Thanks to a new commission appointed by Mayor Nancy Denson, cyclists in Athens Clarke County could be seeing new, revitalized bike lanes by next year.  

Flagpole Magazine reports a committee comprised of members of the ACC Board of Commissioners is looking into ways to improve the Bicycle Master Plan (BMP), the 2001 map outlining bike lanes in Athens and surrounding areas.

Amongst the changes to take place, the local government plans to create new lanes, restripe existing ones, and put in new signs. In addition, the new plan will encompass a larger range, expanding out of downtown Athens to the greater area.

Roads that could see new bike lanes include Prince Avenue, while lanes on Alps Road and Westlake Drive are likely due for repaving and restriping. Board members are relying heavily on traffic data to determine areas most in need of updates.

The committee last met on Aug. 29 to discuss updating the BMP. According to several committee members, the proposed changes could take over a year to go into effect. Once the new plan is finalized, a consultant will be brought in to assist in overseeing further planning and construction.

The ACC Board of Commissioners first announced its intentions to update the BMP in July. At the time, the Red and Black reported Athens Clarke County as having one of the highest motor vehicle and bicycle collision rates in Georgia.

The current effort to revitalize Athens’ biking infrastructure marks the first such attempt since the original BMP was created 15 years ago.

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A local law with the purpose of squelching profiling and discriminatory business practices in downtown Athens bars has been delayed from being voted on.

According to Flagpole Magazine, Mayor Nancy Denson took the proposed ordinance, which has been in the works since the summer, off of the schedule of the Athens-Clarke County Board of Commissioners, denying the bill the chance to see a vote.

he legislation was approved by a portion of the board in July and was originally scheduled for a vote at the board’s Sept. 6 meeting. According to Denson, the bill may never be voted on.

“I haven’t decided when or if it’s coming back yet,” she said.

The law would look to end the practice of denying certain patrons entrance to local bars based on sexual orientation and race, a practice highlighted by both a report in the Red and Black and a survey by the University of Georgia’s Student Government Association.

If passed, the local ordinance would require the posting of any dress codes or notices of private parties. Failure to meet these new codes would result in the suspension or permanent loss of an establishment’s alcohol license.

Denson, who claims to support the bill, has delayed voting for a mixture of reasons. She axed the original planned Sept. 6 vote due to her being absent on a trip to Ireland with Gov. Nathan Deal.

In addition, she is worried certain commissioners will attempt to amend the legislation and expand the wording to include restaurants as well as bars, an act she feels is unnecessary.

According to Commissioner Kelly Girtz, including restaurants in the ordinance is not the only change some commissioners wish to make.

Girtz told Flagpole if the bill is voted on, he will propose an amendment to create a civil rights commission, a review board designed to investigate and settle claims of discrimination in downtown Athens.

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Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and across the nation, Americans mourned and honored the nearly 3,000 people who died in that day. In Athens, citizens memorialized the event with a rather unique ceremony on a nearby farm.

The Red and Black reports over 200 Athens residents attended the ceremony that was held on local resident Bob Hart’s farm this past Sunday. The ceremony took place in the woods along the memorial trail that was built there over a decade ago.

The trail features structures and markers along its path, each one representing the various locations where American died that day: the World Trade Center’s North and South towers, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Many of the markers bare the names of the victims.

Former Athens mayor Doc Eldridge opened the ceremony, which featured music by the bands Hawk Proof Roosters and The New Horizons. Speakers in the event included Eldridge, members of the theatre group Athens Town and Gown Association, and Hart himself.

Once the speakers concluded, attendees were encouraged to walk the trail and observe the commemorative markers.

Later, the names of the victims of the attacks were read aloud.

Hart created the memorial trail in 2002. On every five-year anniversary of the attacks, he hosts a ceremony as a reminder of those lost and the impact the day had on the United States.

According to Hart, the memorial trail is not closed now that the ceremony is over but remains open to those who wish to remember and commemorate.
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“The trail is open to the public any time anybody wants to come out here and walk around,” Hart said.

It was not a normal first game for the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. The team didn’t open the 2016 season between the hedges in Sanford Stadium and former coach Mark Richt wasn’t roaming the sidelines.

But by the end of the game, as the Bulldogs stood victorious and celebrated in the middle of the field, everything seemed perfectly normal.

In his first game as the head coach of Georgia, Kirby Smart led his alma mater to a 33-24 comeback win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in front of a majority red and black crowd at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

For Georgia, the story of the game, as it had been the week leading up to kickoff, was the quarterback situation. Redshirt senior Greyson Lambert was named the starter on Thursday over incoming freshman and top recruit Jacob Eason. During the game, however, both players got chances to go under center, as the two swapped out throughout the game.

The situation worked out well for the Bulldogs, as Eason threw for 131 yards and a touchdown and Lambert added another 54 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception.

For the most part, however, the quarterback had little consequence for the team’s offense. Star running back Nick Chubb, playing in his first game since a grisly knee injury last October, was the heart and soul of Georgia’s offense, racking up 222 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

Chubb also had help from freshman Brian Herrien, who rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown in his first game as a Bulldog.

On the other side of the ball, the UGA defense effectively slowed down North Carolina’s high speed offense, which was ranked twelfth in the county last season in total yards, holding the Tar Heels to 24 points and 315 yards of offense.

The Georgia defense also forced a safety in the third quarter when the Bulldogs were trailing 24-21.
After that safety, Georgia never looked back, outscoring UNC 10-0 on the way to a 1-0 start on the season.
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Next week, the Georgia Bulldogs host Nicholls State in Athens for its first home game.
Kickoff is at 12 p.m. on Saturday.