Fresh Loaf

Jonathan Escobar may have chosen to wear wigs, skinny jeans and make-up as a form of expression. But the administration at North Cobb High School wants him to go express himself somewhere else.

According to the AJC, Escobar recently relocated from Miami to the Atlanta area to live with his sister. After attending the Cobb County school for only three days, the school’s assistant principal told him he should dress more “manly” or consider home schooling.

Escobar refused to compromise his personal style and withdrew from the high school.

But students at the high school refuse to keep quiet about the issue. Over 5,000 people have joined the Facebook group Support Jonathan, where 21 separate threads of discussion have popped up and over 1,000 people have submitted wall posts.

One supporter said, “Be who you are and the hell with anybody who has a problem with it.”

Another added: “Keep being yourself Jonathan! Support from Sweden!”

But some Facebookers were not so sympathetic.

“faggs don’t belong.”

(more…)

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Because the only thing worse than potentially losing metro Atlanta’s main source of drinking water is, well,  potentially losing another.

The next skirmish in metro Atlanta’s so far losing battle for drinking water will begin in a federal courtroom here Monday.

Last month a Minnesota judge ruled that Atlanta has no right to drink from Lake Lanier, a potentially crushing blow for future growth and development in North Georgia.

But what happens in Birmingham could prove doubly dire for Atlanta. U.S. District Court Judge Karon Bowdre is weighing whether North Georgia illegally taps Lake Allatoona, too. Her ruling is expected next year.

Lake Allatoona provides drinking water to roughly 800,000 customers in Cobb and surrounding counties.

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Syndicated columnist and curmudgeon Dick Yarbrough offered a unique solution this weekend to curb public sex in two Cobb County parks well-known for cruising:

“With a little instruction, dogs could be taught to severely dislike the gay lovers in Burruss and Wildwood [Parks] and bite them in the fanny and do what City Council should have done years ago – chase them off to Atlanta where they belong. Assuming that works, we will then tell the canines that cell phone users are really just possums with bad attitudes. The dogs will take it from there and then maybe the rest of us can have a little peace and quiet in Glover Park.”

Wow, this column serves to raise, like, so many interesting questions. How would we train these hounds to “severely dislike the gay lovers?” And “chase them off to Atlanta where they belong?” Hmm, not too clear on what you mean by that, but OK! Another: Why is Dick Yarbrough paid to write this stuff?

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State Sen. John Wiles, R-Kennesaw

Georgia Republicans must get a better Gold Dome parking space the harder they slam MARTA.

From a Marietta Daily Journal interview with State Sen. John Wiles, R-Kennesaw:

Wiles does not support expanding Atlanta’s public transportation system, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, to Cobb County.

Slamming MARTA, Wiles said the transportation system is so inept that “I would not want MARTA to have to wash my car.”

Wiles said his distaste for MARTA stems from serving on the General Assembly’s MARTA oversight committee, where MARTA officials refused to answer such simple questions as how much it costs them per rider.

Nor is Wiles pleased that MARTA employs five drivers who earn more than $100,000. Cobb County’s transit system has the same union contract as MARTA does, but pays its drivers half as much as the Atlanta system. Wiles said it’s a problem of management.

Let it be noted that at a MARTA Oversight Committee hearing earlier this year, Wiles asked transit officials how much it costs the agency to serve each rider. Officials gave him an answer (the estimate given was nearly a dollar higher than the current fare.)

UPDATE: CL has discovered a photo of Wiles’ car.

(Courtesy Senate Press Office)

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Amount of money seized from illegal drug operations in Gwinnett and other metro counties in 2008, in dollars: 70 million

Metro Atlanta’s ranking among 195 major cities in the U.S. as a drug-cartel activity center: 1

Georgia’s 6th District’s ranking among 435 congressional districts for having the happiest residents: 2

Peachtree City’s ranking among Georgia’s best affordable suburbs: 1

Median household income in Peachtree City, in dollars: 93,046

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Cobb County in February: 406

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Fulton County in February: 316

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Gwinnett County in February: 264

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Clayton County in February: 163

Sources: USA Today, AJC.com, Business Week, RealtyTrac.com

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The hardest part about making progress in metro Atlanta is fixing the mistakes of its past — namely, the sprawl created in part by an auto-dependent lifestyle and cheap land stretching out in all directions.

Thankfully, the Atlanta Regional Commission has some idea of how to turn that sprawl into walkable and livable areas — places you actually want to be.

Today, the commission announced several new sites for its Livable Centers Initiative, an award-winning program that funds planning studies for cities and counties to help retrofit sprawl-afflicted areas. The two closest to home? The Donald Lee Hollowell-Veterans Memorial Parkway Corridor in Atlanta and Cobb County and the North Druid Hills Road Corridor in DeKalb County.

More details from the commission about those sites after the jump.

(more…)

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The people have spoken!

Local blogger Rusty Tanton — a Decatur resident who mounted a one-man write-in campaign to be elected Cobb County Tax Commissioner — received more votes on Nov. 4 than the Son of God.

This was quite the coup, if I may say. Tanton was able to trump such notable candidates as “Keith Richards,” “Obi Wan Kenobi,” “Zombie Reagan” and perennial officeseeker “The Hell With IRS :].” “No More Evil Nazis” and “Paris Hilton” polled favorably, but alas, their respective public foibles — silly moustaches and sex tapes, respectively — ruined their chances.

State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, received one vote. Really.

(Photo courtesy of GodGear)

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Somewhat lost amid the shuffle of the presidential race and a handful of legislators losing seats were the various referenda (or referendums, for non-English majors) that appeared on local ballots. Here’s a wrap-up:

• Yes to TADS; no to private cities. By a close margin, Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow school boards to join with local governments in issuing bonds for tax allocation districts. But voters narrowly spiked a crazy proposal to allow private developers to levy taxes on homeowners. Less controversial was an initiative to provide tax incentives to encourage preservation of forest land; it passed handily.

• Fulton County libraries will be getting a facelift. Voters overwhelmingly approved a $275 million bond issue to add eight new branches, spruce up 24 existing branches and spend $85 million toward replacing the downtown central library. Expect a grassroots campaign to emerge against tearing down the old building. (more…)

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If you’ve been put off by articles about the long lines at early-voting locations, but you don’t want to wait until Election Day to cast your ballot, you may get a break next week. That’s when Georgia counties begin advanced voting.

What’s the difference, you ask? Oh, there’s a world of difference; early voting began Sept. 22, while advance voting runs next Monday through Friday.

Still not clear? (more…)

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I tread lightly when it comes to South Carolina voodoo priestesses. As a matter of fact, I’d be fearful if I were the AJC’s Kay Powell and Kent Miles for even reporting this story. I wish them the very best juju.

But here goes: A lame duck Cobb County commissioner — who’s already had her fair share of controversy — has been accused of hiring George Ann Mills, a South Carolina voodoo priestess, to hex the man who ousted her from office and writing $3,000 in bad checks for the service. Kesting denies the accusations, even though Mills claims to have receipts of the alleged deal.

Kesting’s thinks she’s the victim of identity theft. Plus, she’s got an alibi:

“I have no idea who [the voodoo priestess] is,” Kesting said today. “My car won’t let me get to South Carolina. I know nobody in South Carolina.”

Maybe the voodoo priestess can do something about that ride. She’s possibly seen it, after all. According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Mills accurately described Kesting’s car as a 1992 Mercedes Benz.

There are a million jokes in here that I’m not going to touch. The last person I need to piss off is a voodoo priestess or the greater voodoo community. So on that note, have a great night, everybody!

UPDATE I came up with a safe joke — and plausible alibi — for Kesting. Hey, she was just on a fact-finding mission to research biofuels! $3,000, please.

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— Georgia has its own Montauk Monster, and it’s called, simply, Bigfoot. Details will be unveiled Friday, so says Peach Pundit.

— Despite evidence to the contrary, Georgia Politics Unfiltered claims, “There is no sex in the courtrooms of Cobb County Superior Court (or the judge’s chambers for that matter).” Does lesbian sex count?

— Georgia Politics Unfiltered also updates a post from yesterday that hyped today’s political forecast from CQ Politics. CQ’s shocking revelation: In the presidential election, Georgia is “Republican Favored”!

— According to Lucid Idiocy, the food crisis is over. Gov. Sonny Perdue supports biofuels. And the Montauk Monster was spotted drinking margaritas at the Jekyll Island Club. (OK, I made that last one up.)

— Georgia On My Mind has posted photos of the ancient Etowah Indian Mounds. No apparent news there, seeing as how they were built nearly 1,100 years ago. They’re real purty, though.

— Media Matters‘ SpaceyG says she isn’t all that bummed about waking up with John McCain. Political Insider’s Jim Galloway says McCain isn’t all all thrilled about waking up with Ralph Reed. No word on who John Edwards is waking up with.

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Last week’s editorial buyout offer at the AJC was structured as something of a gamble for reporters: if enough of them took the deal, there’d be no need for layoffs. Otherwise…

As with any game of chance, you sometimes get unexpected outcomes. In this case, it turns out to be the wholesale departure of the Cobb bureau staff, a result that appears to have taken even the paper’s top brass by surprise.

In one fell swoop, the AJC’s Cobb outpost will lose Bureau Chief Sheila Garland; government reporter Tom Opdyke; business reporter David Pendered; cops reporter Yolanda Rodriguez; general assignment reporter Karen Rosen; enterprise reporter Bill Sanders; photographer Andy Sharp; and education reporter Diane Stepp.

As far as we can tell, the only full-timer left in Cobb is enterprise reporter Jeremy Redmon, who wasn’t eligible to take the buyout because he’s been with the paper only three years.

We’re told editor Julia Wallace has sent out a staff memo asking for volunteers for reassignment to the Cobb office.

The exodus may have something to do with the paper’s decision to discontinue the Extras, the Thursday zoned sections containing news and sports geared to their specific communities. But folks in the DeKalb bureau decided to stay, despite the impending demise of the DeKalb Extra, while the Cobbers bailed.

There was once a time when Cobb was the paper’s Tiffany bureau; many of the paper’s top editors and executives lived in Cobb and they made sure the local staff was top-notch. The newsroom was as big as that of the Marietta Daily Journal, but with more resources at its disposal.

The times are definitely a-changin’ …

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WELL-TO-DO: Former Loafer Alyssa Abkowitz writes in the WSJ how affluent Atlantans such as Tyler Perry and Tom Glavine are getting around watering restrictions by installing wells.

MATTER OF PRINCIPAL: Cobb County school board members say they hadn’t heard a middle school principal was under investigation for sexual harassment when they promoted him to principal of North Cobb High School last month.

TRIAL BY FIRE: Cherokee County firefighters are the latest in metro Atlanta to invest in thermal-imaging cameras that allow them to find hidden hot spots and victims through smoke.

CLAYTON: The school system hires 400 new teachers despite the looming accreditation crisis.

CHASE CLOSED: A North Carolina man leads police on a chase through several Atlanta and DeKalb County neighborhoods Wednesday morning, eventually being caught after trying to flee his car.

FIGHTING DOGFIGHTING: The Humane Society has been blitzing Georgia the last few months with ads promoting a $5,000 reward for information leading to dogfighting arrests and convictions.

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A bar-owner in Marietta is selling t-shirts depicting Sen. Barack Obama as a banana-chomping chimp.

From AJC.com:

Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he’s peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with “Obama in ‘08″ scrolled underneath, are “cute.” But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.

But don’t call Mike Norman a racist!

Norman said those offended are “hunting for a reason to be mad” and insisted he is “not a racist.”

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