Blog Topic: Great Job

Culture Briefs: Photo Gallery: CCSD Grads on Parade

By Blake Aued | May 22, 2020 3:12pm

Photo Credit: Whitley Carpenter

Moussa and Amy Sarr.

With official graduation ceremonies postponed until July—if they happen at all—several Athens neighborhoods turned to caravans to celebrate their teenage residents' accomplishment.

One was Cedar Creek, where several dozen newly minted graduates paraded through the subdivision as neighbors cheered. Coronavirus robbed these students of part of their senior year, and the caravans were one way to restore a sense of normalcy.

All photos by Whitley Carpenter.

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In the Loop: Food Bank of NE GA Gets $465,000 Donation

By Blake Aued | April 20, 2020 3:41pm

Photo Credit: Jessica Silverman/file

The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated $465,000 to the Athens-based Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. No, that isn't a typo: $465,000.

That's the local food bank's share of the $100 million the billionaire gave to the nonprofit Feeding America earlier this month. To put it in perspective, it's about an eighth of the agency's annual $3.5 million budget.

The food bank will use the money to buy food, of course, but also to purchase distribution vehicles, upgrade warehouse equipment and offer cold and dry storage equipment to its 230 partner agencies, according to executive director Chuck Toney.

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In the Loop: Earth Fare Will Reopen Under New Ownership

By Blake Aued | March 30, 2020 4:18pm

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

Earth Fare’s founder and a group of other Asheville, NC investors are buying some of the shuttered grocery stores and reopening them—including Athens’ Five Points location, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Earth Fare abruptly announced the closure of all 50 stores in February and went into bankruptcy. The Asheville group—made up of former Earth Fare executives and other business owners—paid $1.9 million for stores in Athens, Asheville and Roanoke, VA, as well as the Earth Fare name and web address, the Citizen-Times reported. A similar chain, Whole Foods, bought several other locations.

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Culture Briefs: Congrats to the 2020 Flagpole Athens Favorites!

By Flagpole Staff | March 3, 2020 4:43pm

Thousands of readers to infinity and beyond voted in this 10th year of the Flagpole Athens Favorites contest. Congratulations to all of the Athens businesses who won or were chosen runner-up in over 100 categories!

Thanks to the out of this world Flagpole staff who made this issue possible. The cosmic theme, layout and designs were created by Larry Tenner and his crew, Chris McNeal and Cody Robinson. Anita Aubrey and Jessica Mangum are the hard-working ground control of the Flagpole advertising department. The intergalactic photos of our space model, Mark Weathersby, were taken by Jason Thrasher. A special thanks to our E.T. model, Scarlett Alston, for her fierce poses. Photos of our celestial winners were captured by Flagpole photographer Whitley Carpenter.

A big thanks to the terrestrial photo locations: Hotel Indigo, Half-Shepherd Market and Cheese Shop, Marti’s at Midday, The Law Office of Sam Thomas, Creature Comforts and Cine.

And finally, congratulations to all the winners! A full list is below.

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In the Loop: Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central Named AP Honor Schools

By Blake Aued | February 13, 2020 12:40pm

In spite of the board of education being an ongoing reality TV show, there is some good news coming out of the Clarke County School District. Both Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals are among the 255 Georgia high schools to be named Advanced Placement Honor Schools for 2020.

In addition, Clarke Central was one of 70 high schools named an AP School of Distinction, meaning at least 20% of students took an AP exam, and 50% of those scored a three or higher. Three is generally the minimum score to receive college credit.

Cedar Shoals was named an Access and Support School, where at least 30% of AP students identified as black or Hispanic, and 30% scored a three or higher.

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In the Loop: New School Board Appointee Misled Board About Graduating From Cedar Shoals

By Blake Aued | January 31, 2020 3:14pm

Newly appointed Clarke County Board of Education member Antwon Stephens did not graduate from Cedar Shoals High School in 2014, as he implied when he sought a vacant position on the board last month, according to a report in the Cedar Shoals student newspaper.

A majority of the board chose Stephens from among four applicants to fill the vacancy in District 2 for the remainder of 2020. In his written application and in a speech to the board, he described himself as "Cedar Shoals class of 2014." One of his champions on the board, Tawanna Mattox, cited the fact that he is a recent CCSD graduate as reason to support him.

But when confronted by reporters from Cedar BluePrints — who noted that he wasn't in the yearbook or listed on the graduation program — Stephens admitted that he didn't actually graduate from Cedar Shoals. He left during either his sophomore or junior year, and said he received a diploma from an online high school.

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In the Loop: Former Athens Judge Blocks Georgia Abortion Law

By Blake Aued | October 1, 2019 4:59pm

Judge Steve Jones.

Georgia's infamous "heartbeat bill" banning most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy suffered a legal setback today when a federal judge blocked the law from taking effect while it's challenged in the court system.

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In the Loop: Portrait Unveiled of Miriam Moore, First Black Woman Elected to Local Office

By Blake Aued | July 2, 2019 5:03pm

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

A portrait of former Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Miriam Moore hangs in the community room of the East Athens Development Corp., a nonprofit she helped start, in a former elementary school that's now named after her.

Community leaders unveiled the portrait at a ceremony Saturday attended by about 100 people who knew or were influenced by Moore. Known as Mimi, Moore fought to bring social services and quality affordable housing to East Athens before, during and after her four years on the Athens City Council and ACC Commission. She was the first African-American woman elected to both bodies in 1988 and 1990, respectively.

Along with the late Jessie Barnett and Evelyn Neely, Moore helped revitalize Triangle Plaza and create the Classic Center, EADC, Athens Neighborhood Health Center and East Athens Park. The Miriam Moore Community Service Center on McKinley Drive was named for her in 1999. She died in 2006 at the age of 80.

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Culture Briefs: Yes, That's Thor Drinking Creature Comforts in the New Avengers Trailer

By | April 3, 2019 3:09pm

Photo Credit: Marvel Studios

"I know it matches your suit, Tony, but I'm sorry, they were out of Paradiso."

A few, um, hawk-eyed social media users noticed something familiar about the beer can Thor is drinking in the new Avengers: Endgame trailer that dropped Tuesday.

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Homedrone: Artist Crowdfunds Chiptune Version of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

By Gabe Vodicka | March 15, 2019 10:43am

Philadephia-based artist Levi Buffum, aka Doctor Octoroc, is known for his Nintendo-inspired takes on various pop culture staples, including a series of 8-bit film parodies and an imagined video-game version of Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

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