Friday, February 29, 2008
Jeffrey Paul Jones... dog killer, chicken lover
Meet Jeffrey Paul Jones. He's accused of nearly decapitating a dog, Emax, owned by Otis Redding III, the son of our local music legend. He kept chickens in his house. And that's why he killed Emax, he says, because he didn't want dogs getting his chickens. So he trapped him and dispatched him with a machete, disposing of the remains behind a house in his Hill Street neighborhood. Since he confessed to doing this, I can't imagine why he's even on trial.
Do you remember the actor Jeffrey Jones? They aren't related except that the name sounds the same, and that's why I bring it up: because the name sounds familiar. The actor was arrested in 2002 for paying a kid to take pictures naked while he fondled. He's done some acting, most notably on Deadwood, and most disturbingly for a cartoon show. Don't you think it's strange that no one ever talks about what he did and he still gets work?
From Chris: Forest Hill Road update
Caution Macon co-founder Lee Martin sent an email to me earlier explaining that even his wife won't tell him what's going on with the mediation. All he knows is that it has been extended to next Thursday.
Based on the demeanor of the Moreland-Altobelli group, Lee believes that Chester Chellman, the expert Caution Macon hired to speak about the wastefulness of the current design, really surprised them with his expertise and experience. (Apparently, Mr. Chellman was recently involved in a $300 billion project in Abu Dhabi.) You can see his website here: www.tndengineering.com
The FHR position paper has been released for public consumption. Read it in its entirety here: Caution Macon! I'll keep you updated as things develop.
Thanks, Chris
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Kiss my big, fat Annex
The county commissioners, in all their wisdom (and desperate need to look good in front of voters), held a meeting to let the people of unincorporated
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Public Speaks...
One guy made an impassioned plea for help with cleaning up historic Linwood Cemetery. He also railed on the "so-called black folks who will dress up in their Afro-centric clothes and wear their kufis" but won't come volunteer to clean up Linwood.
And Mathis Moore, a self-professed schizophrenic, tried to talk about police harassment but was cloudy and confused. When his speech was cut short by the five minute limit, he politely asked if he could say one more thing. In a moment of compassion, council president Miriam Paris nodded, and Mr. Moore said, "I also direct movies." He was gaveled quiet. (The point is not to make fun of the mentally ill, but to illustrate the variety of interesting moments that take place at a City Council meeting.)
As far as the public comments go, no moment was more entertaining than the speech given by Howie Handsel. According to his repeated testimony, Mr. Handsel was once a reporter for Fox24 in Macon (though he has no official connection to them now), but following several unfortunate incidents, he relocated to Miami for a time. After dealing with family tragedy, he returned to Macon determined to make a name for himself, though he claims his name is still big enough that he can trade on it. His efforts have mostly been centered around a promotions company that he calls The 4 Godfathers. Their goal is to "revolutionize" the Macon nightlife. You can see his videos on YouTube on the 4 Godfathers Channel. They are quite entertaining.
Handsel was at Macon City Council to speak out against alleged police abuse he suffered at the hands of Macon Police Officers as they arrested him outside of Coasters. These videos tell his story best. Enjoy.
Legislatin' for tha City: going to city council so you don't have to
Going in, the word was all about council member Nancy White's proposed ordinance to outlaw the tethering of dogs. If you aren't familiar with this practice, as apparently councilman Erick Erickson was not, it involves tying a dog (or, we guess, cat) up and leaving it alone. Someone might do this if they had no fence to keep their pet in, or if they were feeling particularly cruel. Despite widespread animal abuse, according to Macon animal control, the city didn't have any prohibition against said treatment. That's where White stepped up.
Originally, the language made it legal for pet owners to leave their dogs (and cats) tied up for up to eight hours consecutively or, for 12 hours total in a 24 hour cycle. Wisely, they changed it after complaints came in that suggested that provision would make enforcement nearly impossible. Now, you can't have your pet tied up unless you're with it, like walking your dog, etc. The ordinance would also prohibit letting pets ride unrestrained in moving vehicles.
One of the funnier moments in the evening came when Erick Erickson spoke up, saying he originally wasn't going to vote in favor because "while I love pets, I do consider them property" and he doesn't think the government should have so much say about someone's property. Then he said he did some research into the matter and was convinced it was the right thing to do, but he wanted to amend the ordinance to allow hunters to drive around with their dogs unrestrained since, he said, many had told him they only went a short ways like that and he wanted to prevent city cops from issuing tickets to them. First Alveno Ross reminded folks that hunting within City Limits is illegal so why make the provision, and then Tom Ellington made an even better common sense argument: "I don't believe the issues of public safety change just because an individual is only hunting."
It's always nice to see people try to mask their contempt and venom within the language of Robert's Rules of Order.
Speaking of... apparently Erickson was feeling quite chatty. In response to a "point of information" comment Elaine Lucas made about what other animals are protected by the ordinance (none), Erickson interrupted with a "is this relevant" comment of his own. Lucas snapped at him, but Erickson only waited until after she was done to snidely return volley, asking if council should be allowed to debate using "points of information". You know, it seems much more dramatic in person than it does here.
Anywho. That ordinance eventually passed without objection. Sponsor Nancy White said afterwards that she was surprised that the vote went so favorably, and gave the credit to the dozen or so animal rights activists who showed up in support. Several were signed up to speech beforehand, but only three or four were allowed to because the meeting was running so far behind. Of the chosen representatives, Chamblee Abernathy of Athens spoke out, citing the ordinance passed in the Classic City. She was followed by an impassioned woman named Mrs. Greene, who recounted her memory of seeing a dog put down. She said, "I'll never forget that memory just as I'm sure Mr. Schlesinger--I hope I'm saying it correctly--just as I'm sure Mr. Schlesinger will never forget the gas chambers." Her reference to Rabbi Larry Schlesinger's connection to the Jewish Holocaust was stunningly inappropriate, but it passed by without much of a flutter. Obviously, living in the South, Rabbi Schlesinger is accustomed to some of our innocent ignorance. Either way, he let it roll off his back. She was followed by a Mercer professor who specialized in animal psychology, which was interesting since it didn't seem apparent beforehand that one could specialize in that sort of thing.
Con't in next post...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
As the worm turns...
Welcome to the New Macon, population you!
Pardon my French but Reichert is proving to be quite the badass. Just two months into office, he’s making the bold moves that erases some of the last eight years’ sting, like initiating an ethics code for the city. Now he’s hoping to win over reluctant
In the Sunday paper, two of the Telegraph’s writers did a story about how the nightlife is important and how it is still going even after The Hummingbird and 550 Blues shut down. Well, in the process, they tried to take a poke at The 11th Hour saying—I’m paraphrasing here—“Another local publication says the two bars will open up soon but our research on Myspace clearly shows that 550 Blues is closed.” If you haven’t already heard, 550 Blues has been sold. (They could’ve checked another local publication’s website for the story on that before they filed their story.) Oh and despite the article being titled “the Synergy of Downtown”, Club Synergy wasn’t even mentioned—the irony wasn’t lost on them. Co-owner Philip is even urging his clientele to write the writers because it is a little puzzling that the only gay club and two prominently black clubs were excluded from the article, Grant’s and Club Extreme respectively.
I’d like to say something to my fellow Georgians. “Chuck Norris is not THAT cool.” Yes, yes. I get it. He fought Bruce Lee (got his ass whooped by Bruce Lee), was
What seems most complicated about the Obama/Clinton battle is that you “know” it’s about gender and race, but it’s hard to admit that AND what that says about us. One headline proclaimed that Obama took
The NAACP is working with ten other organizations and entities to start combating crime in historic
Or maybe just shouldn’t. At the first of this month, the Ga. House of Representatives voted 151 to 9 in favor of a resolution to urge the NCAA to create a playoff system for college football. Obviously, if UGA hadn’t been dissed like they were, it wouldn’t be an issue, and while I agree with the House, I don’t know how much good it’ll do. (Although considering how much money college sports brings to the state—millions and millions, I’m sure—I can understand their interest.) Oddly enough, the