originally published April 23, 2008

Sweetening the Pot: As the publisher noted in last week’s issue, stories about NBAF and related topics continue to drift in from all over the Internet, but the biggest news last week came with the Banner-Herald’s report that the Georgia bio-lab recruiting team had pitched in another $20 million or more in additional incentives, including infrastructure from Georgia Power in Athens-Clarke County (the latter would be pending approval by ACC Commissioners). The offer apparently pales in comparison to what’s being put on the table in Kansas, a state where debate on the politics of economic development seems to be reaching a pitch not currently heard here in Georgia, and where, by the way, the vice-presidential aspirations of the governor seem at first glance a tad more realistic than those here at home. Whether any of that bears any significance at all in the NBAF site decision, City Dope doesn’t know, but hey, ain’t it fun to speculate?

The other NBAF news lately has to do with potential legal troubles for UGA over a study several years ago of sewage sludge applied to farm fields near Augusta. A lawsuit alleges bad data, and FAQ Athens seeks to bolster its anti-NBAF argument with these questions about research integrity at Georgia. This one is still unfolding…

A What Town with a What Problem? Then again, maybe the local NBAF opponents don’t have much to worry about, with UGA President Michael Adams off trying to reform the college football post-season and finding support from a few U.S. Congressmen, as the Banner-Herald reported late last week. It’s long been speculated that Adams would like to work his way into a bigger political arena than running UGA, and you do have to wonder how much longer his tenure there will last, but could a football crusade really be his ticket? We’ll see - it’s not like the U.S. House of Representatives has anything better to do.

GA Department of Rollercoasters: What a time it’s been lately for the Georgia DOT. Just in the last several months, the behemoth among state agencies has found a new director (elected by the state transportation board by a one-vote margin, amid yet another battle between Gov. Perdue and state House Speaker Glenn Richardson), then found its books to be a complete mess, and has now found that the new director, Gena Abraham, has become cozy with board chair Mike Evans. The full fallout was unclear at press time, but City Dope sees reason to hope that the so-called scandal doesn’t take down the new director - she’s apparently a capable administrator who’s serious about fixing up a massively screwed-up department, and if you accept the timeline as she and Evans have presented it - the two lovebirds have been plenty forthright in dealing appropriately with their newfound relationship.

This Guy, on the Other Hand, Belongs in the State House: Like the folks at other media outlets across Northeast Georgia, City Dope has been pleased to see so many emails and press releases from the office of Congressman Paul Broun. The good doctor, it turns out, is a perpetual motion machine, and it doesn’t help that by the time he took office last year, it was already just about time to gear up the re-election campaign for this fall’s balloting.

One of the better communiqués came earlier this month, headlined “Congressman Paul Broun to Introduce Bill Declaring English the Official Language of the United States Government” (sub-head, “Broun: ’Learning English has always been and will continue to be a key step in achieving the American dream.’”). Pomposity aside, the subject matter of the press release makes City Dope wonder if Rep. Broun wouldn’t fare better with the fun-loving boys under the Gold Dome in Atlanta, instead of in Washington, though his campaign did announce last week that his fellow Georgia Republican Congressmen have apparently got his back this fall.

Speaking of the the General Assembly, the Broun-related fun is really just about to begin, now that his Republican primary competitor, State Representative Barry Fleming, is clear of the legislative session. Can Broun work his electoral magic again by appealing to the lowest common denominator with bills like his English-language measure? Time will tell.

A Great Way to Start the Day: It’s been a couple years since this event took place, but BikeAthens and the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center are reviving Bike to Work Day, and it’s this Friday, Apr. 25. The idea is to help people get their feet wet with biking into work in the morning, and there’s no better way than a group ride to test out your route or your comfort level. Groups will be departing from various areas of Athens (and Watkinsville!) between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m., depending on distance, and assembling at UGA’s Herty Field around 8 a.m. Find a group you can tag along with, and give ’em an idea you’ll be showing up at www.bikeathens.com.

Where You At? A quick check of the archives reveals that Flagpole ran a story back in December about technological improvements coming to the Athens Transit system, including the then-under-construction network of GPS units on every bus, with real-time moving maps available on the Internet. The good news, now a little bit belated (apologies!), is that everything’s up and running. Check it out for kicks, at the very least - at www.athenstransit.com.

Good News: ACC police officer Courtney Gale has finally returned home to continue her recovery from injuries sustained last year in a knife attack by a man with a history of mental illness. Gale has spent months in the hospital and in rehabilitation since the incident last December, and it must be comforting to be back at home.

Congrats: Among all the well-deserved awards handed out at last week’s Greenfest environmental awards ceremony, City Dope wants to make special note of Athens Grow Green’s annual “best development” prizes. Their award for best adaptive re-use goes to Ciné, which of course opened last year in the former Snow Tire recap plant downtown. The “best new development” prize went to the Athens Land Trust’s Fourth Street Village, built in partnership with Ambling Development. If you haven’t been down Fourth Street since that mixed-income housing development was completed, it’s a worth a drive past - the place looks good.

Ben Emanuel

Send your city dope to ben@flagpole.com.