Blog Topic: Great Job

In the Loop: Watch Athens' First Same-Sex Wedding

By Blake Aued | June 30, 2015 12:50pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Jordyn Dolente and Moriah Martin made history by becoming the first same-sex couple to get married in Athens on the afternoon of the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling on Friday. (Probate Judge Susan Tate is officiating in the courtyard outside the courthouse.) They graciously allowed Flagpoleintern Benjamin Tankersley to document their nuptuals.

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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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In the Loop: Athens Mourns With Charleston Over Church Massacre

By Blake Aued | June 25, 2015 1:16pm

The Rev. Claude Ray James, First AME's pastor, leads a prayer.

Athens First AME Church—the oldest African American church in the city—invited members of other local churches to participate in a prayer vigil on Wednesday for the nine victims of the racially motivated killings last week at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Flagpole photographer Joshua L. Jones documented the emotional evening.

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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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In the Loop: A Former Athenian on the Charleston Tragedy

By Blake Aued | June 21, 2015 1:27pm

Photo Credit: Travis Dove for the New York Times

Former Flagpole editor Richard Fausset reports in today's New York Times from Charleston, SC, on the racially motivated massacre by a white gunman of nine African Americans attending a prayer service.

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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: UGA President Jere Morehead Is Donating $100,000 to UGA

By Blake Aued | June 5, 2015 1:25pm

University of Georgia President Jere Morehead is donating a big chunk of his $250,000 pay raise to a new scholarship endowment, the university 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: Clarke Middle School Is Featured in the Washington Post

By Blake Aued | May 19, 2015 3:53pm

Photo Credit: Jodi Cash/file

The Clarke Middle School garden.

Wick Pritchard, a VISTA volunteer at Clarke Middle School, wrote an article on the school's agriculture program for today's Washington Post. Here's a taste:

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In the Loop: Commission Approves Backyard Chickens in Athens

By Blake Aued | May 5, 2015 8:55pm

Sorry, Commissioner Rooster. You're still illegal.

Peep this: The Athens-Clarke County Commission approved an ordinance allowing backyard chickens tonight by an 8–1 vote.

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