Blog Topic: Government
-
In the Loop: Rep. Jody Hice Town Hall Draws 100 People and a Chicken, but No Hice
Photo Credit: Stacey-Marie Piotrowski
ACC Commissioner Melissa Link with our congressman's feathered avatar.
On one of the busiest spring Saturdays in Athens, 100 people attended a town hall for District 10 congressman Jody Hice. The one notable absence was Hice himself.
Michael Goltzer of Athens was one of several people who addressed a photo of Rep. Hice (R-Social Circle) propped up in a chair on the stage of the Athens Regional Library on Apr. 22. He pointed out that the town hall was the most basic form of democratic conversation and lamented Hice’s refusal to engage with his constituents.
“Just tell us what we have to do to get you to meet with us,” he said.
-
In the Loop: Oconee Can't Provide Sewer to New Car Dealership
Oconee County told Mercedes-Benz of Athens on Friday that the county will not be able to provide sewer service for the planned new auto dealership on Highway 316 at Virgil Langford Road for another 12–18 months.
The announcement coincided with the release of a memorandum stating that those requesting letters of availability of sewer service be advised of limited capacity in parts of the county’s service area and the complete lack of availability in others, including where the Mercedes-Benz facility is planned.
The county released the announcement on sewer capacity in a meeting of the county’s Development Review Committee, which was considering the preliminary site plan and site development plans for the new auto dealership.
The DRC approved the Preliminary Site Plan, but Sandy Weinel, assistant director of the Planning and Code Enforcement Department, told a representative of Mercedes-Benz the firm will have to build a private septic system if it wants to move forward before sewer capacity is available.
-
In the Loop: ACC Is Making Crosswalks Safer All Over Athens
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.
-
In the Loop: Trump Advisor Roger Stone Thinks the Deep State Is Trying to Kill Him
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.
-
In the Loop: Campus Carry Opponents Plan Online Action
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.
-
In the Loop: Rep. Jody Hice Hosts Telephone Town Hall Today
U.S. Rep. Jody Hice—the Republican who represents most of Athens—has been largely MIA, other than a speech to a private club in February.
But you can hear, if not see, and maybe even question (if you're lucky) Hice during a tele-town hall today from 6:15–7:15 p.m.
-
In the Loop: Clarke County School Superintendent Nominee Demond Means Is 'All In' on Social Justice
Photo Credit: Austin Steele
Means speaks at a public forum Monday night at Whitehead Road Elementary School.
Speaking to an audience of Athens parents, teachers and concerned citizens for the first time, Demond Means, the sole finalist for Clarke County school superintendent, described himself as someone who's committed to social justice, marginalized students and raising his family in Clarke County.
The board is expected to formally appoint Means today after a public forum Monday night.
Although Means has been superintendent of a smaller, largely white and affluent district in suburban Milwaukee for nine years, he was raised in inner-city Milwaukee and graduated from public schools there.
One of the reasons he felt drawn to Clarke County, he said, is the opportunity to help minority and low-income students. (CCSD is 79 percent minority, and more than 80 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches before a USDA grant made them free for everyone.)
"I firmly believe our most marginalized children deserve the most attention," he said. "Those children who don't have an advocate in the superintendent's office or other places are the ones who need us the most."
-
In the Loop: CCSD Names Sole Finalist for Superintendent
Photo Credit: screencap via YouTube
The Clarke County School District will introduce Demond Means as its sole finalist for CCSD superintendent at a public forum tonight, the district announced this morning.
Means, a Milwaukee native, has been the superintendent of the Mequon-Thiensville school district in suburban Milwaukee since 2008. He also has experience as a high-school social studies teacher, assistant principal and associate principle, middle-school principal and human resources director, all in Wisconsin.
-
In the Loop: CCSD Will Name Sole Superintendent Finalist Monday
The Clarke County Board of Education will introduce its sole finalist for superintendent at a public forum Monday night, the district announced late Friday.
Naming a sole finalist is a reversal for the school board, which had previously said it would name three finalists and allow the public to question them before making a final decision.
Here's the news release from CCSD:
-
In the Loop: CCSD Announces Location for Superintendent Candidate Forum
A forum Monday with the finalist(s) for Clarke County School District superintendent will be held at Whitehead Road Elementary, the district announced today.
Whitehead is in the northwest corner of the county, at least a 20-minute drive from the Eastside and not on a bus line. Why such an inconvenient location?
"Much of our community has not had the opportunity to visit Whitehead Road Elementary School, which is truly an incredible learning environment," CCSD spokeswoman Anisa Sullivan Jimenez said. "We hope individuals will come and see their tax dollars at work at this important community event."
Page 18 of 51, showing 10 posts out of 509 total, starting on # 171, ending on 180
Blog Topics
- Record Reviews
- Live Reviews
- Local Music News
- Free Stuff
- Flagpole Premieres
- Q&A
- Video
- New Music
- Breaking News
- SXSW
- This Weekend
- Tonight
- ICYMI
- Upcoming in Athens
- Sports
- Beer Me
- Great Job
- Last Night
- Say What
- AthFest
- Food Roundup
- Media Matters
- Listomania
- Bummertown
- Wrath of God
- Paul Broun's Krazy Korner
- Foodie Fun
- Athens Power Rankings
- Newsish
- Editors' Picks
- Live Blog
- Drunken Mayhem
- Business, Man
- Photo Gallery
- Restaurant News
- Government
- Raging Election
- David Lowery Beefs
- On Campus
- Film
- In the Community
- .ext e n s i o n
- Behind the Scene
- Oconee Observations
- R.I.P.
- Tour Blog
- Flagpole Athens Music Awards
- Theater
- Humans of Athens
- Art Around Town
- Democracy in Crisis
- Get to Know
- Podcast
- Athens Politics Nerd
- School Daze