The Piedmont Chronicles
~ est. 2010 ~
[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]
~ Local Happenings
~ Real Politick
~ Sports, Art, Music & Leisure
~ A Moment from Us
LOCAL
As has been the case for the better part of almost two weeks, the big talk of C-town and the home county has, of course, been the proposed Mosque and cemetery out on Hwy 162 and County Line Rd. We've covered this story a time or two but there is now new information to report:
- Now the term, "lawsuit," is being bantered about. NAACP and CAIR are now involved. And this thing has hit state and national news outlets. It's getting on everybody's radar. However, according to Newton County, Al Maad Al Islami, has not submitted anything yet. They were given a letter that said the Administrative Use Permit would be issued, but they still have to go through the permitting process. As I mentioned in the last write-up, and I think it bears repeating, the Administrative Use Permit has many contingencies and conditions involved. From the letter from Newton Co.:
[State of GA][Newton Co.]
(Covington, GA * 8/21/16) * Greetings, fine readers, and welcome back to another Sunday Edition of The Piedmont Chronicles. In this issue:
~ Local Happenings
~ Real Politick ~ Sports, Art, Music & Leisure
~ A Moment from Us
LOCAL
As has been the case for the better part of almost two weeks, the big talk of C-town and the home county has, of course, been the proposed Mosque and cemetery out on Hwy 162 and County Line Rd. We've covered this story a time or two but there is now new information to report:
- Now the term, "lawsuit," is being bantered about. NAACP and CAIR are now involved. And this thing has hit state and national news outlets. It's getting on everybody's radar. However, according to Newton County, Al Maad Al Islami, has not submitted anything yet. They were given a letter that said the Administrative Use Permit would be issued, but they still have to go through the permitting process. As I mentioned in the last write-up, and I think it bears repeating, the Administrative Use Permit has many contingencies and conditions involved. From the letter from Newton Co.:
"Specifically, that the project could not have "negative impacts from the proposed use including aesthetics, traffic, public health and safety," and also that the use "would not cause unreasonable adverse impact on the adjoining land due to noise, smoke, odor, [or] hours of operation..." [***UPDATE - see below***]
This story will be quite the thing, fellow Newtonians, and it will be unlike anything we've ever seen. I think the "Our Thoughts" from today's Covington News, is a recommended read by everybody following this issue, regardless of which side you're on.
- In a follow up on a story I mentioned a few write-ups ago, I got some clarification on the parked cars situation in which the city made one property owner get rid of parked cars next to the Waffle House at Hwy 278 and John Williams Hwy, but allowed them to remain across the corner in the Ingles Shopping Center. For one thing, someone apparently complained about the parked cars on the lot owned by Mike Jones. Secondly, there is no prohibition against leaving cars parked on either parcel, but it is in the zoning regulations that they can't be parked on dirt or grass. That, apparently, was the key difference. So remember, C-town folks, when you're driving around town in the commercial districts, you shouldn't ever see a parked vehicle on grass or dirt. It, as I'm told, must be on pavement of some sort.
- The Newton Citizen reported about an apparent "power play" with the Newton Co. Board of Recreation. It's not worth your time, so I'm not linking it. So...do the people who serve on all of these boards, do they get paid? Any compensation at all? Per diems, or anything of the like? I think I'm going to look into that. I honestly don't know. I've had people say that's the case, but I've had other people say that it wasn't. I'll definitely look into it.
And I'm still working on getting the campaign reports from several of the folks running for county office. I was hoping Bryan at The News was going to get to it first, but you know how those pressmen are...
Politics
In the words of Ben Harper, "it's a drag!" That's all I can stomach for this week...
Sports, Art, and Music
- Football is back! At least at the high school level. All three Newton teams won as Eastside downed Luella, 23-0; Alcovy got past Duluth, 27-19; and Newton took out Drew by a score of 25 to 13. The NFL pre-season is in full swing, and we're less than two weeks away from the important stuff - College Football! So exciting.
- Musically, it was another big week in this musical hotbed that we call home. Local faves Chris, Jon & Scott, JJ & Micah, Whiskey Bent, and several others all played this past weekend. As some of you may know, I do a musical weekly column for The Covington News. You can check it out in today's print edition, or be on the lookout for the online edition later in the week. I will post a link to that here at The Chronicles when it comes out. This upcoming week looks like another great one. Featured shows will include: Benson & Leinweber at The Mystic; Drew Parker at The Social House, Tiger and Kathy at Sycamore; and Cochran Road at 5 O'Clock Somewhere. All of those shows will be on Saturday, August 27th.
-This edition's featured artist is: Two Sisters Color Creations. These two sisters, Mary Ellen and Cindy, are both just fabulously and wonderfully talented. Some of the best artwork you'll find anywhere around.
A Moment From Us
In this crazy and sometimes scary world in which we live, it's always nice to see a true "feel good" story, and the home county saw one this past week. As reported by fellow Newton Co. publication, All on Georgia - Newton, and its Editor and friend-of-the-program, Liz Allen, a special thing occurred at the CPD headquarters when Sgt. Allen Martin - an old friend and one hell of a guy (and a great Rock'n'Roll singer, too) - did a really cool thing. Good on ya', Mr. Martin, and good on ya' too, Mrs. Allen, for reporting this wonderful story!
*****
Well, gang, that'll do it for this one. Hope all is well out there and always remember - we are proudly a part of The Tonto Network. We're here to help. Send out those smoke signals if you need us...
- In a follow up on a story I mentioned a few write-ups ago, I got some clarification on the parked cars situation in which the city made one property owner get rid of parked cars next to the Waffle House at Hwy 278 and John Williams Hwy, but allowed them to remain across the corner in the Ingles Shopping Center. For one thing, someone apparently complained about the parked cars on the lot owned by Mike Jones. Secondly, there is no prohibition against leaving cars parked on either parcel, but it is in the zoning regulations that they can't be parked on dirt or grass. That, apparently, was the key difference. So remember, C-town folks, when you're driving around town in the commercial districts, you shouldn't ever see a parked vehicle on grass or dirt. It, as I'm told, must be on pavement of some sort.
- The Newton Citizen reported about an apparent "power play" with the Newton Co. Board of Recreation. It's not worth your time, so I'm not linking it. So...do the people who serve on all of these boards, do they get paid? Any compensation at all? Per diems, or anything of the like? I think I'm going to look into that. I honestly don't know. I've had people say that's the case, but I've had other people say that it wasn't. I'll definitely look into it.
And I'm still working on getting the campaign reports from several of the folks running for county office. I was hoping Bryan at The News was going to get to it first, but you know how those pressmen are...
Politics
In the words of Ben Harper, "it's a drag!" That's all I can stomach for this week...
Sports, Art, and Music
- Football is back! At least at the high school level. All three Newton teams won as Eastside downed Luella, 23-0; Alcovy got past Duluth, 27-19; and Newton took out Drew by a score of 25 to 13. The NFL pre-season is in full swing, and we're less than two weeks away from the important stuff - College Football! So exciting.
- Musically, it was another big week in this musical hotbed that we call home. Local faves Chris, Jon & Scott, JJ & Micah, Whiskey Bent, and several others all played this past weekend. As some of you may know, I do a musical weekly column for The Covington News. You can check it out in today's print edition, or be on the lookout for the online edition later in the week. I will post a link to that here at The Chronicles when it comes out. This upcoming week looks like another great one. Featured shows will include: Benson & Leinweber at The Mystic; Drew Parker at The Social House, Tiger and Kathy at Sycamore; and Cochran Road at 5 O'Clock Somewhere. All of those shows will be on Saturday, August 27th.
-This edition's featured artist is: Two Sisters Color Creations. These two sisters, Mary Ellen and Cindy, are both just fabulously and wonderfully talented. Some of the best artwork you'll find anywhere around.
A Moment From Us
In this crazy and sometimes scary world in which we live, it's always nice to see a true "feel good" story, and the home county saw one this past week. As reported by fellow Newton Co. publication, All on Georgia - Newton, and its Editor and friend-of-the-program, Liz Allen, a special thing occurred at the CPD headquarters when Sgt. Allen Martin - an old friend and one hell of a guy (and a great Rock'n'Roll singer, too) - did a really cool thing. Good on ya', Mr. Martin, and good on ya' too, Mrs. Allen, for reporting this wonderful story!
*****
Well, gang, that'll do it for this one. Hope all is well out there and always remember - we are proudly a part of The Tonto Network. We're here to help. Send out those smoke signals if you need us...
-MBM-
*33*
***UPDATE - an alert reader let me know that I may have been incorrect in that I may have misread the "the AUP letter. The items you quote are not contingencies, they are the criteria by which the application was evaluated and by which approval was granted. The future conditions that must be met for permitting are spelled out after that." I believe the reader is correct, and we apologize for the error. Thanks for reading!