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 Bibb County residents so they won’t freak out about being annexed. His goal, he says, is to make this city strong and viable. Our editor, Chris Horne, recently did an interview with Reichert and came away with some impressive quotes. It’s obvious to anyone who spends any time with the guy that he loves Macon.

Of course, if you’re looking for the bottom line in all this, just look at the bottom line on the info sheets Reichert passed out. It reads, “Property Value: Within the selected census tracts, the assessed value of the property is $1,077,263,018 (as of 10/2007). At the current city millage rate (10.16), this land would yield an increase of $4,377,997 in revenue to the City of Macon.” You know Macon needs it and finally we have a mayor that gets it too. Growing the tax base is important.

Now, the interesting part will be whether or not the loud mouths will be shouting in support of his plan or against it. It’s easy to point out how flawed Macon is, but it’s a whole other thing to step up and do what you can to make it a better place. This is definitely a great first move in that direction. And honestly, I think he’ll make it work. The reason is that Reichert is the kind of guy that North Macon’s people can trust, and he’s the kind of man that the rest of Macon can believe in. He should be able to explain this to unincorporated citizens without scaring them all off. (Be sure to check out the February 28^th issue with a detailed conversation with Mayor Reichert.)

The Telegraph obliquely references The 11^th Hour

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 11^th 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.

The State that Chuck Norris Fooled

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 Walker, Texas Ranger, has received recent hipster approval through over-cloned internet slogans (maybe you think you’ll win the love of your kids who’ve outgrown their raising), and wants you to get in shape with the Total Gym Workout. But he doesn’t know how to make good decisions, people! This is the man who married a woman who sent him a topless picture of himself (if he’d been smart, he’d have only banged her), and he starred in movies like “Top Dog” and “Firestarter” (anything with Lou Gossett, Jr., that isn’t an Iron Eagle movie is a bad choice).

Oprah-mania lives?

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 Georgia on the strength of the “black vote”, but he walked away with 66% of the Democratic votes and well more than the combined votes of the top two honkies in the Republican race, Huckabee and McCain. AND Obama did that with only 30% of the voters being black. So, the surprising part is that so many white men voted for Obama—assuming that the only legitimate crossover could come from white men, should gender and racial allegiances hold true—and what that says about Southern white men in Georgia. Firstly, they aren’t as ardently Republican as notoriously believed… but they’re still backwards because they won’t vote for a woman. (Remember, black men won the right to vote before all women did by about 50 years.) So either we’re more divided by gender than race, or white men will just vote for anyone Oprah endorses.

A March that might matter…

The NAACP is working with ten other organizations and entities to start combating crime in historic Pleasant Hill. The goal is to distribute information about solutions to violent crime in the hopes of arming people with alternatives and tools instead of automatically turning to drugs and violence. President Al Tillman says he chose Pleasant Hill because it was a high crime area with close proximity to a rec center “in the event only elderly people showed up to march with me.” He might be joking but only a little bit. This is one of those opportunities for the community to do something that could at least open some eyes. The Pleasant Hill march takes place March 1^st at 11am, meeting at the Booker T. Washington community center. But it isn’t the only event. As promised, Tillman is making the NCAAP more visible in the community. On March 21^st, they’re sponsoring a Free Spring Break Youth Night at Olympia Family Center from 7pm to 11pm, where the Anti-Gang Task Force will speak to the youth. And then the NAACP turns its attention to Village Green on March 29^th in an effort similar to the Pleasant Hill march. For more info, contact Al Tillman at 478-781-8003 or Pamela Lightsey at 478-621-2603.

There are some things you can’t legislate.

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 Ga. State Senate, in 1954, passed a law to keep black people from playing baseball with white people. That is a lot less understandable. Anyway.