Fresh Loaf

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.

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(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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