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CITY PACES by BRAD AARON CINEMA BECOMES "ALPS PLAYHOUSE" The arts are coming back to the Alps Cinema. The Quad-State Children's Theatre Company, Inc. (QUEST), a non-profit children's theater organization, has negotiated a three-year lease for the space that previously housed the Alps Art Cinema. QUEST plans to renovate and trans form it into a performance art space called the "Alps Playhouse." "Rick Bedell (president and technical director of QUEST) came up with the idea," says QUEST artistic director and secretary-treasurer Ralph Stevens. "When the Alps theater closed down the second time, he said if it wasn't going to re-open, the space would be great for a per formance theater... Since then, we've waited for the place to be vacant and available. Finally, IN OTHER NEWS... «* / « • An analysis of 1998 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data reveals that Georgia electric utilities are the largest toxic air polluters in the state. Examination of the EPA report by the Georgia AirKcepers Campaign and Clear the Air says that the Atlanta-based Southern Company was responsible for 10 percent of all electric utility emissions in the U.S. that year, making it "worst in the nation for total toxic releases and air emissions." Georgia ranked sixth among U.S. states for highest emissions of toxic pollutants from coal- and oil-burning power plants. See air- keeper.org for more information. Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Public Citizen is formally challenging the Food and Drug Administration's (PDA) deci sion to legalize high-level irradiation of eggs. The FDA claims exposing eggs to radi ation will kill harmful micro-organisms and extend shelf life. Public Citizen cites U.S. Army studies from the 1960s and 70s that revealed "serious health problems in lab animals that ate irradiated food," including cancer. The group says the FDA cited only seven out of 490 known studies to make its case for irradiation safety. According to Public Citizen, three of those seven studies have never been translated to English, and each based its findings on radiation levels "far below" what is now permitted by the FDA. The FDA already allows irradiating of flour, spices, fruits, vegetables, poultry, pork and beef. For more information, go to dtizen.org. Ranking the health care systems of its 191 member states, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the US 37th in overall performance, though the country spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product on health care than any other nation. The "World Health Report 2000" gave its highest marks among "major countries" to France, followed by Italy and Spain. The United Kingdom ranked 18th. Sub-Saharan African nations filled the bottom of the list, where HIV and AIDS have reduced newborn life expectancies to 40 years or less. The report foui.d that in many countries, the poor pay a higher per centage of their incomes for health care than the rich. It recommends that govern ments "extend health insurance to as large a percentage of the population as possible." The full text is available on-line at who.org. in July, we got to see the place and we thought it was perfect." Renovation plans for the Alps Playhouse include a 200-seat auditorium, a small prosce nium stage with a fly system, wing space, a backstage area, dressing rooms, a light ana sound booth, a concession stand, box office and handicapped-accessible restrooms. QUEST hopes the project will be completed by the end of fall. "It will be quite a bit of work. Ws have to build the stage and dressing rooms Luckily, the old projection room is perfect for a light and sound booth," says Stevens. "Everything else has been taken out. It is vacant, which will make it easier to work." According to QUEST, the projected cost of renovation is $50,000. Labor expenses will be alleviated by the fact that all work will be done by QUEST officers and local volunteers enthusi astic about having a new perfonnance space. QUEST has been busy applying for grants and seeking tax-deductible cash donations and is seeking contributions of building materials, lighting and sound equipment, furniture, cur tains, seats and other theatrical necessities. The Alps Playhouse will serve as heme for QUEST, which has staged productions of Annie, Pippi Longstocking and Oliver at the Morton Theatre, as well as a production of Little Women at the Athens Community Th n atre (Town 8> Gown). Currently QUEST holds children's theater classes and is co-produdng a Theatre Cat pro duction of Caesar, which opens Thursday, August 24 at the Seney-Stovall Chapel. Though QUEST is a children's theater organi zation, it is taking steps to include others in its new venture. "We would like to work with other theater groups, particularly independent groups like Theatre Cat," says Stevens. "W«* will encourage portable shows for groups that don't have their own theatre space. WeTl make sure were clearly less expensive than other theaters. "I think our theater will encourage a lot of independent groups to do more productions. It's an alternative to standing in line for a Town & Gown Second Stage or raising a fortune to rent another theater, which discourages smaller groups." QUEST plans to put up three to four shows yearly, with the possibility of independent pro ductions pushing the total number of perfor mances above 10 shows per year. The group plans to rent the theater on either an hourly or daily basis, with QUEST productions and chil dren's theater having top priority. "We think children are under-used in area theater," says Stevens. "For a long time, ACT was the only children's theater in town. Most of the elementary schools don't even have any drama. We want to give children who don't do plays in their schools the chance to be stars." For more information on QUEST, call 208- 1036 or e-mail qsct^tyahoo.com. (Geoff Can) GEORGIA GREENS EYE PRESIDENCY, SENATE 'There is only one state where we know we will not be on the ballot, and that is Georgia." Nader 2000 campaigp manager Theresa Amatc. spoke to a small crowd of reporters at a Ralph Nader/Winona LaDuke press conference in Washington, D.C., on August 7. The Green Party nominated Ralph Nader as its Residential candidate in June. Nader, a con sumer advocate whose crusades in the 1960s and '70s were instrumental in everything from improved auto safety tc the founding of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), selected Native American environmental activist Winona LaDuke as his running mate. Nader is on the ballots of 20 states, Amato announced, and has enough signatures pending verification to appear on 14 more. Nader and the Greens are still collecting signatures in 11 states, and Nader has filed suit in four others challenging their ballot access laws. The Georgia Green Party failed to obtain the 35,000-plus signatures needed to get Nader on the November ballot. By the July 11 deadline, the party had accumulated an estimated 10,000 signatures. But Georgia Green Party Secretary Hugh Esco says he is surprised by Amato's statement, since he is in the process of finding an attorney to help get Nader on the ballot. Tm not giving up that a court order will put Nader/LaDuke on the ballot in Georgia," says Esco. "We're proceeding with that inten tion." Just in case, the party is also launching a write-in campaign with a goal of 40,000 votes for Nader/LaDuke. That number would guar antee Green Party candidates statewide ballot access in 2002, according to Esco. Esco says the race for the U.S. Senate seat of the late Paul Coverdell will provide the Green Party with an opportunity to raise awareness of the strict ballot access laws which kept Nader off the Georgia ballot (see City Pages, April 5, on-line at flagpole.com). The Senate race, to be decided in November, is non-partisan, so its only requirements are an application and a filing fee. On August 2, state Greens chose Athens native Jeff Gates as their candidate for U.S. Senate. A Vietnam veteran and former partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the Atlanta law firm Powell, Goldstein, Frazer, and Murphy; Gates is president of the Atlanta-based Shared Capitalism Institute, an economic policy organi zation. He has authored several books on eco nomic policy issues, and is an MBA instructor at Emory University. "Democracy faces a crisis," Gates said in a prepared statement. "Vigorous political debate has been stifled by a dangerous political fusion that leaves us with two parties of one persua sion. We propose to replace those who wculd have us led by the fickle tastes of finance and the notoriously unreliable values of Wall Street." "This ain't a choice between [Zell] Miller and [Mack] Mattingly," says Esco. "It's not a choice between Democrats and Republicans. We have some real alternatives. This is really an oppor tunity for folks to say 'we've had enough.'" MUSICIAN'S RESOURCE CENTER SET TO OPEN Nearly four years after 2 2-year-old guitarist Nugi Phillips ended his five-year struggle with depression by taking his own life, the founda tion bearing his name is poised to begin serving the Athens music community. In the wake of Phillips' suicide in November of 1956, his family purchased a vacant ware house at the comer of Williams and Oconee Streets and, through the Nugi Phillips Memorial Foundation, began raising money for a music complex and counseling center called Nugi's Space. Nugi’s Space is "where musicians can come to practice in an affordable, secure environ ment," reads a description of the facility at nucis-space.org. "We will also act as a resource center for musicians. Whether their question is how to make a CD, how to cope with the stress of life in a rock band, or how to feel good, Nugi's Space will be the place they can turn to. We will make sure that they can find the help that they need and that they can afford to pay for it." Nugi's mother, Linda Fhillips, is president of the Foundation. She says Nugi's Space will begin renting practice rooms on September 1, and will initially operate from eight to 12 hours per day. "What we want to do is see what the need is, or what requests we get, and then we will adjust according to that," Phillips says. All proceeds from Nugi's Space will be used for ongoing programs and maintenance. The Foundation got a recent boost from the Yamaha Corporation, which donated guitars, keyboards and a drum set to the center. Phillips says Yamaha representative John Messerschmidt contacted her after picking up a Nugi's Space brochure in an Athens restaurant. "It's a project that he's very interested in," says Phillips. Yamaha's public relations firm, Giles Communications, will also be circulating information about Nugi's Space in various trade journals, accoiding to Phillips. "We're really excited," she says. "We've had some really good things happen. It's been like that since we started." C Nugi's Space, a resource center to provide practice space and counseling for local musicians is scheduled to open September 1. It is appropriately located in the shadow of the famous steeple, a music scene landmark. AUGUST 16, 2000