Oconee County, GA Politics

The Oconee Enterprise website sent out an email Friday announcing the closing of the Shishka-bobby's restaurant in downtown Watkinsville in the Town Center development in a story well written by Blake Giles. While I do not take pleasure the economic hardship of others, this restaurant never had "it" and was doomed from the start, It was Barberitos not on a stick, and it did not garner much of a following. Weeks recent problems with the suggestion of the school board wanting a raise probably did not help keep his restaurant open any longer, as commenters in the Athens Banner-Herald's onlineathens.com had his restaurant right in the crosshairs. I hope Weeks new theme is more family focused and a place where you want to come back to again and again. I do not pretend to have the perfect solution for this restaurant lacks or needs. The intangible of finding "it" is as difficult to describe as it is impossible to capture: the perfect flow, great tastes, memorabl...

I do not miss the long days of standing and fetching books for the students of Gainesville State College in Oconee County. But I am glad they have received money from the loggers at Plum Creek for expansion of this campus whose increase of students since I have worked there has clipped by at an astounding 865%! I do wonder if the Gainesville State College campus in Oconee County, Georgia will ever get the connection of Bishop Farms Parkways, North and South or if there is going to be an exit on Highway 441. Go check out there open house if you want to. I understand there has been a lot of expansion there. I would imagine Doc Hawley and Dr. Penny Mills are a few of those I will still recall there.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will no longer be available in Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties in a month . I wrote a couple of stories for the AJC in 1981 and have seen the Athens office of this state newspaper change correspondents and shrink and grow. I am distinctly sad at the lack of this institution disappearing, although I cannot recall the last time I purchased a hard copy except maybe during the election day issues. I will grab an AJC next time I am at a Waffle House or Wendy's, and remember an ink-stained time gone by when we could read about all things Atlantan in this formerly mighty paper.

This will be big - lots of press coverage and out-of-town guests, now including Alvin Sykes, who led the effort to secure congressional passage of the Emmett Till Bill. He is now seeking funding for the bill, which provides for investigating civil rights cold cases. The Walton County Dem’s are coming – hope you can make it too. Nice flier attached! – Cathi Watkins Moore’s Ford Memorial Committee FBI, Justice Dept. Officials, Ex-Klansman Seek Public Support in Solving Moore’s Ford Lynching of 1946 Feds, Locals Head for Monroe, GA to Re-invigorate Investigation On Saturday, March 28, key Justice Department and FBI officials are headed for Monroe, GA to meet with civic leaders and local residents and build public support for a 62 year old murder investigation. Beginning at 2 p.m. at the historic Monroe Community Center, filmmaker Keith Beauchamp will screen his one hour documentary, Murders in Black and White, on the Moore's Ford Lynching of July 25, 1946. On that day, a wh...

Veterans' Park is a lovely new facility. I have been playing basketball a lot ~ well, twice ~ at the adjacent Community Center. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:55:07 +0000 Subject: [oconee] Poythress Event - Change of Venue Dear Dems: Due to a scheduling glitch, our ice cream social welcoming gubernatorial candidate David Poythress will be held at the Tennis Pavilion at Veterans Memorial Park rather than at Harris Shoals Park. The event is still taking place on Sunday, April 19th, from 3 - 5 pm, though I have secured the pavilion for 2 - 5 pm so that we have time to set up. Please tell everyone you know about the event and the new venue. It will be a great opportunity to meet General Poythress, and a great opportunity to show off Oconee County's new and beautiful recreational facility. I have heard from several of you who are willing to help. I will be in touch soon with assignments. Also, this wil...

Brigadier General David Poythress, Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia, will be speaking to Oconee County voters April 19th at the Tennis Pavilion of the Oconee Veterans Park (3500 Hog Mountain Road) instead of the originally scheduled Harris Shoals Park in Watkinsville.

Begin forwarded message: From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: March 22, 2009 11:00:00 PM EDT To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Subject: Apathy the Winner Reply-To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, Apathy was the winner in last week's SPLOST vote. Care to guess where the winner is most prominent in the county? You'll have to go to my blog to find out. It's at its usual place: http://www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/ Lee -- Lee Becker Blog: www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com Web: http://lbbecker48.googlepages.com/

Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. > To: YDEM-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Hey Young Dems, Join us this week for guest speaker General David Poythress, Democratic candidate for governor! General Poythress is the first Democrat to announce for the 2010 gubernatorial race, and has previously served as Georgia Secretary of State and Labor Commissioner. The meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. this Wednesday, March 25 in room 250 of the Miller Learning Center. There will PIZZA, so be sure to bring your friends! We're also pleased to welcome Jane Bradshaw, Katie Milway, and Daniel Fullerton from the Young Democrats of Georgia this Wednesday. Jane will be speaking briefly about YDG and the state convention coming up on April 17-19 at Unicoi State Park. Cost of attendance is roughly $45 per person (though UGA Young Dems may be able to help subsidize the cost), but we'll need to know before Friday, March 27. We need as many members to go as possible, so e-mail Louis Elrod (lelro...

Pat Priest has done a wonderful job with Dancing with Athens and Oconee Stars as well as this book club.  Please attend their festivities if you can. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:13:09 -0400 Subject: [oconee] April book: Voltaire's classic, Candide Hello! We've changed* our selection for our April book to Candide . . . a strange and interesting classic that's a quick and sometimes-witty read. It's cheap, too -- just $3.75 at Books Galore in Watkinsville. We've also changed our meeting date to the last Wednesday of each month, which puts us at April 29th for our next discussion. We meet at Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Parkway -- at 6 PM. We read really fine books about history, politics, and the natural world. While Candide was first published in 1759, the satire still resonates today. The full title (though versions differ) is "Candide: Or, the Optimist." So...

Road bill bends in direction of donors | ajc.com It is not surprising that the G.O.P. submitted road bill would cherry pick projects putting their donors interests ahead of the State of Georgia, but it is somewhat surprising that they would stonewall with such shortsightedness regarding who has made the sweetwater deals take place. I mean why would they not want to take credit for further corruption and sleaze for what they please in and around the State. Let's make an unneeded and unrecommended twice interchange near Savannah because our wealthy Florida donors want to build something there. Let's turn a dirt road in Greene County and pave it into a superhighway for the superwealthy before the Obama administration confiscates all our gold. We don't need anything here in Oconee or Clarke counties like extra lanes on the death trap that is 316 to allieviate long lines from the 10 Loop By-Pass on any afternoon or morning during rush hour. We don't need a long promised By-p...