Free Press 10-14-11

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FREEPRESSWWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011 VOL. 14, NO. 29 FREE

A PUBLICATION OF ACE III C OMMUNICATIONS

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Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.

Comedienne Myra J, who plays Ms. Lucy inThe Clubhouse, holds up a can of ArnoldPalmer during shooting. The pilot episode for the mockumentary-styled sitcom wasfilmed Oct. 1 2 at Sugar Creek Golf Course in DeKalb. The pilot was written by DeKalbresident and formerChampion writer Brian Egeston. Photo by Travis Hudgons

Lights, Camera , Action!

History Center to featureChampions exhibit

The DeKalb History Center, incooperation with The ChampionNewspaper, will host a new tempo-rary exhibit beginning Oct. 19.

The exhibit highlights 20 Years ofCommunity Champions. As part ofits 20-year anniversary in July, TheChampion recognized newsmakerswho have made positive contribu-tions to DeKalb County during thistime period.

This exhibit details the importantcontributions from these championsby highlighting their accomplish-

ments and achievements, and in-cludes community leaders from allwalks of life. The exhibit showcas-es personal items and memorabiliafrom many of the honorees.

The opening reception is Tues-day, Oct. 18, 5:30 7 p.m., and willinclude light refreshments. Theexhibit will be on the rst floor ofthe historic DeKalb Courthouse, 101East Court Square, Decatur. The ex-hibit will be open to the public Oct.19 to March 30, Monday throughFriday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

See Travel on Page 15A

Travelers

returningto travel

agents

by Gale Horton Gay

The travel industry hashad its share of ups anddowns in recent years,thanks to high unem-

ployment, economic uncertainty,political turmoil abroad and thepublics embrace of technologyand the Internet.

However, the skies appearincreasingly bluer for travel

agents, many of whom are ex-periencing greater traffic andrevenue.

The American Society ofTravel Agents released itsLei-sure Trends Reportearlier this

year and determined that a largepercentage of leisure-basedtravel agencies saw increasedrevenue (51 percent) and transac-tions (49 percent) last year com-pared to 2009, a positive trendthat agents expect to continuethrough 2011 when 94 percentexpect to make a prot.

Locally, several travel agentsreport that business is booming,with consumers seeking their

services to book longer vacationsto more exotic destinations.

According to Alvilda Jones

Agents saybenefits of

their servicesare many

Whats hot in travel now

River cruises on the Danube and

the Rhine Mediterranean cruises

- Celia Gardner

Dominican RepublicPunta CanaMayan RiveriaSouth Africa

- Alvilda Jones

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Page 2A The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011

Cash for Gold school fundraising event canceled

Printed on

100% post-

consumer

recycled

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by Daniel [email protected]

The principal of RobertShaw Elementary decidedto cancel a Cash for Goldfundraising event that was tobe held at the school on Oct.

4 and 6.According to school

system spokesman WalterWoods, Principal EdwinaBoggs contacted him andsaid that she was cancelingthe event for an unspeciedreason.

The event, which wassupposed to take placefrom 8 a.m. to noon in theteachers lounge, was tobe held in partnership withMidwest Gold Exchange, aNorcross-based company.

Paul Piwinski, ownerand appraiser at MidwestGold, said that he learnedthat Boggs had canceled theday before the event withoutgiving a reason.

They contacted my

event planner and Imassuming that it was aDeKalb blog about it thattends to make principalsnervous, Piwinski said.

A ier for the eventwas posted on theDeKalbCounty School Watchblog

on Sept. 30. Boggs wascontacted for the story butdid not return repeatedphone calls by deadline.

Piwinski said that thebiggest misconceptionabout events such as thisis that many think they areopen to the public. Piwinskisaid sometimes when thepeople hear about them,they automatically think theworst.

Its an in-school eventfor just the staff members.Its not for the public, theyautomatically think that theschool is opening up like apawn shop, Piwinski said.Theyre very discreetthestudents dont even knowtheyre there.

According to Piwinski,most events take placeduring the teachers lunchbreak. Piwinski said themajority of items the staffbrings in are small trinketsor costume jewelry theythink is just junk.

They usually think thatwhat they have is worthnothing and theyll getpaid an average of $250,Piwinski said.

Piwinski, who hasbeen in business forapproximately three years,said that his companystarted doing Cash forGold events at schools twoyears ago. So far, he said inmany cases it is a moraleboost for the teaching staff.At the end of the event, hiscompany makes a donationto the school or its PTA.

Those checks can bepretty substantial. A lot ofteachers use some of themoney to buy supplies andstuff, Piwinski said.

Judge delaysNeuman trialby Andrew [email protected]

Hemy Neuman, who plans to plead guilty by rea-son of insanity for the November 2010 killing of a man

outside of a Dunwoody daycare, willhave to wait a little longer to get hisday in court.

The trial, which was set to be-gin on Oct. 17, has been delayed tosometime in February 2012 by Supe-rior Court Judge Gregory Adams.

This date change came on Oct.5 after concerns by the prosecutionthat more time is needed to allowa court-appointed psychologist or

psychiatrist to examine Neuman inreference to the insanity defense.

Last month, Neumans attorneys led a notice incourt announcing his intention to plead not guilty byreason of insanity. Originally, Neumans plea was notguilty.

Neuman was arrested in January and charged withthe murder ofRussell Sneiderman, a 36-year-oldentrepreneur who was shot several times outside Dun-woody Prep daycare, where he had just dropped off hisson.

On Oct. 6 Neumans lawyers led a motion askingthe judge to rescind his order resetting the trial date,stating that there is no need for the change. The newtrial date remains in February.

Neuman partially waives his Fifth Amendment

privilege to allow the state an opportunity to have itsexpert conduct an examination, according to courtdocuments. However, the defendant retains his FifthAmendment right for all other purposes.

Neuman does not intend to waive those rightsbeyond what is required to give the state a fair oppor-tunity to present its own expert testimony, the docu-ments state.

In another motion led in the case, Esther Panitch,an attorney for Neumans wife Ariela, asked the judgeto reject a subpoena of her by Hemy Neumans attor-neys.

The motion states that any testimony Ariela Neu-man would provide would be hearsay and/or subjectto the attorney-client privilege. Panitch represents Ar-iela Neuman pro bono, according to court documents.

The subpoena would signicantly embarrass, an-

noy, harass, oppress and burden Ariela Neuman, ac-cording to the documents.

Neuman

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Page 3A The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011

by Andrew [email protected]

When DeKalb E-911

operatorBarbara Carstar-phen, of Ellenwood,wasdiagnosed with breast can-cer in February 2010, shewas in disbelief.

It was unbelievable be-cause I didnt think it wouldever happen again, Carstar-phen said. It was her secondbout with breast cancer; therst occurred in 2000. Andhis diagnosis came a few

days after her father died.When I came back from

Alabama [after] buryinghim, I went to the doctor

and I was diagnosed withbreast cancer, Carstarphenaid. I never got to grieve

my father because I wentight into my ordeal.

During this time, Carstar-phen underwent chemother-apy every two weeks, butnever missed work.

I came to work everyday, sick or not, Carstar-phen said. I didnt let it getme. I still looked at my jobas being important. It wasomething that I felt I need-

ed to do because the citizenstill needed me.

Because of her dedi-cation, Carstarphen wasecently named the 2011

Operator of the Year by theAssociation of Public Safety

Communication Ofcials.Barbaras contributions

to E-911 center are an in-valuable and integral part of

what makes DeKalb Countya safer place to live, workand play, said DeKalb CEOBurrell Ellis during a proc-lamation of Barbara Carstar-phen Day on Sept. 27.

The countys E-911 cen-ter, which handles emergen-cy and non-emergency calls,and after-hours animal calls,received approximately 1.4million calls last year.

Its a prestigiousaward, said Alesia Guest,a DeKalb County E-911watch commander. They

chose our star.Carstarphen, who oftenwent to chemotherapy onher lunch break, once apolo-gized for not coming in asoften and for letting herteam down, Guest said.

Shes a team player,has a lot of integrity and isa hard worker, Guest said.Shes our go-to person forall of us. Shes one of thebest.

Carstarphen, who hasworked in emergency com-munications for 12 years,said, It was a pleasure to

get nominated because thereare so many people withinthe center that could havewon.

Im glad that someone

thought enough of me tonominate me because thatmeans I must be doingsomething right, Carstar-

phen said. But there are alot of other people that dojust as good as I do.

Carstarphen, a senioroperator and trainer, usuallyhandles re calls, but willalso lend a hand with armedrobberies, shootings, bur-glaries, cardiac arrests andeven stomach pains.

Anything that you seegoing on TV or you see onFirst 48 orCSI, we do it,Carstarphen said.

The Lower Peachtree,Ala., native said the job has

its good days and it has itsbad, when youre dealingwith the citizens.

You may get cursed outon a daily basis but you justgot to hold that composure,because youre doing some-thing thats professional,Carstarphen said.

We have the peoplethat call and it just soundslike what theyre saying isso true: My house is beingbroken into, Carstarphensaid. Theyre screaming.Theyre crying. Theyrewhispering, Im hiding in

the closet. And [the police]get out there and the per-sons really demented.

We have stories to tellevery day, said Carstar-

phen, who handled nearly10,000 calls last year.

Carstarphen said she wasnever mean to anyone call-

ing E-911 when she wasdealing with breast cancer.

Im always pleasantbecause thats the way I wasraised, Carstarphen said.No matter what you gotgoing on outside the door,dont bring it in.

Carstarphen, who hasa 16-year-old son and a25-year-old daughter, saidshe likes helping people

through her job.Im a people person and

Im about helping people,Carstarphen said. This isa job that you help peoplemore than anything, I think.I feel like Im doing what Iwas called to do.

E-911 operator wins national award despite personal challenges

Local News

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DeKalb E-911 operator Barbara Carstarphen, right, who was recently named operator of the year by a national organization, trains a new employee. Cartstarphen hasworked for the county for 12 years and handled nearly 10,000 calls last year. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

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The Newslady

Guest Editorial

iPads over we-people

To change DeKalb School Board, we must keep e-SPLOST

by Steen Miles

America lost two titans Oct.5 with the passing of civil rightscon Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

and Apple creatorSteve Jobs.Both helped change the landscapeof our human interactionRev.Shuttlesworth through the battlefor civil rights and Jobs throughhe use of technology and the

computer.Both men etched indelible

mprints on the fabric of ourives. The impact of the modern

Civil Rights Movement rever-berated all over the world. Rev.Shuttlesworth along with Dr.King was a founder of the SCLC

and once served as its president.The non-violent strategy of Rev.Shuttlesworth and others in themovement reverberated all over

the world and even helped bringdown the Berlin Wall where Ger-mans locked arms and sang WeShall Overcome. Jobs iPhone,iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes inno-vations have forever changed theway the world consumes media.But technology trumped people inthe deaths of these two giants.

In the news media the impor-tance of a story is readily deter-mined by its placement, treatmentand frequency. Is it the lead orfirst story in the newscast? Thatsplacement. Does a reporter dothe story or is it merely a voice

over with the anchor talking overpictures? Thats treatment. Howoften does the story run? Thatsfrequency. Rev. Shuttlesworthspassing was a prominent story,but not a lead. Jobs passing wasa two-day lead story, making itpatently clear that to mainstreamnews media, Jobs passing was of

greater import than Rev. Shuttles-worths demise.

It is important to note thatthis observation is just that and

not an indictmentjust food forthought. We as a nation seem-ingly place a greater premium onthings over people. The master-mind of the greatest revolution inpersonal computers is certainlyworthy of the press he is given,especially when he fought so val-iantly against the killer cancer andsuccumbed at such a young age.But one of the brave cornerstonesof the modern Civil Rights Move-ment transitioning even at theripe old age of 89 should be givenequal treatment. For the sake ofbalance, it would seem that both

were deserving of equal pressbut that would be an ideal worldwhich doesnt yet exist.

President Obama rightlycalled Jobs one of Americasgreatest innovators who wasbrave enough to think differ-ently, bold enough to believehe could change the world and

talented enough to do it. Andof Rev. Shuttlesworth the presi-dent said, He dedicated his lifeto advancing the cause of justice

for all Americans. He was a testa-ment to the strength of the humanspirit. And today we stand on hisshoulders, and the shoulders of allthose who marched and sat andlifted their voices to help perfectour union. America owes Rev.Shuttlesworth a debt of gratitude.

Both Jobs and Rev. Shuttles-worth were bright stars in thegalaxy. The work of both men willlive on well beyond our memo-ries. That is why it is so vital thatthe record speak clearly and eq-uitably of two titans who died onthe same day. One championed

the cause ofhuman rights anddignity, the other whose techno-logicalcreations have no equal.

Steen Miles, The Newslady, isa retired journalist and formerGeorgia state senator. ContactSteen Miles at [email protected].

by Carla Roberts, M.D., Ph.D.

In November DeKalb voterswill be asked to reapprove a 1-centales tax for the construc-ion and capital improve-

ments to school buildingsacross the entire county.This is not a tax increase;he education Special

Local Option Sales TaxSPLOST) is how DeKalb

County Schools has fundedchool construction since996when the SPLOST

was first approved by thevoters. It has been ap-proved three times, and funded 22new schools, 22 major renovationsand dozens of capital renewal proj-ects. SPLOST funds have also beenused to improve technology in theclassrooms to keep our studentsearning in a 21st century environ-

ment.The Education SPLOST (e-

SPLOST) is currently the onlypermanent funding mechanism forchool improvement and construc-ion in DeKalb County, and it haseveral advantages. First, SPLOST

funds, by law, are required to be

spent only on those projects out-

lined in the project list, which isavailable for public inspection.There is no discretion by mem-

bers of the Board ofEducation to redirect e-SPLOST funds for any-thing other than projectsenumerated on the list.Property taxes levied bythe Board of Education,however, can be usedfor whatever the boarddecides.

Secondly, e-SPLOST revenue isgenerated by sales taxes

in DeKalbincluding tourists,visitors and shoppers from othercounties, which helps ease the bur-den of property taxes on DeKalbhomeowners. Between 35 and 40percent of all SPLOST revenue isgenerated by people who spendtheir money in DeKalb County, butwho do not live here. Thats moneythat DeKalb taxpayers dont haveto pay. To generate an equivalentamount of revenue using propertytaxes, the board would have to in-crease property tax rates by morethan two mills. DeKalb homeown-

ers and property taxpayers have

seen property tax increases alreadythis year, and shouldnt be requiredto pay even more than they alreadyare.

DeKalb is unique among coun-ties in Georgia in that we havean additional $2,500 added to thestandard homestead exemption onour property taxes, (an exemptionthats 25 percent higher than anyother county in Georgia)but onlyas long as a sales tax for educationis in place. If DeKalbs e-SPLOSTis not renewed, that exemptiongoes away, and property taxes goup automatically, even if the boarddoesnt raise the millage rate at all.

Many parents, myself included,have expressed deep concern aboutthe operations of the Board ofEducation, which seems prone toinfighting and bickering. This year,State Rep. MikeJacobs wrote andpassed legislation to reduce thenumber of school board membersfrom nine to seven. This is an im-portant step in making the boardmore efficient and functional, andI applaud Rep. Jacobs good workat reforming the school board. Butas written, the e-SPLOST must be

in place to cut the school board

from nine members to seven. If thee-SPLOST is not renewed, DeKalbCounty will keep exactly the boardit currently has.

A robust school system helpskeep DeKalb County attractive tofamilies and businesses and is theprimary driver of property values.Keeping the e-SPLOST in placewill help keep DeKalb propertyvalues high and prevent more prop-erty tax hikes. It will allow DeKalbCounty to keep our 25 percentextra homestead exemption, and itfunds schools with revenue fromanyone who shops here, rather thanonly taxing those who live here.Renewing SPLOST this Novem-ber will also reduce the number ofboard members from nine to seven.

It may be tempting, in a downeconomy, to throw in the toweland stay home on Nov. 8. But toallow the e-SPLOST to go awaywould hurt homeowners, hurt stu-dents, raise property taxes and keepthe current board exactly as it is.We all need to vote to keep the e-SPLOST.

Dr. Roberts co-chairs theFriends of DeKalb Education.

The Champion Free Press, Friday October 14, 2011 Page 4AOpinion

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One Mans Opinion

A super welcome for our new superintendent

Let Us Know What You Think!

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESSencourages opinionsfrom its readers. Please write to us and express yourviews. Letters should be brief, typewritten and containthe writers name, address and telephone number forverification. All letters will be considered for publication.

Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347,Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send E-Mail to [email protected]

FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779

Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week priorto publication date.

EDITORS NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contributingeditors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or publishers.The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement atany time. The Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Publisher: Dr. Earl D. GlennManaging Editor: Kathy Mitchell

News Editor: Robert Naddra

Production Manager: Kemesha Hunt

Graphic Designer: Travis Hudgons

The Champion Free Press is published eachFriday by ACE III Communications, Inc.,

114 New Street, Suite E, Decatur, GA. 30030

Phone (404) 373-7779.

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FREEPRESS

My husband asked as we werepacking for this move, Are webringing along this old type-writer? My son said, Whats atypewriter. The typewriter stayedin Lorain.

Dr. Cheryl Atkinson, DeKalbCountys new superintendent of

schools during a meeting withDeKalb business leaders and her

second week on the job.

Our new DeKalb Schools su-perintendent, Dr. Cheryl Atkinson,made quite a favorable first impres-ion on the DeKalb Chamber and

business community during her de-but luncheon on Monday, Oct. 3, athe Crowne Plaza Ravinia.

Most recently superintendentof Lorain City Schools in Ohio,Atkinson has had along and suc-cessful career in education adminis-ration in Kansas City, Mo., as well

as Charlotte-Mecklenburg CountySchools in North Carolina. She was

also selected as a finalist for thenew superintendent slot for AtlantaPublic Schools.

Though short in stature, Dr.

Atkinson is long on energy, perse-verance and drive. She has set anearly goal of visiting each and everyone of DeKalbs 137 schools dur-ing her first 90days on the job. Thiswas day 14, and she had alreadyvisited 41 campuses.

She reminded the audienceinlight of recent focus on standardizedtest scores here and around the cor-nerthat we should perhaps insteadbe focusing on the children aroundthe world who will compete withour own for the jobs of tomorrow.She noted that there are now moreproficient English-speaking studentslabeled gifted in classrooms in In-dia than we have school-aged chil-dren in the entire United States.

Dr. Atkinson spoke of the im-portance of early intervention, andeducation never being too early. Inaddition to making more progress inpre-K, Atkinson noted in her post-speech remarks that DeKalb mightpilot a program to work with moth-ers and at-risk children as young as6 months. The sooner we begin,she clearly believes, the better ourresults will be.

While I think it is wonder-ful that our nation can send $100laptops to children in developing

parts of the world, I worry that ourchildren are still lugging textbooksand book bags. Textbooks are bigbusiness, but so are e-books and e-

learning, said a superintendent whoappears comfortable challenging thestatus quo.

Dr. Atkinson shared that her sonwhos unfamiliar with typewriters isalso her on-site technical support forher iPhone.

These kids can do way morethan we can with a laptop, computeror even a smart phone. We cantrun and hide from the Internet. Weneed to race to embrace the toolsand technology of today, to helpbetter train them for the jobs of to-morrow, which dont even exist yettoday, Atkinson said.

As a product of DeKalb PublicSchools, I want to help her returnour system to its former days ofglory, as well as acknowledge thechallenges of limited resources andstretched taxpayers which exist to-day. Knowing that our new super-intendent will not be afraid to makethe case, or seek out new partner-ships, alliances and even re-makeDeKalb County Schools again intoan innovator and catalyst in publiceducation gives me new hope forour schools.

Who of us is going to stepup for the 90,000 DeKalb Countyschoolchildren? If not now, then

when? If not here, then where? Ifnot you, then who? Atkinson chal-lenged her audience.

I also want to again give a tip

of the hat to former acting Superin-tendent Ramona Tyson, who tookon the less than enviable task ofcleaning up after elephants whenthe circus has been in town. Tysonably did her job, and set the stagewell for a turnaround, which Dr.Atkinson can now lead, with Tysonremaining in the system and on herleadership team.

About two weeks earlier, Dr.Eugene Walker, an at-large mem-ber of the school board and long-time family friend, introduced meto our new super. It was clear to seein Docs eyes the pride and faithhe has in the selection and decisionmade by an often-divided DeKalbSchool board to select Dr. Atkinsonby a solid majority.

Dr. Atkinson worked the roomthat night of several hundred com-munity, civic and business leaders injust over an hour, and then went onto her next appointment of the eve-ning. If nothing else, we certainlyalready know with this superinten-dent, if our community and businessdont get on board in supportingour children and our schools, it willnot be for lack of outreach or beingasked.

Go get em, Dr. A!

The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011 Page 5AOpinion

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The Champion, Thursday, Oct. 13 - 19, 2011 Page 6AOpinion

My friend Richard is a littlecrazy and very smart. He spendshis days filling the Internet withscreeds and rants on his favoritesubjectthe continuing collapseof our society. Id tell you his lastname, but if you wrote him, youd

get his scary e-mails too.Heres an excerpt from a recent

effort after the stock market had abad-hair day.

As Ive said all along, itsDepression II. The stock markets catching on. Dow is down 4.5

percent today. Has a long way togo (down) to get to a reasonablevalue considering the fundamen-talsCorrupt and disintegratinggovernmental systems here and inEngland. Gridlock. Incompetenceeverywhere

Did I mention that he is an an-gry old man? He seems to have

caught the zeitgeist, however: thatvague feeling of terror caused bybeing at the mercy of mysteriousforces we cant control.

To scroll through a good news-paper (there are still a few) is to beconfronted with one horror storyafter another.

If the Arab Spring isntthreatening to go sour on us, the Is-raelis and Palestinians are makingrude Italian gestures at each othern the United Nations. Every time

the Greek government blows itsnose, financial markets throughoutthe Western world get pneumonia.Pakistans military is preparing

ts country for war, quite possiblywith us even though we supplythem with weapons and money.Every other month or so Congressgoes to the brink of shutting down

the government and with it theeconomy, which is already dead inthe water and sinking, slowly.

In 18th-century London peopleused to go to Bedlam, the citysmental institution, to amuse them-selves by gawking at the insane,sometimes paying a penny for aspecial peek. Today we watch Re-publican presidential debates.

So far we have heard cheersfor both executions and Americasshortage of health insurance. Therehave been boos for a soldier whoserved in Iraq because he was gay.

During each of those appalling mo-ments, no candidate raised his orher voice in protest.

We have seen Mitt Romney andRick Perry back away from theirmost noble achievements as gov-ernors simply to appease the unap-peasable.

We have witnessed MicheleBachmann make a fool of herselftime after time with no one, appar-ently, noticing.

What an awful bunch. Its likean early round ofAmerican Idol. Isuppose Romney is the least worstof them. If elected, hes likely toabandon his current positions asreadily as he did most of his previ-ous positions.

Barack Obama has been nogreat prize either. He holds hisgreat achievementsthe health carebill and the rescue of the auto in-dustryat arms length, as thoughhe doesnt want them to stain hissuit.

The world has begun the fourthyear of a financial crisis with noend in sight. Our leaders not onlydont have the answers; they dontseem to know the questions.

I dont agree with everythingmy friend Richard says, but Im

beginning to share his rising senseof panic.

OtherWords columnist DonaldKaul lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.http://otherwords.org

Proposed Clifton corridor rail projecttargeted for cuts

I try not to be cynical, but I dont see any of these projectsever coming to fruition. I have been working on these CliftonCorridor and South Dekalb transportation proposals for over30 years and I still dont see anything to show for such efforts.This latest round just looks like more of the same - alwaysfunding issues, somebody throwing in the race card, threatsof litigation, and then it wil l die away due to waning interestonly to be resurrected by some other group again. It is anendless cycle.

Thompson posted this on 10/7/11 at 2:20 p.m.

Residents say new code enforcementordinance not strong enough

On your computer Google the: Georgia State Study onDeKalb County.

Read the study !

Vote !

DeKalb County once a Model County = Now, what aintbroken is bent !Who is to blame ? You or The Board ofCommissioners and Burrell Ellis ?

No1Safe N DeKalb posted this on 10/8/11 at 9:30 p.m.

The following comments are pulled straight from our website and are notedited for content or grammar.

Gridlock and BedlamIt's scary, but I'm starting toagree with my pessimist friend

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011 Page 7ALocal News

If you would like to nominate someone to

be considered as a future Champion of theWeek, please contactKathy [email protected] or at

404-373-7779, ext. 104.

Champion ofthe Week

William E. Wright Sr.

Transportation tax projectist expected Oct. 13

William E. Wright Sr.happened upon the officeof disAbility Link in De-catur early in 2010 whenhe was on his way to aVeterans Administrationclinic. He inquired aboutvolunteer opportunitiesand has been helping toimprove the lives of dis-abled residents since.

He began by helpingwith employment work-shops and taught attend-ees how to write resumes,

how to prepare for jobinterviews and how to askquestions at interviews,among other things.

Wright, a disabledveteran who served fouryears in Vietnam, drawson his time in the militaryand from 34 years as apublic servant workingin the federal govern-ment. He worked for theInternal Revenue Service,U.S. Customs and retiredfrom Housing and UrbanDevelopment in 2007. Twoyears later Wright movedto Stone Mountain andsoon after found his call-ing with disAbility Link.

In an effort to helpother disabled veterans,Wright created for dis-Ability Link the RightFlank March program, aworkshop to help veter-ans acclimate themselvesinto society.

The single objectiveis to create an environ-

ment where veterans withdisabilities may gain orenhance personal toolsto improve their indepen-dent living experiences,Wright said.

Being a veteran withmultiple disabilities my-self, I feel the pain of oth-er veterans and know theisolations of persons withdisabilities, Wright said.Sometimes they thinkthey have nothing moreto contribute. We need towake up that spirit andget them into the role ofbeing a positive and pro-ductive citizen.

The five-week work-shop, which consists ofone class per week, pro-motes self sufficiency andcovers communicationskills, social media, fi-nances, diversity and oth-er topics. The first work-shop was held in Marchand another session is setfor later this month.

After the classes,theyre pretty fired up. Its

self-motivating, Wrightsaid.

Also, Wright does peersupport training and visitsveterans at the VA Hospi-tal on Clairmont Road.

In addition to hiswork with disAbility Link,Wright volunteers at hischurch, Stone MountainFirst United Methodist.He teaches adult SundaySchool classes and is amember of the churchcouncil.

Also, Wright recentlywas named vice president

for the Sunrise ServiceAssociation, a newlyformed organization ofchurches responsible forplanning and conductingEaster sunrise servicesat Stone Mountain Park.The service has been amainstay at the park formore than 60 years andhas drawn thousands ofvisitors.

by Andrew Cauthenandrew@dekalbchamp.

com

After months of plan-ning, rallying and politi-cal maneuvering, DeKalbCounty residents will learnwhich projects will be onhe 2012 transportation

referendum.The Atlanta Regional

Transportation Roundtables required to decide on

Oct. 13 which projectswill go to voters in the10-county metropolitan At-anta region.

Enacted last year by

Georgias legislature, theTransportation InvestmentAct (TIA) provides forregional referendums in2012. Voters will decidewhether they want to paya penny-sales tax to fundvarious transportation proj-ects including transit, road-way safety, and bicycleand pedestrian improve-ments.

In DeKalb County,many residents have heldrallies and meetings de-signed to urge transporta-

ion roundtable memberso include on the list ofproposed projects a plano build a heavy rail sys-em from the Indian Creek

MARTA station to Stone-crest Mall in Lithonia.

As of Oct. 7, approxi-

mately 300 supporters ofthe I-20 project had signed

an online petition askingthe transportation round-table to fully fund the proj-ect.

If any counties deservethe rail, DeKalb shouldbe at the top of the list,wrote Carolyn Green ofDecatur, on the petition.We have been paying forit for over 30 years.

I believe that theresidents of south DeKalbhave earned the right tothis choice as seasonedinvestors through the firstpenny sales tax already

contributed, wrote anoth-er resident, Sandy John-son of Decatur.

Additionally, the in-vestment already made inthe Wesley Chapel LCIand others would stronglysuggest from authorita-tive sources that a rail lineis vital to the success andsustainable growth in thispart of the county, John-son stated.

Decatur resident San-dra Morgan wrote, Com-mon sense and a blind

person ought to see thatthere is money to be madeand benefits to be attainedfrom installing rail servicealong the I-20 corridor.

The petition was startedby DeKalb CommissionerLarry Johnson, who has

been at the forefront ofthe push for the I-20 rail

project. Johnson said southDeKalb residents think thetransportation tax wouldbe unfair without the I-20project.

You cant ask a groupof people who invested 30years of money and madethe $6 billon [MARTA]system the ninth-largesttransportation system inthe country to pay an addi-tional penny but then say,you can keep getting thebus, Johnson said.

DeKalb County CEOBurrell Ellis, who, along

with Decatur MayorBillFloyd, represents thecounty on the roundtable,said his goal is to increaseregional funding for tran-sit.

Ellis said he would like60 percent of the revenuesfrom the proposed trans-portation tax to go torwardtransit systems.

Were trying to movetoward equitable funding,Ellis said. We need transitprojects to get to a placewhere we have a regional

transportation plan. Thatsthe only way were re-ally going to accomplishour goals of alleviatingcongestion, improving airquality and improving eco-nomic growth within theregion.

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DeKalb Symphony largely volunteer basedby Daniel [email protected]

In the 1970s, Joel Mar-golies was a professionalmusician playing French hornn the Jerusalem Symphony

Orchestra. In 1975 he decidedhe wanted to pursue a careeras a chiropractor and he put hishorn away.

Throughout the three yearswhen Margolies was studyingo become a chiropractor, he

said he didnt touch his horn.Then, he picked up a Cre-ative Loafngand read that theDeKalb Symphony Orchestra(DSO) was holding auditions.

Margolies said he tookhis horn out of its case, madesure the valves didnt stickand auditioned in front ofhen-orchestra managerTom

Anderson with the preface,It has been three years since Iast played. That was 25 years

ago.I gave it a shot. Im one of

hose that dont get paid. Most

of the folks are communitypeople, Margolies said.Since 1964, the DSO has

been performing concertswith both contemporary andsymphonic repertoire. Only 12of the 85 members get paid asmall stipend, the rest are vol-unteers from the community.

We rehearse about threehours a week and then we doeight hours of rehearsals beforehe concert. Its mostly practic-ng in between that takes uphe most time, Margolies said.

Margolies said that he likedhat fact the DSO is a commu-

nity orchestra. Twice a year itperforms two free concertsachildrens concert in Januaryand a concert on the Decatur

Square in Juneand he saidthat its always a really positivething for the community.

We do our best to offer thecommunity a broad spectrumof classical music. We need toget some younger folks in therethough. This is one of the fewprofessional groups that play inthe city, he said.

Margolies said over the pastseveral years, the orchestra hasbeen revitalized by its conduc-torFyodor Cherniavsky.

Fyodor brought a differentperspective to the orchestra anda new musicality, Margoliessaid, pointing to the orchestrasmost recent performance asevidence.

On the opening night ofDSOs season, the orchestraplayed a variety of music, in-cluding a lesser-known violinconcerto by Russian DmitriKabalevsky, which featuredAtlanta Opera ConcertmasterPeter Ciaschini on violin. Italso performed Modest Mus-sorgskys pieceNight on Bald

Mountain.Its a little bit like puttingtogether a recipe or a meal;theres an appetizer and a maincourse, Cherniavsky saidabout the program.

Cherniavsky, who has beenconductor and musical directorfor six years, said he has seenthe orchestra grow during histenure as he introduced musicmore technically difcult andobscure.

If youre an orchestrabuilder youre seeking pieceswhich enable the orchestra togrow both artistically and tech-nically. With a community or-chestra its a real challenge be-cause it has to be music withintheir means technically but you

also have to think of the audi-ence, Cherniavsky said.

A fan of modern and con-temporary music, Cherniavskysaid that when creating a pro-gram he must balance the morecutting edge music with famil-iar classics.

I have to really think aboutthe audience that is supportingus, he said.

Another DSO veteran,James Baugher, has beenplaying violin in the orchestrafor the past 20 years. Baugherwas looking for symphonies inDeKalb and stumbled acrossan ad for the DSO. He calledorchestra managerRick Rodg-ers for an audition.

I love my friends that arein the orchestra and I particu-larly appreciate the challengethat Fyodor gives us musi-cally, Baugher said.

Baugher, who studied musicthroughout grade school andcollege, now owns a wood-works and remodeling com-pany in DeKalb. He said he

averages approximately 200hours of rehearsal time eachyear. However, he said thattime doubles with the amountof practice required.

Its one of the priorities inmy life and I believe that weare sorely lacking in the arts.Being able to make it avail-able to the residents in DeKalbCounty is pretty phenomenal,Baugher said.

Baugher said that hes nevergotten tired of it and he enjoysthe different venues the DSOplays. His wife doesnt mind,he said with a laugh.

I plan to continue to doit until I cant. My wife fullysupports it and attends almostevery concert, he said.

Since 1964, the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra has been bringing classical and contemporary music to the resi-dents of DeKalb County. Photos provided

Violinist James Baugher, Conductor and Musical DirectorFyodor Cherniavsky and French Horn Player Joel Margo-lies. Both Baugher and Margolies have been volunteeringwith the orchestra for 20 years or more.

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CALL FOR AND NOTICE OF CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIA

NOVEMBER 8, 2011 BOND ELECTION

TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIA:

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that on the 8th

day of November, 2011, an election will be held in the City of Dunwoody, Georgia (the City) at which time there will be submitted to the qualifiedvoters of the City for their determination the question of whether or not City of Dunwoody General Obligation Bonds in one or more series (the Bonds), payable from the levy of a tax, resulting from anincrease in the millage rate imposed on all property subject to ad valorem taxation within the territorial limits of the City, shall be issued by City in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $33,000,000for the acquisition and remediation of land to be used for parks and greenspace and the costs associated therewith (Land Acquisition Project).

The Bonds relating to the Land Acquisition Project, if approved by the voters, may be issued in whole or in part in one or more series in the aggregate principal amount of not to exceed$33,000,000, and would bear interest at a rate or rates not to exceed 7.0% per annum, payable semiannually until paid. Such Bonds, if approved by the voters, shall mature or have principal payable inthe years and the principal amounts as follows:

Year PrincipalAmount





2012 -

2013 645,000.00 2019 720,000.00 2025 885,000.00 2031 1,150,000.00 2037 1,540,000.00

2014 655,000.00 2020 740,000.00 2026 925,000.00 2032 1,205,000.00 2038 1,625,000.00

2015 665,000.00 2021 765,000.00 2027 960,000.00 2033 1,265,000.00 2039 1,710,000.00

2016 675,000.00 2022 790,000.00 2028 1,005,000.00 2034 1,325,000.00 2040 1,795,000.00

2017 690,000.00 2023 820,000.00 2029 1,050,000.00 2035 1,395,000.00 2041 1,890,000.00

2018 705,000.00 2024 850,000.00 2030 1,100,000.00 2036 1,465,000.00 2042 1,990,000.00

The Bonds, if approved by the voters, shall contain such other provisions for redemption, registration and other matters as may be specified by the City in a subsequent resolution or ordinance.

If the Bonds are authorized by the requisite number of qualified voters, then the City shall levy, a tax, resulting from an increase in the millage rate imposed on all property subject to ad valoremtaxation within the territorial limits of the City in sufficient amount to pay the principal of and interest on said Bonds and their respective maturities and the proceeds of such Bonds shall be held by the Cityseparate and apart from all other of its funds and shall be used by the City for the purposes and to accomplish the undertakings hereinabove set forth.

The ballots to be used at said election shall have written or printed thereon substantially the following:

YES [ ]

NO [ ]

Shall land be acquired and remediated for parks and greenspace by the City of Dunwoody through the issuance of generalobligation bonds in the amount of $33,000,000?

The regular places for holding said election shall be at the regular and established voting precincts and election districts of DeKalb County, Georgia within the City and the polls shall be openfrom 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the date fixed for the election.

Those residents qualified to vote at said election shall be determined in all respects in accordance with the election laws of the State of Georgia.

THE CITY WILL NOT CONDUCT ANY PERFORMANCE AUDIT OR PERFORMANCE REVIEW WITH RESPECT TO THE BONDS AS SUCH TERMS ARE DESCRIBED IN SECTION 36-82-

100, OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED.

In accordance with the provisions of Section 36-82-1(d) of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, any brochures, listings or other advertisements relating to the Bonds issued with theknowledge and consent of the City, as evidenced by a resolution adopted by the City, will be deemed to be a statement of intention of the City concerning the use of the bond funds.

This notice is given pursuant to a resolution of the City adopted on July 25th, 2011.

CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIABy: Ken Wright, MayorBy: Sharon LoweryClerk of the City of Dunwoody,Georgia, as Municipal Election Superintendent

CALL FOR AND NOTICE OF CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIA

NOVEMBER 8, 2011 BOND ELECTION

TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIA:

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that on the 8th

day of November, 2011, an election will be held in the City of Dunwoody, Georgia (the City) at which time there will be submitted to the qualifiedvoters of the City for their determination the question of whether or not City of Dunwoody General Obligation Bonds in one or more series (the Bonds), payable from the levy of a tax, resulting from anincrease in the millage rate imposed on all property subject to ad valorem taxation within the territorial limits of the City, shall be issued by City in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $33,000,000for the improvement to the park system in the City and the costs associated therewith (Parks Project).

The Bonds relating to the Parks Project (the Park Bonds), if approved by the voters, may be issued in whole or in part in one or more series in the aggregate principal amount of not to exceed$33,000,000, and would bear interest at a rate or rates not to exceed 7.0% per annum, payable semiannually until paid. Such Bonds, if approved by the voters, shall mature or have principal payable inthe years and the principal amounts as follows:






2012 -

2013 645,000.00 2019 720,000.00 2025 885,000.00 2031 1,150,000.00 2037 1,540,000.00

2014 655,000.00 2020 740,000.00 2026 925,000.00 2032 1,205,000.00 2038 1,625,000.00

2015 665,000.00 2021 765,000.00 2027 960,000.00 2033 1,265,000.00 2039 1,710,000.00

2016 675,000.00 2022 790,000.00 2028 1,005,000.00 2034 1,325,000.00 2040 1,795,000.00

2017 690,000.00 2023 820,000.00 2029 1,050,000.00 2035 1,395,000.00 2041 1,890,000.00

2018 705,000.00 2024 850,000.00 2030 1,100,000.00 2036 1,465,000.00 2042 1,990,000.00

The Bonds, if approved by the voters, shall contain such other provisions for redemption, registration and other matters as may be specified by the City in a subsequent resolution or ordinance.If the Bonds are authorized by the requisite number of qualified voters, then the City shall levy, a tax, resulting from an increase in the millage rate imposed on all property subject to ad valorem

taxation within the territorial limits of the City in sufficient amount to pay the principal of and interest on said Bonds and their respective maturities and the proceeds of such Bonds shall be held by the Cityseparate and apart from all other of its funds and shall be used by the City for the purposes and to accomplish the undertakings hereinabove set forth.

The ballots to be used at said election shall have written or printed thereon substantially the following:

YES [ ]

NO [ ]

Shall the park system of the City of Dunwoody be improved by the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of$33,000,000?

The regular places for holding said election shall be at the regular and established voting precincts and election districts of DeKalb County, Georgia within the City and the polls shall be openfrom 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the date fixed for the election.

Those residents qualified to vote at said election shall be determined in all respects in accordance with the election laws of the State of Georgia.

THE CITY WILL NOT CONDUCT ANY PERFORMANCE AUDIT OR PERFORMANCE REVIEW WITH RESPECT TO THE BONDS AS SUCH TERMS ARE DESCRIBED IN SECTION 36-82-

100, OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED.

In accordance with the provisions of Section 36-82-1(d) of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, any brochures, listings or other advertisements relating to the Bonds issued with theknowledge and consent of the City, as evidenced by a resolution adopted by the City, will be deemed to be a statement of intention of the City concerning the use of the bond funds.

This notice is given pursuant to a resolution of the City adopted on July 25th, 2011.

CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIABy: Ken Wright, MayorBy: Sharon LoweryClerk of the City of Dunwoody,Georgia, as Municipal Election Superintendent

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Former police officer indictedon vehicular homicidecharges

A former DeKalb County police ofcer wasndicted Oct. 4 by the DeKalb County grand jury

on charges of vehicular homicide (two counts),reckless driving and violation of oath by publicofcer. Kristina Hambie, 25, allegedly wasraveling faster than 30 mph over the posted

speed limit in Avondale Estates when her policecar stuck another vehicle. Cheryl BlountBurton, 51, and Shelley Amos, 56, were killedn the crash. The incident occurred Feb. 19 at thentersection of Kensington Road and Covington

Highway.Hambie was on duty at the time of the

ncident. She is no longer employed by DeKalbCounty Police Department.

Man arrested after bitingpolice officer

A man who ran into the westbound lanes ofI-285 at Ashford Dunwoody Road on Oct. 4faces aggravated assault charges after biting apolice ofcer who was trying to restrain him,according to a Dunwoody Police spokesman.

Police ofcers from the Dunwoody and SandySprings police departments tried to restrain22-year-old Andrew Thelwell of Conyers, whowas barefoot, wearing a torn shirt and carrying astick. He resisted and bit a Sandy Springs ofcerbefore being Tasered by a Dunwoody ofcer,police said. Thelwell was arrested and taken to

Grady Hospital. The ofcer who was bitten wasreated for his injury and released, according to

police.

Two dates set for GreatDeKalb Cleanup

The Great DeKalb Cleanup returns for twoevents this month. The rst cleanup will beheld Saturday, Oct. 15 at the old Community

Development Ofce at 1807 Candler Road inDecatur. Another will be held the followingSaturday, Oct. 22, at the ea market at 45245Glenwood Road near I-285.

The cleanup is designed to have a maximumlevel of impact on the worst affected areas byencouraging the involvement of neighborhoodassociations and the community in policing andmaintaining these areas in the future. Countyemployees and community service workers willdocument and remove illegally posted signsin the right-of-ways, remove litter includingtires and grocery carts, conduct MARTA busstop maintenance and clear the roadway of oldGeorgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)materials.

Both cleanups begin at 9 a.m. The Oct. 15cleanup will focus on Columbia Road andMemorial Drive to Candler Road, and Columbiaand Glenwood roads to Candler Road. The Oct.22 project will focus on Covington Highway,Glenwood Road and W. Austin Drive.

.

Officers patrolling StoneMountain CID district

Uniformed public safety professionals arepatrolling areas daily represented by the StoneMountain Community Improvement District(CID).

The CID recently contracted with Plaza

Security LLC to provide coverage during theevening hours. The CID has also arranged foroff-duty DeKalb County Police ofcers to patrolthe area, creating a combined, daily public safetypresence.

We are committed to the mission of theStone Mountain CID to reduce crime in thearea through police patrols, enforcement effortsand forming a strong partnership with our CIDbusiness community, said DeKalb CountyPolice MajorP. H. White.

Plaza Security ofcers will use a specialpatrol vehicle that includes logos and otherindications that they work on behalf of theStone Mountain CID. In addition to the securitypatrols, CID staff and board members work inclose cooperation with DeKalb County Police toquickly address any problem areas.

Seminar offers tips for smallbusinesses

Lithonia business attorney Darshun N.Kendrick, owner of Kendrick Law Practice willpresent a free Brown Bag Seminar, Ten Tips forSmall Business Success, at the DeKalb MaloofCenter Auditorium, Thursday, Oct. 20, 12:30-2p.m. During this seminar, attendees can learn the

valuable resources and top ten tips to businesssuccess, including legal and practical businessadvice.

Brown Bag Seminars are sponsored monthlyby the DeKalb County Ofce of Contractingand Compliance is free and open to the public.Those attending can bring a bag lunch (dessertand beverages provided). I am thankful DeKalbCounty realizes the importance in providingthese services and seminars to small businessowners, who are the backbone of the Americaneconomy. My residence and my rm are locatedin this county for that very reason, Kendricksaid. Kendrick Law Practice is a boutique lawrm practicing business law exclusively forGeorgia small business owners. Those interested

in attending the seminar, should visit http://october2011brownbag.eventbrite.com. TheMaloof Auditorum is located at 1300 CommerceDrive, Decatur.

NEWS BRIEFS


In 2008 Lt. Gov. Casey Caglecreated a bill in the Georgia Legis-ature that would allow the creation

of charter school systems in Geor-gia, and City Schools of Decaturdecided to take a risk and seize theopportunity.

Associate SuperintendentThomas Van Soelen said that bydoing this, the CSD Board of Edu-cation was taking a gamble.

In this case we said, Lets beone of the rst through the door,and in many ways we took a riskbecause there was some decisionmaking the board would give up,

Van Soelen said.

Van Soelen said now eachschool has a governance teamthat allows them and the board to

share responsibility in running theschool.

With that exibility [CSD] canset accountability standards aboveNo Child Left Behind [the federallymandated student assessment sys-tem], Van Soelen said.

Recently, CSD unveiled a newstrategic plan to address what ithoped to accomplish in the nextve years. Several of the items inthe new plan include a new evalua-tion system for all CSD employees,rewarding high-performing teach-ers and implementing pilot pro-grams to increase efciency.

Van Soelen said CSD will use

its teacher-evaluations system as atemplate to evaluate other positionssuch as cafeteria employees or ad-

ministrative positions.Weve now moved to a system

based in rubrics and those are de-scriptions in practice, Van Soelensaid. He explained that throughoutthe year, each teacher is observedby ve different people, only one ofthem their primary observer at theschool where they are employed.

All of the people that do theobserving have to agree on whatthey see. Now, we need to look atother groups and apply what welearned across the board, VanSoelen said.

According to Van Soelen, the

system is also interested in perfor-

mance-based pay, which would al-low teachers to be evaluated on lev-els of student success and be paid

according to those results.We actually have an assessment

that allows us to measure growth,because our students take the MAPtest. But, that is very much in theinfant stages, Van Soelen said.

The plan, which is available onthe systems website, also states anobjective to design and implementpilot studies to test proposed prac-tices or selectively abandon currentpractices for more impact and bet-ter results.

Van Soelen said the school sys-tem is looking for ways to increaseefciency. Although it is a small

system, he said the way schools

Decatur schools rolls out five-year plan to betterserve students, teachers and increase efficiency

See Schools on Page 11A

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SchoolsContinued From Page 10A

Clarkston leaders focus on preventing crimes against refugees

Community

Storage World3122 Panthersville Road Decatur, GA 30034

To participate please call

404-244-7740

TIME9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

This is a great opportunity to sell some unwanteditems or to find some bargains.

YARD

SALE

Buyers&SellersWanted

November 5th - Decatur

www.MyPigeonForge.com

CITY OF DUNWOODY

PUBLIC NOTICE OF ELECTION

Notice is hereby given that on November 8, 2011, in conjunction with the GeneralMunicipal Election, there shall be conducted in the City of Dunwoody, Georgia an

election for the purpose of submitting the question of Sunday package sales by retailers

of malt beverage, wine, and distilled spirits in the City of Dunwoody to the electors ofthe City of Dunwoody for approval or rejection. The ballot shall have written or

printed thereon the words:

( ) Yes Shall the governing authority of the City of Dunwoody, Georgia beauthorized to permit and regulate package sales by retailers of malt

( ) No beverages, wine and distilled spirits on Sundays between the hours of

12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.?

This notice is given pursuant to a resolution of the City adopted on June 20th

, 2011.

CITY OF DUNWOODY,

GEORGIABy: Sharon Lowery

Municipal Elections Superintendent


Refugees and immigrantsiving in Clarkston are con-

sidered easy prey by crimi-nals, said the citys policechief during a recent meet-ng about crime prevention.

All of our violent crimeshat weve dealt with in the

past ve years have been[by people] from southwestand southeast Atlanta, saidClarkston Police ChiefTonyScipio to a group of apart-ment managers, refugeesand community leaders whowant to reduce the crimesagainst refugees and immi-grants.

What were nding outfrom interviewing these sus-pects and perpetrators is that

all eyes are on Clarkston be-cause of the large inux ofrefugees and immigrants,Scipio said. They are easilypreyed [upon].

Scipio said that 69 per-cent of the crimes withinhe city limits are commit-ed by nonresidents, many

of whom live in the city ofAtlanta.

Many criminals plantheir crime; they look at thearea, they watch what youdo every day, Scipio said.If you are not aware ofyour surroundings and yourenvironment, and if you arenot taking the necessaryprecautions, then eventu-ally youre going to becomea victim, especially late atnight.

Scipio said many of thevictims in Clarkston duringthe past three months wereout late at night, small instature and carrying largesums of money.

Scipios comments werepart of a meeting duringwhich Clarkston communityleaders met with Clarkston

and DeKalb law enforce-ment ofcials to discusscrime prevention in the city.

Each of you represents akey piece in trying to solvethe crime and safety issuesthat were all facing, SusanPavlin, director of policyforRefugeeFamily Servic-

es, told the group.OfcerK.C. Payton said

that when residents do notcare about their communi-ties, criminals will recog-nize that and they will movein and set up shop.

If you see any litter-ers, call 911, Payton said.If you see anybody thatdoesnt belong in the com-munity, call 911. If youhave abandoned houses orabandoned cars, call codeenforcement.

Payton said criminals usetall hedges around houses totheir advantage.

Criminals can concealthemselves and actuallywork on your doors andgo inside and go shopping,come out and nobodys seenanything, Payton said.

Dont give a way for crimi-nals to conceal themselvesand thrive in your communi-ties.

Tonaya Moss, a publiceducation specialist with theDeKalb Police Department,said communication is a keyto preventing crimes.

Communicate with thepolice, Moss said. If theydont know whats going onin your community theyrenot going to show up. Thecommunication starts withthe residents.

Because most neighbor-hoods do not have policeofcers living in them,residents must take on theresponsibility of monitor-ing their own communities,Moss said.

The residents see theincidents rst, Moss said.They hear it. They see it.But the next step is to call911.

October is Crime Pre-vention Month in DeKalbCounty and Moss encour-aged the group to set upneighborhood watch pro-

grams.You need a team ofpeople to be nosy neighborswith you, Moss said. Weknow theres crime. With-out your help its not goingaway.

are physcially locatedthroughout Decatur canpose some problems,one being transporta-tion.

We have about 40percent ridership, hesaid.

CSD doesnt ownthe buses it uses totransport students; theyare leased from DeKalbCounty Schools.

One thing we wantto study in this strate-gic plan is if this is thebest way to do things.We really want to beefup the walkability anddevelop better paths toschool, Van Soelensaid.

Van Soelen alsopointed out a fact hethinks not many peopleknow that CSD hopesto improve with its newplan.

We only havethree kitchens in thesystem where food isprepared. For the restof the schools, food isprepared in advanceand then transported tothe school, Van Soelensaid.DeKalb Police are

earching for a dark-colored

BMW in connection with ahit-and-run on I-85 that leftone person dead.

William Kear, 61, waskilled when he was hit bya car as he ran across thenorthbound lanes afterchecking on a motorist whowas involved in an accidentn the HOV lane, accordingo police spokeswoman Lt.

Pam Kunz. Kear had beenchanging a tire on his own

car on the right shoulderwhen he saw the accidentacross the highway and ranto help.

The incident happened atapproximately 5:30 a.m. onOct. 8, according to police.

The driver of the carthat hit Kear did not stop.Kear was taken to an areahospital and later died,

Kunz said.Based on evidence

recovered at the scene ofthe accident, detectives aresearching for a 300 seriesBMW made in the 1990s,police said. Accordingto police, the vehicle isnavy blue and should havemoderate damage to thearea of the front right grille,headlight and possibly hoodand windshield.

Anyone with anyinformation of a vehicle

matching this description isasked to contact the TrafcSpecialist Unit at (770) 724-7610.

Police searching for hit-and-run driver

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Recent Scholastic Apti-

ude Test (SAT) results fromhe College Board show mostDeKalb County Schools re-mained relatively stagnantand below the state averagen 2011, while Decatur High

School scores improved.Approximately 4,144

DeKalb County School Sys-em (DCSS) students tookhe SAT this past year out of

nearly 6,130 graduating stu-dents. The systems overallaverage rose from 1328 to1334.

According to the GeorgiaDepartment of EducationGDOE), the state average

dropped from 1453 to 1445while the national averagedropped from 1509 to 1500.However, Chamblee CharterHigh School, DeKalb Schoolof the Arts and LakesideHigh School remained abovestate and national average.

DCCS spokesman Wal-er Woods said the system

makes an effort to give everystudent the opportunity tosucceed on the SATs.

We pay for all ninth

graders to take the PSAT. Atthe same time we have anongoing cooperation withteachers and offer after-school prep courses. I dontthink were showing a drop,which is a good thing thatthe scores are holding up,Woods said.

Over the past year, thesystem has also developeda written curriculum andWoods said schools wouldmost likely see a more sub-stantial increase in scores inthe years to come. Addition-ally, students are encouragedto take online prep courses,which are offered throughoutthe year.

If a student wants togo to college we encouragethose who are on that trackto take the test; I think itsup to the students. We wantto provide every opportunityfor every student and encour-age them to look at all their

options. We dont want themto leave something off thetable, Woods said.

The recent scores showed

Decatur High School seniorsscored above state and na-tional averages. Eighty-ninepercent of the schools gradu-ating class took the SAT andits average score increasedfrom 1513 to 1518. CitySchools of Decatur AssistantSuperintendent Thomas VanSoelen said that each yearapproximately 90 percent ofthe graduating seniors attendtwo- or four-year colleges.

They are very multitu-dinous, Van Soelen said ofthe annual results. Thatsthe word we like to use todescribe them because we area very small school system soour data can go up or down.

Decatur High School hasseveral hundred students incomparison to DCSS, whichhas thousands. Van Soelensaid it was much easier topredict annual trends in alarger system.

The schools highest

scores were on the criti-cal reading portion of thetest with an average of 516,which is 19 points abovethe national average and31 points above Georgiasaverage. The schools mathscores remained at 503 butVan Soelen said that was not

such a bad thing.Do we have a trajectory

of going up each year? No.But in some ways we werentsad that our math didntchange when we look at ourscores in comparison with thestate and national averages,Van Soelen said.

Recent DeKalb County Schools SAT scores showimprovement but remain below state average

OPEN HOUSE. OPEN FUTURE.When you start at Georgia Perimeter College, you

can dene success on your own termsjust like these

superstar GPC grads. Among them, a New York Times

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in the minor leagues! Their common bond: a path to

personal and professional fulllment that began at GPC.

They did it and you can too.

2011 FAll OPEN HOUSES

October 17 Carkston Buiding CN 5pm-7pm

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October 19 Decatur Buiding SF 5pm-7pm

October 20 Newton Buiding 2N 5pm-7pm

October 24 Apharetta 5pm-7pm

WE All STARTED AT GPC

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8/3/2019 Free Press 10-14-11

13/24


DeKalb seeks moratorium on new cities

Send your comments and/or concerns regarding Comcasts current performance underthe current franchise agreement and/or the future cable-related needs and interests ofyour community to [email protected].

DeKalb County Wants to Hear From YouRegarding the Proposed Franchise Agreement Renewal

with Comcast Cable Communications


A movement to form anew Brookhaven city may

be delayed if the DeKalbCounty Board of Commis-ioners gets its way.

The board is consideringo ask the state legislature to

place a moratorium on an-nexation and incorporationn DeKalb County to allow

an analysis by a committee.Recent incorporations

of Sandy Springs, JohnsCreek and Milton in FultonCounty, and Dunwoody inDeKalb County have oc-curred without any consid-eration to the effect on theemaining unincorporated

areas of those counties, saidCommissionerJeff Rader,who sponsored the resolu-ion supporting the morato-ium.

Often the new incorpora-ions seem to be formed

around a political grouphat adds a tax base that

has really nothing to do withheir city, Rader said.

The cities are not re-ally going at it on their ownbecause theyre relying on aax base they had no part in

creating, Rader said.

Incorporation needs to bebased on some theory of ur-banized organization so wedont end up with a part ofhe county that cant supportts basic services, Raderaid.

Rader said he doesnot necessarily opposeBrookhaven cityhood butthe way it is laid out de-tabilizes the rest of the

county.The annexation and in-

corporation study committeewould create standards for

evaluating incorporationshat include criteria for de-ermining reasonable bound-

aries for the existing or newcities; an analysis of the taxbase within the proposedboundaries of the new cityand in the remaining unin-corporated areas; an analysisof the impact of widespreadannexation or incorporationon the provision of higherevel services such as E-911ervice, non-basic policeervices such as aerial sup-

port unit, SWAT team, bombquad unit, intelligence and

permits, K-9 division, gangask force, drug task force,

and an analysis of alterna-ives to annexation and in-

corporation.

The incorporation resolu-tion was one of several reso-lutions the Board of Com-missioners wants the statelegislature to consider in the

next session, which starts inJanuary.

Another resolution asksthe legislature to create acharter commission to re-examine the form of govern-ment.

The delineation of pow-ers between the executiveand legislative branches of

DeKalb County governmenthas been an ongoing sourceof conict that has impededthe efciency and effective-ness of the county govern-

ment, the resolution states.DeKalbs CEO-commis-

sion form of government ispatterned after the federalgovernment and a strongmayor form of government.

But it doesnt havesome of the checks andbalances that those formshave, Rader said.

The DeKalb Organiza-tional Actthe state lawthat directs the countysform of governmentisnot the U. S. Constitution

and has quirks and anoma-lies that cause problems,Rader said.

Other resolutions passedby the board on Oct. 11included ones asking forrespect by the legislature forthe countys authority to ruleitself, a requirement that thecountys CEO establish a

codied purchasing policy,representation by a countycommissioner on the At-lanta Regional Commissioncouncil, a regional transit

governance body with localrepresentation, and open-ness and transparency in thebudgets of elected ofcialsand the library system, andlengthening the foreclosureprocess from the current 30days to 90 days.

Last

10/19

First

11/2

The Northeast will see scattered showers and thunderstorms today, isolated showers and

thunderstorms Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 83 in Fairfield, Ill.

The Southeast will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with isolated thunderstorms

today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 93 in Winter Haven, Fla. The Northwest will

see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 90 in

Medford, Ore. The Southwest will see mostly clear skies today and Friday, isolated thunderstorms

Saturday, with the highest temperature of 106 in Gila Bend, Ariz.

THURSDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 76 Low:54

New

10/26

The Champion Weather Oct. 13, 2011Seven Day Forecast

Local UV Index

WEDNESDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 76 Low: 52

TUESDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 73 Low:51

MONDAY

Sunny

High: 77 Low:51

SUNDAY

Sunny

High: 79 Low:54

SATURDAY

Sunny

High: 75 Low:50

FRIDAY

Sunny

High: 75 Low:48

In-Depth Local Forecast Today's Regional Map

Sunrise

7:40 a.m.

7:41 a.m.

7:42 a.m.

7:42 a.m.

7:43 a.m.

7:44 a.m.7:45 a.m.

Sunset

7:06 p.m.

7:05 p.m.

7:04 p.m.

7:03 p.m.

7:01 p.m.

7:00 p.m.6:59 p.m.

Moonset

9:05 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

10:55 a.m.

11:47 a.m.

12:38 p.m.

1:25 p.m.2:08 p.m.

Moonrise

7:49 p.m.

8:28 p.m.

9:11 p.m.

9:59 p.m.

10:52 p.m.

11:49 p.m.No Rise

Full

11/10

www.WhatsOurWeather.com

Weather History

Oct. 13, 1846 - Agreat hurricane

tracked across Cuba, Florida,

Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia

and Pennsylvania. The hurricane

inflicted major damage along its

entire path, which was similar to

the path of Hurricane Hazel 108

years later.

Weather Trivia

Tonight's Planets

What is the rule of thumb

for determining wind

chill?

Answer: Subtract 1 degree of

temperature for every 1 mph of

wind speed.

?

Day

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

TuesdayWednesday

National Weather Summary This Week

Local Sun/Moon Chart This Week

StarWatch By Gary Becker - Comet Garradd on the Loose

Today we will see mostly sunny skies with a

slight chance of showers and thunderstorms,

high of 76, humidity of 60%. West wind 5 to

15 mph. The record high for today is 86 set in

1954. Expect mostly clear skies tonight with

an overnight low of 54.

Oct. 14, 1984 - Dense fog

contributed to a 118-vehicle

accident on I-94, just south of

Milwaukee. It was the seventh

day of an eight-day stretch of

dense fog. At the time of the

accident, the visibility was

reportedly close to zero.

There is a comet roaming the heavens, and as soon as the moons brightness clears the early evening sky next week, it should become visible to observers with telescopes

and binoculars who live in suburbia and darker locales. Comet Garradd, also named C/2009 P1 (Garradd), was discovered with the 0.5-meter Uppsala Schmidt telescope in

Australia at Siding Spring Observatory, 235 miles NW of Sydney on the evening of August 13, 2009. I spent three weeks photographing from that observatory in February

2000. Orbital calculations showed that Garradd would brighten significantly, passing closest to the sun on December 23, 2011 and then passing closest to the Earth on March

5, 2012. At that time Garradds distance will be 1.27 astronomical units or 118 million miles. One AU equals the Earth-sun distance of 92.8 million miles. What makes Garradd unusual is

its very long period of brightness which began in September and will continue into next spring. It is a big comet that is traveling in a sideways path nearly perpendicular to the plane of the

solar system and which favors the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, there is a but. Garradd gets no closer to the sun than Mars average solar distance of 1.5 AU. This means that we

have a grand view of the comet for a long, long time, but it doesnt get really bright enough to become an easy naked eye target for the average person. When Garradd passes closest to

Earth in March of 2012, and is at its brightest, it will already be headed away from the sun. After this time the comet fades rapidly, never to be seen again. Garradd is in a hyperbolic orbit

which means that it is destined to wander the galaxy, kicked from our solar system nest by the gravitational tugs and pulls of the planets. A map showing Garradds path through October

can be found in the web version of this article at the URL below. More about Comet Garradd next week... www.astronomy.org

Rise Set

Mercury 8:31 a.m. 7:33 p.m.

Venus 8:55 a .m. 7:51 p.m.

Mars 2:28 a.m. 4:11 p.m.

Jupiter 7:53 p.m. 9:09 a.m.

Saturn 7:41 a.m. 7:14 p.m.

Uranus 6:14 p.m. 6:22 a.m.

3 50 - 2 4 6 8 107 9 11+

UV Index

0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate,

6-7: High, 8-10: Very High

11+: Extreme Exposure

Atlanta

76/54

Decatur

76/54

Doraville

75/54

Dunwoody

74/53 Lilburn

75/54

Snellville

76/54

Lithonia77/54

Morrow

77/54

Smyrna

75/54

Hampton

78/55

Union City

77/54

College Park

77/54

*Last Weeks Almanac

Date Hi Lo Normals Precip

Tuesday 80 45 77/57 0.00"

Wednesday 83 51 76/57 0.00"

Thursday 80 53 76/57 0.00"

Friday 77 57 76/56 0.00"

Saturday 78 56 75/56 0.00"

Sunday 71 61 75/55 0.00"

Monday 68 62 75/55 0.25"Rainfall . . . . . . .0.25" Average temp . .65.9

Normal rainfall . .0.72" Average normal 65.9

Departure . . . . .-0.47" Departure . . . . . .0.0*Data as reported from De Kalb-Peachtree Airport

8/3/2019 Free Press 10-14-11

14/24

The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011 Page 14AHealth

New program speeds upcardiac emergency care

CDC: Miners,construction, foodworkers smoke most

DeKalb Medical recently announced the launch of its Percu-aneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) program. PCI, also known

as coronary angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure thatquickly allows cardiologists to both examine and immediatelyunblock blood flow to the heart.

DeKalb Medicals PCI program helps patients in cardiacemergency get life-saving treatment faster because it eliminatesransfers to other hospitals in many cases. Patients now move

from the emergency room door to the cardiac catheterizationab in less than the national 90 minutes average. DeKalb Med-cals current door-to-balloon rate averages 68 minutes. In addi-ion, with timely access to PCI, patients return home quicker.

The PCI Center at DeKalb Medicals North Decatur hospitalhouses two cardiac cath labs and 15 patient bays that providecardiac emergency coverage. We are fortunate to have theervices of three experienced and respected interventional car-

diologists MirzaAhmed, M.D., Marc Unterman, M.D. andLarry Van-Thomas Crisco, M.D., along with the enthusias-ic and active involvement of both the Hospitalist Group and

Emergency Department physicians and staff, said PatrickGreen, executive director of heart and vascular services.

The PCI program culminates more than two years ofplanning, training and implementation. Throughout the

development process, DeKalb Medical worked with Corazonnc., a leader in heart and vascular strategic program

development that has helped hospitals throughout theUnited States ensure the quality of their PCI programs. Ourengagement with Corazon provides us the benet of experiencefrom similar programs as well as input from an objectiveoutside voice, Green added.

DeKalb Medical at North Decatur was approved by thetate of Georgia Department of Community Health in 2010 to

become a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) provider.The state began allowing hospitals without on-site open hearturgery programs to offer angioplasty in 2008, provided thathey can demonstrate adherence to strict quality criteria. This

decision follows an extensive study which concluded that co-ocation of cardiac surgery sites is not necessary to improve

cardiac patient outcomes.Ambulances are on standby to transfer high-risk patients to

St. Joseph Hospital for further evaluation and treatment. OtherAtlanta-area hospitals successfully performing PCI withoutan on-site cardiac surgery center include Gwinnett Medical,Emory Johns Creek, Northside-Atlanta, Northside-Forsythe andSouthern Regional Medical Center.

by Mike Stobbe

ATLANTA (AP) Con-struction workers, miners andfood service workers top theist of occupations that smokehe most, according to a new

government report. Expertssay it might have as much todo with lower education lev-els as the jobs themselves.

There may be other char-acteristics that are clusteringn these industries, said Dr.

TimMcAfee, director ofhe Office on Smoking and

Health at the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention.

Traits linked to highersmoking rates and seen inemployees in these industries

include being younger, hav-

ing fewer years of educationand making less money.

Also, some people whowork outdoors are lesslikely to face the kind of in-door smoking bans seen inwhite-collar workplaces likeschools, hospitals and office

buildings, McAfee said.The CDC study found

19.6 percent of workingadults smoke, but as manyas 30 percent in the mining,construction and food serviceindustries smoke. Librar-ians and teachers smoked the

least, at less than 9 percent.For decades, the biggestsmokers by profession have

been roofers, drywall install-

ers, brick and stone masonsand other workers in con-struction trades. But healthofficials have warned con-struction workers may be atelevated risk from smoking,especially if they are exposedto asbestos. Studies haveshown that people who work

with asbestos are more likelyto develop lung cancer if theyalso smoke.

Smoking also can poseextra danger for miners, whomight ignite methane gaswith matches or cigarettelighters. Federal officials saythat since 1977, four major

mine explosions have beenblamed on smoking that com-bined killed 24 miners.

The CDC study is basedon in-person interviews ofmore than 113,000 work-ing adults in the years 2004through 2010.

8/3/2019 Free Press 10-14-11

15/24

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER

Travel Continued From Page 1A


of Inspired Travel in Stone Mountain,2011 is shaping up to be a good year.

I am seeing a lot more people usingravel agents again, said Jones, who runs

a home-based travel business.Jones said customers are booking lon-

ger vacations and venturing farther from

home.Before the recession, she said one-

o two-week trips were routine. Thatchanged to three- to four-day vacationsduring the recession.

Now its ve to eight days as well asaking more deluxe vacations, she said.

Instead of saying I need the cheapesthing now they are looking for quality.

Celia Gardner, owner of Travelfaireof Dunwoody, has been in the travel in-dustry for 28 years. Escorted tours as wellas independent travel are two areas inwhich her company specializes.

What we are seeing is more new cli-ents coming in, said Gardner. Our regu-ar clients never really stopped traveling.

Both Jones and Gardner agree thatwhile the Internet is a useful tool forgathering travel information, the counseland expertise of a travel agent is invalu-able.

We treat clients like family. We arehand-holders. We want them back, saidGardner.

Gardner cautions those who rely onhe Internet for all their travel planninghat when problems arise you are on

your own.They are looking at prices. They

arent looking at quality, said Gardner ofonline travel shoppers.

She points out that travel agents can

x problems that arise during a trip aswell as get reimbursements for parts ofan itinerary that arent up to par or notdelivered.

Jones said travel agents have pricelessproduct knowledge and can offer adviceabout which cruise lines are best for spe-cic families or individuals.

Jones, who specializes in the Carib-bean and travels there every other monthevaluating properties, noted that manydestinations, properties and cruises areparticularly friendly to specic demo-graphics, citing families, couples andgays and lesbians.

Most people when they go onlinehey are just looking at price, said Jones.

Jones said travel agents also provideecommendations on places to go and

warnings about places (and activities) toavoid.

And when inclement weather hitsast did several weeks ago during a hurri-

canea relationship with a travel agentcan be precious. Jones noted that duringhat storm one cruise line had to leave

a port early in Puerto Rico because theport was shutting down and several of thehips passengers who were on shore ex-

cursions were left.A lot [of them] didnt have a travel

agent and had to fend for themselves,he said. The ones that had a good travel

agent got help with lodging and had aiaison between the clients and the cruiseine to recover losses. We save peopleons of time, especially in problem reso-ution.

Brokemasterfully takes audiences into theworld of the suddenly nancially challengedby Kathy Mitchell

I was introduced to Atlantaplaywright Janece Shaffer in

the lobby of the Alliance The-ater as I was about to go insideto the world premiere of Shaf-fers new playBroke. I told herthat I had enjoyed her otherplays and was looking forwardto this one. She warned me,This one isnt a comedy.

Indeed, it isnt.Broke isabout a subject painfully famil-iar to many Americans. Its thesaga of an affluent family thatsuddenly finds its cozy finan-cial rug snatched from under it.Still, it has wonderfully humor-ous moments much like those in

Shaffers earlier plays. The factthat funny lines are infused intomoments of high drama actuallymakes them funnier.

The comfortable lifestylethat the Eliasons are living isattributable to the six-figureincome Liz Eliason bringshome as a high-level market-ing executive. By comparison,her husbands job as owner ofa childrens shoe store seemsalmost a hobby. Liz actuallyhas no idea what her husbandmakes until her company goes

belly up, taking with it their en-tire retirement portfolio.

Suddenly, the Eliasons arefaced with having to decide

which of their normal expensesare for things they actuallyneed, and which are for thingsthey can do without. Still think-ing like a corporate executive,Liz makes a board with expens-es on sticky notes and movesthem among columns markedassets, liabilities, keepand chuck. Some itemsthepersonal trainer, the yard ser-viceare relatively easy, butcan she move her dementedmother to a more affordable, butless attentive, care home? Canthe family manage with one

car instead of two? What aboutexpenses for their daughter justending her junior year in col-lege?

As such decisions are made,family relationships that wereeasy when money was plentifulbecome difficult, even harsh.

During a forum held beforethe Sept. 27 premiere, Alli-ance officials explained that theplay had undergone a numberof changes as it moved towardproduction. Originally,Brokewas a three-person play with

just the family members. Afourth character, the operator ofa childrens charity, was added.Local actress and actual opera-

tor of a charityHosea Feedthe Hungry and HomelessElisabeth Omilami as Evalyncomes into the family memberslives and provides perspectiveto their values and assumptions.

Even for those who havekept their footing through roughfinancial times,Broke strikesright at the heart. Most of usknow families hit hard by therecession and have no difficultyimaging how it might affect us.

The emotionally wrench-ing roles are beautifully per-formed by not only Omilami,

but James M. Leaming as thehusband, Galen Crawley andthe daughter andleading thecastTess Malis Kincaid asLiz.

Broke is on the AllianceTheatres Hertz Stage throughOct. 23. For dates, times andticket information, call (404)733-5000 or visit www.allian-cetheatre.org. The Alliance The-atre is located at the WoodruffArts Center, 1280 Peachtree St.,NE, Atlanta.

Charity director Evalyn, played by Elisabeth Omilami,foreground, helps the family put their money problemsinto perspective.

Still thinking like a corporate executive, Liz, played by TessMalis Kincaid, creates a chart to help the family plan a bud-get.

8/3/2019 Free Press 10-14-11

16/24

The Champion Free Press, Friday, October 14, 2011 Page 16AEducation


Prior to the ribbon cutting, vol-unteers in red T-shirts ran back andforth, lifting tables and chairs, andtouching up last-minute paint jobs tomake sure everything in the Knoll-

wood Elementary media center lookedperfect.

Over the past several days, Tar-get employees and members ofthe Heart of America Foundationhad been working in the libraryand throughout the school. Now,the day had nally come to leteveryone see the results of themakeover.

Cosette Gutierrez,South-east regional manager of educa-tion and community relationsfor Target, said the schoollooked a little hectic becausethe volunteers were trying to n-

ish their tasks in time for the ribboncutting ceremony.

I think weve got over 150 vol-unteers divided

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