Any hope of a regional economic development partnership between Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County was officially put to rest with the re-election of Margaret Hale to the Oconee County Commission. Hale, who opposed the partnership, ensures that there are two votes against the deal on the commission with Oconee County Chairman Melvin Davis, who also is wary of the plan, serving as the tiebreaking vote.

The question is ... what's next?

Given that the Oconee County Commission doesn't appear poised to take any official action on the measure - the proposal has yet to be placed on the agenda for a vote - its status, though surely doomed, hangs in some sort of legislative limbo.

Athens-Clarke County District 10 Commission Mike Hamby told BTT the lack of progess - and the amount of uncertainty from Oconee County - was frustrating ...

I feel like we're at the altar waiting on the bride, and she hasn't made up her mind to show up yet. So, do we need to keep on waiting or should we start dating around again?

I never got around to this yesterday, but I did want to make this point ... and, even though it will clearly make me 'that guy' in this whole discussion, I think it's important to put out there.

But, for all the criticisms we can level at Rep. Paul Broun Jr., I think accusing him of siding with sexual deviants is a tad absurd. If we take Debbee Keller, Broun's spokesperson, at her word - and I think we should - then it's rather clear that Broun, in fact, is very much opposed to the existence and sale of 'crush videos' ...

Although Dr. Broun finds the very idea that these videos even exist and that people choose to buy them repulsive, he opposed HR 5566 on Constitutional grounds and the First Amendment. Even the ACLU agrees with Dr. Broun on this issue.

- Bishop Park is off the table and Satterfield Park is an unlikely option, meaning it's Southeast Clarke Park or bust for the tennis center. Roughly the entire commission indicated their support for relocating the facility last night, suggesting this long debate is mercifully coming to an end.

- Peach Pundit found a vote made by Nathan Deal in 1993 when he was a Democrat that provided funding for family planning services. Deal's campaign sent a response to BTT last night.

- It appears Ben Epps Airport is headed for a new carrier, largely due to customer service complaints against Georgia Skies.

Pop A Top by Alan Jackson

Million Miles Away by Adam Hood

Pretty Good At Drinkin' Beer by Billy Currington

High Cotton by Alabama

Amarillo By Morning by George Strait

Peach Pundit picked up on a vote made by Nathan Deal 17 years ago that included funding for family planning issues. Deal, who was a Democrat at the time, later switched to the Republican Party.

His communications director, Brian Robinson, forwarded BTT this short statement ...

Nathan has a solidly pro-life record. He's endorsed by National Right to Life and Georgia Right to Life. He's earned the top ratings from groups that promote the sanctity of life.

It's also worth noting that Erick Erickson, the founder of Peach Pundit and the author of the post in question, has endorsed the campaign of Deal's opponent, Karen Handel.

A diverse stream of public comments set the tone for a rather busy agenda-setting meeting for the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Citizen input occupied roughly 40 minutes of the evening, and it brought a wide collection of comments that featured some thoughts on proposed renovations to Hull Street, a few concerns about the future of SPLOST, some opposition to the jail, the ruminations of a candidate and, of course, the location of the tennis center.

While much of the public comment focused on opposing any proposal to locate the tennis center at Satterfield Park, at the end of the day, though, it was clear that Southeast Clarke Park was the clear favorite to land the proposed tennis center. District Five Commissioner David Lynn, the chief proponent on the commission for locating the facility at Bishop Park, spoke first and noted that the time had come to move on ...

Words can't do it justice, though Barrow County Commission candidate Frank Clark still used plenty of them to vent his frustration with the same voters he wanted to serve.

From Blake, a snippet of a fascinating email ...

The excellent voting record he has as commissioner was one that whatever they told him to vote is what he did. There is no animosity in my rejection to ever run again but what we as a campaign do not understand is the registered voters who did not give a darn about even just going to vote. Guess the nails were wet or just a bad hair day but we blame them for rejecting the want to do something for Barrow not just sit on our ASS as the present and winner does know.

Go read the whole thing. Wow.

While tonight's agenda setting meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Commission will garner a good bit of attention given that it will include discussions on identifying a home for the proposed tennis center, as well as the upcoming SPLOST list, it's important to not overlook a rezoning request that has once again cropped up.

A redesigned proposal for a RaceTrac gas station on the corner of Broad Street and Colima Avenue is up for consideration - again - and this time it's been scaled back, though it still may not have done enough to earn the approval of commissioners

Last October, the Athens-Clarke County Commission rejected the first proposal, which called for 18 gas pumps as well as a curb cut along Colima Avenue. The new proposal has been downsized to 14 pumps and no curb cut - though its store remains at 5,000 square feet - but it does have plenty of other problematic issues.

Peter Eigen wants to expose corruption, and he's set up an organization aimed to do just that.

The Athens-Clarke County Overview Commission has launched a blog to keep folks up to date with their progress, as well as encourage feedback throughout their process. The commission is charged with reviewing the operations of the local government every 10 years.

(In full disclosure, Martin Matheny and Shaye Gambrell, two writers for BTT, are on the Overview Commission.)