http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Rick Badie writes about people, places and issues in Gwinnett County. He can be reached at rbadie@ajc.com. en-us rbadie@ajc.com 2009-03-12T10:42:40-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Rick Badie writes about people, places and issues in Gwinnett County. He can be reached at rbadie@ajc.com. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/03/12/sailing_on.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion … to a new blog platform. Starting today, check out the Badie Blog at new web site. And please keep posting! PEACE... 11497103@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-03-12T10:42:40-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/03/10/homeland_insecu.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion I was channel-surfing last night when I came across the Lou Dobbs Show. He had a segment on the E-verify system, the government’s most effective program against illegal immigration. It allows employers to check and see if workers are eligible... 11442603@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-03-10T11:43:47-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/03/06/adillac_custome.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Bud Layson bought his first Cadillac 15 years ago. “My wife wanted one,” says Layson, a retired salesman who still works every other week selling steel pipe fittings across the Southeast. In May, Layson bought a new 2008 DTS. He... 11379403@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-03-06T23:26:15-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/03/05/illegal_immigra_1.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that would requires voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote. Senate Bill 86, sponsored by Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) now goes to the house. Mr. Staton has... 11329303@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-03-05T13:10:26-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/03/03/newspaper_indus.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Friday was a sad day for the newspaper industry. The list of two-newspaper towns got shorter with the closing of the Rocky Mountain News. Nothing to cheer about here, though I’m quite certain the usual opinions will surface in this... 11273003@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-03-03T13:33:01-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/27/public_deserves.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Sunday diners at O’Charley’s Restaurant in Snellville occasionally try to order a glass of wine or a brew to accompany their meals. No dice. Wait staff at the restaurant, located on Scenic Highway, have to relay the news: Restaurants within... 11199803@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-27T20:06:39-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/24/show_me_the_doc.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Foreclosure madness abounds. Apparently, though, there’s a way to stall the process. I have no qualms with it, particularly if you’re about to lose your home through no fault of your own — job loss, for example. So give this... 11086303@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-24T10:22:45-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/20/pet_owners_shor.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion You’ve lost your job and face foreclosure. You have a couple of dogs that are like family, but you can hardly afford food for human consumption, much less animals. What’s a pet owner to do? Well in metro Atlanta, people... 11015403@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-20T18:53:08-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/17/balfours_words.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) has written an explanation as to why he plans to host a community meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Snellville City Hall to discuss that town’s city council. Here it is: In recent weeks, I have... 10917503@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-17T13:58:29-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/16/snellville_feed.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Dear Snellville residents: Here’s your chance to give your opinion on the configuration of the Snellville City Council. Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) is to host a community meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to talk about a council... 10881203@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-16T10:15:18-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/13/foreclosures_en.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Sheena and Otis Wallace looked at five houses a day for two consecutive weeks. But it really didn’t take Sheena that long to find the one she wanted to call home. Early in the search, she grew attached to a... 10853403@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-13T19:52:05-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/11/what_dealership.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion This is bad. Real bad. Those are the words of Doug Bachtel, a consumer economics and demographics expert at the University of Georgia. He knows Gwinnett well because he’s researched and studied the county’s spectacular immigrant-driven economic growth for decades.... 10766303@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-11T09:42:03-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/07/waste_transfer.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Bert Nasuti did a little research the last time an applicant proposed putting a waste transfer station in Gwinnett County. The commissioner paid a visit to a facility near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He hung out inside the facility as well... 10675303@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-07T09:11:17-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/05/snellville_part_2.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Maybe his intentions are noble, that he acted on behalf of citizens and for the good of the community. I speak of hizzoner - Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer. He recently called the dogs on Snellville Councilman Robert Jenkins for code... 10628503@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-05T10:51:41-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/entries/2009/02/03/church_vs_garba.html?cxntfid=blogs_rick_badie_my_opinion Today may be the day a Catholic congregation learns if gabarge facility will open up next door to their church. Members of The Holy Vietnamese Martyrs’ Mission, which is in an old car dealership near the intersection of I-85 and... 10541303@http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/badie/ Rick Badie 2009-02-03T12:00:50-05:00