[TPC] - Friday Quick Bites: Talkin' Landfill & Craig

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

Friday Quick Bites: Talkin' Landfill

From a friend:

Appears our Newton County Attorney, William Thomas Craig, likes to negotiate reservoirs AND regional Garbage DUMPS on our Georgia Rivers. We have (so far that I can find):
Newton County, Yellow River 2015
Bartow County, Etowah River 2004

Walton/Oconee County, Apalachee River 2003

And a nice little write-up from back in the day about it. 

So, we've known for sometime that Wm. Thomas Craig, Esq. has been the reservoir man. Now we can also call him the "Trash Man." And my word - you put a landfill and a waterway together? Well...per that o'er boy that stay down the street, that's when Craig really gets hot and bothered. Allegedly...

But back to Newton Co. Did you know that Craig represented the Lasseter family (non-Newton Co. varietal), the folks that own the land next to the current landfill, for years up until they sued Newton Co. in 1998? Then things got turned over, as we understand it, to his brother-in-law's law firm in Athens. That doesn't seem to pass the smell test to us. Legal? Probably. Is it right? Well that's the question, isn't it?
 
Is the Spring Hill Community becoming the "Sell Out Community?" Lots of noise in the system and word on the street about the smooth operator greasing the wheels within the local community. All alleged at this point. Just word on the street, you know. But we shall see what we see. And obviously there are just some amazing folks in that historic community that are wanting to do the right thing. I hope there's no fire with this huge amount of smoke. I truly do...

>>>The Rub and Key Part of this Write-up -- Please Read! <<<

Did you know that Pratt Industries is willing to become our hero. They could take upwards of 90% of our trash, incinerate it, convert it to fuel, and take care of our landfill management needs way cheaper than any other alternative per multiple sources? With only having to manage 10% of waste, that could give our county landfill a much longer life with much less trash that would benefit the local communities and environment way better than any other alternative. But, alas, no one can get rich or put a buck in their pocket on that one, so that's just not possible at this time as Newton County seems to be still firmly entrenched in what we like to call the "Old Model." Quid pro quo; tit-for-tat; the alternate golden rule, et al. etc. etc.

It's a damn rotten state of affairs, folks. But just remember - there are people - Smart, passionate people - who are on it like flaunt it! They are in it to win it. And they are not going away.

###

[TPC] - Georgia Counties: Greene Co. Edition

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

From the online Georgia Almanac's Greene Co. page: 

 
Greene County was created from Washington County on Feb. 3, 1786 by an act of the General Assembly (Marbury and Crawford’s Digest, p. 162). Georgia’s 11th county was named for Revolutionary War hero Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene. A few months earlier, Greene and wife Catharine had taken residence near Savannah at the Mulberry Plantation, which was a gift from the Georgia legislature in appreciation for his victorious campaign against British forces in the southern theater of war. Unfortunately, on June 19, 1786, General Greene died from overexposure to the Georgia sun.
Portions of Greene County were used to help create Taliaferro County in 1825. Additionally, areas of Greene County were transferred to Oglethorpe, Clark and Taliaferro counties between 1794 and 1877.

 Here's a link for the official Greene Co. page: Greene County, GA

I've always really liked Greene Co. For one thing, it's such an old county. The 11th ever created in Georgia which puts it just behind the original 8. A lot of history there and while it has grown some with the booming of Lake Oconee, it's still a very cool place with lots of history, culture, and good folks. Just a quick skip down I-20 from C-town.

[TPC] - A moment from us...

The Piedmont Chronicles

~ est. 2010 ~

Greetings, readers.

Hope all is well out there. Good to be back with you. I hope everyone has read and enjoyed the write-up from cont. writer Ellis Millsaps entitled "Leaving Manfield." A fun and heartwarming piece about his 20 years of living in good ole Manfield, GA.

As some of you may have noticed, the Chronicles went into heavy political mode the last couple of weeks. While local and state political issues will still very much be right in our wheelhouse, I've decided that I need a bit more balance for the Chronicles to become the online newspaper that I envision it to be. So from here on out, there will be a conscious effort to cover more local interest, cultural, life stuff, history, and human interest type things in addition to news and politics. Balance. Such an important word; such an important thing.

As always, we appreciate your reading of these Chronicles. You, the reader, are the integral part of this endeavor. It is always greatly appreciated.

Until next time...

`MM 

[TPC] - Leaving Mansfield: A Write-up by J. Ellis Millsaps

The Piedmont Chronicles

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of Georgia]

[Newton County]

(Covington, GA) * 25 May 2015

Leaving Mansfield: A Write-up by contributing writer J. Ellis Millsaps

Special to The Piedmont Chronicles 


I lived in Mansfield, GA for 20 years. I never considered myself a Mansfeldian, however, never considered myself a Newton Countian - I'm from Fannin County, a mountain boy.

But my children are Mansfield. They are Newton Co. They were raised here. It's the only home my son can remember. My daughter was born at Newton General. It was a wonderful place for them to grow up.

It had by far the best elementary school in the county - although I must say that the test scored didn't really shoot up till my kids got in the pool, haha. But seriously, when my kids started there was only one class in each grade so one kid's score had a lot of weight in the average. My kids would walk or ride their bikes the three blocks from our house to the school. My son actually rode his bicycle to Kindergarten (we did see them past Hwy 11). 

At home they played outside unsupervised. We never locked our doors. The front door didn't even have a lock. The only crime we ever had was when a kid tried stealing my bike but the Mayor of Mansfield helped me run the little snot down.

But Mansfield wasn't where it was happening. It still isn't... 

One night I was sitting on my porch in the wee morning hours smoking a cigar. Across the street at Beaver Mfg. a worker, he sounded African-American, yelled, "rock and roll Mansfield!" I almost fell out of my rocker laughing. Mansfield, you see, does not rock and roll.

Except at the Millsaps residence it did. My kids and later their friends grew up on my vast and always cutting edge record collection. They'd watch their Dad dancing free-form to "Refugee" and "Psycho Killer." When they were elementary school age they complained that our large, ramshackle turn-of-the-century house (nobody calls 1999-2001 turn-of-the-century yet), didn't have the icy AC and shiny stuff that all of their friends' houses did, but by the time they were old enough to drive they, and all their friends, only wanted to be at our abode in Mansfield. 

There was no adult supervision. The two-thousand-aughts were the golden age of the Millsaps in Mansfield. There was a pool, a bocci ball court, and some serious wiffle ball going on. There were usually kids sleeping over and always some rock and roll going on!

But then the kids all grew up and moved away. The huge house was so empty and the music didn't sound the same anymore.

Now I've moved to Porterdale. More on that later... 

---


Editor's note:

I first met Ellis in 2005. I was part of the gang of kids (although I was 30 at the time) that would sometimes move in like a swarm of locusts consuming his consumables, playing his R'n'R vinyl records, imbibing, and generally having a fine ole time and - "Keepin' it real in Mansfield!" I'd gotten to know Da (the nickname for Ellis) when he had signed on to manage the fledgling rock and roll band that I was a part of at the time - The Cool Swap. The Millsaps place in Mansfield was a special place. A lot of memories there. It also served as our rehearsal space later on when we were known as Neon Madmen. And I so get that the house had gotten too big and how the music just didn't quite sound the same. I think Ellis is definitely more in his element in P-Dale. I look forward to reading his thoughts on life in the ole mill village. - MM

[TPC] - GRP Convention : Second Report - 17 May 2015

The Piedmont Chronicles

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of Georgia]

[Athens-Clarke Co]

(Athens) * 17 May 2015

In an approximate 55/45% split, young Liberty activist Alex Johnson lost to sitting Chairman John Padgett. Things, certainly, could have been different but there were any number of folks and factors that would see to it that that - would not be happening. Also, Newton Co. was badly mishandled. But that's another story for another time...

It was a failure of everybody, and nobody; dozens and dozens of names could be listed, but most folks know the key players - on both sides - and there's nothing more that really needs to be said. 

However, more will be said over the next few days. I plan on filing multiple reports. I have several interviews that I'll be either posting videos  of or write-ups for. And, an editorial I'm working on that will be fair, well-balanced, and, perhaps, somewhat eviscerating, damning, and decimating.

As always, it is truly our pleasure and we are remaining optimistic.

Lord willin' & if the creek don't rise, we'll see you next time.

Yours, 

Marshall
TPC editor-in-chief

CC:
media,

citizenry 

###

The GRP State Convention - First Report

The Piedmont Chronicles

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of Georgia]

[Athens-Clarke Co]

(Athens) * 16 May 2015

It's state convention times for the GA GOP today in Athens, GA. All the players are here. And most certainly all of the compelling storylines. So much information. So much to share. Where to start? 

I just got a text from a dear sister of another mister who explained, while waiting on credentials, the GA GOP guy said - "oh yeah, y'all are the Newton Co. folks," or something similar. Hell yes. We are, indeed, Newton Co. There are legitimate civil right & constitutional concerns of the electoral process - and the potential consequences - are vast. And not just on the state level, either. This is big time, bubba. And that's why all eyes are on this story.

The Players? Randy Evans is the epitome of smooth, savvy intellegince. I think I've got a bit of a man crush on him, actually. This guy would make Tommy Craig look like a damn dullard. True story.

Padgett? Egad...

I got to chat with Catherine Bernard. My word, what a lady...

For a minute it was looking like Ryan with the GRP had put a sick burn on me. Oh, how I was cussing him. I could see him smoking cigars with Padgett et al laughing at how they'd worked over the citizen journalist from Covington. But...it was just a misunderstanding. Ryan personally delivered our badges to us in the media gallery. Super guy, and now I have his phone number. I think I'm gonna call him like every day...

I've got a lot of hand-written notes and stuff in all 17 mental back burners. But it's gonna take some time to sort through it all.

We are in the vortex. The energy level is high. Hope we can get our finger right on the pulse.

And...


ALEX JOHNSON FOR GRP CHAIR!!! 

Best,
`M

###

[TPC] - A Write-up from J.Ellis Millsaps - Deliverance II - The Alcovy

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

From TPC contributing writer J. Ellis Millsaps:



 - Deliverance II: The Alcovy -


The year was 1987, the heart of darkness. Women wore long skirts and shoulder-pads. Ronald Reagan was president. He told us he would cut taxes for the rich, tax revenues would boom, and wealth would trickle down to we people on the pavement. Meanwhile the poor just got poorer, and the budget deficit soared into ?illions so high the names of the numbers were unfamiliar.

In whatever rung of purgatory Mr. Reagan is napping, he still wakes up laughing about how we fell for that one. I was an assistant district attorney that summer and I had a friend named Kevin Wheeler. Kevin claimed he’d graduated from law school with me two years earlier, and although I didn’t remember him, I would have taken his word for it even if he hadn’t had a diploma to prove it.

I’m not, my family can assure you, very observant. Kevin had a flat-bottomed aluminum fishing boat and I had this idea we could put it in at the bridge on 278 and fish our way down the Alcovy to the bridge at County Highway 213. Someone from the Sheriff’s Department -- I seem to recall Kevin saying it was Dell Reed -- claimed that my plan was not only feasible, but that he himself had once done it.

If it was indeed Wardell, he’s probably still chuckling like Ronald Reagan with a tax cut.
So, one Friday after work, while my wife and two small children were visiting her parents in Dothan, I parked my ’67 Datsun at the 213 bridge and rode with Kevin and his boat back to the other one. Our plan was to just float and paddle, but if hauling in too many fish slowed us down, Kevin figured, we could always crank up the outboard and putter out by sunset.

We put in around 5:30 for what we estimated to be, at most, a three hour cruise.
(A three hour cruise.) That would get us out an hour before sunset on what was near the longest day of the year, prime fishing time, but Kevin had a date and would need to clean up.
We probably should have taken the dead cottonmouth at our embarkation point as an omen, but we were no more attuned to Delphic mysticism than we were to common sense.

My only experience with river travel had been in inner tubes on icy, white-water streams in the mountains where I was raised, knowledge that would later that evening prove about as useful as my uncanny ability to conjure up and sing the theme song to almost any TV western ever made. Kevin, as far as I can recall, didn’t know much of anything, but I’m getting old and this was a long time ago.

I don’t remember how we got the boat in the water, but I do recall what it contained: a small tackle box containing fishing apparatus and nothing else, one oar, two life vests, a six pack of 16 oz. Budweisers, two large Hoya de Monterey Excalibur cigars, a Bic lighter that would later prove perversely inoperable when wet, and two over-educated idiots wearing shorts, T-shirts and tennis shoes.

Around the first bend of the river, a large fallen tree left about a foot and a half clearance between its trunk and the water’s surface. It may or may not have been a tupelo gum, a tree I was later to learn is found this far north in Georgia only on the section of this river into which my companion and I had ignorantly ventured, “tupelo,” it turns out, being a Creek Indian word meaning “swamp tree.”

Here the river was deep and wide, a beautiful spot for angling. Although I knew there was a house on Elks Club Road probably less than a hundred yards away, in my mind’s eye I recall no signs that man had been there before. We decided to deal with the tree-trunk barrier later, moored up, lit up our stogies, popped us a tall boy, and started to fish.


 We didn’t catch any fish, not even a hornyhead. What we did catch, on almost every cast, was submerged wood necessitating a lot of maneuvering, swearing and loss of tackle. Even though it wasn’t until after the trip was over that we discovered that the little horizontal lines on the map surrounding our chosen section of the Alcovy indicated “swampland,” more sensible people would have, at this point, adding the large tree trunk blocking us immediately downstream to the submerged others we had snagged, enough information to know to turn back while that was still an option.

I wouldn’t, of course, be telling you this tale had we been those sensible other anglers.
“Kevin,” I did not say, “I think maybe this trip isn’t destined to be the leisurely paddle through the Piedmont which we had envisioned.” “You know, Ellis,” he did not reply or otherwise suggest, “I think we ought to crank up the motor, go back upstream, get out of this river and drink our tallboys somewhere else.”
We got by the first fallen trunk fairly easily, by lying down flat in the boat and floating under, then using the oar as a lever to wedge the protruding motor through. It was probably twenty minutes before we were stopped by another tree, this one slightly submerged, which we cleared by balancing ourselves on the slippery log, one on each side of the hull, and lifting the ten-foot boat and finally it’s motor over the log, aided by the buoyancy of the water.

Of the at least fifty such barriers of deadwood we were to face, the ones presented in the previous two instances were the easy ones. The hard ones were the trees fallen over the river which weren’t submerged but didn’t leave enough space to float under. In those cases, we had to straddle the log, or stand on the bottom when we could, and lift the boat -- and don’t forget the motor -- out of the water and over the log.
We came to the first fork in the river just as it was getting dark. There hadn’t been any forks on the map. We decided that more water flowed in the left channel than the right and steered ourselves that way, thinking, hoping, that we’d see the 213 bridge any time now.

We’d long since given up any idea of fishing. After the river forked and the channel narrowed, it didn’t require such a big tree to fall from one bank to the other, so that horizontal trees appeared with much greater frequency, but at least for a while we could still see them coming, could still even use the oar to cut through spider webs and divert overhanging branches. When it got dark, it got really dark; there must have no moon. Pictured along with this tale, I hope, is a photograph taken in the area where we were, courtesy of Georgia Wildlife Federation. Please look at the photo. Now imagine being plopped down in that scene when it is so dark you can’t see your hand in front of our face. Isn’t that a little scary?

The log surmounting exercises previously described became maddeningly more difficult in absolute darkness.
Now an outboard motor is not a particularly heavy thing for two grown men to lift, but when you attach it to the end of a boat and attempt to lift it repeatedly while standing on a slimy log in pitch blackness, it is a particularly heavy thing. I’m sure I proposed more than once that we unhook the motor and let it sink to the bottom of the murk, but, to Kevin’s credit, he survived this saga with his boat and motor, if not his fishing rods, intact.

When the river forked again, which it did, more than once, we chose our route by the I Ching method, letting the current carry us where it would. After a while we got tired of seeing who could scream most girl-like when a web or leaves smothered our faces, and after a while, it became too much of an effort to even grunt when we lifted the boat; the only sounds came from unseen and unknown animals screeching in the night, or diving from the banks to see what they could find in the river.

Meanwhile, around midnight, back in civilization, Kevin’s girlfriend reported to the Sheriff’s Department that we had gone on this trip and not come out, because my Datsun was still parked at the 213 bridge. The deputy who took her report, when he found out who was missing, allowed as how from what he’d seen assistant district attorneys were a dime a dozen, and he personally thought she could do a lot better than Kevin, but anyway their wasn’t anything that could be done in the dark except to wait for us to come out, no helicopter with spotlight being available for such a low priority mission. At least the weather was warm.

At 2:00pm Saturday, we crawled out of the boat in Starrsville. Our hair was so coated with spider webs that we looked like cafeteria workers -- filthy unhygienic cafeteria workers -- but we were not snake bitten or otherwise seriously injured.  I have since learned from people who have in fact done it that this section of the river is navigable, by canoe, in spring, when the water is high.


The author would like to thank the Georgia Wildlife Federation for its information on The Alcovy Greenway contained at its excellent website, www.gwf.org, and particularly its Director of Education, Mr. Jason J. Diem, for locating and supplying Mr. Ohme’s photograph. The Federation’s state headquarters are located on the edge of the swamp, near the Cornish Creek bridge on Hazelbrand Road.

-JEM 


J. Ellis Millsaps is an Attorney by trade and a true Southern Character. He used to write a weekly column for the Covington News. A Descendant of Scotch-Irish Appalachians, he is also a songwriter and a former Rock'n'Roll Band Manager. He leans left - and by that - we mean that he is an unabashed progressive liberal. He has impeccable musical tastes, is a Vodka enthusiast, and smokes non-filter cigarettes. 

[TPC] - Talkin' GRP, Sinister Six & and interview with Jason Pye

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

Greetings.

Vis-a-vis the Georgia GOP, yesterday was quite the interesting day, no? Lots of moving parts. Lots of heated discussions. Here's some background if you need it.

So, who came up with calling them the Sinister Six again? Was that my main man and "local politician" Aaron Brooks? I think I remember hearing that. Regardless, what about that Jessica S., though! Man, what a woman! I'm not sure if she could ever be wrong about anything. A genius quite possibly. Just look at the results - both the Padgett and Johnson camps immediately rolled out specific action plans. It seemed to have worked...

Remember, us regular folk just need to sit back and let these people do their thing, obviously. We're just not quite at their level or plane of existence, if you will. Never forget, folks, while a lot of us are quite smart, and somewhat savvy, we need to save the heavy lifting for these esoteric bright lights like Jessica and Jason and the rest of 'em.

Speaking of Jason. Pye, that is. Had a chance to chat and he was nice enough to go on the record. Gonna go Gonzo and Steam-of-Consciousness w/ this:

"i like alex...he's a smart kid."

"just have major concerns about his leadership ability - i'd like to be proven wrong."

"for me, and think the other five feel the same, if alex wins, and he may very well...we'll be the first ones on board to help and grow the party and put it on the right path."

"just not sure, though - if he wins - i hope he proves us wrong."

Regarding Padgett:

"john's really going to need a strong mandate to be effective in light of recent things."

When I asked how that would even be possible, Jason basically said he didn't know.

>>>

[Updated 12:15PM; 12 May] - Jason wanted to make sure I conveyed that he also said that he and  the other five would extend the same offer to Padgett if he were to win. Basically that the offer is out there for either one or possibly even if a compromise candidate were to emerge.

Party Unity, FTW! >>>

---

Interesting stuff....

###

[TPC] - The Race for GA GOP Chair

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

Greetings, Readers.

I've been discussing for some time now about the upcoming Georgia Republican Party State Convention that will be convening in Athens, GA. I talked about the main election of that convention for the right to be Chair of this political party. Alex Johnson, the Liberty-wing and TEA-party guy, vs. John Padgett, the sitting Chair and the establishment pick. I mentioned the dynamics and compelling story-lines involved with this: 

 "In which was thought to be a foregone conclusion of seeing the incumbent Chair, John Padgett, easily winning reelection, the dynamics have appeared to change. Young Liberty-wing and TEA-party darling Alex Johnson, an Atlanta attorney, has recently gotten the endorsement of WSB's Erick Erickson and is now basically being given 50/50 odds by most state politicos and watchers. It's a classic juxtaposition - old model vs. new; establishment vs. grassroots; older fella vs. the young buck...very compelling stuff. As an aside, I know Alex and think a lot of him." 

So, along those lines, and in light of the Peach Pundit write-up that was published today, I'd like to discuss, analyze, and expound on a few things: 

First off, I either personally know and have at least met everyone who signed off on the Peach Pundit thing with the exception of the lovely Jessica Szilagyi (I should be meeting her this weekend and am very much looking forward to it). If fact, two of them - Aaron and Jason - happen to be pretty much two of my best friends, but I'll have to disagree with them.
 
To me, there seems to be some other stuff at play here. As I mentioned earlier, there seemed to be a foregone conclusion that Alex would probably hit about 40%, like he did last time, and that would be that. But then things changed. Eric Erickson came out on WSB and said he was supporting Alex. Then, a good number of the "in-betweeners" started to say that they thought it was time for a change. Then the one and only Bill Simon broke a story that had been circulation on the GA GOP grapevine for some time that the financial situation of the GA GOP was pretty dire and that there seemed to be legitimate concerns about the decisions and actions of the sitting Chair.

And I just can't help but to wonder if there are folks who should probably be supporting Alex but since they would have to change their tune or...come around, as it were, that might make them look like they were wrong and had made a mistake and weren't maybe the all-knowing, super-politically-savvy thinkers, watchers and politicos that they all might think they are, or at least should be. Pure speculation on my part, and remember folks - most of the time I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just pullin' stuff right out of the backside. Just playin' all the hunches and rollin' with the punches, no? Just takin' it as it comes, shooting from the hip, and making it up as I go along this merry, crazy ride.

But make no mistake - my associate and I will be rolling into the CC Friday evening. We'll be imbibing copious amounts of distilled spirits and will be drinking glass-bottle Mexican Cokes and smoking a lot of cigarettes. And lots of Varsity - I think we'll take every meal from there for 36 hours straight. We're going to be right in the damn vortex - we will see where it takes us...

I just happen to think that there's something special and very important going on right now. As the old saying goes - national reflects state and local, and state and local reflects national. We've got some exciting stuff going on at the Federal level - there seems to be some hope with a fella named Rand Paul. Perhaps we need someone on the ground here at the state level who can help to facilitate this transformation of a freedom renaissance. I don't think it's John Padgett...

###

[TPC] - The Weekend Edition: 9/10 May 2015

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

Greetings & Salutations, my good readers. Hope everything is going everybody's way out there. 

As I mentioned earlier, the Chronicles is proud to report that Ellis "Da" Millsaps is coming on board as a part-time contributor. The following are his, in my opinion, greatest hits: 

• His 2010 bike journey on the Natchez Trace was written about on his blog. A 3-part series, it was, in my estimation, worthy of some type of journalism award. The first part gives some background on the Trace and talks about his thoughts on the trip. The next installment chronicles Day 1 of this trip. See also: Day 2 & Day 3.
• Probably my personal fave of his deals with his write-up of the formation and rise of a local band from the mid-2000's, The Cool Swap. A great and funny work, it holds a special place in my heart as I was in this aforementioned group. Paper Covers Rock is a fantastic work, and it's also the name of a song we wrote to honor this wonderful, weird guy.
• And finally, his Magnum Opus - The Lost Boys and the Last Days of Wiffleball. A powerful piece... 

Local Politics: 

Well...what can be said about the state of Newton County politics that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan? Bombed out and depleted - It's a dang mess. Nothing changes, in our opinion, until you take out the middle cog of the wheel - the county attorney. Until we see 3 BOC votes for that, there will not be real change in our home county. We need vision and bravery, folks, but I'm afraid all we'll see is more of the same - hijinks, shenanigans, and skylarkings. 


 State Politics: 

As I also mentioned in our last communicaid, the Chronicles will be taking our act on the road next weekend to cover the Georgia Republican Party convention in Athens, GA. Lots of moving parts and compelling story lines: 

• On a local level, there is much interest in what delegation from Newton Co. will be sat at this convention. As some of you may know, the local GOP party split back in March when duly elected delegates were not sat by the establishment. The majority of those duly elected (approx. 3/4) left and held their own convention. An appeal has been winding its way through the proper channels and the word on the street is that the State appeals committee may very well rule in the favor of "New Newton Republicans." *
• Also of interest is the race for State GOP Chair. In which was thought to be a foregone conclusion of seeing the incumbent Chair, John Padgett, easily winning reelection, the dynamics have appeared to change. Young Liberty-wing and TEA-party darling Alex Johnson, an Atlanta attorney, has recently gotten the endorsement of WSB's Eric Ericson and is now basically being given 50/50 odds by most state politicos and watchers. It's a classic juxtaposition - old model vs. new; establishment vs. grassroots; older fella vs. the young buck...very compelling stuff. As an aside, I know Alex and think a lot of him.

Music: 

- Gannon Adams at the Social House in P-Dale tonight. 
- Also in "Cedar Shoals," Double-Shot live at Dirty Dawgs

Art: 

- To me, one of the best artists in Newton Co. is the one and only Cindy Murphy. I'm proud to own a Murphy piece and hope to add many more over the years. She is simply exceptional. Check our her profile page at Southern Heartland.  

Miscellany: 

- I need more Daler Mehndi in my life... 



That's all, folks! 

*Discolsure - I've been involved with the local GOP stuff and am firmly in the camp of the "New Republicans." 

### 

[TPC] - Coming Down the Pike...

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]
Hello, readers. Hope all is well out there. A few things coming up to tell you about:

- Haven't done a Sunday Edition in a minute, so be on the lookout for that pretty soon.

- Also, next weekend (May 15 and 16), the Chronicles will be taking our act on the road. We'll be heading to Athens, GA to cover the Georgia Republican Party State Convention. I'll have my associate/producer with me - Dr. Lazerbeak - and we're planning on doing some video segments and interviews in addition to several write-ups and updates I'll be doing here. I'll also be tweeting a good bit, and we'll also be linking to our sister publication - East Metro Blog - for some more of those...how shall we say - avant-garde gonzo journalism pieces.  Really looking forward to it! Lots of strong drink, sundries, and Varsity, not to mention being around the power station of the GA GOP apparatus. Should be so much fun!

- I've had some feedback from a few folks who've basically said the same thing recently which is, to paraphrase - while we've enjoyed the move to more of a newspaper approach with lots of local interest and political stuff, we miss the historical and human interest stuff. Well...fear not, fearless reader, I've got some good stuff coming up including, but not limited, to the following: a write-up of the Covington Mills community, and interview and corresponding write-up of a local musical legend (actually I've got two of those in the works), and a few other things in varying degrees of completion. So be on the lookout...

- Also, we're proud to report that we have a new contributor on board with TPC. Ellis Millsaps, former columnist with the Covington News, will be lending his talents here and there mainly dealing with local stuff, culture, traditions, etc. You can read some of his previous works at his blog.

Til next time...

Tuesday's Gone With the Wind: Checking the Pulse of C-Town

The Piedmont Chronicles 

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

This past weekend saw a plethora of letters to the editor sent to Newton County's legal organ, The Covington News. This, in light of the shenanigans deployed last week when Chairman Ellis and Commissioners Douglas and Maddox announced their "solution" to capping some of the highest legal fees in the state of Georgia (and guess what - even with the cap, we'd be way higher than any other county remotely close to us in size and population).

There was certainly a theme to most of these letters and that theme was basically this: our governance structure is bad, our county attorney situation is bad, our lack of transparency within the county is bad, our leadership within the county government is bad ( or nonexistent), etc. etc. And it all just wasn't pointing out the negatives, several good and constructive ideas were thrown in as well.

Several folks wrote in including Phil Johnson, Maurice Carter, and Wesley Dowdy. As I understand it - Steve Brown also wrote a nice one that just made it to the online version. Speaking of Mr. Dowdy, here's the last two paragraphs of his letter that he sent out to the News and a few other folks:

"We are thankful that there will be at least an $800K limit to the out-of-control legal spending of Newton County, but make no mistake the County was no winner in this agreement with Mr. Craig. When compared with the legal budgets of similar sized counties, that range of fees is still exorbitant. More problematic than the costs incurred for legal services is how Mr. Craig’s continued representation impacts the reputation and integrity of Newton County.

Three commissioners may feel that this plan can calm the boiling water of public dissatisfaction over Mr. Craig, but they have again misjudged the people of Newton County. This public relations ploy was prematurely announced to the press prior to being vetted by all of the Commissioners and can only be seen as an attempt to distract the public from the real issues. We must ask is this an attempt by Mr. Craig to shift the focus from the real issues facing Newton County? And is he being aided in his actions by three commissioners willing to be pawns in this continuing power play?" 

Well said, Mr. Dowdy. Well said...


When speaking with one of the leading activists/agents-of-change (and a marvelous woman that I now consider a good friend) of Newton County Sunday morning, we came to the same conclusion: it is very exciting and optimistic to have so many articulate voices for change and doing right in our community. And to use an analogy I got from another friend, these were my thoughts afterwards:

"It's a show of weakness. A chink in the armor. And to use an analogy of another friend of mine - it's another pretty good size leak in that dam that just continues to get less and less viable. I really think the "dam" thing is about to burst!" 

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