Elliott Brack’s Perspective
BRACK: Unexpected poll on transit gives hope to early test of sentiment
By Elliott Brack | The results of a poll concerning public transportation in Gwinnett, and showing support for MARTA in particular, by the Chamber of Commerce last week, should come as no surprise, though the poll was unexpected. We commend the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce for undertaking the project.
BRACK: Unexpected find turns out to be great book
We stumbled upon quite a treasure the other day, something we did not know was there.
It was a large-format book, in a box of textbooks and other literature, probably from one of our children. Going through this box to help re-stock our Little Free Library (see this archived issue), here was this older book with 86 stunning black-and-white photographs.
BRACK: Loganville retiree writes novels about the South
By Elliott Brack | Who would have thought that years in corporate America would be the business background of a newly-published Gwinnett author?
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Michael Brown, a Loganville resident, has now had two books published. We read his Somewhere a River, a 268 page novel from Deeds Publishing of Atlanta, and found it most enthralling. It is set in Alabama, the story turning around growing up in the South, high school and college football, and the entanglements we can get ourselves in both when younger and afterward. Later parts of the story take place in a different setting……Wyoming, of all places, as a struggling Southerner finds redemption and contentment where he does not expect it. It’s a story, somewhat haunting, that develops out of, and makes sense in, the modern world.
BRACK: Empty rail flat cars, legislative dress, more
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | At the rail crossing, I was about six cars back as the Norfolk Southern train rambled southerly. Before the train cleared the crossing, there were about six cars behind me. I was at the crossing about 4-5 minutes, for it was a long train.
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Watching the train glide past the crossing from afar, suddenly I realized that all the rail cars were low, in fact, all were empty flat-bed units. These are the rail cars that haul the multi-modal containers. But why were all the rail cars empty?
BRACK: Enjoying a return to New Orleans and its parades
By Elliott Brack | New Orleans was our recent destination, one of our favorite cities in the USA, for after all, we had not been in several years. While you still see problems left from Katrina, the city seems to be enjoying a new vibrancy, moving forth as always, happily.
Boosted by continual tourism, which seems to have bounced back nicely, its prices for hotels, foods and trinkets remain high. Includes lots of Mardi Gras parade photos.
BRACK: Better tasting pork from happier pigs on this farm
By Elliott Brack | The premise is simple: pigs raised on the ground instead of concrete pens are happier pigs and produce better and tastier meat. That’s the theory at Thompson Farms here in Dixie, Ga., where Andrew Thompson produces pork, selling almost all his production to Whole Foods stores throughout most of the South. There’s a local connection: he is the brother of Mike Thompson, an attorney in Technology Park/Atlanta at Peachtree Corners.
BRACK: More reasons for state legislature to meet less often
By Elliott Brack | Some readers have wondered if we were serious about one of GwinnettForum’s Continuing Objectives, to require that the Georgia General Assembly meet only once in every two years.
In short, you betcha! Why? Because most Georgians will tell you that nothing is safe when the Georgia Legislature meets, as members introduce all sorts of measures that negatively impacts its citizens, most bills only benefiting some local constituent.
Gwinnett Forum | April 4, 2025
“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.”
— American novelist, satirist, and poet Erica Jong (1942 – ).
Continuing objectives
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His 2025 list:
- Move statewide non-partisan judicial and school board elections to the date of the General Election.
- More creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett.
- Advancement and expansion of city historical societies.
- Require establishments that serve alcoholic beverages to halt sales of such products at 1 a.m., and close by 2 a.m.
- Require the Georgia Legislature to meet only once every two years.
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging and straws in Gwinnett and require instead the use of paper products.
- Gwinnett planners to encourage condos and townhouses instead of apartments.
- County-wide microtransit services.
Interested in Gwinnett history?
Now re-printed in its third edition, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the award-winning history of Gwinnett County, is once again available for purchase. It sold out of its first two printings. The book won the 2010 Award of Excellence in Documenting Georgia History from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. The book is available at Old Town Antiques at 93 Main Street in Lilburn.
- The history of Gwinnett is also available as an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $9.95.
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