A new anti-discrimination ordinance in Athens is facing its first test.
Kendrick Bullock and his brother Broderick Flanigan told Flagpole they were blocked from going to a downtown Athens bar, 90d's, because Bullock's saggy pants violated the dress code.
That appears to be a violation of an anti-discrimination ordinance passed in November after a nearby Confederate-themed bar called General Beauregard's featured a drink with a racist name.
It prohibits bars from discriminating, and requires them to post their dress code (if they have one) outside and to enforce it across the board, rather than selectively. Bars also have to keep records of private events. Numerous reports indicate that bars have used dress codes and made up fake private events to keep out minorities.
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Republican Nick Ayers is getting some national attention in The Hill as the "highest-profile name in the group of presidential campaign aides turned potential candidates" for higher office as he mulls a bid for Georgia governor.
The adviser to Vice President Mike Pence is vetting whether to launch a campaign to succeed Gov. Nathan Deal, who is term-limited.
Ayers hasn't confirmed or denied reports in outlets such as Politico and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's considering a bid for the wide-open gubernatorial field.
Ayers's ties to Trump could be a blessing and a curse. Support from Trump's fundraising infrastructure could provide Ayers with a leg up if he jumps in, and his work with Trump will go far with Trump loyalists.
But there are major warning signs coming from suburban Atlanta, where anti-Trump backlash has prompted a serious tightening in the upcoming House special election runoff there. That could mean that moderate Georgia Republicans will be willing to turn against the president, especially if a more moderate Republican makes a strong showing in the run-up to the primary.
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We still don't know exactly how President Trump's first budget proposal would impact Georgia's top D.C. priority, the Savannah port expansion project, but Democrats are already pouncing on the Republican's would-be cuts to federal infrastructure spending.
The port and senior Georgia lawmakers on Capitol Hill said Tuesday that they knew zilch about how the project would fare under the administration’s budget request for the Army Corps of Engineers, which is tasked with providing federal funding to the project. And the Corps cancelled its press conference, originally scheduled for Tuesday, on the budget.
Project boosters say they need about $100 million a year from the feds to keep the dredging project on track.
Here's what we do know: if the White House had its way, it would cut the Corps' overall budget by more than 16 percent. The administration instead wants to fundamentally overhaul the way infrastructure projects are funded nationally.
Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, was quick to come out with a statement blasting Trump for being a hypocrite on infrastructure:
"Despite President Trump's repeated promises to rebuild roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure, the budget proposal the administration released today is actually a net cut to infrastructure spending," his office said.
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Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis became a symbol for Democrats' resistance to Donald Trump's presidency earlier this year after he stated the Republican wasn't a "legitimate president" and skipped his inauguration and first address to Congress. Now he's promoting a new party initiative known as "resistance summer."
The civil rights hero will be appearing on a party podcast with Keith Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, tonight to hype the effort, which "seeks to bring Americans together to resist the powers that are trying to rig the system against working families.
From a DNC press release:
The Democratic Party will hire organizers across the country to build the Democratic resistance. Those organizers will help recruit and train thousands of volunteers and help spark nationwide mobilization against the Trump agenda."
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