Oconee County, GA Politics

So this is being written while flying on AirTran flight en route to an annual get together with a bunch of high school buddies at a lake in far northern Iowa. I am happy to be traveling from Oconee to Okoboji in less than a day and I will probably be comparing and contrasting some of the more comical items of what they do and do not have in an extremely rural part of Iowa with that of what we do have in Oconee County, Georgia. Wind Turbines All along the drive down from Minneapolis to Lake Okoboji I am delighted to see lots of wind turbines generating power for the people of Minnesota. I wish T. Boone Pickens would build a bunch of those near Watkinsville after Georgia spoils the dedication of his new Stillwater, OK stadium for Oklahoma State in about 30 something days. Apparently the winds are not strong enough or consistent enough to support massive wind turbine technology in Georgia, but I was glad to read that there is a Clean Natural Gas station finally opening up in Atlanta tha...

Chairman G. Melvin Davis amongst others wanted and successfully sought a delay in voting on the County Government reshuffling. Some want Oconee reorganization delayed | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Edwin B. Smith portraiture paintings purchased from the Griffin Collection for Georgia Museum of Art which once hung in Eagle Tavern in Watkinsville depicts the Billups family. Eagle Tavern was donated to the State of Georgia in 1956. We may get to see those in early 2011 with the opening of the new wing of the Georgia Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Georgia. Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net Shared via AddThis

We can pave paradise and put up a parking lot, to paraphrase the old Joni Mitchell ditty as redone by the Counting Crows more recently. But I would offer up a different point of view: we can pave small strips and preserve paradise here in Oconee County. My friend Brian Brodrick, Watkinsville City Council member, responded to my printing the GDOT list of road projects remaining on the approved schedule over the next quarter century. We both travel the scenic route of Simonton Bridge Road/Whitehall Road coming into Watkinsville from the east side of Athens the the south end of Milledge Avenue many times (which survived the cuts to remain on the list of those slated for widening). I have yet to work up the courage and stamina to try and bike up those large rolling hills from the various forks of the Oconee Rivers, but Lord knows it is something I want to do in the next several years. I see many bicyclists daily dallying up and down the shoulders of this access to Oconee County, and s...

I have driven by, but not yet had the pleasure of dining at, this new Italian restaurant in the Oconee Plaza shopping center at the very end opposite Bell's grocery store. I hope they continue to have a successful run at this location, not far from what is known as Butler's Crossing. Don Nelson does a good job of supplying the story with facts and figures, not to mention back story and flavor. Small Biz: Italian roots go deep at eatery | Business | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Heritage Park gets another piece to the historical puzzle that is public display village near Farmington. Sharecropper's house to be added to Heritage Park | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis