Samantha Joye, an associate professor at the University of Georgia, and Charles Hopkinson, the director of the Georgia Sea Grant program, held an 11 a.m. press conference to discuss the findings published this morning in a report that suggested close to 80 percent of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico.

Among the highlights ...

- Joye said the idea that 75 percent of the oil had been removed from the Gulf was 'absolutely incorrect' based on the work done by her group ... 'I think there is a tremendous amount of oil in the system, and it's very difficult for me to imagine that 50 percent or 75 percent of it has been degraded. If there's data out there that I'm unaware of, then maybe that's possible. But I haven't seen that data.'

- The Sea Grant report was built utilizing a different type of analysis that was based on the group's estimates of biodegradation and ther own measurements of metabolic rates in the Gulf.

More troubling news involving Glenn Richardson as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the former Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives contemplated suicide and even held a gun to his head within the past two weeks ...

After the domestic dispute, Richardson, 50, told an Atlanta police officer over the phone that "he was going to Hiram to end all of his problems and would kill himself," the report states. The domestic dispute took place in Atlanta, though the Paulding police report did not provide a specific address.

When a Paulding officer arrived at Richardson's home in Hiram, a person at the home told the officer he took the pistol away after Richardson pressed it to his head. The man, whose identity was not immediately clear, told the officer that Richardson was in the bathroom, threatening to harm himself. When the officer approached Richardson, he responded that he "was not going to hurt himself or anybody else."

Richardson was taken to a local hospital for evaluation following the incident.

While the threat of oil-contaminated waters washing up along the shores of east coast beaches seems to have been averted, the Georgia Sea Grant report on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico does suggest there might be a threat posed by evaporating oil in that region.

The report, which contradicts existing media narratives as well as the National Incident Command's recent assessment of the spill, found evidence that almost 80 percent of the spilled oil remains in the Gulf. The report tallied by UGA estimated that between 306,000 and 490,000 barrels of oil have evaporated into the atmosphere, or no more than 12 percent of the total spill.

While this would appear to be positive news for the Gulf, it does raise some questions for communities living downwind of the affected region. The report found that Georgia, for instance, could be impacted by poor air quality ...

Contrary to existing media reports, an analysis by the University of Georgia has determined that roughly 80 percent of the oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico remains in the area and is a threat to the ecosystem in the region. Earlier accounts made public by BP and federal government officials suggested that only 25 percent of the oil in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill remained.

Charles Hopkinson, the director of Georgia Sea Grant and professor of marine sciences in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, said the existing narrative regarding the spill is inaccurate ...

One major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless. The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are.

- Glenn Stegall told BTT he was confident that his campaign would be cleared of any wrong-doing as the Secretary of State concludes its investigation into a promotional giveaway it held earlier this year.

- This was done prior to the vote, but Lee Becker's wrap-up of the expansion for the sewer line for Jennings Mill offers the necessary background for the project from an Oconee County perspective.

In a response posted at BTT, Glenn Stegall said he was confident the investigation into his campaign by the Secretary of State office would clear him of any wrong-doing.

Earlier today, the Secretary of State office confirmed to BTT that it was investigating Stegall's campaign regarding the latter's giveaway of an iPad. In the comments posted here, Stegall said he was familiar with the existing law and verified with the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections what was or was not appropriate.

He said the conflict stems from a complaint related to obtaining to one of the methods to gain points in the system. Participants could earn 30 points by being registered to vote in the community, and Stegall said the complaint interpreted that particular method to be a means of exchanging points for registering unregistered voters. Stegall denied that claim.

An attempt to generate some buzz for his mayoral campaign seems to have worked for Glenn Stegall, only not in the manner he had hoped.

Sarah Beth Thompson, a spokesperson with the Secretary of State's office, confirmed to BTT that his campaign was under investigation, though she couldn't disclose any more information given that it was an ongoing investigation.

Gail Schraeder, the supervisor for Athens-Clarke County's Board of Elections, told BTT this morning that her office had received a complaint regarding a promotion done by Stegall earlier this year. She said she forwarded the complaint to the Secretary of State.

Stegall, a student at the University of Georgia seeking the mayoral slot in Athens-Clarke County, had put together a promotional idea that tapped into the hype surrounding the release of the iPad from Apple. In the series of videos announcing the promotion, Stegall urged supporters to perform a series of tasks to earn points.

As the world's attention focuses on the perils of oil exploration, Richard Sears asks 'what's next?' A visiting professor at MIT, Sears is an expert in developing new energy resources, talks about our inevitable and necessary move away from oil. Previously, he worked as a geophysicist and executive at Shell. His brief in both places: Think about the world post-oil. It's a corporate-academic crossover that aims to enrich the academic conversation with real-world experience from people like Sears, who is an expert in looking for new energy resources -- both hydrocarbon and the world of options for what's next.

Bob Bowen, a regular letter-writer to the Athens Banner-Herald, shared his thoughts today where he encouraged voters in Athens-Clarke County to vote against the upcoming SPLOST proposal. His argument is that additional financing costs, as well as future increases in operatings costs for the general budget, make this process unappealing.

This is a nice opportunity to highlight some thoughts shared by Athens-Clarke County District Nine Commissioner Kelly Girtz in the days leading up to the approval of this package of projects by the commission. Girtz told BTT that he was sympathetic to the resistence of some in the community to such a lengthy - and costly - SPLOST list, but he noted it was 'important to remember that it's not as if we're asking for more than a penny at a time.'

Likewise, Girtz said the vast bulk of the projects, outside of the expansions of the jail and The Classic Center, were items that received matching funds or were continuations of long-term visions for the community ...

An acclaimed editor who has worked with horror writer Stephen King, among other prominent authors, will be hosting a series of writing workshops at The Georgia Center for Continuning Education later this fall.

From the press release ...