Metro Spirit 07.12.2012

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I’M THAT SHERIFF: Republican Sanders says he’s the one you’ll want to go to when things get tough END OF AN ERA: Hill Drug closes its doors, but it’s not a complete goodbye FIRST FRIDAY, LAST CHANCE? How long will history keep repeating itself?

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YOUR WEIRD WEEK IN CRIME: Is AugustaRichmond County really as crime ridden as you think it is?

REMEMBERING LAURA PERRY: It would be easy to make this a simple feel good story because, in a lot of ways, that’s exactly what it is.

MichaelJohnson|sightings ValerieEmerick|writer AmyPerkins|editorial intern RashadO’Conner|editorial intern TerenceBarber|editorial intern LauraPerry|volunteer

THIS, THAT, & THE THIRD 1355 Independence DrivF t Augusta, Georgia 30901

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Augusta Tek: Readers of this column all know that I am up for a good apocalypse. But an apocalypse caused by a DNS server outage?

Please‌

entire generation of punks who think it is a good idea to loiter on streets and play with Austin: For the most guns. part I tend to be at Jenny: Nothing says a complete loss on “It’s holiday time� like how to handle this Matt Stone: Where can I go and not get shot?

Contributors James Allen|Greg Baker|Rob Brezsny|Sam Eifling |Matt Lane|Austin Rhodes|Josh Ruffin|Matt Stone|Jenny Wright

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INSIDER RUFFIN’ IT AUSTIN RHODES

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.Š 15 House, LLC. Owner/Publisher: Joe White. Legal: Phillip Scott Hibbard. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited. One copy per person, please.

CONTENTS

Pain Doesn’t Have to Slow You Down

a family argument, right?

COVER DESIGN | KRUHU

the south feels more like a badly muffed punt this year.

Josh: Since the beginning of this election cycle, I’ve Matt Lane: The done my best to try summer event that and figure out Mitt officially kicks off the Romney’s motivations yearlong hysteria that for running. is college football in

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INSIDER@THEMETROSPIRIT.COM Insider is an anonymous, opinion-based examination of the hidden details of Augusta politics and personalities.

SIDER

Now Boarding Gov. Nathan Deal recently named Ken Cronan, his business partner in Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, to the Georgia Ports Authority. Ports Authority members often travel the globe, making international business contacts while gaining a free education on international trade. Through their business, the two once held a very lucrative no-bid agreement with the state to provide space for rebuilt vehicle inspections.

They were paid right at $300,000 a year by Georgia vehicle owners over the 20 years of the agreement.

In 2009, then-Congressman Deal intervened with state officials to preserve the program, stating at the time he was worried that proposed changes would lead to less cash in his bank acco… no… check that.

He said the was worried proposed changes to the program would lead to unsafe cars on Georgia roads.

He also named James Walters and Hugh M. Tarbutton to the board. The AJC reports that “Deal’s ties to Cronan and Walters are deep. Cronan and Deal are partners in Gainesville Salvage & Disposal.

Walters leases office space to Deal’s campaign and contributed nearly $30,000 to the governor’s 2010 election. He was also chairman of the bank that provided Deal’s campaign with a $250,000 line of credit.

“Walters and Cronan are also officers in the Real political action committee formed in 2011. Deal’s campaign slogan was ‘Deal. Real.’

“Tarbutton, a railroad executive, gave Deal’s campaign more than $16,000.”

Deal’s predecessor in the guv’s mansion, Sonny Purdue, named his cousin David Perdue Jr. to the board in 2010.

Winning, Duh Maria Sheffield is certainly winning the press release efficiency race.

Mon 7/9/2012 9:27 PM Maria Sheffield: WINS TV 35 WDIG - DUBLIN GA 12 Congressional Debate Sat 6/30/2012 12:00 PM Maria Sheffield: Clear Winner in Columbia County Debate GA 12 GOP Congressional Debate 7/9 Maria Sheffield won the TV 35 WDIG – Dublin GA 12 Congressional Debate.

6/30 Maria Sheffield was the clear winner in the Columbia County GA 12 Congressional Debate.

7/9 Maria Sheffield demonstrated consistent, conservative, positive policy as she demonstrated a command of those important policy issues impacting families across GA 12 6/30 Maria Sheffield demonstrated consistent, conservative, positive policy as she led on the need to send a true Reagan-Huckabee conservative to Congress.

7/9 Instant responses from Republicans watching at viewing sites, across Dublin, affirmed the impressive nature of Maria Sheffield in the debate and Maria Sheffield was true to the Reagan-Huckabee traditions of the Republican Party.

6/30 Many in the crowd who entered supporting one of the three local Augusta candidates, departed as supporters of Maria Sheffield because Maria demonstrated her command of policy and commitment to leading on conservative policy in Congress.

7/9 Maria Sheffield received a lot of support from Laurens County TEA Party members immediately after the debate with many observing that Maria Sheffield was the clear TEA Party candidate in the debate.

6/30 Maria Sheffield received a lot of support when she observed, “It is not enough to just vote the right way in Congress, -GA 12 must send a true conservative to Congress who will advance and promote conservative values.”

7/9 Another debate and another win for Maria Sheffield. Maria Sheffield – policy over politics.

6/30 Another debate and another win for Maria Sheffield. Maria Sheffield – policy over politics.

Kathryn Ballou Campaign Manager Paid for by Maria Sheffield Congress 4

METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

12JULY2012

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Holley on the Attack

Letter to the Editor Fireworks Fail 2012

Candidate Butch Holley is looking for a toehold.

According to a press release distributed Tuesday evening, Holley asserts that “Columbia County Commissioner Charles Allen has been paid $5,559.06 in the past 41 months for travel reimbursement.”

While that amounts to peanuts, it is a very sly way of introducing what many see as a line of attack against Allen.

“Knowing that Mr. Allen’s household has earned over $500,000 in the past four years in governmental salaries, it is reprehensible that he finds it ok to bill the citizens of Columbia County for an additional $135 on average each month.”

With his wife Kay the sitting tax commissioner and brother Rick running for Congress, there may be an Allen overload. Or not.

It appears to Insiders to be an astute political move for the so far quiet Holley camp.

Gateway to Get Crabby Rumors are flying about what restaurant “concepts” will be coming to the Gateway in Grovetown. The developers of the properties are putting out the feelers and have had discussions with a broad range of companies. County officials are reluctant to disclose what they know before it’s official, but according to insiders, Joe’s Crab Shack is on the way in. The area can easily support two large chains, so options are soon to improve greatly out west. Interesting tidbit… over 100,000 people live within a five-mile radius of Marshall Square (across the street from the Lady A Amphitheater) where not one bar or nightclub is located.

12JULY2012

It’s July 4, the day that rolls around every summer, marking our nation’s independence and sparking the feeling of immediate need for explosives, beer, barbecue and red white and blue fashion statements. Being that fireworks, in all that they represent, are a huge part of the festivities surrounding this heroic holiday, my hubby and I packed up the kids and our coolers and headed for Riverwalk to enjoy the big booms and time with family. A good time, indeed. Right?

Now, having grown up in Northeastern Ohio, I was always subject to grand displays of fireworks over Lake Erie.

We would drag all of our coolers and blankets, sparklers and earplugs to the lake and wait for sundown with the other thousands of people who flocked like herds of cattle to catch a glimpse of the American tradition. I never thought that one simple necessity while on those trips to the lake would ever become so prominent in my memories until I came to Augusta and endured the firework display at Riverwalk.

What’s that necessity? Bathrooms. Public bathrooms whose temperatures do not range somewhere between 120 degrees and the bowels of hell. Bathrooms with more than three stalls to accommodate thousands of people.

Bathrooms that do not have crap smeared all over the seats and walls.

My daughter and I were forced to use the sorriest excuse for public restrooms ever on the night of the 4th. There was no ventilation whatsoever in the bathroom and it was quite literally hotter in there than Satan’s nutsac. That’s more than moderately hot, for those of you who don’t know.

There were three stalls to accommodate all of the women who were there for fireworks. Three toilet paperless stalls with no person in sight to even ask to clean up or supply toilet paper. No soap to wash your hands with. Not even a dispenser that may or may not at one time have housed soap. Two is the number of little girls that I saw pee their pants while waiting in line for the bathrooms. Not because they waited too long to tell their moms they had to go, but because two of the three stalls were being utilized by teenagers smoking pot. One left her bowl in the stall when I entered it with my daughter and had the audacity to come back and knock on the stall door to ask for it back. I tried to find a police officer to turn it over to, which proved to be almost as effective as trying to find toilet paper.

If there is ever to be a functioning riverfront in Augusta (complete with entertainment, restaurants, bars and nightlife… you know, like every other riverside city in the country), I would assume perhaps a good place to start would be with providing accommodations so people can pee. I would even be more than happy to pay a reasonable fee to watch fireworks riverside if there were one in Augusta that I could attend with my family without all the crap to deal with. Pun intended. Next year, I’m packing a coffee can in my backpack.

Monica Shepherd Augusta

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Ruffin’ It

Mitt Romney, Ninjas and the Collateral Damage of Positive Reinforcement When I was six years old, I was sure, depending on what time of day it was when you asked me, what I wanted to be when I grew up: a police officer, a firefighter, an astronaut or a ninja. Every now and then it was some combination of the four.

It sounds crazy now, but every six-year-old boy — despite the rational Whole Foods manager or accounts payable executive he may eventually become — believes in his heart that he can make himself into some sort of Yoda/Serpico/Duke Nukem hybrid.

It doesn’t matter that a six-year-old boy is way too young to know what two of those three things are: pre-determined knowledge of Al Pacino and heavily pixilated schoolgirl strippers is encoded into every straight male’s DNA. Scoff all you want, but this phenomenon obliterates all parameters of gender, time and space. It’s the same reason the first werewolves bristled at a hint of silver, and why the daughter I’ll never father started ovulating when Michael Fassbender turned 30.

But then time happens, and our most insane ambitions — the ones involving warp-speed shark-cycles and Heidi Klum — fade. We age, fall in love and/or into a job, and work towards more tangible goals. In the second grade, I was sure I would one day become WWF champion. Today, I write okay poetry and like to get in the occasional 10-mile bike ride.

I once knew a guy in high school who was determined to write a treatise on the musicality of punctuation in the English language. Now he’s in the Air Force. And that’s fine. It’s not that we give up on our dreams — we simply cast them aside in favor of goals more worthy of our time and effort. Goals that, more importantly, have the potential to see us realize the execution of our own unique talents toward the common development of the cultural, economical, anthropological world.

Since the beginning of this election cycle, I’ve done my best to try and figure out Mitt Romney’s motivations for running. I never wasted my time with any of the other candidates; trying to understand the minds of Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Rick “Santorum� Santorum is psychological, existential suicide. It would be like “Ocean’s Eleven� if everyone in the cast had polio.

It’s clear why Romney ran in 2008: with the inclusion of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, it would be a historic match-up either way. And he, Willard Mittens Romney, would get to symbolize the victory, the triumph of Old White Dude over Black Guy or Lady. Of course, we all know how that turned out: the GOP nominated John McCain, who then proceeded to slowly murder his own dignity for half a calendar year. Romney retreated to Massachusetts to gray his sideburns.

I’m not going to insult your intelligence and run down why Romney got the nomination in the first place. When you come out on top in the kind of field he was competing against, it’s completely unfair, but also completely predictable, like a man with a sprained ankle and a learning disability beating a bunch of well-muscled torsos in a footrace.

Still, a Mormon cyborg with an IKEA ottoman for a hairpiece getting the GOP nomination during a particularly crazy, Christian-centric iteration of the party is pretty impressive. I guess nothing brings bigots together like same-sex nookie.

It’s the “why� of Romney’s decision to run again that concerns me here, and I think I may have figured it out. Plain and simple, Mitt Romney decided he wanted to be President of the United States. It’s the same sort of mindset that leads the rest of us to try and construct our own grappling hook guns from PVC tubing and fishing lures, but Romney has the money to back up his goose-f***ing crazy endeavors, whereas the Home Depot’s lack of a Burgeoning Vigilante line of credit is quite

disheartening and, if we’re being brutally honest, unpatriotic.

And really, that’s what it all comes down to: money. Let’s look at the course of wrist-slittlingly unjust events, shall we?

1. Romney gets the GOP nomination, but has to outspend his conservative counterparts by tens of millions to do it. Like I said before, when you’re competing against Herman Cain, that’s just depressing. Herman Cain is more unqualified to be president than a sausage grinder is to be a YMCA counselor.

2. Rupert “I Ate the Dingo that Ate Your Baby� Murdoch rips Romney apart on Twitter. I’m surprised that reality even allows that sentence to exist. For video game nerds, that’s like Pikachu calling out Contra for perpetuating cultural stereotypes.

Rupert Murdoch is — despite the recent series of scandals that have eroded his News of the World conglomerate — still one of the most powerful puppet masters of conservative media. He makes Big Brother look like Keven McCallister with a TalkBoy. And this line of attack hardly made a dent in the national dialogue, because stuff like this keeps happening: 3. David Koch hosts a fundraiser at his Hamptons beach house for Mitt Romney, who continues to accuse President Obama of being out of touch with “regular Americans.� Let’s be clear on this: Mitt Romney wouldn’t know a “regular American� if two of them spat at him simultaneously from a soup kitchen and a Kia Soul. When Romney says “regular American,� his constituents think of a shirtless, well-oiled Ronald Reagan. This fundraiser was reported to have raised over $3 million for the Romney campaign in a single day. That’s more money than you or I will ever see, ever.

It’s as simple as this: Romney is trying to buy the presidency. It’s the only course of action he has. The Affordable Care Act — based on his own healthcare mandate for the state of Massachusetts — just passed the Supreme Court, and 60 percent of the nation is in favor of it. American citizens, for the first time in history, approve of same-sex marriage. More and more people are realizing that the current economic crisis comes not as a result of Obama’s policies, but as a result of the combination of the past 25 years’ political cronyism and the current GOP sabotaging the economy in an effort to make the Obama administration look bad.

But Romney is determined and, even if he isn’t competent, his checkbook certainly is. It’s a dangerous notion, that the presidency can be won on the merits of bloated financial status, especially at this point in time. Just do me a favor, okay? If you are at all entertaining the idea of voting for Romney this November, ask yourself this question: would you have trusted yourself, at six years old and throwing shurikens at the neighbor’s cat, with the most powerful executive office in the world?

JOSHRUFFIN, a Metro Spirit alum, is a published journalist and poet who just

received his MFA from Georgia College & State University. He was once the most un-intimidating bouncer at Soul Bar.

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AUSTIN RHODES

Time to Crack the Whip on Teens Downtown Let me see if I have all this straight...

Six people get shot last Friday night while milling around Broad Street at 11:30, generally up to no good. Cops find the 9mm semiautomatic handgun believed to be used in the random attack discarded on the sidewalk, with 10 spent shell casings nearby.

This episode is just the latest in a series of ugly incidents that have piled up in the hours after First Friday, usually involving a mass of young people under the age of 21.

So far, the only concrete move announced in the wake of the mess is that the city’s little-used curfew ordinance will be enforced by the beefed-up police force that will be on hand beginning next First Friday.

Thanks a pantload.

That curfew, even if enforced with a steel hand, wouldn’t have prevented any aspect of what happened the evening of July 6. Augusta’s “official curfew” (for what it is worth) calls for those under the age of 18 to be off the streets at 11 p.m., except for Friday and Saturday nights, when the curfew is midnight.

In other words, in its current form, the city’s curfew ordinance is practically worthless.

If you want to secure an area that has gotten out of control, especially out of control because of misbehaving teenagers, start locking them up and fining their parents if they break the new curfew which should be written and ready for passage before the next commission meeting.

If you are under 18 and doing anything but walking directly between your car and a specific, enclosed business in the downtown business district between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., congratulations, you are breaking curfew.

Read that again... no loitering on sidewalks, streets or public parks within the downtown business district for those 17 and under after 9 p.m. Seven nights a week.

Border Bash? Buy a ticket; you are fine inside. Walk straight to and from your car when leaving.

Concert at the Civic Center? Buy a ticket; you are fine inside. Walk straight to and from your car when leaving.

First Friday? Buy a meal, a ticket or be working. Walk straight to and from your car when leaving.

The sheriff should declare that he will arrest a minimum of 10 curfew breakers on any given weekend night, who will be fined $1,000 for the first offense and post signs to that effect just after his press conference announcing the same.

I think a good little dose of public humiliation might help here as well. Isolate an unused storefront

3 GREAT NAMES

downtown, and put the trouble making little darlings in holding cells behind the glass for all to see.

I volunteer to buy/build the first one. Have the Jail Report guy do live updates via Facebook as the evening progresses.

I admit it: For the most part I tend to be at a complete loss on how to handle this entire generation of punks who think it is a good idea to loiter on streets and play with guns. These people are as alien to me as a ship full of Klingons. Not to disparage Klingons, who tend to dress better, maintain a better command of the King’s English and a superior grasp of personal hygiene than some of these late-night street urchins.

As I have been pointing out for years, it was not that previous generations (mine, specifically) did not misbehave, we just happened to be bright enough to do most of our mischief behind closed doors., We tended to stay away from guns altogether, noting (quite accurately) that if someone our age was showing off by brandishing a firearm, he was obviously out of his damn mind and someone who needed to be completely avoided.

We were no angels, but we kept a low profile because we were scared of getting in trouble with the law and, more than that, we were scared our dads would beat us until we couldn’t grow anymore.

Too bad DFACS won’t let a few “father types” put the kind of ass whoopin’ on some of these fools that used to go on in the real world up until just a few years ago. And no, I don’t mean child abuse; I mean the kind of corrective action that is needed to get the attention of most young men (and a few young women) as their bodies outpace their brains on the growth chart.

In the meantime, could the sheriff, the mayor and the commission make decisions that actually could have an impact, rather than just complain that kids need to be like they were in the old days?

I want to see rules in place that make sensible people wince. Oh... and one more thing: enforce them.

AUSTINRHODES

The views expressed are the opinions of Austin Rhodes and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

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12JULY2012

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12JULY2012

I’m

Republican sheriff candidate Freddie Sanders challenged a forum audience the other night, asking them to contemplate the election as if their eyes were closed.

“Forget I’m white,” he said. “Forget he’s black. You’ve heard all of us. Now, if you go home tonight and you’ve had a home invasion and one of your loved ones is hurt, who would you want to come out as your sheriff? I’m that sheriff.”

It’s a persuasive argument, but whether or not it’s enough to motivate Democratic voters to overlook his political affiliation remains to be seen. Sanders, who faces Mike Godowns in the Republican primary, knows Augusta is a Democratic town, but he’s choosing to run as a Republican, which means if he wins the primary, he will take on either Scott Peebles, Richard Roundtree, Robbie Silas or John Ivy. And in spite of recent sparring between some of the candidates, he said all his opponents are qualified for office and none of them are without fault.

“Everybody’s got baggage,” he said. “If you’ve lived this life, you’ve got baggage.

And you’re not running for pope.”

Even the fact that Richard Roundtree left files and guns behind when he moved out of an apartment and was found to be having affairs with female members of the department shouldn’t preclude him from being sheriff.

“Should it affect whether or not you vote for him…” he asked, letting his voice trail off. “But precluding someone from being sheriff means you can’t meet the qualifications, and he stayed in law enforcement. I know what the spin is, but I don’t know what the actual facts are.”

Though many know Sanders as a successful attorney, people forget that he was actually chief of the Richmond County Police.

In 1983, after Sheriff J.B. Dykes was convicted of bribery, the county commission took the funding for the road patrol and investigation away from the Sheriff’s Office, which was under the direction of newly elected Sheriff Charlie Webster, and gave them to the Richmond County Police Department, run by Sanders.

“I stayed there until 1985,” Sanders said.

“In 1985, the county commission had a vote. They let the public vote, and by a pretty good majority, they voted to put it 12JULY2012

METR O

N E THAT WS ERICJOHNSON

Sheriff Republican Sanders says he’s the one you’ll want to go to when things get tough

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back under the sheriff. The sheriff took on everybody that worked for me except me.”

That included future Sheriff Ronnie Strength.

By then, Sanders had been in law enforcement 16 years, but thanks to a program that allowed law enforcement employees to get a college degree, Sanders had earned his law degree from Augusta Law School, so he went into practice.

When the sheriff absorbed the police department, Sanders said, he basically kept everything as he’d set it up, including the look of the force.

“Ronnie Strength and I, along with Major Billy Carter, we picked out cars,” Sanders said. “Those were the color cars we picked out. The uniforms are what we picked out.

The patch is what we picked out. When it went back under the Sheriff’s Department, they just changed the wording.”

In spite of the last 27 years as a lawyer, Sanders said his heart has always been in law enforcement.

“My friends are in law enforcement,” he said. “The fact that I’ve been gone doesn’t mean that I’m not ready to hit the ground running.”

And in spite of some of the impressive credentials possessed by some of the other candidates, he insists he’s still relevant.

“I think I bring to the table something different than the other candidates,” he said. “They’ve never run a department. I created a department.”

Once thought by some to be a safety net if heir apparent Peebles should lose to Roundtree in the Democratic primary, Sanders has demonstrated a willingness to tussle over the issues, particularly with Peebles.

“It’s not a secret that [conservative local radio talk show host] Austin Rhodes is 100 percent in Scott Peebles’ camp,” he said.

“The day I announced, it shocked Austin and he started coming up with things I never thought of, the first being that I’m just a safety valve, which is absolutely absurd.”

He also disputed one of the other theories about his campaign, that he was running as a Republican to validate his Republican credentials in order to run for Superior Court judge.

Sanders’ age — 63 — and his experience often put him at odds with the other candidates when it comes to issues like community policing, which he doesn’t support.

“Community policing by the Department of Justice is where you actually go in every neighborhood and set up a small department and it has autonomy,” he said.

“They had that one time called the Weed and Seed program in Barton Village.

They had eight deputies that stayed in Barton Village. They had about a million-

10 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

something dollars in federal funding and it stayed there and it reduced crime.”

Without that funding, and keeping to the Department of Justice definition, he said it would be cost prohibitive.

Instead of community policing, he said, he believes in policing the community.

“Of course you go into the community,” he said. “If they’re not out there doing that, something’s wrong. That’s policing 101.”

But simply assigning people to a segment of the community and giving them autonomy isn’t realistic when it comes to the overall duties of the Sheriff’s Office.

“Somebody’s got to police the highways, because you’ve got people being killed on the highways,” he said. “Well, the people who are going to police the highways are the same deputies that you say are going to stay in the communities. And in the evenings, they’ve got to check businesses.”

Overall, the Sheriff’s Office has 275,000 contacts a year with the community, which is why he said he favors hiring call takers who would take a report over the phone when the crime warranted it, thereby freeing up the field officers to do other things. That way, a stolen car can get processed quicker and broadcast quicker.

Though he tends to be less aggressive against those locked up for using drugs, he takes a hard line against the more violent and invasive crimes.

“It sounds silly, but when I was chief of police and you had your house broken into, I was insulted,” he said. “It was on my watch and somebody had the gall to go in your house. That’s one of the most serious crimes to me, to invade your privacy, invade your security.”

Calling himself the law and order candidate, he said that with these kinds of crimes, he’d follow up by going to court and letting the judge know exactly what they did, which is similar to his answer to the First Friday problems.

“I would arrest them, put them in jail and I would go to the judges and let them know they were down there on First Friday and this is what they did and try to let the judges know that I supported them giving them the strictest punishment they could,” he said. “Word would get out that if you’re going to go down there and ruin somebody’s good time on First Friday, this is what’s going to happen to you.”

And what about the funding, which Sheriff Strength has lately been saying is so difficult to come by?

“It’s a short period of time,” he said.

“You’re not talking about putting people down there for days. It doesn’t take you long to flood that area with law enforcement and get rid of those people and get them in front of the judges.”

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LAURAPERRY

End of an Era

Hill Drug closes its doors, but it’s not a complete goodbye Augusta’s a city with strong traditions and enormous heritage.

Summerville, one of our city’s oldest neighborhoods, is home to Hill Drug, a small independent drug store and local landmark in the Hill area for the past 80 years. This week, a bit of history came to an end as the store closed its door for the last time.

Like Mayberry’s Andy Griffith, who died last week, the old-fashioned drugstore will be missed. Just as Floyd’s Barbershop delivered a sense of belonging, Hill Drug will be remembered as a classic of its own kind.

Hill Drug opened 80 years ago, in 1932, long before Andy Griffith’s Opie, Ron Howard, was even born. And that was just two years before Augusta hosted the first Masters golf tournament. Stewart Flanagin, R.Ph., brought the store back to life in 1991 and, 21 years later, he’s now closing that chapter.

“I’m selling the Hill Drug business to Rite Aid and we’ll be relocating to the Rite Aid in Daniel Village,” says Flanagin. “Why? It’s just time – I’m 64 and half years old. It’s time to just be a pharmacist and kind of get away from the pressures of running a small business.”

Retirement? Please. Flanagin will be working at Rite Aid full time and he hopes it will be seven days a week. His current employees will also be applying for available positions at Rite Aid. Flanagin says he hadn’t wanted to “let the cat out of the bag” so he hasn’t yet met the other employees at Rite Aid. “I haven’t yet because I wanted to keep this a secret. It just came out Thursday.

I’ve been real sneak-ative about it,” says Flanagin.

Ever since he bought the store in 1991, Flanagin has never left work behind. Many times, he has been at work on holidays and he’s frequently worked on weekends or after closing. Regular customers say that Flanagin always takes time to explain what to expect from medications and truly cares about his customers.

A hometown pharmacy has not just the typical business pressures like payroll and inventory, but also complications with health insurance and medication policies, without a large staff to divide and conquer.

“You’re constantly dealing with insurance companies and all of that has become more and more regulated and more and more time consuming,” explains Flanagin. “It’s hard to break away sometimes. I’m always trying to catch up.”

Hill Drug has over 600 charge accounts, and an uncountable number of customers, simply walkins, who depend on their pharmacy for advice and support.

Flanagin started as a pharmacist with Revco, which is now CVS. He says that he always wanted his own drug store and was looking for a good location. It just took awhile to find it. Flanagin has been “pharming” ever since he finished pharmacy school after graduating from UGA in 1970.

“My daddy was a doctor. He was a surgeon, but I didn’t like blood, so I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I didn’t want to do anything that involved blood,” Flanagin says, laughing.

That doesn’t make sense. Flanagin is famous for giving the best flu shots in town.

“Oh yeah, I can do that!”

Hill Drug is or was a classic, but maybe it’s Stewart Flanagin that’s the real classic.

And like Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, re-runs will still be on of Flanagin and Hill Drug at Daniel Village’s Rite Aid. “Oh I’ll miss Hill Drug,” he says. I’m attached to this service. But I just made the decision. The time is right and I’m very happy with this.”

Now, Flanagin will have time for what he enjoys most — cooking, being a new grandfather, growing orchids, playing with his new dog, Cal, messing with his boat and riding in his 1934 Auburn convertible.

“I want to get away without worrying about the business. It will be so nice to have a whole week for vacation,” says Flanagin with a big grin.

12JULY2012

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First Friday, Last Chance?

How long will history keep repeating itself?

So, First Friday – we meet again.

If ever there was an indication that Augusta is standing still, it’s the events of July 6, when six people, three under 18, were shot in the crowded, rowdy aftermath of First Friday.

Gunman shoots six at downtown festival. It’s the kind of thing you read about happening in other cities.

However, it’s certainly nothing new. It’s the kind of thing the city has been dealing with off and on for most of the life of the monthly Friday night event.

After the October 4, 2002 First Friday concluded, unruly crowds broke the windows of two Broad Street establishments and the overwhelmed deputies had to use pepper spray to get the crowds to disperse.

In response, Sheriff Ronnie Strength vowed decisive action.

“We will be down here and we will have a tremendous presence of law enforcement officers,” Strength said in the Oct. 10, 2002 issue of the Metro Spirit. “I will have a response team standing by. It will be my last resort. But there will be a response team in full (riot) gear to do whatever they have to do to disperse unruly crowds.”

There was also talk of changing ordinances in a way that would target the offenders but somehow spare the legitimate First Friday revelers.

“I don’t want an ordinance so strict that it hurts the law-abiding citizens in the community and their businesses from 5 o’clock to 10 o’clock during First Friday,” Strength said. “But we’re really going to put some teeth into it after 10 o’clock.”

That was 10 years ago, and after a decade, the problem is still the same, and the answer everyone seems to be flocking to isn’t much different, either.

This time, it’s enforcing the curfew for minors.

“I fully endorse it,” said Commissioner Joe Jackson. “My first question to my wife was, ‘What the hell is a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old doing at First Friday? They’re not buying a Picasso, so they’re down there for what?”

He pointed out that at that age, they can’t go into the bars and there was nothing going on at the Common, which means they were just there to be there, and that’s almost always a recipe for trouble.

“I think that during the summertime, crime goes up because kids are out of school,” he said. “I think a lot of it goes back to respect of law enforcement and adult figures.”

According to witnesses, Broad Street was a solid mass of people at the time of the shooting, which was more than two hours after First Friday officially closed, not that there seems to be anything all that official about anything involving First Friday.

Originally started by the downtown merchants as a way to increase business and attention to the downtown area, First Friday has fallen under several bureaucratic umbrellas, but in reality it just sort of is. Businesses either open for it or they don’t.

Increasingly, however, the unruly activity that occurs after the stores close and the events are over is causing some business owners to question whether or not the event is worth it. When it started, Artist’s Row was a struggling enclave of art galleries trying to make a go in what was pretty much an urban wasteland. Now, that wasteland is an oasis of bars, many of which say they don’t get any boost in business from First Friday, which begs the question – if the bars outnumber the other businesses, does First Friday continue to serve a purpose?

According to Shaun Ledford, owner of the downtown Mellow Mushroom, he closes a half 12 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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an hour earlier on First Fridays because of the loitering crowds, which not only don’t bring him any business, but actually cost him extra, since First Fridays are the only nights he has to hire an sheriff’s deputy. Another reason he closes early – concern about his employee’s safety.

If legitimate businesses are closing early for safety reasons, who is First Friday helping, and is it really worth the expense?

Two days after the shooting, one downtown employee who actually heard the gunshots moved to an apartment on Washington Road.

“I’ve lived down here for three years,” she said, standing near the bloodstained sidewalk, “but I moved. It was scary. I’ve never heard gunshots before.”

So next week, commissioners will be meeting with Administrator Fred Russell, Greater Augusta Arts Council Executive Director Brenda Durant and downtown merchants to discuss where First Friday goes from here.

If history is any indication, where it goes will be where it’s always been.

One year after the 2002 incident, Sheriff Strength was back before the commission, explaining why the Sheriff’s Office closed the streets.

Two more windows had been broken out.

At least it wasn’t six people shot.

TERENCEBARBER

Crime Happens Your Weird Week in Crime

HOT POT.

Is Augusta-Richmond County really as crime ridden as you think it is?

As the crimes and the times change, so will the report. Sorry for the unexpected disappearance last week. Experienced a few technical difficulties, but on to business. With all of the craziness of the shooting that happened at First Friday, let us focus more on the more consistent crime occurrences.

A thief in Samaritan clothing On Tuesday, July 3, an Augusta resident became the target of a crime on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The victim, an 87-year-old man, was being pushed in his wheelchair by an Augusta woman when she threw him out of the wheelchair into an alley and took the money in his pockets.

Do you need white teeth that bad?

On Tuesday, July 3, an Augusta man entered a CVS with backpack and went to the toothpaste aisle. The man put six tubes of Crest 3D toothpaste in his backpack and left the store. An employee followed the suspect outside, causing the suspect to transfer the items into a white bag. The suspect dropped the backpack, which was filled with clothing as well as other items. When an RCSO deputy searched the backpack, the deputy found probation papers and through a search, was able to identify the suspect. The toothpaste was not recovered.

Crime totals for the week 88 counts of larceny (both felony and misdemeanor) 41 counts of invasion of privacy 28 counts of assault 12 counts of burglary with forced entry (time unknown) 10 counts of property damage Nine counts of burglary with forced entry (daytime) Nine counts of recovered property Seven counts of robbery Seven counts of public peace disturbance Four counts of burglary with forced entry (night time) Four counts of financial fraud Four counts of forgery Three counts of burglary with no forced entry (night time) Three counts of identity fraud Three counts of weapon offenses Three counts of burglary with no forced entry (time unknown) Three counts of obstruction of a law enforcement officer One count of terroristic threats and acts One count of arson One count of impersonating an officer One count of sexual assault 12JULY2012

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GREGORY A. BAKER, PH.D

Augusta Tek

This Is Not the Apocalypse DNSChanger — News alert! It seems that everyone (meaning, the national media) last week figured out that computers can get viruses, and that these viruses can cause computers to break. Wow! How about that!

Just in case you were hiding under a rock or doing something otherwise more productive, last Monday the FBI turned off the DNS servers that had been left running after the crackdown of the cyber ring responsible for the DNSChanger virus.

The DNSChanger virus modified the DNS entry of infected machines to redirect internet traffic to malicious websites.

While the number of impacted machines was estimated at over four million in November 2011, the DNSChanger Working Group estimated that that number had dropped to just over 300,000 worldwide by July 2012. (And, yes. This is the government, so we have to have a working group.) While this number may seem large, it is almost trivial in the context of the 1.5 billion computers that currently operate in the world. Yet we all must suffer through reports like the one from Internet Identity that 12 percent of Fortune 500 companies and 4 percent of government agencies are infected. The loss in productivity could create ruin in the United States, or something like that.

Are you kidding me? While I’ll agree some IT departments are better than others, this virus is more likely to be found on a desktop running XP Service Pack 1 sitting in the spare bedroom of someone’s grandparents that would never notice the internet outage because they only use the desktop computer to play Spider Solitaire since their grandkids gave them an iPad last Christmas! I really don’t think American productivity was ever an issue!

Now don’t get me wrong. Readers of this column all know that I am up for a good apocalypse. But an apocalypse caused by a DNS server outage? Please…

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Windows 8 GA — Microsoft announced this week that Windows 8 will be released to manufacturing in August, and the software will be released for General Availability in October. Server 2012 is roughly on the same timeline. Go Get Your Metro On! Kindle’s Next Fire — Stand by, Kindle fans. Rumors of an August 7 release date for the Fire 2 are circulating. The next Fire looks to provide additional features not found on the original as four versions of the tablet are rumored: 7 inch with no camera, 7 inch with camera, 7 inch with camera and 4G, and 8.9 inch (no word on camera or WiFi). More to come later this month.

Anonymous’ New Target — Last weekend, Anonymous informed the world that it is declaring war on pedophiles. The war has already started, with a large number of pedophile websites taken down over the weekend. Anonymous also released the personal information of hundreds of pedophiles that use and administer this websites.

This isn’t the first time that Anonymous has attacked child porn. In October 2011, the group attacked over 40 pedophilia-sharing websites and outed more than 1,500 alleged pedophiles. This time, it appears that groups around the world are rallying for the cause. From the Anonymous announcement: WE Anonymous aim to diminish if not eradicate this plague from the Internet. For the good of our followers, for the good of mankind and for our own enjoyment we shall expel from the Internet and systematically destroy any such boards that continue to operate.

I wish Anonymous the best of luck.

Until next time, I’m off the grid @gregory_a_baker.

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laura P E R RY ERICJOHNSON | LAURAPERRY

REMEMBERING

It would be easy to make this a simple feel good story because, in a lot of ways, that’s exactly what it is.

Laura Perry could be dead, after all, or a vegetable — that’s how bad the accident was. But instead, she’s very much alive and as far from a vegetable as any of us. Though she’s still recovering, she’s a thriving, vital, contributing member of society with an infectious smile, a gregarious laugh and such a total lack of guile that you can’t help wanting to be around her.

But while it may be, around its edges, a feel good story, at its core it’s something more, something deeper.

The accident she’s still recovering from — it was in 2003, and if you ask her what she had for breakfast this morning, she won’t be able to tell you.

When Laura’s Ford Explorer hit that patch of ice near Bush Field nearly a decade ago, she was a marketing professional and a fiancé. After the accident, the job went away, as

12JULY2012

Don’t Mind the Commute Yay — I got to work! That’s probably something you don’t often hear, but that’s exactly what I said today.

I drove to work on my own for the first time since my 2003 car accident. This is big.

It’s been eight and a half years since I’ve handled the CSRA rush hour, and I’ve lived to tell. Okay, okay — CSRA rush hour? Here’s the deal — I haven’t been able to drive on my own until recently because of my short-term memory challenges, so any driving is major. Patience pays off. Driving again is a tremendous feat.

Periodically, throughout the past several months, I’ve been working with Beth Gibson, a certified driver rehabilitation specialist (CDRS) with Freedom and Mobility, to get reacquainted with getting to and from places I regularly go here in town. We usually worked together two days in a row, a few times per month. My driving times varied between daytime and night time, but all of my training was conducted in local areas I’m familiar with in an effort to be sure I could drive independently in my community. Even though Augusta has been home most of my life, it’s been a little like driving in a new town every day — not having landmarks to know where to turn.

“You’ve gone from being unable to find your way to the grocery store, which is just a third of a mile from your house to driving to work in your own car,” Beth reminds me. “Sometimes things stick. You may recognize a friend’s house or remember that your dentist office is coming up on the left. But other occasions, you’ve had a tough time remembering which way to turn to get to a particular place when you leave your own driveway. I know it can be frustrating.”

Often an occupational therapist (OT), the driving specialist has to determine if the potential driver can make rapid decisions or deal with unexpected behavior of other drivers. OT driving specialists are trained to break an activity down into small parts and devise solutions to help their clients compensate for aspects of the activity that they are not independent with. For experienced drivers who’ve become disabled, it is mainly about being able to compensate for the disability.

For the most part, I was a mix of excited and nervous — just like I was 16 again getting that first license to drive. I felt calmer as I got to know Beth and started to feel sure of myself. Gradually, I soloed, and Mom’s new house was probably the first place I could get to.

Did I feel a sense of progress as I moved along with the training? It’s hard to get a good viewpoint on how well you’re doing when you don’t always remember the details of what you did five minutes earlier, let alone a week ago.

“The time I remember best was when you drove home from your friend’s house over by the Partridge Inn without consulting the GPS, your map or me,” says Beth. “You didn’t go a way we’d driven before and you drove straight home without thinking about it. Once you got home, you were being pretty hard on yourself until I pointed out that you had just done that. You smiled big, clapped your hands and said, ‘Yay, me!’”

This is independence — I can add my trip to the Metro Spirit to my list of other possible driving destinations. Now I can remember that Highland becomes Berkmans, and that although Wrightsboro is a busy road out by the mall, it becomes a two-lane road near my neighborhood grocery store.

Now, where did I park my car?

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did the fiancé. Brain injury is a game “It’s embarrassing to go to your 15th she rebels against it, and unlike Mike, who Though it’s your name, a byline is really the publication’s seal of approval. changer for everyone. It rewrites the story, reunion and have your mom drive you some would argue needs to be defined This issue she has a full-fledged news manhandles the plot and sometimes it up,” she says. But seven and a half hours by his alcoholism lest he take the Nestea story to go along with her contributions to messes with the casting. on the road is a long time, and although Plunge right into it, she doesn’t need to this feature, not to reinforce the feel good Because she now has a memory Laura had begun practicing driving again, be. Not at all. nature of the story, but because it was a problem — short term, mostly, but long that was just too long and too far to go it When Laura came to volunteer at the timely story and one she was well suited term, too, as well as some problems in alone.

Metro Spirit a few months back, she was to tell. organization and setting priorities — it’s More than the embarrassment, however, game for anything, but often confused.

Yet even her success with writing tempting to think of her as an innocent she came back recognizing the widening She would arrive very tentatively, and if hasn’t come without a struggle. She was child protected by her disability. That gulf that’s growing between her and those someone wasn’t there to direct her back offered her first real writing assignment, memory problem should be insulation, lifelong friends. to the writer’s room, she would just sort a We Recommend DVD/Netflix review, right? A firewall between her and those “Everybody’s just in a different part of of stand there in the lobby, looking at the a couple weeks ago, sad and uncomfortable and she accepted it with reminders that things enthusiasm… then spent haven’t ended up the the next 20 minutes way they were supposed much about the time surrounding it, but I can tell used many other cognitive tools to compensate What do you remember about your past? Many calling her mom and her to. for my rusty memory. people say they don’t remember everything, but you all about this road I’ve been down since it sister asking what movies But let’s not be happened. Within the last four years, I’ve gotten My first in-home occupational therapist (OT) when you’re talking about the old days with a she’d seen. romantic about this. helped me master a pretty basic task early on — group of long-time friends, it all just comes back, my own house, a new car and a volunteer job For the record, Laura As bright as her smile grocery shopping. We went to my neighborhood matching my journalism background. doesn’t it? loves movies — she and as sunny as her grocery store and created a grocery list form Know that the brain injury recovery road is Believe it or not, that’s how it is now for me, disposition, she is very that was essentially a map of the store aisles. too — I just might need a reminder or two to get long and not always straight. It’s like your own much a living, breathing going. In December 2003, I was in a pretty rough personal experiment with doctors to find the right For example, Aisle 10 is canned fruit, cookies, popcorn, crackers and applesauce. My list form mix of medicine, therapy and personal goals. car accident early one morning when my Ford woman. Make no has all aisle numbers with what you find on Obviously, medicine is very important, but the Explorer slid on ice on Doug Barnard Parkway. mistake — when she each aisle at the store. That way, when I make Thankfully, I was wearing my seatbelt, but I wasn’t therapy you receive is even more crucial. You falls upon the thorns of are learning to manage your new disabilities and my grocery list at home using those headings, I wearing a crash helmet. what her life is now, she know where to find it when I get there. Grocery Obviously, I survived, but my memory has needed get back to being yourself again. I still attend bleeds. bi-weekly Walton Rehab therapy group meetings shopping is no longer a scavenger hunt. lots of nursing to get back to good health. I A month or so ago, Another strategy we developed was how to get with other TBI survivors. It helps to compare have a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), sometimes she went to Lexington, a handle on friends’ names and faces with a notes and give encouragement. just called a head injury.

Awareness needs to Virginia, to attend her wonderful personal kind of cheat sheet — my My family learned that just because some doctors continue to build, because nobody ever expects 15-year class reunion at own “Friend Notebook.” This was simply a spiral(and insurance companies) say that most it to happen to them.

In 2010, the CDC found Washington and Lee, bound notebook with one page for each friend. I that about 1.7 million people sustain a TBI each recovery happens within the first year, that isn’t where she graduated always so. I’m still continuing to improve in lots of could make any detailed notes about my friends year. With so many veterans coming back from with a journalism degree. on their own pages — like Kelly is married to Joe, ways — some subtle and some major. the Middle East with head injuries, it’s no longer The fifth year reunion who’s from North Carolina, and they have two With my brain injury, I suffered a “bleed” in the an unusual disability. In fact, our own Charlie was before the accident. children. I could put that all on her page, along hippocampus. It’s kind of like a vault where Norwood VA has a brain injury rehab program The 10th was after, and with other details and a photo. It was reassuring memories are stored for safekeeping and for veterans. she went to it with her to know that I had my own personal cheat sheet retrieval. My memories are there, but the vault Because we’re all different people, our brains sister, Beth, who was at home if I needed it. I hope you get the picture! are also different. The way that a TBI affects one door is heavy and rusty; a cue or hint may in the class two years person can be nothing like the way it affects the sometimes be all that’s needed to open that door. I think the toughest thing about this is just staying behind. That worked Post-surgery, brain swelling further complicated positive, patient and keeping focused that there next. Think about it — the brain controls not out okay because they is a grand plan for me. I’m determined to keep things by causing a small stroke in the occipital just memory, but judgment, reasoning, decision shared a knowledge of the faith. They say that for those who refuse to region — that’s your brain’s visual processing making, physical function, even sight, speech, the place and she was give up, the treatment results can be extremely center. My visual rolodex of memory for faces, hearing and personality. For me, memory is my her sister. For this one, successful. There’s nothing more motivating than places and mental maps was clouded in an deficit — I’m still the same bad singer, loud instant, making it necessary to develop strategies that. laugher and goofy dancer I’ve always however, Beth was and depend on technology for assistance. My been. busy, which meant - Lauara Perry car’s GPS is a wonderful security blanket, but I remember nothing about the she had to through the process of my recovery, I’ve also morning of my accident or go with her used to be one of those mom. annoying people who can recite all the good parts their life,” she says. “That’s kind of what walls as if she suspected she might have immediately after the credits — but as the hard part was — everybody’s not gone into the wrong office building. only married, but they have kids and When she’d leave, someone would have much as she loves them, they’re not easy for her to hold onto now. they’re dealing with things like that. to direct her to the door.

“Her memory for events and stuff is I’m not on that same playing field, Since then, she’s become more familiar so it’s a little hard. I don’t want to be with her surroundings and more confident kind of like Swiss cheese,” says her mom, Betty Perry. “There’s a lot of it still there, always talking about the same thing — of herself within them. She’ll crack jokes but there are big holes.” my brain injury recovery.”

— often about herself and her memory.

Betty has had a crash course in But when you have a brain injury, They’re always funny. She recognizes the traumatic brain injury, and talking with it can consume you, and being staff, and if she doesn’t immediately know her about Laura is very much like talking consumed by a disability makes it them by name, she at least knows she’s with a doctor. easy to be defined by it. interacted with them before.

“The worst problem was she had a “I’m Mike, and I’m an And after helping with some research subdural hematoma,” she says. “That’s alcoholic.” projects, she’s become an actual where the blood collects between the “I’m Laura, and I have a brain contributor, first with a shared byline and dura, which is the covering of the brain, injury.” then a full byline of her own.

But here’s the thing — Laura A byline is a big thing for any writer. It’s and the skull. All that blood accumulating doesn’t want to be defined validation that what you’ve done has been pushes the brain stem down into the spinal cord, and that causes damage.” by her brain injury. In fact, judged worthy of being read by others.

GETTING MY HEAD ON STRAIGHT

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Then, a couple of days after surgery to repair the subdural hematoma, Laura had a stroke.

“The doctors said that people with the injuries Laura had — 99 of them die,” Betty says. “Laura is Number 100.”

But if you had to pick somebody to have such a terrible thing happen to, Laura is the type of person to survive it — literally. She’s a female with a Type A personality, and statistically, they’re the ones most likely to survive. Besides that, Laura’s a lefty, which means her brain is wired differently. Had she been right handed, she would be in a very different place right now, slurring words and having a hard time coming up with the right ones.

That’s not to say she hasn’t had a struggle or come a long way. After the accident, she had to relearn the basics —

on her weaknesses while providing her with strategies to cope with life.

“That’s what’s hard about a traumatic brain injury,” Hartley says. “It doesn’t totally take way your intelligence, it just means you have deficits in specific areas and that you have to learn to use strategies and the people around you have to learn to set things up for you in a way that you can use your strengths to be productive.”

Those strategies allow her to undertake processes and many-stepped endeavors like cooking or shopping.

She loves cooking, but to do it she has to be very focused and very deliberate, setting out all the ingredients, then moving a Post It note down the recipe so as not to skip or repeat. Same thing for shopping.

She makes an aisle by aisle list so she can march through the store without the ‘Oh yeah… I need broccoli…” that sends the

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the how to swallow, how to eat and how to talk basics.

“If you could have seen her,” Betty says, “you wouldn’t believe where she is today.”

She is where she is today because of her onboard resilience, but also because of lots of therapy and lots of love and attention.

“She is a testament to the power of having high motivation, a great family and a community of resources that get behind her,” says Dr. Leila Hartley, her speechlanguage pathologist/cognitive rehab specialist.

Laura graduated through programs at Walton Rehabilitation here in Augusta, then Shepherd Pathways in Atlanta.

Once a week, every week, Betty would drive Laura to Atlanta for therapy, where Hartley would direct exercises that worked 12JULY2012

rest of us scuttling back and forth.

“I can probably shop quicker in a grocery store than a non-brain injured person,” she boasts.

Her biggest triumph, which she relates here, came recently when she was able to drive herself to work, cutting the most obvious cord remaining to her independence. Instead of getting dropped off and then picked up, she now controls when she leaves and where she goes, though it’s not like she’s going to be buzzing around like a teenager with a freshly minted driver’s license.

“I never just go someplace on the fly,” she says.

While sometimes even freedom has its limitations, it’s nevertheless something to treasure.

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Bridge, shows June 28-August 24 at the Arts & Heritage Center of North Augusta. Call 803-441-4380 or visit artsandheritagecenter.com.

South Carolina Heart Gallery, a photographic exhibition featuring children in foster care waiting for adoption, shows in July at the Aiken Center for the Arts. Call 803-641-9094 or visit aikencenterforthearts.org.

Adult Student Art Exhibition shows through July 28 at the Aiken Center for the Arts. Call 803-641-9094 or visit aikencenterforthearts.org.

ASU/NYC Art Exhibition, featuring manipulated photography and wall-sized painting created by ASU students, shows in the Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art until July 23. Visit aug.edu.

The Work of Ceramic Artist Kyungmin Park is on view through July 27 at the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art. Call 706-722-5495 or visit ghia.org.

Annual Photography Exhibition shows through July 31 at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History. Call 706-724-3576 or visit lucycraftlaneymuseum.com.

Tying the Knot, a display of wedding dresses and accessories from the late 1800s to the 1960s, now shows at the Augusta Museum of History. Call 706-722-8454 or visit augustamuseum.org.

ACA Summer Camp Exhibition, featuring the works of participants in the center’s summer art camps, shows June-August at the Aiken Center for the Arts. Call 803-641-9094 or visit aikencenterforthearts.org.

Window on the West: Views from the American Frontier, an exhibition of more than 60 paintings and works on paper from artists including Frederick Remington, Karl Bodmer and John James Audubon, shows at the Morris Museum of Art through July 22. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Music

Music in the Park, featuring Split Rail, is Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at the Maude Edenfield Park in North Augusta. Free. Call 803-442-7588 or visit naartscouncil.org.

An Evening of Traditional Irish Music featuring the Kane Sisters is Thursday, July 12, at 8 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Monte Sano Avenue. $15. Call 706-267-5416.

ENTERTAIN

ME

Summer Beach Blast featuring The Tams, The Swinging Medallions and The Drifters, is Friday, July 13, at 5:30 p.m. at Evans Towne Center Park. $15.

Call 706-312-7192 or visit evanstownecenterpark.com.

Jim McGaw performs at the Morris Museum of Art on Sunday, July 15, at 2 p.m. as part of the Music at the Morris series. Free. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Batsheva performs at Adas Yeshurun Synagogue as part of the 2012 Miller Series of the Mind on Sunday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. Free. Call 706733-9491 or visit adasyeshurun.net.

Rob Nordan Jazz and Sounds Unlimited perform as part of Garden City Jazz’s Candlelight Jazz Series on Sunday, July 15, at the 8th Street River Stage downtown at 8 p.m. $6; free, children under 13. Visit gardencityjazz.com.

Painters Freddie Flynt and Tricia Mayers exhibit their work, including Mayers’ “Rain on Broad” shown here, at Sacred Hear t Cultural Center through August 31. An opening reception, free and open to the public, is Thursday, July 12, from 5-7 p.m. Call 706-826-4700 or visit sacredhear taugusta.org.

Arts

Art at Lunch: The Reel West, featuring Jim Dunham, director of special programs at the Booth Western Art Museum, is Friday, July 13, at noon at the Morris Museum of Art. Members, $10; non-members, $14. Includes lunch. Pre-registration required. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Sunday Sketch at the Morris Museum of Art is Sunday, July 15, at 2 p.m.

Materials provided. Free. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Call for Entries for the Augusta Photo Festival, which is October 27-November 4, is going on now through August 15. For contest rules and more information, visit augustaphotofestival.org/competition.html. Call 706-834-9742 or email info@augustaphotofestival.org.

Active-duty military personnel and their families will receive free admission to the Morris Museum of Art through Sunday, September 2, as part of the museum’s participation in the Blue Star Museum program. Call 706-7247501 or visit themorris.org.

Exhibitions

Painters Freddie Flynt and Tricia Mayers exhibit their work at Sacred Heart 12JULY2012

Cultural Center through August 31. An opening reception, free and open to the public, is Thursday, July 12, from 5-7 p.m. Call 706-826-4700 or visit sacredheartaugusta.org.

Exhibition Opening Reception and Lecture: Strange Fruit and The Morris at Twenty, featuring artist Joseph Norman, is Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. at the Morris Museum of Art. Free. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Works by Jesse Lee Vaughn and Lauryn Sprouse show in July at Gaartdensity Gallery downtown. Call 706-466-5166 or email gaartdensitygallery@rocketmail.com.

Photography Outreach Camp Exhibition will be on display in the Morris Museum of Art’s Education Gallery July 3-29. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Friedman Branch Library Teen Photography Contest Exhibition shows at the library through July 24. Call 706-736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org.

Hamburg: The Forgotten Town, an historical exhibit on the town which flourished on the South Carolina banks near the modern Fifth Street

2012 Hopelands Summer Concert Series, featuring Black Bottom Biscuits, is Monday, July 16, at 7 p.m. at Hopelands Gardens in Aiken. Participants should bring lawn chairs and blankets. Free. Call 803-642-7631 or visit cityofaikensc.gov.

Charlie Daniels and Travis Tritt perform Thursday, July 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Evans Towne Center Park. $35-$50. Call 706-312-7192 or visit evanstownecenterpark.com.

Music in the Park, featuring Preston and Weston, is Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at the Maude Edenfield Park in North Augusta. Free. Call 803-4427588 or visit naartscouncil.org.

The Augusta Mall’s Food Court Concert Series is each Saturday in July at 7 p.m. Call 706-733-1001 or visit augustamall.com.

Literary

Cover 2 Cover: “The Tell-Tale Heart” is Thursday, July 17, at noon at the Headquarters Branch Library. Participants are invited to bring lunches and listen to this Edgar Allan Poe classic. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Cover 2 Over: Downloading E-Books is Wednesday, July 18, at noon at the Headquarters Branch Library. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgl.org.

Brown Bag Book Club, featuring Anse Sierstad’s “Bookseller of Kabul,” meets Thursday, July 19, at 11:30 a.m. at the Columbia County Library. Call 706-863-1946 or visit ecgrl.org.

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Book Club, featuring Barbara Seaborn’s “As Long as the Rivers Run,” meets Thursday, July 19, at 4 p.m. at the Harlem Branch Library. Call 706-556-9795 or visit ecgrl.org.

DREAM BOLDLY.

It’s Your Book Club General Membership Meeting and Potluck is Thursday, July 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Comprehensive financial planning Investment strategies Retirement planning and rollovers Education funding solutions Life, home and auto insurance

Plan confidently.®

East Central Georgia’s Summer Reading Program continues through July 20. Categories include Dream Big: Read! for children up to 12 years old, Own the Night for those ages 13-19 and Cover 2 Cover for adults. Visit any branch or ecgrl.org.

Theater

“The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” a production of the Aiken Community Playhouse, shows July 13-14 at 8 p.m. and July 15 at 3 p.m. at the URS Center for the Performing Arts in Aiken. $25, adults; $20, seniors; $15, students, $10, children under 12.

Call 803-648-1438 or visit acp1011.com.

Flix 3015 Allen Drive, Evans, GA 30809

“Stomp Out Loud” shows Thursday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. at North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“Nicky’s Family” shows Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at the Augusta Jewish Community Center as part of the Augusta Jewish Film Festival. $10. Visit augustajcc.org.

“Marley and Me” shows Friday, July 13, at 1 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library as part of the Dog Days of Summer Movie Fest. Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“Marley and Me: The Puppy Years” shows Friday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library as part of the Dog Days of Summer Movie Fest. Call 803-6422023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“Joyful Noise” shows Saturday, July 14, at 3 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library. Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“The Music Man” shows Tuesday, July 17, at 10:15 a.m. at North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Free Movie Matinee is Tuesday, July 17, at 2:30 p.m. at the Harlem Branch Library. Call 706-556-9795 or visit ecgrl.org.

“Submarine” shows Tuesday, July 17, at 6 p.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Free. Call 706-8212600 or visit ecgrl.org.

“Lord of the Dance” shows Tuesday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m. at North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“Star Wars” shows Tuesday, July 17, at 7 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library as part of Family Fun Night. Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

“War Horse” shows Thursday, July 19, at 6:25 p.m. at North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library. Call 803-2795767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Monday Movie Matinees show at 2 p.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library. Participants are invited to bring their own snacks. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

Special Events

Greubel’s Smokin Family Fun Day is Saturday, July 14, from 4-7 p.m. at Greubel’s Mixed Martial Arts and includes boxing with inflatable gloves, relay races, face painting, balloon animals and tours. Participants are invited to stay for the smoker fights starting at 7 p.m.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-737-0911 or visit greubelsmma.com.

Comedian Gary Owen appears at the Imperial Theatre 20 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. $22.50-$27.50. Call 706-722-8341 or visit imperialtheatre.com.

The Augusta Market at the River is every Saturday through October 27 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the 8th Street Bulkhead and features produce, arts and crafts and more for sale, as well as live music and entertainment. Call 706-627-0128 or visit theaugustamarket.com.

Health

Mobile Mammography Screenings, offered by appointment, are available July 12 at Lincoln County Health Department, July 13 at Christ Community Clinic, July 16 at the Columbia County Campus on Flowing Wells, July 17 at Fievet Pharmacy in Washington, July 18 at Walmart in Aiken and July 19 at Walgreens in Thomson. Appointments can be made from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. Call 706-774-4145 or visit universityhealth.org.

Nutrition Education Class is Thursday, July 12, at 11:30 a.m. at the Kroc Center. Free. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Car Seat Class is Thursday, July 12, at 5:45 p.m. at MCGHealth Building 1010C. $10; pre-registration required. Call 706-721-7606 or visit georgiahealth. org/kids.

Bariatric Seminar is Thursday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at Doctors Hospital. Free, but pre-registration required.

Call 706-651-4343 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

Brain Injury Support Group meets Thursday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at NeuroRestorative Georgia. Call 706-8290370 or visit wrh.org.

Women’s Center Tour is Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at University Hospital. Free, but pre-registration required.

Call 706-774-2825 or visit universityhealth.org.

Weight Loss Surgery Seminar is Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at the Columbia County Library. Free, but pre-registration required. Call 706-721-2609 or visit georgiahealth.org/weightloss.

Babies, Bumps and Bruises, an infant care class, is Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at Doctors Hospital.

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

Center for Women Tour is Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at Doctors Hospital. Free, but pre-registration required.

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

Lamaze Childbirth Education Class is Saturday, July 14, from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Trinity Hospital of Augusta. Pre-registration required. Call 706-4817727 or visit trinityofaugusta.com.

Childbirth Tours are Saturday, July 14, from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at GHSU’s Medical Center. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-721-9351 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Our New Baby Sibling Class is Monday, July 16, at 4 p.m. at Trinity Hospital of Augusta. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-481-7727 or visit trinityofaugusta.com.

Total Joint Replacement Class is Tuesday, July 17, at 1 p.m. at University Hospital. Call 706-774-2760 or visit universityhealth.org.

Childbirth Preparation Class meets Tuesday, July 17-August 7, from 6-9 p.m. at Aiken Regional Medical Center. $25; pre-registration required. Call 800-3228322 or visit aikenregional.com.

Cervical Degenerative Disc Disease and Fusion is a lecture on Tuesday, July 17, at 6 p.m. at USC-Aiken’s Business Conference Center. A light dinner is included.

Pre-registration required. Call 800-322-8322 or visit aikenregional.com.

Breastfeeding Class is Tuesday, July 17, from 7-9 p.m.

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YANKEE DOODLE DANDIES

By Dan Schoenholz / Edited by Will Shortz

94 Building block, of sorts 95 Columnist who was 65-Across (1918) 99 Powerful blows 101 Attire usually worn with slippers 102 “Unfaithful” co-star, 2002 103 The final Mrs. Chaplin 104 Economic stat.

105 Initially 107 Literary critic who was 65-Across (1905) 111 Michigan college 112 When sung five times, an Abba hit 113 Electrical impulse conductor in the body 114 Riffraff 117 D.C. player 118 Knightwear?

119 Maytag acquisition of 2001 120 And others, in a footnote 121 Most of a figure eight 122 Coolers 123 Water balloon sound 124 Out

42 43 46 47 48

Lens used for close-ups New World monkeys Frequent Singer Lovett City on the slopes of Mount Carmel 49 What a thermometer measures 50 Garden chemical brand 51 One of the Estevez brothers 55 French game 56 Dish that may be smoked 57 Adjudge 59 Prelim 60 Range rover 62 Certain belly button 64 Magic lamp figure 65 Seabiscuit, for one 66 Crowd shout 67 Ticket datum 68 Den ___, Nederland 69 Eastern royal 70 What a thermometer may measure 77 Get off at a station 80 Like adversity, one hopes 81 Mint products Down 82 Sausage topper 1 Tufted topper 83 Ancient Greek anatomist 2 Chapter 84 Seventh chapter 3 Some large tubes 85 “I’ll send an ___ to the world” 4 They might be inflated (Police lyric) 5 Part of Tennyson’s “crooked 86 Bird’s org. hands” 87 Kind of test 6 Pinch-hits (for) 88 Interstate sign 7 Former financing inits.

89 “Good night, and good luck,” 8 Wannabe surfers e.g.

9 Cove, e.g.

90 Six Nations tribe 10 Sucker-like 91 Becomes established 11 Years at the Vatican 96 Like some mutual funds 12 Wily sort 97 West of Nashville 13 10th-century Holy Roman emperor 98 Registers 14 Iris part 99 Air show maneuver 15 Clayey deposit 100 Actress Ryder 16 Conclude negotiations successfully 101 Kettledrum 17 Chess closing 104 Opposite of break apart 18 Impersonated 106 High-heels alternatives 25 Bundles of joy, so to speak 108 Anarchist Goldman 29 Infuse 109 Meadowlands 30 “Home ___” 110 Punkie 31 Lord of the Flies 115 “The dog ate my homework,” 32 Convoy component probably 38 Wide shoe spec 116 Literary inits.

39 Wide-open mouth 40 Every, in an Rx

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

19 23

31

32 37

41

11

12

34

67 72

75

76 83

62

84

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113 118

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S P R A T

T H A N K U

B E N T

P T B O A T

L U A N D A

G A L L E O N

S P A N I E L

109

110

106

117

S P L A S H

116

101

104

112

R E M A R K

115

94

108

A T O N A L

82

88

93

107

P E T I T E

81

70 74

92

103

80

64

69

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95

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51

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73

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56

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40

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53 60

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43

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S P A T S

15

29

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90

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25

33

46

66

13

21

42

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10

28

36

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9

24 27

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20

PREVIOUSPUZZLEANSWERS

Across 1 Plays a siren 7 Gold Coast, today 12 Meander 16 It’s a plus in a bank acct.

19 Noted landing site 20 Player of the younger Cunningham on “Happy Days” 21 Mach3 predecessor 22 “Yes, I’m a Witch” singer, 1992 23 ___ Bay, 1898 battle site 24 Deliver 26 They push things 27 File folder, e.g.

28 President who was 65-Across (1872) 30 Heads up 33 Capital of Denmark?

34 Come to naught 35 Fermented honey drink 36 Where kips are cash 37 Observe, in the Bible 39 Presidential daughter who was 65-Across (1998) 41 First National Leaguer with 500 home runs 42 Act out 43 Staff 44 Some slippers 45 Novelist who was 65-Across (1804) 52 Early computer 53 Yevtushenko’s “Babi ___” 54 Red Cross supply 55 Word with black or pack 58 “The Haj” author 61 Long way to go?

63 Bill provider 64 ___ Valley, 2002 Winter Olympics venue 65 See 28-, 39-, 45-, 83-, 95- and 107-Across 71 Plenty 72 Sri Lankan export 73 Film canine 74 “This is dedicated to the ___ love” 75 Wordsworth’s “solitary Tree” 76 Interpret 78 Article in Der Spiegel 79 Sweater style 83 Team owner who was 65-Across (1930) 89 Have ___ one’s words 92 Set-___ 93 Sierra Nevada, e.g.

111 114

E R I C K C A R B O N F O O T P R I N T

D I I C S Y T I N T E G A Z O R R T S E C T R S A I A G A R S I T S O A T R S O S T E R D A K A R O

S P E D E C C E M B O L S N A D O N E D O P A T T H X L A R E A O N V E W A A R A L O W E S A N T Y T E E S R C A M O M A C O N A C D R O S

P U Z O T A T A S D I S S C H

B A N G I G E R C E L E L E S I N O N E H W E O S C O U T A S D A T E E R G L S A T A S S C R E O K S G N S A C E Y E L L E R V E N O M V I

S P I R A L S

R E N O I R S E R R A I S L E E D S U F F I X

T R I U N E

I D E A T E

P A S T E S

L A D L E S

S H E E P

K O R E A N

S E L L S

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS. Elliott Sons Funeral Homes ELLIOTTFUNERALHOME.COM

12JULY2012

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at GHSU’s Medical Center. Pre-registration required.

Call 706-721-9351 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Save Your Shoulder, a free lecture on rotator cuff replacement, is Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. at the Brandon Wilde Clubhouse. Pre-registration required.

Visit universityhealth.org.

Running On Empty, a lecture on stress, is Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. at ARMC Classrooms A&B. A light dinner is included. Pre-registration required. Call 800322-8322 or visit aikenregional.com.

Breastfeeding Class is Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at Babies R. Us. Pre-registration required. Call 706-7742825 or visit universityhealth.org.

Baby 101, an infant care and development class, is Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at Doctors Hospital.

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

Support

ALS Support Lunch and Learn is Thursday, July 12, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at GHSU’s Medical Office Building.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-721-2681 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Breast Cancer Support Group meets Thursday, July 12, at 5:30 p.m. at GHSU’s Cancer Center. Call 706-7214109 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Cancer Survivor Support Group meets Thursday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at Augusta Oncology Associates. Call 706-6512283 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

Mended Hearts, a support group for people with heart disease, meets Friday, July 13, at 10:30 a.m. at USC-Aiken’s Business Conference Center. Call 803-6482381 or visit aikenregional.com.

Look Good, Feel Better Support Group, for women who want to main their appearance and self-esteem while undergoing chemo and radiation, meets Monday, July 16, at 1 p.m. at the Cancer Care Institute of Carolina at Aiken Regional. Pre-registration required. Call 803641-6044 or visit aikenregional.com.

Look Good, Feel Better Support Group, for women who want to main their appearance and self-esteem while undergoing chemo and radiation, meets Monday, July 16, at 5 p.m. at the American Cancer Society’s office.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-731-9900 or visit universityhealth.org.

Prostate Cancer Support Group meets Tuesday, July 17, at 6 p.m. at GHSU’s Cancer Center. Call 706-7210550 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Blood Cancer/BMT Support Group meets Wednesday, July 18, at 11:30 a.m. at GHSU’s Cancer Center.

Call 706-721-9134 or 706-721-1634, or visit georgiahealth.org.

Trauma Support Group meets Wednesday, July 18, at noon at GHSU’s Medical Center. Call 706-721-4633 or 706-721-3264, or visit georgiahealth.org.

Cancer Support Group meets Wednesday, July 18, at noon in the parlor of Aiken First Baptist Church. Call 803-641-5389 or visit aikenregional.com.

Spine Education and Support Group meets Wednesday, July 18, at 1 p.m. at University Hospital. Call 706-7742760 or visit universityhealth.org.

Look Good, Feel Better Cancer Support Group, for women who want to maintain their appearance and self-esteem while undergoing chemo and radiation, meets Thursday, July 19, at 5:30 p.m. at GHSU’s Cancer Center. Pre-registration required. Call 706721-0466 or visit georgiahealth.org.

Skip to My Lupus meets Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at Aiken Regional. Call 803-251-9413 or visit aikenregional.com.

22 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Education

Internet Security and Personal Privacy Class is Friday, July 13, at 10 a.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

Word I Computer Class is Monday, July 16, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Headquarters Branch Library.

Pre-registration and valid PINES card required. Call 706-821-2604 or visit ecgrl.org.

Word II Computer Class is Monday, July 16, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library.

Pre-registration and valid PINES card required. Call 706-821-2604 or visit ecgrl.org.

Fort Connections, a Columbia County Chamber Before Hours event focusing on doing business with Fort Gordon, is Wednesday, July 18, at 7:30 a.m. at the Building A Auditorium at the Evans Government Complex. Breakfast included. Free, members; $10, first-time visitors. Call 706-651-0018 or visit columbiacountychamber.com.

Operation Employment, a Goodwill Industries Career Fair, is Wednesday, July 18, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Warren Baptist Church. Free and open to the public.

Call 706-650-5760 or visit goodwillworks.org.

SRS Public Tours, including an overview presentation, safety briefing, Savannah River Ecology Lab tour and general driving tour, are Wednesday, July 18, from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Pre-registration required. Call 803952-8994 or email laurie.posey@srs.gov.

Finding What You Need Online Computer Class is Wednesday, July 18, at 6 p.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

GED classes meet weekly at the Kroc Center. Preregistration required. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Work Networking Group is held each Monday from 8:30-10 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church in North Augusta. A networking and informational meeting for anyone looking for a job, the group meets in room 206 of the Asbury Building and is facilitated by career and business professionals. Call 803-279-7525 or email doctor@pritchardgroup.com.

GED classes are offered every Monday and Thursday at 6 p.m. and every Monday-Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library (Third Floor Writing Lab). PINES library card required. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Computer classes are offered every Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Wallace Branch Library. Call 706-722-6275 or visit ecgrl.org.

ESL classes are offered every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Headquarters Branch Library (Third Floor Writing Lab). Pre-registration required. Call Charles Garrick at 803-279-3363 or visit ecgrl.org.

Intermediate Spanish Language Class is each Monday from 2:30-4 p.m. at Friedman Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org.

Beginner’s Spanish Language Class is each Monday from 4-5 p.m. at Friedman Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org.

Benefits

Summer Dog Wash, a benefit for the Aiken SPCA, is Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Cold Creek Nursery in Aiken. $15 for washes; ear clean and nail trim available. Call 803-648-6863 or visit aikenspca.org.

Third Annual Summer Roast & Toast, roasting NFL Super Bowl Champion and NY Giant Deon Grant, is Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at the Judith Simon Drama Studio on the Augusta Min Theatre campus. $50, individuals; $500, tables. Call 706-722-0598 or visit augustaminitheatre.com.

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Sports-Outdoors

The Augusta GreenJackets play the Greenville Drive Thursday-Friday, July 12-13, at 7:05 p.m. at Lake Olmstead Stadium. $7-$11. Call 706-736-7889 or visit greenjacketsbaseball.com.

The Augusta GreenJackets play the West Virginia Power Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, July 14, 16 and 17, at 7:05 p.m., and Sunday, July 15, at 5:35 p.m. at Lake Olmstead Stadium. $7-$11. Call 706-736-7889 or visit greenjacketsbaseball.com.

Free Water Safety Class is Monday, July 16, at 10:30 a.m. at the Kroc Center. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Free Canal Boat Tours are available to teachers throughout the month of July, Teacher Appreciation Month. The daily tours last about an hour and depart at 9, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., as well as 1:30 p.m. and include free admission to the Canal Interpretive Center Reservations suggested. Call 706-823-0440, ext. 4, or visit augustacanal.com.

Wii Bowling for Adults is every Monday in July at 6 p.m. at the Columbia County Library. Call 706-863-1946 or visit ecgrl.org.

Kids

Safe Sitter, a class for those ages 11-13, is Thursday, July 12, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Doctors Hospital.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-651-4343 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

American Red Cross Babysitter’s Training, for those ages 11-15, is Thursday, July 12, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. $30; pre-registration required. Call 800-322-8322 or visit aikenregional.com.

Simply Science, a hands-on program for those ages 5 and up, is Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m. at Reed Creek Park. Children must be accompanied by an adult and pre-registration is required. Free, members; $2 per child, non-members. Call 706-210-4027 or visit reedcreekpark.com.

Native American Tales, part of the What’s in the Box? series, is Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m. at the Morris Museum of Art. Museum family members and parents, free; non-members, $4. Pre-registration required. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

Story Time @HQ is Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Jazz 4 Kids, an interactive class for those ages 5-10 is Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m. at Friedman Branch Library and features the book “When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat.� Pre-registration required. Call 706736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org. “Chicken Little,� a Porkchop Production, shows for ages 4-12 at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library on Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

13, at the Headquarters Branch Library, with practice from 1-3 p.m. and the tournament from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Snacks provided during the tournament. Call 706821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Live Action Candyland, a program for those ages 4-12, is Friday, July 13, at 3 p.m. at North Augusta’s Nancy Carson Library. Pre-registration required. Call 803279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Teen Night, featuring dinner, an age-appropriate movie and more, is Friday, July 13, from 6-10 p.m. at the Kroc Center. $10, members; $15, non-members. Call 706364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Camp Be Your Best, fun, interactive experience for girls ages 11-18 hosted by Cher’s Sisters Only Club, is Saturday, July 14, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in Aiken. It includes hands-on activities, guest speakers, and all meals. Visit 963kissfm.com.

Safe Sitter, a class for those ages 11-13, is Saturday, July 14, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Doctors Hospital.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-651-4343 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

Home Alone, a class for children ages 8-11 in which participants learn how to take care of themselves, handle emergencies and more, is Saturday, July 14, from 9 a.m.-noon at Aiken Regional Medical Center. $10. Pre-registration required. Call 800-322-8322 or visit aikenregional.com.

Growing Boys, a class on the pre-adolescent years from boys ages 9-12 and their fathers, is Saturday, July 14, from 9:30 a.m.-noon at Trinity Hospital of Augusta. $10. Pre-registration required. Call 706-481-7604 or visit trinityofaugusta.com.

You’re a Big Girl Now, a class on puberty for girls ages 9-12 along with their mothers, is Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m.-noon at Doctors Hospital.

Pre-registration required. Call 706-651-4343 or visit doctors-hospital.net.

Author Story Time with Carmen Deedy is Saturday, July 14, at 10:30 a.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library.

Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Craft Program with the Embroiderers Guild of Augusta is Saturday, July 14, from 2-4 p.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. For those ages 8-12, this program requires pre-registration. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Story Time with Carmen Deedy, author of “The Library Dragon,� is Saturday, July 14, at 2 p.m. at the Appleby Branch Library. Call 706-736-6244 or visit ecgrl.org.

Parent’s Night Out at the Marshall Family Y and the Family Y of North Augusta are Saturday, July 14, from 6-9:30 p.m. For those ages 2-12 years, the event is $12 for members and $20 for non-members. Preregistration required. Visit thefamilyy.org.

Portman’s Rock Band Concert is Thursday, July 12, at 3 p.m. at the Columbia County Library. Call 706-8631946 or visit ecgrl.org.

Summer Music Workshop, hosted by Creative Impressions, is July 16-20 from 8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on Lumpkin Road. For those ages 13-18 who like to sing, dance or perform. $60; pre-registration required. Call 706-589-8214 or 706-664-9022.

The Zombie Games, a young adult program in which participants will test their survival skills, is Thursday, July 12, at 4 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library. Call 803642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

TV and Film Summer Camp, for those ages 8-17, is July 16-20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Paine College. $100; pre-registration required. Call 706-631-1981 or visit georgiafabulousevents.com/upcomingevents.html.

Bricks-4-Kidz with Jeremiah Griffin is Friday, July 13, at 10 a.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Call 706821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Scholarships available for the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Arts Summer Arts Camps on July 16-23.

Open to children ages 5-11, full and partial tuition scholarship are available, and those interested can call or visit the GHIA to request a scholarship application.

Call 706-722-5495 or visit ghia.org.

Anna Moo, an award-winning songwriter and entertainer, appears Friday, July 13, at 10 a.m. at the Maxwell Branch Library. Call 706-793-2020 or visit ecgrl.org.

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Just Dance Competition, for those ages 12-18, is Monday, July 16, with practice from 3-5 p.m. and the program from

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5-7 p.m. Call 706-736-6244 or visit ecgrl.org.

Night Visitors, a story and craft program for those ages 3-5, is Monday, July 16, from 3-4 p.m. at the Maxwell Branch Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-793-2020 or visit ecgrl.org.

Jazz 4 Kids, an interactive class for those ages 5-10 is Tuesday, July 17, at 10 a.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library and features the book “Charlie Parker Played Be Bop.” Pre-registration required. Call 706772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

Reed Creek Park Nature Program with Hands-On Science Activity is Tuesday, July 17, at 10 a.m. at the Friedman Branch Library. Call 706-736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org.

No Snow Globes, a teen craft workshop in which materials are provided, is Tuesday, July 17, at 2 p.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

Manga Club, a teen program in which supplies are provided, meets Tuesday, July 17, at 4 p.m. at the Columbia County Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-447-7660 or visit ecgrl.org.

When I Grow Up Program is Wednesday, July 18, at 10 a.m. at the Maxwell Branch Library. Call 706-793-2020 or visit ecgrl.org.

Sing Along with Tara Scheyer is Wednesday, July 18, at 10:30 a.m. at the Appleby Branch Library. Call 706736-6244 or visit ecgrl.org.

Comedy, Puppet and Magic Show with Sarah Dippity is Wednesday, July 18, at 10:30 a.m. at North Augusta’s

Nancy Carson Library. Call 803-279-5767 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Just Dance Gaming Competition, for those in grades 6-12, is Wednesday, July 18, with practice from 1-3 p.m., and the competition from 3-5 p.m. Pre-registration required. Call 706-736-6758 or visit ecgrl.org.

Self Defense for Teens is Wednesday, July 18, at 2 p.m. at the Columbia County Library. Pre-registration required. Call 706-447-7660 or visit ecgrl.org.

“Chicken Little,” a Porkchop Productions presentation, shows at the Aiken Public Library Wednesday, July 18, at 2 and 3 p.m. Call 803-642-2023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Reptile Show with the Savannah River Ecology Lab is Wednesday, July 18, at 2:30 p.m. at the Harlem Branch Library. Call 706-556-9795 or visit ecgrl.org.

Bricks 4 Kidz is Wednesday, July 18, at 2:30 p.m. at the Euchee Creek Branch Library. Call 706-556-0594 or visit ecgrl.org.

Teen You Pick It Movie shows Wednesday, July 18, at 6 p.m. at the Diamond Lakes Branch Library. Participants can bring their own snacks. Call 706-772-2432 or visit ecgrl.org.

Story Time with Eileen McCoy is Thursday, July 19, at 10 a.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Call 706821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

“The Magic School Bus Space Adventure,” a movie for those ages 6-10, shows Thursday, July 19, at 11 a.m. at the Appleby Branch Library. Call 706-736-6244 or visit ecgrl.org.

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Abstract Painting, a young adult program led by artist Jeanine Rodriguez, is Thursday, July 19, at 4 p.m. at the Aiken Public Library. Participants should bring a photo of something they want to paint and wear clothes they don’t mind getting dirty. Call 803-6422023 or visit abbe-lib.org.

Seniors

Just Dance Tournament Grand Finale for Young Adults is Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. at the Headquarters Branch Library. Winner will receive a $100 prize. Call 706-821-2600 or visit ecgrl.org.

Hobbies

Kroc Tots Activity Hour, featuring story time, crafts and more, is every Friday at 9 a.m. at the Kroc Center.

Free, members; $1, non-members. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

CSRA Writers will meet Monday, July 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Georgia Military College on Davis Road. Writers needing a support group are invited to attend and bring 10 copies of a manuscript to be critiqued. Call 706-836-7315.

Free Junior Fitness Class, for those ages 7-12, meets Sundays at 3 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. at the Kroc Center. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Spiritual

In My Backyard shows Saturdays in July at 8 p.m. and Digistar Laser Fantasy shows Saturdays in July at 9 p.m. at the DuPont Planetarium in Aiken. Digistar shows are $5.50, adults; $4.50, seniors; $3.50, 4K-12the grade students; $1, USC-A students, faculty and staff. General shows are $4.50, adults; $3.50, seniors; $2.50, 4K-12th grade students; and $1, USC-A students, faculty and staff. Call 803-641-3654 or visit http://rpsec.usca.edu/planetarium.

Zumbatonic, a Zumba class for kids, meets Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. at the Kroc Center. Call 706364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Wacky Wednesday Story Time is each Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the children’s department of Barnes and Noble in the Augusta Mall. Call 706-737-0012 or visit bn.com.

Recognizing and Responding to Signs of Caregiver Depression, a seminar from the CSRA Area Agency on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association, is Tuesday, July 17, at 2 p.m. at the Kroc Center. Pre-registration required. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Chess Club meets Thursdays, July 12, 19 and 26, at 11:30 a.m. at the Kroc Center. Free; for those of all skill levels. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

Bible Teaching Seminar, featuring the topic the covenant renewed in Moab, is Thursday, July 12, from noon-1 p.m. at Friedman Branch Library. Participants should bring their Bibles. Visit donaldsao.com.

Fully Persuaded, the second annual Sanctified Diva Conference, is Thursday-Friday, July 12-13, at 7 p.m. at New Life Worship Center in Hephzibah. Danielle Harris is the host of the conference, which is free and open to the public. Call 706-796-7880 or visit newlifeworshipcenter.org.

The Philosophy Club meets Wednesday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. at the Kroc Center. Free. Call 706-364-5762 or visit krocaugusta.org.

If you would like to see your organization’s events listed in our calendar, please email Amy Christian at amy@themetrospirit.com. The deadline for each Thursday’s issue is the previous Friday at noon.

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JENNY IS WRIGHT Mind Your Own Business!

Nothing says “It’s holiday time” like a family argument, right? Boy did we have one this Independence Day. It’s not what you think, though. I didn’t have anything to do with it, and we didn’t fight with each other. I observed from afar, and we all learned that our new neighbors just might be crazy.

Here’s a little background. We’ve had the lake house for about 14 years.

Like everyone else on our cove, we have dogs who like to swim. Everyone lets their dogs run and roam (ours are all spayed and neutered and wear collars that prove that vaccines are up to date). None cause problems. We let them be dogs. They don’t go too far, and they swim as they please. All of the family dogs are good swimmers, too. Lizzy even dives, face-first, for rocks and brings them to the shore. She does it again and again, as if she’s doing us all a favor.

We let her. She also loves to swim out after our boat any time we go on a human-only ride. She paddles behind us, staying clear of the motor, until she gets tired and heads to the nearest shore, all the while, still in our cove. She takes the land route back to our dock where she sits and waits for us to return.

Other cove dwellers told us so.

We were headed out of the cove with Lizzy following. The Boy wanted to learn to ski, and there wasn’t room on the boat for a dog. She seemed a little more determined than usual, but we knew she’d be fine. She always was. Our new-ish next-door neighbors started yelling at us, asking if we wanted them to get her. The Man assured them that she was fine but, before we left the cove, they were in the water “rescuing her.” Whatever. If they want to bring her back to shore, so be it. We continued on our ride.

A couple of hours later we returned, only to find our dog tied, with a six-foot rope, to a tree in the middle of the neighbors’ yard. She is under

very good vocal command and has never been tied to anything. She is on a leash when necessary, but she stays with us wherever we go. She was yelping and it was hot.

The Man untied her, promising us that he would have a few words with the neighbors when they returned. He was the best person for the job, as he’d be direct but nice, and he’d definitely make his point. It’s his craft.

The neighbors (and their guests) did return, but not without incident.

When they came back (via boat), The Boy was swimming in the cove. He was wearing a bright red and yellow life jacket, and was in between his dad and his grandmother (on a kayak), who were 100 feet apart, at the most. He was headed out to the kayak. They headed towards The Boy, only turning at the last minute, clearly trying to make a point. As they motored by, one girl screamed, “You need to take care of your sh*t. Take care of your sh*t!” How ladylike.

As soon as they parked their boat, the Neighbors’ Guests (NG) ran over to our dock. The Man met them at the walkway, shaking their hands and introducing himself. They insisted they saved our dog’s life. The Man insisted that, while he was grateful for their concern, she was fine and an excellent swimmer. NG started screaming, including many expletives. Did I mention that my children were present? Oh, and so were my in-laws.

Meanwhile, I’m up at the house and I hear my normally quiet mother in law yell, “I am asking you to leave!” I don’t know about you, but it wouldn’t matter if I was fighting for the last drop of water in a drought. If a grownup lady came over and asked me to leave, I’d politely say “Yes Ma’am” and walk away. End of story.

Not the NG. At this point, they have been asked to leave our property numerous times, and now they’re bowing up to The Man (on our dock), accusing him of not only trying to drown his dog, but of being an irresponsible father. Yeah. It takes a lot to rile him up, but don’t go talking about his wife, his Mama, his dog or his kids. They finally started to retreat, yelling the whole way back to their own dock.

It’s too late to make a long story short, but I’ll try to wrap it up. We have peacefully gone to the lake for over a decade, doing the same things without incident. These folks move in and rudely (and with attitude! And cuss words!) try to get us to change it. I’m not planning on taking parenting advice from kidless kids. None of us are planning on taking any advice from people who put their dog in a life jacket. Oh, I didn’t tell you that? They have a Boykin Spaniel (a very proficient swimmer) and it wears a life jacket. Their other dogs, when outside, stay tied up on the tiny front porch of their house.

I feel bad for their dogs, but I’m not going to intervene unless the dogs are being harmed. You see, it’s not my business. We will continue to go to our house, enjoying it as we have for all of these years. As usual, we promise to keep an eye on our dogs. I just hope they don’t tie up our kids.

JENNYWRIGHT lives in Summerville with her husband, who she calls The Man, and two kids, who she affectionately calls The Boy and The Girl. She enjoys taking photos, cooking and playing tennis.

12JULY2012

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IN MUSIC

Sometimes, Bad Things Happen

Just when you thought you were going to have a nice quiet evening with a local band downtown for First Friday, someone spoils the party by shooting people. This past Friday’s post 4th of July fireworks has Augusta in turmoil over switching First Friday to a new night, or even cancelling it altogether. I’m not going to spend too much time on this subject because, honestly, I think it’s an easy fix.

Unfortunately we live in a world where people shoot each other. It sucks, but whether it’s Friday or Saturday, people shoot people. Whether it’s day or night, people shoot people. The only thing that we can try and do is make our streets safer. And this doesn’t mean that the businesses downtown need to pay for more security. That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard our sheriff say in a long time. This means to have more police in the right areas.

In all honesty, I don’t claim to have the answers, but I know switching the night or even cancelling it won’t stop crime in our city. See you guys downtown for next month’s First Friday.

You should definitely get excited for next month’s first Saturday. Foxy Shazam has just been confirmed at Sky City, Saturday, August 4, with special guests Stars in Stereo.

Foxy Shazam is getting a big name around the country for the party like atmosphere and the lead singer’s “Freddy Mercury like” appearance. This show is only $5, which is crazy! Buy your tickets now at skycityaugusta.com.

Even with the passing of Coachella, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo, the summer festival season is in full swing, so here is the low down on all the festivals coming our way. And by “our way” I mean within reasonable driving distance.

If you enjoy making your ears bleed in the sense of loudness, the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival is in Atlanta this Saturday, July 14. This year’s lineup includes Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax and a lot of other bands that enjoy wearing black.

Warped Tour will be in Atlanta on July 26. If you are unfamiliar with this festival, well that just means that you are over the age of 25. I kid, I kid. This year’s Warped Tour features The Used, Rise Against, Yellowcard, New Found Glory and more. So maybe I wasn’t kidding.

Thanks to Google, I found the Famously Hot Music Festival in Columbia, South Carolina. The three-day festival kicks off on August 24. Saturday features the most wellknown acts with Collective Soul, Buckcherry, Filter, Seven Mary Three and Eve 6. For only $25, I’ll take it.

For me, I’m probably most excited about Music Midtown. Atlanta is trying to make a comeback with the festival and make it a staple in the Southeast, like Bonnaroo. Even though Atlanta has a long way to go to hit that mark, this year they are bringing in the big “rock” guns with Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam. Not only the rock acts, the rap/hiphop acts as well. T.I. and Ludacris are also featured for the two-day festival. Get all the details, along with ticket prices, at musicmidtown.com.

If you’re up for making a couple of road trips, there are still two of the biggest festivals in the U.S. on the way this year. First up: Lollapalooza in Chicago, August 3-5. This year’s lineup isn’t that big, just The Black Keys, Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Sabbath and about 100 other bands. Next: Austin City Limits, October 12-14.

Funny enough, almost the same headliners as Lollapalooza: The Black Keys, Jack White, the Chili Peppers, but Austin City Limits wins this battle with the addition of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Good luck getting tickets; this festival is officially sold out.

Here’s one plug for new music. Released on Tuesday, check out the new single from The Killers called “Runaways.” Very Bruce Springsteen of the band.

What shows are coming to Augusta? Where can I go and not get shot?

Email me at matt@themetrospirit.com.

MATTSTONE can be heard weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 95 Rock.

28 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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Thursday, July 12 Live Music

French Market Grille West - Doc Easton Joe’s Underground - Jeff Johnston Malibu Jack’s - Granny’s Gin Maude Edenfield Park - Split Rail Mellow Mushroom (Downtown and Evans) - Live and Local Polo Tavern - Dennis & Misty Sky City - The Radar Cinema Somewhere in Augusta - County Line Surrey Tavern - Betsy Franck Wild Wing - False Flag The Willcox - Classic Jazz

What’s Tonight?

Casa Blanca - Thursday Tango Club Argos - Karaoke Cocktails Lounge - Karaoke Coyote’s - Karaoke Fishbowl Lounge - Karaoke Fox’s Lair - Soup, Suds & Conversations Helga’s Pub & Grille - Trivia The Highlander - Butt Naked Trivia The Loft - Karaoke The Playground - Open Mic Malibu Jack’s - Sports Trivia with Mike Thomas Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Evans) - Karaoke The Playground - Open Mic with Brandy Shannon’s - Karaoke Soul Bar - Boom Box Dance Party Villa Europa - Karaoke Wooden Barrel - ’80s Night Karaoke

Friday, July 13 Live Music

1102 - Granny’s Gin Carolina Ale House - Connor Pledger Cotton Patch - Keith Gregory Country Club - Larry Frick Coyote’s - Govt Plant Doubletree - Classic Jazz The First Round - The Dubber Fox’s Lair - Roger Enevoldsen French Market Grille West - Doc Easton Joe’s Underground - Nikki Talley Lady Antebellum Amphitheatre - The Tams, Swingin Medallions, Drifters Midtown Lounge - The Suex Effect PI Bar & Grill - Jazz Duo The Playground - Stoney Cannon, G-City Rockers, Stillview Polo Tavern - John Kolbeck Band Somewhere in Augusta - Joe Stevenson Stillwater Tap Room - The Burning Angels Surrey Tavern - Ke-Ju, Perfect Picture Wild Wing - D.B. Bryant Band

What’s Tonight?

Cocktails Lounge - Grown-Up Fridays with DJ Cork and Bull Pub - Karaoke Eagle’s Nest - Free Salsa Lessons First Round - DJ Kris Fisher

Fishbowl Lounge - Karaoke Iron Horse Bar & Grill - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Karaoke with Ryan Moseley Mi Rancho (Washington Road) - Karaoke with Jeff Barnes Mi Rancho (Clearwater) - Three J’s Karaoke Ms. Carolyn’s - Karaoke Palmetto Tavern - DJ Tim Rebeck’s Hideaway - Open Mic Roadrunner Cafe - Karaoke with Steve Chappel Sky City - Hear No Evil, DJ Fugi, DJ Rana, DJ Jeff Edwards Soul Bar - ’80s Night Wheels - Live DJ Wooden Barrel - Karaoke Contest

Saturday, July 14 Live Music

1102 - The Unmentionables The Acoustic Coffeehouse - Open Acoustic Jam Session with Eryn Eubanks and the Family Fold Cotton Patch - Riley Williams, Shane Davis Country Club - Ross Coppley Coyote’s - Govt Plant Fox’s Lair - Jerod Gay Iron Horse Bar and Grill - John Berret’s LaRoxes Joe’s Underground - Atom Blondes P.I. Bar and Grill - Not Gaddy Jazz with Pam Bowman Polo Tavern - McKinley Band Somewhere in Augusta - Amerson Surrey Tavern - Tony Williams and the Blues Express Wild Wing - Brantley

What’s Tonight?

Club Argos - Leather & Lace Rock N Roll Cocktails Lounge - Latin Night Fishbowl Lounge - Karaoke Fox’s Lair - Karaoke with Mario and Birkie Helga’s Pub & Grille - Trivia The Loft - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Karaoke with Rockin Rob Mi Rancho (Clearwater) - Karaoke with Danny Haywood Mi Rancho (Washington Road) - Karaoke Ms. Carolyn’s - Karaoke Robbie’s - Saturday Night Dance Party Sky City - ’90s Night Wheels - Live DJ Wooden Barrel - Kamikaze Karaoke

Sunday, July 15 Live Music

5 O’Clock Bistro - Buzz and Candice (brunch) 8th Street Riverfront Stage - Rob Nordan Jazz, Sounds Unlimited The Cotton Patch - Keith Gregory (brunch) Patridge Inn - Sunday Evening Jazz w/ the Not Gaddy Jazz Trio The Willcox - Jazz Jam Session Wild Wing - Brandon Hooker Duo

What’s Tonight?

Caribbean Soul - Love Jones Sundays Malibu Jack’s - Karaoke with Mike Swift

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Asheville, North Carolina’s Nikki Talley visits Augusta for a show at Joe’s Underground Friday, July 13. Call 706-724-9457 or visit nikkitalley.com.

Mi Rancho (Downtown) Karaoke Mi Rancho (Washington Road) Karaoke, Salsa Dancing Shannon’s - Karaoke with Peggy Gardner

Monday, July 16 Live Music

Shannon’s - Open Mic Night

What’s Tonight?

Applebee’s (Evans) - Trivia Club Argos - Karaoke Malibu Jack’s - Trivia with Mike Thomas Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Trivia with Mike Thomas Somewhere In Augusta - Poker Tournaments Wild Wing - Trivia

Tuesday, July 17 Live Music

The First Round - Stoney Cannon The Fox’s Lair - John Fisher The Highlander - Open Mic Night Joe’s Underground - Happy Bones Soul Bar - Koko Beware, Beach Day Wild Wing - Sabo & Dave The Willcox - Piano Jazz

What’s Tonight?

What’s Tonight?

Club Argos - Karaoke Fishbowl Lounge - Dart League Laura’s Backyard Tavern - Karaoke w/ David Doane Malibu Jack’s - Karaoke with Denny Mellow Mushroom (Downtown and Evans) - Trivia The Playground - Truly Twisted Trivia with Big Troy Polo Tavern - Karaoke w/ Joe Caudle Shannon’s - Karaoke with Mike Johnson Somewhere In Augusta - Big Prize Trivia

Wednesday, July 18 Live Music

The First Round - Blitzkid Hopelands Gardens - Doug and The Henrys Joe’s Underground - Kathleen Turner Overdrive Wild Wing - Justin Brogdon

Club Argos - Santoni’s Satin Dolls Cocktails Lounge - Augusta’s Got Talent Cotton Patch - Trivia and Tunes Hotel Aiken - Karaoke w/ Tom Mitchell Laura’s Backyard Tavern - Karaoke w/ David Doane The Loft - Karaoke Malibu Jack’s - DJ Mike Swift Midtown Lounge - Karaoke w/ Charles O’Byrne Mi Rancho (Downtown) - Karaoke Mi Rancho (Washington Road) - Karaoke with Rockin’ Rob The Playground - Krazy Karaoke with Big Troy Polo Tavern - Karaoke w/ Tom Mitchell Somewhere in Augusta - Comedy Zone w/ James Sibley

Upcoming

Preston and Weston - Maude Edenfield Park July 19 Concrete Jumpsuit - Surrey Tavern - July 19 Old Man Crazy - Polo Tavern July 19

201 Shartom Drive Augusta

(behind Applebee’s on Washington Rd.)

Hoagie | Steak Sandwiches | Chicken Steak Sandwiches | Italian Beef | Italian Sausages | Chicken Kabobs 12JULY2012

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Michael Johnson

mejphoto.photoreflect.com

Christine and Brent Lake with Katie Daley at the Partridge Inn

SIGHTINGS

Thomas and Terri Grant with Brandi and Jason Richards at the Library

Jessica Blair, Rachal Fairburn and Nicole Whitfield at the Library

SIGHTINGS

Mitchell Gilbert, Brittany Henning, Anna Jackson and John Christian at Robbie’s Sports Bar

Kristen Zubel, Brett Buffington, Courtney Tolbert and Taylor Carrington at the County Club

SIGHTINGS

Jill Nation, Chris Jameson and Tiffany Huntoon at the County Club

30 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

Mike Myers, Mary Key Stephens and Rhonda Hall at 1102 Downtown

Cherelle Norman, Jason Bonds with Cherly and Larry Sanders at 1102 Downtown

Michael Johnson

mejphoto.photoreflect.com

Lauren Hollis, Mirenda Petrea, Mel Overstreet and Amy Grier at the Metro Coffee House

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THE

BOX TOPS

If this keeps happening, we can expect a “new” Spider-Man every year or so.

EIGHT

RANK

TITLE

WEEKEND GROSS

TOTAL GROSS

WEEK #

LAST WEEK

1

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

$62,004,688

$137,022,258

1

-

2

TED

$32,202,395

$119,849,740

2

1

3

BRAVE

$19,612,370

$173,969,341

3

3

4

SAVAGES

$16,016,910

$16,016,910

1

-

5

MAGIC MIKE

$15,642,337

$72,829,107

2

2

“The Amazing Spider-Man”

SAMEIFLING

Don’t worry… we won’t give away the ending “The Amazing Spider-Man” might be the movie most difficult to spoil, ever. In second place, “The Ten Commandments.” The last and the next iterations of “Romeo and Juliet.” Maybe that odious “Cat in the Hat” debacle of a few years ago. We’ve moved into the realm of canonical source material that simply cannot be over-shared.

Call it a reboot if you want; fact is “The Amazing Spider-Man” can’t help but be a retread when a movie called “Spider-Man,” which featured many of the same characters along much of the same storyline, came out just 10 years ago. Two sequels followed. They got a little shrill. Sam Raimi, who directed those three movies, stepped off the carousel that would’ve led to three more sequels. Sony retreated again to the first chapter of the Book of Arachne.

Now kids who were 4 when “Spider-Man” landed and who’ve been gorged on syndicated Spidey cartoons are of prime “Amazing Spider-Man” age. For everyone else, it’s the same hymn, different key. Moses splits the Red Sea, Juliet stabs herself, Spider-Man saves the day, now and evermore.

Since Spider-Man debuted in 1962, you’ve come to know this tale. Boy meets girl. Spider meets boy. Boy’s uncle gets shot. Boy develops superpowers and a vigilante streak, dons skintight costume and swings on webs through the avenues of New York as Tarzan might commute vine-to-vine.

If this hoary fable is your jam then familiarity be damned — this is a shipshape version of the Ol’ Web-slinger’s origins. The gonzo horror auteur Raimi has been downgraded to a director named Marc Webb, whose bona fides (other than his surname) include “500 Days of Summer” and Green Day videos. Otherwise this baby carries some notable upgrades.

For starters Andrew Garfield plays the dynamic, cocksure Peter Parker that Tobey Maguire never quite mustered. Nearly 29, Garfield is two years older even than Maguire was at Spider-Man’s release — yet he cuts the more convincing teenager, fidgeting, mumbling, shuffling through the hallways of his high school. He also has better chemistry with Emma Stone (as Gwen Stacy) than Maguire had with Kirsten Dunst (as Mary Jane Watson).

The Stacy character is more fun anyhow. She’s a fearless science nerd with a cop dad (Dennis Leary — don’t get too attached) and somewhat more to do than Mary Jane was up to by “Spider-Man 3,” in which she seemed mostly to shriek as Venom dandled her off the side of a skyscraper. Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Peter’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May are warm and believable. Stan Lee’s cameo might be the best of any Marvel movie yet.

Spidey’s foil here is a villain called the Lizard, a burly, brilliant dinosaur-like beast that results when Peter’s missing dad’s former partner, a geneticist named Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), shoots himself up with a serum intended to graft reptile DNA onto his own. Naturally there’s a valid scientific reason why a respected researcher would subject himself to a highly volatile experimental mutagen in a late-night haste. Why, it’s so obvious we don’t even need to dwell on it. Besides, if that strikes you as implausible, just wait for the sequences in which Peter uses Bing to find quick, accurate search results.

Will anything here astonish or inspire? Aside from the first-person vantage shots that made the trailers so striking, “The Amazing Spider-Man” won’t break much ground for older fans. (That is, anyone old enough ever to have smoked a cigarette.) Marvel identified this problem with its comics canon recently and in response created an entire parallel universe last year. SpiderMan didn’t emerge from that overhaul as a lanky, tousle-haired white dude.

Instead, Peter Parker got whacked by the Green Goblin and was replaced by Miles Morales, a half-Hispanic, half-black kid from the Bronx.

Earlier, when Marvel set a line of comics in 2099, it was a buff Latino named Miguel O’Hara who adopted Spider-Man’s identity. Nothing against Garfield and Stone, but it’s hard to see marginal improvements on existing characters as more than an opportunity lost. This “Spider-Man” could’ve looked 87 years to the future. Instead, it rehashes a vision now 50 years old.

THE8ERS Movie times are subject to change.

The Big Mo

Gates open at 7 p.m.; shows begin at 8:30 p.m. (approximately)

July 13-14 Field 1: Ice Age: Continental Drift (PG) and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (PG); Field 2: The Amazing Spider-Man (PG-13) and Men in Black III (PG-13); Field 3: Ted (R) and Magic Mike (R).

Masters 7 Cinemas

July 13-14 Battleship (PG-13) 1:15, 4, 7, 9:40; What to Expect When You’re Expecting (PG-13) 1:30, 4:15, 7:15, 9:50; The Dictator (R) 1, 3, 5:15, 7:45, 10; Dark Shadows (PG-13)

32 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50; The Pirates! Band of Misfits (PG) 12:45, 2:45, 4:45, 7:30, 9:30; Chimpanzee (G) 12:45, 3, 5; Think Like a Man (PG-13) 1:30, 4, 6:45, 9:30; The Cabin in the Woods (R) 7:45, 10

9:55; Brave (PG) 12:20, 2:40, 5, 7:25, 9:50; Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (PG) 12:15, 2:30, 4:45, 7; Snow White and the Huntsman (PG-13) 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:40; The Avengers (PG-13) 2:30, 5:30, 8:30

Evans Cinemas

Regal Exchange 20

July 13-14 Ice Age: Continental Drift (PG) 12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30, 9:55; Savages (R) 12:50, 3:50, 6:50, 9:50; Katy Perry: Part of Me (PG) noon, 2:25, 4:55, 7:20; The Amazing Spider-Man (PG-13: 12:30, 12:45, 1:30, 3:45, 4, 4:45, 7, 7:15, 8, 9:30, 9:45; Magic Mike (R) 1, 4:10, 7:25, 10; People Like Us (PG-13) noon; Ted (R) 12:10, 2:40, 5:05, 7:35, 10:05; Madea’s Witness Protection (PG-13) 1:15, 4:20, 7:10,

July 13-14 Ice Age: Continental Drift (PG) 10, 10:30, 11:15, 11:50, 12:20, 12:50, 1:45, 2:15, 2:35, 3:10, 4:10, 4:40, 5, 5:30, 7:15, 7:45, 8:15, 9:40, 10:10, 10:40, 12:05, 12:30; Savages (R) 10:35, 1:30, 4:30, 7:25, 10:20, 1:10; Katy Perry: Part of Me (PG) 11:30, 2, 4:40, 7:10, 9:30, 11:55; The Amazing Spider-Man (PG-13) 10, 10:15, 12:40, 1:05, 1:25, 3:50, 4:15, 4:30, 7, 7:20,

7:40, 8, 10:10, 10:25, 10:40, 11:05, 12:35, 1, 1:15; Magic Mike (R) 11:40, 2:20, 4:50, 7:30, 10:15, 12:45; People Like Us (PG-13) 9:45; Ted (R) 11:45, 12:15, 2:15, 2:45, 4:45, 5:15, 7:15, 7:45, 9:45, 10:15, 12:15, 12:45; Madea’s Witness Protection (PG-13) 11:05, 11:25, 1:45, 2:05, 4:25, 4:45, 7:05, 7:25, 10:05, 12:30; Abrahm Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (R) 7:35, 10:05, 12:35; Brave (PG) 10:05, 11:20, 1:50, 2:50, 4:35, 7:30, 8:10, 10; Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (PG) 11, 12:35, 2:05, 4:20, 5:25, 10:45; Prometheus (R) 1:40, 5, 7:35, 10:50; Moonrise Kingdom (PG-13) 11, 1:20, 5:15, 8:20, 10:45; The Avengers (PG-13) 10:15, 10:30, 1:35, 4:25, 7:45, 10:20

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FAMILY

“Ice Age: Continental Drift,” rated PG, starring the voices of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Aziz Ansari, Nicky Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg, Patrick Stewart. This is the fourth movie about Manny, Diego and Sid. And while we’ll never get tired of Scrat and that damned acorn, honestly, at this point, we’re just watching to see whose voices we recognize. There are too many to list at this point.

WERECOMMEND

“The Usual Suspects”

“The Usual Suspects” is the perfect rental, mainly for the rewind button. The movie opens with a large fire on a ship docked in San Pedro, California, and follows the interview of eyewitness Roger “Verbal” Kint, a small-time con man and one of the only two survivors. The other is a hospitalized Hungarian criminal and crewman. As Verbal Kent talks with FBI Agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito), his story plays out in flashbacks through his convoluted account of how he and four other criminals were commissioned for a drug money heist by crime lord Keyser Söze, a Turkey native. With its surprise ending, this 1995 film beat out four others for Best Writing (Original Screenplay), including that year’s Best Picture, “Braveheart,” as well as the original “Toy Story.” For his role as Verbal Kint, Kevin Spacey won his first Oscar (Best Supporting Actor). Pay attention; this is a good one. — Laura Perry

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CUISINE SCENE

AMYCHRISTIAN

Dream Realized Andrew Crumrine celebrates four years on the Hill

When Andrew Crumrine was seven years old, he made breakfast for his parents one morning and served it to them in bed. And that was it.

“I don’t know, it was like a light went off. I made my parents breakfast in bed and that was it,” he said. “Both my parents cooked. It was an event in my house and we always had family dinner. And I just always loved doing it, was always passionate about it.”

Similarly, Crumrine knew at a very young age that he wanted to own his own restaurant and was constantly working toward that goal, whether it was getting a degree from the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont or working as a chef in one of the many restaurants in Atlanta and Augusta that are on his resume. Thanks to those experiences and the help of his mentor, Pullman Hall and TakoSushi owner Kevin Goldsmith, Crumrine felt he had the cooking part of the restaurant business down pat. It wasn’t until he worked for Jan and Tricie Scholer and Wild Wing Cafe in Augusta, however, that he completed the work that he needed to do.

“They are great people and they gave me a nice break,” Crumrine says of the Scholers. “It’s hard to make the leap from a chef going into management, so they gave me a nice break.”

In 2008, Crumrine, encouraged by his wife Jennifer, decided to make the leap and bought the building that had formerly been the home of Le Cafe duTeau. What had been one of the most famous restaurants in Augusta became Crums on Central, although what it was when Crumrine opened in June of 2008 was very different from what he had originally envisioned.

“I probably wanted to do an Italian restaurant more than anything, but that’s not how it fell together,” he said. “My original menu that I wrote was Italian, but it evolved. I still love Italian; it’s one of my favorite cuisines.”

FAMILY

Smokin’

FUNDAY ADMISSION IS FREE

GREUBEL’S MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

34 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

In fact, he and Crums General Manager Brett Prichard recently looked into opening an Italian restaurant in Evans.

“We came pretty close to pulling the trigger, but something didn’t quite feel right,” he said. “It’s hard to open up another restaurant right now, immersed in this one as we are. We’ve had four years of hanging in the balance and we’re doing well, but every time we get some money, it goes back into this place… as it should.”

Crumrine’s jitters about a new venture are understandable. After all, when he opened his first restaurant — a life-long dream, mind you — bad things happened.

“We opened and directly after opening, the gas shortage hit because of the refineries in Texas and the hurricane,” he remembered. “And then right after that the economy tanked, so that was kind of nice.”

So what was a novice restaurateur to do?

“You learn how to run a restaurant real fast… or you try to anyway,” he laughed.

“You start watching your costs, but that’s something everybody’s got to do.”

It helped that Crums on Central already had a well-known and well-loved location.

Even more, however, it was — and is — the food, which Crumrine describes as “eclectic southern.”

Currently in the middle of revamping the menu for the fourth time, Crums’ current

SATURDAY, JULY 14TH

2917 RIVERWEST DR. | AUGUSTA | CALL NOW TO BE PUT ON THE LIST! (706) 737-0911

4PM

face painting | balloon tying | relay races | free academy tours boxing matches (w/ inflatable gloves)

7PM

Smoker Fights

(amateur Martial Arts fights, which are also family friendly) 12JULY2012

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menu features brunch, lunch and dinner items that incorporate southern staples into a wide range of dishes. Wood-fired pizzas, for instance, may come topped with pulled pork or squash casserole.

Oriental Tuna is served over grits.

Deviled eggs grace the starter menu, chipotle peppers making the chicken wings spicy and many of the meats are cooked on a Big Green Egg. Difficult economic times haven’t been that bad for Crumrine and company, who are still shopping around for a Columbia County location, have an onand off-site catering business that’s doing well and who are trying to get their food truck operation off the ground. Currently used for off-site catering, Crumrine said figuring out a game place for the hightech vehicle is his next order of business.

“We’re 100 percent legal by Augusta code at this point, it’s just finding the right time to put it on the street that’s the kicker,” he explained. “It’s got as much equipment in it as the restaurant.

Actually, it’s got more. It’s got a flat top and we don’t have a flat top in the restaurant. Isn’t that crazy?”

With all these expansion and improvement plans, Crums fans may be surprised to learn that Crumrine is spending less time in the kitchen. He’s surrounded himself with people like Prichard and a new chef, both of whom he trusts.

“I definitely still put my two cents in and put my time in the kitchen, but I have a little boy and a wife and this restaurant, any restaurant, this business, will eat your personal life,” he explained.

“I can’t get a two-year-old back to being a two-year-old.”

Smiling, he adds while pointing around him, “My four-year-old has done pretty good, though.”

Crums on Central 1855 Central Avenue Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.-until 706-729-6969 crumsoncentral.com

12JULY2012

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Let’s hypothesize that there are two different kinds of freedom to pursue. One is simplistic and sterile, while the other is colorful and fertile. The first is characterized by absence or emptiness, and the second is full of rich information and stimulating experiences. Is there any doubt about which is preferable? Simplistic, sterile freedom might be easier and faster to attain, but its value would be limited and short-lived. The tougher liberation will be more rewarding.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Some people believe in the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie for short. If the creature actually lurks in the murky depths, it has never hurt any human being, so it can’t be considered dangerous. On the other hand, Nessie has long been a boon to tourism in the area. The natives are happy that the tales of its existence are so lively. Use the Loch Ness monster as a template for how to deal with one of your scary delusions. Use your rational mind to exorcise any anxiety you might still be harboring, and figure out a way to take advantage of the legendary story you created about it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

“The soul should always stand ajar,” said Emily Dickinson in one of her poems, “That if the heaven inquire, He will not be obliged to wait, Or shy of troubling her.”

Modern translation: You should keep your deep psyche in a constant state of readiness for the possible influx of divine inspiration or unexpected blessings. That way, you’re likely to recognize the call when it comes and respond with the alacrity necessary to get the full benefit of its offerings. It will be an especially valuable strategy in the coming weeks. Right now, imagine what it feels like when your soul is properly ajar.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Some people wonder if I’m more like a cheerleader than an objective reporter, that maybe I minimize the pain and exaggerate the gain that lie ahead. Because all of us are constantly besieged with a disproportionate glut of discouraging news, I see it as my duty to provide a counterbalance. My optimism is medicine to protect you from the distortions that the conventional wisdom propagates. Having said that, I’m not counterbalancing at all when I give you this news: You’re close to grabbing a strategic advantage over a frustration that has hindered you for a long time.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

“Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment,” said Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck. “This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath.” I’m perplexed why she put such a heavy emphasis on lessons that arise from difficult events. Your teachers are likely to be expansive, benevolent and generous.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Take maximum advantage of the big opportunity that’s ahead for you: an enhancement of your senses. For the foreseeable future, you not only have the potential to experience extra vivid and memorable perceptions. You could also wangle an upgrade in the acuity and profundity of your senses, so that your sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch will forevermore gather in richer data. For best results, set aside what you believe about the world, and just drink in the pure impressions. For extra credit, cultivate an empathetic curiosity with everything you’d like to perceive better.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

What kind of week will it be for you? It will be like you’re chewing gum while walking down a city street and then suddenly you sneeze, catapulting the gooey mess from your mouth onto the sidewalk in such a way that it gets stuck to the bottom of your shoe, which causes you to trip and fall, allowing you to find a $100 bill that is just lying there unclaimed and that you would have never seen had you not experienced your little fit of “bad luck.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Having served as executive vice-president of the Hedonistic Anarchists Think Tank, I may not seem like the most believable advocate of the virtues of careful preparation, rigorous organization and steely resolve. But if I have learned anything from consorting with hedonistic anarchists, it’s that there’s not necessarily a clash between thrill-seeking and self-discipline. The two can even be synergistic. That’s especially true for you right now. The quality and intensity of your playtime activities will thrive in direct proportion to your self-command.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

During an author tour a few years ago, I was a guest on San Francisco radio station KFOG. As we moved into a less formal mode, bantering about psychic powers, lucid dreams and reincarnation, the host asked me, “So who was I in my past life?” Although I’m not in the habit of reading people’s previous incarnations, I had the sense that I knew exactly who he had been: Savonarola, a controversial 15th-century Italian friar. Don’t be surprised if you are able to glean new revelations about the past and come to fresh insights about how history has unfolded.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Tease, tempt and tantalize. Be pithy, catchy and provocative. Don’t go on too long.

Leave ‘em hanging for more. Wink for dramatic effect. Perfect your most enigmatic smile. Drop hints and cherish riddles. Believe in the power of telepathy. Add a new twist or two to your body language. Be sexy in the subtlest ways you can imagine.

Pose questions that no one has been brave or smart enough to ask. Hang out in thresholds, crossroads and any other place where the action is entertaining.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

American political leaders who have never been soldiers tend to be more gung-ho about sending U.S. fighting forces into action than leaders who have actually served A lathe grips a chunk of metal, wood or clay and rotates it so that someone wielding in the military, said former Marine captain Matt Pottinger in thedailybeast.com. Avoid a tool can form the chunk into a desired shape. I visualize you as being held by a and prevent comparable situations in your own life during the coming weeks. Don’t cosmic lathe right now. God, fate or whatever is chiseling away the non-essential put yourself under the influence of decision-makers who have no direct experience stuff so as to sculpt a more beautiful and useful version of you. Although the of the issues that are important to you. The same standard should apply to you, process may be somewhat painful, you’ll be happy with the result. too. As much as possible, make your choices and wield your clout based on what you know firsthand.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

ROBBREZSNY FREEWILLASTROLOGY@FREEWILLASTROLOGY.COM

AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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S P O N S O R

T H E

METRO SPIRIT’S amber@themetrospirit.com PET PAGE! About Laws and Ordinances

By Lorna Barrett

The reason we started our Pet Page was to help educate people about the many facets of humane animal care. We have told you about many subjects, like how loving and loyal pit bull terriers can be and how grateful and sweet handicapped animals can be. We have discussed the importance of spaying and neutering pets to help get a handle on the pet overpopulation crisis. We have passed along information about many rescues and resources in the CSRA. Now it is time to talk about laws and ordinances; one in particular. The fact is, currently there is no law or ordinance in regards to leaving animals in cars. Most people know it is horribly inhumane, but some people still do it, and it causes brain damage and death from heat exhaustion and dehydration. It’s simply wrong.

Now it is time to remind people not to leave their Special Events pets in the car while you Augusta Humane Society offers obedience classes twice run errands. Telling yourself you will only being gone a minute is lying to yourself. Even Summer Dog Wash, a benefit for the Aiken SPCA, is when it's only 80 degrees Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Cold Creek outside, the temperature Nursery in Aiken. $15 for washes; ear clean and nail trim in the car can reach 100 degrees or more really fast. Cracking the windows does not work.

Ongoing Adoption Events: There are documented PETCO situations where a dog 4209 Washington Road, Evans was left in a car with a Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Sundays, 1-4 p.m. dish of water and the window cracked, and was still found dead when his PetSmart person came back from a 225 Robert C. Daniel Parkway, Augusta quick errand.

Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The sad truth is that we are still seeing people Tractor Supply leave their children in the car while they “just run in Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. the store for a minute,” but are gone much longer. So it doesn't surprise me (it angers me) that people leave their pets in the car.

Stop it! Do yourself and your pet a favor and leave them at home.

There have been so many incidences of pets being left in cars lately that the Public Safety Committee of Richmond County planned to meet to discuss it on Monday, but some of the commissioners were not in attendance, so the discussion was tabled for another date.

The old animal service ordinances are just that: old and very outdated.

Sharon Broady, director of our animal services facility on Mack Lane, and her team have made some proposals to update the ordinances that will help better protect companion animals in our county. Currently, law enforcement and animal control officers are legally bound not to break into a vehicle to rescue an animal in distress. Ridiculous, you say.

Correct! But, the old way of thinking was that animals were no more than a piece of property. Crazy as that is, that is the reason many of the laws that are on the books in regards to animal welfare are so unrealistic today.

"When we know more, we do better." That is a phrase I have lived by. And we do know more now. We know that animals are smart, caring companions who feel pain, sorrow and joy. They have been domesticated over time, from being self-reliant, wild creatures to being dependent companions. When the whole world is coming down around you, your pet is always there to greet you and love you unconditionally. I could go on and on. The point is, we do know more now, and must do better by way of updating laws and ordinances regarding humane pet ownership, and care.

Please support our local Richmond County Animal Services facility, located on Mack Lane just off Tobacco Road between Windsor Springs Road and Peach Orchard Road. They are doing all they can given the numbers of animals surrendered and picked up. It is our fault there is a pet overpopulation crisis, because we have been too lax about spay and neuter. Choose to go there first when you decide to adopt a new family pet. Call them right away when your family pet has gone missing. Spay and neuter all pets. Teach your children, family and friends about humane pet care and handling. If you see someone being mean to an animal, call animal control or the Sheriff's Department immediately. Cruelty to animals nearly always leads to cruel, violent acts towards people. Help stop the cycle. Be a part of the solution.

Available at Augusta-Richmond County Animal Services 36 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

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INSIDE SPORTS

What’s Your Name Again?

Usual star-studded lineup for SEC media days will leave much to be desired this year The summer event that officially kicks off the yearlong hysteria that is college football in the south feels more like a badly muffed punt this year. Now, to be fair, there are numerous reasons for star players not being in Hoover, Alabama, this week, but the fact of the matter is that they aren’t there, and that’s all the fans care about. Some guys take that last minivacation before they get locked on the practice fields and film rooms for half the year, some just want to stay out of the spotlight for as long as they can, and some are even left at home by their coaches so their egos don’t swell before the season even starts.

As ESPN’s SEC blogger Chris Low reported, among those not scheduled to attend: South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, Tennessee receiver Da’Rick Rogers, LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery, Missouri quarterback James Franklin, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, Florida safety Matt Elam and Texas A&M running back Christine Michael.

That’s many of the leagues brightest stars, and also some of the players that fans and media alike want to hear most from. Feedback stemming from players coming off injuries, incredible seasons from last year or, in the case of Texas A&M and Missouri, a chance to get acquainted with some of their better players and ask what they expect coming into the year in a different conference.

For Marcus Lattimore, we want to know how the knee is feeling, and what sort of mileage he expects to put on his legs through the course of this season. Does he expect his carries to drop or stay the same with playmakers like Alshon Jeffery gone?

For Tyrann Mathieu, does he expect to be able to impact games like he did last year? With Morris Claiborne gone from the other corner position, does he expect coaches to let him roam and freelance like last year, or will he have to play a more buttoned-up approach to the position? Will they move him throughout the year and let him play some safety, or does the depth chart not show that option this year?

For Mizzou QB James Franklin, does he think UGA will have enough players to play against them in Columbia for the SEC opener? Do he think their offense will hold up against SEC

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defenses for the entire year, or have their coaches already planned for the worst and planned to change some things up a bit? Is Booches the best local place to go eat after the game?

For Jadeveon Clowney, has he adjusted his stance so that it doesn’t look like he’s in Downward Facing Dog before every play? What’s it like being the best pure athlete on the field at all times? Has Frank Martin tried to get him to come out for basketball yet?

See, this is the kind of stuff we’ll be missing out on this week. So instead, we will be forced to listen to corporate speak from some of the nation’s best, and hope Les Miles and Steve Spurrier say something somewhat controversial. Maybe Vandy’s James Franklin can meet Todd Grantham in the middle of the hotel conference room for a battle royale.

We can only hope.

Here is the entire list of players who will be attending: ALABAMA: Barrett Jones | Damion Square | Michael Williams ARKANSAS: Knile Davis | Tyler Wilson | Tenarius Wright AUBURN: Emory Blake | Corey Lemonier | Philip Lutzenkirchen FLORIDA: Jonathan Bostic | Mike Gillislee | Lerentee McCray GEORGIA: Abry Jones | Jarvis Jones | Tavarres King KENTUCKY: Matt Smith | Collins Ukwu | Larry Warford LSU: Odell Beckham | Zach Mettenberger | Eric Reid OLE MISS: Mike Marry | Donte Moncrief | Charles Sawyer MISSISSIPPI STATE: Johnthan Banks | Gabe Jackson | Tyler Russell MISSOURI: Elvis Fisher | E.J. Gaines | T.J. Moe SOUTH CAROLINA: Ace Sanders | Connor Shaw | D.J. Swearinger TENNESSEE: Tyler Bray | Ja’Wuan James | Herman Lathers TEXAS A&M: Luke Joeckel | Sean Porter | Ryan Swope VANDERBILT: Jordan Rodgers | Zac Stacy | Trey Wilson SEC Media Days |July 17-19 | Hoover, Alabama Full coverage can be found on secdigitalnetwork.com.

MATTLANE is host of The Weekend Rundown which airs from 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays on News-TalkSports 1630 AM. He can be reached at mattlane28@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Mattlane28.

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WHINE

WHINELINE@THEMETROSPIRIT.COM

LINE

Majority of us whine readers want something other than politics to read about. Only a portion of readers even know what the crap you’re talking about! I wanna read some whines about people who perpetually fart at work! About what you always see in your neighbors mustache! What kind of outfits you saw at Fort Gordon/downtown fireworks displays! What kind of terrible date you went on! What you over heard in line at the 15th street Kroger! How about you guys whine/print stuff we all commiserate with, political guru or not, and we can all leave your paper with a grin and saying, “Yeah, I hate that!”!

Next time one of you jerk drivers rides my butt at 60mph while I’m on my motorcycle, I’m going to grab a pocket full of nuts, bolts, screws, etc and throw them behind me. Back off or buy a new windshield.

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Have something you want to get off your chest? Send your whines to whineline@themetrospirit. com. If you do so by noon on Friday, you might just see it in the next Thursday’s issue. Oh, and whines may be edited for content but will pretty much be printed exactly as you type them.

Sarcasm not good enough for you?

Need a healthy dose of righteous indignation? Then head over to cracked.com for stories, lists and char ts about current events and popular culture. Want to know about “the viewing experience of every ‘Walking Dead’ episode ever”? We’ll go ahead and tell you that unless Daryl (or Daryl Motherf***ing Dixon, as ew.com, another of our favorite sites, likes to call him) was involved, it wasn’t wor th watching. Tired of reading the same money-saving tips over and over again? So are cracked.com writers, so you can commiserate together about how some people obviously don’t realize that coffee can be made at home and that moving to Iowa because of its lower cost of living or buying a new car with better gas mileage doesn’t really save anyone anything in the shor t-term. This site is hilarious but not quite safe for work, so view at your own risk.

For a half of a second there Saturday, I thought Hell hath frozen over! You see, the Chomicle had left out their “Hating on Obama page”, out of the Saturday print. A mistake or a change of heart kinda thing? Well now, WE all know better than that don’t we! I’m sure they were just trying to save old Billy a few nickles! But you can bet your sweet bippy, that they ain’t about to stop the “hating on” page!

Religion is superstition taken to extremes.

Not surprisingly, the biggest dunce in the room of commentators on Obamacare and the Supreme Court ruling is Austin Rhodes. Taking the much-travelled, knee-jerk, ultra-right “judicial activism of the highest order” route, he ignores that the Court ruled against the Commercse Clause of the Consitituion as a rationale for the healthcare law & indicated it would be very skeptical of Congress’ use of that clause in future legislation. For the first time,

WERECOMMEND the Court has cast a harsh light on the Commerce Clause, which has been used repeatedly to enlarge federal power. A more thoughtful Conservative than Rhodes, as well as many of us on the left, can see the wisdom and balance of such a ruling, which respected the law writing power of Congress, while limiting its ability to expand government power. Instead, Rhodes will be at the forefront of moves to “Impeach Chief Justice John Roberts,” the true Constitutional scholar who masterfully did exactly what he was hired to do: interpret the law.

I think I will stop by the Toyota dealer and take him up on his offer “ i’ll do WHATEVER IT TAKES “ he may be surprised at what it is going to take.. Yup REAL surprised All you ever wanted to know about Austin’s character was on display in his very different reactions to the two very similar financial problems experienced be two local political candidates.

You know, most real city’s don’t need a gimmick like First Friday to entice people downtown. I’ve found the whole thing to be nothing but a noisy and chaotic street party anyway. And people are surprised with the violence when you throw in the Friday night drunk crowd? It seems like it would be better to have something on a Saturday earlier in the day that would be more family friendly and cater more towards the retail and artsy side of downtown instead of just the bars. ps won’t be there. You might be......you, nor your kids will get a free ride forever.....

Austin Rhodes. You accuse the president of being dumber than your cat. Maybe he is, but he can’t be any dumber than a columnist who wrote about a Supreme Court ruling before the decision. Is that egg on your face scrambled, fried, or soft-boiled?

Have you seen Mud Lovin’ Rednecks on The Animal Planet Channel - seriously? Are you kidding me? And NO - I didn’t watch the whole show - just the first and last 10 minutes - ‘cause that was more than enough!

! " av# a $a$$oo.

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706-724-2445 38 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989

I have doubts Austin Rhodes has ever bothered to read the Constitution. It says right there in Article One, Section 8 the legislature has the right to pass whatever bills it deems necessary for the security and general welfare of the people of the U.S. I dare say everyone having adequate healthcare is the essence of our government providing for our general welfare.

Thanks to the your paper I no longer have to cry myself to sleep at night. I mean, who can feel bad about their situation when there are starving children in Africa, Tsunamis in Asia and people working at the Metro Spirit.

To the person whining about the SouthStar ambulance crew in the bar I’m guessing you are talking about me and my partner. Get a life. Practice your eavesdropping and get your facts straight because you obviously didn’t hear us correctly. I said there are some days I just want to get out of uniform, hide the ambulance and go to the bar. We had been off duty for 3 hours jerk. Sorry taking elderly people who don’t have long to live to doctors appointments gets depressing and there are days it is so sad I do just want a drink. But I would never do that during a shift. Like I said practice your listening skills a-hole before spreading lies.

The answer for whats wrong with First Friday is very simple. BRING BACK THE LIVE MUSIC ALL THRU DOWNTOWN! If this doesnt happen,1st Friday will close down permanently!

So now they are crawling out of the woodwork to criticize our illustrious Supreme Court and their latest decision handed down! I sure didn’t hear a whole hellofalotta noise about the decisions like declaring “personhood” for corporations and the real asinine decision that endless amounts of money from any anonymous source WILL buy the next elected shill!!!

I hope you don’t pay that Austin character to write for you ...after reading his dribble on the healthcare decision i realized he writes on the level of his 3 year old and thinks on par with his cat, I guess that why he eats so much crow.

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