The Buzz of Northwest Georgia
-We're not done with elections yet: runoff--plus House speaker
-Some local, state Republicans are pressing for speaker change
-Dec. 2 runoff: Saturday rally in Rome could see Chambliss visit
-Christmas parade not expected to block precinct total deliveries Dec. 2
-Cave Spring's Downtown Development Authority has town booming
-What's ahead in other downtown communities in our region
John McClellan's picks for this Friday's high school playoffs: John goes game-by-game for the local teams; picks winners in all 80 showdowns
-Pepperell drops to no. 6 in latest AJC poll
November issue of V3 on the way:
This month's cover story is in the artist known as "Blacktop," or Ken Gentle. The story traces his rise to fame in galleries across the country. Today, Gentle is known as one of the country's prominent contemporary folk artists (Web site). You'll also find an interesting social networking project from the V3 creators called "V-Space."
>For more, click V3 November
Weather Center/brought to you by Roman Court
-Frosty start to give way to sunny skies and a high of 61, lows in the mid-32s.
-For the extended forecast, click WeatherCenter
The Football Report/ Brought to you by Printworks
>This Friday's games:
Class A: Darlington at Eagles Landing Christian
Class AA: Coosa at Jefferson; Banks County at Calhoun; Riverside Military at Pepperell; Rockmart at North Oconee
Class AAA: Cartersville at St. Pius X
Class AAAA: Apalachee at Rome
>John McClellan's picks: who will win this Friday
>Shorter travels to Bethel for final regular season game Hawks
>All on The Football Report
Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable/ brought to you by Riverside Toyota
Norman's column resumes Tuesday morning>Arey
Downtown Headlines
-Annual Christmas Open House set for this weekend> Downtown Headlines
-Campus Headlines: Peace Corps' Dr. Kevin Quigley at Berry Nov. 10-14
-Health: Latest personnel updates from Floyd Medical Center
-Healthy Living: Floyd County students offered free flu shots
-Politics: Prelegislative breakfast Dec. 5; Young Republicans meet Dec. 9
-Sports: Get a look at the Rome Braves new 'alternate' uniforms
-Hometown KIDS: Updates on what's ahead for area kids--and parents
-Dining: Latest changes on the local restaurant scene; inspection scores
-Arts: Empty Bowls on display; annual dinner set for Tuesday
-NW Georgia Ads: Paper Recovery & Greene's Jewelers
-Plus: Your link to Coosa Valley Classifieds (all free)
We're not quite done with politics just yet
The general story line is we're all due back at the precincts by Dec. 2 to decide three statewide races, headlined by the Chambliss-Martin title fight. But the real interesting election is set for today as the likely next speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives is selected.
Let's start with the speaker: Seeking a new term is Glenn
Richardson, left, the Paulding County firebrand who's name and fame was election fodder this season. Challenging Richardson in today's Republican caucus is Blue Ridge Republican David Ralston, right.
Today's vote will see much focus on state Rep. Katie Dempsey, a past Richardson ally who campaigned on a "Rome-centric" platform to eke out another close win over Democrat Bob Puckett on Tuesday.
Republican leaders, both locally and from the around the state, have had conversations with Dempsey over her pending vote. Some of those local chats have been very negative concerning a new term for Richardson, we're told.
Dempsey says she plans to "attend the Republican Caucus meeting Monday and listen to the speeches from the candidates for every office before I make my final decision for the persons that will be best for Rome. Over the weekend I will continue to listen and weigh the strengths that each of my fellow members bring to the offices they wish to fill. Several of the races may have more than one candidate but until Monday morning when we meet, nominations are not final."
State Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, says he wants to see who's on the ballot today before commenting on his potential vote.
We will follow up with both later today. The ballots are secret but nothing mandates the candidates have to keep their votes confidential. (Background)
Dec. 2 runoff--can the precincts be in the parade, too? As for the runoff on Dec. 2, here's an interesting sidebar. That's also the day of the downtown Rome Christmas Parade (6:30 p.m. start at First Avenue and Broad Street). Precinct returns will be en route to the elections office soon after polls close at 7 p.m. The feeling now is the precincts should arrive without too much, if any, congestion issues downtown.
The other issue is turnout. Can Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin "draw" voters out one more time? Also on the statewide ballot: deciding a seat on the Public Service Commission and the state Court of Appeals. This will be the sixth time you go to the polls this year, starting with the presidential primary. (Senate/PSC count; also, appeals court count)
We're trying to find out about advance voting as well. By tradition, it falls on the week before the election. That would be Nov. 24-28, including Thanksgiving.
>Political calendar: What's ahead in Northwest Georgia> Politics
Three-Dot Buzz/The Quotes Edition . . . :
Quote of the weekend, No. 1: Tricia Steele of The Steele Agency, a frequent contributor to Hometown Headlines, posted a story on her corporate site about a speech by PayPal founder Peter Thiel. He presented "The Business Model of the United States" to a Collegiate Network seminar in Charlotte, which Steele attended. She writes: 'Thiel believes that recent implosions in the financial market and pending failure of large automobile manufacturers will lead to a return to a spirit of entrepreneurship on the local and industry-specific level 'not just in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, but across the country, wherever a frontier in business can be found.' " Complete post
Quote of the weekend, No. 2: On the wall of First Mercantile Antiques, an Ellijay retailer, was a simple photocopy that read something like this: "We hear there's talk of a recession. We've decided not to participate." It sounds much like the spirited quote from Wal-Mart's founder, the late Sam Walton, circa 1991: "I was asked what I thought about the recession. I thought about it and decided not to participate." Amen to that.
Quote of the weekend, No. 3: From Shorter Hawks' head coach Phil Jones on the four-year-old team's chances of making it to the NAIA playoffs: "If we can beat a very talented and dangerous Bethel College (Tenn.) team at their place next week and finish 9-2, I think we are certainly playoff worthy." Full release
FOCUS ON: DOWNTOWN
Cave Spring: Focus is on growing, a brick at a time
By Natalie Simms
A walk around the square showcases just how busy the first year has been for Cave Spring's Downtown Development Authority. New growth--and new businesses--are the association's goals, targeting more visitors and shoppers to the charming community.
"We want to make Cave Spring a great place for a day trip or a weekend getaway," says Betty Sue Hickman, DDA Director. "The majority of our income comes from tourism, so we needed to do something to bring them in."
The group's new slogan, "Visit for a day, love it for a lifetime," is designed to do just that.
"We really want to see growth but we also want to preserve our way of life," Hickman says. "We have a laid back, hometown feel and we don't want to lose that."
The DDA's first order of business has been to give the district a "facelift." A three-phase project was developed to enhance the downtown square. The city just completed phase two with the dedication of their Veteran's Plaza on Saturday.
"We started with a facelift on several empty buildings in the square that had not had any work in many years," Hickman says. "And since money is tight, several store owners stepped forward and spent $30,000 out of pocket for new facades and overhangs."
Phase two also included selling bricks for the Veterans Plaza. You can still buy bricks (see the DDA Web page) with the money being used for future improvements to the square.
The final phase will include landscaping and installation of park benches. Hickman hopes this will be completed by spring.
"We really have been seeing an upswing in business," Hickman says. Over the past year, three businesses have come to the downtown area, two of which will be opening soon.
A new restaurant, Bennett's Steakhouse, plans to open by the end of November. It is from the Tracy Bennett family, known for The Meating Place in Cartersville. Also on the way: a store featuring custom draperies and antiques.
The Peddler, a home décor store, is celebrating its first anniversary this week. Rip Montgomery, The Peddler's owner, says the DDA has "really been doing a lot of good things. I have had lots of business and I think they are doing a good job at drawing people into downtown."
Hickman says they have some things planned this holiday season for the community and she hopes the events also will draw others to Cave Spring:
-"Santa Land" kicks off Dec. 4 and runs through Dec. 24. Lots of activities are planned including downtown decorations, choral performances in the square, storytelling and pictures with Santa, and tree decorating. Event dates will be posted online at http://www.cavespringgeorgia.com/santa_land.htm.
-Cave Spring's Annual Christmas Parade will be Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
-A special Candlelight Service is planned for Dec. 10.
As for 2009, the DDA plans to continue to encourage growth and tourism.
"We hope to see more businesses because we still have some empty buildings that we would like to fill up," she says. "We definitely want to see slow-paced growth so that we don't lose those small town qualities our residents enjoy."
>Photos courtesy of the DDA's Web page. For more, click Photos
WHAT'S UP IN OTHER DOWNTOWN COMMUNITIES
Calhoun's Christmas Open House set for Nov. 23
From 1 to 5 p.m., downtown merchants will be participating in the pre-Thanksgiving special event. That's in addition to moonlight madness on Nov. 28 and the Parade of Light on Dec. 11. Click Gordon
Cartersville DDA puts some bite into what's on the menu
One of the more interesting daily e-mails coming out of Cartersville focuses on what's for lunch or dinner at the district's eclectic mix of restaurants. Daily specials, house favorites and other fast updates are available on the e-mail designed to keep dining dollars on/near Main Street. Click DDA
Cedartown merchants preparing for Holiday House Nov. 23
Special Christmas open house sales and the annual parade highlight what's ahead from the Downtown Cedartown Association in coming weeks. Also available: The downtown collector's Christmas Ornament, showing the Murphy-Harpst Chapel. The Holiday House is set for 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23. Several special promotions are planned by participating businesses. For more on the event, click DCA. Also on the way: Cedartown's 'Storybook Christmas' parade on Dec. 5 > Details
Rome's downtown merchants set for Christmas open house
This Saturday and Sunday will be a big weekend for downtown merchants in Rome. Fresh from last week's sidewalk sale tied to the chamber's Business Expo, Rome's downtown merchants are sponsoring their annual Christmas open house. Look for updates later this week on Downtown Headlines.
Nearby downtown success stories: Blue Ridge and Ellijay
A recent weekend trip included stops in both North Georgia mountain communities and perhaps the most surprising was the continuing enhancements to downtown Ellijay. The apple capital of Georgia has added new life to the rustic appeal of its traffic circle. New shops, expanded older merchants and even a wine tasting area (Corks & Crumbs, featuring the wines from Frogtown Cellars) were unexpected surprises on a cool fall Saturday. Click Ellijay.
In nearby Blue Ridge: The already interesting row of merchants and restaurants 
has some new players--surprising given the economy. Among the newcomers: Walhala Ridge Furnishings and Repaz on Main. A number of old favorites remain as well. Also, the town literally was dressing up for the Christmas holidays this past Sunday as they prepare for Light Up Blue Ridge on Nov. 29. Plus the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad is adding those "Santa" trips Nov. 28. Click Blue Ridge.
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