Wednesday, March 08, 2006

FYI: Big Clouds o' Smoke Over Athens

Just in case you were wondering about the gi-normous cloud of smoke hanging over our fair city this afternoon, it’s the result of a “controlled burn” of some 1,000 acres out in Walton County.  We understand that Elton Dodson is already furiously writing ordinances to ensure that it won’t happen again.

Feel free to provide your own, more humorous, explanations below.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Sheriff Scott Berry Embarassment factor said it was a controlled burn that got out of control along side the Morgan-Oconee border.

Cufflink Carl said...

Isn't Berry busy trying to avoid filing assualt charges against really rich beer distributors?

FWIW, I heard the Walton County controlled burn thing from ACCPD spokesperson Hilda Sorrow via WUGA, but that doesn't meant that they didn't get the wrong facts. All I know is that Athens smells like an ashtray.

GP said...

It's even worse in Bishop. It came in handy as an excuse for my crappy play at Lane Creek today.

Anonymous said...

I have been wondering about that too. I have to say I got a gleeful giggle over the Leeburn-Bentley brawl (in Crystal Hills, no less!) and I do understand that it's news, worthy of above the fold coverage in Athens...
But why have they so completely dropped the shooting? That gun should have been locked up, unloaded. I am basically sympathetic to anyone who loses a child, someone should have to take responsibility for that gun being available to kids. I stopped a young'n over here in my neighborhood a few years back who had his grandfathers' pistol (a gigantic colt) that he fired on our playground and then when the clip or whatever stuck, he waved it around at all the kids who were trying to get their hands on it.
It was so heavy it would hardly stay in his front pocket.
It turned out later (he dropped the gun and ran when the kids told him I'd called the cops and was just keeping him talking until they could get there) that some bigger older kid had been picking on him, and he'd gone to his grandpa's house, right to the gun and the ammunition and then straight to our playground.
I don't have a gun myself, and that's becuase I don't want the responsibility for what might happen should somebody find it in a moment of anger... like me!
I hope Sheriff Berry figures out a way to make this father accountable for his completely negligent handling of his gun.

hillary said...

On a considerably less serious note, is the controlled burn why it smelled like hot dogs on the grill all around the Banner Herald building yesterday?

Adrian Pritchett said...

"Punishment enough" isn't supposed to factor into law enforcement or criminal litigation. Otherwise sentencing statutes would give exemptions in cases where the victim was a family member.

GP said...

These things are always terribly sad, but leaving a loaded gun in the house with children that age is criminaly irresponsible.

If he did have (alleged) previous assualt charges, any ownership of firearms would be illegal. Unfortunately, incidents like this make it hard for reponsible gun owners to be taken seriously. That and people like Mason Bently threatining to get their AK-47's.

Anonymous said...

Part of being a gun owner is taking responsibility for your gun and being punished if it falls into the wrong hands and causes harm.

The fact he lost his son was a consequence of his irresponsibility, but it is far from punishment in the traditional sense.