Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday is a holiday for State of Georgia employees. Yes, for that 19th Century era.
It's the 21st Century: Atlanta has the world's busiest airport - and a holiday in honor of the Confederacy. As the song "Dixie" says, "Old times there are not forgotten." Monday, April 23, is a holiday for state employees, for Confederate Memorial Day. Really. According to the state website, the holiday is observed Monday, though it officially is April 26. — Should Confederate Memorial Day be observed in Georgia? Tell us in comments below. Technically, there is no holiday officially known as Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia, which originally held it April 26 to commemorate the surrender of Confederate troops to Union Gen. William T. Sherman. The original routine began in 1874. In 1984, the Georgia Legislature eliminated the official …
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Democrat Scott Holcomb of Tucker wants his colleagues to face mandatory drug testing.
A local lawmaker is proposing that Georgia General Assembly members face mandatory drug testing. State Representative Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta), whose district 82 includes portions of Tucker, prefiled HB677 last month. Members who fail the tests would be subject to removal, under the proposed legislation. Holcomb said his bill is a response to another piece of prefiled legislation, HB668. Co-sponsored by Republican lawmaker Wendall Wilard of Sandy Springs, HB668 would require adults in families applying for state aid to face mandatory drug testing as a precondition. “It strikes me if the legislature is going to focus its attention on an issue like this, then we should lead by example,” Holcomb said. “If we’re going to require drug testing …
Friday, January 6, 2012
Recent crime outbreak and the upcoming legislative session were on the agenda.
On Thursday night, Representative Scott Holcomb (D-82) hosted a town hall meeting at Evansdale Elementary School to discuss the upcoming legislative session as well as public safety in the community. Commissioner Jeff Rader and officers from the DeKalb Police Department joined him as speakers. Holcomb, who had scheduled the meeting some time ago, expanded the agenda to include public safety in response to the recent outbreak of crimes in the Tucker and Northlake areas, including theft from his own vehicle, which was broken into in his driveway while he was home one morning the week before Christmas. “These thieves are very brazen, very bold, for doing these things right in the middle of the day while people are home. It’s very disturbing…
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Path-breaking contender for District 86
Karla Drenner literally learned politics at her mother's knee when her mom ran for office and gave the kid her first taste of community. Perhaps she also discovered something about sticking up for underdogs in helping with her mother's ultimately uphill struggle as a woman politician in West Virginia in the 1960s and 70s. In any event, one characteristic that defines Dr. Drenner's work is a fierce insistence on standing up for the rights of all citizens, regardless of where they come from or how they decide to choose their friends and partners. In very brief conversations that Representative Drenner graciously squeezed in as she readied herself for a session that promises to be a dogfight, the attributes that most…
Friday, January 14, 2011
Billy Mitchell's leadership includes a slice of Tucker
Billy Mitchell, as the saying goes, is a 'go-getter.' Ballotpedia summed this up as follows. "Mitchell is the President of Billy Mitchell and Associates. He previously worked as Senior Director of Community/Government Relations at South Fulton Medical Center from 1998-2002, Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science at Clark Atlanta University, and Lecturer at Kennesaw State University Burris Institute for Elected Officials. He is Past-President of the East Point Business Association, Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, and the South Fulton Rotary Club. Mitchell is currently President of Countryside Manor Homeowners Association, DeKalb Municipal Association, Policy Board Member with the Regional Business Coalition, and an officer in the …
