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Wednesday
July 29
OFA-Athens and Clarke County
Democrats present a
Health Care .
Town Hall
A Free Event • Live at Cine
234 W. Hancock • Downtown Athens
Volunteer
at Town Hall
Sign up to volunteer
1 & 2 hour shifts
http://ofavolunteer.us
5PM-7PM
Healthy Hour
Good food, drinks and friends
http://ofasocial.us
The Latest News on President Obama’s
Historic Push for
Health Care Reform
7PM-9PM
Health Care Reform
Town Hall
RSVP - http://ofarsvp.us
Tell Your Story
Listen to Others
Find Common Ground
9PM-11PM
Celebration!!!
Live Music • Spoken Word
Free Speech
http://ofacelebration.us
Limited Seating
for Town Hall
RSVP Today
http://ofarsvp.us
Organizing for America
Contribute or Make a Pledge
http://ofapledge.us
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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
Bio-Lab Epilogues: Hopefully it will not escape
notice here in Athens that the National Bio
and Agro-Defense Facility, once looking to
this town for a potential home, is still on a
rocky road toward ever being built in Kansas.
The cattle-ranching lobby has raised enough
concern over mainland research of Foot-and-
Mouthr virus that the funding to build the
lab is in some jeopardy as the Department of
Homeland Security's budget moves through
Congress. It could end up like the case of the
vaccine manufacturer that chose Alabama over
us and ended up not building a new plant
at all. No matter how it plays out, the story
strikes one as a lesson for Athens. After all,
the NBAF debate here sparked a wider conver
sation about economic development
that left a lot of folks saying we should
promote and develop the home-grown
over the big bundles from afar. Might
have a point...
► Olfactory Infrastructure
Improvements: City officials kindly
invited local reporters along on a town-
gown foray last week that gave them a
chance to show off Athens' in-progress
sewer plant upgrades to some top
UGA officials. Set to open in 2012,
the new North Oconee River plant just
across the river from the southern
end of campus has a stated goal of
"zero odors at the property boundary,"
according to ACC documents, which
will be a welcome change for countless
Athenians. The cutting-edge odor con
trol technology there is being funded
in part by UGA, which is only appropri
ate since growth on campus has greatly
increased the load at the plant, and
will do so more in the years to come.
The school pitched in $1.6 million
toward the de-smellifying equipment,
UGA finance veep Tim Burgess told City
Dope, and over the last couple years
has contributed thousands of dollars a
month toward the same purpose at the pres
ent plant, set to be decommissioned when the
new plant is online. So just think how bad the
stink would be otherwise!
Water Gone Broun: Here's a nod to the AJCs
Jim Galloway, who got straight into the poli
tics (no surprise there) after we all got the
news last week of the judge's ruling in the tri
state water wars case. With the judge having
thrown the matter into Congress, the Georgia
delegation there has its work cut out—which
is fine, except that the state's far-right •
Republicans "have become prominent bomb-
throwers for the GOP," in Galloway's words.
He pointed out, for example, how unhelpful
it was recently when Athens' own Rep. Paul
Broun, Jr. "tried to torpedo the House agenda
with a sudden motion to adjourn—-which
sent key Democrats scrambling." The state's
entire congressional delegation was to meet
early this week to get its message straight
and everybody in line. One can almost hear
Sen. Johnny Isakson and the other halfway
intelligent Georgia Republican legislators, who
understand that they're in the minority party
and from a state in need of favors: "Paul, if
you would just shut the hell up every once in
a white..."
More Broun Outtakes: Just before inviting the
so-called "Tea Party Patriots" to his district
offices last week, "Doctor" Broun signed the
"Let Freedfm Ring Pledge" regarding pending
health-care legislation. Please note that City
Dope has not been able to determine whether
this is a real pledge circulating through con
servative Capitol Hill offices or just another
figment of Broun's Fox News-addled brain. At
any rate, the pledge reads:
"I, Paul C. Broun M.D., pledge to my con
stituents and to the American people that I
will not vote to enact any healthcare reform
package that:
1) I have not read, personally, in its
entirety; and,
2) Has not been available, in its entirety,
to the American people on the internet for at
least 72 hours, so that they can read it too."
Yep. But while chortling, keep in mind
that there are two possibilities here: one, that
Broun has completely lost his marbles this
time, and two, that he has (or thinks he has)
some goofy parliamentary trick up his sleeve...
Power to People: The Athens Area Community
Foundation, which came out of OneAthens
and Partners for a Prosperous Athens, recently
announced a second round of grants available
to local non-profits working to alleviate pov
erty and its attendant problems. Applications
are due Sept. 1 for this fall grant cycle and
must come from tax-exempt, educational,
religious or otherwise public entities. Grants
will average between $1,000 and $5,000 out
of a $25,000 pot. Apparently demand was high
for these grants last spring, so the foundation
is optimistic about the present round. Learn
more at www.athensareacf.org.
Remember the Needy: City Dope spotted
bunches of yard sales around town last week
end and remarked to himself that it's just
about moving time for much of the city's
population. In that regard, he hopes folks will
keep in mind the Salvation Army thrift store
on Hawthorne Avenue, which had many goods
damaged by smoke in last week's fire there. At
last check, the store was definitely interested
in taking donations to build back up its stock.
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
\
It’s big: 200 yards long, the aeration tank that will treat sew
age at the new North Oconee River wastewater plant is only
part of a 40-acre site. Oh, and it won’t stink any more, either.
4 FLAGPOLE.COM-JULY 22,2009