Metro Spirit - 05.19.16

John Flythe

JUDGE

E A R LY V OTI N G C O NTI N U E S U NTI L M AY 2 0 T H

✓ Tough on Crime

S AT U R D AY V OT I N G I S M AY 14 T H

✓ Firm but Fair

E L E CT I O N D AY I S M AY 2 4 T H

✓ Committed to Our Community

THE AUGUSTA CIRCUIT INCLUDES: RICHMOND, COLUMBIA, AND BURKE COUNTIES

✓ Working To Keep Our Families Safe

WWW.ELECTJOHNFLYTHE.COM /ELECTJOHNFLYTHE 706-306-1603 Paid for by Committee to Elect John Flythe

te o V e ay s d a Ple Tues h s i t 4 Th ay 2 M

Conse ser rv r va v ative a tive Leader Low owe er T Ta axes a xes Bett ette er Q Qu uali u alit ty y of Lif Life

Table of Contents

EDIT

May 19, 2016

Amy Christian

Arts Editor/Production Director

Whine Line Augusta Tek Jenny is Wright Kris Fisher

amy@themetrospirit.com

Stacey Eidson Staff Writer

stacey@themetrospirit.com

Molly Swift

6 8 9 11

Staff Writer

molly@themetrospirit.com

Insider 12 News 14 Features 16

CREATIVE Joshua Bailey Lead Designer

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COVER DESIGN: KRUHU

SALES Gayle Bryan

Senior Account Executive

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Jim Christian Account Executive

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YOUR VOTE, YOUR VOICE

What’s Up Calendar Nightlife Sightings NYT Crossword The Eight Austin Rhodes

31 34 38 40 42 44 46

20

Bonnie Sloane Account Executive

bonnie@themetrospirit.com 770-401-9357

BUSINESS Joe White Publisher

joe@themetrospirit.com 706-373-3636

THIS WEEK

Johnny Beckworth circulation manager

johnny@themetrospirit.com Contributors Jenny Wright, Greg Baker, Austin Rhodes, Josh Ruffin, Kris Fisher, Michael Johnson Metro Spirit is a free newspaper published weekly on Thursday, 52 weeks a year. Editorial coverage includes local issues and news, arts, entertainment, people, places and events.

In our paper appear views from across the political and social spectrum.

The views do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Visit us at metrospirit. com.© 15 House, LLC. Owner/Publisher: Joe White. Legal: Phillip Scott Hibbard.

Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited. One copy per person, please.

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‘When The Boy was cast in “Mary Poppins,” we knew he was in for a lot of hard work and long hours. It proved to be true.’

Robert Williams has survived 20 years of the catering business. With the opening of his new event venue, The Foundry at Rae’s Creek, he says he’s ready for 20 more.

Pg. 9

Pg. 14

Rick Allen says he wants to continue his fight against Barack Obama.

Challenger Eugene Yu says Allen should just join the Democratic Party and let a real Republican have his seat.

The gloves are off in Georgia’s 12th Congressional District primary.

Pg. 16

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OPINION

The Whine Line Columbia County.... please clean up all the signage [in the right of way] along our roads. Our roads look trashy!

OMG, I saw a highway patrol officer giving a ticket to an 18-wheel truck driver on I-20 near the Savannah River bridge. Probably just reminding him to keep it down to 80 mph when he comes through Augusta.

bring back barkley and jay they were winners, not like their current day cousins.

I thought I would never hear it, but Ausrin Rhodes just admitted he is a liberal - on the air - for all to hear! He supports Georgia Power taking your money, through rate increases, to build nuclear power plants. Traditionally the costs of capital projects are funded by stock sales, not forced upon the public as allowed by our State Legislature.

“It’s only ten dollars a month” on your bill, he said. This is a textbook example of socialism. It is apparent that Austin is not an educated man.

Augusta Tek Jenny is Wright Kris Fisher

Why would I expect dumb drivers to read this? MOVE OVER to the right on the interstate dumas’ (pronounced Doo Moss).

6 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Read Ron Cross’s vision for Columbia County in the recent water bill. Then I drove on Furys Ferry and saw two massive land clearings; the only thing they left was the dirt. I thought Columbia County had a tree ordinance. The huge oak tree nor the hundreds of trees bulldozed will ever be replaced. Yes Ron.... that is the ‘vision’ I saw; I had plenty of time to see it due to the traffic woes.

The recent changes proposed for the river area by DDA and others are window dressing and not worth the cost.

The levee should be taken down between 13th and 5th streets. The Savannah River cannot rise more than three feet regardless of heavy rain, and a catastrophic failure of the Thurmond Dam would put the TOP of the levee 38 feet under water. So the levee is not protecting us from anything. A seawall should be built and the levee dirt should be pushed into the gap to make street level go out to the river. Then you could actually see the river downtown and restaurants and hotels could be built, increasing tourism and tax base. Why hasn’t this already happened? Two reasons: lack of vision and fear. Let’s get real and assure the long term vitality of the Augusta economy and improve quality of life in the bargain.

Isn’t it amusing how the media and so many others have tried so hard to tear down Donald Trump? After nearly a year, it would seem; it must be time to move on to substance (I know, what substance?) and leave character. I say this only because the electorate across the nation doesn’t truly seem to care about character, look at the raw numbers; Trump is winning votes so obviously people want and support him. So, let’s get away from character and begin demanding substance: what does this guy really stand for; apple pie and the American way? I want to know “what” he intends to do NOT who his lady friends were or who he insulted or fired last. I don’t want to know what his past was; I want to know what “our” future will be in a Trump administration, is that too much to ask of our media?

You can’t give someone $5 to go into a polling place and vote for you anymore, but it’s perfectly legal to send them a check every month and a free phone.

WHINELINE@THEMETROSPIRIT.COM Have something you want to get off your chest?

Send your whines to whineline@themetrospirit.com. The Metro Spirit reserves the right to edit submitted whines for content, but we will otherwise print them pretty much exactly as you type them… spelling errors and all.

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Not a Disaster IT IS a perfectly good Monday morning. The kids are off to school without drama (mostly), and I arrive at the office a few minutes early. The entire team is all smiles. Why wouldn’t they be? Someone brought donuts. Yes, indeed. The week is starting off pretty good.

Until…

I just sat down to continue working on a project that has kept me occupied for the past few months when I heard an explosion in the distance. Within a few seconds, all the power in the building was off. Completely dead. Nothing. As many of you are aware, stable electric power greatly enhances one’s ability to operate computer equipment. The sudden lack of power tends to cause problems, turning an otherwise great morning into something with the potential of going very bad.

But not in this case. Within a few seconds, the vibrations of the backup generators pulsed throughout the building. A few quick checks of the monitors and a visual inspection of the NOC indicated that all was well. Disaster averted.

Of course, our response didn’t happen by accident. We spend many man hours developing and implementing our disaster recovery plan to protect ourselves against this type of situation.

And while we always hope for the best, we all know that eventually something bad will happen.

Most folks don’t need a plan sophisticated enough to handle a hosting operation, but everyone needs a DR plan of some type. And while you can spend hours obsessing over probability of occurrence and severity of impact calculations, a good DR plan is constructed around two very simple questions: what data will you need and how quickly will you need it?

The first question is the easiest. It’s a straightforward exercise to determine what data (or applications) you need. Most people already know. If you need a guideline, try this. Imagine that you just erased a bunch of data to make room for a new compilation of epic fail videos. Now, picture your spouse/boss asking you to print something from the data you just erased. How to envision that conversation going? There’s your answer.

The how-quickly-will-you-need-it question is trickier. Perhaps a better way to ask this question is, “How bad do you want it?” In general, a correlation exists between recovery time and expense — the faster you want it, the more you’re going to have to pay. If you can live without the data for a few days or a week, the $10 per month backup solution may be fine. If you need 5-9s, 24x7x365 access, be prepared to open up your checkbook.

The cloud provides numerous options for disaster recovery, many of which did not exist a few years ago. Many businesses, and certainly most home users, cannot afford to develop their own data centers. Moving data and applications to a resource that can realize the economies of scale that come from a shared infrastructure is a very smart move.

The cloud, however, does not solve all problems. This is best illustrated with a simple question — What if you can’t get to the internet? While the data may be safe, your staff of office workers is sitting idle. Or worse… your grandmama can’t see her pictures.

The bottom line is that disaster recovery is not a one-time event with a onetime solution. Preparation is a continuing process, gaining from the insight of each new experience. Like all critical response, disaster recovery should be choreographed and rehearsed. Otherwise, you’ll be left without a donut the next time the lights go out.

GREGORY BAKER PH.D.

@gregory_a_baker

is vice president of CMA Technology and, yes, is actually a rocket scientist who used his doctorate in aerospace engineering at Lockheed Martin.

In addition to working at CMA, he also serves the community, sitting on several boards in the area.

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Practically Perfect in Every Way “HOW WAS ‘MARY POPPINS’?”

That’s the No. 1 question I’m asked, at least once daily, by friends who didn’t see the show. A lot of you get it, but some don’t.

“Are you so glad it’s over? Happy to have your life back?”

Great. No. That was our life.

That’s the short version. As y’all know, we have been a part of several Augusta Players productions. Our kids love the stage, and we love helping behind the scenes.

My husband has gotten up there himself a time or two. You won’t ever see me up there.

Everyone keeps saying “never say never.” Seriously. As much as I would love it, I’m terrible. They’d have no use for me. Besides, I wouldn’t get to watch my people do their thing. It’s one of my very favorite pastimes. I don’t mind helping in other ways. Ones that don’t involve costumes and makeup. I guess that’s another question I get.

“Are you gonna get up there someday?”

No. My kids were in “Wizard of Oz” two years ago. It was their first mainstage show. The first big one with the adults. They loved it, and we loved the experience they had. They were hooked. Fast forward, many shows later, and they like it even more.

When The Boy was cast in “Mary Poppins” (The Girl was in a different show at the time and didn’t audition), we knew he was in for a lot of hard work and long hours. It proved to be true. He rehearsed every weeknight, with the exception of Wednesdays, for months. Friday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday rehearsals were required. He was up for the challenge.

If you saw the show, you saw what a challenge it was. Singing, dancing, acting, flying, gags, lighting, costumes and so much more. It was a massive undertaking. The cast and crew were up for the challenge. They all spent those long days and nights together. They helped each other, teaching choreography, remembering lines and picking each other up when discouragement was looming.

A week before the show opened, we moved into the Imperial. A moving truck brought the set. Eight boxes and several racks of costumes arrived, followed closely by the sewing machine and seamstress. Most of what needed to be done was done. It was Atlanta;Sig Cox;B11931;10x5.375-4c (16Sp) time to put it all together.

And put it together they did. This was an unusually extraordinary team. Don’t get me wrong. Every show requires working as a team, and they always pull it off in spectacular fashion. This was different. I can’t adequately explain it, but know this: they didn’t just make it happen.

They blew it out of the water.

I’ve never been a part of a more hard-working, positive group of people. I’d list them all here, but they know who they are. You read their names in the program.

“Are you glad it’s over?”

Sure, it’s nice to eat dinner at home, at the table, instead of in the car, out of a box.

We go to bed at a decent hour. But we miss everyone.

“Happy to have your life back?”

To the friends we put on hold, we apologize. To the theatre friends who have become family, thanks for being so much of our life.

“How was Mary Poppins?”

It was Practically Perfect in Every Way. Anything Can Happen, if you let it. No seriously, if this did, anything can. Our spoons are full of sugar and cups runneth over.

It was a Jolly Holiday, JENNY WRIGHT’S humorous observations indeed.

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5/2/16 3:30 PM

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To the Graduating Class of 2016 I have always wanted to give a commencement speech, but I think they only invite people who have accomplished great things to do those. Being as I have pretty much missed that boat, I figured I could use my space here to offer my words of ineptness to this year’s graduates. While reading this, I ask that you play “Pomp and Circumstance” in your head for effect…

Congratulations! You have made it through the easiest part of your life! Sure, it sucks writing papers, algebra is the work of the devil and your peers have been constantly judging you by what you wear, what vehicle drops you off in the morning and your general interests in life. But all that’s changed now. Well, everything except that last part. Your peers are going to judge you for the rest of your life… over the same things and it will be just as petty as it has always been. But now things will get a little more real. Now your poor decisions won’t be addressed by a principal. They will be addressed by the police. Or worse, your spouse. So try to make smart decisions. You won’t always get it right; no one does. But the same rule from high school still applies: Try not to get caught. I would suggest going to college right away. Not because it will land you a great job; everyone knows that you land jobs because of who you know.

Your education and qualifications rarely have anything to do with it. However, many of those “people you know” you will meet in college. So, there’s that.

Also, at this point in your life your parents, grandparents or some type of grant or scholarship will most likely be willing to foot the bill for school. That changes when you get older. When you get up to your upper 30s and decide, “Y’know, I think I’m going to finally finish my communications degree,” you’ll have to pay for it yourself. Student loans help, but you have to pay them back.

And that sucks. Not all of your adult life will be difficult. I’ll admit, I’d take my adult life over my high school life any day of the week. Mainly because of algebra. Did I mention that it’s the devil? But, being an adult means that I can eat Taco Bell for breakfast lunch or dinner every day of the week if I want, I can drink a whole gallon of chocolate milk by myself if I want to, and I can go do pretty much whatever I want without having to ask permission first. I can also stay out as late as I want to. All things that I couldn’t wait to do when I grew up and I still appreciate those things every day. Other that that, adulting is hard.

Your adult life is much like walking through a highly populated homeless camp: everybody’s got their hand out. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, everybody wants it. Sure, you’ll get cool stuff in return: lights, water, a roof, etc., but paying bills pales in comparison to skating through high school while Mommy and Daddy handle all of the necessities. Upon graduating, I found it was much more fun spending my money on fun things like girls and booze! That being said, please make sure to pay your bills. If there’s anything that will haunt you longer than having a bad reputation in high school, it’s a bad credit score.

In conclusion, my advice to the graduating class of 2016 is to take in every moment that life gives you, good and bad. There’s always a lesson to learn from it. Don’t live for the future. Don’t live for the past. Live for today. You will most likely not end up where you plan to. But, don’t worry about that. Life has a funny way of leading you wherever it wants. Enjoy the adventure!

So as you walk down that aisle and collect your diploma, be sure to take it all in: the moment, the sense of accomplishment and the memories. It’s all uphill from here.

KRIs FIsheR,Kris Fisher is the midday host and program director for HD98.3 and an Augusta radio staple.

He is a husband, father of three and lover of all things adventurous, as well as activities most people would have outgrown years ago. djkfish.com.

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12 14 16 20

NeWs

Your Vote, Your Voice

Allen vs. Yu

New Beginnings

Insider

Nicholson: Billy Morris is the “White Devil” Let’s face it: There are some people in this community who truly believe that Augusta attorney Chris Nicholson has absolutely no business running for the Superior Court judgeship currently held by Judge Carl Brown.

There are some folks who insist that Nicholson doesn’t even belong in the courtroom as a lawyer.

In fact, several people say he should be disbarred.

But over the past few months, Nicholson has proven that he just doesn’t give a damn what people think. He’s going to do whatever the hell he wants to do and not worry about the consequences.

A perfect example of this attitude came during a recent political forum for candidates in the May 24 election sponsored by the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government.

More than 30 candidates on this month’s ballot got up behind the podium and were give three minutes to convince members of the Committee for Good Government to give them their endorsement.

Needless to say, with more than 30 politicians speaking, it was a long night.

Near the end of the evening, it was time for the candidates running for the Superior Court judgeship to speak.

First, Judge Carl Brown stood before the crowd and gave a very heartfelt speech about what it has meant for him to serve as a Superior Court judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit since 1994.

“Serving has provided me with valuable experience,” Brown said. “The work that we do requires experience.”

He told the crowd he has served with honor and dignity for more than 34 years as a Superior Court judge and chief judge of Augusta’s municipal court.

“It is in God that we trust. It is from him that we get the help we need. I really need your support and prayers,” Brown said, as the crowd applauded with enthusiasm.

Next up to speak was his competitor in the judicial race: Chris Nicholson.

Nicholson walked straight up to the podium and opened with, “Is everybody happy, happy, happy?”

The crowd just nervously smiled and didn’t really respond.

But that didn’t phase Nicholson.

“I’m Chris Nicholson,” he told the audience. “I have been practicing law for 42 years and I must say that I have practiced all parts of the law and I consider myself a very successful lawyer. Better than most.”

So far, so good, right?

“I am offering my services to be judge because I am giving these people an alternative,” Nicholson said, adding that he is also committed to paying entirely for his own political campaign. “I’m paying my own way. I don’t want anybody to give me money. I don’t want the lawyers to give me any money because I don’t want anybody to think that I can be bought, which I cannot be. I am here to run to be the people’s judge.”

He was still on track and the speech was going pretty well, considering.

But then Nicholson began scanning the audience and his eyes fixed on former state Sen. Charles Walker.

As most Augustans know, Walker was found guilty in federal court of 127 felony counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and filing false tax returns back in 2005.

Walker ended up being sentenced to nearly a decade in federal prison.

All of a sudden, Nicholson began talking about how he, himself, had been indicted by the federal government on charges that he was allegedly involved in an illegal gambling business back in the early 1990s.

“I’ve been indicted by the federal government, but my case was dismissed,” Nicholson told the audience. “Now, we have a man over here, Charles Walker, who did more 19MAY2016

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for the city of Augusta than anybody else. Anybody that is in here.”

As Nicholson glanced around the room, he again paused when he saw Nan Connell, the wife of the late House Speaker Pro Tempore Jack Connell.

“Now, Nan Connell’s husband, Jack, did a lot, but he worked with Charles Walker,” Nicholson said, again staring at the audience. “So, I want y’all to give Charles Walker a big hand!”

There were quite a few supporters of other candidates there that night, including Monique Walker, who is running for State Court judge, who immediately began to clap and cheer for Charles Walker and his legacy.

Others in the audience, weren’t quite as enthusiastic, but Nicholson didn’t care.

He kept cheering and shouted, “Stand up, Charles!”

Charles Walker, who was there to support his daughter, was clearly surprised by the sudden attention.

He simply smiled and waived, but did not wish to stand up and steal the spotlight from anyone.

But Nicholson wasn’t done. He had gotten a reaction out of the crowd, so he continued to press the issue.

“I must say, after Charles got out, I went to see him,” Nicholson said of Walker, adding that he felt Walker had been railroaded. “They locked him up… and it was caused by the white devil. As Little Richard once told James Brown, the white devil is going to get you.”

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At this point, some of the audience members were laughing, some were cheering, but most were in shock about what they were hearing come out of Nicholson’s mouth.

“The white devil is Billy Morris,” Nicholson said, referring to William S. Morris III, the founder of Morris Communications Co. and publisher of The Augusta Chronicle. “He went after the black politicians. He went after Charles Walker. He went after other people and he tried to destroy all of the black leadership in Augusta.”

Now, it’s no secret that Nicholson has filed a lawsuit against The Augusta Chronicle claiming that the paper published a “false” and “libelous” article about Nicholson in February.

In the lawsuit, Nicholson is requesting a whopping $50 million in punitive damages.

Needless to say, there is definitely some bad blood there.

“What I’m telling you is, we need to get rid of the white devil,” Nicholson told the audience. “We don’t need him running our government. He shouldn’t be doing that… He tried to hurt Charles Walker but Charles Walker made it through and he would never give up his innocence. And to this day, he tells me he is innocent.”

Finally, Nicholson returned to the matter at hand: His race to be a Superior Court judge.

He told the audience that, if he is elected, he would be objective and fair with any case that came before him, whether the defendant was black or white, male

or female, rich or poor.

Nicholson said it didn’t matter. He insisted he would base his decisions on the law.

“That’s all I’m saying,” Nicholson said, smiling at the audience. “The Temptations had a song in the 1960s. In the song, ‘Ball of Confusion,’ they said, ‘Vote for me and I’ll set you free.’”

Several people in the audience cheered.

But, the truth is, that’s probably not the smartest thing a candidate in a judicial race ever said.

Then again, this obviously isn’t your typical judicial race.

“Thank you all!” Nicholson said, as he smiled, waved to the audience and abruptly left the forum.

In the end, Nicholson probably received the loudest applause of the night.

It just goes to show that people love to watch a good train wreck and Nicholson was definitely a “ball of confusion.”

AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

METROSPIRIT 13

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New Beginnings

robert Williams has a lot to celebrate: a new location in the Foundry and 20

By Amy Christian years at roux’s For eight years, Roux’s Catering owner Robert Williams spent Masters Week right in the heart of the action; his hospitality house, The Lodge on Heath, was near Berckmans Road, right across from the famed Augusta National.

Masters Week 2016 found Williams once again on Berckmans Road. The Lodge, however, was gone.

“I went over this year on Monday, just to get some merchandise and stuff like that, and I went and stood on the old grounds of where The Lodge was and it was really hard to even find that spot,” he said. “There were a couple of landmarks as far as trees, so I knew where essentially it was. It was kind of a heavy feeling.”

Shortly after Masters Week 2015, Williams sold The Lodge on Heath to the Augusta National, a sale that was a long time coming. What didn’t take very long was what happened to the building after the sale.

“To see it go was kind of like selling the 14 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

house you grew up in. Most people can still go ride by their childhood home, but, within a month, it was gone,” Williams said.

“It went from a living, breathing facility to sod in a matter of weeks, and that’s what’s hard, not to just be able to have some sort of connection.”

After all, Williams and his employees hosted Masters guests there for eight years. Williams said he even celebrated his 40th birthday there.

As nostalgic as Williams is, though, he’s also pragmatic “We knew our days were numbered,” he shrugged. “I didn’t know when I woke up the first of 2015 that I knew we would be selling to Augusta National. It was something that, as that process started happening, it happened fairly rapidly but, for us, the road construction was going to be something that was going to have a major impact on our business. And when the Augusta National wants something they tend to get it.”

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He also knows that with every end comes a new beginning.

Without missing a beat, Williams bought an old drug store on Boy Scout Road, renovated it and opened The Foundry at Rae’s Creek just in time for the first week in April of 2016.

“You’d never know that it was a CVS in a former life,” Williams laughed, sitting in a leather chair in front of an enormous fireplace at The Foundry. “When I first walked through here, it was all just a big open space and we really had to use some creativity to find the best way to make use of the facility.”

They seem to have done a fantastic job. Guests at The Foundry walk into a reception and lounge area with said fireplace and then through some sliding barn doors into an open dining area with exposed ceilings. At the far end of that room are accordion wood and glass doors that lead onto a covered patio with another giant fireplace and an outdoor kitchen.

“I don’t know what you’d call this,” he said of The Foundry’s style. “I guess if shabby chic is a term, then this may be industrial chic. I love the kind of sleek, modern, industrial feel that it has, but it’s still soft enough to work well for wedding receptions. It has a lot of those rustic touches with the reclaimed wood, but then it’s still very contemporary.”

Repeat Masters guests used to The Lodge on Heath gave The Foundry rave reviews. And while it’s still a bit of a well-kept secret, Williams said the word is starting to get around.

“I haven’t shown it that much because we really just opened Masters Week – just finished construction the week before Masters Week – so we haven’t had a whole lot of exposure just because we didn’t have a finished facility to show folks,” he said. “But every client I’ve shown it to has booked, so it says a lot about the need for

19MAY2016

a facility like this in Augusta and I think, for the modern bride, they aren’t looking for a facility that was the facility that their parents got married in that was another hotel style banquet room. This is a very modern looking space and I think for the young, modern bride, this is the kind of facility they’re looking for it. It definitely doesn’t feel like any of the other facilities in town and we hope that’s going to be part of the appeal.”

Other appealing aspects of The Foundry are its west Augusta location and its size. While Williams’ The Marbury Center downtown maxes out at about 250 people, The Foundry can hold up to about 400.

Then there’s the fact that it’s unique to this area.

“Brides are always looking for a facility that’s new and one of the things I get from a lot of brides, even with the Marbury Center, is, ‘I want to get married somewhere that my nine other friends didn’t get married,’” he said. “So we expect this to be a popular space for the next few years because it is a new facility. Not only is it new, it’s a very unique, interesting space. I think it’ll continue to be a popular facility from a location standpoint, and it’s just a really, really cool event space. Next year I think we’ll have our hands full with events as more and more people find out about this place.”

Opening The Foundry right when Roux’s Catering is turning 20 is, Williams says, validation that he’s doing something right.

“It’s just mind blowing that it’s something that just continues to move forward,” he said of his businesses.

“At times it is overwhelming and at times it is very very humbling. It’s still a very demanding business and to still be relevant after 20 years in this town is such a huge hurdle to have overcome.”

Williams says he’s done that by providing folks good, restaurant quality food.

Originally a line cook at places like American Diner and Cadwallader’s, Williams says he still employs workers

who’ve started out in restaurants. And while catering is much more demanding and can be much less creative that working in a restaurant, he still prides himself on turning out dishes that look good and taste good. He just has to do it on a much larger scale.

“The thought process behind everything we do is, ‘Okay, this is great. It tastes good, it looks good. But what if we have to make 2,000 of them?’” he explained. “I don’t want to tell the client, ‘Oh yeah, I can do that’ and it not being well executed. I want to be able to legitimately tell our client, ‘Yeah, we can do that’ and it’s going to be presented well, it’s going to taste good, it’s going to be the right temperature as opposed to just trying just anything. It’s got to be doable.”

It’s tough. Williams’ wife Natalie is an ICU night-shift nurse, which means the two barely see each other during the week.

“If we didn’t work together on the weekends we’d never see each other,” he laughed. “And oftentimes during the week, she’s gone to work before I get home so we may go a few days without seeing each other, which is probably another secret to our success.”

Despite the tough business he’s in, Williams said he wouldn’t change a thing and plans to stick around for a long, long time.

“I think it says something about those of us who continue to move forward in this industry, because it is a great industry and people should expect more out of their catering and get more out of their catering. We have tried to stay true to our ideals from day one. We wanted to provide the best quality food we possibly could,” Williams said. “I’m excited about what’s ahead of us. I’m excited about the next 20 years.”

For more information about Robert Williams’ businesses, visit rouxscatering.com and thefoundryaugusta.com.

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allen vs. Yu: Two outspoken Republicans compete for Georgia’s 12th congressional District

By Stacey Eidson

Two Republicans will be battling it out on May 24 to represent Georgia’s 12th Congressional District. Incumbent Congressman Rick Allen is once again facing Republican candidate Eugene Yu in next week’s Republican primary. The winner of the primary will face a Democratic challenger, either Joyce Nolin or Patricia Carpenter McCracken, in November’s general election.

Who will you vote for?

“I can tell you this, I am going to do anything I can to make sure we have a Republican president.

We can’t take four more years of this socialist government. I’m telling you. You can’t believe how deep and how wide this division is. It is awful.”

— Rick Allen 16 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Rick allen After two years of serving the constituents of the 12th Congressional District, Congressman Rick Allen says he is still in disbelief of the chaos he has encountered in Washington, D.C. “Let me tell you, 90 percent of our time in our office is spent dealing with overreach by this administration through various regulatory agencies,” Allen said, referring to President Barack Obama’s administration. “It is terrible for the economy.”

As a conservative small businessman who founded his own construction company, R.W. Allen & Associates, at 25 years old, Allen insists he ran for Congress to specifically combat the growing reach of the federal government into the lives of Americans.

But over the past few years, Allen has become frustrated with the president’s stance on many issues.

“We need tax reform, but the president wants to raise taxes and you can’t do that,” Allen said. “We’ve got to get our corporations competitive with the rest of the world. We have to reduce our corporate tax rate and then we have to have some welfare reform and get people some training and skills. We have 46 million people on government assistance in this country. And the best way to reduce mandatory spending is to get those folks back to work.”

But Allen believes the only way to make real strides in the coming years is if voters elect a Republican to the White House.

“I can tell you this, I am going to do anything I can to make sure we have a Republican president,” Allen said, chuckling. “We can’t take four more years of this socialist government. I’m telling you. You can’t believe how deep and how wide this division is. It is awful. And we just continue to deal with these things like fiduciary rules and overtime rules and things like that that are just killing our small businesses. It has got to be stopped.”

Allen also fears that the country’s borders won’t be secure if another Democrat is elected to the White House.

“We need a new president,” Allen said. “We know what Mr. (Donald) Trump has said. He has said his number one priority is to secure that border and we have to do that. That is a major security problem down there and it is also a major problem for our culture as far as the illegal drugs coming into this country.”

Just last week, the House of Representatives spent a great deal of time talking about the heroin and opiate problem facing the nation, Allen said.

“We are trying to implement programs and fund programs that will educate people about the dangers of these drugs,” Allen said. “Because the statistics are horrible in this country and all of those drugs are coming over the border.”

But one of the biggest mistakes of the current administration has been Obamacare, Allen said.

Reports have been released stating that Obamacare premiums are likely to rise dramatically in 2017, he said.

“This costly piece of legislation is causing insurers to raise premium prices again, in order to compensate for their losses,” Allen posted on his campaign’s website. “The American people, however, cannot afford another increase in premiums; many are already struggling to afford their current healthcare plans or are without healthcare at all. Several common sense alternatives have been proposed — it’s time that one of these alternatives is finally chosen and approved to replace Obamacare and all of the disappointment that comes with it.”

Allen insists he has voted multiple times to repeal or replace Obamacare, but the president has blocked those bills.

“We put a bill on the president’s desk to repeal and replace Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood and he vetoed it and we didn’t have the votes to 19MAY2016

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“This cyber is the new frontier. I think it is pretty much compared to the race for space and it is very important as far as national security is concerned.”

— Rick Allen overcome the veto which is sad because Obamacare is a real problem in this country,” Allen said. “We have to fix healthcare because it is one of the problems with the growth of the economy.”

Over the past two years, Allen said he is extremely proud of what he has stood for up in Washington.

“I voted to defund Planned Parenthood. I voted to do away with tax-funded abortions. I cosponsored a balanced budget amendment to ensure our nation isn’t spending more money than we take in,” Allen said. “And I championed a bill to limit terms of career politicians, which is one of the biggest problems we have up here.”

Just last year, Allen also condemned the president for vetoing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which gained bipartisan and bicameral support.

The final NDAA House and Senate conferenced bill passed both chambers of Congress in October, but the president vetoed it.

“The president’s decision to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes critical funding for our troops, is nothing more than a cheap political ploy for his legacy,” Allen said after the veto. “The U.S. military is no place for political games.

In a time of fighting and turmoil, protecting our military is essential. We must fulfill our duty to support our troops and their families who sacrifice so much to protect our nation, and I am appalled by the president’s behavior in vetoing this important legislation. I will continue to be a voice of fiscal reason in Washington, and a strong defender of our military.”

The NDAA also included authorization for construction funding at Fort Gordon, which was approved at the full Army-requested level.

But Allen and his Republican colleagues are having another stab at the bill.

“This week, we are voting on the NDAA appropriations bill which authorizes additional funds for Fort Gordon and I will be voting for that bill,” Allen said.

“The Supreme Court will also be ruling on executive amnesty next week. And, again, this is an overreach by the administration. We hope to win that in the courts.”

The Supreme Court will review a case challenging the unilateral executive action of the Obama administration: The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Records program.

As it is better known to conservatives as “executive amnesty,” DAPA represents Barack Obama’s signature immigration reform.

“Even if it is a tie in the Supreme Court, we win it because the lower courts have ruled with us on that. And, of course, that has been a very controversial issue for some time when the president just out of the blue came up with it,” Allen said. “I don’t know what his reasons were, other than he is not interested in a sovereign nation.”

But not all the news is bad coming out of Washington, Allen said.

“The one thing that I am proud of was getting the funding to move the Cyber Center of Excellence to Fort Gordon,” he said. “Because of the sequestered caps, there was not adequate money to make that happen and it was being delayed. We worked real hard and a lot of our friends in Georgia helped me to get that done and I’m very pleased that we were able to get some funds. We hope to get some more money for that and get them moved down here in the next two years.”

Allen believes the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon will absolutely catapult this region’s economic growth for many years to come.

“That is going to be the greatest economic development opportunity probably in the history of our district and maybe in the history of our state,” Allen said.

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“I relate cyber to the space program. You know how big the space program was back when President Kennedy said we are going to put a man on the moon? A lot of people said, ‘What are we doing here?’ But I will tell you, it is the reason that we have the innovation and the high-tech world that we live in today, which puts us ahead of most other countries. This cyber is the new frontier. I think it is pretty much compared to the race for space and it is very important as far as national security is concerned.”

During his first term in Congress, Allen said he has learned a great deal about what it will take to strengthen Georgia’s 12th Congressional District “Just two years ago, I was in the business world and the greatest gift that God has given me is the opportunity to give folks a good job, give them the dignity and respect that they deserve, allow them to provide for their families, their church and their communities and their country,” Allen said. “That’s why I ran for Congress. But I felt like, from an economic growth standpoint, we could do better. In fact, frankly, the only way we are going to get out of this mess is to grow jobs and grow the economy and certainly that is the only way we are going to reduce this debt.”

But despite some of the frustrations up in Washington, Allen said it has been the “greatest honor” of his life to serve the people of the 12th District of Georgia.

“My colleagues here in the United States Congress are very envious of us down in the 12th District,” Allen said. “I have been a part of more than 1,500 new job announcements in our district and economic development right now seems to be very brisk in our district. I’m pleased to be a part of that and I will continue to work hard for the people of the 12th District because I believe the only way we are going to get out of this mess is to get our people back to work and that’s what I’m fighting for every day.”

Eugene Yu Two years ago, when Republican candidate Eugene Yu ran against Allen to represent the 12th Congressional District, he wanted to serve in Congress because he saw the American dream slipping away.

The Korean-born Republican candidate with deep roots in Augusta wanted voters to know that he was committed to listening to the concerns of his constituents, not lobbyists or career politicians.

But when Allen won the Republican primary in 2014, Yu said he accepted the fact that the voters had chosen another candidate to represent the 12th District.

“After that 2014 election, I pretty much thought my political venture was over,” Yu said. “I publicly endorsed Rick Allen and supported him in the general election. Finally, he won and went to Washington. At that point, myself and my family, especially my wife said, ‘Well Eugene, you did all you can. Now let the other people handle the situation.’ So, I left it alone.”

But Yu said he couldn’t help but keep an eye on Allen’s voting record after he took office.

“The first thing that I heard was that he voted for John Boehener for Speaker,” Yu said. “I was immediately scratching my head and saying, ‘That is kind of odd.’

I remembered he used to say, ‘Vote for me. Elect me. When I get into Washington, I will not support our current leadership. I will not support John Boehener.’ But that’s exactly what he did.”

But at the time, Yu said he didn’t think much of it.

“I thought, ‘Well, he might have some reason,’ but I didn’t like that he started off by breaking his campaign promise,” Yu said. “I was just wishing he would not make any more mistakes or break any more promises.”

A few months later, Yu said he happened to be traveling through the 12th District and started hearing complaints from citizens.

“People started telling me, ‘Where is our congressman? We never see him.

After he got elected, we never see him,’” Yu said. “My answer was, ‘Well, he is a new congressman. He is trying to settle into Washington.’ Basically, I’m kind of talking for him.”

But the final straw was when Yu heard that Allen voted to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Act which is a labeling law that requires retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, supermarkets and club warehouse stores, to notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods.

Food products covered by this law include muscle cut and ground meats: lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts.

“What happened was one of the big giant food distributors got a hold of the lobbyists and the lobbyists got a hold of the congressman,” Yu said. “If big companies import more chicken and beef, it is much cheaper than what they can AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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“People started telling me, ‘Where is our Congressman?

We never see him. After he got elected, we never see him.’”

— Eugene Yu

“In my opinion, (Rick Allen) might as well resign from the Republican Party and go to the Democratic Party. But people aren’t paying attention, so they just don’t know.”

— Eugene Yu buy domestically. Eventually, this is really going to hurt our farmers.”

According to Allen’s office, he supported the repeal of the mandatory 18 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements on American meats to ensure the country is not “burdened with more than $1 billion in trade penalties.”

But Yu isn’t buying that explanation.

“How can he not be protecting our farmers?” Yu asked. “These lobbyists are attacking our food industry. They are sticking a knife in our backs and our good fellow Americans just don’t know that. When I saw that vote during the summer of 2015, from that point on, I thought I might be ready for another run because this man is not doing what he said he was going to do.”

On several occasions, Yu has described Allen as a “RINO,” or a Republican In Name Only.

“In my opinion, he might as well resign from the Republican Party and go to the Democratic Party,” Yu said. “But people aren’t paying attention, so they just don’t know.”

That’s why voters in the 12th Congressional District will frequently see Yu walking the neighbors and knocking on doors, trying to get his message out.

“Just yesterday somebody asked me, ‘Why are you bothering Rick Allen?’ And I said, ‘Why not?’” Yu said, laughing. “The man told me, ‘He is doing a good job.’

And I asked him, ‘You really think so? Well, tell me one thing he did that was good.’”

The man stood there for several minutes and could not think of one thing that Allen had achieved in Congress.

“Finally, the guy’s answer was, ‘I don’t know. Well, he’s a Republican,’” Yu said.

“So my answer was, ‘Mister, I’m a Republican. I am conservative to the core and I will work for you.’”

But Yu has been thrown a bit of a curve ball in the final weeks leading up to the primary.

It was announced earlier this month that Yu is facing a Federal Election Commission investigation questioning the source of $700,000 in loans he made to his 2014 congressional campaign.

Even though the complaint was filed by another Republican candidate, John Stone, two years ago, the FEC must still review the matter.

“That is 2014. John Stone made a complaint. He withdrew it, however, once the complaint has been received by the FEC, they have to review it,” Yu said.

“And, unfortunately, we are not supposed to talk about it. That is a FEC rule. So I cannot talk about it, other than they are reviewing my stuff.”

But Yu says that Allen is using the FEC review as an excuse not to debate him.

Earlier this month, Yu asked to debate Allen in Statesboro, but he refused.

“He’s blaming a two-year-old complaint from a former opponent that was withdrawn, but that the FEC is investigating just as they should,” Yu recently stated on his campaign’s website. “I don’t know what that has to do with discussing the issues in this campaign or Rick’s voting record in Congress, but since he brought it up, I’ve done a little snooping of my own. According to Rick’s FEC reports, he is pocketing campaign contributions in this election. He also used campaign contributions to rent a house, buy Masters tickets and throw a lavish party just a few weeks ago. Is that legal? Did people contributing to his campaign intend to have their money used this way?”

Yu believes Allen needs to give the constituents in the 12th Congressional District some direct answers.

“But he refuses to debate,” Yu said. “There is no gain for him to debate me because he would have to answer everything that he did and the only excuse he can come up with is the 2014 finances.”

Despite the FEC review, Yu insists he has done absolutely nothing wrong.

“By the way, that is my money,” Yu said, referring to the $700,000. “I didn’t do fundraising like he did. That is my money. I spent it and somebody else is looking into it. That’s it. But what I want to say is, let’s talk about the 2016 election.

That’s my goal. I simply want to represent the people.”

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your vote, your voice The May 24 election in richmond and Columbia counties is just around the corner. who will you vote for when you head to the polls?

By Metro Spirit Staff

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

— Abraham Lincoln

With less than a week before the May 24 election, here is one final chance for voters to educate themselves about many of the candidates on the ballot before heading to the polls.

The future is in your hands.

EvEryonE knows that elections are determined by the people who actually show up at the polls.

It’s that simple.

But some local citizens may not understand the impact of their vote on May 24.

When voters head to polls over the next few days, many will be choosing from dozens of candidates competing in races for the Georgia House, U.S. Congress, the Augusta Commission, State Court judgeships, the Georgia Senate, Richmond County Marshal, Superior Court judgeships and the Richmond County Board of Education.

Over the past several weeks, the Metro Spirit has interviewed numerous local candidates, attended several candidate forums and highlighted some of the most crucial local races.

Under Atlanta’s Gold Dome There are a lot of changes headed this way with the announcements that both Georgia Sen. Bill Jackson and Rep. Barbara Sims will be retiring at the end of this year’s term.

Jackson, who has represented Senate District 24 since 2007 and currently serves as Gov. Nathan Deal’s senior Senate floor leader, was also a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for more than 15 years.

For decades, Jackson has been a powerhouse under Atlanta’s Gold Dome and now there are five Republican candidates vying for that position including former state Rep. Lee Anderson; President of Sherman & Hemstreet Real Estate Company Joe Edge; former District 3 candidate on Columbia County Commission Greg Grzybowski; former chairwoman of the Columbia County Republican Party Pat Goodwin; and Realtor and mayor of Bowman, Ga., Peter Gibbons.

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“I believe in hiring the very best educators that we can and get out of the way and let them teach our children. Get the paperwork off of them. Let them teach our children.”

— Lee Anderson The winner of the Republican primary will face off against Democratic candidate Brenda Jordan in November.

With five candidates in the Republican primary, there will most definitely be a runoff in this election, but who will be the voters’ top choices?

During a recent political forum, former state Rep. Lee Anderson insisted that he shares the morals and values of those living in this area because he was raised in this community.

He told the audience that he was “conservative to the roots.”

“I am a farmer and a businessman,” Anderson said. “I have the experience to go back to Atlanta because I served on the Columbia County Board of Education, I’ve been a county commissioner and a state representative.”

Anderson, who has been endorsed by Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle, said that his main concern has always been the safety of local citizens.

“I will be connected and have connections with your law enforcement in all areas,” Anderson said, adding that he also believes in the importance of solid infrastructure including roads, bridges and sewer lines. “We need to strengthen that infrastructure and then get out of the way and let businesses create jobs and not the government.”

As the husband of a retired educator and father of two children, Anderson also said he is committed to ensuring a quality education for all local students.

“I believe in education,” he said during a political forum held by the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government last week. “Tonight I have the honor of having a date with my wife, who is with me tonight. She is a retired educator, 31 years in Columbia County. I believe in hiring the very best educators that we can and get out of the way and let them teach our children. Get the paperwork off of them. Let them teach our children.”

However, one of his competitors in the Senate District 24 race, Joe Edge, publicly questioned 19MAY2016

whether Anderson’s political experience was actually a benefit.

“One of my favorite quotes is from Dr. Ben Carson.

He said, ‘We’ve been conditioned to think that only politicians can solve our problems. But at some point, maybe we will wake up and recognize that it was politicians who created our problems,’” Edge told members of the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government. “I’m Joe Edge. I’m not a politician.”

After serving in the Marine Corps for four years, Edge moved back to Columbia County to start a career in real estate. As president of Sherman & Hemstreet Real Estate Company, Edge said he has tripled the size of his company over the last 10 years.

“It is one thing to stand up and talk about creating jobs,” Edge said. “It is another thing to actually do it.”

Edge said he completely understands the importance of offering out-of-state companies incentives to relocate to Georgia.

“I deal with this on a daily basis in my job,” he said.

“In fact, I bet you, if I get you a list of the companies that I have relocated to this area, I bet everybody in this room would know somebody who works in one of those companies.”

But it is becoming harder and harder to attract new companies to Georgia because other states offer better tax incentives, Edge said.

“The problems that we have are serious,” he said. “It is related to our tax structure and our tax incentive programs. We need to go up there and change those because they are currently limiting us on economic development. In particular, with South Carolina. I am constantly seeing businesses look at South Carolina. They are killing us because we don’t have strong leadership in Atlanta that recognizes the problem and we don’t have politicians that have a plan on how to solve it. All they have is a plan to get re-elected again.”

The last thing residents of District 24 need is more rhetoric, Edge said.

“We all want our people to be safe. We all want to hire the best teachers. That is just a tag line designed to get the votes,” Edge said. “But how do you do it? What is the plan to actually do it?”

It is time for some fresh blood in both the state and local governments, Edge said.

“We talk about good government, we have a desperate need right now for good government,” he said. “I’ve had a front row seat in Richmond County at a lot of commission meetings and various events and, in Richmond County, we need good government.

We need some changes. It is crazy to think that we are going to keep sending the same type of people to Atlanta and expect something different. It is time for new ideas, new people. We don’t need to resurrect failed ideas from the past. We need new leadership.”

With her long track record of service to this community and passion for the people in District 24, Pat Goodwin believes voters will get the most out of her leadership in Atlanta.

Goodwin currently serves as director of community relations and assistant to the broker at Better

“It is one thing to stand up and talk about creating jobs.

It is another thing to actually do it.”

— Joe Edge AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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“If we are going to change this country, we are going to have to start getting regular people who normally don’t run for office to run for office and hopefully win.”

— Greg Grzybowski Homes and Gardens Real Estate. Prior to that, she was employed at Georgia Regents University, now Augusta University, where she served as a business manager supporting the Office of Advancement, Alumni and Community Affairs, Communications, Donor Relations, Government Affairs and Special Events.

“Sen. Jackson has served as a true champion of conservative values for the people of Georgia’s 24th district. His service over the years and most recently as an administration floor leader for Gov. Deal has given all public servants an amazing example to work towards,” Goodwin said. “He will be sorely missed in the Legislature. But, now is the time to make sure that we, as a district, elect a truly ethical conservative who will ensure that economic development, job creation, and ethics are at the forefront of Georgia’s future legislative agenda.”

However, as the mayor of Bowman, Ga., for the past several years, Pete Gibbons insists he has a better understanding of the issues facing the entire district, as well as the state, than any other candidate.

“I have learned government from the ground up,” Gibbons said. “I have learned the importance of our local, county and state legislators working together to make for a better community. I see state legislators work hard for me and I’m ready to return the favor as your state legislator and work with your county and local governments to make sure that we are bringing resources back to our community here.”

Gibbons insists he has dealt, first-hand, with many of the problems this district faces.

“As the only person over the last five years who has fought Atlanta, who has worked with our state legislators and who has brought resources back to our region, I’m ready to do that fight for everyone in District 24,” Gibbons said.

One of the main reasons Gibbons said he decided to run for office is because he wants to build a better future for his 4-year-old son Patrick.

“I want him to have a home he is proud of,” Gibbons said, adding that his goal is to help spur economic 22 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

development and job growth in District 24 so that his son will be able to stay in the area and not be forced to move away in order to find a professional job.

“That way, I can go watch my grandkids’ little league games and I won’t have to drive five or six hours out of town... We need to make sure that our kids are staying here. We need our best and our brightest staying here to be our future leaders.”

District 24 candidate Greg Grzybowski agreed that one of the reasons he entered the race was his concern for the future of his family “I’m a father and I have four girls — 16, 13, 12 and 9 years old,” Grzybowski told members of the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government. “I am standing here because I have no faith in the leadership of our nation, possibly even state.”

If Grzybowski believed in any of the other candidates running for District 24, he insists he would not have entered the race.

“I would vote for one of them,” Grzybowski said, adding that he didn’t feel comfortable supporting any of the other candidates. “My being here is not easy. It is not supposed to be. If we are going to change this country, we are going to have to start getting regular people who normally don’t run for office to run for office and hopefully win.”

Born in New York, Grzybowski went on to attend James Madison University in Virginia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, history and military science. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the United States Army under the Reserve Officer Training Program in 1992.

As a result, he served for 23 years as both a military intelligence and acquisition officer retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

With that background, Grzybowski insists he is the ideal candidate to increase economic development relating to cyber security and communication technology.

“We need to get our priorities straight,” Grzybowski told members of the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government. “You need to hire some new people. You need to vote for some new people.”

Over in Georgia’s District 23 race, incumbent Sen. Jesse Stone is facing a Republican challenger in Sylvania, Ga., resident Stephen Hammond.

Stone, who was born in Augusta but raised in Waynesboro, said that he is deeply connected to the people in his district.

“District 23 covers most of the Central Savannah River Area but Richmond County is special to me and my family. I was born here at St. Joseph Hospital. My family has deep roots here,” Stone said. “I’m not a politician. I’m a citizen legislator.”

During Hammond’s campaign, his main platform has been to reform the tax code by eliminating the state income tax in favor of a fair tax and his desire to pass the proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Meanwhile, Stone emphasizes his experience, both at the local and state levels.

Stone, who is an attorney, was elected mayor of Waynesboro in 2003.

During his time as mayor, Stone said he cut taxes and spending, improved infrastructure and brought new industry to the city.

Since 2010, he has served as senator of District 23 and currently chairs the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. In addition, he serves on the education, appropriations, banking and ethics committees.

In particular, Stone said education is extremely important to him because it is the key to Georgia’s future success.

“I strive to keep education growing,” Stone said. “Education is our most powerful economic development tool. I’ve done everything I can to strengthen the hand of the teachers and educators, to eliminate the unnecessary tests and to give more options to our students.”

It is vitally important that Georgians gets “more bang for our buck” when it comes to education, Stone said.

“We spend over half of our budget at the state level on education,” Stone recently said during a political forum. “We’ve got to do better. I want to keep working for you. Georgia is a great place to live, work and raise a family. We have to keep that climate going.”

In the House In the race for House District 123, which is currently held by retiring Rep. Barbara Sims, local attorney Wright McLeod, Dr. Mark Newton and nurse Lori Greenhill are the three Republicans vying for the seat.

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As a native of Augusta, McLeod graduated from Westside High School and earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy.

Commissioned an Ensign in 1982, he earned his wings of gold as a Naval Flight Officer and flew the F-14 Tomcat on multiple combat deployments, including 54 missions in Operation Desert Storm.

Over the years, McLeod received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Naval Academy, a master’s in national security studies from Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. By 2000, Wright and his family returned to Augusta and opened his real estate law firm and homeowner association management company.

As far as the May 24 election, McLeod feels confident that he will prevail and be this district’s next representative.

He is particularly honored that state Rep. Barbara Sims has endorsed him to take over her seat.

“Barbara has left, along with Sen. Bill Jackson, some big shoes to fill,” he said. “The Augusta metro area is probably at its lowest point in decades as far as political clout in Atlanta.

As the second largest metropolitan area in the state, our political clout currently is not befitting the size of the city.”

McLeod insists he is the candidate that can provide the necessary leadership in Atlanta.

But Dr. Mark Newton believe he has a combination of skills and professional leadership that is a perfect fit to represent Augusta in Georgia’s Gold Dome.

Not only is he an emergency room doctor, but Newton is an Army veteran, a local business owner, a proud member

of the National Rifle Association and a father of four children.

Following his service in the Army Medical Corps and further training at the Medical College of Georgia, Newton became the chairman and medical director of the emergency department at Doctors Hospital in Augusta.

He has served in that capacity for the past 17 years.

Newton is also the founder and CEO of MedNow Urgent Care centers, which has three locations in Richmond and Columbia counties.

“Someone needs to vigorously represent us in the Georgia Statehouse,” Newton said. “We need somebody who will be able to go there and build some relationships quickly.

You have to bring something new to the table which helps cut through the clutter of the 179 other passionate representatives who care just as much about their area of the state.”

Local businesswoman and registered nurse Lori Greenhill believes one of her greatest strengths as a candidate in the House District 123 race is the fact that she is “an average person” who can relate to many of the concerns facing those living in the district.

“As a registered nurse, I feel like I have been advocating for people all of my life,” Greenhill said. “I think people need somebody who is a good listener and someone who is true to the people’s hearts and will take what they want back to Atlanta and vote accordingly.”

Over in the House District 124 race, long-time incumbent Rep. Henry “Wayne” Howard is facing competition from retired Army combat veteran Gregory Hill.

Hill also happens to be the former husband of Monique Walker, the

“I can work across the aisle, so that we can start preparing for the growth that we have not had in the inner city of Augusta and south Augusta in well over 20 years.”

— Gregory Hill 24 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

“I believe that I am the only candidate in this race that is not only qualified, but is the only honest and trustworthy candidate to help make Augusta proud and move us forward.”

— Sheila Clark Nelson daughter of former state Sen. Charles Walker.

But Howard insists he deserves to be re-elected because he has served District 124 well for the past 10 years.

“We came through some tough times in 2010, 2011 and 2012. And we worked through those tough periods and tough times,” Howard said. “We are now in a rebound period and a lot of good things are happening.

Jobs are being created right here in Augusta. We keep hearing about Cyber Command. There were 1,700 jobs that have been created. A lot of that comes from the work we had done in Atlanta by creating a climate that will attract industry here.”

Since being elected to the office about a decade ago, Howard said he now serves on the several important committees in the state including the appropriations, education, health and human services and juvenile justice committees.

“With all of the work that we have already put into play and more hard work and time, we can get it done,” Howard said. “We are ready to get started and move in a positive direction.”

But Hill insists it is time for a change.

“I am a retired Army officer with three tours of combat, 25 years of military service and I have proudly served our country,” Hill recently stated at a political forum. “As a native Augustan who grew up in the inner city, now is the time for me to work for you.”

Hills says he is the ideal candidate to be the next state representative for the Georgia House District 124.

“As a policy maker for the Department of Defense, I wrote policies that impacted our men and women of these United State of America at the federal and international levels,” Hill said.

“That has fully prepared me to write policy that affects you and the state and that will benefit you as well.”

Hill also believes he is the best candidate to bring both Democrats and Republicans together to improve Georgia.

“I can work across the aisle, so that we can start preparing for the growth that we have not had in the inner city of Augusta and south Augusta in well over 20 years,” he said. “Now is the time for Gregory Hill so that I can work to minimize the burden on taxpayers so that we can have a little something extra in your pockets. That is why I’m running. I’m not running for office, I’m running for you.”

Finally, in House District 125, incumbent Rep. Ernie Smith has opposition from retired Democratic postal employee Sheila Clark Nelson.

Late last year, the state’s ethics commission, formally known as the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, found probable cause that Smith had violated various state laws in his handling of campaign cash.

Basically a commission investigation found Smith committed 88 violations of campaign finance laws. Specifically, Smith allegedly failed to disclose property he owned on personal financial disclosure reports and failed to report $7,503 in campaign contributions and $25,297 in campaign expenditures since December 2010.

However, Smith has denied any wrongdoings.

“At no time has there ever been a misappropriation of campaign funds,” Smith reportedly told the ethics commission. “I’ve never spent one nickel for my personal use.”

But during her speech to members of the Augusta-Richmond County 19MAY2016

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Smith said she went from a $20 an hour job to a $40 an hour career in welding.

“You wouldn’t know by looking at her, would you?” Smith joked, as he introduced the attractive, young woman. “She is also in line to be in a competition in June to represent this region as the best welder in the country.”

Smith also said there were great educational opportunities throughout this region that need support.

“Look at Heritage Academy,” Smith said. “Ninety-eight percent of the kids there are from the inner city, but they go there by scholarship.”

Such Christian education opportunities can greatly impact the future of Augusta, Smith said.

“It is a great day for Augusta,” Smith said. “I’m not going to say anything negative because these are good days.”

On the Bench When voters head to the polls on May 24, they won’t only be choosing local politicians to lead the CSRA, but also judges to head our courtrooms.

In the race for the State Court judgeship being vacated by Judge John Flythe so that he can run for the Superior Court bench, there are three candidates running for the seat: Kellie Kenner McIntyre, Monique Walker and Robert “Bo” Hunter III. Kellie Kenner McIntyre, who is the current Richmond County State Court solicitor general, is also the daughter-in-law of former Augusta Mayor Ed McIntyre.

Monique Walker, who is the current chief operating officer and general counsel for Global Personnel Solutions, also happens to be the daughter of former state Sen. Charles Walker.

And local attorney Robert “Bo” Hunter III, who served as the former solicitor general of Richmond County State Court for about eight years starting back in 1988, is probably best known as a sole practitioner in The Hunter Law Firm.

Hunter has been practicing law in Augusta since 1983 and he has some very prominent and well-respected community leaders supporting him.

For example, Dr. Paul Fischer, the founder of the Center For Primary Care,

“I tell everyone, if you or any of your loved ones have to come to court, I am the one that you want on that bench because I will be fair while ruling according to the law.”

— Kellie Kenner McIntyre Committee for Good Government, candidate Sheila Clark Nelson didn’t hesitate to remind voters of the accusations against Smith.

“I believe that I am the only candidate in this race that is not only qualified, but is the only honest and trustworthy candidate to help make Augusta proud and move us forward,” said Nelson, who worked at the U.S. Postal Service for more than 30 years. “I was born and raised here in Augusta and lived most of my life in this community. I love this community.”

However, Smith ignored her remarks and tried to stick to his campaign issues such as transforming Georgia’s education system with new, higher academic standards and bringing technology into the classroom.

He introduced a young woman who was an Air Force veteran turned welder.

19MAY2016

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provided a testimonial for Hunter.

“When R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company came after my research files and threatened the privacy of our three-year-old research subjects, Bo successfully fought them all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court,” Fischer is quoted as saying on Hunter’s campaign website. “Bo is honest, fair, smart and wise… everything you would hope for in a judge.”

During his speech before the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government, an organization that he has been member of for 30 years, Hunter said he is proud of the cases that he handled over the past three decades in Augusta.

“I was trusted by Dr. Paul Fischer to represent children because the tobacco companies wanted the names of those children involved in his research so they could intimidate them,” Hunter. “As a result of that case, Dr. Fischer became the star witness for the attorney general of the United States who got the tobacco companies to agree not to advertise to children.”

Probate Court Judge Harry James also chose Hunter to represent him in a case before the Superior Court of Richmond County, Hunter said.

“We won and they appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Georgia where I was successful there, too,” Hunter said. “I have represented thousands of people in times of anxiety, in times of joy when they are buying a house, in times of sorrow when they are having a crisis in their family or somebody in their family is in trouble. I have been a prosecutor and I stood with these people when we were at trial and when we are sentencing. So I’m a candidate with experience and I am trusted by this community.”

McIntyre has more than 20 years of judicial experience starting in Fulton County. She was a victim’s advocate and social worker in Fulton County Superior Court until she moved back to Augusta in 2008.

“I was told to come back by our now senator, Harold Jones, who was my classmate at that time,” McIntyre recently said at a political forum, adding that she is advocate for alternative sentencing. “But I tell everybody, practicing law is what I do. It is not who I am.”

She explained that she was a 47-year-old wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend who is decisive and fair, but also compassionate when necessary.

“I tell everyone, if you or any of your loved ones have to come to court, I am

26 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

the one that you want on that bench because I will be fair while ruling according to the law,” she said. “I know how to do that and I will bring compassion to that position. Because I do know everybody has a story and they need to be heard.”

Finally, Monique Walker told members of the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government that she is a native Augustan who graduated from the University of Georgia in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and she received her law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1997.

“I was born and raised here in Augusta,” Walker said, adding that she has handled both criminal and civil matters in public and private sectors for nearly two decades. “As your next State Court judge, I will be responsible for making sure that we have alternative sentencing that makes sense and allows people to have a second chance and not have these tiny misdemeanor cases follow them for the rest of their lives.”

In addition, Walker said she is excited by the fact that Augusta is moving from a private probation system to publicly run probation.

“That gives us transparency and accountability,” Walker said. “It also gives us an opportunity for our young people serving probation to have a meaningful opportunity to learn something while on probation.”

Walker also didn’t shy away from the fact that former Sen. Charles Walker is her father.

As many people in Augusta know, state Sen. Charles Walker was found guilty of 127 felony counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and filing false tax returns in 2005 and was eventually sentenced to almost a decade in federal prison.

Initially, Monique Walker also was indicted with her father on several criminal counts in 2005.

But all of the charges against her were dismissed after she pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of filing a false tax return and was forced to serve probation.

But Monique Walker was still disciplined by the State Bar of Georgia in 2007 because of the fact that she pleaded guilty in court to the misdemeanor charge.

When she pleaded guilty, Monique Walker told the court that she accepted a check which bore the notation “consulting fees” for $700 from her father’s company and did not report the money as income.

In 2007, the State Bar of Georgia ruled that Walker be given a 120-day suspension and a public reprimand.

“Earlier, I heard some conversation about Charles Walker and, yes, I am Charles Walker’s daughter. So let’s just get that straight,” Monique Walker proudly said.

“But I heard somebody say, ‘God bless the child that’s got his own.’ And I like to think that I have my own. I’m excited about what lies ahead for Augusta. I’m excited about being your next state court judge. I’ll be fair. I’ll be firm. I’ll be focused.”

In the race for the Superior Court judgeship currently held by Judge Carl Brown, local attorney Chris Nicholson has challenged the long-time judge for his seat.

During the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government’s political forum, Brown told the audience that he is grateful for his 34 years on the bench because, after serving for so many years, he frequently receives “confirmation.”

One such incident happened a few Sundays ago, Brown said.

“Me and my bride of 45 years were eating lunch at a local fast food restaurant and this clean-cut young man walks over to my table,” Brown said. “He says to me, ‘I want to thank you for what you did for us.’ I looked at him and said, ‘What did I do for you?’”

The man told him the judge had given him 12 months in the detention center.

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m in for a bad day,’” Brown said, chuckling. “Then, he said, ‘Actually I spent six months in the local jail before I went to the detention center.’ And I thought, ‘I really am in for a bad day.’”

Brown asked the man why he was thanking him for sentencing him to the detention center.

“He said to me, ‘It helped me to control my temper. I had a really bad temper and that time out helped me to learn to control it.’ That was the confirmation,” Brown said. “Now, that young man can get along with his family, he can keep a job and he can be a productive citizen. That’s why I seek to serve.”

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“When you are dealing with people’s children and you’re dealing with their money and you are dealing with their freedom, those things are the things that matter to them most.”

— John Flythe

As far as Nicholson’s speech during the political forum, readers should read this week’s Insider in the Metro Spirit to fully understand his comments before members of the Augusta-Richmond County Committee for Good Government.

Finally, Richmond County State Court Judge John Flythe and local attorney Evita Paschall are competing for the Superior Court judgeship seat currently held by Judge Carlisle Overstreet, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

After law school, Flythe worked at the District Attorney’s office under the leadership of Danny Craig and eventually opened up his own practice where he focused on family law.

After serving as the Associate Judge of the Grovetown Municipal Court, Judge Flythe was appointed in 2010 as a State Court judge in Richmond County.

“Experience matters most,” Flythe said at a recent political forum. “These jobs are incredibly important and Superior Court judges have the everyday opportunity to impact people’s lives in a very meaningful way. When you are dealing with people’s children and you’re dealing with their money and you are dealing with their freedom, those things are the things that matter to them most. And I will tell you that experience matters most in selecting a judge.”

However, local attorney Evita Paschall insists she also has the experience necessary to become a Superior Court judge.

Throughout her 40 years of practicing law, Paschall said she has also served as an assistant solicitor of state court, a solicitor of magistrate court and a municipal court judge.

“So I have judicial experience,” Paschall said. “I even have a robe. All you need to do is elect me because I’m prepared.”

Over in local law enforcement, long-time Richmond County Marshal Steve Smith is facing challenger Ramone Lamkin, who is currently the head of the Traffic Safety Division of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Lamkin believes the Marshal’s office needs to be more connected to the community.

“A lot of people don’t know what the marshal’s office even does and they don’t know who the marshal is,” he said. “That’s sad to say, but it is true. People know who the coroner is, but they don’t know who the marshal is.”

But Smith, who has severed as marshal in Richmond County for 28 years and has been in local law enforcement for almost 40 years, is standing by his record of service to the community.

“This position has been a big part of my life,” Smith said. “Next to my faith and my family, it has been 28 years of my life and I love my job.”

Driving Augusta’s Future There is no doubt that this year’s election could drastically change the current political landscape in Augusta.

In Richmond County, there are three hotly contested races for Augusta Commission seats.

In District 1, Commissioner Bill Fennoy is facing competition from two challengers: community activist Denice Traina and political newcomer Michael Thurman.

Some Augustans might recall that Traina has run for the District 1 seat before and lost.

While she has served on both the Richmond County Planning Commission and the Transit Advisory Panel, she is probably best known as the highly enthusiastic “certified beekeeper” who has been a resident of the Harrisburg neighborhood for more than 20 years.

Although Thurman is new to politics, he’s a local businessman from Augusta that has invested throughout the city.

He is the president of McGillicuddy Rental Properties in Augusta and currently owns more than 100 properties in central Augusta and the Summerville area.

“I bought my first house in Apple Valley when I was 18 years old when all of my friends were doing other things,” Thurman said. “It was a repossessed house that needed a lot of work. I didn’t have any money, but I had the desire to make something of myself to be able to provide for my family. So I worked very hard and had very long hours.”

Thurman said he wants to bring that kind of commitment and positive attitude to the Augusta Commission.

28 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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“The attitudes of former commissioners and wasteful spending, all of that needs to stop,” Thurman said. “We need transparency. We need to make sure that we know where the money is going and that it is going to places it needs to go. We need to focus on getting people moving in and not moving out of Richmond County.”

But Fennoy said he is proud of his service on the Augusta Commission, including the approval of phase seven of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes and the storm water fees.

“South Augusta is asking for economic development, but it is very difficult to

“We need to focus on getting people moving in and not moving out of Richmond County.”

— Michael Thurman build a hotel or a decent restaurant on a septic tank,” Fennoy said. “The storm water fees will be used for infrastructure and maintenance.”

Over in District 5, there are two candidates running to replace Augusta Commissioner Bill Lockett: Andrew Jefferson and Kelby Walker.

Andrew Jefferson is a former Richmond County school board member who recently retired from Augusta Technical College after more than 30 years in education.

Jefferson, who was the director of continuing education at Augusta Tech, had worked at the college since 1991.

“I’m an advocate for small business people,” Jefferson said at a recent political forum. “If elected, I promise to serve, not to be served. Richmond County is in need of economic growth, especially in south Richmond County. We have businesses closing and we need new businesses. So if elected, I will work hard to help bring new businesses to the district.”

Walker also wants to bring a new vision to south Augusta.

“We will bring south Augusta back to life,” Walker said. “We just lost two vibrant grocery stores. Everybody doesn’t go to Walmart. If elected, we will be proactive, we will be aggressive and... Walker will work for you.”

Finally, the highly outspoken and controversial incumbent Augusta Commissioner Marion Williams is also facing opposition.

Ronnie Battle, who served almost 25 years in the U.S. Air Force before retiring to the Augusta area in 1998, is running for the District 9 seat.

While Williams is a politician who has been called everything from a loose cannon to a “maniacal micro-manager,” he eagerly embraces the negative attention.

Ever since he was first elected to the Augusta Commission back in 1999, Williams’ main mission has been to stir things up in the Marble Palace.

“I think I’m the longest serving commissioner on the commission at this time,” Williams said. “I made one promise in 1999 when I first ran for office. I said that I may not be able to change anything, but I will keep you informed. I will at least let you know what is going on.”

Williams believes he has kept that promise to voters.

“I have been criticized probably more than any elected official who has ever lived in the city of Augusta. That’s a lot,” Williams said. “I’m not downtown to make friends. I’m downtown to help folks and really move Augusta forward.”

While these are the majority of races that voters will find on their ballots next Tuesday, it’s far from all of the races. That’s why the May 24 election is so tremendously important for this entire area. Educate yourself on the candidates, head to the polls and vote. To read any of the >Metro Spirit’s previous articles on the local races, visit metrospirit.com.

19MAY2016

31 34 38

What’s Up

Food Stuff Calendar Music Listings

(Beer) Geek Love

If you have any questions, or would like to submit an event to our calendar, please email Amy Christian at amy@themetrospirit.com.

by Amy Christian

wheN eric AND krisTi kiNLAw decided a few years ago that they wanted to open a second establishment, Eric knew that he wanted beer to be the focal point. After all, it’s what he’d wanted to do at their first place, The Bee’s Knees.

They just didn’t have the room.

“When the alcohol laws in Georgia changed in ’07, ’08 — I can’t remember the year exactly — there was a whole new world of things to get. All the European beers came in, the high-gravity beers, that weren’t here before,” he explained. “And then when American craft beer started kicking up in 2010, it was kind of a turning point. We wanted to do more, but were doing as much as we could. I wanted to put in a walk-in cooler out back [at The Bee’s Knees] and tap into the wall and have like 20 taps, but there just wasn’t the space to do that.”

This week

FriDAY Find out what roller derby is all about this weekend, as Augusta’s Soul City Sirens host the WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) certified Low Down Throw Down, a three-day tournament beginning Friday at the Columbia County Exhibition Center featuring 12 teams and 16 games. After the games on Friday, head over the bridge to The Highlander for a benefit for the Sirens featuring The Least Likelys.

sATUrDAY

sUNDAY

The Unitarian Universalist Church It’s finally time for the pomp, of Augusta will host Education circumstance, patriotism and fun is Freedom at 11 a.m. With the that is Thunder Over Evans at Evans Augusta-Richmond County Towne Center Park. Bring your cash NAACP they’ll commemorate the if you want to take a helicopter anniversary of Brown v. Board of ride or buy some food. Other than Education decision. Following the that, everything is free. And don’t service and fellowship, a 12:30 leave early: the gigantic fireworks p.m. reading of the proposed display at the end will feature a constitutional amendment special salute to the veterans of the Opportunity School District will be Vietnam War. held. Don’t miss it!

For more information on these events, see our calendar of events on page 34.

TUesDAY The annual Augusta Jewish Film Festival kicks off tonight at the Jabez S. Hardin Performing Arts Center with a reception and then a 7:30 p.m. showing of the movie “Dough.” Audiences should have a good laugh at the tale of an old Jewish baker whose business is struggling until his young Muslim apprentice accidently adds pot to the recipe. Well that’s not kosher, is it?

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The couple looked into a few places to open a second spot, but then life happened.

Kristi became pregnant and the couple ended up having twins, which slowed the process down a bit. Just to prove the timing was right, however, the space next door to The Bee’s Knees became available just as the couple was beginning to search again.

It was perfect. The two spaces are connected, which allows them to share a kitchen.

And while already outfitted for a restaurant, the Kinlaws took five months to renovate the space before they held their grand opening last May. Now celebrating their one-year anniversary, Eric says they could have opened sooner, but he’s glad they waited. That five months allowed them to have the enormous cooler he wanted.

“I wanted a hundred taps,” he laughed. “That was my first thing. Then we were like, ‘Nah, that’s too much.’ So then we decided on the dimensions of the cooler and I was like, ‘Okay, how many holes can you get? Put as many holes as you can in the cooler’ and that’s what we ended up with. There are 73 holes in the cooler.”

The red wines on tap are under the bar and two special casks are against the bar’s far wall. The rest of Hive’s liquid choices are in the cooler, and what guests see when they sit at the bar is an impressive array of tap handles made from clay by artist Shishir Chokshi from Tire City Potters across the street. Chokshi also hand cut all the small hexagons that decorate the cooler’s exterior because Eric “always wanted the cooler to be a giant hive.”

All the wood, from tables and bar to shelves and cabinets, is reclaimed and the art on the walls is all local.

32 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Let’s face it, though; as cool as Hive looks, it’s not the reason people visit. Like The Bee’s Knees before it, Hive has become known for both its food and drinks.

“Our food is more popular now,” said Eric when asked what differences he’s seen in a year. “I think we’ve kind of come into that. At first the bar was more the focus; the beer and the sheer number of things we were offering. But I think it’s more balanced with the food now.”

And that’s exactly what the couple, as well as Hive and Bee’s Knees General Manager Aleshia Tucker, wanted.

“We really wanted it to be a full-service restaurant with a kick-ass bar, just like the Bee’s Knees is,” Eric said. “We kind of started the Bee’s the same way. It was supposed to be a bar with a little bit of food, then it switched to a restaurant with a good bar. A great bar. You know, that’s kind of what we wanted to do for this place. We didn’t want it to be a bar, even though bar is in the name. It’s not a bar, and I think we had to kind of get over that stigma for a long time because of how we named it. We kind of wrestled with that perception for a long time, but I think we’re getting over that. People know that it’s a bar, but that it also has some great food.”

So great, in fact, that eight months ago Hive started lunch service. The restaurant’s lunch serves from the same menu as it has in the evening; the difference is that their heroes, served with fries or kaleslaw, are $2 off their regular prices from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Including in their heroes menu section is the Hive Burger, served on a brioche bun with bourbon caramelized onions, arugula, tomato, apple-cider pickles and cider ale honey grain mustard. It’s one of their most popular menu items, Eric said, along with the poutine (fries served with yeast gravy and cheese curds, with bacon and a poached egg available as toppings) and the fairly new tuna poke.

Whether or not it is a bar is just one of the issues Hive has wrestled with in its first year. Another is its lack of a printed drink menu. Instead, the restaurant relies on the DigitalPour system, available on a screen above the bar, on their website and, thus, available by smartphone or by one of the iPads available to guests.

Eric and his staff love the system because it shows both staff and customers everything they need to know: style, ABV (alcohol by volume), how much is left in the keg, prices for sizes from flight (5 ounces) to howler (32 ounces) and growler (64 ounces), and more.

His customers? Well, that was another story.

“People wanted a physical list and we got a little berated for not having that a few times on social media,” he admitted. “We just stuck to our guns on it and said, ‘This is how we want to do it’ and it’s not really a problem anymore.”

Also a sticking point at first was the fact that everything, including cocktails, are on tap. That led guests to believe that drinks like the Boozy Arnold Palmer currently on tap were pre-made. Nothing could be further from the truth, however “I know some people criticize it because making a cocktail is a skill, an art, but, for us, it was a choice to have everything on tap and the cocktails are made from scratch and kegged,” Aleshia, who is in charge of coming up with the cocktail recipes, said. “I started really small because I knew it could be very expensive. You have to think about the things you’re putting into kegs: things that are perishable and could go bad. You have to think about the fact that the temperature is lower so things could freeze. It was a learning curve. I’m not a chemistry major so it was trial and error.”

On tap at Hive these days are seven wines, one sake, cold-pressed coffee using local Buona Caffe beans, a kombucha (fermented tea), five cocktails, two sodas and 60 beers.

Yes, 60 beers.

“We have a great system here, so it’s not overwhelming to us,” Eric said. “I hope it’s overwhelming to people when they walk in because I want them to be excited and want them to come back and try something else next week, because next week we’re going to have a whole different lineup than we had the week before.”

The sheer variety of what Hive offers may, in fact, overwhelm novice beer drinkers.

On tap are ciders, mead, barleywine, kolsch, pale ales, IPAs, double IPAs, pilsners, goses, sours, saisons, porters, farmhouse ales, brown ales, red ales, strong ales, radlers, stouts, lagers and more. Some are brewed with fruit, coffee or chocolate. Some have been aged in rye whiskey barrels.

It’s a lot of information, but the staff is prepared to help anyone who has a deer in the headlights look on their face after looking at the menu.

“We prepare for the Bud Light drinker and we have lagers and pilsners and kolschs and blondes to kind of satisfy that palette. The small percentage of people who come in and just want a Bud Light or a Coors Light, they find something they like,” he said, adding that the flight-size they offer allows people to try different beers without much of a commitment. “Five ounces is not much to commit to. Most of them are around $2 [for the flight size], and then our happy hour specials get you 20 percent off that, so it’s a super good deal. That’s the reason we wanted to do the flights was to offer people the chance to try something they normally wouldn’t get a whole glass of.”

“The staff is trained to ask, ‘Well, what kind of beer do you like?’ and then help direct them,” Tucker said. “Sometimes people need less options to be able to make a decision, 19MAY2016

so you give them three choices that match what they enjoy and they are able to pick.

Or they can do flights of all three. And we do have people who come in and say, ‘Just pick five of your favorite beers and do flights. You tell me what you like.’ A lot of our customers are beers enthusiasts, so there’s not a lot of beer they’re not going to drink.

They might not like it as much as other beers but they’ll definitely drink it and take notes and write about it and add it to their journal.”

Hive has an amazing array of beer, especially impressive considering that 90 percent of the beer that comes into Georgia goes directly to Atlanta, leaving places in the rest of the state fighting over the remaining 10 percent. Through Eric’s relationship with distributors and breweries, however, they’ve built a great reputation which has allowed them to host one or two special beer events each months like tap takeovers.

A one-year anniversary and tap takeover, featuring Reformation from Woodstock, Ga., is Thursday, May 19, at 6 p.m.

The learning process on the subject of beer has been for both Eric and Aleshia the best part of this past year.

“I had no idea what goes into the pint of beer that someone places in front of you behind the scenes,” Aleshia said. “It is a technical, scientific, grueling process. Beer’s more sensitive than a baby and it’s very interesting to learn.”

“Oh yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” Eric echoed. “I loved researching and buying and hunting for the beers we want to get in here. It’s a challenge.”

Hive Growler Bar 215 10th Street, Downtown Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight; bar open late 706-836-3661 hivegrolerbar.com 19MAY2016

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Guided tours, approximately 45 minutes long, are offered Thursday-Saturday on the hour from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Group tours are available by advanced reservation.

Adults, $5; seniors, $4; kids K-12, $3; under 5 years, free. Call 706-724-0436 or visit wilsonboyhoodhome.org.

Historic Trolley Tours of Augusta Augusta Visitors Center Tours aboard the Lady Libby available at the Augusta Visitors Center with 24-hour advanced reservations. Tickets include admission to the Augusta Museum of History. Call 706-724-4067 or visit visitaugusta.org.

Hops & Hogs Downtown Aiken Friday, May 20 6-10:30 p.m.

Live music from Delta Cane, local barbecue and regional craft beer 803-649-2221

ARTS Thu May 19

8:45am Meditation in the Galleries Morris Museum of Art Participants will learn meditation from Kevin Sharpe while viewing the exhibition Paintings by Victoria Lowe. Free, but preregistration required. Call 706-828-3867 or visit themorris.org.

Fri May 20

Noon A Dimensionality of Folk Art Morris Museum of Art Part of the Art at Lunch series led by Jason Hoelscher, gallery director and assistant professor of art at the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art at Georgia Southern University. $10, members; $15, non-members.

Catered lunch included. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Tue May 24

8:45am Yoga in the Galleries Morris Museum of Art Participants will learn yoga from Frankie Kraemer while viewing the exhibition Paintings by Victoria Lowe. Free, but preregistration required and participants must bring their own mats. Call 706-828-3867 or visit themorris.org.

Wed May 25

7pm Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Le Chat Noir A burlesque live drawing event featuring contests, performances, prizes and more. $10, advance; $12 at the door. Call 706-7223322 or visit lcnaugusta.com.

DANCE Sat May 21

2pm Shake Your Soul: The Yoga of Dance

Sat May 21

10am - 11:30am Hypertufa Planters 101 Tippy Cakes Bakery, Harlem A two-session class for adults that continues Sunday, May 22, from 3-4 p.m.

Hypertufa is a unique, plant friendly medium created out of a blend of Portland cement, peat moss, perlite or vermiculite and water. This mixture is formed into a mold or built by hand. Once fully cured, it is weatherproof and should not crack during freezing temperatures. $30; pre- registration required. Call 706-231-7199 or email harlemartscouncil@gmail.com.

10am - 4pm Oil Still Life Workshop Aiken Center for the Arts A two-day workshop led by Carol Sue Roberts that continues Sunday, May 22, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $160; pre-registration required. Call 803-641-9094 or visit aikencenterforthearts.org.

The Yoga Center A dance class led by Jamie Garvey and inspired by yoga and various forms of modern and ethnic dance. No dance experience necessary. Free, but donations accepted and pre-registration required. Visit theyogacenter.net.

EDUCATION Sun May 22

11am Education Is Freedom Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta The church hosts the Augusta-Richmond County NAACP to commemorate the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education decision. Following the service and fellowship, a 12:30 p.m. ready of the proposed constitutional amendment Opportunity School District will be held. Call 706-733-7939 or visit uuaugusta.org.

Mon May 23

3:30pm - 5pm Intermediate Spanish 34 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

FLIX Sat May 21 Friedman Branch Library An adult class led by Edwin Perez of the Asociacion Cultural Hispanoamericana. Call 706-736-6758 or visit arcpls.org.

10:30am - 12:30pm Background and Beyond: Getting Into Film North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library Led by Susan Willis. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

3pm “Joy”

Wed May 25

Aiken Public Library Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Aiken Public Library A class for adults. Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

3pm “Time Changer”

3pm Beginner Spanish

Ongoing

James Brown Family Historical Tour Augusta Museum of History Available each Saturday at 11 a.m. and lasting approximately two hours, this bus tour includes Brown’s elementary school, his childhood home, his statue and more. $15 fee, includes admission to the museum, which houses the largest collection of James Brown memorabilia. Reservations 24 hours in advance required. Call 803-6402090 or visit jamesbrownfamilyfdn.org.

Guided Tours 1797 Ezekiel Harris House Offered by appointment only MondayFriday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Last tours of the day begin at 4 p.m. Adults, $2; children, $1. Call 706-722-8454 or visit augustamuseum.org.

North Augusta Driving Tour Arts and Heritage Center of North Augusta Offered by appointment and includes a 30-45-minute guided tour and admission to the center. Self-guided tours are also available through an iPhone downloadable audio tour or a Google Maps-based tour. Guided tours: $5, adults; $3, students K-12. Call 803-441-4380 or visit artsandheritagecenter.com.

Tours Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson

Kroc Center A Christian movie sponsored by Five & Two Pictures and Enopion Theatre Company. $7, single; $5, groups of four or more. To purchase tickets, call 706-771-7777.

6pm “A Matter of Faith” Kroc Center A Christian movie sponsored by Five & Two Pictures and Enopion Theatre Company. $7, single; $5, groups of four or more. To purchase tickets, call 706-771-7777.

Tue May 24

7:30pm “Dough” Jabez S. Hardin Performing Arts Center This Augusta Jewish Film Festival event will feature an opening night reception before the screening. Call 706-228-3636 or visit augustajcc.org.

HEALTH Thu May 19

6pm Breastfeeding Class Babies R Us Free, but pre-registration required. Call 706774-2825 or visit universityhealth.org.

Fri May 20

6:30pm - 9:30pm Weekend Childbirth Education Class University Hospital Class continues Saturday, May 21, from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Pre-registration required. Call 706-774-2825 or visit universityhealth.org.

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Sat May 21

9am - 4:30pm Short and Sweet Doctors Hospital A weekend childbirth education class that continues Sunday, May 22, from 1-5 p.m.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-651-2229 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

Wed May 25

9:45am - noon Car Seat Class Safe Kids Office Pre-registration required. $10; car or booster seat provided to families who meet financial guidelines. Call 706-721-7606 or visit augustahealth.org.

HOBBIES Sat May 21

10am - 12:30pm Cake Decorating Helms College Part of the Saturday Chef series of community cooking classes, this one focusing on cake decorating techniques such as piping, fondant and buttercream. $75, preregistration required. Call 706-651-9707 or visit helmscontinuingeducation.com.

Wed May 25

Sat May 21

11am ThankoRama Story Time Featuring the Thank You Book Barnes & Noble Call 706-737-0012 or visit bn.com.

1pm Family Camping Night Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Campers will participate in events including survivor skills and demos by former U.S. Navy survival instructors, hot dogs, hot chocolate and s’mores campfire dinner, Cabela’s games and activities, a family friendly movie and more. Event ends Sunday, May 22, at noon. $39; $29 for Friends of Phinizy. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-396-1426 or visit phinizycenter.org.

1pm - 3pm Family Fun Day Imagination Station A celebration that will include tours of the museum, music, activities, snacks, arts and crafts and more. Free. Visit imagineaugusta.org.

2pm - 4:30pm Tea on the Avenue North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library A character tea for kids featuring Elsa and Anna, Belle, Rapunzel and more. Tickets required. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Noon Georgia-Carolina Toastmasters Fat Man’s Mill Cafe Those interested are invited to learn speech and leadership skills in a fun and supportive atmosphere. Call 706-627-2134.

KIDS-TEENS Thu May 19

4:30pm Voce Open Call Audition Church of the Holy Comforter For rising fourth-12th graders. Visit singaugusta.com.

6pm - 7:30pm Big Brother/Big Sister Doctors Hospital An educational and interactive class for children who will soon be welcoming a new baby into the home. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-651-2229 or visit doctors-hospital. net.

Fri May 20

9:30am Kroc Tots Kroc Center A weekly event for those ages 18 months-5 years and their parents that includes stories, projects and playtime. $1, members; $2, nonmembers. Call 706-922-1533 or visit salvationarmyaugusta.org.

10am - noon Learning Adventures Mistletoe State Park A program for those ages 5 and older in which participants will meet at the Pollinator Garden to learn about local insects. $10 plus $5 parking. Pre-registration required. Call 706541-0321 or visit gastateparks.org/mistletoe.

19MAY2016

Tue May 24

10:30am Toddler Tuesday Kroc Center Parents are invited to bring their toddlers for 30 minutes of playtime and a story, followed by an hour in the pool splash pad area. Parent must remain with their child throughout the program. Free, members; $5, nonmembers. Call 706-922-1533 or visit salvationarmyaugusta.org.

4pm Storytime in the Gardens Hopelands Gardens Local senior adults will read to participants and each family in attendance will receive a free book. Blankets, chairs, drinks and snacks are welcome. Call 803-642-7631.

Wed May 25

10am The Bremen Town Musicians Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre A show that will include live music and audience participation. $2. To reserve seating, call 706-737-1625.

10am Wacky Wednesday Story Time Barnes & Noble Call 706-737-0012 or visit bn.com.

4:30pm - 6pm Alley Cats Strikehouse Bowl, Aiken Part of the Aiken Recreation Department’s Buddy Sports program for those with physical and/or intellectual disabilities, this class is for those of all bowling abilities. $12 a month; pre-registration required. Call 803-

426-1284 or visit therecingcrew.com.

Ongoing

TAG Dancers Needed Teens in Action with Goals, Inc. (TAG) is accepting new dance team members through June 1. Practices are Monday and Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. and dance camp will be held June 26-29 at Hickory Knob in South Carolina. For more information, call 706-284-8252.

Asthma Day Camps Camp Tanglewood, Columbia County Augusta University is sponsoring this camp, for children ages 6-13 with asthma, July 11-16.

Activities include asthma management sessions, swimming and hiking. Volunteer lifeguards, physicians and respiratory experts will be on hand to ensure illness or injury does not hinder the fun. However, a parent or guardian must attend a brief orientation and education session.

Free, but pre-registration required. For more information, contact Kitty Hernlen: 706-721-3554 or khernlen@augusta.edu.

LITERARY Sat May 21

1pm Author Event Barnes & Noble Featuring Tiffany Wasson, author of “Running Mascara.” Call 706-737-0012 or visit bn.com.

Sun May 22

1:30pm Book Readings The Book Tavern A free event in which Anthony Kellman will read from his “Tracing Jaja” novel and Malaika Favorite will read from “Ascension,” her new collection of poetry. Call 706-8261940 or visit booktavern.com.

Wed May 25

6:30pm - 8pm Book Club Kroc Center Open to anyone ages 25 and older interested in a fun, dynamic discussion.

Books are selected by members and cover a variety of topics. Free. Call 706-922-0171 or visit salvationarmyaugusta.org.

MUSIC Thu May 19

7pm Music in the Park Maude Edenfield Park, North Augusta Featuring the Savannah River Winds. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be held in the community center. Free. Visit naartscouncil.org.

Fri May 20

7pm - 8:30pm Music Cruise Augusta Canal Featuring Joyce Lynn performing on the Petersburg Boat. Participants are invited to bring snacks and beverages. $25; AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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$23, seniors, military and students. Preregistration required. Call 706-823-0440, ext. 4, or visit augustacanal.com.

Sat May 21

11am - 2pm Saturday Morning Swing Eighth Street Plaza Live music from local jazz artists and performing arts groups during the Augusta Market. Call 706-627-0128 or visit theaugustamarket.com.

Sun May 22

2pm The Mangelly Accordionaires Morris Museum of Art This concert, honoring LaRue Mangelly, will feature a grand finale of “Lady of Spain.”

Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

3pm - 5pm Aiken Choral Society Spring Concert: Transcendence First Presbyterian Church, Aiken $20, adults; $10, military and students; free, children. Visit aikenchoralsociety.org.

3pm Sunday in the Park Pendleton King Park This concert in the park’s Frank Pavilion, featuring Bethany and the Southside Boys, will be free thanks to Cranston Engineering.

Call 706-564-7462.

7:30pm - 9:30pm Candlelight Jazz Augusta Common Attendees are invited to bring their own lawn chairs, blankets and picnics for this live jazz concert. $6. Call 706-821-1754 or visit augustaga.gov.

Mon May 23

7pm Hopelands Summer Concert Series Hopelands Gardens, Aiken Featuring Four Cats in the Doghouse.

Attendees can bring blankets, lawn chairs, picnics and well-behaved pets on leashes, but no alcohol. Free. Call 803-642-7631 or visit facebook.com/experienceaiken. The rain-out hotline is 803-643-4661.

Ongoing

Independence Day Chorus Saint Paul’s Church Rehearsals for the chorus begin at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, June 8, and will also be held on June 15, 22 and 29 in advance of the Star Spangled Fourth Celebration at 7:30 on Monday, July 4.

Those interested in joining the chorus should contact Artistic Director Keith Shafer at 706-7223463 or info@riverwalkseries.com.

SENIORS Thu May 19

10:30am Seniors Golden Games Appleby Branch Library Call 706-736-6244 or visit ecgrl.org.

36 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

1pm - 1:30pm Got 30 Minutes?

Kroc Center Conducted by the Area Agency on Aging, this workshop provides an overview of services available to caregivers, the aging, and those with disabilities. Call 706-9220171 or visit salvationarmyaugusta.org.

Shake Your Soul: The Yoga of Dance The Yoga Center Saturday, May 21 2 p.m.

A dance class led by Jamie Garvey and inspired by yoga and various forms of modern and ethnic dance theyogacenter.net

SPECIAL EVENTS Thu May 19

5pm - 8pm Third Thursday Tasting Wine World A drop-in event that features a wine or beer tasting. $5; $3 rebate upon purchase of a featured bottle. Call 803-279-9522 or visit wineworldsc.com.

6pm - 7:30pm Thursday Throwdown Whole Foods Market Part of the store’s Southern Food Fest, held May 16-22, in which each department will compete to see who has the best Southern food recipe based on customer votes.

Visitors will receive free samples and have a chance to win prizes. Call 762-333-0259 or visit wholefoodsmarket.com.

6:30pm - 8:30pm Cotton Ball Twin Gables, 920 Milledge Road An Historic Augusta event that includes dinner, dessert, a cash bar, mint juleps, music and more. Admission is by current, new or renewing Historic Augusta membership, which start at $50 for individuals and $85 for couples. Call 706724-0436 or visit historicaugusta.org.

7pm - 9pm Gathering of the People Augusta Jewish Community Center This three-day event begins with intertribal dancing. Free and open to the public. Visit gatheringofthepeople.com.

Fri May 20

1pm - 9pm Gathering of the People Augusta Jewish Community Center This three-day event continues with dancing, food and more. Free and open to the public. Visit gatheringofthepeople.com.

3pm - 7pm Community Block Party MLK Blvd. and Turpin St. An annual kick off to summer vacation for children 14 and under sponsored by the Augusta Recreation & Parks, JR’s Stop & Shop and Perry Broadcasting of Augusta that includes free food, live performances, radio remotes, giveaways and more. Call 706-722-5613 or 706-821-1754.

5pm - 8pm Wine Not It’s Friday Whole Foods A $5 wine tasting in which participants get five 3-ounce samples of featured wines. Call 762-333-0259 or visit wholefoodsmarket.com.

6pm - 10:30pm Hops & Hogs Downtown Aiken An event that will include live music from Delta Cane, local barbecue and regional craft beer. Call 803-649-2221.

Sat May 21

8am - 2pm Augusta Market at the River 8th Street Plaza, Reynolds Street The event features vendors of all kinds, activities, live entertainment and more. Visit theaugustamarket.com.

10am - 11:30pm Gathering of the People Augusta Jewish Community Center This three-day event continues with dancing, food, craft competitions, ceremonies and more. Free and open to the public. Visit gatheringofthepeople.com.

10am - 4pm WRDW Family Fair Augusta Common Call 803-278-1212.

11am - 10pm Thunder Over Evans

A military appreciation event in honor of Armed Forces Day that includes demonstrations, shows, a kids fun zone, an obstacle course for adults, helicopter rides (for a fee), food vendors, live music and fireworks.

Free. Visit thunderoveraugusta.com.

4pm - 8pm Red, White and Brew Beer Tasting Whole Foods Market A 5 for $5 beer tasting. In celebration of Armed Forces Day, the featured brewery is Service Brewing, a veteran-owned and -operated brewery from Savannah. Call 762333-0259 or visit wholefoodsmarket.com.

SPIRITUAL Sat May 21

5pm - 7pm Low Country Boil Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity, North Augusta $7. Proceeds benefit the Anglican Mission in Gambela, Ethiopia and Sudanese refugees. Call 803-341-0075 or visit anglicanchurchoftheholytrinity.com.

Evans Towne Center Park 19MAY2016

SPORTS-OUTDOORS Fri May 20

Noon - 9pm Low Down Throw Down Columbia County Exhibition Center A women’s flat track roller derby tournament hosted by Augusta’s Soul City Sirens that features games at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. $15, one-day tickets; $25, three- day tickets; free, children 12 and under. Visit brownpapertickets.com or soulcitysirens.com.

Sat May 21

6am - 4pm Golf Tournament Augusta Municipal Golf Course A benefit for the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, this event includes contests, prizes and catered lunch. $75; pre-registration required. Call 706-724-3576 or visit lucycraftlaneymuseum.com.

8am Run for the Hills 5K Trail Run The Greystone Preserve A Central Savannah River Land Trust event in which proceeds will benefit local land and water conservation. $35. Visit csrlt.org.

9am Waterside Yoga Augusta Canal’s Lake Olmstead Trailhead A class open to those of all ages and abilities.

Participants should bring a mat or towel.

Free, but donations to the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area accepted. Call 706823- 0440, ext. 2, or visit augustacanal.com.

9:30am - 11:30am Stream Explorers

North Augusta, Hammond’s Ferry, Brickyard Ponds and more. Good for beginners. Lunch at the Bar-B-Que Barn follows. Helmets required. Email billjackson@att.net.

8pm Full Moon Night Hike Mistletoe State Park Participants should bring a flashlight and wear walking shoes. $5, parking. Call 706541-0321 or visit gastateparks.org/mistletoe.

Georgia Avenue at the River Club A Sierra Club event in which participants, who don’t have to be members of the club, will take a leisurely 12-mile ride through 19MAY2016

Write to Heal Creative Writing Program

Overeaters Anonymous

10am - 7pm Low Down Throw Down Columbia County Exhibition Center A women’s flat track roller derby tournament hosted by Augusta’s Soul City Sirens that features games at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. $15, one-day tickets; $25, three-day tickets; free, children 12 and under. Visit brownpapertickets.com or soulcitysirens.com.

3pm - 4:30pm Trail Talk: Waterworks Photowalk 1488 Eisenhower Drive Participants will meet behind the baseball fields, where an Augusta Photo Festival faculty member will lead a walk to the 1899 Augusta Raw Water Pumping Station. Free.

Call 706-823-0440 or visit augustacanal.com.

Tue May 24

10:30am - noon Greeneway Bike Ride

Jessye Norman School of the Arts This Augusta Jr. Players production will show August 5-7, and auditions are open to those ages 13-19. Call 706-826-4707 or visit augustaplayers.org.

Sun May 22

9:30am - noon Swamp Bike Saturday

Columbia County Exhibition Center A women’s flat track roller derby tournament hosted by Augusta’s Soul City Sirens that features games at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. $15, one-day tickets; $25, three-day tickets; free, children 12 and under. Visit brownpapertickets.com or soulcitysirens.com.

Journey Community Church This Christ-centered recovery program meets every Monday night at 7 p.m. The meetings last two hours and childcare is provided. Pre-registration suggested. Visit cr@journeycommunity.net.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park An event for children and adults. $10 per person. Call 706-828-2109 or visit phinizycenter.org.

9pm - 11pm Full Moon Walk

SUPPORT

10am - 9pm Low Down Throw Down

4pm - 8pm “Legally Blonde The Musical” Auditions

Celebrate Recovery

Children’s Hospital of Georgia For patients, family members and caregivers, this program meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. Preregistration required. Call 706-721-5160 or email nawilliams@gru.edu.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park For those ages 8 and up, participants should wear long socks and bring water. Waders provided.

Free, members; $2, nonmembers. Preregistration required. Call 706-828-2109 or visit phinizycenter.org.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park A guided bike ride through approximately seven miles of wetland trials. Helmets and pre-registration required. Free, members; $2, nonmembers. Call 706-396-1426 or visit phinizycenter.org.

Ongoing

Thu May 19

6pm Bariatric Surgery Support Group University Hospital Call 706-774-8931 or visit universityhealth.org.

10:20am Moms Connection Augusta University Medical Center, 1120 15th St, Augusta, GA, United States This free weekly support group for new mothers meets in the Terrace Dining Dogwood Room on the second floor. All new moms and their babies are welcome and an international board certified lactation consultant/educator/perinatal nurse will answer questions and offer resources. Call 706-721-8283 or visit augustahealth.org.

Meets at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, at 7 p.m. Thursdays at Unity Church, and at Covenant Presbyterian Church at 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Call 706-863-9534 or email oa.augusta.recovery@gmail.com.

Adult Sexual Assault and Rape Support Group Provides group counseling at University Hospital for those who have experienced sexual assault, incest, rape or childhood sexual abuse. Call 706-724-5200 or visit universityhealth.org.

THEATER Fri May 20

7pm Black Box Coffeehouse Aiken Community Playhouse An event that features open-mic sessions, musical entertainment, poetry, short scenes from upcoming ACP productions and special guests. $12, including desserts and drinks. Call 803-648-1438 or visit aikencommunityplayhouse.com.

Mon May 23

4pm - 8pm “Legally Blonde The Musical” Auditions Jessye Norman School of the Arts This Augusta Jr. Players production will show August 5-7, and auditions are open to those ages 13-19. Call 706-826-4707 or visit augustaplayers.org.

Tue May 24

6:30pm “Nice Work If You Can Get It” Auditions Dayspring Baptist Church This Greater Augusta Youth Theatre production will show July 22-23 at Augusta Prep. Auditions open to those ages 13-19.

Visit grayt.org.

Thu May 26

6:30pm “Nice Work If You Can Get It” Auditions Dayspring Baptist Church This Greater Augusta Youth Theatre production will show July 22-23 at Augusta Prep. Auditions open to those ages 13-19.

Visit grayt.org.

Ongoing

“Creation” Auditions Enopion Theatre Company Casting by appointment those 18 and older for this musical that will show October 2829 and November 3-5 at the Kroc Center.

Rehearsals begin in June. Call 706-771-7777 or visit enopion.com.

8pm “Stars Emerging: Augusta Mini Theatre Story” Judith Simon Drama Studio $12, general; $10, seniors. Call 706-722-0598 or visit augustaminitheatre.com.

Sat May 21

3pm “Stars Emerging: Augusta Mini Theatre Story” Judith Simon Drama Studio $12, general; $10, seniors. Call 706-722-0598 or visit augustaminitheatre.com.

6pm CSRA Parkinson Support Group St. John Towers dining room Several physicians assistants will discuss their education, training and experience to help explain why they often see patients instead of the doctor. Free and open to the public. Call 706-364-1662.

Sun May 22

3pm “Stars Emerging: Augusta Mini Theatre Story” Judith Simon Drama Studio $12, general; $10, seniors. Call 706-722-0598 or visit augustaminitheatre.com.

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What’s Tonight?

Shannon’s - Karaoke w/ David Doane

An Evening with Sara Evans Imperial Theatre Friday, May 20 8 p.m. $45-$55 706-722-8341 imperialtheatre.com

Monday, May 23 Live Music

Hopelands Gardens (Aiken) - Hopelands Summer Concert Series w/ Four Cats in the Doghouse Metro Coffeehouse & Pub - Blues Monday w/ Famous Last Words

What’s Tonight?

Joe’s Underground - Poker Shannon’s - Karaoke w/ David Doane Somewhere in Augusta - World Tavern Poker Wild Wing - Trivia Wing Place (Aiken) - Trivia

Tuesday, May 24 Live Music

The Iron Heights - Bear Girl Joe’s Underground - Open Mic Soul Bar - Stump Tail Dolly The Willcox (Aiken) - Hal Shreck

What’s Tonight?

Bar West - Trivia The Cotton Patch - Trivia Limelite Cafe - Bottom’s Up Trivia Mellow Mushroom (Aiken) - Trivia Shannon’s - Karaoke w/ David Doane Somewhere in Augusta - Big Prize Trivia w/ Gorman Twisted Burrito - Trivia w/ Mike Sleeper

Wednesday, May 25 Live Music Thursday, May 19 Live Music

Maude Edenfield Park - (North Augusta) Music in the Park w/ the Savannah River Winds Mellow Mushroom (Aiken) - Live Music on the Patio The Red Pepper (Aiken) - Mike Frost Band Southbound Smokehouse - Forest Colter Stillwater Taproom - Bethany and the Southside Boys That Place - John Stoney Cannon Tin Lizzy’s - Justin Dukes Wild Wing - Will McCranie The Willcox (Aiken) - Thursday Night Jazz w/ 4 Cats in the Dog House

What’s Tonight?

Bar West - Open Mic Night w/ Jonathon Flowers Carolina Ale House - Trivia w/ Mike Sleeper (9 p.m.)

Chevy’s - Karaoke Cotton Patch - Old School Thursday w/ DJ Groove Fox’s Lair - Trivia, Soup and Suds Helga’s Pub & Grille - Trivia The Highlander - Butt Naked Trivia Joe’s Underground - Trivia The Loft - Karaoke MAD Studios - Open Mic, Spoken Word Pizza Joint (Downtown) - Trivia w/ Mike Sleeper (7 p.m.)

Shannon’s - Karaoke w/ David Doane Sky City - DJ Zarbizarre, DJ JR, DJ Fugi Somewhere in Augusta - Poker for Fun That Place - Open Mic Spoken Word, Poetry, Prose and Singer/Songwriters

38 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Friday, May 20 Live Music

Augusta Canal - Music Cruise w/ Joyce Lynn The Backyard Tavern - Chasing Savannah Bar West - Live Music Cotton Patch - Live Jazz & Blues Country Club - Michael Ray Coyotes - 8 Second Ride Greenlight Studios - Soul Session, Twonn The Highlander - The Least Likelys Imperial Theatre - An Evening with Sara Evans Playoffs (Aiken) - Donna Jo The Red Pepper (Aiken) - Anybody’s Guess Shannon’s - Atomic Road Sissy’s Lakeside (Appling) - Mr. Jukebox Sky City - ATL Dreamvision & Friends Tribute to Prince and Michael Jackson Somewhere in Augusta - Kim and Alan Smith The Stables Restaurant (Aiken) - Gavin Reily Stillwater Taproom - Mississippi Kites Surrey Center - The Cam Band Whole Foods - Music @ the Turn w/ False Flag Wild Wing - Terence Lonon & the Untouchables The Willcox (Aiken) - John Vaughn

What’s Tonight?

Chevy’s - DJ Nicky B Vera Cruz Mexican Restaurant - Karaoke w/ Denny van Valkenburgh

Saturday, May 21 Live Music

Bird Dog Grille - Mr. Jukebox Cotton Patch - Live Jazz & Blues

Country Club - Ross Coppley Coyotes - 8 Second Ride Eighth Street Plaza - Saturday Morning Swing at the Augusta Market on the River Grain or Shine - False Flag The Iron Heights - From the Embrace Shannon’s - Mike and Walter Somewhere in Augusta - The Unmentionables Stillwater Taproom - Jacob Beltz Surrey Center - The Cam Band Wild Wing - The Remedy The Willcox (Aiken) - John Vaughn

What’s Tonight?

The Backyard Tavern - Karaoke Bar West - DJ Fugi Chevy’s - DJ Nicky B Helga’s Pub & Grille - Bluegrass Brunch (11 a.m.3 p.m.); Trivia, nights Joe’s Underground - Ladies Night, Singles Night Vera Cruz Mexican Restaurant - Karaoke w/ Denny van Valkenburgh

Sunday, May 22 Live Music

Aiken Speakeasy and Eats (Aiken) - Live Jazz Augusta Common - Candlelight Jazz Concert Series Mellow Mushroom (Aiken) - Brunch w/ Mike Frost and Lauren Meccia Tin Lizzy’s - Justin Dukes Wild Wing - Brandon Bower Trio The Willcox (Aiken) - John Vaughn

The Highlander - Open Mic Night Shannon’s - Shameless Dave Wild Wing - Chris & Mark

What’s Tonight?

The Backyard Tavern - Karaoke Bar West - Karaoke Chevy’s - Karaoke Cotton Patch - Trivia and Tunes The Loft - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Washington Road) - Karaoke Pizza Joint (Evans) - Trivia w/ Mike Sleeper The Playground - Krazy Karaoke w/ Big Troy Polo Tavern (Aiken) - Karaoke w/ Tom Mitchell Sky City - Wednesday Night Conspiracy w/ DJ Knightmare Somewhere in Augusta - The Comedy Zone w/ Jody Kerns and Herbie Gill Stillwater Taproom - Pub Quiz Surrey Tavern - Trivia w/ Christian and Mickey

Upcoming Delta Cane

- Stillwater Taproom May 26 Seepeoples

- Sky City May 27 Mississippi Kites

- Stillwater Taproom May 27 Papa Joe’s Banjo B Que w/ Willie Nelson and Family, Old Crow Medicine Show, Steep Canyon Rangers, Blitzen Trapper, Mountain Faith, Sarah Jaroz, Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Susto, Ben Miller, Have Gun Will Travel, Guthrie Brown & the Family Tree, Little Roy & Lizzie Show, Great Peacock, Josh Roberts & the Hinges, Motel Radio, Packway 19MAY2016

V27|NO20 Handle Band, Laney Jones & the Spirits, BooHoo Ramblers, Georgia-Lina Boys, the Mason Jars, Muddy Johnson, Delta Cane

ZZ Top

Cyndi Lauper

- Bell Auditorium October 26

- Symphony Hall, Atlanta June 5

- Evans Towne Center Park May 27-28

Elsewhere

Alabama, The Charlie Daniels Band

- James Brown Arena June 3 Kirk Franklin

- Bell Auditorium June 3 Funk You & Friends, Will McCranie 3

- Sky City June 3 Summer Beach Blast w/ The Catalinas, The Tams

- Evans Towne Center Park June 3 Jeezy & Friends

- Bell Auditorium June 4 Moniker, Caleb Tokarska

- Sky City June 10 Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons

- Bell Auditorium June 17 Steve Miller Band

- Bell Auditorium July 19 Chris Robinson Brotherhood

- Sky City July 22 New Edition

- Bell Auditorium June 23 LIttle River Band, ARS, Firefall

- Evans Towne Center Park June 23 Steve Miller Band

- Bell Auditorium July 19 The Monkees

- Bell Auditorium July 24 Maxwell

- Bell Auditorium August 6 I Love the ‘90s Tour w/ Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Kid N Play, Rob Base, Tone Loc, Color Me Badd

- Bell Auditorium October 6

Ellie Goulding Daryl Hall & John Oates

- Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta June 6

- Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta May 19

Journey, The Doobie Brothers

Cage the Elephant, Portugal the Man

- Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta June 8

- Infinite Energy Arena, Duluth May 20

Selena Gomez, DNCE

Willie Nelson

- Philips Arena, Atlanta June 9

- Chastain Park, Atlanta May 20 Dumpstaphunk

- Variety Playhouse, Atlanta May 20 Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch

- Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta May 20-21 Travis Tritt

- Grand Opera House, Macon May 22 Snarky Puppy

- Georgia Theatre, Athens May 26 Dave Matthew Band

- Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta May 28

REAL PEOPLE REAL DESIRE REAL FUN.

Toni Braxton, Bill Bellamy

- Fox Theatre, Atlanta June 2 Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band

- Infinite Energy Arena, Duluth June 2 Maze, Frankie Beverly, Gladys Knight

- Chastain Park, Atlanta June 3

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- RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, Columbus June 3 Dolly Parton

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- Infinite Energy Arena, Duluth June 4 10000 Maniacs

- City Winery, Atlanta June 4

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V27|NO20

SIGHTINGS

Michael Johnson | mejphoto.photoreflect.com

Russell and Teri Mobley with Loft Host Leonard “Porkchop” Zimmerman and Tricia Hughes during Historic Augusta’s Downtown Loft Tour.

Bobbie Jo Gainey, LLS Man of the Year Candidate Chris Bird and Rachael Salveter at John Michael Montgomery’s Lights Out Leukemia concert at Fat Man’s Mill Café & Catering.

Jamie Bricker, Melva Fehr, Kelly Fehr and Kenny Albrecht at The Bee’s Knees.

Trisha Honeymichael, Keri Joyner, Traci Duffie and Cary Goldsmith at Whiskey Bar (Kitchen).

Summer Bell, singer/songwriter John Michael Montgomery and Sara Best at his Lights Out Leukemia concert at Fat Man’s Mill Café & Catering.

Andrew Hydrick, singer/songwriter McKenna Hydrick, Alice Bruce and Tracie Woody at John Michael Montgomery’s Lights Out Leukemia concert at Fat Man’s Mill Café & Catering.

Alyson Harden, Natalie Harsey, Taylor Williams and Ginna Evans at Party in the Park at Evans Towne Center Park.

Judson Martin, Dot Martin and Janna Green at Craft & Vine.

Charles and Rebecca Sibley with Sarah and Robert Wilkins at Fuse Creative Cuisine & Craft Bar.

40 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

19MAY2016

TRAPPED MOISTURE

By David J. Kahn / Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS 1 Wise ones 6 Suffered from 9 Opened a bit 13 Presto 17 Central courts 18 Dentist’s request 19 “O.K., I’m game” 20 Lock opener?

22 Like some statements 23 City in “Slumdog Millionaire” 24 Tricky start to a tennis rally 26 S poke hesitatingly 27 Advice to captains plagued by pirates?

29 Slyness 30 When repeated, toy on a track 32 Double-crosser 33 The Dixie Chicks, e.g.

34 Sweaty 35 Direction taken by a large pipe?

39 Give the once-over 41 Class taken for kicks?

43 Propose tentatively, with “out” 44 Impress, and then some 47 Musical ____ 50 Segment of the 47-Across 51 Bibbled 53 “Ta-da!”

55 How many a medical problem ends?

56 With 36-Down, New England college town 58 Santa ____, Calif.

59 Beethoven’s “Kreutzer,” for one 60 Fraction of time: Abbr.

61 Very small distinction 63 Container to keep a canine cool?

65 Timeout sign 66 Magazine with an annual “500” list 67 C.I.A. concern 68 Noggin 69 Part of Pres. Monroe’s signature 72 Telegrams sent by those in trouble?

74 Handyman’s accessory 76 Mediocre 79 Out of business 80 Nonstandard: Abbr.

81 “That smarts!”

82 Help badly?

83 Country music’s K. T. ____ 84 Pay “tribute” to, as a comedian

86 “You ____ Seen Nothing Yet” (1974 #1 hit) 87 1982 coming-of-age movie 89 Dark time for poets 90 Clinched, with “up” 91 Things held, in a saying 93 Musical curve 95 Conservative’s opinion of the Republican presidential candidates?

98 Give the once-over 100 Expanses of H2O 103 “I need a sweater in here!”

104 French suffix that’s an anagram of 4-Down 105 Chocolate ____ 108 Oceans?

112 With 45-Down, jazz singer who worked with Woody Herman 114 1961 movie featuring Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats 115 Within bounds 116 Djokovic rival 117 Canadian rowdy 118 One of the Saarinens 119 ____ weight 120 Actress Patricia and others 121 Animals in un zoológico 122 Reddish-brown 123 Chamber worker: Abbr.

124 Safe places

Pluto 28 Long-jawed fishes 31 Rushed 36 See 56-Across 37 Chaplin of “Game of Thrones” 38 “Dallas” family 40 Sugar coating?

41 Longtime “60 Minutes” reporter 42 High retreat 45 See 112-Across 46 How excellent students graduate 48 Be prone 49 Mac key 52 Home on the range 53 Venetian dignitaries of old 54 Proscribed 57 Some of this, some of that 59 Like clogs, say 62 Prelude 63 Poet Mark Van ____ 64 In a masterly manner 67 Taking a dig at?

69 Passover, e.g.

70 Garment cut 71 Leaves alone, in a way 72 Trump International, e.g.

73 Magician’s skill 74 Go from male to female or vice versa 75 Cooperative leaders?

76 In a blue state 77 Tokyo wrap DOWN 78 Beyond comprehension 1 One of the Obamas 80 Setting for “The Music Man” 2 Battling it out 84 Second and third versions 3 Somatotropin, e.g.

85 Marvel Comics hero 4 Samuel Beckett’s homeland 88 Causes of congestion 5 Desert feline 90 Ticked 6 Very powerful 92 David Mamet play 7 Gillette product 94 Some vintage autos 8 1960s secretary 96 Second-largest moon of Uranus of state 97 Designer of Spain’s Guggenheim 9 Real estate and the like Museum 10 Hot time 98 Tallinn native 11 Running rampant 99 Google rival 12 Come back 101 Following 13 Bait holders 102 Fifth-century pontiff 14 From the start 106 The tiniest bit 15 Tatamis, e.g.

107 Model wood 16 Milkman made famous by Zero Mostel 109 Baseball executive Epstein 18 Burger topper 110 Olympian deity 21 Pause 111 Tag in some dictionary definitions 25 Dwarf planet more massive than 113 Dundee disavowals

1

2

3

4

5

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7

8

9

17

18

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22

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30 35

41

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93 98

74

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84

101

102

109

96

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86 92

97

103

104 111

112

115

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114

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85 91

110

117

71

81

90 95

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48 55

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40 47

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PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWERS

F A C T S

O M A H A

U T E P

N A M I B

R U B Y S L I P P E R

N A M E

A V I D

D E R M

H E M P

A G R O

L O M A

A G E L E T L E C H M H P O O K I T E D A E N A D L O Y E O P E R A C R I T I C

K E U M R I T M O D I S H

A D E S T E

16 21

39 45

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P A U L P I E R C R E A S M H O R H O E N S T S E R R S

T A N G I E R S

I D O

O W N G O A L D E A D A I M

R E E L

L I C E N S E F E E S

M O N T S E L A A C S E H Y

I D D O L D E S R I P R I N E S E D A A N T O E T T S S A T K G E O A N U M P T E A S T I T I N E M S P E

I C E F O G

S E R A P H

G A R R E T

R G I C E L U R L E M

U N I O N S T R I K E

E R O S T A N E D J U L A S A M S H C G C A R O C U S T E

S M E E

T A R S

S P E E

I K I D

D O S E

E S T A

N E E D I N G H E L P

T I N G E

N E E T

T I E U P

V E R S E

V27|NO20

THE EIGHT

BOX TOPS “Mother’s Day” is still in the top 5? Why? RANK TITLES

WEEKEND GROSS TOTAL GROSS WEEK # LAST WEEK

1

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR $72,637,142

$295,966,220

2

1

2

THE JUNGLE BOOK

$17,115,708

$311,111,818

5

2

3

MONEY MONSTER

$14,788,157

$14,788,157

1

-

4

THE DARKNESS

$4,950,859

$4,950,859

1

-

5

MOTHER’S DAY

$3,287,342

$28,785,462

3

3

In Theaters May 20

FAMILY

“Angry Birds,” rated PG, starring Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph.

Hollywood has based feature-length films on flimsier premises, but we’re hard pressed to think of what the writers of this one had to go through to get 97 minutes out of an app. Will people pay $10 each to see why these birds are so angry? Stranger things have happened.

44 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

COMEDY

“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” rated R, starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Chloe Grace Moretz. A second time around with the same plot as the first, just with nastier, raunchier sorority girls replacing the frat bros, makes us roll our eyes. The scene in which Zac Efron foils one of the girls’ plots just by dancing shirtless, however, makes us laugh. It’s funny because it’s true!

COMEDY

“The Nice Guys,” rated R, starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer. Set in the 1970s, a pair of mismatched (aren’t they all?) private eyes try to solve the mystery behind a porn star’s death. This action-comedy-crime-mystery-thriller could be interesting, if for no other reason to see how the notoriously serious Crowe fares in a movie where he needs to be funny.

19MAY2016

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Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury…

I belIeve my prImary job in the editorial realm is to highlight and spotlight the almost daily reminders that when it comes to political critique, social commentary and public behavior, liberals are aggressively particular, sensitive and intolerant. But only about conservatives.

I submit... eXHIbIT a Senator Trent Lott makes a politically incorrect, silly joke about Strom Thurmond’s 1948 run for the presidency while enjoying adult beverages at a private party, no less. It costs the Republican his political career.

Yet Senator Robert Byrd, one of the legends of the 20th century Democratic Party, served decades from the wild and wonderful State of West Virginia, where he was once a Kleagle, and later an Exhalted Cyclops, of the Ku Klux Klan. (This was a U.S. senator, not the bad guy in a Sinbad movie!) eXHIbIT b President Richard Nixon (GOP) lies about a silly plot (devised, unbeknownst to him by several of his lackeys) to steal secrets from his weak and clueless political opposition.

As a result, he resigns his office, and is persona non grata in politics for the rest of his life.

Yet President Bill Clinton (Democrat) lies under oath about a sexual affair with a government intern while being sued for sexual harassment by yet another former government employee. He then urges his top people and his own wife to support the lie while blaming his political opposition (remember Hillary’s “vast, right wing conspiracy?) for the entire fiasco. Lie on top of lie on top of lie.

He survives a weak impeachment attempt, but does lose his license to practice law in the process. Clinton remains one of the most popular figures in Democratic politics, and the wife who swore by his fabrications and “stood by her man” is (almost) your Dem nominee for President of the United States. eXHIbIT C Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich resigns unexpectedly at the height of his power.

It was a mystery at the time, but it is later reported he was having an affair that his political opposition (the Clintons) threatened to expose. The Republican later finds a career in punditry, but is largely dismissed as a possible candidate for office.

Yet Senator Ted Kennedy, a notorious boozehound and ladies man, drives his car off a bridge killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kepchne.

They were leaving an alcohol-fueled party where there were about a half dozen single women, and a half dozen married men. No wives. The Democratic senator not only swims away from his sinking car with the woman still inside, but manages to wait 12 hours before having his first conversation with the authorities. He does manage to call all kinds of other people the next morning, of course. The Kepechne family gets a cash settlement almost immediately (no civil case), there was no autopsy was allowed at their insistence. The senator is given a probated sentence for leaving the scene of an accident. Unscathed by the controversy and his own brush with death, he spends the next three drunken decades chasing everything wearing a skirt in Washington, D.C., except J. Edgar Hoover.

He remained in office until he died of brain cancer, and was eulogized as a hero and standard bearer of the Democratic Party.

Funny thing, Bork was widely acknowledged as one of the greatest legal scholars of our time, yet he was rejected on the fear of his agenda.

Yet with Judge Sotomayor we had an almost polar opposite argument. Her judicial record on the bench was certainly far left of center, and her background was not steeped in scholarship. As an appointed lower court judge, her notorious summary judgment vote in a controversial affirmative action case was reversed by the Supreme Court, and egregiously hideous to any fair-minded person opposed to quotas or set asides.

The above history lessons are required reading as we consider the “hypocrisy” (as opposed to “democracy”) that is the embodiment of American liberal political establishment.

Today we see the left wing lib’s professional class of “comfort girls,” better known as the mainstream national media attempting to do exposes and gotcha articles on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s personal history with women. I have to laugh, because try as they may, Trump still comes across as a “piker” when compared to the documented hijinks enjoyed during Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures.

Hillary Clinton yammers about Trump’s lack of specifics when discussing his plans for the economy. I will take his vague promises over the outright lies and misdirection the Clintons and President Obama gave us on the campaign trail when directly questioned on the topics of gays in the military, gay marriage and what would later become Obamacare. To refresh your memory, they lied about the first, lied again about the second and completely failed to mention the biggest economic upheaval in American history with the third.

Donald Trump is a flawed candidate, no doubt, and if you consider him worse than what we saw time reveal as the liars and con artists who occupied the White House for almost 16 years with the Clintons and Obama, I am not surprised.

Because the narrative of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, and up vs. down has been delivered to you lock, stock and barrel since 1992 by that wacky duo known as Hypocritical Left, and their wisecracking sidekicks, the Mainstream Media.

I rest my case.

aUSTIN rHoDeS

A long-time radio talk show host who can be heard weekdays on WGAC from 3-6 p.m. The views expressed are the opinions of Austin Rhodes and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

eXHIbIT D You think GOP conservatives were tough on Judge Sonia Sotomayor as she approached her “courtesy vote” in her ascension to the U.S. Supreme Court? You should have seen what Senator Boozehound (Kennedy) had to say about Judge Robert Bork during his failed nomination to the same court: “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is — and is often the only — protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy... no justice would be better than this injustice.”

That attack was pure horsecrap of course, but hey, it worked.

46 METROSPIRIT AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

19MAY2016

CONSERVATIVE PHYSICIAN FOR STATE HOUSE. Dr. Mark Newton has a heart for service and a record of effectiveness.

VETERAN.

After graduating from the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Newton was deployed to the Middle East and treated American soldiers during Operation Desert Storm. He returned home with the Army Commendation Medal for his service and a renewed passion for further training in Emergency Medicine and Trauma.

PHYSICIAN.

For over fifteen years, Dr. Newton has served as the Chairman and Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta. He leads a team of 24 physicians and providers, plus over 80 nurses, providing care for over 60,000 patients per year.

SMALL BUSINESS OWNER.

In an effort to enhance access to care while keeping healthcare costs affordable, Dr. Newton opened MedNow Urgent Care in 2009.

To date, MedNow has three locations strategically placed throughout the CSRA.

FAMILY MAN.

Now, the conservative physician, veteran, small business owner and father of four is ready to serve our community in the Georgia General Assembly.

DELIVERING SOLUTIONS!

From improving healthcare policy to keeping education local, empowering job creators through tax reform and keeping government small and transparent, Dr. Newton will tackle Georgia’s pressing problems in the State House the same way he does at home, in the business world, and the ER. We can trust Dr. Newton to identify root problems, prescribe solutions, and deliver tangible outcomes for the people of District 123.

On May 24, 2016, vote for

Dr. Mark Newton

CONSERVATIVE PHYSICIAN FOR STATE HOUSE

www.ElectDrMarkNewton.com www.FB.com/DrMarkNewton