PEACH BUZZ: Cheerleaders stand in for voters in line

Don’t want to stand in a long line to vote today? You might be able to get a high school cheerleader to do it for you. Atlanta radio station Q100 has arranged for eight local high school cheerleaders to be placeholders for people who call the station today at announced times.

“People really, really don’t want to wait that long standing in line,” said Bert Weiss, host of “The Bert Show.” “People call in and tell us their stories,” he continued. “We had a mom of four who is also working, and she doesn’t have four to six hours to stand in line.”

The station contacted metro Atlanta cheerleading coaches, and got responses from girls at Woodstock, North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge, Flowery Branch and other schools off today because the schools are polling places. Q100 lined up two placeholders Monday and will offer six more today to the 100th callers when announced.

The cheerleaders will meet the voters at their polling places, exchange cell numbers, then call when they get near the front of the line. In return, the students get two tickets to an upcoming concert with “American Idol” winner David Cook and others.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office clarified for Buzz that there’s no legal problem with using placeholders in voting lines.

Decatur’s taste

In other pre-election news, Sen. Barack Obama easily won more votes —- in the form of bite-size Snickers, M&M’s and pretzels —- on Halloween night in Decatur.

In a worldwide exclusive for Buzz, 9-year-old Moey Rojas, who dressed up as a voting machine, released the results to us: Obama, 111 pieces of candy (which included one absentee Airhead candy that arrived in the mail); Sen. John McCain, 27 pieces of candy; and one piece of chocolate for Bob Barr, the Libertarian presidential candidate.

Wearing a costume with red, white and blue fabric that mimicked a ballot box, Moey, who was featured in the AJC and on CNN, was greeted by eager electors. One McCain supporter slipped in a multi-pack of full-size Snickers (but it still only counted as one vote). Some wanted to let their pets vote, too (not allowed).

CNN.com is selling a T-shirt with the headline, “Obama wins Halloween Candy Vote.”

Zone-ing out on the Fan

Former 790/the Zone sports talk-show hosts Matt Chernoff and Chuck Oliver will reunite starting today from 1 to 3 p.m. on rival 680/the Fan. The pair will specialize in college football and replace a syndicated ESPN show. While some local radio stations are paring budgets and cutting personalities in the face of shrinking revenues, the Fan is growing by double digits and is able to expand local content, said Fan president David Dickey. The station’s ratings have improved in recent years.

Former University of Georgia coach Jim Donnan will continue to host a show on Mondays and Thursdays through January, so Chernoff and Oliver’s show will be heard only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays for now. They’ll contribute to Buck and Kincade 4-7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays.

Lunch with T-Boz

Over filet mignon and creme brulee, TLC star Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Judge Penny Brown Reynolds (from “Family Court With Judge Penny”) gave six Clayton County high school students pearls of wisdom and a brush with fame at Frank and Tanya Ski’s Atlanta home Sunday.

The Skis, through their foundation, wanted to inspire the best and brightest seniors from the beleaguered Clayton County public school system, which lost its accreditation this year. They also presented $1,000 scholarships to each teen.

Meaghan Jackson, a senior and student government president at Morrow High School, said she always will remember a line Judge Penny told her: “God will call into existence those things which do not exist if you only believe.”

Judge Penny hugged Jackson goodbye and told her, “As the first person in your family to go to college and finish high school, that’s a big weight and responsibility. But just be the best you can be. Don’t worry about carrying the legacy.”

Tyler Jones, a Mount Zion High School senior who wants to go to Georgia Tech, said she’s heard people denigrate her school system, saying anybody going there might as well give up dreams of college.

“I’m really insulted by that,” she said. “We have good teachers, good test scores. It’s our school board that can’t get its act together.”

Jones said her father told her not to be starstruck, but she couldn’t help it.

“Oh, my God! I’m sitting next to T-Boz! She touched my arm!” she thought to herself at lunch. “I had to pinch myself under the table to make sure this wasn’t a dream!”

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Former CBS news anchorman Walter Cronkite is 92. Actress Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 78. Actress Loretta Swit (“MASH”) is 71. Singer-guitarist Chris Difford of Squeeze is 54. Actress Kathy Griffin is 48. Actor Ralph Macchio is 47. “Survivor” host Jeff Probst is 47. Actor Matthew McConaughey is 39. Rapper-producer Diddy (Sean Combs) is 39. Actress Heather Tom (“Bold and the Beautiful”) is 33.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I was just so thrilled to see that Kelly wasn’t wearing a fat suit!”

Savannah’s Lady & Sons owner Paula Deen on “Good Morning America” Monday, discussing Kelly Ripa’s Paula Deen Halloween costume on “Live With Regis & Kelly”

Contributing: Rodney Ho, Phil Kloer, Helena Oliviero and news services