Flagpole Magazine

Flagpole Magazine, commonly known as Flagpole, is an alternative newsweekly based in Athens, Georgia, that highlights the local cultural landscape. Established in 1984 by Jared Bailey and Dennis Greenia, the magazine is now under the editorial guidance of Pete McCommons. It features a variety of content, including local music, politics, news, and community stories, all centered around the city, which is home to the University of Georgia. While paid subscribers can receive it nationwide, the magazine is primarily distributed for free at over 275 locations within the Athens area, generating most of its income through advertising sales.

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Articles

Judge Upholds Jackson County's Denial of Rock Quarry Rezoning

3 days ago | flagpole.com | Lee Shearer

A judge has denied a giant mining company’s request to overturn the Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ denial of a rezoning request that would have allowed a granite quarry in southern Jackson County near the community of Center. The nearly 900-acre tract just off U.S. Highway 441, now mainly forested with some wetlands, borders the North Oconee River, Athens-Clarke County’s primary drinking water source, and is near Athens-Clarke County’s Sandy Creek Park.
Student Housing Project That Funds Affordable Housing Wins Narrow Approval

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Blake Aued

Mayor Kelly Girtz broke a tie in favor of a land swap for a student housing development north of downtown that will net Athens-Clarke County millions of dollars for affordable housing, as well as a free public parking deck and sewer improvements.
Commission Approves Budget That Raids Transportation Fund for a Tax Cut

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Blake Aued

The Athens-Clarke County Commission split along familiar lines in approving Commissioner Mike Hamby’s budget proposal that, in a novel juggling act, uses accumulated interest from sales tax collections to pay for a small property tax cut and a number of requested items, such as raises for sheriff’s deputies. Commissioner Carol Myers had proposed a budget that included a much smaller amount of SPLOST and TSPLOST interest—Hamby’s budget included $6.7 million and Myers’ $1.5 million—and no tax cut.
Clarke County School Board Approves $255 Million Budget

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Blake Aued

The Clarke County Board of Education approved its own budget last week as well. The $255 million spending plan is $13 million more than the current fiscal year. Almost all of that is salary raises and benefits, including $8.5 million in state-mandated increased health care costs and retirement contributions.
AthFest Raises Money for K-12 Arts and Nonprofit Education

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Blake Aued

The AthFest Music & Arts Festival downtown this weekend won’t be just a good time—it’s for a good cause, too. The festival raised more than $100,000 in 2024 for AthFest Educates, its parent nonprofit, which has raised almost $700,000 for K-12 arts and music education in Athens-Clarke County to date. Funds come from Club Crawl wristbands, merchandise and beverage sales, artist market and vendor fees, sponsorships and donations.
Despite What the Trump Administration Says, Athens Is Not a Sanctuary City

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Blake Aued

Local officials in red and blue communities around the country are puzzled as to how they landed on a since-retracted U.S. Department of Homeland Security list of about 500 “sanctuary cities,” and Athens is no different. The list renewed a debate that dates back to the February 2024 arrest of a Venezuelan man who crossed the border illegally on charges of murdering nursing student Laken Riley—a case that continues to make national headlines.
The Decider - Flagpole

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Tom Tomorrow

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It's Nuts to Be Against Democracy, in Athens or Nationwide

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

If you were around in the middle of the last century, you remember those “Get US out of UN” signs along the roadsides. Sometimes they were just nailed directly onto pine trees, and many years later they had grown up into the treetops, lending a sense of nuttiness to their discredited message. The signs were the work of the John Birch Society, precursor to the Federalist Society and its offshoot the 2025 Project.
Art Around Town - Flagpole

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Lauren Leathers

ACE/FRANCISCO GALLERY (675 Pulaski St., Suite 500) Show of monochromatic works featuring Keith Bennett’s “ORB COMPULSIVE DISORDER” and Mike Landers in the Upper Gallery with “Black & White LEGO.” Through June 19. • Photographer Terry Allen presents “Passenger Side,” a collection that ranges from street photography to landscapes. In the Upper Gallery, Grace Lang and Mason Pearson showcase “The Nuclear Age: 2018–2025,” a seven-year photographic chronicle of the band Nuclear Tourism. Through Oct. 1.
New Ice Cream Shops To Beat the Heat

1 week ago | flagpole.com | Hillary Brown

This week marks the official start of summer, which means you can absolutely consider ice cream a meal. Cold and full of protein and calcium, it can sometimes be the right answer when nothing else sounds good. Treathouse, the creative, vegan soft-serve ice cream shop that operates out of Treehouse Kid and Craft on Barber Street, recently extended its hours for the summer, so that it’s now open 12–6 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 12–8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 12–9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.