The top ten:
1. The Senate Race
2. The Presidential Campaign
3. #atlgas
4. Powell vs Handel
5. The Rise of the Hyperlocal
6. Ethics In Blogging
7. House District 80
8. Troy Davis
9. The Banana Republics
10. The Firing of Ken Edelstein
If you make lists, you will leave something out. And I left out a big one.
As Rusty pointed out, the tornado was one of the biggest new media stories of the year. There were real time reports on twitter, location photos on flickr and video from Shelby, Spacey and the ever present Amani. The storm was a tragedy to be sure, but it was also the biggest mashup of networking, new media, citizen journalism or whatever you want to call it in 2008. And I shouldn't have left that out.
But I like the top ten I compiled and don't think any deserve to get bump. So just slide it in where ever you think it's appropriate. Next year, I'll try to jog my memory a little harder. Although I will be another year and about a thousand beers older. So, no guarantees.
Thanks to everyone for reading, commenting and participating in this year's top ten. We've got a helluva community. And it's only going to get better.
Showing posts with label Top Ten Stories of 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top Ten Stories of 2008. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #1 - The Senate Race
Climbing smokestacks replaced kissing babies and the roller coaster of the 2008 Senate race bucked, jostled, threatened to pitch an incumbent to the turf but finally came to rest exactly where expected.
The Democrats rolled out the usual clown car with the usual menagerie of pretenders. Former newsman Dale Cardwell sounded like a Republican and performed throwback stunts from the era of flagpole sitting. Young Rand Knight seemed to model his leap into politics after Ron Paul with fanatics frantically frisking the internet for any mention of their man. Josh Lanier drove around in his jeep collecting tip jars and channeling Kinky Friedman. Former Dekalb CEO Vernon Jones played footsie with everyone by putting up non-descript "Vernon for Georgia" billboards which overnight morphed into "Vernon for Senate" placards. And no one knew what to make of Maggie Martinez who didn't seem to understand Puerto Rico is not a state.
All that was lacking was an establishment candidate.
Enter Jim Martin.
Martin was the top vote getting non-winner (in some circles known as first loser) for the Democrats in 2006. He gathered a staggering 42% of the vote in his bid for Lieutenant Governor and in an era where the top of the ticket was receiving 38%, some saw an oasis of hope. Most saw a shimmering reflection of the sky better known as a mirage.
It was inevitable that Martin would weed out the pretenders and just as predicted by the big wigs in the state party, he began to draw money.
With the Obama wave building, the possibility of a 60 member Democratic Senate and incumbent Saxby Chambliss riling the blood of the deficit hawks, Martin suddenly mattered.
Money poured into Georgia from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and when polls showed Chambliss in real danger of being booted, the Republican counterpart responded in kind.
Commercials flowed like rivers. Sunday football games were no longer safe havens from the madness. Car lots in south Georgia could not hawk their latest deal of the century. The political money had sucked the tv teat dry.
TV and the madness stirred by the frenetic Libertarian Allen Buckley proved just enough to push Martin and Chambliss into a runoff.
Georgia, wracked by electoral convulsions for over a year, endured one more month of whispers and whip lash. The political junkies, the jones never fully satisfied, predicted Obama visits (didn't happen) and Palin visits (did happen) all the while casting eyes towards a trial in Alaska and a circus in Minnesota. As reality and the possibility of the DTs set in, the possibility of a grand finale faded.
Martin could never climb the final hill and Chambliss' people finally came home. The incumbent Republican won in a whitewash.
The longest election year in memory finally ended. Democrats were left to ruminate on what was gained and what could have been gained. Republicans wiped their brows with relief that the breakwater they worked so hard to build held back the wave that wiped many of their brothers and sisters out to sea.
Quiet now covers Georgia as the players, the poseurs and pushers leave the political earth fallow. But after the hangovers fade and the wheels once again beg for grease, the furrows will be turned again. After all, 2010 is just around the corner.
Photo courtesy of Joeff Davis and Creative Loafing
The Democrats rolled out the usual clown car with the usual menagerie of pretenders. Former newsman Dale Cardwell sounded like a Republican and performed throwback stunts from the era of flagpole sitting. Young Rand Knight seemed to model his leap into politics after Ron Paul with fanatics frantically frisking the internet for any mention of their man. Josh Lanier drove around in his jeep collecting tip jars and channeling Kinky Friedman. Former Dekalb CEO Vernon Jones played footsie with everyone by putting up non-descript "Vernon for Georgia" billboards which overnight morphed into "Vernon for Senate" placards. And no one knew what to make of Maggie Martinez who didn't seem to understand Puerto Rico is not a state.
All that was lacking was an establishment candidate.
Enter Jim Martin.
Martin was the top vote getting non-winner (in some circles known as first loser) for the Democrats in 2006. He gathered a staggering 42% of the vote in his bid for Lieutenant Governor and in an era where the top of the ticket was receiving 38%, some saw an oasis of hope. Most saw a shimmering reflection of the sky better known as a mirage.
It was inevitable that Martin would weed out the pretenders and just as predicted by the big wigs in the state party, he began to draw money.
With the Obama wave building, the possibility of a 60 member Democratic Senate and incumbent Saxby Chambliss riling the blood of the deficit hawks, Martin suddenly mattered.
Money poured into Georgia from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and when polls showed Chambliss in real danger of being booted, the Republican counterpart responded in kind.
Commercials flowed like rivers. Sunday football games were no longer safe havens from the madness. Car lots in south Georgia could not hawk their latest deal of the century. The political money had sucked the tv teat dry.
TV and the madness stirred by the frenetic Libertarian Allen Buckley proved just enough to push Martin and Chambliss into a runoff.
Georgia, wracked by electoral convulsions for over a year, endured one more month of whispers and whip lash. The political junkies, the jones never fully satisfied, predicted Obama visits (didn't happen) and Palin visits (did happen) all the while casting eyes towards a trial in Alaska and a circus in Minnesota. As reality and the possibility of the DTs set in, the possibility of a grand finale faded.
Martin could never climb the final hill and Chambliss' people finally came home. The incumbent Republican won in a whitewash.
The longest election year in memory finally ended. Democrats were left to ruminate on what was gained and what could have been gained. Republicans wiped their brows with relief that the breakwater they worked so hard to build held back the wave that wiped many of their brothers and sisters out to sea.
Quiet now covers Georgia as the players, the poseurs and pushers leave the political earth fallow. But after the hangovers fade and the wheels once again beg for grease, the furrows will be turned again. After all, 2010 is just around the corner.
Photo courtesy of Joeff Davis and Creative Loafing
Friday, December 19, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #2 - The Presidential Campaign
We're not used to waiting.
As dark fell on February 5th, the polls closed and the waiting began. Most of the bones readers knew how things would throw down. Obama and Huckabee would win Georgia. But this was not the usual election - the grass was blue and the sky was green.
For six years, Georgia had been an ardent red state. As sure as the sun coming up, Republicans win and the winner is pre-ordained. We had become so boring, the national press hardly bothered to notice. On primary night, they started to come back.
Obama did win but it was how he won. As the numbers rolled in even the hardest of political warriors were staggered. 66% of the total vote. An astonishing 90% of the African-American vote. For the first time in years, more Georgians pulled Donkey than Elephant tickets.
And this time it was the Republicans, those starch shirted, never get into a nasty fight Republicans, who had to wait. Deep in the night, Mike Huckabee won Georgia but a resurgent John McCain placed second and placed the final nail in the coffin of Mitt Romney.
The next day the whirlwind left Georgia. There were bus trips to the convention. The occasional rally. But after our brief, shining moment, Georgia became more swing-through than swing state.
All that remained was November but even as it approached, inevitability set in. Not even the Obama wave could crack the red state. All that was really left was the party.
Music boomed from the basement to the suites in the Hyatt Regency as Democrats danced to the sounds of history. Georgia's part had been small but no one cared. It was the moment. And the moment was so grand that even a noted cynical independent leaped into the arms of another man and they danced round and round.
But after the lights faded and the music quieted, Georgia awoke to the realization there was one chapter left unfinished.
As dark fell on February 5th, the polls closed and the waiting began. Most of the bones readers knew how things would throw down. Obama and Huckabee would win Georgia. But this was not the usual election - the grass was blue and the sky was green.
For six years, Georgia had been an ardent red state. As sure as the sun coming up, Republicans win and the winner is pre-ordained. We had become so boring, the national press hardly bothered to notice. On primary night, they started to come back.
Obama did win but it was how he won. As the numbers rolled in even the hardest of political warriors were staggered. 66% of the total vote. An astonishing 90% of the African-American vote. For the first time in years, more Georgians pulled Donkey than Elephant tickets.
And this time it was the Republicans, those starch shirted, never get into a nasty fight Republicans, who had to wait. Deep in the night, Mike Huckabee won Georgia but a resurgent John McCain placed second and placed the final nail in the coffin of Mitt Romney.
The next day the whirlwind left Georgia. There were bus trips to the convention. The occasional rally. But after our brief, shining moment, Georgia became more swing-through than swing state.
All that remained was November but even as it approached, inevitability set in. Not even the Obama wave could crack the red state. All that was really left was the party.
Music boomed from the basement to the suites in the Hyatt Regency as Democrats danced to the sounds of history. Georgia's part had been small but no one cared. It was the moment. And the moment was so grand that even a noted cynical independent leaped into the arms of another man and they danced round and round.
But after the lights faded and the music quieted, Georgia awoke to the realization there was one chapter left unfinished.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #3 - #atlgas
When does a widget grow up?
Who made the first emergency call on a cell phone? When did a blog first get quoted by major publication? Who was the first person to get married after meeting love on an online dating site?
The answer to those questions and millions of other web lore may be lost to time but people of Atlanta will always remember the time when Twitter suddenly mattered.
In September, Hurricane Ike whammied the gulf coast, severly impacting the oil refineries that sprawl around Houston, TX. Atlanta, eternally hampered by a lack of storage facilities, saw its pipeline to the go-juice dwindle to near nothing.
Gas stations began running out of gas. Lines began forming. Atlanta drivers began stalking tanker trucks like desperate, feral dogs. A station with a single open pump became a honey pot for swarms of thirsty cars.
There would be no succor for days but salve came in the form of one young woman's idea.
Tessa Horhled rarely used a car. A chance favor for her mother led her to the QuikTrip on Sidney Marcus and into the swirl of chaos. Not one to sit as a story formed, Horhled used her cell phone to send an update to the social media site Twitter.
By adding the hashtag #atlgas, she created an easily searchable method for others to report on gas status. Her idea played on Atlantan's obsessive nature to stew over the latest "disaster". From Alpharetta to Forest Park, hundreds of drivers began reporting on the availability of gas at individual stations.
Little blogstorms normally burn bright then fade away, rarely noticed by those in the larger world. But the beast Tessa unleashed would not be stopped. The Atlanta Journal Constitution linked directly to the #atlgas search and told its readers it was "real time" information. The news of the innovation reached as far away as Fayetteville, NC.
Soon, gas began flowing again, the lines disappeared and #atlgas began to fade away. Only the future knows if the idea of collective consciousness attacking a problem will become as ubiquitous as cell phones, blogs and online dating, but for one sliver of time, one bright mind and one little widget showed us possibilities we hardly imagined.
Who made the first emergency call on a cell phone? When did a blog first get quoted by major publication? Who was the first person to get married after meeting love on an online dating site?
The answer to those questions and millions of other web lore may be lost to time but people of Atlanta will always remember the time when Twitter suddenly mattered.
In September, Hurricane Ike whammied the gulf coast, severly impacting the oil refineries that sprawl around Houston, TX. Atlanta, eternally hampered by a lack of storage facilities, saw its pipeline to the go-juice dwindle to near nothing.
Gas stations began running out of gas. Lines began forming. Atlanta drivers began stalking tanker trucks like desperate, feral dogs. A station with a single open pump became a honey pot for swarms of thirsty cars.
There would be no succor for days but salve came in the form of one young woman's idea.
Tessa Horhled rarely used a car. A chance favor for her mother led her to the QuikTrip on Sidney Marcus and into the swirl of chaos. Not one to sit as a story formed, Horhled used her cell phone to send an update to the social media site Twitter.
By adding the hashtag #atlgas, she created an easily searchable method for others to report on gas status. Her idea played on Atlantan's obsessive nature to stew over the latest "disaster". From Alpharetta to Forest Park, hundreds of drivers began reporting on the availability of gas at individual stations.
Little blogstorms normally burn bright then fade away, rarely noticed by those in the larger world. But the beast Tessa unleashed would not be stopped. The Atlanta Journal Constitution linked directly to the #atlgas search and told its readers it was "real time" information. The news of the innovation reached as far away as Fayetteville, NC.
Soon, gas began flowing again, the lines disappeared and #atlgas began to fade away. Only the future knows if the idea of collective consciousness attacking a problem will become as ubiquitous as cell phones, blogs and online dating, but for one sliver of time, one bright mind and one little widget showed us possibilities we hardly imagined.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #4 - Powell vs. Handel
The smallest sparks can create the largest fires.
Residency challenges occur every election. They are small, quiet battles involving much inside baseball and arcane code sections. Rarely do they burble up to the top of tickets, for anyone running for high profile office surely knows where they live.
When Democrat Jim Powell signed up to run for the Public Service Commission primary, few realized he started a chain of events that would roll and buckle Georgia political blogs for months.
For motivations still unrevealed, fellow Democrat Jim Indech challenged Powell's residency based on the anomaly of a homestead exemption outside the contested district. Although Powell lived, played and voted in Towns County, he maintained homestead in Cobb County.
Few thought the case would go far, particularly when an Administrative Law Judge found for Powell in late June, but on the Friday before the election, Secretary of State Karen Handel overruled the ALJ and removed Powell from the ballot.
Chaos reigned. Signs were hastily posted at polling places, requests for injunction were filed and outrage boiled over on Democratic activist blogs.
Powell received the requested injunction and remained on the ballot for the primary. In that contest, he stomped Indech by 70 points, but the battle was far from over. Although the electorate spoke, the court had not. The real threat of Powell being removed from the ballot post facto thus invalidating the votes of thousands of Georgians remained.
What followed were a series of legal challenges which travelled all the way to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Such unprecedented publicity of a residency challenge gave opportunity for Georgia's political blogs to delve deeply into both the politics and the law.
In November Powell won the case with a terse court ruling in his favor 9-0, but lost the race against Republican Lauren McDonald 56-44.
It may be debated for some time whether the strange twists of Powell vs. Handel ultimately helped or harmed the Powell candidacy, but one surety emerged - no one will take a residency challenge lightly again.
Residency challenges occur every election. They are small, quiet battles involving much inside baseball and arcane code sections. Rarely do they burble up to the top of tickets, for anyone running for high profile office surely knows where they live.
When Democrat Jim Powell signed up to run for the Public Service Commission primary, few realized he started a chain of events that would roll and buckle Georgia political blogs for months.
For motivations still unrevealed, fellow Democrat Jim Indech challenged Powell's residency based on the anomaly of a homestead exemption outside the contested district. Although Powell lived, played and voted in Towns County, he maintained homestead in Cobb County.
Few thought the case would go far, particularly when an Administrative Law Judge found for Powell in late June, but on the Friday before the election, Secretary of State Karen Handel overruled the ALJ and removed Powell from the ballot.
Chaos reigned. Signs were hastily posted at polling places, requests for injunction were filed and outrage boiled over on Democratic activist blogs.
Powell received the requested injunction and remained on the ballot for the primary. In that contest, he stomped Indech by 70 points, but the battle was far from over. Although the electorate spoke, the court had not. The real threat of Powell being removed from the ballot post facto thus invalidating the votes of thousands of Georgians remained.
What followed were a series of legal challenges which travelled all the way to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Such unprecedented publicity of a residency challenge gave opportunity for Georgia's political blogs to delve deeply into both the politics and the law.
In November Powell won the case with a terse court ruling in his favor 9-0, but lost the race against Republican Lauren McDonald 56-44.
It may be debated for some time whether the strange twists of Powell vs. Handel ultimately helped or harmed the Powell candidacy, but one surety emerged - no one will take a residency challenge lightly again.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #5 - The Rise Of The Hyperlocal
Long have the internet cognoscenti predicted that blogs would turn inward. The theory held that as traditional media scaled back on local coverage, blogs would fill the niche.
At their most honest, blogs are reflections of an authors immediate surroundings. For this reason, local blogs have been around since blogs have been around. In Georgia, the venerable (in internet terms) Cable and Tweed and Drive A Faster Car cover music, Atlanta Metblog covers a wide range of happenings across the city and the ur-hyperlocal Dora-blog covers the strange turns in that tiny hamlet. But it was the emergence in 2008 of two hyperlocal blogs, ironically in the same place, which may have fulfilled the visionaries early predictions.
DecaturMetro and inDecatur cover the hip little city like no other.
At a time when the AJC was removing resources from local burgs, Decatur was emerging from a haze to once again blossom as a community. The MARTA station was finally finished. The square, once a lonely place except for now-ancient Eddie's Attic, buzzed with activity. Residents roamed, street characters did their thing, beer flowed and bands played. The only thing missing was a place to research all these wonderful and strange goings-on.
On September 9-26-07, it all began with "Welcome To Blogging Decatur!". The first post questioned whether Decatur High School should go charter and provided the time and place where locals could attend hearings. Later, the site would switch its label to DecaturMetro and expanded its coverage to everything from crime reports to local restaurant discounts. But it was all Decatur all the time.
Around the same time that DecaturMetro began its meanderings around the square, inDecatur also emerged. Although sometimes the two overlapped and inDecatur would occasionally range into commentary beyond the borders of the town, if it wasn't noted by these two it probably didn't happen.
In November 2008, DecaturMetro and inDecatur shared Atlanta Magazine's Best of Atlanta award for Best Neighborhood News.
The ground broken by the two Decatur hyperlocals and their predecessors continues to be turned. Dekalb Officers takes a cynical look at the shenanigans in the Dekalb PD. Dekalb County School Watch focuses on the education system in the county. Heneghan's Dunwoody Blog (originally a hyperlocal in the vein of the two Decatur blogs) documents the trials, tribulations and triumphs of a nascent city.
The revolution might be televised, but it damn sure will be local.
At their most honest, blogs are reflections of an authors immediate surroundings. For this reason, local blogs have been around since blogs have been around. In Georgia, the venerable (in internet terms) Cable and Tweed and Drive A Faster Car cover music, Atlanta Metblog covers a wide range of happenings across the city and the ur-hyperlocal Dora-blog covers the strange turns in that tiny hamlet. But it was the emergence in 2008 of two hyperlocal blogs, ironically in the same place, which may have fulfilled the visionaries early predictions.
DecaturMetro and inDecatur cover the hip little city like no other.
At a time when the AJC was removing resources from local burgs, Decatur was emerging from a haze to once again blossom as a community. The MARTA station was finally finished. The square, once a lonely place except for now-ancient Eddie's Attic, buzzed with activity. Residents roamed, street characters did their thing, beer flowed and bands played. The only thing missing was a place to research all these wonderful and strange goings-on.
On September 9-26-07, it all began with "Welcome To Blogging Decatur!". The first post questioned whether Decatur High School should go charter and provided the time and place where locals could attend hearings. Later, the site would switch its label to DecaturMetro and expanded its coverage to everything from crime reports to local restaurant discounts. But it was all Decatur all the time.
Around the same time that DecaturMetro began its meanderings around the square, inDecatur also emerged. Although sometimes the two overlapped and inDecatur would occasionally range into commentary beyond the borders of the town, if it wasn't noted by these two it probably didn't happen.
In November 2008, DecaturMetro and inDecatur shared Atlanta Magazine's Best of Atlanta award for Best Neighborhood News.
The ground broken by the two Decatur hyperlocals and their predecessors continues to be turned. Dekalb Officers takes a cynical look at the shenanigans in the Dekalb PD. Dekalb County School Watch focuses on the education system in the county. Heneghan's Dunwoody Blog (originally a hyperlocal in the vein of the two Decatur blogs) documents the trials, tribulations and triumphs of a nascent city.
The revolution might be televised, but it damn sure will be local.
CORRECTION: Small correction. ACE the owner of inDecatur pointed out that technically his spot launched on 8-6-07 or almost two months before neighbor DecaturMetro. The story was published based on the fact that his front page listed archives only going back to March 2008. I should have dug a little deeper. Twice as many corrections in the past two days as the entire year! I need to beat my research assistant. Wait a minute...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #6 - Ethics In Blogging
We took a hit this year.
Only one of us sinned but we all took the hit.
On July 1st, Georgia Politics Unfiltered's Andre Walker reported officials from the Democratic Party of Georgia pressured powerful political ally the Georgia Association of Educators to remove their endorsement of Senate candidate Rand Knight. The story contained only anonymous sources with no additional corroboration. Two nights later, the story vanished into the vapors.
The stink did not so easily disappear. Before the removal, the story was repeated on two of the state's most prominent political blogs. The furor and subsequent removal led these blogs to either remove the story completely or issue a correction. It also led a suddenly silent Andre to issue his own retraction and apology.
The passive "mistakes were made" nature of this retraction did not pass unnoticed.
Less than one month later, Andre once again made blogosphere news when local gadfly publication Atlanta Progressive News broke the news he published positive stories on Democratic congressman David Scott without disclosing he was receiving payment from Scott's campaign.
Walker's initial response was the public record of FEC reports were his disclosure. When pressed, Walker finally issued a statement listing not only Scott's payment but a virtual resume of gloat showing his "support" for Democrats over the previous two years.
The arrogance of the disclosure statement did not pass unnoticed.
As predicted by some, the two sins made very real the specter portrayed by the traditional media chicken littles - the blogosphere has no rules, no ethics and it cannot be trusted. The sudden tangible nature of these previously esoteric ideas led to a raucous, free-wheeling discussion which crissed and crossed from blog to blog.
The fires eventually cooled and if some understanding was not reached, all agreed the conversation must continue.
That the original sinner did not participate in these conversations and instead allowed others to defend a community stained by his actions did not pass unnoticed.
Time will tell if the actions of one blogger will be used as a cautionary tale in future judgments of the community, but as we will shortly see, the power of the medium cannot be contained and retrograde movements can be followed by massive leaps forward.
Proceed to #5
Only one of us sinned but we all took the hit.
On July 1st, Georgia Politics Unfiltered's Andre Walker reported officials from the Democratic Party of Georgia pressured powerful political ally the Georgia Association of Educators to remove their endorsement of Senate candidate Rand Knight. The story contained only anonymous sources with no additional corroboration. Two nights later, the story vanished into the vapors.
The stink did not so easily disappear. Before the removal, the story was repeated on two of the state's most prominent political blogs. The furor and subsequent removal led these blogs to either remove the story completely or issue a correction. It also led a suddenly silent Andre to issue his own retraction and apology.
The passive "mistakes were made" nature of this retraction did not pass unnoticed.
Less than one month later, Andre once again made blogosphere news when local gadfly publication Atlanta Progressive News broke the news he published positive stories on Democratic congressman David Scott without disclosing he was receiving payment from Scott's campaign.
Walker's initial response was the public record of FEC reports were his disclosure. When pressed, Walker finally issued a statement listing not only Scott's payment but a virtual resume of gloat showing his "support" for Democrats over the previous two years.
The arrogance of the disclosure statement did not pass unnoticed.
As predicted by some, the two sins made very real the specter portrayed by the traditional media chicken littles - the blogosphere has no rules, no ethics and it cannot be trusted. The sudden tangible nature of these previously esoteric ideas led to a raucous, free-wheeling discussion which crissed and crossed from blog to blog.
The fires eventually cooled and if some understanding was not reached, all agreed the conversation must continue.
That the original sinner did not participate in these conversations and instead allowed others to defend a community stained by his actions did not pass unnoticed.
Time will tell if the actions of one blogger will be used as a cautionary tale in future judgments of the community, but as we will shortly see, the power of the medium cannot be contained and retrograde movements can be followed by massive leaps forward.
Proceed to #5
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #8 - Troy Davis
It is terrifying to me to think that my state might kill an innocent man in error based upon legal technicalities. If it is terrifying to you too, there is not much that we can do to stop it. Except maybe to pray. ~Sara of Going Through The Motions
Outstanding ~Rogue109 of Peach Pundit on the Supreme Court's decision to allow Troy Davis execution to proceed
Capital Punishment inhabits the rare place where passion's flames consume reason. However, it takes an unusual case to spread those flames beyond the borders of the political. It takes the impending death of a possibly innocent man.
According to a Savannah jury, nearly 20 years ago, Troy Anthony Davis brutally murdered a police officer. Seventeen years after his conviction, 7 of the 9 witnesses whose testimony led directly to the verdict say they may not have been completely truthful.
The questions in the case have led such divergent voices as a former FBI director and the Bishop of Rome to beg for pause.
In Georgia, the usual political warriors either pled for mercy or demanded blood. It also touched places that normally discuss recipes, UGA football and teenage vampires.
Finality now approaches. Davis' probable last hearing occured yesterday.
One day lives will continue and routines will return, but there is little doubt that those who inhabit the raging land and those who only briefly touched its scorching earth will forget the strange, possibly tragic path of Troy Anthony Davis.
Proceed to #7
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #9 - The Banana Republics
If one does something which hasn't been done in 40 years, either Guiness should be called or the bodies should be hidden as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately for the children of Clayton County, the local school board had neither the competence to locate a phone book nor the basic Machiavellian instincts to cover their posteriors.
On August 28th, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools pulled the accreditation of the entire Clayton County school system. The last time the organization took such action was 1969.
With the stroke of a pen, young men and women's college applications were relegated to limbo, the usual recriminations were fired, the board chose to make things worse by potentially violating open meetings law and finally it got so hooptie, the Governor had to step in and run four sitting members the hell out of Dodge.
Incompentence with a generous slathering of schadenfreude is like ambrosia to bloggers. The Clayton County shenanigans seemed to spew so much sweetness that all should have been sated.
Then along came Lithonia.
In just one city council meeting, the Mayor fired the police chief, the council re-hired the police chief and locked the Mayor out of the building. The Mayor managed to unlock City Hall only to have the council boot her out again and call a locksmith toot sweet.
It took Clayton County years to embrace the crazy. In a single instant, Lithonia ran into its arms seeking a big bear hug.
On November 4th, the citizens of Lithonia exercised the ultimate lock by booting their Mayor out of office. On December 3, former Mayor McKibben was arrested after a confrontation at a city housing project. She claims they are still out to get her.
Doraville must be jealous. They made the top ten last year and all they did was fire their Iraqi war veteran Chief Of Police.
Unfortunately for the children of Clayton County, the local school board had neither the competence to locate a phone book nor the basic Machiavellian instincts to cover their posteriors.
On August 28th, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools pulled the accreditation of the entire Clayton County school system. The last time the organization took such action was 1969.
With the stroke of a pen, young men and women's college applications were relegated to limbo, the usual recriminations were fired, the board chose to make things worse by potentially violating open meetings law and finally it got so hooptie, the Governor had to step in and run four sitting members the hell out of Dodge.
Incompentence with a generous slathering of schadenfreude is like ambrosia to bloggers. The Clayton County shenanigans seemed to spew so much sweetness that all should have been sated.
Then along came Lithonia.
In just one city council meeting, the Mayor fired the police chief, the council re-hired the police chief and locked the Mayor out of the building. The Mayor managed to unlock City Hall only to have the council boot her out again and call a locksmith toot sweet.
It took Clayton County years to embrace the crazy. In a single instant, Lithonia ran into its arms seeking a big bear hug.
On November 4th, the citizens of Lithonia exercised the ultimate lock by booting their Mayor out of office. On December 3, former Mayor McKibben was arrested after a confrontation at a city housing project. She claims they are still out to get her.
Doraville must be jealous. They made the top ten last year and all they did was fire their Iraqi war veteran Chief Of Police.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Blog Stories 2008: #10-The Firing of Ken Edelstein
The subhead here should be Crazy Cracks The Creative Loafing.
The story began last December with the first round of layoffs at the venerable alt-weekly and ended this November with the firing of long time editor Ken Edelstein.
The departure was noted by all, for whether you considered him a friend, an enemy or a frenemy, everyone in the community understood Ken was one of the straws that stirred the drink.
He, via his publication, was one of the first in traditional media to build bridges between the old and new world.
When the AJC turned up its nose at SoCon and Podcamp, he sent reporters to participate. When AJC Editor Julia Wallace was proclaiming her publication was going to show us how it's done, Ken was, in his own combative and frankly irritating manner, talking to us about what it all means and how he could make his own world better. And God help us all, he did the one thing so many in his field fear - he started a blog and let the fertile minds of Wheatley, Freeman, Shalhoup, Henry and Nouaree run wild.
If you like him, you worry about the future of Creative Loafing and its relationship with the community. If you loathe him, well, you won't have Edelstien to kick around anymore. At least for now. After all, New Years bring new beginnings.
The story began last December with the first round of layoffs at the venerable alt-weekly and ended this November with the firing of long time editor Ken Edelstein.
The departure was noted by all, for whether you considered him a friend, an enemy or a frenemy, everyone in the community understood Ken was one of the straws that stirred the drink.
He, via his publication, was one of the first in traditional media to build bridges between the old and new world.
When the AJC turned up its nose at SoCon and Podcamp, he sent reporters to participate. When AJC Editor Julia Wallace was proclaiming her publication was going to show us how it's done, Ken was, in his own combative and frankly irritating manner, talking to us about what it all means and how he could make his own world better. And God help us all, he did the one thing so many in his field fear - he started a blog and let the fertile minds of Wheatley, Freeman, Shalhoup, Henry and Nouaree run wild.
If you like him, you worry about the future of Creative Loafing and its relationship with the community. If you loathe him, well, you won't have Edelstien to kick around anymore. At least for now. After all, New Years bring new beginnings.
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