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Wednesday, February 7, 2007
A slice of life from north and south DeKalb County
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Resentment over the looming incorporation of Dunwoody spilled into Wednesday’s meeting of the DeKalb County delegation.
Our colleague Ty Tagami watched as senators and representatives from the county munched sandwiches and discussed legislation, including that pesky bill that calls for a referendum creating a city of Dunwoody.
Should the city of Dunwoody come to pass, the county would lose a healthy chunk of its tax base
That led led state Rep. Michele Henson (D-Stone Mountain) to urge more study about the effect on the county budget.
“Where are we going with this?” asked Henson, whose east DeKalb district would be left behind.
Earnest “Coach” Williams (D-Avondale Estates) represents south DeKalb residents, who also would be left behind.
He had a quiet but frank answer. “Segregating the county,” Coach mumbled.
Williams, who is black, was seated next to Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody), who is not.
Millar, a leading proponent of incorporation, heard Williams’ comment, and obviously objected.
“That’s bull [stuff],” Millar said. “Don’t play the race card.”
Norwood declines further treatment, heads home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood of Augusta has declined further treatment at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, and will return home for hospice care, the congressman’s office just announced.
Norwood has been battling non-small cell lung cancer since mid-November. He was initially treated with chemotherapy at Inova Fairfax and Inova Mount Vernon Hospitals, both in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington, the press release states.
Norwood will depart the nation’s Capitol as soon as an air ambulance flight can be arranged, and will receive 24-hour nursing care at home, his office said.
The press release ends with the following statement:
“The Norwood family thanks all who have helped through Congressman Norwood’s extensive health battles since 1998 stemming from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. They request continued prayers for Charlie and his family.”
Wild horses couldn’t keep us away
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s a big week for trees.
Following on the announcement of the state’s first wood-based ethonal plant earlier today, Rolling Stones keyboardist and tree hugger extraordinaire Chuck Leavell will receive a commendation in the House Thursday. Leavell, who has been called “the Bono of trees” has received several awards for his conservation work.
Here’s the good part - Leavell’s bringing a keyboard, and we hear that he’ll be doing a few numbers after the official part of the proceedings are over. Can anybody think of a Stones song about a tree?
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Second and third and fourth careers for Herman Cain and a speechwriter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It looks like Herman Cain has given up on a political career, but can’t let go of politics. The former U.S. Senate candidate has declared himself home free in the medical department, after treatments last year for colon cancer.
And he’s got a permanent gig as a mike-jockey for WSB radio, starting Saturday, Feb. 17. He’s on from noon to 2 p.m.
Which means he’ll have to wrestle Larry Munson on game days.
Then there’s the case of Charles Walston, the former Journal-Constitution staffer who turned speechwriter for Gov. Roy Barnes back in the halcyon days of Democratic rule.
In Washington, Walston continued to put words into the mouths of Harry Reid, now the Senate majority leader, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. He’s now working for the National Education Association, where he helps to indoctrinate our nation’s youth in the ways of Satan.
But some of you also may remember him as lead singer for an Atlanta honky-tonk group known as The Vidalias.
That group went bust, and Walston has re-emerged in D.C. as the head of Bourbon Dynasty. He just got a decent review in the Washington Post, Or you can listen to a sound clip here.
And he’ll be in Atlanta at the Earl on the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 18, where he’ll join some of the old Vidalias.
Blogwatch: Al Jazeera comes to Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amy Morton, who maintains the Georgia Women Vote blog, reported last night that an Al Jazeera news team is in Macon to interview Mayor Jack Ellis, who has become a Sunni Muslim and is in the process of changing his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis.
She’s got no details, but those may come later today.
Nathan Deal’s hanging back — and making Gingrich-like sounds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning’s editions of the Gainesville Times has an interview with U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal that makes it clear that he’s not joining the stampede to Mitt Romney as a GOP candidate for the White House.
Three of Deal’s Georgia colleagues — Phil Gingrey, Tom Price and John Linder — have sided with the former Massachusetts governor. Which adds meaning to Deal’s comments.
“We don’t have any front-runners who fit a conservative-type mold. That’s where Newt Gingrich’s strategy is working to his advantage,” Deal said.
Deal, who represents north Georgia, also had kind words for a more obscure presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, a Vietnam combat veteran who headed the House Armed Services committee in the last Congress.
“He is right on issues that fit our area, such as immigration reform. He’s a solid conservative, and if he can get enough traction, he’ll stand out from the presumed pack,” Deal told the Times.
A sign of ‘08: Chambliss casts vote against Army chief of staff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican who faces his first re-election test in 21 months, exhibited frustration with the Iraq war Tuesday by casting one of three committee votes against General George Casey, President Bush’s nomination as Army chief of staff.
He joined two other Republicans, John McCain of Arizona and John Ensign of Nevada.
Casey, formerly the top general in Iraq, still won the approval of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His nomination now proceeds to the full Senate.
Many in Georgia will be watching to see if the state’s junior senator, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, will give Chambliss company with his vote on the floor.
“Gen. Casey has been the top commander on the ground in Iraq, and frankly under his leadership we haven’t done so well in the last two and a half years,” Chambliss told the Associated Press after the vote. “I just don’t think the operation has gone very well under his leadership.”
Georgia is widely viewed as pro-military, and one of the most friendly to the president. But last month, Strategic Vision, the GOP polling firm, reported that only 38 percent of the state’s voters approved of Bush’s Iraq policy.
Also, remember that one day after his State of the Union speech last month, Bush flew down to Fort Benning to talk to the troops. Two Georgia congressmen accompanied the president. Chambliss was not among them.
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