Category Georgia

Georgia, Politics & Elections

Dear Georgia GOP: Stop Being the Stupid Party

Sometimes it can be very hard to be a Republican woman in Georgia. Women often feel like party crashers at times here in the peach state. Although I support balanced budgets and lower taxes, the Republicans once elected, seem just…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 15, 2014
4 Comments

Georgia, Watchdog Reports

Why Does Government Transparency Matter?

Simply speaking, open government is good government, or at least it is better government. As we champion open and transparent government in our county, we are not “against” elected officials. Rather, we are “for” citizens. Even when elected officials believe…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 15, 2014

Georgia, Macon, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Public Officials Should Disclose Executive Session Discussions

In my most recent article entitled “Are Georgia Sunshine Laws Under Assault” I attempted to provide a short guide on what the open meetings and open record sections of the law entails and make citizens aware of their rights. But, there…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 11, 2014
1 Comment

Georgia, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Are Georgia Sunshine Laws Under Assault?

Open records and meetings are our best insurance against government corruption “When there is not openness, corruption grows rapidly.” — Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sunshine laws are an essential bulwark against back room and other…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 10, 2014
8 Comments

Education, Georgia, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Laurens County Board Meeting of September 2, 2014

This is the audio from the called meeting at Laurens County Board of Education which has been the center of much controversy in the last week. The beginning of the audio is a presentation given by Mr. DeLoach (DeLoach Architecture)…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 9, 2014
2 Comments

Business & Finance, Education, Georgia, News, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Reverse Decisions and Hidden Agendas at Laurens School Board

The Reason To Remove Tim Passmore Becoming Clearer Just when the citizens of Laurens County thought that things couldn’t possibly get any worse at our School Board, we were proven wrong. It is apparent to many citizens the true reason this…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 8, 2014
2 Comments

Georgia, Watchdog Reports

Orange is the New Deal: AG’s Office & Ethics Chief Ordered to Pay $20k

A Fulton County Superior Court judge on Wednesdsay sanctioned the Attorney General’s Office and state ethics commission director Holly LaBerge and ordered each to pay $10,000 in fines for failing to turn over key documents in a whistleblower lawsuit involving…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 3, 2014

Georgia, News, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Citizen journalist Violently Restrained at Public Event

There are so many disturbing aspects to this story. An off-duty deputy manhandled a female citizen journalist and slammed her against a table. She still has bruises and pain a week later. He also presses his body into hers while…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 2, 2014
1 Comment

Georgia, News, Opinion, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Nathan Deal Steps in it Again With $74M Copart Tax Dispute

One month ago I wrote an articled entitled “Are Georgian’s Getting a Raw Deal from Our Governor?” The more we learn about Nathan Deal the clearer that answer becomes. In that article I wrote about a salvage yard that was owned…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 2, 2014

Georgia, News, Watchdog Reports

Financial State of States Released: Georgia Sinkhole State

Truth in Accounting is a non-partisan group that has been examining the financial health of states since 2002. Their mission statement: To educate and empower citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. They analyze government accounting data from each of the 50 states to produce annual assessments of …

Dr. Alan Wood
September 2, 2014

Georgia, Macon, Opinion, Watchdog Reports

Do We Have A Fourth Estate Left To Save?

A double octuple newspaper web press, the industrial machinery behind the old daily newspaper (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).

full rewrite on the decline of local journalism. This replaces my 2014, 2023, and 2025 versions with one account, every statistic checked against the latest State of Local News report and the 2025 and 2026 record. I started this site…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 28, 2014
11 Comments

Georgia, Politics & Elections

Lies, Damned Lies, and Polls. Who to Believe?

Lies, damned lies, and statistics was an expression made famous by Mark Twain but it is equally as true about modern polling data. I have noticed a trend in recent years where polls are all over the place. I doubt…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 24, 2014
2 Comments

Georgia, Macon, News, Opinion

California Crooks Might Want to Steer Clear of Macon, Georgia

In a story that will likely get widespread national attention if it gets picked up by a major news agency, an armed customer at a local Macon Game Stop store managed to thwart the escape of two criminals from Sacramento,…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 23, 2014
6 Comments

Georgia, News, Opinion, Politics & Elections

Repealing Obamacare is Unrealistic and Not the Real Goal of Republican Leaders

Whether you are a supporter or detractor of Obamacare, you can not avoid the simple reality that Obamacare won’t be repealed anytime soon. (if ever) At some point pragmatism has to kick in and politicians must realize there are many…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 23, 2014
2 Comments

Georgia, Lifestyle, Macon

Ever Wondered who sang the 13 WMAZ Theme Song?

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I am one of those people that never really grew out of the little boy that pestered my parents relentlessly with questions like: who would win between an alligator and a lion and a million other inane questions. Thanks to…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 15, 2014
14 Comments

Georgia, News, Politics & Elections

Purple Georgia: Only 55% of Georgians actually Born in the State

The New York Times recently posted a very interesting demographic outlook of all the states with an interactive map. You can view where people were born going all the way back to the year 1900 up to 2014. Below is…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 15, 2014

Georgia, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

Where Nathan Deal’s Georgia Really Ranks

I collected a list of statistics on where Georgia ranks in a lot of important categories but since it was hidden at the bottom of another article, I thought it might be hard to find. I decided to give all…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 13, 2014

Georgia, Macon, News, Politics & Elections, Watchdog Reports

My Lunch with Andrew Hunt: Libertarian Candidate for Governor

I just returned home from a very enjoyable lunch at Ingleside Village Pizza. The lunch included several supporters in addition to Andrew Hunt and some very good pizza. We were also joined by a Channel 11 news reporter from Atlanta…

Dr. Alan Wood
August 13, 2014