Hooray! The State of Georgia, CSX Transportation, Murray County and the Georgia Ports Authority have announced construction of the Appalachian Regional Port to be built in Murray County in Northwest Georgia. Automobiles, carpet and flooring and other goods from Georgia and neighboring states will be shipped via a direct 388-mile CSX rail line to the Georgia Ports Authority’s deep water port in Savannah.

This is huge. When the facility is opened in 2018, some 50,000 containers will be transported from one end of our state to the other by rail, meaning 50,000 less trucks barreling down our interstate highways at the speed of light. Hooray, again! ...

Say it isn’t so. A reader informed me that the exquisite little Georgia Sea Grill on St. Simons Island was no longer serving corn-fried shrimp. What? Corn-fried shrimp is as closely associated with the Georgia Sea Grill as great symphonies are to Beethoven.

All a misunderstanding says Zack Gowen, the new owner. “Something might have got lost in translation with our menu change,” he says. Currently, he is deciding whether to make the dish an entrée or an appetizer and until he does, Gowen says you can still get corn-fried shrimp if you ask for it.

He says he and his staff are working on getting the batter just right, something they might consider discussing with the previous owners who didn’t seem to have that problem. They also need to deep-six the idea of calling this iconic dish, “corn dogs.” That’s a slap in the protocephalon of all the corn-fried shrimp who have given their lives that we might enjoy a marvelous dining experience. ...

The satraps on the Atlanta City Council recently passed a resolution asking Gov. Nathan Deal to form a committee to study possible changes to the carving on Stone Mountain (which isn’t in Atlanta) that features Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Deal suggested they worry instead about improving our schools. Huffed State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta): “Deal should tell that to the families of the Charleston 9.” Huffed Dick Yarbrough: Fort should worry about the 52 people murdered in the City of Atlanta so far this year. ...

Speaking of Malfunction Junction, one local booster wants to see Ted Turner honored beyond getting 11 blocks of a street in downtown Atlanta named for him. He suggests that the Georgia World Congress Center, owner of Centennial Olympic Park, create some kind of permanent tribute to Turner. What a joke. The park was Billy Payne’s idea. Turner didn’t do squat to help. I was there when Payne, chairman of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Game, got the inspiration after seeing a similar gathering place at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. I told him it couldn’t be done and gave him all the reasons why. Payne did it anyway. Give Turner a parking lot or a viaduct but stay away from Centennial Olympic Park. He doesn’t deserve it. ...

Your federal tax dollars at work: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, better known as the CDC, has announced that kissing chickens can be hazardous to your health. My sources tell me that the chickens are in the process of publishing their own report which says humans are lousy kissers and that their government can be a bit weird, too. …

I received an email from a good friend in the Legislature (Yes, I really do have some friends in the Legislature) with a photograph of a man — a veteran I presume — holding a sign that reads, “23 American veterans commit suicide every day and nobody cares. One lion gets killed and the country is in an uproar.” I understand his frustration but he needs to know that we do care about our veterans. They deserve our respect and our gratitude for their service to our country — and not just on designated holidays. ...

And finally, football season is upon us and while teams across Georgia are suited up and ready to rumble, let us not forget the marching bands. They work just as hard honing their skills as do the football players and in many cases will have a better season. I can’t imagine walking three steps forward and four steps back while playing a musical instrument, but I am in awe of those who can. My applause to all the marching bands and those that support them.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at yarb2400@bellsouth.net; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139; online at dickyarbrough.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb