Watkinsville Forum on Beer and Wine Sales This Thursday

If you are interested in commenting on a proposed ordinance that will allow beer and wine to be sold in Watkinsville's retail establishments, there is a public comment session with council members Joe Walter and Samantha Purcell on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

As has been detailed elsewhere (here, here, and in a story only available to subscribers of the Oconee Enteprise), the city is considering loosening its beer and wine ordinance to allow limited package sales in convenience stores and perhaps future retail establishments. If you can't make the 5 p.m. meeting, visit Watkinsville's website and e-mail your opinion to the Mayor and council. Councilwoman Samantha Purcell and Councilman Joe Walter are members of the subcommittee working on this ordinance; other councilmembers will not be there due to open meetings laws.

History Made in Oconee County

Oconee County is now a part of golf history.

At today's second round of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, UGA alum Brendon Todd aced the 17th hole at Jennings Mill -- for the second day in a row. As far as we know, this is a first in professional golf. WNEG's Mark Edmonston captured today's hole-in-one on video.

The video is embedded below and national coverage is coming in droves (blogs, AP, ESPN, Bloomberg, PGA Tour). Keep an eye out for the video of local track Jennings Mill on local and national sports broadcasts and be sure to check out the tournament this weekend!



Caveat: My company, Jackson Spalding, proudly helps promote the ARFC!

Transportation Stimulus Funds Bypass Clarke, Oconee

Out of $512 million allotted for Georgia roads, bridges and transit dollars, Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties got exactly zero Federal stimulus dollars in phase one allocations. Details here and here on who got the bacon, and who didn't. Gwinnett County alone scored 13% of the total allocation and more than twice as much funding as our entire congressional district (approximately $70 million to $30 million). Granted, Gwinnett has enormous transportation issues, many of its own making. But the short story for our area: no cash, no transit, no roads, no jobs, nothing changes. Hopefully we will do better in round 2 of the sweepstakes.