24

We practically watched live, kinda sorta, as a killer tornado(s) ripped apart a school yesterday and killed children in Alabama. Then a few more people here in Georgia. Then I was shaken-up out of perfectly lovely sex-on-the-beach scenario (that was just a dream, just a dream) by yet another overhead, aerial clusterfuck from all the chopper action due to this horrible, catastrophic scene. (No, I am not going to rush out the door to go get the ghoul footage, although the scene is literally right down the street. That's what local news is for.)

Who needs a freakin' TV show? Jack Bauer can only dream about the level of death and destruction you can pack into a 24-hour time frame down south. And don't get me started on the Kappa Kappa Gimme All Your Money tarts up there in Acworth.

Jeezus Christ. I gotta get outta this town.

UPDATE: They say the driver of the bus that fell onto I-75 was "confused" by the lane situation and exits on Northside Drive and I-75. I've driven back and forth on this particular bridge for years; the signage and the lane situations STILL confuse me. Every single time. So imagine trying to navigate our DOT nightmare for the first time. People have now died trying.

Can I Get A Code Red, Brother?

It's just not funny anymore. Traffic conditions in Atlanta are at a crisis point. I'll let Rev. Screed preach it 'cause nobody does a traffic rant better than the Rev. Can a get a prayer cloth to go with that? Unbelievable. There should be a screeching-halt moratorium on EVERYTHING in Atlanta until our leaders come to their traffic-related senses.

Keep It Local

I'm up to my eyeballs in local (mostly traffic) issues this week, so this is WARNING an inherently boring post unless you're in the hell of Atlanta traffic. Of course, that could be more than a few of you readers here. I'll just copy and paste a press release that I sent to media, the Mayor, etc. about some things coming up this week that concern traffic and development in Atlanta.

* Tonight at 7pm at the DeFoor Center on Defoor Ave., NW is the monthly Underwood Hills Neighborhood Association meeting. (Felicia Moore’s district, #9.) Reps from Carter USA will be at this meeting.

Carter USA is the developer of the property at Howell Mill and I-75, directly across from the new intown Wal-Mart. CarterUSA comes to the table with no plans or assistance to ease the horrendous traffic conditions along Howell Mill Road that now have us virtually trapped in our neighborhoods at certain times. Yet they are moving forward with plans to build a medical complex and an accompanying parking garage for 980 spaces. Unless Mayor Franklin can put a moratorium on large building projects along Howell Mill Road, as she’s done along the Beltway:
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2006/11/06/1107metbeltline.html

* Also, “Harold Linnenkohl, Commissioner of the powerful and influential Georgia Department of Transportation will make a rare public, neighborhood appearance at the next meeting of the Northwest Community Alliance (NCA), this coming Wednesday, 7pm, November 15, 2006.

Mr. Linnenkohl will take your questions, following his opening remarks. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, Howell Mill and I-75 across the street from "The District" on Howell Mill, a Selig Enterprises Development.” (This info per Mike Koblentz, Chair of the Northwest Community Alliance.)

Why is it “rare” for a Commissioner of a public/state entity to meet with “the public?” If that truly is the case, then there is something inherently twisted about that.

* According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Howell Mill Road corridor, some of it, has been placed on their "Projects of Concern" list:
http://www.atlantaregional.com/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-3F57FEE7-1AE2CCD3/arc/ProjectsofConcernSept06.pdf