Around Town: The Rail Restaurant in Coosa 'a Couple Months' Away. Rome 'Buy' the Book

Work continues on opening The Rail, a restaurant at 3373 Alabama Highway across the road from GMC Value Mart in Coosa.

Nearly $250,000 in permits for a refit and equipment for the building next to the putt-putt golf center were approved by the building department in recent months.

Kirk Cowan of GMC, one of the partners in the restaurant with Anna Duke Robinson and Keith Rogers, says updates are continuing. “We hope to have it ready in a couple of months,” Cowan says.

They’re currently reviewing some of the steps the county is requiring as the project continues.

Announced in May, The Rail will offer “daily specials; made-to-order food for breakfast, lunch, dinner; an outdoor area and bar at least six days a week. Golf simulators will also be added soon as well.”

The exterior sign already is up.

Robinson also is known for the Vamos Tacos food truck, one of the busier “meals on wheels” in the Northwest Georgia fleet. In a Facebook post, she says Vamos will remain in business even after The Rail opens.

More vital vittles

Rome’s Alcohol Control Commission unanimously approved the beer-and-wine pouring permit for the planned Osaka Restaurant at 1015 Martha Berry Blvd., the former Pizza Hut/WingStop venue. Per meeting minutes, Jian Feng Wei told commissioners he plans to employ 10 people at the restaurant, which will feature dine-in and drive-through service. Look for hours of Tuesday through Sunday, closing at each night by 10.

Click it at the Chick: Truett’s Chick-fil-A in Rome has added tableside online ordering. How it works: Rather than get in line, go to a table and start your mobile order by indicating you’re dining in. Complete your order, add your table number and wait for delivery. We’ve seen this used at a Macon Chick-fil-A and most recently in Dublin; it was easy and the order was flawless.

Blast(s) from the past

His formal name is McCracken Poston but many know him as Ken. What’s of note is how they remember him: A member of the state House, a Democratic challenger to then-U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal and later as the attorney representing Tri-State Crematory’s Ray Brent Marsh some 20 years ago.

But it was another case that brought Poston back in to Rome this week, speaking to a book club of current and retired educators who gathered at Sam’s Southern Eatery (try the chicken livers).

Poston’s expansive resume now includes author thanks to his book “Zenith Man,” about Alvin Ridley, cleared of charges surrounding the murder of his wife due to Poston’s vigorous defense. Our colleagues at The Catoosa County News, in writing Ridley’s obituary last month, described him as follows:

“Ridley became a local celebrity over the past year after Poston’s book about Ridley’s trial for the murder of his wife, Virginia, “Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom,” came out and sales soared.”

Says one of the guests at the Rome meeting: “He was awesome. He told many stories that didn’t make the book.”

One more twist: Poston was in town just days after his congressional opponent from almost 30 years ago, former Gov. Nathan Deal, who was signing copies of his first book — “Veto, the Governor’s Cat” — at River & Hill Books on Broad Street. The cover is by Rome’s Cheryl Rhiner Hodge.

Popcorn & Politics

Scattered, covered and skewed: There’s an advantage to having Georgia in play in the 2024 presidential election, in part because of the headlines — direct or implied.

Some of the sidebars right now include a Reddit clip of three Savannah-area Waffle House employees urging “Trump Daddy” to return. The former presidential shot back a quick “thank you” to the crew.

But the key here is Savannah, as it was the scheduled final stop of the Harris/Walz campaign’s southern Georgia swing this week. The rally had been delayed by Tropical Storm Debby earlier this month.

We suspect another missive — this one from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office — likewise was intended to mitigate some of the Democratic headlines of the day.

In it, Kemp recounts some of the state’s highlights from fiscal year 2023-24, which ended June 30. Kemp — joined by other state officeholders — recounts “429 facility expansions and new locations resulting in more than $20.3 billion in investment and the commitment of 26,900 new, private sector jobs statewide.”

Where the “gotcha” comes in, quoting Kemp: “These figures are just the latest confirmation that our approach is bringing sustained opportunity for the people of our state, even in the face of economic headwinds on the national level.”

We assume that discounts Wall Street’s record-high closing of 41,241 earlier this week.

No matter, we’ll take all the positive investments and jobs news we can get, no matter who takes the credit — or blame?

Calendar:

♦ Sept. 5: Floyd County Republican Women,♦ 11:30 a.m. lunch at The Palladium, noon meeting. Guest: Marjorie Taylor Greene.

♦ Sept. 10 — maybe: Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,♦ 9 p.m., hosted by ABC. We’ll have details on local watch parties soon.

Peaks & Valleys

The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia

Peak to the Rome Christmas Parade Committee: Sure, it might be nearly 100 degrees today but that’s not stopping committee members from posting the first details about the 2024 event. You’re asked to save the date of Dec. 3 — the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving — for one of the oldest community Christmas events in the state. This year’s parade will include one change — a 7 p.m. start. We indeed could use a little Christmas...

Valley to what are kids are going through these days: Imagine having to tell your kids about a rough day ahead at school as some of the students they might know won’t be coming back because of a quadruple homicide. Or how other kids might be in counseling as well, as a loved one had been killed and youthful suspect arrested in North Rome. And all that follows an oh-so-close call for the Rome High football team in a bus accident caused by a suspected impaired driver. Even one of those scenarios is one too many. But three in under a month?