Square protests is illegal in China. But Gu Yi, a UGA graduate student in chemistry, wrote an open letter (signed by 10 other Chinese expats) and managed to get it past China’s censors and Internet filters. The letter calls for an end to political persecution and for those who killed protestors to be put on trial.

Here’s the Washington Post’s take:

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In the Loop: Oconee County Creeks Are Full of Sewage

By Lee Becker | June 2, 2015 2:35pm

Luckily for Oconee County utility workers, this photo was taken in India.

Oconee County reported two new sewage spills to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division on Friday, one of which was classified as a “major spill” and involved the discharge of sewage into Calls Creek.

The smaller spill was into McNutt Creek behind Creekside subdivision, which is on the east side of Jimmy Daniell Road at the county line.

The spill into Calls Creek was at the troubled Calls Creek wastewater treatment planton Durhams Mill Way north of Watkinsville, where a separation of pipe allowed sewage to flow for five minutes into the creek.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.

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In the Loop: Drive-By Shooting Reported on Baxter Street

By Blake Aued | June 2, 2015 11:24am

An Athens-Clarke County police officer heard several gunshots around Baxter Street and Baxter Drive—a block from the ACC Library, Clarke Middle School and Alps Road Elementary School—while on patrol at about 11:20 a.m. on Monday.

The officer saw a vehicle occupied by three men, one of whom was firing a gun out of a back-seat window, according to an ACCPD report. She followed the vehicle while waiting for backup.

The vehicle pulled over on Collins Avenue, and the rear passenger exited with his hands up. The driver quickly left, but was found soon after, and all three men were detained and questioned, police said.

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Homedrone: AthFest Releases Its Club Crawl Lineup

By Blake Aued | May 18, 2015 11:03am

Start planning your AthFest club crawl now.

AthFest just released its post-outdoor-stages schedule for Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27. About 100 local bands are playing at 13 downtown venues over the weekend. and it’s always tough to figure out how to pack in as many you can.

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In the Loop: Ted Cruz Wants to Repeal All the Things

By Blake Aued | May 15, 2015 8:49pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (left) after being introduced by Georgia Sen. David Perdue.

Capping off a day filled with red meat for the Republican base, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tossed the audience a few raw ribeyes during his Georgia GOP Convention speech at the Classic Center.

“We should adopt a simple flat tax,” Cruz said. “Let every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard. And when we do that, we should abolish the IRS.

“Take all 90,000 of them and put them on the border… Imagine if you were swimming the Rio Grande, and the first thing you saw was 90,000 IRS agents. You’d turn around and go home.”

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