MM: Renfroe Construction Begins, Oakhurst Reno Continues, and Best Outdoor Drinking
Decatur Metro | July 7, 2015 | 10:45 am
- Renfroe construction begins; Decatur High not far behind [AJC]
- Oakhurst renovations hit midway point [AJC]
- Decatur Commission approves speed tables for Westchester Hills [Decaturish]
- Eye on Suburban Plaza [Next Stop…Decatur]
- New Ga. fireworks law leaves some fuming [AJC]
- Coleman Barks, Rumi, and the South [Saporta Report]
- Two Decatur joints on “Best Outdoor Drinking Spots” [Zagat]
Photo courtesy of The Decatur Minute
Re fireworks law leaving some fuming: Glad that I’m not the only one concerned. My favorite line is from State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver: “…who calls Georgia’s new fireworks statute the ‘blow-the-child’s-hand-off’ law” and “…said she got numerous complaints from her constituents and supports amending the law to give local communities more control over where fireworks may be used. ‘There seems to be an interest in giving cities and counties more authority to make rational decisions for their communities on when and where they may be shot off,’ the Democrat from Decatur said.”
My particular issue is that the law shouldn’t override local noise ordinances.
Unfortunately, this law passed without some common sense provisions, like allowing cities and counties to regulate the use of fireworks. That’s what happens when the Chair of the powerful Senate Rules Committee champions a bill during a session when the House *really* wants to pass a transportation bill. Barely anyone was willing to challenge the bill. In fact, when the House voted on the bill, the Senate Rules Chair had someone in his office print out and post outside his office a gigantic copy of the vote count with names of the No voters highlighted and a message letting them know that his committee would not look favorably on their bills.
It’s yet another example of a statehouse full of so-called conservatives preempting local authority while railing against the federal government for–you guessed it–overreaching.
http://www.flagpole.com/news/capitol-impact/2015/03/18/the-georgia-legislature-is-usurping-cities-and-counties-power
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20150318-editorial-austins-tightening-grip-on-local-government.ece
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/18/us/ap-us-statehouses-ban-on-bans.html
Yep.
And what if local noise ordinances don’t make exceptions for fireworks on July 4 or New Years? Will sticklers like so many this weekend cry and whine because some people are having fun a few times a year? I would not mind seeing local ordinances apply with exceptions, however my general observation this past weekend is that some people need to have a drink and relax.
At the very least the legislation should disallow use of fireworks from the top of one’s head.
Will sticklers like so many this weekend cry and whine because some people are having fun a few times a year?
I’m going to go with “yes.”
Personally I think that freedom, in all its evolving dimensions, includes the right to launch a bottle rocket at 12:01 am on July 5 or January 1.
Why is the law written to allow fireworks until 2am on July 3rd and 4th? Wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense to allow them later on the 5th . . . when people are still celebrating from the evening of the 4th?
I dunno, oversight I guess. Nothing John Roberts can’t fix. 😉
People do need to lighten up. Or light up. Whatever helps.
I’m guessing you don’t have a neighbor firing percussion mortars 300 feet from your house?
Calm down. You are being very undude.
Smug affectations never helped anyone calm down. That’ll have to wait for something that affects you but not me.
Oh, relax – just a movie quote. Is your family ok? Can you still hear? I assume everyone made it out of your house fire?
I get that you’re trolling. Do you understand that this is a real issue for some people? “Nobody died” is not the threshold of whether or not to care, or to allow that others might.
I am sorry to have irritated you. I know your stance on being irritated, so I will limit my responses to you to twice a year, before 10 pm. Again, I apologize. The general assembly made me do it. 🙂
I would have gone for ‘Lighten Up, Francis’, but Walter fits the bill here as well…
Ugh, we get it — the late-night stoner comedy & TV Land crew doesn’t care about loud noises late at night….
It was a holiday. These loud whiz bangs won’t be popping every night. So, relax. Be festive. Let your neighbor have some fun. Nobody likes a Gladys Kravitz.
Several people in my neighborhood had to prevail on this guy not to set off fireworks in the middle of the week back when they were illegal. Between my house and his is a couple in their 80s, who’ve lived in the neighborhood longer than either I or our dopey, inconsiderate man-child neighbor have been alive. They’ve asked the rest of us on multiple occasions to talk to him when he’s gone on too late — which we’ve done, both kindly and unkindly. He doesn’t care, and now we don’t have legal recourse. I realize this can be a space for scoring cheap debating points, but for some of us this is actually happening, okay?
I don’t mean to make light of your plight. My offspring wanted to shoot off more fireworks last night. I told them nope. We will save that fun for special occasions. Doesn’t sound like your neighbor has the same mentality and that is unfortunate. And I do agree that midnight on any random night of the week is too late.
There should be a law specifically banning professional or collegiate athletes from using fireworks. Can’t have Falcons, Braves, Hawks, Jackets or Bulldogs doing anything stupid. And I should include Atlanta Unitedses, or whatever they’re called.
http://nypost.com/2015/07/05/jason-pierre-paul-severely-injures-hand-in-fireworks-accident/
I’m ok with all day private fireworks on July 4 and January 1, throw in couple of other dates if necessary–Halloween and Cinco de Mayo, whatever, as long as the regulations are written such that children and animals and private property are well protected. Other days, local noise ordinances should be followed. If it’s that important to shoot off fireworks on your property, do it during the 15 permitted hours–7 AM to 10 PM or whatever the hours are–and let your neighbors enjoy predictable quiet during the night. Especially those who are sick or families with infants or toddlers who do not sleep well. I’ll never forget the articulate ardor of the sleep-deprived new Mom who spoke up at a school board meeting when all the CSD school buses were parked in the pre-renovated Fifth Avenue school lawn and were waking up her newborn at 5 AM when they started idling for the winter weather. I’ve never seen CSD respond so fast–those buses were moved Downtown pronto. And I’m sure that the owners of skittish dogs would also appreciate predictable quiet.
Nothing is ever well-protected when you live in a society full of idiots. I’m thinking the amount of people losing limbs, and sadly life, are small to all the fireworks used, but every year you see these stories where you wonder how people could be so irresponsible with a hot exploding object. I guess my opinion is sparklers are ok, but there are some incredibly stupid people in this state and somehow making fireworks legal just didn’t seem worth the risk to me. But who am I to stop someone from blowing a few fingers off, it’s your God-given right. Guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. 🙂
I’m with you but I give up on protecting folks who want the freedom to cut off their noses to spite their faces. The most we can probably do is protect children, animals, private property, and if we’re really, really, really lucky and the legislature listens to popular opinion, noise levels at night on non-holidays.
Some moron (an adult) with a couple teenagers was launching substantial fireworks from the sidewalk at College and McDonough right in the midst of stacks of toddlers waiting for the Decatur fireworks to start. Seriously dangerous. Eventually they moved to the other side of the street near the tracks and when they were done left all their trash behind.
So a traffic study confirms that speed is not an issue on a roadway and the city’s Traffic Calming Team recommends against the installation of speed tables but the commission takes no interest in those facts. Our neighborhoods better get ready for a lot more traffic as the commission works to choke the main arterial roads around the city.
Yes, a very interesting article indeed. Traffic must be “calmed,” even if it’s already quite tame.
“We’ve got to do something there,” Mayor Jim Baskett said. “It’s a ridiculous amount of traffic.”
That’s some really thoughtful reasoning there, Mayor.
When will the Mayor be announcing his retirement? That IS happening, right?
I had the good fortune of having Coleman Barks as a lit professor almost 30 years ago. That he would find his way to Rumi fits with the impression we all had of him then — he radiated a kindly and relentlessly curious positivity.
Not that this anecdote illustrates those particular qualities, but the first thing he said to us upon entering the classroom was “Do ya’ll want to see a cup of coffee from 1968? I found this in my office!” He also claimed to have a donut from 1972, but sadly never provided the evidence….