The Thrashers then added a batch of forwards in the actual draft - four centers, a winger and goalie in the first 6 rounds: Bryan Little (C), Riley Holzapfel (C), Michael Forney (LW), Alex Kangas (G) , Jonas Enlund (C). Sports Illustrated gives the Thrashers a B in their draft review.

Now on to the free agent season.

It seems that our biggest problem as a tourist destination isn’t a lack of things to do, but a lack of centralization and ease of access. 10 years later the Olympic revitalization of downtown seems to really be happening and that is becoming a reasonable place for someone to spend a day or two.

But it still seems that our neighborhoods, from Hong Kong highrise in the making Buckhead, to Va-Hi, L5P, and the newer and more vibrant Poncey Highlands, East Atlanta/Oakdale are still the best thing about living in Atlanta. The beltline and changes to Peachtree to make it more walkable and add a street car will make our neighborhoods more accessible for tourists without getting into cars and make things even better.

We have all the peripheral attractions you could want, but it still seems like we’re lacking a single unifying reason to come to Atlanta. Since we’re not going to get a lake or oceanfront any time soon, it seems like an event is the right thing to drive the city. Why is it our music and arts events seem to always collapse under their own weight just as they are getting to the level of national attention?

Former Mayor Bill Campbell, who presided over one of the most prosperous and dynamic periods in Atlanta history, was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in prison and fined $6,300 for tax evasion.

U.S. District Judge Richard Story handed down the sentence soon after ruling that Campbell had obstructed justice, and that he owed $62,823 in unpaid taxes.

Too much?

Not enough?

Discuss.

The Brewhouse Cafe in L5P is still probably the best bet if you want the full on World Cup experience, but I’m thinking Fritti may be the place to be for Italy v. USA next Saturday at 3:00.

As I entered through the automatic doors, the vendor restocking the soda machines whirled around and cheerfully demanded, “How are you doing this evening?”

“Good, thank you. Uh, how are you?”

“I’m great!”

I made my way past the check out lines and was a little surprised to discover no giant Halloween candy display whatsoever. I suppose there aren’t a lot of small children, or residents, really, in Atlantic Station yet. Still, I thought all American retailers aspired to the same predictable standards. I turned my gaze upward to figure out which aisle I needed. “Hello, sir, what can I help you find this evening?”

This nice lady had come out of nowhere and she seemed genuinely interested in helping me find my way. I actually glanced around to see if there was a coworker snickering behind an end cap at their friend’s boldly sarcastic enthusiasm. No conspirators in sight. This girl meant business. The thing is, for as much as large grocers each think they have designed the ultimate grocery shopping experience, all frigging grocery stores are exactly the frigging same. I had alotted about 24 seconds to find my bearings, make my selection, and be out the door, and, as nice as this lady seemed, her extra customer service could very well slow me down.

“Halloween candy?”

“Right this way.” She proceeded to walk me directly to the candy section and then leave me alone; quite possibly the most perfect customer service experience in the history of spoken language.

I pretty much grabbed one of everything and made my way to the cash registers where all of the cashiers who weren’t currently assisting customers were standing in front of their lines recruiting potential check-outees. At this point, I was starting to wisen to their antics.

“I can help you right over here, sir.”

“I’ll bet you can.”

After pleasantly, but, more importantly, quickly ringing me up, my cashier bid me farewell, wished me a happy whatever today is, and sent me on my way. I could see the door and was prepared to walk through it when I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. “Have a great night, sir, come back and see us soon,” said the bagboy who had bagged none of my groceries nor stood anywhere near my checkout line nor had any conceivable reason for wishing me well despite actually wishing that I be well.

This visit to Publix was the first time I had been anywhere inside Atlantic Station aside from IKEA, and I cannot attest to the niceness of the employees at any of the other businesses, but if Atlanta ever hopes to be spoken of alongside some the other great cities in the world, something has to be dome about this rampant pleasantness at Publix. They’re giving us a bad name!! Yankees and carpet-baggers and conventioneers and tourists and people from Canton and Conyers and Jonesboro are NEVER going to take Atlanta seriously as a cosmopolitan metropolis unless our grocers start giving off a little mustard in their demeanor.

My other theory is that Publix knows I’m pissed at them for only offering one brand of organic, fair-trade coffee and charging $7.69 for a 12oz. bag of it. I could cultivate, harvest, and roast my own for less than that.

I am a fan of the free market, but I am highly suspicious of private businesses and I tend to fall on the social side when it comes to natural monopolies, i.e. I don’t think private businesses should be granted exclusive licenses to any markets. I have Charter cable. What if I want Comcast? Welcome to Shit Creek, please relenquish your paddle.

For some municipalities, having the city build, own, and manage their wireless network makes perfect sense. Example: Adel, Georgia. They already own their power, water, and sewer utilities. Because they are considered rural, the cable/DSL penetration is a joke. So, they had their electric company hardhats build the network and they just added internet access as a line item onto the monthly utility bill. Sure they had to raise some capital to get the project done, but now they’re up and running and they aren’t beholden to some multi-national Telco who couldn’t care less about their community.

Major metropolitan areas are a different story. Daniel brings up Atlanta’s dilapidated sewer system. Atlanta can’t even manage the concept that shit rolls downhill. What makes anyone think they can efficiently build and manage a multi-million dollar wireless mesh network? And that’s to say nothing of the potential corruption of such a process. Building a network that works is only the first step. Ongoing maintenance, service, and billing issues could very easily bring a large expensive network to its knees.

I like the idea of small hotspots popping up until there is eventually ubiquitous coverage, but a patchwork like that will never be as powerful or reliable as a network that is designed from the top down unless all of the harware and software used was completely open source and open access, and that, frankly, ain’t gonna happen.

There is a model floating around that has yet to be proven but shows huge promise. Basically, a private company pays to build the network and ultimately owns the network. The municipality serves as an anchor tennant by switching the bulk of their network connectivity over to the new wireless network at heavily discounted rates. the municipality saves money on communication costs, and the network owner starts to recover their investment in the network. In addition, other service providers will be provided wholesale reseller access to the network to bundle with their other offerings and to help bolster competition. Cost to the city: $0. Burden on the city to manage: none.

The obvious beneficiaries to this would be people sitting in the park with their laptops, but there is a huge Digital Divide factor here as well. True broadband access can be provided to low income customers for discounted rates, thereby helping to close the gap between the aforementioned park goers, and those who currently have to wait their turn at the public library terminal. Yes, you would still need to acquire a computer, but a small desktop at home will work fine, and $10 a month, or less, is a lot more manageable than $50 a month for a cable modem.

The phrase “Public/Private Partnership” is a buzzword that means a lot of different things in a lot of different contexts, but this is one that could work.

An excellent source of information: http://www.muniwireless.com

FULL DISCLOSURE: If I sould like a marketeer, it’s because I work for a company that is involved in a handful of different Municipal Wi-Fi scenarios, and, as such, I’ve spent a lot of time reading about it lately.

Nice work, Schuerholz. Why don’t you get out there and snag us a couple more Reitsmas and Kolbs?

Still, it warms the cockles of my Yankee-hating heart that Mazzone won’t be covered in putrid pinstripes next summer.

It’s that time again. The good souls at WABE 90.1 are coming over the airwaves with their hats in their hands, sprewing more guilt trips than a Jewish grandmother left alone and forgotten on her birthday.

I listen to public radio. A lot. As with most, I listen during the drive time hours, so 90%-95% of my time is spent with Morning Edition and All Things Considered with a little Marketplace here and there on the days I work late. I understand how the system works, but I’m always torn as to whether or not I should pledge because there are a couple things I cannot stand about WABE.

First, I am highly suspicious of the relationship between Public Broadcasting Atlanta and the Atlanta Board of Education. I’m not suspicious of foulplay or other shenanigans, rather, it seems to me to be a mutually destructive relationship. The Atlanta Public School system has enough problems without being saddled with the burden of running a public broadcasting company. I understand that PBA essentially grew out of the educational system way back when to be used as an educational tool, but I think it’s high time for the two to go their separate ways. The school system doesn’t need the added responsibility of running a broadcasting company, and the broadcasting company would do much better for itself if it weren’t trapped under the umbrella of a public school system. I’m not an expert on this relationship, so if someone can argue the other way, I’d love to hear it.

Second, LOIS REITZES MAKES ME WANT TO JAM MECHANICAL PENCILS IN MY EARS!! Seriously, at 9:00am, Reitzes sounds like she’s fresh off a paint thinner and valiuum bender. Does she not sound like she’s 115 years old? Is it me? And I mean no personal offense to her. I’m sure she’s an intelligent, dynamic, articulate person, but her voice makes the hair on my back turn gray. (Other NPR luminaries who should have someone else read their stuff: Karl Casell and Daniel Schorr.) It wouldn’t be such a big deal if she weren’t also the program director, which brings me to my third point.

What’s the deal with all the classical music? I feel like WABE plays the NPR and PRI programming it does only because, if they didn’t, people would riot. If someone else started a station and tried to compete for the NPR and PRI affiliations, it wouldn’t surprise at all if WABE simply said, “Fine, take it. Dealing with those hippies is a pain in the ass anyway. More time for Bach!!” WABE must be sensing imminent mutiny as they’ve started running commercials where locals talk about how much they love all the classical music. Apparently, people like me need to know that there are actually folks out there who don’t turn the radio off when Reitzes and Lemley start kicking out the snoozers. I love classical music, and I find it culturally invaluable, but I want to keep it separate from my current events.

So I’m torn. I use their service and it’s only right that I pay for said service. BUT it annoys me that my money will be, in part, funding services I don’t want anything to do with. BUT that is the same logic employed by Northside exurb hacks like Jim Wooten when he talks about not giving Marta any money until they get their act together when maybe the one thing they need to get their act together is money.

I will probably make a pledge to WABE, not because I love WABE, but because I don’t want to be governed by the same logic as Jim Wooten.

Is this the beginning of the end?

It would be bad enough to lose Mazzone, but it would be a steel-toed shot in the berries to lose him to the frigging Wankees.