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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
On That Downtown Scene: Mayor Davison and
ACC Commissioners probably felt they needed
a drink after getting the news last week
that a state Supreme Court ruling might wipe
away a key provision of the revised alcohol
ordinance they put so much legislative work
into two years ago. It's not that our elected
officials were so set on prohibiting 18-to-
20-year-olds from working at bars—that was
Police Chief Lumpkin's idea—it's just that it
took a laborious, unorganized process before
the suite of ordinance revisions including that
rule was finally passed in September '07. Now
the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled, on the
basis of fair employment access, that a group
of 18-to-20-year-old women should have been
allowed to work at an Atlanta strip club, and
the ruling probably applies to the alcohol laws
here and in other Georgia cities. In the end, it
probably won't make a huge difference to the
whole of the bar scene, but here's hoping the
good folks at City Hall don't spin their wheels
for months again in >
getting it sorted out.
[Ben Emanuel]
This Week's
Progressive Calendar:
If it's Tuesday, Oct.
6 and you're reading
this, remember that
tonight the new "Pull
the Plug on Paul
Broun" PAC is hold
ing a small town hall
meeting on President
Obama's health care
plan starting at 7 p.m.
at Cine. And if it's a
little later on Tuesday
and you're reading
this, the after-party at
Cine starts at 9 p.m.
Learn more online at
www. pa u lb ro u nj r. co m.
Then on Thursday,
Oct. 8, the Athens
Women in Black
(whom you might know from Tuesday eve
nings at the Arch) are hosting anti-war
activist Ann Wright for a pair of talks on
U.S. policy abroad. Wright is a retired Army
colonel who spent 16 years in the U.S. Foreign
Service before retiring on the eve of the
Iraq invasion in 2003, and is the author of
Dissent: Voices of Conscience—Government
Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq.
She speaks on Thursday from noon to 1:30
p.m. at the ACC Library about U.S. policy in
Afghanistan—in which realm it's encouraging
to see Obama now seeming to move forward
only cautiously—and from 7-8:30 p.m. at the
Presbyterian Student Center (1250 S. Lumpkin
St.) on U.S. policy in Israel and Palestine. At
the very least, both topics are timely! Learn
more about Wright's Georgia visit from the
Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition at www.
georgiapeace.org. [BE]
Surveying the Road: In working towards put
ting together next year's "Northeast Georgia
Regional Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan" (yes,
regional!), the planners at the Northeast
Georgia Regional Commission kindly ask that
you go ahead and take the first of two online
surveys they've created. They say it'll only
take 10 minutes or less, and they need it back
by Friday, Oct. 30. Find the survey online at
http://tinyurl.com/mn3vam. [BE]
Planning for the Arts: City Dope was intrigued
by an audience member's suggestion at a
recent Federation of Neighborhoods panel
discussion on the arts: Why not convert
vacant big-box stores or strip malls into
studios for artists? Why not, indeed, since
landlords are sitting on buildings without ten
ants, while artists need studios and musicians
need rehearsal spaces. "I believe there are
plenty of artists, performance companies, etc.
who could use empty spaces for their craft,"
Athens Area Arts Council president Laura Nehf
told City Dope in an email. (The Bottleworks
is already working on such an arrangement
with Rose of Athens Theater, which needs,
says director Lisa Ferguson, "a space to call
home—with performance space, box office,
offices, classrooms and storage.")
There are many underutilized industrial and
retail spaces in Athens these days, says ACC
planner Bruce Lonnee. Some—mostly intown,
like the Chase Street Warehouses—have been
successfully converted
to studio space.- From
a zoning viewpoint,
there's no reason
buildings farther out
couldn't be adapted,
too: "If you took
the old Wal-Mart at
Perimeter Square, the
zoning that's in place
on that particular
piece of property is
Commercial-General,
which has a whole lot
of latitude in terms of
uses... That piece of
property is about as
appropriate as any
thing you could find."
Daniel Collins,
owner of PigPen
Studios off Chase
Street, doubts that
bands need more
rehearsal spaces—not
that they can pay for,
anyway. He originally built 24 band rehearsal
rooms but eventually reduced them to 11
spaces, some rented to visual artists. "There
weren't enough bands," he says. "I'm not sure
there actually is more demand for it." But
there is a need for theater performance space,
he thinks, and sometimes for rehearsal space
for larger touring bands that visit Athens.
"That's something that's lacking." [John Huie]
Paul "Polar Bear" Broun: Now for an excerpt
from an email alert by the national Humane
Society Legislative Fund. "Dear Friend: In
2008, the polar bear was listed as a threat
ened species under the Endangered Species
Act, halting the importation of sport-hunted
polar bear trophies from Canada. However,
Congress is currently considering legisla
tion... that aims to undermine this listing
and allow hunters to import polar bear heads
and hides... You may be shocked to learn that
your U.S. Representative, Paul Broun, is one
of the biggest trophy hunting advocates in
Congress, and he has been vocal in promot
ing the trophy killing of these vulnerable and
threatened animals..." Actually, we're not
shocked at all here, but we appreciate the
email, since Congressman Cloun could always
use a good backup nickname. [BE]
Ben Emanuel & John Huie
The cranes at the Georgia Theatre in recent weeks
have been there to help stabilize the exterior walls
and remove the charred roof trusses, owner Wil
Greene reports. He’s planning to ask for a green
light for the full renovation from the ACC Historic
Preservation Commission on Oct. 21.
ALONG
and
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Please contribute:
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r
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on health care reform
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OCTOBER 7,2009 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5