Blog Topic: Great Job

In the Loop: Judge: Georgia Immigrants Protected by DACA Can Pay In-State Tuition

By Blake Aued | January 3, 2017 2:42pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Undocumented students and supporters protest Georgia immigration policy outside UGA President Jere Morehead's office in 2014.

Georgia residents who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and are protected from deportation by an Obama Administration policy should be allowed to pay in-state tuition at Georgia colleges, a Fulton County court ruled today.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Read More...
In the Loop: Huge New Playground Opens at Southeast Clarke Park

By Blake Aued | December 20, 2016 9:44am

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

Athens-Clarke County officials and scores of parents and children braved frigid weather Friday to celebrate the re-opening of the all-new World of Wonder playground at Southeast Clarke Park.

The 2.5 acre playground is a replacement for the original World of Wonder, Athens’ first “destination playground,” which drew people not only from all over the county, but the region as well.

Read More...
In the Loop: Dan Matthews Wins Watkinsville City Council Seat

By Blake Aued | November 15, 2016 12:26pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Dan Matthews, a longtime Democratic activist and a fixture in the Athens music scene for decades, has won a Watkinsville city council seat, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

Matthews, the office manager at Eric Krasle’s law firm, beat Mark Melvin 570 votes to 568. He was declared the winner Monday after a handful of absentee ballots arrived from overseas. It was Matthews’ fourth run for local or state office.

Read More...
In the Loop: Graduate Hotels Honor Athens First Responders After UGA-Ole Miss Bet

By Kat Khoury | October 24, 2016 11:43am

Photo Credit: ZoomWorks Photography

When Devin Heath and Mike Hoover made a friendly wager on the UGA-Ole Miss football game, first responders in both cities reaped the benefits.

Heath, general manager of the Graduate Athens hotel, and Hoover, GM of the Graduate hotel in Oxford, MS, struck a deal: The loser would travel from their respective hotel to the other, along with a culinary team prepared to serve the first responders of the winners city a meal that reflected the local flavor.

After Georgia lost to Ole Miss, Heath and his team packed up and made the seven-hour trip to Oxford, serving dishes like peach ribs and Southern baked beans. In friendly fun and rivalry, Hoover donned Heath in an Ole Miss jersey, hat and a bib that proclaimed “I’m a lil’ Rebel.”

In a show of good sportsmanship however, Hoover decided the first responders of Athens deserved a good Mississippi meal as well.

Read More...
Culture Briefs: Today's Sales at Avid Benefit the Pinewoods Library

By Blake Aued | October 21, 2016 10:31am

Photo Credit: Henry Taylor/file

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Avid Bookshop is donating a portion of today's sales—including online and phone orders—to the Pinewoods library, which serves a largely low-income Latino immigrant community off Highway 29 near Madison County.

The library expanding, and customers can also purchase books for the library from a wish list.

Avid owner Janet Geddis writes:

Read More...
Homedrone: R.E.M. Adds Live Version of 'World Leader Pretend' to Anti-Trump Playlist

By Gabe Vodicka | October 19, 2016 2:58pm

R.E.M. officially called it quits back in 2011, but the Athens band has infiltrated the music-news cycle sporadically since then. (Oh, hey: Mike Mills brings his new rock concerto to town Monday.) Most recently, the group released a profanity-laden statement in response to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump using one of its songs at one of his white-nationalist rallies on the campaign trail.

Read More...
In the Loop: Mayor Denson Will Allow a Vote on the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance After All

By Blake Aued | October 5, 2016 1:57pm

Mayor Nancy Denson will put a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance back on the agenda next month, she announced at the Athens-Clarke County Commission meeting Tuesday night, shortly after hundreds of protestors marched on City Hall to demand a vote on the ordinance.

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

About 200 protesters marched from the Arch and gathered outside City Hall, then entered the building singing and chanting as the meeting was getting underway. Several dozen of them stood in the back of the commission chamber continuing to sing as new Public Utilities Director Frank Stevens attempted to introduce himself to the commission.

Denson told the protesters that she would have police escort them out if they didn’t quiet down. “I think it’s not loud enough, if you ask me,” one woman replied. But the crowd did grow quieter when Denson said she would put the ordinance up for a vote Nov. 1 after blocking a vote for the past two months.

Read More...
Culture Briefs: UGA Student Has Won 10 Straight on 'Jeopardy'

By Gabe Vodicka | October 2, 2016 12:25am

If you've been watching "Jeopardy," the classic answer-and-question quiz show, during the past couple weeks, you may have noticed a familiar face. Seth Wilson, a PhD student in UGA's theater department, won his ninth straight game Thursday to bring his total to $209,801 in winnings.

That's a lot of money.

Read More...
Grub Notes: Athens Woman Plans to Open Cat Cafe

By Gabe Vodicka | September 29, 2016 2:08pm

A local woman has started a fundraiser in hopes of raising support for Ciao Meow Cafe, which she hopes will become Athens' first cat cafe.

Read More...
In the Loop: Photo Gallery: Ashley Block Memorial Bike Ride

By Blake Aued and Matt Hardy | September 20, 2016 4:27pm

Photo Credit: Matt Hardy

Hundreds of Ashley Block's friends and other members of the local cycling community gathered Monday for a group ride one week after Block, a 25-year-old UGA graduate research assistant and triathlete from Minneapolis, was killed by an allegedly impaired and distracted driver on Athena Drive.

"It was an amazing turnout and symbol of love and support for Ashley and her family," says photographer Matt Hardy, who documented the group ride from Five Points through campus to the spot where Block was hit. See more of Hardy's photos below.

Read More...