Fresh Loaf

Dick Pettys of InsiderAdvantage brings news that Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, has confirmed that he’ll run for lieutenant governor in 2010 — but only if Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle decides he won’t seek another term in office.

Johnson’s a champion for education — that was one of his pet projects during the last legislative session. Pettys says it looks like universal school choice might be a big part of his ‘10 platform and his strategy in January as well.

He’s also one of the more colorful characters under the Gold Dome. When Gov. George Pataki of New York pulled down Georgia’s old flag in its statehouse because it incorporated the stars and bars, Johnson climbed on the ledge of the third floor in the Capitol to pull down the Empire State’s colors. He’s always good for a quote, was/is an awesome blogger, and underwent one of the coolest extreme makeovers a lawmaker has ever attempted since Joe Lieberman became a Republican. (Come on, you know he is, he’s just too lazy to change the letterhead.)

But he’s also a lawmaker who’ll actually address your questions without trailing off into some “let’s-move-forward-with-solutions” nonsense speech laden with soundbites and canned phrases. You may or may not agree with him all the time, but at least he’s direct. Of course, that’s gotten him into some trouble before.

Plus, he says he reads Fresh Loaf, so we gotta show some love to a reader.

(The senator from the Garden of Good and Evil says he’s a Led Zeppelin fan, hence the rare photo posted to the right. Johnson stood in for Robert Plant during a tour after the famous singer suffered a panther attack.)

Bookmark It

God, I love our Legislature.

State Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, moonlights as a romantic suspense writer who scribes under the nom de plume of Selena Montgomery. (She’s also a deserved winner of our illustrious Arnie Awards.) Her new novel, Reckless, recently hit stores.

Here’s the plot:

Atlanta attorney Kell Jameson has just won yet another acquittal for a famous, if guilty, client. Then one frantic phone call wrenches her back Hallden, Georgia, a place she’s spent years trying to escape. The head of her childhood orphanage has been accused of murder, and Kell is her only hope for freedom. Unfortunately for Kell, she is forced to work with Sheriff Luke Calder to prove her client’s innocence – but perhaps at the cost of revealing a secret Kell has worked a lifetime to keep hidden. And a secret a murderer will kill to protect.

The book’s garnered rave reviews and is sure to include thinly veiled references to xenophobic, money-hungry and asphalt-lovin’ state lawmakers.

To read excerpts or purchase the novel, click here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Bookmark It

— Decatur Metro has found the city’s annual report online. One interesting nugget: Decatur’s population is declining despite a boom in downtown condos. Why? Household size is shrinking in the city.

— And InDecatur brings us up to speed on the latest city news, including Kid Rock’s plea of no contest for his role in a Waffle House brawl in 2007.

— The state’s budget is all in a mess, and flackattack chimes in at Tondee’s Tavern on how state lawmakers are totally out of touch with reality.

— Over at Cracker Squire, Sid discusses how Rand Knight’s union endorsements failed to give him a lift in the U.S. Senate primary. Now that those unions are backing Jim Martin, will it matter in the run-off?

— Drifting Through The Grift thankfully shares another Morning Wooten.

— Just as fun, Preston Craig — the DJ host of the Decatur Social Club — is back online at Kiss Atlanta, with a couple of hot underground bands to help us get our groove on.

— What happens when a good friend reveals that he’s HIV positive? ETK shares a sad, intimate moment on I’m Just Sayin’.

Bookmark It

State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan, D-Austell, is the youngest person to ever serve in the Georgia General Assembly. She’s also the first African-American to represent majority-white, majority-GOP Cobb County in the state House. And she’s now been named one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to an important — and often unpopular — cause: standing up for a woman’s right to choose.

Rep. Morgan, who’s 29 and been in office for six years, is one of five people to receive a national award from D.C.-based reproductive rights group Choice USA. The honorees were announced today.

According to a press release about the award:

Morgan joins a distinguished collection of accomplished leaders and emerging activists working to secure and enhance reproductive health, reproductive justice, reproductive choice and reproductive rights in the U.S. and abroad.

The group called Morgan “a fiery advocate for the rights of the underserved.” We’ll second that.

Bookmark It

It was the loudest and most powerful player in the push for transportation funding during the last legislative session but it still wasn’t able to convince lawmakers to act on transportation.

But yesterday Get Georgia Moving, the coalition of more than 50 organizations ranging from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce to the Sierra Club, announced Terry Chastain as its new executive director. That’s a sign the state’s powerplayers still have a little faith in our elected officials to do something next year.

Chastain is the chamber’s vice president of government affairs and was a familiar face at the Gold Dome this year. The chamber says he’ll be a loaned executive to the coalition.

“It’s humbling to represent so many respected organizations on such an important public policy issue,” Chastain said in a released statement. “With all of these groups working together and with the support of so many in the legislature, I am very confident we will be successful in our efforts.”

Earlier this year the coalition rallied for a funding mechanism that would’ve injected cash into the $7 billion budget the DOT is facing. The best bet was SR 845 — that would’ve allowed regions to levy a sales tax to raise cash for transportation projects. We all know how that ended.

Well, there’s always next year. And the year after that.

Text of the announcement after the jump.

(more…)

Bookmark It

We’ve given them a lot of hell, but at least this year’s legislative session only saw Georgia take a couple of steps backward.

Down in the Sunshine State, the Legislature could outlaw neither a pair of dangling bumper “ornaments” nor the age-old practice of bestiality. Plus, their commuter-rail program died in the Senate. On second thought, maybe they are like us. Speak it, Associated Press, in succinct end-of-the-session rundown form! (Emphasis added, of course.)

Bestiality: Still legal in Florida

State Song: “Old Folks at Home,” also known as “Swanee River,” will be changed to leave out racially offensive lyrics. A second song, “Florida - Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky,” submitted by a music teacher for a statewide contest, will become the state anthem.

Vehicle, um, decorations: Carry on with the popular pickup accoutrement: so-called Truck Nutz. The anatomically correct accessories, modeled after bull testicles, were outlawed by the Senate but had immunity in the House, so no $60 fine after all.

License plates: Added to the roster of 109 specialty plates now available are new ones touting Florida tennis, lighthouses and horses. Lawmakers declined to approve an “I Believe” plate promoting faith-based education, but endorsed a plate bearing the state motto “In God We Trust.”

(Thanks to Christa at PecanneLog and Wonkette)

(Photo courtesy of Draggin’ Nutz, Illustration by Thomas Wheatley)

Bookmark It