CSI Crane, LLC

10/29/2024

An incredible evening and celebration of four worthy honorees and inductees to the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame. CSI Crane hosted a table of longtime friends, clients and prior Hall of Fame inductees.

Friends John & Monica Pearson, Wendy Corona, Randy & Dodie Cantrell Bickley, Sandra Bryant and my business partner Bill Marks and his wife Kaye all gathered at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead. Also a special place to me, as I assisted with the opening of this grand hotel back in the early 2000s.

Honorees for this year include author/journalist & professor, Valerie Boyd (inducted posthumously and also a member of the Georgia Writer's Hall of Fame), Tony Light, Chief Photographer/Videographer for WSB-TV Action News & CMG (who began his journalism career at age 19 at WSB), Clark Howard, consumer and travel expert without peer and also part of the CMG/WSB family and Maria Saporta, Reporter/Publisher/Editor of the Saporta Report and among her many accomplishments, the person and the reason that we HAVE the Atlanta Press Club today, second only in size to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Howard, Light and Saporta all were profiled and along with Ms. Boyd, received long and hearty standing ovations.

10/27/2024

Our Phi Tau Land compound on the Oconee River in Athens, and the River Tau Lodge are coming along quite nicely. Brother Jay Hickey, serving as the Project Construction Manager onsite, beams from a sky bucket on Day 55. Framing complete, metal roof in place. Interior build continues.

The once and future home of the Beta Xi Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau should be welcoming visitors and holding events by year's end.

10/25/2024

A bit ahead of schedule and Veterans Day, I know the next two weeks will be a bit crazed, and you can NEVER be too grateful or thankful for the service of our civilian and in uniform military personnel, in each service branch, and their many ongoing contributions to the safety, security and welfare of our nation.

This year's Veterans Day Salute to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has roughly 37,000 civilian and military personnel (97% civilian). For purposes of comparison, the active duty U.S. Army has a force of 400,000.

10/23/2024

Good call by the Georgia Supreme Court.

https://www.wsav.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-georgia-supreme-court-rejects-republican-attempt-to-quickly-reinstate-invalidated-election-rules/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwY2xjawGFSSlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYbOyngdzjwtozoU4cP6QE90mGaks36andxiPxRxOzKLtawBe4V3yre39w_aem_zK2B-Nq9y0vskpFkuOhrrw

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by national and state Republicans to immediately reinstate recently passed election rules that a judge had ruled were invalid…

10/20/2024

Great night and game in Austin @ the University of Texas. Sorry again that a life celebration committed prevented me from making that trek.

Dawgs deliver a FULL game at peak, not just a second half, and they rope and tie up those steers.

Dawgs 30 - Texas 15.

Go Dawgs!!! Perhaps now some of the armchair QBs will shut up about Carson Beck.

Texas vs, Georgia LIVE HD | College Football Live Week 8 | NCAAF 2024.

10/17/2024

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/10/16/morehouse-school-medicine-selected-one-3-hbcus-receive-18-million/

Some more good grant news for HBCUs, and specifically Atlanta's own Morehouse School of Medicine.

Atlanta’s own, Morehouse School of Medicine, announced today that they are set to receive $18 million from Sanofi to help expand the diversity in clinical studies.

10/17/2024

https://www.onlineathens.com/story/news/local/2024/10/04/georgias-aim-team-brings-new-ai-mobile-unit-to-uga-campus/75518464007/

A bit more good news about an academic and training partnership between the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia.

Wait...what????

A new mobile unit featuring advances in artificial intelligence made a stop recently at the University of Georgia.

10/16/2024

This week's column, the title speaks for the content. Happy reading.

Our Georgia Secretary of State’s office has chief oversight and administrative responsibility for elections in Georgia, working closely with roughly 180 municipal and county registrars and election superintendents. The Georgia GOP now dominates the State Capitol, holding the majority in both legis...

10/16/2024

Donald Trump returns to Georgia, two stops today and back next week in Duluth at the Gas South Arena. VP Harris coming to Atlanta later this week, and at CNN on October 23, the same date Trump will be in Gwinnett.

Though Governor Brian Kemp brought margins closer, the Georgia GOP has only carried 3 of the top 10 most populous and largest voted counties since 2018... Cherokee, Forsyth and Hall Counties.

As Cobb and Gwinnett were longtime GOP strongholds, Trump is hoping to reverse some of those Democratic Party gains.

The analyst says Trump’s strategy to remind Georgians of his frequent visits, underscores the state’s critical role in his political campaign.

10/15/2024

Early voting begins across Georgia today. Former President Bill Clinton was in Columbus on Monday stumping for the Harris/Walz ticket, and former President Trump will be in Forsyth and Cobb Counties today.

The sprint is on -

He highlighted that Georgia is among the few states where the election results are genuinely unpredictable.

10/14/2024

https://decaturish.com/2024/10/early-voting-begins-on-oct-15-for-the-general-election/?fbclid=IwY2xjawF5YmRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSgpFVf7of-kzJbFP-L1CNlZS7qQoHXwtT1FZdOZPMvRsknU56kxF1j-4Q_aem_bNB41In3AOfLGQPlH7hLqQ

Early voting (Drop Boxes at County Board of Election offices and some advance voting sites) begins on Tuesday. Solid summary from our friends at Decaturish.

Early voting continues through Friday, November 1. Early and absentee votes will be tabulated first ON ELECTION DAY, while voting continues through 7 p.m. Races from the White House elector slates atop the ballot, to State Constitutional amendment questions at the end.

Early voting for the upcoming general election begins on Oct. 15 and ends on Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.

10/14/2024

https://accesswdun.com/article/2024/10/1265997/listen-bill-crane-gives-his-opinion-on-georgia-politics

WDUN Radio in Gainesville, and Mornin' Talk Host Martha Zoller were kind enough to extend me a regular weekly slot on Wednesdays, now at 10:30 a.m., during my brief (nearly two year) radio sabbatical in Atlanta.

Martha is a knowledgable and talented host, and AccessWDUN.com also carries my weekly column, "One Man's Opinion," among its Staff Blogs.

WDUN is owned by Jacobs Media and the station opened an incredible new broadcast studio on the Gainesville Square earlier this year. And like many better radio stations today, you can stream WDUN live online, without being anywhere near Georgia.

Thanks again to my many friends at WDUN including Bill Maine, Martha Zoller, Logan Landers and regular guest host, Dr. Tom Smiley.

Crane joined WDUN's

10/08/2024

This WSB-TV 2016 memory lane visit with then Action News reporter Lori Geary is worth sharing because even late polling show Donald Trump only leading Hillary Clinton in Georgia by 2 percentage points. In the actual tabulations, Donald Trump won Georgia over Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 5.1 percentage points.

https://www.wsbtv.com/video/local-video/exclusive-poll-shows-georgia-shaping-up-be-battleground-state/6TVTIM2RWDZH5GH55YEU4OGTM4/

Trump has historically 'under-polled,' meaning his ACTUAL finish numbers are 2-3 percentage points higher than his polling numbers.

This day in 2016, Trump led Clinton by 4.6 %. Here are his current numbers in Georgia.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/georgia/trump-vs-harris

2024 Georgia: Trump vs. Harris | RealClearPolling

10/08/2024

This week's column recognizes some attention worthy collaboration and leadership in the development of AI innovations in manufacturing, as well as preparing Georgia's workforce for those innovations. Among the collaborators, my good friends from that fine North Avenue Trade School, as well as my alma mater and our own still nouveau Engineering School.

One Man's Opinion - "We're from Georgia AIM...We're Here to Help."

One Man's Opinion, "We're from Georgia AIM -We're Here to Help," Monday, October 7, 2024, 750 words. In looking forward and embracing our future yet to come, I often find benefit in looking back. One of my favorite quotes by author/humorist Mark Twain, speaks to, with more than a bit of tongue in ch...

10/08/2024

https://foundationfe.org/remembering-william-d-jenkins/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFyGGZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS1wWsaXij9Y41Qv7Ylh54AWxjCrN_foq08dZfpiVSeuAfv1mYtgYOAqGA_aem_ytZQJDwFEkQ7NvOpTzVSkA

In lieu of waiting on our Phi Tau Laurel, or an appropriate fraternal remembrance of William D. "Mr. Bill" Jenkins, here is a fond and loving tribute from the Foundation for Fraternal Excellence.

Looking forward to meeting family and other 'friends of Bill,' at his life celebration in Oxford on October 26th.

We will meet again in heaven sure... BC

The Foundation for Fraternal Excellence is sad to hear about the passing of William D. Jenkins, known to many as Mr. Bill, on September 24, 2024. Bill was a staple of the fraternal industry, elevating the profession and helping underscore the importance of fraternal fundraising; he will be missed gr...

10/07/2024

The River Tau Lodge & Library on the Oconee River on Wilkerson Street, part the center of a six building Phi Tau Land compound, underneath the Firefly Trail Bridge, connecting to the adjoining Dudley Park, on the other side of the Oconee.

Excellent Homecoming turnout, the Auburn/Georgia rivalry football rivalry and curiousity were a great combination to draw alumni from the 1950s and forward back to Athens for the weekend and visit.

Go Dawgs! Damn proud to be.

BC

10/03/2024

The month of October is designed at Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and March 21st of each year is also World Down Syndrome Day.

Here is a video vlog I produced a couple of years ago which are a brief tutorial on the subject of Down syndrome. Being a part of this community has taught me many life lessons, as well as simply helping me a better person.

The Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta annual Buddy Walk is a great way/place to get acquainted, should you have interest. The awareness and friendraising event will be on the Marietta campus of Kennesaw State University on Saturday - https://www.dsaatl.org/buddy-walk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFpR3p7aqns

Atlanta Buddy Walk October 5, 2024Join the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta as we unite for a common cause and raise funds during the 2024 Atlanta Buddy Walk®! Whether you have Down syndrome, know someone who does, or just want to show your support, take the first step and donate or register to...

09/30/2024

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/young-american-men-lost-c1d799f7?st=4RfwSW

Portending more than a bit of trouble for our future as a nation, I have noted and been concerned about this for years now.

Men in their 20s and early 30s are much more likely than their female peers to live with their parents, and many say they feel aimless and isolated.