Mayor Kelly Girtz led off his annual State of the Community Address last month by defending the local government’s track record on public safety. Noting “our shared pain from those we have lost to violence”—mentioning by name Laken Riley, 3-year-old Kyran Zarco-Smith and Winterville resident Willie Jewell—Girtz said the Athens-Clarke County government will “continue to lean into making this an ever-safer community through any means necessary.” Specifically, Girtz discussed the city’s new real-time crime center, ballistics identification system, additional cameras and four-wheelers to patrol re ..read more

The Athens-Clarke County Commission voted 7–1 at its Apr. 2 meeting to reject a proposed townhouse development near the Green Acres subdivision off Barnett Shoals Road. The developer had offered to withdraw the proposal, which drew opposition from many nearby residents, but instead the commission voted to deny the rezoning request. That means the developer will have to wait a full 12 months to resubmit the proposal, rather than being able to reintroduce it sooner with changes that neighbors potentially might be able to accept. Commissioner Jesse Houle voted against denial, preferring to allow ..read more

At a recent forum held by conservative group Athens Classic, three candidates for Athens-Clarke County Commission said that they would vote to overturn a 2019 resolution of support for Athens’ immigrant and undocumented communities and that they would not approve of Athens being a resettlement site for refugees. When asked by audience member James DePaola at the Mar. 27 forum if they would vote to “repeal, rescind, reverse” the 2019 resolution and the 2022 “backroom deal” to resettle refugees in Athens, commission candidates Jason Jacobs, Stephanie Johnson and Sidney Waters all responded affir ..read more

The dogwoods blooming along Prince Avenue this time of year always remind me of former Mayor Julius Bishop, a most unlikely official to approve the planting of such a decorative frivolity. Bishop was a fiscal, political, social and religious conservative. He would make current local Republicans look like Bernie Sanders. But unlike current Republicans, Bishop—a strong mayor by government structure and by temperament—was a practical man who didn’t let ideology interfere with business. When the Lyndon Johnson administration offered Athens inclusion in the new Model Cities program in 1968, Bishop ..read more

A Georgia environmental organization is pushing against plans to postpone state utility regulator elections until 2025, arguing that further delay denies the right of millions of Georgia Power customers to elect members to a board that has approved several rate hikes. A former state Public Service Commission candidate and a Georgia Conservation Voters representative both said they are concerned that a pending case is being used as an excuse by the secretary of state to cancel elections this fall, and for legislators to set a new calendar that would essentially extend current six-year terms by ..read more

In another sign of the political chaos gripping Athens lately, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins was greeted by protesters during a recent speech on campus. Collins, a Jackson Republican whose 10th District includes Athens, has made a lot of hay out of nursing student Laken Riley’s February murder and got some in return on Wednesday. Student newspaper The Red & Black reported that members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America were there to greet Collins outside the Miller Learning Center with signs and chants of “Abolish ICE” and “No human is illegal.” Inside the MLC, students continued to ad ..read more

Georgia’s 10th congressional district will be holding its Democratic primary election on May 21, where candidates Jessica Fore and Lexy Doherty will compete against each other for the chance to face incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Collins (R) in the general house election on Nov. 5.  Fore, who was born and raised in Macon, has lived in Athens for over 20 years. Having graduated from the University of Georgia in 2002, she currently works as a real estate agent in Clarke County. While she lost to Tabitha Johnson-Green in the 2022 Democratic primary, she believes her cultural upbringing gives ..read more

Former congressman John Barrow, an Athens native, campaigned in his hometown last week in a longshot bid for a seat on the Georgia Supreme Court. No Supreme Court justice has ever lost a race since the court was created in 1845, but if anyone can knock off an incumbent, it’s Barrow. After serving 14 years on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, Barrow became the first Deep South Democrat to beat a Republican incumbent in a quarter-century when he defeated U.S. Rep. Max Burns in 2004. “As a reward, I became the most gerrymandered man in the history of the republic,” he told Athens-Clarke County ..read more

Obviously, Athens is best known sportswise for college football, but it’s become something of a hockey town since UGA’s club team began playing at the Classic Center 10 years ago. The Ice Dawgs routinely sell out their games at the Classic Center’s Grand Hall, which seats 1,000 in temporary bleachers for sporting events, and a newer women’s club team also plays there. But now, a professional minor league hockey team will call the Classic Center’s new arena home. The 5,500-seat arena, now under construction behind the Foundry Street Warehouses and the Multimodal Transportation Center, will host ..read more

Regular readers of this column (when it was regular) know I grew up in a small town—Greensboro, in nearby Greene County. Those who also have grown up in small towns have had similar experiences, and to some extent, so have those who grew up in cities, with their neighborhoods. In small towns, you see people up close, and they see you. You have constant interaction. Your schoolteacher is also your customer at your store job, and in the pew next to you at church on Sunday, and maybe your cousin. Small town people can’t hide and can’t hide who they are. Everybody knows everybody, knows who can’t ..read more