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pick out if a person was wearing a certain
type of clothing,” Lumpkin said.
What about using surveillance cameras
the way many jurisdictions do these days —
to record speeders, allowing tickets to be
distributed automatically?
“We have no laws in the state of Georgia
to ticket people we see on a camera,”
Rickard said.
A sixth camera is on the way. If anything,
picking your nose at that red light suddenly
became a little more risky. (RF)
SUBTERRANEAN
ATHFEST BLUES
Please Don't Feed the Locals
Johnny’s on the street curb, selling
Athens T-shirts, 99X’s on the pavement, set
ting up a live remote. Welcome to AtbFest
’98, a showcase of local music and the latest
installment in the campaign to have Athens
rezoned as a theme park for Atlanta (remem
ber, they’re building a passenger rail here):
Metro Atlanta officeworkers, teenagers —
thrill seekers all — descend on the Classic
City for a weekend of Fun,™ purchasing
those T-shirts, patronizing street musicians,
pointing at banners, glibly paying cover
charges seeing what this Athens music
scene is really about — all the while keeping
in mind the thrill seeker s motto: “Will
exchange money for proof of fun." Could
somebody make a T-shirt of that?
My friends and I, we are fugitives,
Satuiday night, wristbandless, avoiding the
authorities, are we even allowed downtown?
There are no gates, no one knows the official
boundaries except skaters and cops. My wife
wants to see Jucifer, but 1 a.m. is a long way
away, and once we leave Downtown,™
there’s no way they’ll let us back in.
Music flows through the streets and out
of nearly every open door, and in case you
forgot why you came here, banners bearing
the official logo of AthFest (note: my spell
check advises I change it to “Atheist") hang
from street lights every block to remind you
you’re having a good time. Athens is some
thing you can buy, sure; take back with you if
you have the money, it doesn’t take but $7
for gas, $10 for a wristband, $15 for a T-shirt,
$25 for food and drink: a bargain, there is no
Imax theater, you don’t have to worry about
that, and you can be back home in time for
the late-night Seinfeld reruns. No one knows
all this better than Athens’ homeless popula
tion, who literally came out of the woodwork
to soak up some of that -esidual money that
tends to accumulate like leftover gravy at
these events.
But there is a lot of music, and a lot of
music is never a bad idea. And the influx of
money is a welcome blessing to downtown
businesses. And the bands not endorsed by
the Athens Music Mafia enjoyed good
crowds for a change, I hear. Yes, perhaps we
should do this more often; we could have
designated Atlanta visitation days, stage pic
nics on North Campus, place nose-ringed
bohemians at key sidewalk cafe tables, sup
ply them with coffee and French cigarettes,
offer tours in buses painted like bicycles,
and of course there will be horse and car
riage rides. It will be a great time, and every
body will make a lot of money. Yes, why not
do this all the time? Is there any such thing
as too much money? What harm could it
possibly bring to downtown Athens? I've got
one word for you: Starbucks.™ (Al Dixon)
PUBLISHER’S NOTES
FOCUS MEETS SPLOST
Even as plaintiffs appeal Judge Lawton
Stephens’ dismissal of the lawsuit filed
against the Board of Education to halt con
struction of the new Cedar Shoals High
School building, a remaining question is why
FOCUS financed the suit.
Fix Our Consolidated Unified System, the
“economy in government" group, didn’t
finance the suit per se, but FOCUS leaders
like Marion Cartwright, Jack Thornton, John
Elliott and John Padgett were in on raising
the money to hire the lawyer. They preferred
to remain in the background while Jimbo
Thornton, James Moses and Carl Jordan put
their names on the suit.
Indeed, if the FOCUS guys had not guaran
teed the $10,000 Attorney Alan Alexander
charged to file the suit, there would have
been no litigation.
Environmental activist Carl Jordan, board
of education member Ann Cooper and politi
cal gadfly Richard DeRose had been saying
for months that the Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax-funded Cedar Shoals con
struction projections were out of control and
should be curtailed by renovating rather
than replacing the present building. They
convinced Daily News/Banner Herald editori
al page editor Hank Johnson, and he pushed
for slowing down on the Cedar Shoals pro
ject.
Their words couldn’t stop the bulldozers,
but the lawsuit did, and the FOCUS folks’
money got the lawsuit filed — on flimsy
grounds, as it turned out.
After Judge Stephens’ resounding rejec
tion on all points of their suit, it is surprising
that the plaintiffs and their money raisers
want to pursue the matter to an appeals
court.
As the construction project proceeds, the
question remains: why? Why did the lawsuit
backers put their money on such an unlikely
horse in a move that was sure to anger ali
the people on the east side of town who feel
that the time has come for them to have a
first-class high school building?
Marion Cartwright says they are worried
about the inability of the SPLOST revenues
to carry the project, and the possibility that
expenses would fall back onto property own
ers.
Why did the FOCUS guys get involved?
What lingering political repercussions will
the lawsuit have? Has the SPLOST vehicle
been damaged? Will the participation of the
FOCUS group, for instance, have an adverse
effect on Victoria Pate’s mayoral race, since
they’re her backers and she was a leader of
FOCUS? Did FOCUS permanently alienate
Commissioner Tom Chasteen, an ally who is
also a longtime supporter of Cedar Shoals?
Will FOCUS gain new luster as a foe of waste
in government? The lawsuit continues while
the bulldozers roll, and the dust hasn’t set
tled yet.
Pete McCommons
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
You Won’t At
imPSRT DJAGN0STICS
Import Specialist of Downtown Athens
Concerned Maintenance and Repair of Fine
Swedish, German and Japanese Autos
Due to the blistering heatwave,
our summer hours willbe M-F 8-5 pm
945 College Ave. 543.7982
’ MONDAy
$1.99 Lime Margaritas
WEDNSSDAy
All Flavored Margarita Pitchers
$2.00 OFF .
THURSDAy
$2.75 - 60oz. Beer Pitchers
FRtDAV
Happy Hour Specials
m - w* i/s
1
«jj
ruuo-
MM. I/S
osemar
UeA,
PH Ann $1.25
Al kprts M Mens $2.75
BY THE 40WATT • OPEN DAILY AT 6PM
263 W.WASHINGT0N • 227-1988
— JULY 29, 1998
Cadillac
bagel sandwiches are
souped up with
cream cheese, sprouts,
Sc a tomato- served all day long.
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A N 0 • H O A £
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