Fresh Loaf

U.S. Senate hopeful Vernon Jones will announce several endorsements at 2 p.m. outside the Old DeKalb County courthouse in downtown Decatur.

PRESS RELEASE

For more information contact:
Camille Kesler
Phone: [redacted
Email: [redacted]

Vernon Jones to Announce Endorsements Today at 2pm

Vernon Jones, Democratic candidate for the United States Senate, will hold a press conference today, July 29, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. E.D.T. on the steps of the Old DeKalb County Courthouse in downtown Decatur. Jones will announce the endorsement of elected officials. “No one becomes successful alone; that is why I am so grateful to the community leaders who have endorsed me and my message of hope and positive change for Georgia,” said Vernon Jones.

The Old DeKalb County Courthouse is located at 100 East Court Square, Decatur, GA 30030 near the intersection of East Court Square and East Ponce de Leon Ave.

Just a heads up, Jones campaign: It helps to get the word out about such events a little earlier than an hour or two beforehand.

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Are you eager to voice your thoughts about Jim Martin and Vernon Jones in a family-friendly forum? Maybe you’re angry about U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss? Fear not, fellow Georgians, you’re among friends here on Fresh Loaf.

I’ll be liveblogging tonight’s Georgia Public Broadcasting debate at 7 p.m. between the two Democrats vying to take a shot at incumbent Chambliss in November. There’ll be quips, comments, updates, tidbits and lots of super-scientific polls.

Drinking game rules are as follows:

• Each time Martin mentions one of his endorsements, take a shot. If he mentions one of his non-endorsements from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former opponent Josh Lanier, or state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, take two shots.

• Each time Vernon Jones mentions his work as DeKalb County CEO, take a swig of a strawberry daiquiri. You get bonus points if you’re eating smores.

• If Martin mentions Jones’ past two votes for President George W. Bush, funnel a Busch Light. If Jones says Martin voted for John Edwards, drink a National Enquirer. Don’t ask questions, just do it.

That’s all I have right now. There might be more. Regardless, skip your weekly capoiera practice early and stop by just before 7 p.m. If you don’t, I’ll be lonely and frightened, all alone in the Internet.

(Photo courtesy of Megatonik.com)

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The Atlanta Critical Mass ride last month received a lot of attention because city police shadowed the slow-rolling gathering and ticketed cyclists out of the blue. That sucks, yes, but turn your eyes for the moment toward New York City, where police and Massers have never really had a peaceful go of things.

A video recorded during Friday’s Critical Mass in the city shows cycle-riding revelers pedaling through Times Square. Fun and games until a police officer pushes you off a bicycle for no reason.

According to Gawker, who gets the thanks for the video:

City Room reports that the unidentified officer was puts on “modified assignment” while they investigate; the AP says they also took away his badge and gun for now. (He should be fired.) Meanwhile, Gothamist reports that the cyclist was arrested and held in jail while being charged with assault.

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The Macon Telegraph’s Travis Fain, blogging at Lucid Idiocy and following up on what was first reported here at Georgia Premium, follows up and says that U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin’s campaign may have pulled the trigger a little too soon on another endorsement. First there was the Josh Lanier gaffe, now it involves state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. Fain reports the Martin campaign is declining comment until it speaks with Irvin.

Fain raises two good points:

But, 1.) How do you run a race against Vernon Jones and end up looking shady?

And, 2.) Is this all a case of people truly remaining neutral, or of people just technically remaining neutral because Jones might win?

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The Atlanta Development Authority today announced $1.5 million in low-interest loans for developers of multifamily housing who want to build affordable units.

The city’s got a long way to go toward Mayor Shirley Franklin’s goal of adding 10,000 affordable housing units in the city by 2009 — since 2005, however, Atlanta’s only seen the addition of 3,500 units. Today’s announcement may be the incentive some developers might need to pursue the vital component of a balanced urban environment in today’s market.

After the jump, view the city’s press release announcing the program. Details on how to apply for the incentives are included.

(more…)

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Jim Powell’s appeal has been scheduled for Monday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. in Fulton County Superior Court.

The Public Service Commission candidate was thrown off the July 15 primary ballot in an eleventh-hour disqualification Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who overruled a decision by an administrative law judge that deemed he met residency requirements. A Fulton County Superior Court judge granted him a stay and he managed to pull in 85 percent of the votes in his race against Bob Indech. (Click here to view CL’s rundown of the events.)

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Watch Atlanta alt-fuel hero Rob del Bueno deliver a hypnotic sales pitch to CNN on the merits of biodiesel, the production of which he oversees for Refuel Biodiesel.

I swear, del Bueno could sell water to a well. Good thing the product he’s touting — non-petroleum fuel made from recycled cooking oil that’s siphoned from local restaurants — helps reduce our carbon footprint and our reliance on foreign oil. Oh, and it’s WAY cheaper than regular diesel .

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A Fulton County Superior Court judge yesterday ruled in favor of the Atlanta Botanical Garden in its case against Friends of Piedmont Park, the nonprofit citizens’ group that fought a parking deck in the city’s iconic Midtown greenspace.

Judge T. Jackson Bedford determined two of the four claims filed by the garden against the group were “without merit” and ordered lawyers from the two sides to assess damages in the next two weeks.

The garden initially sought $290,000 in damages they say were incurred because of the contentious legal fight that erupted in 2005 when it announced plans for a 800-space parking deck inside the park. Friends of Piedmont Park and other neighborhood activists fought the project on the argument that a taxpayer-funded public space should not gift property to a private nonprofit organization without public engagement and input. The bitter dispute raged both in court documents and yard signs and divided nearby residents and the city at large.

The Atlanta City Council voted for the deck and Mayor Shirley Franklin signed its legislation later that year. The deck is scheduled to open in May and according to Mary Pat Matheson, the garden’s executive director, it will be virtually unseen, grant more access to the park, and potentially boast LEED-certification.

Matheson says she is “obviously very pleased” with Bedford’s ruling. Doug Abramson of Friends of Piedmont Park declined comment.

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Yes, it’s happening again this weekend on I-75/85 downtown between 10th Street and University Avenue. It sucks. If you can, take transit or seriously consider making the long loop around the city on I-285.

After the jump, details from DOT.

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Former state Rep. Jim Martin

Georgia Democrats may feel over the next few weeks as if they’re watching Bugs Bunny battle Elmer Fudd for the right to take on U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

In an Aug. 5 primary runoff, you’ve got Vernon Jones, the flamboyant and polarizing DeKalb County CEO who snagged 40 percent of the votes in last week’s primary. After coming in first, he jet-setted from Atlanta to Macon and Albany to rouse up support outside his metro Atlanta stomping grounds.

Then there’s former state Rep. Jim Martin, a folksy workhorse and country boy in city clothes. Martin, who also has been state Human Resources commissioner, is squeaky clean and received beaucoup cash when he entered the race, but lacks the fire you’d normally expect in someone itching to unseat a well-financed Republican who’s ahead in the polls.

Though both candidates are experienced campaigners, either would face steep odds in a race against Chambliss.

Read the rest of this story here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is holding a sizable lead over the pit bulls scratching at his office door. According to Rasmussen polls, the incumbent Republican senator has a 59-29 margin over soon-to-be-former DeKalb County CEO Jones. When matched against former state representative Jim Martin, it’s 51-40 — a bit closer, but still in Saxby Warbucks‘ favor. What’s interesting to note is that Jone’s pull in the Rasmussen polls has dropped from its high of 33 percent of the vote in early June. The gents are smitten with Chambliss over Martin, 62-32, but the ladies love them some Jim. He Who Speaketh Quietly leads 45-43 among the fairer sex.

When it comes to favorable ratings, Chambliss holds out at 61 percent. Martin is viewed favorably by 47 percent of those surveyed by the polling organization. Jones is way down the line at 30 percent.

But those are just numbers.

(more…)

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Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell

It’s a Tuesday night in early July in Jonesboro, and Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell is still smarting from a weekend dalliance with a pistol.

Bell’s left thumb is wrapped in a cartoon-sized bandage, a reminder of yet another newsworthy moment that made people scratch their heads over the embattled county. Bell – a 33-year police officer and ordained minister who looks and acts decades younger than his 73 years – “burned his thumb” while attempting to fire a .50-caliber handgun at a Fourth of July party at the Butts County compound of strip-club impresario Jack Galardi.

Bell sits on the dais alongside his colleagues, his collar button undone, his red tie tugged loose, his tight, dark curls mussed. Stubble sprouts from his chin and his vivid blue eyes look haggard. It’s 8:30 and Bell’s night is long from over.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The headline first made me think I was about to read about a bulky, hairy gentleman:

More evidence to come, he says.

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Charles Bethea, a former CL intern, has a piece in this week’s New Yorker about a Norcross man who created a Barack Obama Gmail account on a whim and has since been inundated with criticisms, compliments and Russian spam mail addressed to the Presidential hopeful. Go here to check it out.

Bethea is an associate editor at Outside’s Go. He’s also the son of Sally Bethea, executive director of the Atlanta-based Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

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As you may have read on state politics websites and in news reports today, some of the documents from Speaker Glenn Richardson’s divorce have been unsealed after government gadfly George Anderson sued.

Just got my hands on ‘em AND…they’re pretty tame. No mentions of alleged trysts or cloakroom deals for natural-gas pipelines.

What they do show is that the case was a political hot potato in Paulding County. It went from judge to judge, with each one recusing himself from the case, until it ultimately returned to Paulding County Superior Court Judge James Osborne, who according to the documents was the “only remaining judge in the the Paulding County Circuit to which this case can be assigned.”  Osborne, who originally sealed the documents, is a former law partner of Richardson’s.

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There are times in a journalist’s life when he or she feels they are simply screaming into the void. Casting information into the ether and metaphors into the vast unknown realm where ponies, wishes and jet skis go to die.

Then there are times you bring about sweeping, monumental change, and you remind yourself why you do what you do even though you live under a bridge and eat copies of your own newspaper for minimal sustenance.

Now, my friends, is one of those times.

After it originally considered scaling back its recycling and leaf-and-limb programs to offset the budget shortfall, the city today announced it will continue picking your aluminum cans as it always has. On July 7, the city discontinued its contract with Dreamsan, the private contractor that’s managed the program since 2002, and will now use city trucks to do the hauling. The move saves cash-strapped Atlanta an annual $3 million.