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By David Pendered

A stupid teenage prank that went awry, not politics, was the reason behind the theft of a statue of Brer Rabbit, according to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.

The possibility of politics as a motive was first raise by Lain Shakespeare, executive director of the Wren’s Nest, the Atlanta home of Brer Rabbit author Joel Chandler Harris. Shakespeare feared the theft was connected to intemperate remarks by a Colorado congressman who compared President Obama to the “Tar Baby” in an Uncle Remus story.

However, Putnam Sheriff Howard Sills said confessions gathered in the investigation showed that the theft was a dumb stunt. Sills provided a full report of the probe that rocked Eatonton, where the statue was taken from the front yard of the Uncle Remus Museum, and wobbled the Wren’s Nest, where Shakespeare does a yeoman’s job of keeping Harris relevant.

By David Pendered

The case of the stolen statue of Brer Rabbit took a grave turn this morning when the sheriff threw the book at four teenaged men charged with its abduction and dismemberment.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills lived up to his promise to deal severely with suspects if the statue were damaged. That’s because Brer Rabbit is as much an icon in Eatonton, where author Joel Chandler Harris was born and the statue stolen, as he is in Harris’ adopted hometown of Atlanta.

Sills charged each man with a count of felony theft by taking. The penalty is prison “for not less than one nor more than 10 years,” according to state law. One lawyer has blogged that a conviction of felony theft “virtually ruins a person’s chances of ever getting meaningful employment.”

By David Pendered

Transit projects that would be funded with the proposed 1 percent transportation sales tax represent almost 55 percent of the $6.14 billion that would be raised in metro Atlanta, according to staff estimates.

An outside review of the current list of proposed transit projects shows that the major effects of this spending will be felt along three transit corridors. These three corridors would receive more than 60 percent money earmarked for transit, according to the review.

The review also shows that five proposals for major transit improvements received no funding at all.

By David Pendered

A team of well known consultants, who have deep political connections with both parties, was named today to run the transportation sales tax political campaign for all of Georgia – outside metro Atlanta.

The team was announced this afternoon by the Georgia Transportation Alliance, which is affiliated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. The alliance is not publicly involved with the metro Atlanta campaign for the 1 percent sales tax for transportation.

This announcement puts the statewide campaign ahead of that in metro Atlanta, which does not have a lead consultant to coordinate the campaign to urge voters to support a 1 percent sales tax to pay for $6.14 billion in regional transportation improvements.

By David Pendered

Eatonton, Ga. – Mildred Lane just knew she’d never again see the statue of Brer Rabbit that had perched outside the Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton.

“I’m afraid he’s gone forever, because Sheriff Sills would have found him already already – if he is going to be found,” Lane said as she sat Saturday on the bench outside the log cabin museum, where she’s the hostess.

Lane’s faith in Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills wasn’t misplaced. Sills found the statue Monday afternoon and is in the hunt for four young men who apparently broke off Brer Rabbit’s ear and smoking pipe while kidnapping him from a pedestal in front of the museum.

By David Pendered

Metro Atlanta voters now have something tangible to consider when they think about voting next year for a 1 percent sales tax for proposed road and transit improvements.

This story has been updated.

A list of just over 100 projects, priced at $6.14 billion, was approved Monday by a 5-0 vote by a group of mayors and county chairmen who comprise the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable.

The split between roads and transit started the day at about 45 percent for roads and 55 percent for transit. The final split appears to be in that ballpark, and committee staffers were busy late Monday digesting the final figures after four hours of negotiations.

By David Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told DeKalb County’s Chamber of Commerce Monday that the planned transportation sales tax must be approved to ensure the region’s economic vitality in the future.

The transportation projects are part of about $14.5 billion in public infrastructure projects that are planned or underway, Reed said.

Taken in total, the projects represent such a major investment that competing cities never will be able to overtake metro Atlanta as the top region in the Southeast, Reed said.

By David Pendered

A statement released by Atlanta’s airport refutes findings by an economist at Georgia State University concerning the amount of information that’s readily available about the concessions trade.

The study by Bruce Seaman found that Atlanta’s airport is less transparent than other North American airports in revealing details of its concessions business. Passengers could be affected if some quality concessionaires decide the lack of information is enough to keep them from trying to open shop at the airport, Seaman said.

The airport’s statement contends that the airport does release large amounts of information about its concessions trade, and it urges researchers and the media to accurately report available information.

By David Pendered

A statue of Brer Rabbit has been taken from its pedestal in front of the Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, the hometown of Atlanta author Joel Chandler Harris.

“Speculation, as far as motive, runs from prank to scrap-metal sale,” said Stanley Lines, a retired school librarian who resides in Eatonton and runs a lively Twitter update about his community.

But there may be a more sinister motive to the missing statue, one inspired by politics and related to the current flap involving a congressman who compared President Obama to the “Tar Baby” story, said Lain Shakespeare, the descendant of Harris who oversees the Wren’s Nest, in Southwest Atlanta.

By David Pendered

Faced with a list of road and transit projects they just don’t want to cut any deeper, local elected officials now intend to ask the state Legislature for access to possibly more sales tax dollars.

But their hopes already have been dashed. Asked for comment on the pending request, a spokeswoman for the governor said late Thursday that the Legislature will not consider it during the special session that begins Aug. 15.

Clayton County Chairman Eldrin Bell did his part to raise the heat of debate by suggesting that the proposed – and moribund – commuter rail line from Atlanta to Griffin is the victim of a state agency’s effort to protect its bus service in the area.