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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
This Just In: Only moments before press time
comes the news that U.S. Rep. Paul Broun,
Jr. will hold a town hall meeting on health
care in our neck of the woods. The "Athens"
event is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday,
Sept 8 at the Oconee County Civic Center
(2661 Hog Mountain Road in Watkinsville).
Broun has also scheduled two meetings for
the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 2—one in
Greensboro at 5 p.m. and one in Madison at
7:30. This is welcome news, as there's already
been a lot of discussion going on locally
about health care reform while Broun has been
hosting town halls in other far-flung corners
of the district. Here's hoping that constituents
of his with a full range of views turn out to
the Watkinsville event, and here's hoping also
that he's ready to listen.
For more information, call
Broun's district office at
706-549-9588.
>■ Grand Theft Root
Vegetable: The Daily
Groceries Co-op on
Prince Avenue reports
that in late August,
someone stole the iconic
carrot sign that has
hung for years above the
store's front door, point
ing the way inside. Is it
shallow of City Dope to
suspect a link between
the crime and the start
of a new school year
at UGA? Has anybody
checked the frat houses for a trace of the
missing veggie? It's a fair enough assumption
in this town... and actually might indicate
some relief for public resources at a time of
tight budgets, since road signs are so com
monly stolen by the 18-to-20-something male
set. Meanwhile, the good news at the co-op
is that local artist Lou Kregel (who made the
carrot) and Athens mosaic master Krysia Haag
are already working on new signs for the shop,
though they probably won't be ready for sev
eral months.
Now That's Providing Downtown Parking: City
Dope is belated in issuing a word of thanks
to Mayor Davison and ACC officials on behalf
of all the townie hipsters who frequent the
west end of downtown on their bicycles. The
city transportation department installed about
40 new bike racks downtown in late July,
concentrating them in places where bike park
ing was already heavy. Transportation diiector
David Clark estimates that aoout 70 percent of
the new racks are on the west end, but there's
also a new one in front of Espresso Royale
Caffe on Broad—evidence of the city's respon
siveness to pockets of high demand. The racks
were funded through SPLOST 2005 and seem
to have been on the Mayor's mind for a while
now, as she's mentioned the need for them in
meetings here and there.
Reduce, Reuse...: Also belated is a word of
congratulations for both Power Partners
and Chase Street Elementary School, which
each won a statewide award for their vigor
ous recycling and waste reduction programs
at the Georgia Recycling Coalition's annual
conference on Aug. 25. Chase Street school
was one of three schools in the state to win
an "Outstanding School Recycling Award,"
and the local company Power Partners won
as an "Outstanding Corporate Leader." With a
fresh football season coming on, this is but
another reminder that it's too bad the UGA
Athletic Association has had to be shamed
into providing recycling opportunities by the
student volunteers who started the Gameday
Recycling program on fall Saturdays, but hey:
whatever works. In the long view, it's good to
see Athens still leading the pack after being
at the vanguard of municipal recycling pro
grams in Georgia years ago. Now, if we could
just avoid expanding the landfill...
Don't Be Alarmed: And don't freak out on the
ACC Public Utilities Department crews who've
now begun their rounds throughout town
to open up fire hydrants and flush out the
water lines to remove mineral build-up. It's
something that has to be done periodically to
clear out non-harmful iron and manganese and
stuff that accretes inside the pipes. Those who
were in town a couple of years ago when the
drought hit hard will recall that this flushing
program was put on hold in order to conserve
water back in '07 or so. They may also recall
the saga of the brown water afflicting house
holds for a little while later that year, mainly
on weekends. The reason was that high water
demand on certain days (with extra peaks
because of watering restrictions at the time)
was dislodging the mineral deposits. Those
were fun times, remember?
Anyway, the flushing program is expected
to take until May of next year to complete,
and a full schedule (through the end of this
year, for now) is posted on the Public Utilities
Department's section of the ACC website. The
crews will generally be doing the flushing from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays,
except for when they'll hit downtown from
midnight to 8 a.m. for a couple of weeks in
mid-September, if things go according to the
schedule. Officials kindly recommend that you
check your water to make sure it's running
clear prior to starting a load of laundry.
For Your Labor Day: It's hard to believe
that this is the fifth year in which Athens'
Economic Justice Coalition will put on its
annual Labor Day Celebration of Workers'
Rights. The events on Monday, Sept. 7 begin
at 6 p.m. with a light dinner and "celebratory
march" around City Hall, with the rest of the
night including a movie at Cin£, music at the
40 Watt and more. For more information, see
the Flagpole Calendar or call the EJC at 706-
549-1142.
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
Have you seen the carrot?
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706.795.3242
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Race lor the Dream
ummiam »anwn. a*
A Sk run benefiting Athens Area Habitat for Humanity
Monday, September 7, 2009
8:00am
Register online at
www.active.com
Where: Race starts at Miliedge Avenue Baptist Church
(1690 Prince Ave., Athens: GA)
and finishes by the lake in Memorial Park.
There is plenty of free parking.
Registration: $20 race day.
For more information:
706-208-1001
www.AthensHabitat.com
SEPTEMBER 2,2009 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5