Blog Topic: In the Community

In the Loop: Athens for Everyone Celebrates Second Anniversary

By Blake Aued | July 11, 2016 1:40pm

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

Athens for Everyone rallies for a living wage for ACC employees in May.

Tim Denson admits that at times he wasn’t sure Athens for Everyone would last two months when he and supporters formed the organization following his 2014 run for mayor.

But two years later, A4E is still going strong. The group celebrated its second anniversary Friday with an open house at its new office in the Chase Park warehouses.

“It’s two years later,” he said. “We’re growing and growing and growing. We’re getting bigger and better.”

Read More...
In the Loop: Hundreds Gather for Athens Black Lives Matter Rally

By Blake Aued | July 11, 2016 11:14am

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Several hundred people gathered outside Athens City Hall on a sweltering Sunday afternoon for a Black Lives Matter rally in the wake of two more African Americans dying at the hands of police and the revenge shootings of a dozen police officers in Dallas.

Speakers urged respect, both for African Americans and for police.

“All the people who want the violence and killing to stop, we need to come together, because we don’t want this to happen in our community,” said Mokah Jasmine Johnson, a teacher and hip hop promoter who organized the rally, as well as one against discrimination at downtown businesses in January.

Read More...
In the Loop: Athenians Gather to Remember Orlando Shooting Victims

By Kat Khoury | June 14, 2016 10:43am

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

On Monday night around 7 p.m., roughly 150 people gathered at the Arch on UGA's North Campus to hold a vigil for the 49 people killed in Saturday night's shooting at Pulse, a gay dance club in Orlando, FL.

Read More...
In the Loop: Creature Comforts Raised $65,000 for Local Nonprofits

By Blake Aued | June 13, 2016 3:48pm

Creature Comforts’ “Get Comfortable” campaign raised more than $65,000 for local nonprofits, the brewery announced last week.

Read More...
In the Loop: The Cottage Wants Your Input on Sexual Assault in Athens

By Blake Aued | June 12, 2016 2:11pm

The staff of The Cottage.

The Cottage Sexual Assault Center and Children's Advocacy Center—which recently criticized Athens and UGA officials for not attending a documentary screening on campus rape—has posted an online survey to "assess opinions on local response to sexual assault."

The survey is available in both English and Spanish versions on The Cottage's website through Sunday, June 19.

According to a news release from the nonprofit:

Read More...
In the Loop: Rejoice, for Athens' Public Pools Are Opening

By Blake Aued | May 27, 2016 1:33pm

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Take a dip, cool off, insert summer cliche here.

Read More...
In the Loop: The Athens Land Trust Is Raising Money to Keep Paying Student Farmers

By Blake Aued | May 19, 2016 3:01pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

The Athens Land Trust is raising funds to keep paying students who participate in the Young Urban Farmers program, which is on the chopping block in the Clarke County School District’s upcoming budget.

The program pays students—many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds—who work in the West Broad Market Garden.

ALT Executive Director Heather Benham said she met with program participants, and students “were not enthused” about receiving class credit rather than money.

Read More...
Culture Briefs: India Book Club Hosts Holocaust-Remembrance Event in Unique Style

By Barbette Houser | May 9, 2016 3:45pm

Photo Credit: Barbette Houser

Mamta Shetty, Rita Mathew, Sandhya Menta, Geeta Mehta and Gagan Jain of the India Book Club

The evening was a promising one. A book group was gathering in a lovely backyard garden blooming with flowers on a temperate spring night. Smells of cardamom and curry were sneaking out of foil wrapped casserole dishes. And, upon my arrival, the event’s guest speakers, all of whom are Jewish, were already deep in a heated discussion about interpretation of the 10 commandments.

This latest gathering of the India Book Club took place in the backyard garden of Dr. Ranjit Mathew and Rita Mathew. The group, formerly known as the Friends of India Book Club, has been around for about nine years and reads a diverse selection of titles.

Read More...
Grub Notes: Photo Gallery: The West Broad Market Garden

By Blake Aued | May 2, 2016 11:14am

The West Broad Market Garden opened for the season on Saturday.

It's the market's third year, and possibly its last. The community garden on the vacant West Broad School property is a partnership between the Athens Land Trust and the Clarke County School District, but as CCSD plans to renovate the vacant school into administration offices, officials are considering paving over the garden for employee parking and moving the garden to a much smaller lot nearby, leaving the future of the garden unclear.

Flagpole staff photographer Joshua L. Jones documented the market's opening day.

Read More...
In the Loop: Cedar Shoals Principal Tony Price Denies Mishandling Sexual Assault

By Blake Aued | March 22, 2016 6:58pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Tony Price—the Cedar Shoals High School principal who was suspended and faces firing after an alleged sexual assault at the school in January—is speaking out about the incident and says central office administrators and Clarke County School District police, not Price, are responsible for mishandling it.

Since the alleged sexual assault was made public in February, CCSD administrators have said that Price did not follow the district’s code of conduct by failing to suspend the three students who are accused of raping a classmate in a stairwell at the school.

Now, Price has told his side of the story, and it differs on several key points from the district's—including who was ultimately responsible for students' safety and whether Price could have disciplined the accused students before the police investigation took its course.

Read More...