Oconee County, GA Politics

So I succumbed to the almighty dollar and did what any money-hungry American capitalist would do, I tried to add advertising via blogger and Google and almost immediately people reporting having trouble connecting. So I will stay poor, keep the ads off, and realize the readers are the most important thing about this blog. What is going on you ask? Charlie Brooks called to ask me about the taxpayers revolt. I only know what I have heard from the Neal Boortz show and have heard that the new tea parties are primarily the unfair tax people rebranding their attempts at populsm. Meanwhile the Oconee County Board of Commissioners led by chairman G. Melvin Davis are continuing their moronic path toward an unnecessary new courthouse in Watkinsville. The white elephant that is a large lot of the Williams brothers have razed behind the jail in the latest location infatuation for Miss Vinnie and the Enterprising crowd. Personally I cannot think of a bigger boondoggle than this study of a courtho...

This is one of the foremost authorities in the world on cloning and stem cell research. Great choice Young Dems! Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: Meeting- Dr. Steve Stice!     Hey Young Dems,   Join us this Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in room 250 of the Miller Learning Center for guest speaker Dr. Steve Stice! Dr. Stice is a leading stem cell researcher and will be speaking about his work and the politics surrounding it. We will have snacks, so be sure to bring your friends!   Also, the UGA/ACC Young Democrats will be hosting a forum called "Where Is Your Money Going?" this Saturday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in Tate Theater on campus. The topic will be the effect of the Economic Stimulus Package on local communities, and panelists will include Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi Davison, Dr. Greg Trandel, Dr. Wes Clarke, and Dr. Ernest Brothers.   See you then!   Louis Elrod  President, UGA/ACC Young Democrats

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...

Georgia Republicans and bloggers should be ashamed of their leadership. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: Georgia Republicans: The Party of Limbaugh and Erickson Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:44:12 -0600 From: news@tondeestavern.com   Georgia Republicans: The Party of Limbaugh and Erickson Every year, the Georgia General Assembly considers hundreds of resolutions honoring everything from wounded soldiers to peanut festival queens.  Most times, these resolutions pass unanimously.  But last week, Georgia Republicans in the House touched off a political firestorm when they voted...

Mailbox blast makes for a rude awakening | allison.floyd@onlineathens.com Hopefully this is just a prank, but they sure chose a large and difficult mailbox to explode. Sounds like we will be finding out more soon. Thanks to Sheriff Berry for his vigilance and service

Beyond The Trestle: Not. The. Point. Johnathan echoes my sentiments regarding our esteemed ex-chair's letter to the editor in today's paper.

Becky Vaughn: Oconee BOE deserves pay hike | Athens Banner-Herald Former two-time Oconee County Democratic chair, twice failed candidate for local office and current Washington DC lobbyist Becky Vaughn pretty much guaranteed her own future local political irrelevancy with a letter to the Athens Banner-Herald supporting the equally poorly timed chime for raises asked for by the new Oconee County Board of Education.  Whether deserved or not, the BOE remains stained by the demand rejected by the local legislative delegation, whether the rug was pulled out from under them or not. The times are not supporting pay increases for our political leaders and followers. The economy being what it is does not dictate that this is the time for raises for anyone. I do not doubt the veracity of what she stated in her letter, nor do I contest the need for the Board of Education members to be better compensated sometime in the future. State Representative Bob Smith emerged seemingly unscathed w...

Deep South Health: Oconee County Bureau: Ways to think about and deal with death Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging about Oconee County, Georgia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Oconee County Democratic Committee will make plans to entertain Brig. Gen. David Poythress during their next regular monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2nd in the Governmental Annex Building on Highway 15 in Watkinsville.  Other agenda items include planning out next Fourth Sunday Series on bicycle commuting, and discussing the day and timing of future monthly meetings. For more information call 706-769-1131.

The Oconee County Democratic Committee will host a meet and greet with Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Poythress on Sunday, April 19th, 3 - 5 pm , at Harris Shoals Park in Watkinsville. There will be ice cream, and we are working on getting a country music or bluegrass band. Anyone who knows a band who would work the event for free, please contact me. We have invited Democratic committees from surrounding counties to attend and help. So far, the response has been strong. Please begin spreading the word now through word of mouth, blogs, letters to the editor, and any other means possible. Of course, we will start contacting the newspapers soon. We will need volunteers to help with promotion, set up and staging, serving ice cream, and all the other things surrounding this event. If you wish to help, please contact me off the list serve. Also, expect this event to be a major agenda item at our April 2nd meeting. Thanks, and I look forward to your support with this major Democrati...

State Representative Bob Smith of Watkinsville has recently floated an idea to take over the operations of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport from that of the current amalgamation of Clayton County and the City of Atlanta, of which it currently stands. While I am not an Air Traffic Controller nor experienced in the day to day running of an airport, I can vouch for the State of Georgia's ability to try to cope with the traffic in metro Atlanta and can give them a grade for their efforts so far: F as in failing. It is funny how the Republican majority here in Georgia seems to be very anxious to yank control of the State Department of Transportation or the Airport at any given chance, but when it comes to funding those infrastructure improvements so desperately needed, the transportation issue is seemingly always last in line. For years an idea of an alternative airport has been kicked around for Jackson County and elsewhere, and this is no where near getting ready to taxi on th...