Congratulations to the neighbors who won this battle. It's good to have people who stand up for what they believe in.

Oh, right -- because the nearby historic neighborhoods of Boulevard and Cobbham have truly suffered as historic districts, what with all those deteriorating properties and low home values.

And Carrie, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Just look at the developers who work almost exclusively in historic districts, complaining about all the "regulations" on their way to the bank to deposit their profits.

The Medical College of Georgia must be so proud

Way to support a Georgia company, sheriff. Not.

Wow, you're a lovely human being.

Although you probably refuse to believe it, but there are people who live in public housing who do go to school (even attend UGA), don't rob their neighbors, and are productive members of society. Did you even read the article? The first phase of the project is housing for seniors. Seniors! Those mooching, crime-infested old people.

Oh, you do know that AHA isn't costing our local government any money, and this project will end up completely changing the Pauldoe neighborhood, right? Just curious.

But heaven forbid there be affordable housing for people in our community who get paid minimum wage and can't afford $600 per bedroom, per month, for an apartment with a rooftop pool. Oh no, the "real world" apartments are progress. Good ol' American progress.

I'm just curious what Gov. Deal pays for his insurance plan

Just to set the record straight among certain commenters, but Bethel (as well as Rolling Ridge) are owned by a company in Atlanta. They are not owned or managed by the Athens Housing Authority.

Several other notorious -- and also low-income -- apartment complexes are also privately owned, such as apartments along Vincent Drive and Sycamore Drive.

@roebling: Woah. Easy there, bucko. All those statistics you're citing have everything to do with children who grow up in poverty and NOTHING to do with children who grow up in a household that can spend upwards of $80,000 trying to protect them.

Your anger at the situation would best be served looking at the impoverished populations of Clarke County, and providing some structure/guidance to the many unwed fathers who are contributing to poor, broken families. This family, while broken, is a completely different case.

I guess he'd be happy if it showed more Americans were out of work. I'd be happy if he was.

@LinaryKingdon: You are absolutely spot-on about all of this. There are many nuances that aren't reported. Friends of mine who were there tell me this kid was demanding from the start, assuming he had every right to set up his camera in a private place of business. He also was told, several times, that he was to stay downstairs with the rest of the media while the meeting with prospective students was going on -- and then everyone would move outside for a formal statement. Instead, from what witnesses have told me, he ran up the stairs, when a staff member's back was turned, and hid behind a wall to start filming. The kid shouldn't have been manhandled but he also crossed the line. If he presses charges, it seems he can also be charged with trespassing.

There should also be a look out for the extra b in robbery in the headline

Are you people freaking kidding me? Do you have NAY IDEA how much it costs to get quality childcare in this area? Because we paid $185/week for ours. and that was at a mid-range facility with subsidized rent (paid for by the church). With two incomes for college-educated parents, that's still $740 each month spent on childcare, nearly what we paid for our mortgage. When compared with our incomes, that's nearly 20 percent -- and we're solidly middle class.

And to think that people are "having kids they can't afford" or whatever poppycock you're selling, that's completely not true. There is not one woman who says to herself, "Gee, I think I'll have another baby so I can get on food stamps..." You're completely forgetting that there are THOUSANDS of middle-class families who have had their incomes cut due to getting laid off, and often when they do find another job, it's for a fraction of what they were making. Yet childcare costs are the same.

So while all you right-winders just looove to cry foul every time someone says "subsidized," in this case it's helping middle-class families afford the "American dream" of owning a house and having a car and paying for groceries, all while leaving their child in a safe environment while they go off to pay the bills. Those families end up paying taxes and supporting our economy, rather than staying home and drawing another government check because they can't afford childcare.

The hospitals pay a combined $400,000 to subsidize ambulance (911) calls. National has been able to run a business making money off non-emergency transports, so why couldn't the county?

http://flagpole.com/news/2012/feb/29/safety-first-money-matters/

Ane before you all jump on the gub'ment counting its money correctly, shall we first turn to the recent Barclay's scandal, which involves several banks in the U.S., too, and the fact that they've screwed millions of people out of trillions of dollars? Oh, but they're in the private sector, so it's all good.

Remember, 30% of those "salary" numbers go to pay for health insurance. So, $49,000/year for professionals who deal with troubled kids, help kids to read, or someone who manages a program that serves nearly 800 4-year-olds (Pre-K)? Yes, I think that's acceptable.

I guess she didn't want to wait for her life to be over . . .

The headline should read "White trash wants to pick up actual trash"

The point you all are missing is that nobody is asking for the state to "increase" funding. The state set its own standard for education funding — the QBE number — and in the last 10 years has successfully taken that money away in "austerity" cuts. And you're also forgetting that the price of health insurance has steadily risen, too -- 30 percent of the salary of one teacher is in health care costs alone (as i'm sure it is with private companies, too).

If you're so eager for school "choice," then how will a for-profit company do any better with the resources provided by the state? Instead of simply assuming "it's the gub'ment, so it must be wasteful," just think about giving our tax dollars to, say, a grocery store so they can offer "food choice" or a bank so they can offer "bank choice"

...oh, wait, we've done that second one. And look how quickly it's gotten us out of our financial mess.

So it doesn't matter much what the public thinks any more when it comes to anything in the political sphere – it looks like it may be the best job ever. You can have your friends start a Super PAC from anonymous sources to say whatever you want about anyone else, and when you get elected you can do whatever you want despite what the populous wants – and who cares because you probably got your job through some sort of election voting fraud any way. Of course, you become a horrible person (but let's face it, you were a horrible person to begin with, what human being with any self-respect becomes a politician?), but it doesn't matter because in today's world more and more horrible people are propelled into positions of power – whether they are a deplorable state representative, an underachieving head of state or leader of a bank who loses $3 billion (oops). When does the revolution start?

A republican pollster said Obama would lose Georgia? I'm *shocked!*

Meanwhile, how many candidates get their own radio show?

To quote someone much wiser than I:

“The managing-editor calls the school district to clarify stats in a press release—graduation rates omit the Classic City High School. Why? The school district publicist senses an unfavorable story and alerts her boss, the superintendent. The superintendent calls his golfing companion, the publisher of the Banner-Herald. The publisher huddles with his vice president for audience, who is the partner of the principal of the Classic City High School, who is also an Athens-Clarke County commissioner. The publisher clears it with corporate headquarters, and then tells the VP for audience to fire the managing editor."

I guess no one had to clear with corporate this favorable story.

McKillip doesn't care about anything but himself, like most every politician, and does and says anything he can to stay elected. He's a spineless, self-serving, partisan dolt. It's remarkable how his born again behavior coincided with various changes to the election map. I'm saddened to be represented by such a coward of a man.

@1hutch: I'm not a math whiz or anything, but that's 57 states. What were the seven other states?

Who needs copy editors anyway . . .

@postman: I'm guessing you're a man