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DINNER
Dinner Plates,
Flat Breads,
Extended
Beer & Wine Menu,
Dessert Specials
Monday-Saturday 5:30-9:30
393 ri. Finley St. off Prince • 7 06-35 3-00 2 9
www.bigcitybreadcafe.com
Athens Area Habitat for Humanity
21st Birthday Bash!
0 S ,f tUrd ?£
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^ Tasty World
' 11 Uptown
*
The party
kicks off at
10 o’clock.
Everyone is
invited for some
good company,
great music and
free birthday
cake.
□cranci
'' ^ ■ i i Qfflmac
The show is presented by Slush Fund Records. Poors at 9pm. Admission is only *5 (18+).
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www.taraapts.com
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CLK
MULTIFAMILY
MANAGEMENT '
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
Watering restrictions or no, SAEs, concrete is what you’d
call drought-tolerant: it never needs watering!
Duck and Cover: The ominous rumbling you
heard on Thursday, July 30 was the sound of
Comrade Paul Broun, Jr. driving the steam
roller of socialism into town. After months
of warning us about the dangers of President
Obama's "socialist" economic stimulus bill,
Broun hosted a grants fair at UGA's Georgia
Center for Continuing Education to help dole
out some of the very same stimulus money
he promised would destroy our freedoms.
Fearless patriot that City Dope is, he infil
trated the filthy den of Marxists bent on the
destruction of America and everything good.
And seeing as an American's second amend
ment rights are practically nil on a college
campus, he even had to attend the event
unarmed! The communist freedom-haters
must have been
hiding guerrilla-
style behind the
hotel's Ficus trees,
because all he found
were well-meaning
Americans work
ing to resuscitate
a severely troubled
economy. He some
how made it out
with all his freedoms
intact. [Matt Pulver]
Water Spin: It was
funny, in a way, that
Governor Perdue's
press release stat
ing how little the
state's residents
had increased their
water usage in
the remainder of June, after he lifted water
ing restrictions on June 10, came out at
the very end of July. It's not that City Dope
necessarily disputes the guv's and the EPD's
findings, and it's not that he considers them
unimportant, but it seems quite obvious that
a fuller picture might emerge with July's fig
ures. After all, wouldn't it make sense to look
at a full month's worth of quote-unqoute
"non-drought" watering, rather than just
two-thirds? It's no biggie for now, but if late
August doesn't bring us a press release with
July's usage, somebody better ask for it. The
point is that Gov. Perdue seems to think we've
conserved all we can as a state—he's think
ing about what Georgia "needs" from Lake
Lanier here—and he's completely ignoring the
fact that investments in infrastructure effi
ciency and plumbing retrofits could do a lot
more. But since when does a lame duck need
details?
Consider Yourself Furloughed: It was a sign of
the times, that 9 a.m. email from the school
district to local media saying, "Good morning.
Due to teacher furloughs, all back-to-school
events scheduled for August 3 and 4 have
been rescheduled. Attached is the revised list
of events...." Ouch. On the schedule had been
a whole bunch of open houses, meet-and-
greets, cookouts and orientations—nothing
major, apparently, and nothing that won't
be continuing to take place throughout the
month. But it's precisely the future of the
public school year that's worrisome. Seriously!
It starts with ice cream socials and before
long, since there are probably no art classes
or PE left to cut, there goes U.S. history and
pre-algebra. And let it be stated once again,
for the record, that the furloughs—or more
severe ones—might be avoided if our state
legislature would meet in special session. At
least we're getting an education of sorts in
political science.
Community Spirit: Then again, maybe by pool
ing local resources we can fill the leader
ship void at the state level. That seems to
have been the spirit behind the first-ever
"Back to School Basketball Clinic" on Aug. 1,
co-sponsored by the ACC Police and Leisure
Services departments and staffed by Clarke
Central coach Billy Wade and his players.
Since the governor wouldn't dare furlough the
cops (at least not until we get to California),
it makes perfect sense that they step in a
little bit on looking out for the schoolkids.
Who knows, maybe
this will prove to
have been a great
pilot program when
the Neanderthals
in the legislature
decide to shut down
the public schools
completely!
They Mean Business:
Here's another new
one from the ACC
PD. They're going
to start using the
Crimestoppers
reward system
against the general
wave of prop
erty crime still
taking place in
Athens—not just
for high-dollar, high-profile cases like, say,
the recent theft of an ATM with a stolen
tractor. "Athens-Clarke County is in a crime
emergency," says a department press release,
referencing residential burglaries that mostly
occur during the day while residents are at
work. "If you see suspicious persons, vehicles
or activity in your neighborhood, please call
911," it says, and offer up as much identify
ing information as possible. Other helpful
notes: "Sometimes perpetrators will hide
stolen goods in wooded areas or behind other
houses," and, "If you see persons walking
down the street carrying items, please call
911." Seriously, though, the rewards go up to
$1,000. Anyone with information is asked to
contact Lt. Mark Durham at 706-353-4218,
ext. 124 or Lt. Mike McKeel at 706-613-3888,
ext. 270. Those who wish to remain anony
mous can call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at
706-613-3342.
Just a Thought: Here we are in a recession,
living in a county that's expanding its landfill
soon, and this August—just like every other-
finds enough household goods and furniture
to fill a whole chain of thrift stores piled
along curbsides and next to Dumpsters all over
town. The Habitat for Humanity Restore is
doing its part (even if to its own benefit) with
its new free pick-up program (just call 'em
up!), and UGA for several years has allowed
Goodwill trucks outside the dorms at move-
out time in May. But August's apartment-
and-house-moving en masse means too many
people, all at once, don't take the time to
properly get rid of perfectly good stuff. Oh,
well: maybe next year.
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
4 FLAGPOLE.COM --AUGUST 5,2009 -.