Get Schooled

By jim d

January 17, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this

Oh my Bridget,

Too bad you missed January 12, 1982 here in Atlanta. You’d have loved it!

By madisons mom

January 17, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this

Hall County (that’s a metro county) schools are also out today.

By Mike K.

January 17, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this

jim d,

I was a freshman at Walton High School when Snow Jam ‘82 hit. It was crazy! Everyone left their cars on the interstate during rush hour The weather forecasters completely blew it. If I remember correctly, Cobb County schools were closed all week.

By catlady

January 17, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

In 82 I was teaching here in the Nga mtns. Our schools were very slow to turn out (2 hours too late) because they couldn’t “find” the bus drivers (like the drivers couldn’t see that it was snowing like crazy!) and did not want to miss serving lunch. As a result, the snowstorm was well advanced by the time we got the children on the buses and could leave. Many of us had harrowing rides home, and one of the teachers had a wreck that left her crippled and brain-impaired and unable to work due to her brain injury. Her life was ruined.

Since that time, we have had similiar problems a few times with a marked lack of immediate response to threatening weather. In addition to the lunch and finding the drivers problem, teachers have been required to call any parent that requests it (in advance) to find out what they want us to do with their children! Think about making 200 calls on 2 lines! I have burned up many minutes on my cell phone. We also have parents who we cannot reach, and they apparently also do not know it is snowing, or are not going to leave work. So teachers and administrators frequently have very dangerous conditions facing them when school is finally dismissed.

Our new supt seems to be reluctant to call off school, so I was surprised when they notified us last evening. I wish we had a better way to insure transportation safety (and to keep power/water on) when the weather goes south (or north, as the case may be).

By Mel

January 17, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

The kids weren’t the only ones hoping for a snow day! Most of my coworkers said they were bummed to wake up to rain this morning as well. What is it about snow that turns everyone in to giddy 5 year olds?

At least we had enough snow for a tiny snowman in our yard. We had a great time reading “Snowy Day” last night at bed time too!

By jim d

January 17, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this

Mike,

I was an integral part of the party in 82. As I recall or not, the booze flowed all night. :-)

By John in Tampa, FLA

January 17, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

Snow. I don’t see no stinking snow. It’s in the mid 70’s down here. Overcast though.

By JustMe

January 17, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this

As a Mid-Westerner, I have to say….. that was barely snow!

More like thick rain (sleet) for the better part of the (dare I say) storm.

When you have a REAL storm, visibility is low, road conditions are treacherous and the snow actually covers the grassy areas not coats it.

I hate to say it, but I’ll take a whimpy GA snow day any day over a Midwestern snow day (8+ inches)cause my dear Southerners (bless y’alls hearts) panic at the threat of inclement weather.

It sounds like y’all had a real Snow Storm in ‘82 though.

By JustMe

January 17, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this

As a Mid-Westerner, I have to say….. that was barely snow!

More like thick rain (sleet) for the better part of the (dare I say) storm.

When you have a REAL storm, visibility is low, road conditions are treacherous and the snow actually covers the grassy areas not coats it.

I hate to say it, but I’ll take a whimpy GA snow day any day over a Midwestern snow day (8+ inches)cause my dear Southerners (bless y’alls hearts) panic at the threat of inclement weather.

It sounds like y’all had a real Snow Storm in ‘82 though.

By jim d

January 17, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this

might a known! another damn yankee!

By jamie

January 17, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this

My daughter was so mad this morning! She got up early and happy - assuming she didn’t have school!

Maybe next time!

I am a D* yankee - our school rarely closed - had to be severe white out conditions or the time that the windchill was -50 to -60. We missed 4 days that week - it was too dangerous for little kids to wait at the bus stops!

I have certainly embraced the southern snow day though - it is just fine with me to have a surprise holiday!

By Dan

January 17, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this

I’ll never forget in the blizzard of 82 the many hitch hike rides I got home and the sight of 3 young black men pushing an old white lady’s car out of a ditch and to safety. Was a beautiful day !

By astro

January 17, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this

Wow! The blizzard of ‘82… I was a 9th grader. Lived just inside the perimeter on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The next morning, both sides of the road were PACKED with cars where the drivers just parked them and got out to walk.

My friends and I earned some good tips that day going down the road and scraping the snow off the cars. Many of the drivers who were coming back to get their cars gave us a couple bucks. We got extra for helping push them out into the road.

By very disappointed

January 17, 2008 4:20 PM | Link to this

I’m an office worker, and I am with the school kids in their disappointment. All afternoon a co-worker was emailing weather bulletins and everyone was all stirred up about the snow day we were going to have, and I was the voice of gloom and doom saying, “Not gonna’ happen,” because it NEVER does!! I’ve stopped getting my hopes up. The day they don’t warn us will be the day it happens.

By kids love snow

January 17, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this

I love knowing young kids are seeing snow for the first time - what a magical thrill. Me, I grew up in Chicago so no biggie, just get the shovel out and do whatever you have to do to get where you’re going.

By LydiasDad

January 17, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this

Winter of ‘93 was our last real snow. Shut down Atlanta for a week. I think we’re due for another good one.

By muffin

January 17, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this

I remember my dad parking and walking from work downtown in 1982. i have no idea where he parked his car, but he didn’t get home until about 9:00 p.m. I was worried sick and so happy to see him show up at the front door with his faux furry hat on, covered in snow. That must have sucked. It took me 2 hours to drive 10 miles last night. i understand the flakes were a distraction, but seriously people, it wasn’t sticking and everyone acted like we were in white out conditions the way they were driving. Get a grip!

By Kerry

January 17, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

By stephanie

January 17, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this

I was here for the snow in ‘82 and ‘93 (which came on a Saturday morning, a couple days before St. Pat’s Day) but I surely don’t remember the city being shut down for a week. Got monday off at best. Anyway, would love to see another “Winter Wonderland” here! We did have a beautiful snowfall in Canton last night.

By John in Tampa, FLA

January 17, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this

Try flying back to Baltimore after they get a foot of snow, only to find the airport parking lot plowed with 3 feet of snow behind your car.

By just a teacher

January 17, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

Winter of ‘93 was great, but there was also a blip in ‘95. It wasn’t a true blizzard like ‘93, but we missed school for at least three days. By the last one the roads were safe enough to drive around and our parents were eager to get us out of the house.

I also recall a missed day when it didn’t snow, but it was so cold that the diesel fuel in the buses congealed. I’m thinking 89 or 90; I was in middle school in APS then. We also got some days for Hurricane Opal in 92 I think. I guess that’s why we officially call them “inclement weather” days.

By OHTransplant

January 17, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this

My first winter in GA was in 1993 and imagine my surprise to wake up to a foot of snow in March - especially since I had given away all of my serious winter weather gear! It was great. Along with Northern neighbors in my apt complex, we revisited our youth by playing in the snow - until some little kids stole our snowman’s head!I remember it snowing Sat and then being gone by Monday - not sure of this week-long shutdown being mentioned in other posts unless they lived in N. Ga. Growing up in Ohio, few things were as exciting waking up to snow and waiting to hear the school closings announced on the radio. Joyful shouts of kids for miles could be heard - Snow Day!

By Bob

January 17, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this

Oh yes, ‘82 and ‘93 snow jams! I remember those! Yes, I do believe Cobb schools for out for a whole week for snow jam ‘82. I seemed like even other one of us had parents that were trapped downtown or walking from downtown and not getting home until the middle of the night. And ‘93, I remember going to bed and the weather people said “only expect a few flurries” and I woke up to a 2 foot snow drift at my front door. I’m in my (ahem) 40’s and I remember getting at least one good snow every year up until the 90’s. I miss snow days

By Marbo

January 17, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this

Muffin, The reason people were driving cautiously had nothing to do with the snow(or sleet for that matter)that was falling but it did have everything to do with the “black ice” that Georgia is famous for!

By Soulfinger

January 17, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this

Snow day??? Whats that? In NY, the snow would have had to been over our heads and even then, you would shoosh into work/shchool with maybe a grace period of say an hour!

By dino

January 17, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

i was so looking forward to seeing the insides of my eyelids this morning!!

By teacherslovesnowdays

January 17, 2008 5:43 PM | Link to this

Before Snow Jam in ‘82 and the Blizzard of ‘93 (Mar. 13th), there was the great Ice Storm of ‘73. Every shrub was bent to the ground with the weight of the ice; many trees, too, with up to 4” of ice. Falling branches knocked out power nearly everywhere in metro Atlanta. I was without power 12 hours—that made me lucky. There were 300,000 people without power, with some a week getting it back. And there was a 96-hour stretch of below freezing temperatures. Let’s see: ‘73, ‘82 ‘93. I think I see a pattern. And we’re overdue. I think it’s global warming.

By Handsome Yankee

January 17, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this

I remember one time about 5 or 6 years ago when they closed the Fulton County schools because they thought an ice storm was coming. they made the call the night before. and on the day of, when all the kids were home and I had to take off work, there was not a flake of snow or a drop of rain. I am always astonished by the sheer stupidity and panic that spreads through the metro population whenever we get any wintry precipitation.

Morons.

By maggie

January 17, 2008 5:55 PM | Link to this

I’m one of the few native Atlantans still in the area. A childhood memory is listening to the radio on school mornings after wintery weather to see if Fulton County was closing schools because of ice on the roads or lack of power. Luckily, South Fulton schools had to close if North Fulton schools did. The biggest winter event was in 1973. An ice storm coated the trees, and power was out almost a week in parts of the city because of downed lines. Many of us went to Greenbriar Mall during the day and came home when the mall closed to sleep under piles of blankets and quilts. Some people “toughed” it out at hotels around the airport. There were very few snowplows, so surface street conditions determined school closings when there was any winter weather. Not closing schools had risks. I remember a family who lost 3 children because their car spun out on the way to school and wrapped around a tree (the days before seatbelts were required). It does seem that snow and ice events are few and far between now. Seems like Atlanta weather is more like Macon’s used to be. I have heard that the 1970’s were the end of what is called The Little Ice Age. I know my dad used to say that there was a lot more snow when he was a boy in Atlanta (the 1920’s). I wonder what winter will be like for my grandchildren if they are in the Atlanta area - average lows in the 60’s?!?

By Attn: Clayton Parents

January 17, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

Close to a dozen stories on the SACS “investigation” in Clayton and the AJC can’t (won’t) write even ONE story about school board member Rod Johnson’s wife illegally double dipping? When an Open Records request has CONFIRMED it is happening?

Bridget posted contact information on a recent blog, as if though people at the AJC have the integrity to explain their journalistic decisions to readers. Yet nobody at the AJC seems to have the integrity to explain why this story hasn’t been reported.

-Lyle Harris? -Megan Matteucci? -Eric Strigus? -Bridget Gutierrez? -Angela Tuck?

Is there not one of you willing to come on the Get Schooled blog and explain why given the MOUNTAIN of coverage of SACS and the Clayton school board, the AJC won’t write a SINGLE story on a school board member’s wife taking literally THOUSANDS of dollars in illegal payments?

Or are you just hoping if you ignore it, it will go away? Sorry but the TRUTH doesn’t go away so easily, especially when an Open Records request CONFIRMS it.

By Jesse's Girl

January 17, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

I actually kept the kids out today because my neice…who is at Young Harris College…said the snow was really nice up there. So, we took off around 10 am and hiked up the closed Brasstown Bald! Ssshhh! It was amazing to see the kids playing around and having a blast! Best skip day ever!!!

By maggie

January 17, 2008 6:45 PM | Link to this

How funny - another northern transplant calling us morons. Seems like I remember we were also morons in ‘82 because people were told to go on to school and work because the winter weather was coming in the early evening. Of course, though, thinking about bus drivers who leave their homes before 5:30am to warm up the buses, working parents who drop their kids off in early morning daycare are not to be considered. Heaven forbid parents have time to make arrangements for their children the night before. Let’s face it, the weather is not 100% predictable. I’m sure that if the conditions had been right a couple of years ago, Handsome Yankee would have praised the school systems for having the foresight to announce closings the night before. I’m sorry - I just have to say it to all the people who think we are missing IQ points because we are Southern - Delta is ready when you are!

By Michael Shepherd

January 17, 2008 7:36 PM | Link to this

oh, how i wish it would snow if only for a day.

By Angelique

January 17, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

Snow day, what snow day. Even though it would have been nice. This is fricking spring weather for people who are use to 4ft of snow and a true BLIZZARD.

I’m from Connecticut, and lets not talk about the fact that its pitch black at 4:00 PM, there’s 4 ft of snow outside and the kids still have to get up and go to school. Or how about if you live in apartment complex up North (CT, NY, ME) you have to get up and go outside and play the game of, help me find my car. Lol, LOL, LOL.

By CG

January 17, 2008 8:10 PM | Link to this

Last time I checked, Forsyth County is in the metro area, too…kids had off here today…

By Angelique

January 17, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this

What I plan on doing is taking my children back to Connecticut one day and show them what a REAL snow storm and a REAL snow day looks like. Not to mention I want them to witness the other kids standing at the bus stop in 20 below zero weather and snow piled 4ft tall on both sides of the road. What a NIGHTMARE!!!!

By NICK

January 17, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this

Man,

I remeber snow days back D.C. We would get a keg of beer, some “NOMA’s”, a group of friends and head to Battery Kimble Park.

It was really hilly with great jumps. The more you drank the bigger “ballz” you had to try some stupid stunt that you wouldn’t do sober, but WTF?

Anyhow, there would always be rival high schools there like St. Albans kids or someone looking for a fight.

The more beer you drink and the more some dude from another school starts throwing snowballs at you, something is bound to go down.

We would stay up at B.K. for hours, until our toes froze.

By NICK

January 17, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this

Man,

I remeber snow days back D.C. We would get a keg of beer, some “NOMA’s”, a group of friends and head to Battery Kimble Park.

It was really hilly with great jumps. The more you drank the bigger “ballz” you had to try some stupid stunt that you wouldn’t do sober, but WTF?

Anyhow, there would always be rival high schools there like St. Albans kids or someone looking for a fight.

The more beer you drink and the more some dude from another school starts throwing snowballs at you, something is bound to go down.

We would stay up at B.K. for hours, until our toes froze.

By Bob

January 17, 2008 8:38 PM | Link to this

I can’t belive I forgot about the ice storm in ‘73! I now remember the tree that fell next to my bedroom, the power being out for days, trees and branches falling everywhere and my parents pulling us all into the living room to stay there for a couple of days away from the windows next to the trees and to be near the fireplace to keep warm.

By Renee

January 17, 2008 8:43 PM | Link to this

Does ANYONE remember the snow storm of January 7-12 or so of 1988???? My hubby and I got married in Marietta in that snowdrift of a couple of feet or so and even relatives south of here couldn’t make it in to Atlanta for our wedding!! We didn’t plan to have our wedding screwed up by snowy weather, but, Yes, it can happen even here in usually balmy Atlanta!! GO FIGURE!! Made for quite a reception since everyone had no where else to go!!

By Tony

January 17, 2008 8:51 PM | Link to this

I grew up in Florida. Can you imagine how many snow days we got? 2! In twelve years of school. The snow came in 1976 and most amazingly, it stayed on the ground for two days - in Florida!

Now, let’s talk about hurrican days.

By Tony

January 17, 2008 8:52 PM | Link to this

Excuse me. That should have been “hurricane days.”

By Kat

January 17, 2008 9:08 PM | Link to this

According to AJC, we are supposed to get snow on Saturday!

The blizzard of ‘93 happened the night/next day of my wisdom teeth extraction. I was so concerned about that procedure, I didn’t listen to the news. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I just thought the doctor had given me some really awesome drugs!

By luvs2teach

January 17, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this

I normally don’t get excited because I’ve been let down so many times, but when I walked out at 5:30 yesterday and so those big beautiful flakes, I thought this could be it.

The Earth science teacher in me kept watching the weather channel watching for the temperature to drop just a couple more degrees…alas, it was not to be.

As a transplanted Northerner (although having left there at 19 and been here for 17, I’m practically a native now, right?), I have to defend my Southern friends - up north, we had the gear - the snow tires, the chains, the snow suits, etc, to handle the snow we got up there! Cities and towns had plows - plural! - not just a few sand trucks. Our buses had the right kind of diesel engine to run in cold weather (we had a “cold” day a couple years ago because, not only was it too cold for the kids to wait at the bus stop, the fuel gels up and the buses can’t run). I’ve let my kids stay home when I thought conditions warranted it.

By Blueja

January 17, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this

I remember the snow/ice of 1988. I was a sophomore at WGC. It happened right after we came back after Christmas break. The college was closed for about 3 days.

I also remember 1972. I was about 5. We were one of the rare Snellville homes with power. Most of the Metro was without power for 7 days.

By ERin

January 17, 2008 11:07 PM | Link to this

Ahhh, yes, the fun of a snow day off!

I was in first grade when the storm of 1982 hit. I remember having SO much fun outdoors! I also remember thinking it was hilarious watching cars rolling all over the interstate bridges and stuff due to icy conditions!

Then the Blizzard of 1993. I was a high school senior then and I loved it just as much then as I did when I was little! We only lost power for a few hours, which was great, but I remember how so many others lost power for something like a week or so.

By ERin

January 17, 2008 11:07 PM | Link to this

Ahhh, yes, the fun of a snow day off!

I was in first grade when the storm of 1982 hit. I remember having SO much fun outdoors! I also remember thinking it was hilarious watching cars rolling all over the interstate bridges and stuff due to icy conditions!

Then the Blizzard of 1993. I was a high school senior then and I loved it just as much then as I did when I was little! We only lost power for a few hours, which was great, but I remember how so many others lost power for something like a week or so.

By Chip

January 17, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this

The blizzard 0f 93 was so awesome. But, it started on a Saturday morning. Had it been cold enough, we would have had 3 feet of snow because it Rained all night friday and changed to snow about 7:30 am. And when was done, one solid foot of snow and was on the ground for a week….in mid March, no less. 70-80 mph gusts of wind. I think was called storm of century with lowest recorded barometric pressure in 100 years.Like a hurricane in winter. Awesome, but scary!

By teacherthathatessnowdays

January 17, 2008 11:59 PM | Link to this

I’d rather have a day off when the weather is nice. I don’t want to have to make the missed day up.

And to the transplant defending us Southerners, Thanks! You are certainly right. We don’t have the gear. We don’t have a need to except every now and it’s just easier to shut everything down. We also get more ice than snow here and that is totally different in how it effects things.

I remember ‘82 and ‘93. My dad drove home using parking lots to get around all of the parked cars. I forgot how long it took him to get home, but it was a very long time. But I only remember missing just one day of school both times. My grandmother was completly snowed in in ‘93. She had drifts that covered her house. However, she lived in the NGA mountains. Down here it was as bad.

By love my 4 kids

January 18, 2008 2:08 AM | Link to this

Home schoolers never have snow days! We are required to go 180 days - period. My crew got up a little earlier this morning, donned their “snow” clothes, and had a blast throwing snowballs and building snow forts. Once soaked through with icy slush, they willingly came in for a warmup with the required “snow day” hot chocolate. After a nice hot breakfast, we began our school day as they looked longingly out the window. By 10 A.M. the frosty white fantasy world was gone.

By mom3boys

January 18, 2008 6:44 AM | Link to this

The “big one” of ‘82, the “big one” of ‘93….we are soooooo over due a VERY big one…it’s coming…it’s coming…!!

As a teacher, I hate snow days because I live for those off days in the gloom of Feb and March…if we miss now, they take those away!

By mom3boys

January 18, 2008 6:45 AM | Link to this

The “big one” of ‘82, the “big one” of ‘93….we are soooooo over due a VERY big one…it’s coming…it’s coming…!!

As a teacher, I hate snow days because I live for those off days in the gloom of Feb and March…if we miss now, they take those away!

By Robin

January 18, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this

I am Georgia born and raised, and have always lived in this beautiful state. I lived through the storm of 73 - I was in 4th grade and I think school was closed for an entire week! It was great!

I was a HS senior when the storm of 82 came. That was fun too. We didn’t lose power, and school was out for several days. What fun!

And the 93 blizzard - that wasn’t as much fun. First of all, it came on a Saturday - so most folks didn’t get to miss school and/or work. We lost power, and had NO alternative means of heat. We also were in a rural area, and relied on a well for water. Guess what,….no power, no water. Not fun.

I get so fed up with Northern folks bashing us southerners for being wimpy during snow. Well, listen up, as some others stated, we don’t have the equipment or experience to deal with snow/ice conditions. We don’t have the snow ploughs, etc., to cope with it. Also, 98% of folks don’t have chains for their car tires, etc. And, we have mostly ice here - black ice - you don’t know its there until your car suddenly slides off the highway.

Here is something that should put it in perspective for you. Do you remember the heat wave a few years ago, that swept through the USA? several hundred people died in Chicago and other Northern areas? Well, the people in those areas were not equiped to deal with the heat. We had the heat wave down here too,. but I think only 1 or 2 people died. Why? Because we are equiped to deal with the heat, and are accustomed to it.

And, you don’t hear us laughing at yall because you can’t deal with the heat. Southerners are more polite than that. Bless your heart.

By Julie

January 18, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this

@Angelique, as Maggie said, Delta is ready when you are.

By Randall

January 18, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this

I still have the video tape me and my dad and brother made of the ‘93 event. I was a senior in high school, and we were out that Saturday morning with a 6 inch ruler that disappeared into the snow on the ground—very exciting. Then the power went out. I spent two days piled up on the couch in front of the wood stove with my entire family…cabin fever! My friend Michael Tolcher came by on the third day and asked if I wanted to go on a run (we were on the cross country team together). I think we ran about 18 or 20 miles that day, all through the panhandle of Clayton Co. It was nice to get out of the house and experience the snow and ice that way. I’ll never forget that.

By jim d

January 18, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this

One thing about Georgia.

Don’t like the weather? Stick around!

We have more snow predicted for this weekend.

By Old School

January 18, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this

Down here in deep Southwest Georgia, we make our own blizzards…

…we spray paint swarms of gnats white.

Works…my azaleas froze to death.

By Jeff

January 18, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this

Amen Old School!!!

I leave North GA and all of a sudden they get the white stuff again.

ALMOST makes me want to move back.

ALMOST.

By jim d

January 18, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this

OK,

No snow day—so everyone take monday off.

By Attn: Clayton Parents

January 18, 2008 7:32 PM | Link to this

Yet ANOTHER story on the Clayton SACS investigation today, and STILL the AJC won’t write a story on the Open Records request that CONFIRMS school board member Rod Johnson’s wife was ILLEGALLY double dipping?

Why won’t Get Schooled comment on this?

Why won’t Clayton reporter Eric Stirgus comment on this?

Why won’t Clayton education reporter Megan Matteucci comment on this?

Why won’t AJC editor Lyle Harris comment on this? (At least the blogsphere has done its job when it comes to Harris, as his last editorial talks about the school board as a whole and no longer bashes certain selected board members. Harris knows he can’t get away with this anymore, as too many people will question his credibility when he names selected board members but ignores those who have committed BLATANTLY illegal acts.)

Still, AJC readers have a right to know; why hasn’t the paper reported on the Open Records request that CONFIRMS school board member Rod Johnson’s wife, State Rep. Celeste Johnson has been ILLEGALLY double dipping?

If someone can post, especially in light of the almost DOZEN stories on the SACS investigation why this ISN’T a legitimate question, please do so. Otherwise the question needs to be continued to be asked, until the AJC does its job.

By Attn: Clayton Parents

January 18, 2008 11:28 PM | Link to this

Hey Rod Johnson nice of you to send an email to the voters asking them to support “ethics board proposal” you sent to the Clayton delegation of the legislature, especially since one of them, your wife Celeste Johnson, is a Clayton employee who has been ILLEGALLY double dipping from Clayton schools while she serves in the legislature.

Did the two of you “pray over this” before bilking the citizens of Clayton out of THOUSANDS of dollars?

As long as you two are “in prayer” you might as well give thanks to those at the AJC who refuse to cover the story, because they are more interested in being a “player” in Clayton than they are OBJECTIVE reporting.

What’s the matter Lyle Harris, tired of endorsing candidates in Clayton, only to get your a$$ repeatedly handed to you? I would be too, but it would NOT prevent me from doing my duty as a member of the press and exposing the blantantly illegal activities of a board member’s family, especially when your paper has written close to a DOZEN articles on the SACS “investigation”.

Maybe the AJC should sign off on their next article about the Clayton school system and SACS with the tagline paid for by the friends of Rod and Celeste Johnson.

By WFC

January 20, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this

It finally dawned on me. The Atlanta TV stations ALWAYS overestimate Atlanta snow events to boost their ratings! This weekend’s non event cost me $250 becaused I called a friend in LA and told him not to fly in. I’ll never watch those “sky is falling” guys again. IDIOTS, and selfish ones at that.

By Ernest

January 21, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this

WFC:

You’ve got a good point! I was here during ‘Snow Jam ‘82’. My recollection is that the local media seriously underestimated how bad that would be and it caught the city off guard. Since that time, every subsequent ‘wintry mix’ seemed to be over hyped. How may of you remember the headline, “Snow Sham ‘83’? We’ve become the laughing stock of the country by shutting down the city with each ‘dusting’ that occurs.

Given our access to the internet and cable TV, I take a look at the weather channel and other sites. Whenever I hear ‘the sky is falling’, I research for myself to see what the real story is.

By PTCMomma

January 21, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

I remember snow days too. With real snow in Howard County, MD. We could actually sled on it. I also remember walking to school in snow if it was only a couple of inches, and had stopped falling….

By enique1103

January 21, 2008 8:47 PM | Link to this

I remember the blizzard of ‘93 well. I remember being upset that it happened on the weekend, but glad my family had power. Some of my friends weren’t so fortunate. I also remember Hurricane Opal in ‘95. Most of the Northern part of DeKalb county were without power, so the whole county didn’t have classes for about three days.

Robin…..excellent point. One summer I went to NYC to visit family and was amamzed by how so many homes didn’t have central AC. It was actually hotter there (in the 90’s) than it was here (in the 80’s) I spent most of my time in ONE ROOM in front of the window AC unit.