Weekly Specials: Nutty Shrimp Taco Fried shrimp are nut crusted and served with honey-habanero mayonnaise in a flour tortilla.
Chicken w/ Blue Cheese Grits Seasoned cutlets of chicken breast are sautéed and served with blue cheese grits, brown mustard bar-b-que sauce and a tobacco onion garnish.
Chino-Latino A fillet of tilapia is dusted with seasoned flour, sautéed and served with a mélange of snow peas, cabbage and spinach, Chino-Latino sauce and flour tortilla crispas.
334 Prince Ave. 706-353-3890
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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
capitol impact Down the Drain More than 20 years ago, as the Georgia Department of Transportation was finalizing plans to build a toll road extending from Atlanta through the northern suburbs, state officials promised that one day the tolls charged on Georgia 400 would be eliminated. “All tolls shall be discontinued upon full payment of all bonds which are issued to finance construction of the Ga. 400 Extension and the Buckhead Loop,” the DOT commissioner said in a 1989 letter to the mayor of Atlanta. The promise to eliminate the tolls on Georgia 400 was made at about the same time that George Bush was making his pledge: “Read my lips: no new taxes.” The Bush promise on tax increases was abandoned within two years. The DOT promise lasted for nearly 20 years, until it also was broken last week by Gov. Sonny Perdue. Those original bonds issued to build Georgia 400 will be retired when the last payment from toll revenues is made next July. If you believe the promises made by state officials, that would mean the tolls would no longer be charged. Perdue had different ideas. Over the past few months, he quietly made plans to have those tolls extended, so that money could be generated for additional highway projects in the Georgia 400 corridor. Last Friday, his plan was swiftly executed. The State Transportation Board first held a meeting via telephone conference call at which a bare majority of the board members voted to extend the ground lease on Georgia 400 for another 10 years. Perdue then called a meeting of the State Road & Tollway Authority (SRTA), a board with the legal authority to charge tolls for the use of Georgia 400. The board, which Perdue chairs, voted to extend the tolls for another 10 years after they expire next summer. Board members also voted to issue $57 million in bonds that would be used for new highway projects.
It was a slick piece of work by the governor, who’ll be leaving office in a little over three months. The extension of the tolls was opposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Speaker David Ralston and every Republican legislator from the North Fulton region where Georgia 400 is situated. Even legislators from districts outside the toll road’s area thought it was a sneaky thing for the governor to do. “It’s not going to go over well; I’ll tell you that,” said Sen. Jim Butterworth (R-Cornelia), who attended the SRTA meeting. “Public trust in government is already low. This kind of thing doesn’t help it.” Perdue offered some valid reasons for continuing to charge the tolls. The Atlanta region has grown so much since 1990 that the original toll road is not sufficient to meet traffic demands and new facilities are needed, he contended. “We’ve got a much larger family than we had 20 years ago when we planned this toll road,” Perdue said. “Georgia has outgrown the original capacity of Georgia 400… These are vastly needed projects that we need to do sooner rather than later.” The most ironic aspect of this is the similarity of Perdue’s behavior to Roy Barnes’ when Barnes engineered the change in the state flag back in 2001. Perdue, like Barnes, worked behind the scenes to develop a plan and get it approved before the opposition could get organized against it. Those who were around during the 2002 governor’s race will remember how Perdue hammered Barnes at every opportunity for the secretive tactics he used to get the flag changed. Eight years later, Perdue did essentially the same thing to get a toll extension approved. Perdue obviously learned his lessons well. Tom Crawford tcrawford@gareport.com