The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • E2

Filename: E2-METRO-AJCD0509-AJCD created: May 8 2008 Username: SPEED2 Friday, May 09, 2008 METRO 2 AJCD 2 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black E2 Friday, May 9, 2008 4 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ajc.com 2 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black AJCD File name: E2-METRO-AJCD0509-AJCD created: May 8 2008 Username: SPEED2 Truckers are angry about the price of diesel fuel, so what do they do about it? They burn more of it driving their rigs to Washington to protest the high cost of driving their rigs. Makes perfect sense to me. After getting stiffed on the economic stimulus check, my goal in life is to become Play advocate now and then, and a wit. Play it the devil. Geez, Louise! Every spring you guys vent about pollen as if it had just landed here for the time from outer space.

What a travesty referring to Billy Ray Cyrus as a singer. We should bus our panhandlers to a temperate area of Florida and teach them to Many successful peace activists, like Jesus, Gandhi, Jane Fonda and Jimmy Carter, have been considered rabble rousers by the rulers of their day. After seven years of marriage, learned that someone with ADD should not marry someone with OCD. Claritin: The Atlanta once-a-day vitamin. If Cheney had done the noble thing and stepped down two years ago, the Republicans would now have an appointed, experienced vice president who was a viable candidate for president.

pave over Piedmont Park and bring back all of the festivals. The Dog is paid exactly what she is worth compared to what the UGA football coach makes based on the revenue football brings in. The IRS is playing Christmas music on hold, in April. I guess they are with the holiday spirit, giving out my tax dollars as a stimulus to people who earn it and deserve it. I wish people would understand that while their margin is around 8 percent, the federal government makes several times more than that in taxes off each gallon of gas.

Parents of my students read notes sent home. My doctor read the letter I sent him. Now I realize no one probably reads my vents. I received an e-mail from the Baptists today. America is being blessed with the $600 and $300 dollar tax and guess what? They want you to give it to them since it is an unanticipated blessing.

Jeremiah Wright will have his 15 minutes of fame whether it costs Obama the presidency or not. confuse motion with progress. A taxpayer voting Democratic is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders. say this for Obama.

The man clearly has a lot of patience. It took him 20 years to get outraged. The Vent Guy must be my son. He does not think that my wisdom is worth listening to either. In his speech about race, Obama threw his granny the Now thrown his preacher the Ever consider that America is now standing at the bus stop? Need to Vent? Call 404-2228338; e-vent: THE VENT Do you have a question about the news? Our news researchers will try to get an answer.

Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail (include your name and city). Sorry, individual responses are not possible. How long do dedications of interstate highways remain in effect? The I-75 and I-285 junction in Cobb County used to honor Dr. Larry McDonald, and now disappeared and a name I recognize. ELLYN MUSSER, Ellijay All of I-75 in Cobb County is the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway.

That changed. What you probably saw was a sign for the Emory Parrish Interchange, the name given to the interchange by state lawmakers in 2006. Parrish helped plan Georgia roads for many years and retired from the state DOT in the 1980s. The DOT has a database of named roads and bridges. Check it out here: digbig.com/4wwgd.

Could you please tell me the name of the young man who sings in the Freecreditreport.com commercials on TV? JUNE LEWALLEN, Bowdon That charming young man is Eric Violette, a French Canadian actor. Though he sings and plays the guitar, not his voice in the commercials. The folks at freecreditreport.com may be generous with credit reports, but they have declined to share the real name with us. The songs were penned by David Muhlen feld. Videos, including the commercials, and still photos of Violette can be viewed in a text translation of his French language Web site provided by Google: digbig.com Researcher Richard Hallman wrote this column.

ON THE NEWS is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true Disgruntled former employee Star Jones to US Weekly on ex-boss Barbara new memoir, HIGH FIVE Television The top On Demand programs for the week of May 5, as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta: 1. Lil Wayne music video, Music Choice 2. Shawty Lo music video, Music Choice 3. Usher in this music video, Music Choice 4.

Keyshia Cole music video, Music Choice 5. goes to TBS Courtesy: OnDemand Essentials KIRSTEN LUCE Special Rachel Rosen Lehmann invited Bill Hargrove as her date for her 102nd birthday party, held by the Atlanta Opera in 2005. Bill died Monday at age 106. At 104, grieving for bowling beau As soon as we received word of Bill Hargrove passing Thursday at Buzz Central, we immediately picked up the phone and rang Rachel Rosen Lehmann our favorite 104-year-old reader. As no doubt recall, Lehmann called us back in March 2005, after reading about bowler Bill Hargrove, then 102, who had just been featured in the AJC Sports section.

Lehmann wanted his digits. We happily obliged. The two ended up getting on so well, Hargrove showed up at the longtime Atlanta Opera 102nd birthday party in June of that year with three long- stemmed red roses. Sporting a jacket and tie, Hargrove gave her a hug and purred in her ear: came in here looking for an old lady but I We took copious notes and the pair ended up on the front page much to the delight of readers. Bill, what a darling sweet Lehmann Thursday.

was a real Southern gentleman. He would always call me in that accent of his. It was the cutest Lehmann told us the two met up from time to time when they could arrange transportation but mostly kept up via phone calls. Said Lehmann: would tell me, I go to bed at night, I see you in my How can you top that? They making gentlemen like that Regrettably, Lehmann never had a chance to take Hargrove to her beloved Atlanta Opera. But she did attend his 106th birthday party last year.

brought him a big bottle of Lehmann recalled with a wicked laugh. mean, at our age, why not? We always had so much fun together. I just wish we could have started a little earlier. But so happy I got to meet him. And so In tribute to her bowling beau, the Zaban Tower retirement community songbird plans to attend memorial service Saturday at 2 p.m.

at Grace United Methodist Church. With three long-stemmed red roses in hand. A gospel Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber production company has tapped Susan V. Booth to direct the forthcoming gospel version of Christ scheduled to run at the Alliance Theatre on Jan. 14-Feb.

22 in 2009. The Alliance artistic director said she was called to London recently for a sit- down with Really Useful Group. Andrew Booth said, he was on his way to Las Vegas for Detroit native Louis St. Louis is restaging the classic musical as Christ Superstar To prepare, Booth said they will be hitting gospel churches in the coming weeks. She says part of the fun is being able to check out churches than which is her denomination.

Apparently, the search for a director was quite competitive. is their prime Booth said. is the major reconception of the work in a long time and a big very humbling and very challenging, and the greatest thing in the world when you get to do she said of her new assignment. connection to the rock opera is personal. She says she sang Know How to Love in a sixth-grade talent show.

thought it was stunning, but I think everyone else she said. She says she now croons to her 4- year-old daughter, Moira Coupling Mariah Carey really did get married to Nick Cannon in the Bahamas last week and they have the tattoos to prove it. The 38-year-old singer Friday Talk PEACH BUZZ ON THE NEWS THE VENT Got a tip for Peach Buzz? 404-526-2749 or PEACH BUZZ RICHARD L. ELDREDGE, and the 27-year-old actor to People magazine, out today, that they tied the knot at Bahamian estate April 30 after a courtship that began in late March. In the interview, Cannon said they clicked instantly when Carey cast him as a lover in the video for her new single, the time we sat down to discuss the video at the Beverly Hills Hotel, we Cannon said.

had so much in common spiritually, and we laugh at the same things. I have to put on my Mac Daddy suave mode. I was able to be myself with her. We are both eternally 12 years Celebrity birthdays CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace is 90. Actress Candice Bergen is 62.

Singer Billy Joel is 59. QUOTE OF THE DAY Contributing: Wendell Brock and news services. METRO.