Fresh Loaf

Errin Vuley, a longtime activist for women’s causes, was killed Tuesday morning in a multi-car crash in DeKalb County.

Vuley, 35, had been a familiar face at the State Capitol for several years, working for the Feminist Women’s Health Center and GARAL, the pre-cursor to Georgia NARAL Pro-Choice America, before serving as executive director for Georgians for Choice from 2001-2006.

Most recently, Vuley had been interim CEO for GOAL — A Girl’s Journey of Growth, a Decatur-based non-profit that helps adolescent girls build self-esteem.

According to the AJC, Vuley was killed when her mini-van was struck by a Ford Explorer on Memorial Drive. Police were looking for another vehicle they believe caused the crash.

“Errin was one of the most passionate, dedicated people I know, deeply committed to social justice,” said Sara Totonchi, a lobbyist with the Southern Center for Human Rights who was close friends with Vuley.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Karl, sophomore: Lisa Borders. I like her transportation issues more than anything else. She seemed to be the only candidate who actually knew anything about transportation, and who wasn’t trying to do the John Oxendine plan where you just kind of pave through the city. Mary Norwood is pretty good, but she feels more like gentrification. And she comes in and drives a Buick.  That just stuck in my head. Lisa is the only one that comes off as being able to handle the job.

Ariel, senior: I’m leaning towards Kasim Reed. Crime is a real big issue right now, and he has some of the best ideas as far as hiring more police officers. As a Georgia State student, we’re in the middle of Atlanta. After 6 o’clock, all the stores close. It’s weird, because it’s still daylight but people don’t feel safe. I feel what he’s trying to do is put that police presence back into the city of Atlanta, which is real important for me as a student. I saw yesterday that he was talking about hiring 750 more police officers.

Jessica, senior: Mary Norwood, mostly because I like to vote more conservative. The most important issue to me is taxes, especially since I’m a new Atlanta resident. Not that I pay property taxes, but my water, sewer are taxed highly for a lot of reasons. I’d like to see, at least on a local level, someone I can relate to on some views, compared to Kasim and Lisa Borders, who are more liberal. Economically,  we need reform, and Atlanta is not doing very well managing its finances right now.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Jim O’Donnell. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in tomorrow’s issue.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Naomi Prindiville. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in tomorrow’s issue.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Joe Buckel. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in tomorrow’s issue.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Tani Person. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in the issue Aug. 19.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Naomi Prindiville. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in the issue Aug. 19.

Bookmark It

The countdown to this year’s College Guide continues with Georgia State University’s Xiaotian Wang. Stay tuned for more! The winner will be unveiled in the issue Aug. 19.

Bookmark It

By now you’ve surely seen the comments state Rep. Calvin Hill, R-ThisThatAndTheOther, made yesterday about how ENRAGED he was that taxpayer dollars were paying the salaries of Georgia State University profs considered scholars in the fields of oral sex, queer theory and male prostitution.

An enigmatic scribe at Pecanne Log reminds us of the hardships GSU has endured to become a group-sex friendly learning institution:

Georgia State has lagged behind other colleges in the state for decades in terms of student life due to its designation as a commuter school. The most flourishing and attractive part of any higher education institution’s campus life is, of course, its orgies. GSU has spent the last ten years playing an expensive catch-up in order to also be labeled an orgy-friendly research institution.

She goes on to carefully detail just how much the university has accomplished — occupying the Sodom and Gomorrah-esque Olympic Village, building group study rooms with viewing windows, etc. You can see why these women won our Best Local Blogger award, people!

Take note, Rep. Hill: This is bigger than budget shortfalls! Try and rob us of our oral sex experts and the erotic legacy GSU has struggled to build and you will see a protest on the statehouse steps unlike any you’ve ever seen before!

Bookmark It

The fragrance of hippie in the morning…

>> The 2009 line-up of Bonnaroo music acts is in and Bruce Springsteen will be bringing his stage antics to a hippie-filled music fest near you. Why this dude was ever famous is another issue entirely.

>> Georgia State University professors with unique expertise draw the ire of one state Rep. who believes the profs would make for nifty budget cuts. Maybe he just hates it that someone knows more about oral sex than he does?

>> The Senate continues to squabble over pet projects and debate what the meaning of “stimulate” is. But maybe they’ll help with the latest Beltline squabbles!

>> Ah, famous teens — you can always count on them for a refreshing dose of amusement coupled with disgust. No one would accuse Miley Cyrus of being the brightest crayon in the box but … seriously?

>> Remember that thing you used to use decades ago to send letters — ha! — to people far and wide? Well, close your laptop and start writing, the Postal Service needs you.

>> All your questions about the octuplets’ conception and the mother’s peculiar circumstances answered.

>> Most obvious statement that still made it into a headline …

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Bookmark It

East Lake Meadows, in the midst of demolition.

Atlanta was the first city in the country to build a public housing project. By 2010, it will likely be the first to eradicate every last one of them.

At a high point (literally, though not figuratively), the number of public housing units in Atlanta numbered more than 14,000. If all goes according to plan, there soon will be none — aside from a handful of apartments for the elderly and infirm. Most of the Atlanta Housing Authority’s projects already have been replaced by mixed-income communities, which do wonders for reducing crime and improving neighborhoods. But they don’t offer the same assistance to the down-and-out that the AHA projects did.

The big question about this massive urban renewal initiative has been: What happened to all the low-income families who lived in public housing? Did the vouchers they received, for reduced rent, help better their lives? There is some evidence that suggests that many former resident’s lives were, in fact, improved.

Researchers at Georgia State University are trying to find out if that’s true.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Students and faculty at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School may have the luxury of being mere footsteps from all the downtown salad bars and panhandlers one could hope for, but they have the misfortune of being located in one of the Georgia Building Authority’s properties.

The state agency, forced to scale back expenses in light of Georgia’s $1.6 billion shortfall, recently started setting thermostats in the school’s building to Hades highs. Come winter they’ll be set to Siberian lows. (ba-da-zing!)

From an e-mail addressed to what seems like 98,324 people, according to the recipient list, sent out by an employee who’s got a good sense of humor about something totally out of their control :

Good warmer afternoon all,

I have had many complains/questions/concerns today regarding the warm offices/work areas and the only answer I had for each caller was, “We are going green”.

I know I, as many of you, have become accustom to having much cooler office temperatures. However, as of yesterday, September 2, 2008, the luxury of cooler office temperature may now be referred to as ‘the good old days’….

Copied below is GBA’s reminder of the new regulations and recommend practices….

And now, the rest is up to you!

If you have any questions/concerns regarding this matter, please
contact me.

Ah, yes. When the state goes broke, we gotta ‘go green.’ Perhaps if the governor and his bean counters weren’t so optimistic in their revenue projections, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with, eh? And just what temperature is the governor’s mansion these days, boss? How about retrofitting those windows down there with some insulated models? Fret not, students and faculty of GSU, for we feel your pain. Or at least I do. I sleep in my car, with the engine running, Japanese-engineered air conditioning blowing on my face. Gas bills are a pain but I wake up to the sunrise!

After the jump, the e-mail from the authority to its sweltering tenants.

(more…)

Bookmark It

The departure of Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders from the Atlanta mayor’s race earlier this week has, by political strategists’ calculation, left behind a large window of opportunity for the right candidate.

Specifically, we mean someone backed by the Atlanta business community – anointed by the Chamber of Commerce, as it were. Borders, a protege of mega-developer Tom Cousins, had been that person, but now she’s out.

Therefore, the buzz of the moment has concentrated on a well-known and universally respected chief executive, a man of unique achievement who’s arguably done more than anyone since Ted Turner to restore the vibrancy of Atlanta’s downtown business district.

(more…)

Bookmark It

WITHDRAWAL METHOD: Third of three candidates for president of Georgia State withdraws his name from consideration, leaving no active candidates.

STORK LIFT: South Georgia’s endangered wood stork is making a comeback, having doubled the number of nests found last year, according to the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division.

DOT: Settles sexual harassment charges against two former board members for nearly $150,000.

PACK LIGHT, PACK HEAT: State Rep. Tim Bearden thinks better of bringing a gun to pick up his family, but Georgia Carry continues his crusade, suing the city, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Hartsfield-Jackson GM Ben DeCosta for the right to bear arms at the airport. Also, giddy gun carriers congregated Tuesday at a Cobb County restaurant to mark the first day they could do so.

STUDY: Finds Georgia needs to raise college graduation rates.

T.I.: Andrew Young is working to mold the rapper into a different kind of King.

VOTER REGISTRATION: Continues to grow in Georgia. But don’t take my word for it — this AccessNorthGa news graphic answers all your questions.

Bookmark It