Athens-Clarke County commissioners are considering rerouting Firefly Trail, diverting a portion of it from the railbed onto Moores Grove Road and mixing people on foot and bikes with speeding cars. A handful of landowners there have resisted selling segments of their property to complete the trail. The commission voted in 2021 to approve the current route along the abandoned railbed and in 2022 to authorize the use of eminent domain to acquire the necessary property. But now, Commissioner P...| Flagpole
Athens-Clarke County will add a pedestrian crossing on North Thomas Street near The Classic Center following two car accidents that resulted in fatalities, Mayor Kelly Girtz said Sept. 23 in a news conference. This project will make the city safer for pedestrians and drivers, Girtz said, while discussing public safety at City Hall. It is one of many preventative measures that he supports to reduce crimes such as driving under the influence, drug and narcotic violations, motor vehicle theft an...| Flagpole
Cobbham residents are asking the developer of a hotel behind the former UGA President’s House on Prince Avenue to reduce the size of the building by almost two-thirds. Gainesville-based Capstone Property Group has proposed an 88,000 square-foot, 116-room hotel on the five-acre property, with the historic house serving as a restaurant, bar and suite. The Historic Cobbham Foundation voted to support a hotel that’s about 30,000–38,000 square feet, in line with The Rivet House hotel at the ...| Flagpole
Earlier this month, Mayor Kelly Girtz announced that, for the first time, Athens had made it through half the year without a single murder. “This has been a team effort with ACCPD, every community support organization, and every resident,” he posted on social media. “We continue to strive for improvements, but this is a huge accomplishment.” That does not mean, however, that Athens no longer has a gun violence problem. From 2021–2024, there were 436 shootings in Athens, wounding or ...| Flagpole
