Athens-Clarke County
Reporting about Clarke County, Georgia. Some stories will be republished in the Athens Banner-Herald as part of a news-academic partnership with Grady Newsource.
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Athens Leisure Services Expands Programming to Adapt to COVID-19 Limitations
As the residents of Athens, Georgia, learn how to navigate a world in the COVID-19 era, Clarke County Leisure Services is also learning how to adapt their programming to an evolving world. Clarke County Leisure Service Parks and Facilities, besides Morton Theatre, are currently open to the public. In-person programs…
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UGA ‘reCYCLE’ Program Gives Abandoned Bicycles Purpose
The University of Georgia reCYCLE program began in 2014 when student workers in transportation and parking services noticed a lot of abandoned bikes on campus bike racks. Now, it has grown into a stream-lined program that collects and refurbishes deserted bicycles to give to UGA students and faculty in need…
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A Win For Affordable Housing: Inclusionary Development Charge One Step Closer to Reality
The push for more affordable housing in Athens has reached a significant moment, as the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission agreed to submit their response to Mayor Girtz’s Inclusionary Development Charge during their meeting on Oct. 8. The Inclusionary Development Charge, which was originally created in Fall of 2019 and presented…
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How Pope Francis’ Recent Messages Will Affect Catholic Voters in Georgia
Pope Francis released his newest encyclical, Fratelli tutti, at the start of October. The letter is meant for Catholics worldwide, but the messages he penned focus on topical issues in the United States 2020 election. The topics covered included: movement across borders, whether or not there can be…
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Imam Brings Past Religious Leader Into Present Day Anti-Racism
As a Sunni imam, Omar Suleiman, who completed doctoral studies in Islamic Thought and Civilization, balances issues of faith, culture and social unrest. Following the death of George Floyd, he advocated for a reckoning with American police brutality and drone strikes abroad. By speaking at multiple webinars a week, Suleiman…
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Clarke County School District Changes Middle School Grading System Due to Pandemic
After progress reports, some parents may have seen some dramatic changes in their student’s grades. The Clarke County School District has changed its “incomplete” grading policy to a “missing” policy, which means that some students’ grades might have become lower than the day before. The school district announced the…
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Athens Prepares For Possible Civil Unrest Following 2020 Election
When Kayla Hanner checked her email this past week, she found something she was not expecting. It was a note from her apartment complex, The Flats at Carrs Hill on Oconee Street in Athens. The subject line? “Letter of Preparedness,” which addressed concerns about the potential for civil unrest following…
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Images from Inside the Campaigns: U.S. Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff
U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, running to represent the state of Georgia, made a campaign stop in Athens in October. Ryan Cameron is a student in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
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How to Vote Absentee — The Right Way
An unprecedented number of Georgians voted through absentee ballots in the June primaries — around 1.15 million, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. While historically, only 3 to 6% of Georgians vote absentee, in the primaries almost half of the total vote was accounted for by absentees, said…
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How Economic Issues Are Taking Forefront For Athens Businesses During Election 2020
Athens’ local economy, like most of the world’s, has faltered and dipped since March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But that does not mean everyone has been affected equally. After businesses were forced to shut down, and a statewide shelter-in-place mandate went into effect temporarily on April 2,…