Oconee County, GA Politics

Oconee County has already lost the DePalma's restaurant slated for the new Market Center at Capital Avenue development near Butler's Crossing thanks to the Board of Commissioners not voting on allowing restaurants to pour beer and wine (such as the case for a year now inside the city limits of the county seat Watkinsville). The Loco's is not coming to the development around the corner and a BBQ restaurant has already closed in the same Mander's Crossing development. But there is a wine store there and a Taco Stand is being built in the old Quick Lube place in front of Butler's Crossing. So our Board of Commissioners has evidently succumbed to the pressures of the pulpit and congregations versus taking into consideration the economic development of our county. Now I do not condemn our local churches for making their feelings known and petition the government to address their grievances. I have tremendous respect for our houses of worship out Oconee way, be they so ma...

Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:21:14 -0500 From: angplange@yahoo.com To: danmatt@hotmail.com Subject: You're Invited to the Official Opening of the Clinton HQ in Georgia THIS SUNDAY! You're Invited to the Official Opening of the Clinton HQ in Georgia THIS SUNDAY! Open House You are invited to the official opening of Clinton HQ The Georgia Campaign Office for Hillary Clinton for President is now Open for Business! Our local Georgia Staff invites you to join them for an Open House Party next week. What: Georgia Campaign Office Open House When: Sunday, Dec. 30 - 3:00 -5:00pm Where: Hillary Clinton Campaign Office 1080 Spring Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309 Find more information and RSVP at the Hillary Events Center here.       ...

Deck The Halls | Funny Jokes at JibJab

The 25 th Georgia Blog Carnival is up over at Marketing Through the Clutter . Many thanks go to our hostess, Sandi, and to everyone who submitted a post. If you would like to link to the carnival and alert your readers about it the url is : http://sandisolow.blogspot.com/2007/12/25th-georgia-blog-carnival.html

The following is from Pat Priest of the Oconee County Democratic Committee. She should be the chair, but is not. I have walked the long trails of Harris Shoals Park many times with Lowell and have seen huge snakes and birds and fish among many other creatures. I am afraid my son will not be able to make this event but I strongly urge anyone and everyone else to do so if they can. Hi, Fred and others! I've scheduled it for Friday instead -- at 2 PM. I hope you can join us that day! December 28th Naturalist-led walk for families The Oconee County Democrats are sponsoring a free walk in the woods led by a local naturalist at Harris Shoals Park on December 28th, a Friday, at 2 PM. The park is just outside the city of Watkinsville, at Highway 53 and VFW Drive. Families from Oconee and nearby counties are encouraged to join us outdoors for an hour or so to explore the lovely creek and wetlands of Harris Shoals. Dress warmly! For more information, contact Pat Priest ( ppriest@char...

This Saturday, December 22nd, Kroger in the Alps Shopping Center is holding a special event to help raise money for Sgt. Courtney Gale, the ACCPD officer that was brutally attacked last week, and who remains in ICU at St. Mary's Hospital. The details are below. Blood Drive from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. Cook-out from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm - hot dogs, chips, drinks Silent Auction from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm - we have numerous UGA related items including: an autographed football from Mark Richt, autographed photographs of Dennis Felton and Andy Landers, a warm up suit from the UGA basketball team, numerous items from the UGA Gymdogs, a football commemorating the 700th victory of the UGA football team dated November 11, 2006 versus Auburn, and many other items. We are trying to secure more items from UGA including some camp passes from the different athletic teams provided they do not violate NCAA rules. Bulldog 103.7 will be here from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm doing a live remote. Do me a favor and pass...

Better put away those pitchforks and torches people. Seems North High Shoals won't be wiped out this evening after all due to a sickness and a lack of quorum and legal advice to Fred Johnson. Dontcha just love small town politics?

People have tons of stuff to get rid of at this time of year. Normally I put a lot of items on Athens Freecycle for the first person to claim, but this is a time for donating good quality used items to the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation OCAF Thrift Sale The OCAF Annual Thrift Sale 2008 fundraiser will be held on March 14-15. We will be ready to accept your tax deductible donation of items beginning this Fri. Drop off dates - Dec 21-22 & 28-29 from 10 am - 2 pm Drop off location – Rocket Hall on School Street, Watkinsville Please share this information with your neighbors and co-workers. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact Cindy at the OCAF office (706) 759-3903 or email info@ocaf.com .

Tonight at 7:30 pm (thanks Steve) - Thursday, December 20th, 2007 - there will be a special called meeting of the North High Shoals city council prompted by the paranoia of two of the old school members of the city council: Eddie Cape and Mayor Jeff Thomas. They are pushing for a referendum to dissolve the town charter. Their fear seems to stem from the recent election of one new council member Steve Holzman. Thomas, the owner of the Family Life Retirement Home - ran several elections past against Gaynor Bracewell, who ran on a dissolve the town platform. The late Bracewell, who owned a couple of homes near his Paradiso Falls water recreation and beach, lost by a large margin to Thomas in that election. Please attend this meeting and let your feelings be known about the attempt at wiping out the municipality of North High Shoals. Even though the local city government would not have much direct authority over it, there is a new Elementary School being built in the city. There are lots ...

This is a great small city with a strong local contingent of active parents, homeowners and folks looking for the quiet, secluded, rural life. Seems some people are upset over recent election activity and are not real happy with the new person elected to the city council. Now let me be the first to admit, newest city council member Steve Holzman and I are friends and serve on the Oconee County Democratic Committee together, but this irrational fear of him on the part of some previously elected officials is irrational, unwise and cowardly. I would strongly suggest that Mayor Jeff Thomas need not resign unless he is actually tired of working for the city. I would also suggest that Council member Eddie Cape need not attempt to dissolve the city unless there was some other reason that a little bit of discontent over three registered Democrats being on the city council at the same time. It takes much more than one upset city council member or a resigning Mayor to dissolve a city council. It...

There are a whole lot of good people who have come together to try and help Sgt. Courtney Gale's recovery from that brutal attack last week at the Alps Bridge Krogers grocery store. The nurse deserves a heroes congratulations for her brave role in immediately providing life saving first aid at the scene. I wish our officers, hell all officers, were paid and insured well enough where any attack like this would be covered and no fund raisers were needed. I also pray for Courtney Gale's family and loved ones in their time of need, as well as the family of the culprit in this heinous attack. It is a shame that the Judge could not have locked this loser away or given him the treatment he so obviously needs. There are many people who deserve a THANK YOU all that they have done. I could not possibly thank everyone involved but the fine folks at the A/CC Police Department have shown the utmost professionalism and courtesy to their injured comrade in her time of need. I do not know S...

I wish the Oconee County Board of Commissioners would vote on beer and wine pouring in our non-Watkiinsville restaurants. I resolve to spend some money there at the new restaurants like the Taco Stand coming to Butler's Crossing soon. Too bad DePalma's won't be there across the street or the BBQ place now shut down at Manders Crossing. I wish the US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will be home by next Christmas. I resolve to support our troops in as many ways as possible without abandoning peace sentiments for Iraq and Afghanistan. I think we should not be bombing the Kurds in northern Iraq or helping the Turks do it. I wish the Georgia Bulldogs beat the snot out of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, although I hope the score is something like 45-33. I resolve to attend more free UGA events in the next 12 months. I wish that the Oconee County Democratic Committee would elect Pat Priest as chair. I resolve to attend more events if she is appointed/elected. She practically runs everyt...

The latest Presidential preference poll in Georgia done by Strategic Visions indicates that Arkansas extremist Mike Huckabee is leading amidst the G.O.P. and Hillary Clinton is leading amongst the Democrats in the Peach State. All that could change in three weeks when the Iowa Caucus take place. We shall see a lot of fluctuations over the Holidays as more comes out about outrageous statements in Huckabee's past including wanting to quarantine AIDS patients and other assertions showing his ignorance and lack of leadership. I think Barack Obama will shock the world and barely win Iowa, with Clinton and Edwards right behind. I think Huckabee will win but by a narrow margin over Romney with Ron Paul doing much better in third than the conventional wisdom would expect and Rudy Giuliani doing much worse in fourth with Thompson a distant fifth. It will be interesting to see how many candidates fall to the wayside before New Hampshire. I would expect Tancredo will tank before then as will ...

Friends, *Please join us at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th for a bike ride to raise funds for Athens Police Officer Sergeant Courtney Gale.* Sergeant Gale was attacked Tuesday evening in a local grocery store and is in critical condition at St. Mary's Hospital. As is true of every police officer, Sergeant Gale puts her life on the line daily to protect each one of us...now, we rally to support her. In an effort to help further surround her, and her loved ones, with positive energy and support from the community, we will be conducting a Police Escorted Bike Ride from the downtown Police Station (133 Washington Ave.) to St. Mary's Hospital and back. We ask a $10 donation to participate, but no one will be turned away. All proceeds will go directly to Sergeant Gale and her family. This is a completely grassroots effort, so your help in printing and posting the attached flier will be greatly appreciated. *If you cannot attend the bike ride, please try to focus your encouragi...

Many of you know Courtney Gale. If you have not already heard, she was the victim of a horrific attack last night. She was working as a security guard at the Kroger on Alps Road in Athens while off-duty from her usual service as an ACC Police Officer. The article below details what happened. She is in St. Mary’s Hospital in ICU and is in stable but critical condition. The ACC Police Department has set up a special fund for Courtney. Please consider making a donation, especially at this time of the year. Courtney is facing a very long recovery. Anyone interested in donating may do so at any SunTrust bank branch or mail donations to SunTrust Bank, Attention: Heidi Spratlin, 1022 Prince Ave., Athens, GA 30606. Email is not the best way to deliver this kind of terrible news, but I did want to get the word out. Thanks to all, Tony http://www.onlineathens.com/cgi-bin/printme2005.pl Athens-Clarke officer stabbed multiple times at supermarket By Joe Johnson Staff witer Story updated at 11:15 a...

AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE December 12, 2007 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK PRESENTATION OF THE WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES APPEARANCES 1. David Duncan – business license – Bulldawg Market of Many Things – 1040 Turkey Industrial Boulevard 2. Gregory Scott Smith – business license – Smith, Frohwein, Tempel, Greenlee, Blaha LLC – 3 N. Main Street 3. Ed Yarbrough – building permit – 394 sq. ft. addition to existing residence at 54 Jackson Street 4. Mike & Tom Link – demolition permit to remove duplex located at 160 & 162 N. Main Street PRESENTATION OF THE CHRISTMAS PARADE AWARDS ADMINISTRATION No report presented. MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Personnel matter ADJOURN

Important News: Georgia Delegate Selection INTRODUCTION On Saturday, April 19th, 2008, the Democratic Party of Georgia will conduct caucuses in each of Georgia's 13 Congressional Districts to select Delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Between January 26th - February 23rd, 2008, Georgia Delegate Candidate Training Workshops will be held throughout the state in all Congressional Districts. Attending the Delegate Candidate Training workshop in your District is not required to stand for election, but it is recommended. At the training, you will learn more about the Delegate selection process and what to expect once you arrive at the convention, should you be elected. If you would like to stand for election as a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, please review the date, time and location information for Candidate Workshops in Congressional Districts comprising Fulton County ...

Dear Friends, This is a reminder about our Democratic social (which we're dubbing a "homecoming") to be held at Watson Mill Bridge State Park on Saturday December 15 from 2p to 5p. We're specifically inviting Democrats from Madison, Oglethorpe, Athens-Clarke, Elbert, Hart, Franklin, Wilkes, Barrow, Jackson, Oconee, Walton and Greene counties, as well as the UGA Young Democrats -- though any Democrat in Georgia (or beyond) who is willing to make the drive is welcome to join us that day! We're also encouraging you as county leaders to invite and encourage candidates and elected officials to attend. Please emphasize that this is not a campaigning event, and we won't allow stump speeches, but this is an excellent networking opportunity for candidates, elected officials and all of us in the Northeast Georgia area! The event is being hosted by the local Democratic committees from Madison and Oglethorpe counties, and, depending on the how it goes, may become an annu...

I got a big kick finding out about this through my healer/singer friend Wilma who is playing at the Melting Point Sunday night with a child friendly event you should all attend, but she is also going to be Dancing with the Athens Stars on Sunday, March 2, 2008. Wilma just received the proclamation from the city of Winterville for her song and video of the same name. She is amazing individual and talented singer/songwriter/guitarist/massage therapist and one of my favorite people. I can not yet personally vouch for her dancing talents but I am sure she will be one of the best people in this event and worthy of your donations. The description made me smile and want to attend. I think Project Safe is very important and well worth supporting. By then I should have enough $$ to contribute more than I can right now because of the season for giving to our family gifts, etc. I think dancing is one of the most interesting of the performing arts, and while I was not a big fan of the TV show, ...

Coaching is the most thankless task known to mankind. Parents have nothing but venom to spew your way if you are not playing little Johnny enough. That said, Coach Nick Saltaformaggio came to Oconee County after Hurricane Katrina scattered many people from New Orleans a couple of years ago. He deserved much better treatment than what he received around these parts. But no coach is ever going to take Oconee County back to the promise land of football State Titles as long as the current principal remains in power at the High School. I only heard random fragments of disgruntled statements from the kid across the street who is not yet old enough to play for him, but would hear about how various threats were made ostensibly by him. Locker room chatter is something better left to the locker room. I would like to thank Coach Salt for his considerable efforts with a great QB who will be signed by some Division 1 team next year as well as his work with Oconee County Warriors football.