Newspaper Page Text
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
FARM DISASTER LOOMS
Tragedy: It's certain many of you have heard
the heartbreaking news of the death last week
of Christina Genco, who had visited Athens
days earlier as part of a group with the Bike
and Build organization, which sends teams of
cyclists across the country to volunteer and
otherwise contribute to local affordable hous
ing initiatives. Genco was struck by an SUV
while riding with members of her group on the
shoulder of a highway near Rainsville, AL. As
we extend our deep sympathies to the fam
ily and friends of this energetic and generous
young woman, let's try to honor her memory
by doing our best to be mindful of the safety
of other cyclists on the road. There's no tell
ing whether this tragedy could have been
averted by more conscientious driving, but it's
absolutely certain that many others can.
What Does "Access" Mean?: With architects
retooling their design for the Classic Center
expansion, which—surprise!—came
in over budget, ACC commissioners
have until the end of this month to
insist that their explicit instructions
that the final design "provide for a
mid-block pedestrian access... con
necting Thomas Street and Foundry
Street" be followed. That dictate
was all but nominally ignored in the
plan brought forth last month, which
"provided" that the Classic Center
would generously allow pedestrians to
walk through (or around) an enclosed
atrium at the heart of the proposed
three-block-long complex. It doesn't
require a great feat of imagination to
realize that such "access" represents
no concession whatsoever on the
part of the Classic Center, and would
exist solely at its pleasure. But most commis
sioners seem bafflingly unconcerned.
If the "mid-block access" language wasn't
intended to compel the Classic Center archi
tects to make any alterations to their original
plan, why was it included—and characterized
as some sort of compromise for allowing the
closing-off of Hancock Avenue—in the con
cept design option commissioners voted to
approve? With downsizing the atrium among
the possibilities suggested by the architects
to bring the project back under budget, this
would seem a perfect opportunity for commis
sioners to direct them to preserve in some
form—as proposed by Commissioner Kelly
Girtz at a May work session—the current mid
block access point: a stairway that descends
eastward from alongside the Fire Hall, which
would be swallowed up by the atrium in the
over-budget plan.
Now is when we find out whether our com
missioners are willing to draw a line to protect
the long-term interests of this community, or
if, once again, they will obligingly step aside
and let the unelected Classic Center bigwigs
run the show.
Blue Heron Update: Meanwhile, commis
sioners are still awaiting a final report from
consultants on the feasibility of a proposal
to develop land immediately east and south
of the Classic Center in a civic-led effort to
bring job- and revenue-generating businesses
to the area. Purchase options on properties
held by local developer and investor Carl
Nichols, a proponent of the plan, have been
extended to the end of this year, but without
the results of the consultants' study, the gov
ernment is stuck in neutral for the moment.
Help the Homeless: The Athens Area Homeless
Shelter has scheduled a pretty sweet fundrais
ing event for 7 p.m. Saturday, June 18: a ben
efit concert at the VFW Post on Sunset Drive
featuring Athens legends The Normaltown
Flyers. Tickets are $20 at the door or $15 in
advance through the Athens Area Association
of Realtors, which is presenting the event in
cooperation with the AAHS. Call (706) 353-
1126 for tickets.
Rotten Redux: Those who remember with hor
ror the chemical Spill that turned Trail Creek
blue last summer (and from which it still
hasn't fully recovered) may have experienced
a shudder of recognition upon learning of a
mysterious contamination of the Ogeechee
River several weeks ago, which is still being
investigated but has killed at least 33,000
fish. Altamaha Riverkeeper Oconee River
Project director (and former'City Dope) Ben
Emanuel certainly did: he calls it "Trail Creek
Redux—but worse and bigger this time." The
budget-slashed and woefully understaffed
Georgia EPD, which was disastrously slow to
action in the wake of the Trail Creek spill, still
"clearly doesn't have capacity to do emergency
response," Ben says, "so the whole problem
on the ground is probably much worse than
it needs to be." Here's the part where the
Flagpole guy says something about the haz
ards of electing lawmakers who thumb their
noses at environmental and health priorities
while shilling for industrial and business inter
ests, blah, blah, blah—but you know it's true.
There .Should Be a Prize: The award for Best
Press Release of the Month goes to Democratic
Party of Georgia Communications Director
Eric Gray, whose announcement of last week's
ridiculous implosion of Newt Gingrich's presi
dential campaign was worthy of The Onion.
The release, entitled "Gingrich Staffers
Show Unity, Strength in Numbers," begins:
"Campaign staffers of Newt Gingrich's flailing
presidential bid walked off the job en masse
today, demonstrating the power of organized
labor and teamwork while serving in a hostile
work environment." Invoking the rarely used
privilege of quoting oneself, Gray continues:
"'Working on a semi-serious presidential cam
paign with an absent candidate is incredibly
stressful,' said Eric Gray, Democratic Party of
Georgia spokesperson. 'On the other hand,
Republicans are taking 'job-creation' seriously
by making dozens of new jobs available within
Gingrich's own office.'" There's more, but you
get the picture. Excelsior!
Dave Marr news@flagpole.com
If this stairway alongside the Fire Hall is swallowed up by the
Classic Center expansion, the only public access between
Thomas and Foundry streets in the four blocks from Dougherty to
Broad will be through the facility itself.
Gov. Nathan Deal recently sent a letter to
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking-
him to declare 22 Georgia counties disaster
areas because of crop damage caused by the
drought. An even bigger disaster could be
looming on the horizon for the state's agri
culture sector because of another document
Deal signed last month: HB 87. That is the
new immigration law that gives police officers
added authority to check the immigration
status of people they suspect are not legally
residing in the state.
While the new law does not take effect
until July 1, the publicity surrounding it is
already having a major impact on agriculture.
Farmers across the state find themselves
unable to hire enough of the migrant
workers who have traditionally pro
vided the necessary labor to harvest
crops like blueberries and onions.
The immigration law is scaring
off undocumented immigrants
but is also driving away those
who have guest worker visas as
well. They don't want to deal
with local police or sheriffs depu
ties pulling them in for questioning
about their residency status.
The Georgia Agribusiness Council
conducted a statewide poll of farmers, nursery
operators, livestock owners and agriculture
service firms. Nearly half the respondents said
they are not able to hire enough workers.
Here are some of the comments noted on
the survey:
"Local people show no interest in the types
of jobs that we need filled and the few who
do apply last only a couple of days before
quitting."
"I know some of this problem lies more
with the federal government, but with the new
laws, even my legal Hispanic workers don't
want to stay in this state for fear of being
harassed... they stated that they were moving
to North Carolina or South Carolina."
"I do understand the need for reform, but
this sudden aggressive approach has many
far-reaching repercussions—not only to my
workforce, but to the local economy."
"The labor pool has dried up because
Hispanics are leaving Georgia as fast as they
can. They are terrified about what will happen
when this law goes into effect."
Bryan Tolar, the director of the
Agribusiness Council, tried to warn lawmakers
that they would be putting the state's largest
industry in a difficult position.
"This year we've seen workers that have
been available in the past that are now leav
ing," Tolar said. "We're talking about people
who have historically done the work who are
not making themselves available to do that
work. They are leaving the state. That's what's
different about this year."
"It's not the law itself; it's the
concerns that come with having this
new law," he said. "They're leaving
because they worry about what'll
happen if they get stopped by
police."
Tolar is not using the immi
gration issue to make a parti
san point. He's a conservative
Republican who was one of the
local delegates to the GDP's state
convention last month. He's concerned
about what his colleagues have done.
There are many people who are understand
ably frustrated at the failure of Congress to
take some long-needed action on resolving the
immigration issue. There are also those who
don't like the movement of so many foreign-
born workers into the state. (The estimated
number of undocumented immigrants in
Georgia now exceeds 425,000.)
Having their elected representatives pass
HB 87 was one way for these Georgians to
vent their anger at the situation. By going
after immigrants, however, they also could be
blowing up the state's largest industry and
doing major damage to Georgia's economy.
That seems like a very high price to pay.
Tom Crawford lcrawtord@gareporl.com
THIS M9IIRM WtILI by TOM TOMORROW
JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER — IT'S ■ IT'S A SCANDAL 0OILED DOWN TO ■ THE POLITICIAN'S SUPPORTERS TRY
BUT FIRST,
THESE
MESSAGES
|X MEAN, WHO CAN
EVER BE CERTAIN
ofAMYTRING?
MOT TO MENTION
CARTOONISTS
LOOKING FOR
CHEAP LAUGHS'.
| TALK ABOUT
BOTTOM
TEED EPS!
PSST—WANNA
SEE AN EVEN
BETTER SNOT?
| IT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE A
PENIS AT ALL—BUT RATHER,
A PHOTOSHOPPED CUCUMBER.
OR POSSIBLY A BANANA.
OR A BABY’S ARM
HOLDING AN APPLE
TO EXPLAIN THE PENIS AWAY.
THE MOST SASIC POSSIBLE COM
PONENTS'. (0 A PENIS, AND (2)
A POLITICIAN LYING ABOU' IT.
THE LATEST STUPID MEDIA
DISTRACTION--
THE MOST SHOCKING
SEX SCANDAL WITH
NO APPARENT SEX
EVER
BUT AS IT TURNS OUT, THE RIGHT
\yiNG PROVOCATEUR WHO BROKE
th£ Story was telling th£ truth
For once.
FORGET ABOUT THE ACORN
I VIDEOS AND THAT SHIRLEY SHERROD |
BUSINESS!
I FROM NOW ON, WHEN PEOPLE THINK
OF ANDREW 8REI1BART—THEY will
I THINK ONLY Of A PENIS'.
THE
POLITICIAN’S
PENIS
MY ACCOUNT WAS RACKED! X’VE
NEVER SEEN THAT PENIS BEfOKL
IN MY LITE!
[THERE ARE MILLIONS of PENISES I
ON THE INTERNET! HOW CAN YOu|
(PROVE THIS ONE IS HIS?
ULTIMATELY 'HE POLITICIAN ACKNOWL
EDGES ownership OF THE PENIS...
AND LEADERS Of M<5 OWN PARTY
CALL ON HIM to RESIGN'.
COMING UP--THE SEASON S NEXT
S^VPiD MEDIA DISTRACTION'
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW? SPECU
LATION IS RAMPART AMONG
JOURNALISTS THRILLED TO GET MORE
MILEAGE OUT Of PENISGATE!
WE WON’T KNOW
TIL IT GETS HERE-
WHICH SHOULD BE
ANY MINUTE NOW
0*0 TOU
JUST TEXT
Mt
4 FlAGPOLE.COM JUNE 15,2011
