Around Town: We're Suddenly a Hot Spot for National, State Politics. 'Convenient' Timing for New Stores

We ended last week keeping a weary eye on Hurricane Helene. That’s being followed by brewing political storms as two major players in the 2024 election breeze into town.

The headliner is J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, who’s due at The Mill in Lindale at 1 p.m. Friday (doors open at 11 a.m.) The junior senator from Ohio will be several days removed from his national debate at 9 tonight with his Democratic rival, Tim Walz.

The caustic media releases about the Vance visit sparked a weekend-long response on social media, filled with both praise for Vance as well as some of the most vicious memes we’ve seen this campaign season.

These have been on local social media outlets, not the national pages. (More on that in a few paragraphs).

On the plus side: The Vance visit means the GOP ticket continues to play to very receptive crowds in Floyd County. Donald Trump returned to Rome for a campaign stop at the Forum earlier this year, almost four years after his rally at the airport.

Causing some concern: What might Vance say while in Lindale entertaining the national media circus, especially about the community itself? Springfield, Ohio, is still reeling from the cats-and-dogs comments from Trump during the presidential debate.

Classify that concern as “the Springfield Effect.” Any negatives would brand the community — and the county — for months.

The other visit

Falling off most radar screens is what happens the week after the Vance visit. That would be Janelle King’s speech before the Oct. 10 meeting of the Floyd County Republican Women.

King is a vocal Republican member of Georgia’s embattled elections board and a supporter of the group’s late bid to force a hand count of millions of ballots to be cast in the Nov. 5 election. The ruling has drawn court challenges from both Democrats and Republicans not to mention the ire of local elections boards.

Will King find a supportive or suspicious audience next week?

The GOP women meet at the Palladium/Sweet P’s at the fairgrounds with lunch (on your own) at 11:30 a.m. followed by the noon program.

The Vance/King visits are a rare one-two punch for our community in what already has been a historic election year. And remember, we still have five weeks to go.

Popcorn & Politics Overload

Signs of the times, part two: Area motorists are seeing a stunning series of signs around town in recent days, simply stating “Republicans for Harris.”

They’re up on Turner McCall and Shorter Avenue, primarily on property owned by one of the most popular people in town each election cycle, mostly based on his vast real estate holdings: Larry Martin.

Some folks are asking which Harris — Kamala as in the Democratic presidential nominee or Shawn, who’s opposing Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene in the 14th Congressional District race.

We don’t need to enlist NBC board master Steve Kornacki to predict both Trump and Greene will do very well in Floyd County next month.

But what needs to be watched after the votes are counted (hopefully before the New Year’s holiday) is the percent of votes each Republican gets.

Trump has carried around 70% of the county’s vote in the last two races (2016 and 2020); does he still command that loyalty among Floyd voters?

Greene collected 71.2% of the Floyd vote in 2020 after Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal’s campaign imploded because of family issues. Greene slipped to 67% vs. a well-funded Democrat Marcus Flowers two years ago.

Deadline pressure: A reminder that you have until Oct. 7 to register to vote in the general election if you’re a new or lapsed voter.

A convenient trend

“Pretty nice Shell” on the way: That’s the word from one of our sources on the development turning dirt at John Davenport Drive and Division Street, across from The Fairbanks Co. It will feature Shell gas.

It joins two other unrelated projects, at Second Avenue and Riverbend as well as the Extra Mile store near AdventHealth Stadium off the Armuchee Connector.

About Extra Mile: Rising adjacent to Lumina Coffee shop, it will be joined by a liquor store and a small fast-food option. The project is due in early 2025. We’re still watching for more on another planned retailer at the intersection of Armuchee Connector and the bypass.

About the Riverbend/Second Avenue project: The corner was purchased for $360,000 four years ago and then went through several reviews before getting the green light. In January, a $1.3 million building permit was issued to Armit Patel.

It is the latest project along Second Avenue, following the arrival of The Enclave townhomes as the former AT&T building.

Peaks & Valleys

The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia:

Peak to the storied career(s) of Wanda Whitten: One of the early lessons about getting things done in Rome was this: There was one way to do things and then there was “Wanda’s Way.” If Wanda Whitten was involved, things would be done pretty much on her terms. And that’s a compliment, among the hundreds accompanying the post announcing her retirement from AdventHealth Redmond after 52 years (including Heart of the Community). She also found time to work with the Miss Rome program, somehow juggling it all. But again, that, too, was Wanda’s way.

Valley to the latest supersized hurricane: Helene, which pounded Florida six years after Michael and two years since Ian, saved some punch for our state and region. We saw plenty of issues here with high water, flooded basements, power outages and debris. For the second time in three years, our area was under a tropical storm alert — this far from the coast? And what about the Carolinas? Our weather is out of whack and it is beyond time to address what’s making it happen.