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by Andrew [email protected]

DeKalb County Commission-rs Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon

are the subjects of new ethics com-plaints filed July 1 and July 7.

championnewspaper championnewspaper champnewspaperchampionnews

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Were Social FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 VOL. 17, NO. 16 FREE

A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS erving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.

F REE P RESS

See South River on page 13A

See Commissioners on page 13A

See CEO on page 13A

Business ........................15AClassied .......................17AEducation .....................16A

Sports ...................... 18-19A

QUICK FINDER

by Carla [email protected]

In the summer of 2010, someresidents in south DeKalbCounty were appalled to seechildren and adults swimming andplaying in the dirty waters of SouthRiver at the corner of Panola Roadand Highway 155.

Te river attracted people tothe area because of the sand thatwashed ashore. However, thatsand was actually storm watersediment, according to JacquelineEchols , president of the South RiverWatershed Alliance (SRWA) board.

It comes from Atlanta wherefolks dont secure their constructionsites, Echols said. Te storm waterruns off from those constructionsites is lled with dirt and it swingsaround this was and deposit sand.

Storm water runoff has becomethe biggest issue for South Riverand it is an issue SRWA ghts as the

group work to improve the river.

SRWA incorporated in 2000 as anonprot organization.

From 2000 to 2005, memberof Clean Streams ask Force, amulti-jurisdictional coalition ofcommunity and watershed groups,formed to provide communityinput into implementation ofAtlantas combined sewer overowfederal consent decree. Te taskforce combined education andadvocacy to win changes to theNational Pollution DischargeElimination System permit forAtlantas combined sewer overowsystem, resulting in water qualityimprovements for South River.

In 2011, SRWA intervened inthe DeKalb County federal consentdecree, which provides communitiesin south DeKalb with full access tothe consent decree implementationprocess. Te group later launchedSouth River 2020, an eight-year project to build long-termcommunity support for South River.

Te initiative runs concurrently with

the DeKalb County federal consentdecree.

During that time, Echols said thebiggest obstacle they faced was thelack of information for the public.For more than a decade, Atlanta hasbeen a polluter city because of thecombined sewer overow system.However, with the consent decreethe city had to limit the numberof combined sewer overows thatcome into the South River, Echolssaid.

Now they only have oneoverow site on this end of Atlanta,Echols said. Te river becausethe combined sewer overowhas been limited has greatlyimproved. But that message did notget out to the community.

So when you had thesituation in 2010 when peoplewere swimming in the river, thecommunity was in an uproar, notbecause of how the river was thatday, but how they viewed the river

in the past, she added. Tings have

South Riverimprovingday by day

South River Watershed Alliance president Jacqueline Echols said the South River is better than what it use to be, but there is still more work to be done. Photos byCarla Parker

Ethics complaintled againstnterim county CEO

Two more DeKalbcommissioners

accused of ethicsviolations


An ethics complaint led againstnterim DeKalb County CEO Lee

May questions his creation of anethics watch-dog.

Te com-plaint, ledJuly 2 by Rhea

Johnson , al-leges that Mayhas over-stepped hisauthority andseeks to im-properly exertcontrol over

he DeKalb County ethics board bystablishing a code of ethics and byreating a full-time chief integrity

offi cer, investigator and administra-ive assistant for the ethics board.

What concerns me is thatMay] is trying to inuence the

board and to blur the lines betweenhe independence of the board,

May

LOCAL, 10A

DUNWOODY DOGPARK REDESIGNUNDERWAY LOCAL, 12ALOCAL, 2A

HISTORY CENTERPRESENTS BATTLE OFDECATUR EXHIBIT

SHERIFFSSERGEANT MOURNSLOSS OF PARTNER

Gannon Rader

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PAGE 2A THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY

Sheriffs sergeantmourns loss of partner

by Carla [email protected]

A murder suspect wasarrested July 2 in connectionwith a June 27 fatal shootingnear Lithonia.

Johnie Oliver , 21, wastaken into custody by theDeKalb County Sheriffs Of-fice Fugitive Squad and is atthe DeKalb County Jail onone charge of murder andtwo counts of aggravated as-sault.

A 23-year-old man waskilled and two others wereinjured during the incident,which police described as ashootout that took place onSwift Creek Drive off South

Deshon Road. Accord-

ing to police, the victims,who were in a black DodgeNeon, pulled off on a sidestreet, where an individualapproached them and gun-shots were fired.

A woman in the car wasable to drive the three to theemergency room at nearbyDeKalb Medical Hillendaledespite being shot in theleg, according to police. Thetwo men in the car wereseriously injured and weretransferred to Grady Memo-rial Hospital, where one ofthe men later died.

Investigators had con-sidered Oliver armed anddangerous. At the time ofthe arrest, Oliver offered no

resistance.

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DeKalb Sheriff s SergeantR. Lacy said he lost his bestfriend when his partner diedJune 2.

He was the best, abso-ute best. He was loyal; he

was a great family member,oving to my kids, Lacy

said. He was an awesomedog.

Rocky, a DeKalb CountySheriffs Office K-9 officerfor four years, died of mul-iple medical issues.

A Malinois or Belgianshepherd dog, Rocky had aheart murmur, double her-nia, issues with his hips andan inflated prostate, Lacy

said. The funeral service for7-year-old Rocky was July 2at Oak Rest Pet Gardens inBethlehem.

Rocky was one of theonly K-9s in Georgia trainedn cellphone detection, said

Lacy, a sergeant with the jailemergency services team,which handles high-risksituations within the jail,controls inmate behaviorand prevents contraband,according the sheriffs of-fices website.

He is trained to sniffout the odor of cellphones,Lacy said. I was impressedwhen we were training ont with how fast he picked it

up.Rocky was an award-

winning K-9 officer. In2013 he won two first-place

trophies during a compe-titionfor criminal ap-prehension and buildingsearches. Together, Lacy andRocky won the inauguralbest K-9 team award.

Lacy said Rocky helpednumerous agencies aroundmetro Atlanta, including theDeKalb County Police De-partment, U.S. Marshals andfederal Drug EnforcementAdministration.

Hes done a lot ofthings, Lacy said. The doghad drive like no other. Hewas actually my third dogbecause I was a military K-9handler for eight years. Outof all my dogs, he was thebest.

Losing Rocky, one of

two K-9s in the sheriff s of-fice, was like losing a best

friend, Lacy said. He waslike one of my kids at home.When we were at work, hewas my partner.

Lacy said he has notdecided whether he willpursue getting another K-9partner.

That remains to beseen, said Lacy, who hasbeen with the sheriff s of-fice for six years. It wasso tough losing him [and]tough on my kids. Im notsure I want to go throughthat again. So, Im not sureright now.

Rocky was an outstand-ing partner and he will bedearly missed by everybodythat he touched, Lacy said.He touched a lot of lives.

DeKalb Sheriffs Of ce Sgt. R. Lacys K-9 partner, Rocky, was laid to rest July 2.

Rocky was an award-winning K-9 of cer. Photos provided

Murder suspect in Lithoniashooting death arrested

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ravis BakerLillie BanksBarbara BanksBurnestine Barron

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ONE MANS OPINION

Block by block, and street by street

We saw hundreds of programs toedevelop the central city, the neigh-

borhoods...all in the past, ChicagoMayor Jane Byrne, Chicago Mayor 1979-1983), to date the Windy Citysirst and only female mayor.

This recession is hangingon. Here in Georgia, as well inDeKalb County, and as it relates toob growth and hiring, it has been

particularly stubborn. But there arebright spots, here and elsewhere,and many silos with some newolutions, in places as diverse asdowntown Birmingham, Detroit,Cleveland, Ohio and closer to homen Avondale Estates.

Tiny Avondale Estates, a plannedommunity founded in 1924, is un-

dergoing a lasting revitalization ofhe best and most permanent kind

building by building, block by blockand street by street. Nowhere is thismore evident than Avondales twomain arteries, Clarendon Avenue,DeKalb countys first paved road,and Avondale Road, also known asCollege Avenue (coming east from

Decatur), and Covington Highway,west of the t iny town.Local real estate developers paid

$1 million to acquire the tired anddilapidated downtown village...and in under two years, OakhurstRealty Partners has either upgradedspaces and secured new tenants orimproved conditions and renewedleases with longtime small businesstenants in better maintained spaces.

Behind the village, a 13-acreformer mill site, and once DeKalbCountys longest consecutive em-ployer is under contract with plansfor redevelopment. The erectorset steel of an earlier failed projectcloser to the Decatur city limits alsohas new hope and a new checkbookstepping up to the plate.

Second Life Resale, which chari-tably benefits a host of animal res-cue causes, and its next door neigh-bor, Palookaville, are both drawingcustomers and attention to the vil-lage from across the 20-county met-ro area. A modest new fire stationis under construction to replace thecountys oldest operating fire house.

New restaurants and retail op-tions include: The Bishop, a casual/fine dining concept, named for theproprietors young son; Wild Heav-en Craft Beers, which just openedan 8,500-square-foot brewery andtasting room; the Avondale Theatre,which will reopen as a 500-seat livemusic and performance venue in along-abandoned movie house; andWatts Whiskey Distillery, which isredeveloping four buildings to createa 20,000-square-foot development

including a food market, restaurantand event space.

Tax credits for job creation, somenew leadership at city hall, and en-trepreneurs and community leadershave all caused Avondale Estates tostart looking like it has a plan. Artsand crafts, beer festivals and roadraces dot the citys event calendar,including one of the most neighbor-hood and family friendly Fourth ofJuly parades you may ever experi-ence. There is a definite Mayberryfeeling, despite proximity to down-town Atlanta and even the saggingMemorial Drive corridor being onlya few blocks walk or drive away.

The most lasting and permanentchanges are incremental and involvemuchand though usually led fromthe front or the top after taking thetime to build buy-inawarenessand support. Yet, Avondale is stillmore famous as a place you drivethrough going elsewhere, than it isas a destination. But that is rapidlychanging.

The Museum School, a localDeKalb charter school, quadrupledattendance by Avondale residentsin Avondales public elementary,middle and high schools (as low as80 students a few years ago), andFernbank Elementarys temporaryrelocation to the edge of Avondalehas introduced many a Druid Hillsfamilies to the area, as well as someof its massive housing bargains.

Avondale Estates Mayor Ed

Reiker isnt quite doing cartwheelsyet, but the city he was elected toserve and its tax digest will be vastlydifferent by the end of his currentterm. And local legislator, StateRep. Karla Drenner is nearly solelyresponsible for the pending con- version of one of the communitiesbiggest eyesores, an abandoned gasstation, into a community hub andgathering place which will soon bethe head end of a bike and walkingtrail connecting the city and paral-leling Clarendon Avenue to givewalk-up access to the AvondaleMARTA station.

Communities typically haveeither the leadership they deserveor which they are simply willing toaccept. Smart and growing com-munities most typically demandmore. They source new local leader-ship, or they import it. If you wantyour corner of DeKalb to similarlybegin to grow again, start select-ing some new leaders, or better yet,think about becoming one.

Bill Crane also serves as a politicalanalyst and commentator for Channel2s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as acolumnist for The Champion, Cham-pion Free Press and Georgia Trend.Crane is a DeKalb native and businessowner, living in Scottdale. You canreach him or comment on a column [email protected].

Bill Crane

Columnist

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PAGE 4OPINION

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OPINIONTHE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PAGE

Let Us Know What You Think!THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinionsfrom its readers. Please write to us and express yourviews. Letters should be brief, typewritten and contain

the writers name, address and telephone number forverication. All letters will be considered for publica-tion.Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347,Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send email to [email protected] To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: ( 404) 373-7779Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one weekprior to publication date.

EDITORS NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contribut-ing editors do not necessarily reect the opinions of the editor orpublishers. The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel anyadvertisement at any time. The Publisher is not responsible forunsolicited manuscripts.

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STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHERWe sincerely appreciate the discussionsurrounding this and any issue of interest toDeKalb County. The Champion was founded in1991 expressly to provide a forum for discoursefor all community residents on all sides of anissue. We have no desire to make the newsonly to report news and opinions to effect a

more educated citizenry that will ultimatelymove our community forward. We are happyto present ideas for discussion; however, wemake every effort to avoid printing informationsubmitted to us that is known to be false and/orassumptions penned as fact.

Gene Walker k

[email protected]

Are you ready for the challenge?

The NAACP believes that the TeaParty is racist; the Tea Party believesthat the NAACP is racist. The factof the matter is that race has beenand continues to besince the birthof the nationa constant issue. Noone can deny that racial tensionsrun high in America.

Currently, individuals vent feel-ings of hostility and anger that inthe past were muted or repressed,but they still dont connect theirfeelings with race. Many scholarsand writers inform us that racecontinues to be a national staple forprivate conversations and publiccontroversy.

So to initiate a civil discussion onthis critical issue, I begin with theconclusion of Dr. Martin LutherKing Jr. s letter from a Birminghamail. He expressed his hope that the

dark clouds of racial prejudice willsoon pass away, and the deep fogof misunderstanding will be liftedfrom our fear drenched communi-ties.

To look closer at race and better

understand Dr. Kings quote, I askthe question: Are you willing to talkabout race with those of anotherrace?

Be aware that the question is notmeant to encourage people to ventand talk with those who are like-minded. This topic is broached withfull knowledge that most peoplehave very strong emotional opinionsor feelings about the subject of race.Some, like Shelby Steele , a con-servative scholar, believes that theeffects of White privilege are exag-gerated. Steele argues that Blacksmay incorrectly blame their person-al failures on White oppression andthat there are many opportunitiesfor minorities.

Though some believe that racismsimply doesnt exist, as a historian, Idiscovered long ago one should not

expect a consensus no matter howsound the research and accuratethe facts, because on the subject ofrace, people tend to let intuition andemotions override empirical facts.As well, they believe because theymay disagree or offend, its just saferleft unsaid.

It is against this backdrop andall I have seen and heard, as wellas the many volumes I have readthat I believe most Black and WhiteAmericans still live their entire livesin what King called, a deep fog ofmisunderstanding about the charac-

ter, construction and reproductionof racism as a social system. In fact,the clouds of racial prejudice hespoke of have become a normal partof life today. Racism as a social sys-tem is otherwise known as structur-al racism and though it seems thatthe Civil Rights Movement madegreat strides to try to change thissystem, it is indeed very prevalentwithin this country today. Structuralracism can best be described withthe following examples:

Voter suppression laws being im-plemented to hinder the minority vote

The disproportionate amount ofminorities prosecuted and incar-cerated

These are examples of structural

racism which transcends individualracism. This type of racism goes be-yond prejudice and discriminationand even transcends bigotry largelybecause it arises from outlooks andassumptions of which we are un-aware.

Just as Emory University profes-sor Christine Ristaino revealedin an article in the Atlanta JournalConstitution last week, qualifiedBlack professionals with equal ormore experience than White appli-cants are (consistently) overlookedin the job market; as well, members

of upper managementpredomi-nately made up of White men andwomenoften hire those who pre-fer activities associated with theirown backgrounds. She went on tostate that much of the reason theydo this is because they are unawarethat they do this. Indeed, there aremany who struggle to identify thislevel of racism, because when some-thing is viewed as normal there ap-pears to be nothing unusual aboutit.

The people of America cannotafford to be ignorant of race issuesif we intend to make and have a bet-ter future for generations to come. I join Professor Ristaino in encourag-ing those of us who have the desireto create change to have those un-comfortable conversations and worktogether to come up with a positive

way forward. Lets accept her chal-lengelets move forward!

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 P

COMMUNITY

If you would like to nominate someoneto be considered as a future Champion

of the Week, please contact AndrewCauthen at [email protected]

or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.

ESSENCE TAESE

Championofthe Week

Clarkston sets millage rate at21.11, third-highest in countyby Lauren [email protected]

After a presentation bycity manager Keith Barker ,Clarkston city council mem-bers voted unanimously toaise the citys millage rate to

21.11 mills, the third-high-est rate in the county.With some resignation,

councilmembers accepted ahistory of borrowing fromhe rainy-day fund was noonger a sustainable option.

I have said theres noway Id vote for a mill in-crease this year, said Coun-cilman Warren Hadlock ,But considering the unfor-unate results so far on the

attempt to annex two differ-ent areas it makes a bigdifference in looking at whatwe have to come up withust to make things work.

Hadlock said the citycould eliminate raises forcity employees, but that washe only thing he could seen what has turned out to be

a tight budget for the city.However, though

Clarkston would have thehird-highest millage raten the county, it also has thehird-lowest tax digest valu-

ation.Since 2009, accord-

ng to a report by Barker,Clarkstons net digest orproperty values have fallenby 33 percent, with an in-crease of 9.38 percent oc-curring in 2014. Despite thedecrease, the millage rate

held at 17.95 for 2012 and2013. This year, city staffrecommended the 3.16 millincrease to make up for thelower rate those two years.

The additional cost fora house valued at $100,000will be about 126.40 per

year, for a total of $844.40.The cost per month will in-crease by $10.53.

[Previous city council]made a conscious decisionto make the millage rate re-main as it was, said Barker.[Its] good for the taxpayersand thats a workable strat-egy as long as you have ahealthy fund balance. Whatit did do, however was serveto diminish the fund bal-ance. Youre basically usingthe fund balance to artifi-cially hold the millage ratedown.

Barker said the citywould have about a four-month fund balance if thecity were to be liquidatedtomorrow. However, hestated he would be morecomfortable with a four-tosix-month fund balance.

Two annexation mea-sures failed, one by four votes and one was a tieduring the May primaryelection vote. The city isappealing the results of theelections because, reported-ly, some voters did not have

the annexation question ontheir ballots.For this area, Brockett

Road, we are looking at apotential $800,000 surplus

and this area, area 2, wouldhave been about $1 million,said Barker. So, it wouldhave been a significant infu-sion of needed property taxrevenue, primarily from in-dustrial and commercial.

Clarkston has a tax

base made almost entirelyof property taxes. Severalhomeowners spoke duringpublic comment about theunfair burden placed onthem.

That is a top priorityof myself and the councilmembers because it makesfiscal sense to spread it outand take it off the propertyowners, said Mayor TedTerry .

Following the vote andduring his report, Terry saidhe would also make a sym-bolic gesture to the city.

If times are tough weneed to have a shared sac-rifice, he said. What I cando is do a very symbolicgesture. That is the only wayI can share the sacrifice withthe folks that will have topay a little bit higher mill-age rate this year. Its abouta 9.38 percent increase thisyear so, even though theresno technical procedure forthe mayors salary to be re-turned to the citys fund bal-ance, well figure out someway for the remainder of my

salary this year for 9.38 per-cent of the remainder thisannual to be returned backto the fund balance.

Sixteen-year-old Es-sence Taese of Lithonialikes to talk about food.

I like to show [peo-ple] that you can havehealthy foods and theydont have to taste nasty,said Essence, a 2010Champion NewspaperCommunity Championwinner.

Theres a lot of peo-ple that dont know about

foods, that are good foryou, Essence said. Its apassion of mine becauseI see it around me in myeveryday life. I definitelysee that people aroundme need it a lot.

A student in the Uni- versity of Mawiyah Natu-ral Health internshipstudy program whereshe is studying naturalhealing, chef Essence,as she is called, preparesfood for the program andrecently earned a yogainstructor certification.

Essence volunteers at various community gar-dens, including the TrulyLiving Well garden in At-lanta. She puts on work-shops and food demon-strations and works withstudents to teach themabout food and health.

In her workshops andfood demonstrations, Es-sence talks about GMO[genetically modifiedorganism foods] and thatall vegetables arent goodnow.

A lot of the foods inthe stores are tamperedwith, she said. I like toexplain that you shouldget back to the source ofhow we used to preparefoods [with] simple in-gredients and not just awhole bunch of stuff thathasingredients thatyou dont understand.

Essence said she alsoteaches about vegan, rawand living foods as wellas recipes and naturalcleansersanythingthat will make a healthierhousehold overall.

On July 18-20, Es-sence will be the head

chef and coordinator ofThe Liberated MindsCaf, which is expectedto serve 1,000 partici-pants. The caf will beopen during the thirdannual Liberated MindsBlack Homeschool andEducation Expo at theOmega World EventCenter, 3951 SnapfingerParkway, Decatur.

She will also teachclasses on holistic healthat the expo.

I like to be an exam-pleto make sure thatIm doing right so thatother people can watchand learn from what Imdoing, said Essence, ahomeschooled studentwho just finished hersophomore year.

I think its definitelynecessary in our com-munity.

Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry says he will donate part of his remaining salary back into the general fund.

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 P

COMMUNITY

AROUNDDEKALBAtlantaGroup offers free summer lunch atocal high school

Family Choices Inc. is providingree lunch to all children ages 18 or

younger at McNair High School, lo-ated at 1804 Bouldercrest Road in

Atlanta.The group is offering meals at the

high school from through July 25rom 2:30-4 p.m. as part of the Sum-

mer Food Service Program.

BrookhavenPolice offer parent-teen drivereducation classes

The Brookhaven Police Depart-ment will host a parent-teen driverducation class July 23. The Georgia

Teens Ride with P.R.I.D.E (ParentsReducing Injuries and Driver Er-or) class addresses driving attitude

and behavior of teens ages 14-16.The class will begin at 6 p.m. at theBrookhaven Police Department, 2665Buford Highway. For more informa-ion, call (404) 955-4695.

Town Brookhaven to host moviescreening

The childrens film Despicable Me2 will be screened July 10 for Movieson the Town! at Town Brookhaven.The event is free and begins at duskon the green space. Music and an-nouncements begin two hours prior.Attendees can come early, grab din-ner and eat on the green space. Formore information, visit www.face-book.com/townbrookhaven.

DecaturCommunity hardware store closes

Smith Ace Hardware on EastCollege Avenue in Decatur recentlylosed and will hold a storewide

auction July 19 at 10 a.m. Remain-ng store inventory and fixtures will

be able at auction. There will behot dogs and drinks available. Thisvent is open to the public.

Library to host Add Seed Day

Interested in organic, sustainableand green living? Decatur Library ishosting Add Seed Day, an event July

12 from noon to 4 p.m. designed to

educate the community on healthy,sustainable food choices. A screen-ing of Growing Cities, a documentaryabout urban farms, kicks off theworkshop, followed by a panel con-sisting of urban farmers and veganfoodies discussing healthful andgreen living. Special guests includeArdens Garden Juice Company,Seeds Global and Gatekeepers VeganSoup Kitchen and Pantry.

Wylde Center to host medicine-making workshop

The Wylde Center, located at 415

East Lake Drive in Decatur, is host-ing a medicine-making workshopJuly 27 at 4 p.m.

Located in the Sugar Creek Gar-den, the workshop will be taught

by garden manager Dara Suchke .Materials to bring and details will beannounced closer to the date of theworkshop and depend on what is har-vestable at the time.

For more information, contactSuchke at [email protected] orvisit www.wyldecenter.org.

Black homeschool expo scheduled

The third annual Liberated MindsBlack Homeschool and EducationExpo will be held July 18-20, at theOmega World Event Center, 3951Snapfinger Parkway, Decatur.

Workshops will be facilitated byBlack educators, speakers and suc-cessful homeschooling parents. Therealso will be exhibitors with cultur-ally relevant products and servicescreated by Black people for Blackpeople such as curriculum guides,educational enhancement materials,posters, DVDs, homeschool groups,extracurricular programs, indepen-dent schools books.

The expo will have a Watoto FunFactory for children ages 4-11. Theevent includes a Sankofa ScholarsUniversity for ages 11-17 with inter-active workshops on entrepreneur-ship, character and self-esteem, gar-dening, Black history and more.

For more information on register-ing, becoming an exhibitor, volunteeror sponsor, visit www.liberatedmind-sexpo.com, call (678) 368-8593 orsend an email to [email protected].

Library hosts Book Buddies bookclub

Friends of the Decatur Library arehosting a monthly book club July 15,4-5 p.m., for early chapter book read-ers at the Decatur Library, located at

215 Sycamore St. in Decatur.

The event is geared toward chil-dren 7 and 8 years of age and featuresa book each month, followed by ac-tivities, snacks and discussion.

Those interested in participatingcan sign up at the front desk of theDecatur Library or call (404) 370-8450.

The book club is open to the first10 participants to sign up.

HomeGrown Decaturs bi-annualcraft sale starts July 12

Every July and January, Home-Grown Decatur, an artist co-op,hosts an artists sale. Everything from jewelry to accessories, clothes andart will be marked down across theemporium. HomeGrown also sellsart and craft kits hand-curated by itsartist-staffers.

As a co-op, HomeGrown is runand staffed by artists who create theitems for sale. Shoppers may encoun-ter the person who made the itemthey wish to buy. The sale runs fromJuly 12 to the 20.HomeGrown is located at 412 ChurchStr. in Decatur.

DunwoodyCity to hold amnesty program

Dunwoody Municipal Court is

holding an amnesty program forindividuals with past due traffic cita-tions and/or active bench warrantsfor failing to appear in court.

The incentive of the program isto promote lawful driving privileges,settle outstanding violations with thecourt and reduce arrests.

Amnesty will run through Julyat the Dunwoody Municipal Courtlocated at 41 Perimeter Center East,Suite 103. Individuals may walk-in tothe Municipal Court on Mondays aswell as Wednesdays through Fridaysduring the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30p.m.

If individuals pay their fines infull, all contempt fees will be forgiv-en. If the offense requires a manda-tory court appearance, the individualwill be granted a future court dateto appear before a judge and all war-rants will be cleared and warrant feesforgiven.

For more information, call (678)382-6973.

Accreditation team seekscomments on ChatComm 911

The Chattahoochee River 911Authority (ChatComm) is seeking

communications accreditation from

the Commission on Accreditationfor Law Enforcement Agencies Inc.(CALEA).

Members of the community andemployees of the city of Dunwoodyare invited to offer comments byphone at (404) 843-6615 on Monday,July 21, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Telephone comments are lim-ited to 10 minutes and must addressChatComms ability to comply withCALEAs standards. A copy of thestandards is available at ChatComm.For more information, call MichelleAllen at (404) 843-6600.

Written comments about Chat-Comms ability to meet the standardsfor communications accreditationshould be sent to: Commission onAccreditation for Law EnforcementInc., 13575 Heathcote Blvd. Suite 320,Gainesville, VA 20155; or be emailedto [email protected].

CALEAs accreditation programrequires communications centers tocomply with 218 applicable state-of-the art standards in three basic areas:policy and procedures, administra-tion and operations.

Established in 1979 by the In-ternational Association of Chiefs ofPolice, the National Organization ofBlack Law Enforcement Executives,the National Sheriffs Association,and the Police Executive ResearchForum, CALEA is recognized inter-nationally as the key credentialingauthority for law enforcement agen-cies.

For more information regardingCALEA, write the commission at theabove address or call (703) 352-4225 oremail at [email protected].

CountywideLibrary updating Internet; some

branches closed due to lack of A/CAccording to its website, the

DeKalb Public Libraries system isupdating its Internet service. It willbe doubling bandwidth to increasedownload and browsing speeds onboth connected and Wi-Fi computersat all branches. However, there maybe service outages.

Additionally, Flat Shoals, Wes-ley Chapel William C. Brown andRedan-Trotti libraries are experienc-ing air conditioning outages. Thosebranches will be closed and havereduced programming until the prob-

lem is resolved. Check www.dekalbli-brary.org for updates.

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 LOCAL NEWS

Restaurant InspectionsEstablishment Name: Red Lobster #91Address: 3937 Lavista RoadCurrent Score/Grade: 74/CInspec on Date: 06/25/2014

Observa ons and Correc ve Ac onsObserved employee wiping nose with the back of his

gloved hand and con nue to engage in food prep.Corrected to remove gloves and to wash hands.Instructed PIC to re-train sta on appropriate mes whenhand washing is required.Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. Observedbar sta using bare hands to garnish drink with cutfruit(orange slice and cherry). Corrected to discard drink.PIC informed employee to use gloved hands, tongs,or other dispensing utensils. Corrected On-Site. NewViola on.Soap not available at bar hand sink; soap dispenserempty. Employee re lled soap. Keep soap available at all

mes at all sinks.Food packages not in good condi on. Observed tomatoesstored in facility with black and white mold like substancepresent. Produce was delivered on past Saturday andwill be held for product exchange/refund. Instructed to

relocate to designated area so that they are not mistakenfor usable product. Corrected On-Site. New Viola on.Employee wearing jewelry other than a plain ring whilepreparing food. PIC informed that all jewelry must beremoved while preparing food, food employees may notwear jewelry including medical informa on jewelry ontheir arms and hands, except for a plain wedding band.Employee removed watch.

Establishment Name: Kings Southern DelightAddress: 4958 Redan RoadCurrent Score/Grade: 81/BInspec on Date: 06/25/2014

Observa ons and Correc ve Ac onsBeef neck bones on steam table and yams in warmercabinet not holding at or above 135F. PIC advised thatall poten ally hazardous food which is hot held mustbe maintained at 135F or above. COS- food reheated toabove 165F.Frozen foods in walk-in freezer not maintained frozen. PICstated breaker for walk-in freezer had been tripped. COS-PIC ipped breaker. Ambient temperature dropped from33F to 27F.Raw turkey wings observed thawing in stagnant waterin meat sink. PIC advised that poten ally hazardousfood must be thawed completely submerged under coolcon nuously running water. COS- turkey placed in potunder running water.Leak observed in pipe near vegetable and meat sinks. PICadvised to have leak repaired. Employee drink with a lidstored next to restaurant food. PIC advised that employeebelongings and food must be stored separate fromrestaurant items. COS- cup relocated.

Establishment Name: Island Spice RestaurantAddress: 4088 Redan RoadCurrent Score/Grade: 81/BInspec on Date: 07/02/2014

Observa ons and Correc ve Ac onsNo papertowels available in the restroom. PIC advisedthat papertowels must be available at all hand sinks at all

mes. COS- papertowels provided.Employee washed and rinsed pot and stored for usewithout sani zing. PIC advised that all equipment mustbe washed, rinsed, and sani zed. COS- employee set upsani ze sink and sani zed dishes. Rice and raw chicken inreach-in cooler not maintained at 41F or below. COS- ricediscarded, chicken relocated to freezer. Rice and peason steam table not holding at or above 135F. COS- PICreheated to 165F.Oxtail prepared at 1pm not cooled to 70F within 2 hours.PIC advised that all PHF must be cooled from 135F to 70Fwithin 2 hours and from 135F to 41F in a total of 6 hours.COS- oxtail discarded.

Stone Mountain radio club provides eyes,ears, voices at Peachtree Road Raceby Kathy Mitchell

As approximately 60,000unners from around the

world lined up on the Fourthof July to run AtlantasPeachtree Road Race, theywere a little safer and betterorganized thanks to a groupof volunteer local amateuradio operators, including

many from the Stone Moun-ain-based Alford Memorial

Radio Club.The amateur radio opera-

ors role is to provide fast,eliable communication, ex-

plained Steve Vogel , a mem-ber of the Stone Mountainlub. If a runner is in distress

and needs medical attentionmmediately, we can get the

word to the right people evenn places where theres no cell

phone signal, he said.For more than 25 years ap-

proximately 50 local hams,as amateur radio operatorsare commonly known, havebeen at the worlds largest10-kilometer foot race pro-viding radio communications

before and during the race tohelp with organization andogistics in addition to being

available to help in emergen-ies.

We have operators sta-ioned in the start and finish

areas and all along the raceoute providing the primaryadio network for race or-

ganizers and officials as wellas supplementing the publicafety radio networks, ex-

plained Vogel, who noted,We dont do sports reports

or broadcast results.Vogel said the Peachtree is

one of several public eventsor which members of hislub volunteer. Weve been

participating in the GeorgiaMarathon from the begin-

ning, he said of the seven-year-old event.

Amateur radio operatorshave specialized, unique skillsthat we can use to assist atevents such as the PeachtreeRoad Race. Each of us islicensed by the Federal Com-munications Commission,said Vogel, who has had hislicense for four years. The sonof an on-air radio announcer,he said hes been interested inradio since he was a child, butbecame licensed after he re-tired and had time to devoteto the hobby.

Community service is oneof the reasons people get in-terested in amateur radio, Vo-gel said. Others are interestedin it for from a technologicalperspective and some justenjoy sharing opinions withother operators. Were not allgeeks. There is such a broadrange of ways to approachamateur radio theres some-thing for just about anybody,said Vogel, who works with astatewide hospital emergencygroup and specifically sup-

ports the Veterans Adminis-tration Hospital in Decatur.The Atlanta Amateur

Radio Emergency Service(ARES) unit provides thecommand post and operatesthe network control stationfor the hams participat-ing in the Peachtree RoadRace.

Ken Reid , Atlantas AREScoordinator, commented ina news release, Althoughcommunity events such thePeachtree are certainly notemergencies, they give ama-teur operators good practicefor communicating over amanaged radio network suchas would be deployed in areal emergency. As a matterof fact, when the tragic Bos-

ton Marathon bombing in2013 turned that event intoan emergency, more than 200amateur operators were al-ready in place to supply vitalsupplementary communica-tions.

Vogel said while his clubmembers are prepared toquickly communicate withpolice and fire rescue person-nel, so far the emergenciesthey have been involved in atthe Peachtree Road Race havebeen minor. The Peachtreeis very well organized, andthings usually go smoothly,he said.

This is not your grand-fathers radio, saidSteveGarrison , president of AlfordMemorial Radio Club in an-nouncing a demonstrationevent the last weekend inJune. The communicationsnetworks that ham radio peo-ple can quickly create havesaved many lives when othersystems failed or were over-loaded. He noted that duringHurricane Katrina hundredsof volunteer hams came to

the area and in many instanc-es provided the only means ofcommunication.

The 42-year-old clubmeets monthly in a localchurch. Twice a year, it par-ticipates in local hamfests,events at which memberscan learn about the latestradio equipment, plan forupcoming events and social-ize with others who sharetheir interest. The club alsooperates four radio repeat-ers, including the one atopStone Mountain. A repeaterreceives a broadcast from asmallsometimes even hand-heldradio and sends it out toa wider area over more pow-erful equipment.

Network control stations, such as this one at a recent Georgia Marathon, have saved lives by providingommunications when other systems failed or were overloaded.

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 LOCAL NEWS

Code enforcement officergoes the distanceby Lauren Ramsdell

[email protected] LaPenna , a Dunwoody

ode compliance officer, said hewas just doing his job when hedrove to Savannah, citation inhand, for an unresponsive home-owner whose property was dete-iorating.

After moving to Dunwoody,LaPenna left his previous lineof work in building inspectionand applied on advice from anacquaintance for the new codenforcement officer position.

I have been in code enforce-ment with Dunwoody since dayone, LaPenna said. Enforce-ment usually pertains to qual-ty of life issues, and were alsoalled out if someone is doing

unpermitted construction. I amhe guy that gives everyone the

bad newsI dont get Christmasards.

It can be a thankless job, con-acting people whose properties

have fallen into disrepair. Peopleavoid the letters, knocks at thedoor and certified mail LaPennaends out. And, unless they con-irm receipt of a citation, nothingan be done about the eyesore

property.We are different than policeofficers, LaPenna said. We takehe same oath, but we dont ar-est people. Georgia is a personalervice state, so if I cant get tohe owner of that property, I canend by mail. But if they donthow up, they have to get this

woman to court somehow. Whathave to do is find her.

Thats exactly what LaPennadid on that balmy day in Savan-nah. A woman was listed as thepoint of contact for a house thateemed abandoned for someime. A tree had fallen on theoof. Water had stagnated in the

pool. Grass grew feet high, andneighbors were complaining.

Dunwoody uses the Inter-national Property Maintenance

Code, a permissive code that the

Georgia state legislature allowscommunities to opt in or out of.The most recent version of thecode states: All vacant structuresand premises thereof or vacantland shall be maintained in aclean, safe, secure and sanitarycondition as provided herein soas not to cause a blighting prob-lem or adversely affect the publichealth or safety.

LaPenna was originally head-ed to Savannah for a GeorgiaMunicipal Association confer-ence the weekend of June 20-23.As the sergeant-at-arms for theGeorgia Association of CodeEnforcement, LaPenna tries to goto many conferences to learn andspeak about code enforcement.While there, he had the idea topersonally serve the citation tothe homeowner.

Here I am, I have to be backat the convention about 1:30,drove back and went back out [toher place of business], waiting,LaPenna said. I walked past andthe lights are on, someone be-hind the door opened it. She wassurprised to see me, but was verynice. I issued a brief citation twocounts each.

This isnt personal, I just haveto do this for the city, its not fairto the residents in the cul-de-sac,I told her. Heres your court dateand Ill see you in court. And shesaid, Well, thank you. I do try touse a velvet glove.

LaPenna said he doesnt usu-ally travel more than 500 milesround-trip to serve citations. But,in this case, it was too good anopportunity to pass up.

What you have to do inthe business of inspections orenforcement is to get people tounderstand it is your job to en-force the code, he said. Its notpersonal. If I dont do my job Imnot going to have a job. We try todo it as evenly as possible.

Code compliance of cer Tom LaPenna recently drove to Savannah to hand-eliver a citation to a negligent property owner. Photo provided

by Lauren [email protected]

At a called meeting June 30, theChamblee City Council unanimouslyapproved a millage rate of 6.4, the samerate as the previous year. Mayor EricClarkson said he would have preferreda millage rate decrease, but with the2013 annexation of Dresden East CivicAssociation (DECA) neighborhoods,

the need for service in that area limiteda millage rate decrease.Chamblee uses a fiscal year that

matches the calendar year. This makessetting a millage rate somewhat dif-ficult, as the city staff has to foresee tosome degree what home values will bemonths in advance.

The city has always been very fis-cally responsible and very conserva-tive in how it forecasts, Clarkson said.When the council sets the budget forthe first of the year, they have to antici-pate what the tax digest will be, which isthe largest revenue for the city.

Clarkson said that during the reces-sion the millage rate ramped up fromfour or five mills to around its currentrate. During that time there was alsotalk of changing the fiscal system toalign more with when property taxescome due in the fall. But, he said, it hasalways proved too expensive to makethe change.

For that year you make the switchedbudget, you have to make two bud-gets and then youd be audited twice,Clarkson said. The cost of the outsideauditor and the cost to do two budgetswould be too high. We are not uniquein this.

He further said the millage ratecould have decreased if the Century

Center commercial properties had beenannexed into Chamblee as was origi-nally intended during the 2013 annexreferendum.

In 2013, the Georgia General As-

sembly passed a referendum allowingparts of DeKalb County that borderedthen-Chamblee to be annexed into thecity. The Chamblee referendum passedwith a 61 percent margin. As part of theannexation, Century Centera clutch ofcommercial businesses to the south ofDeKalb Peachtree Airport and, at thetime, slightly east of Brookhavenwouldbe absorbed into Chamblee. However,after the General Assembly bill waspassed but before the referendum oc-curred on Nov. 5, Brookhaven votedto annex the Century Center area afterHighwoods Properties, the firm owningthe office buildings in the area, electedto join Brookhaven.

On April 29, Gov. Nathan Deal ve-toed bills introduced by area legislatorsthat aimed to fix the boundaries to beconsistent with the Chamblee referen-dum, citing pending litigation with theHighwoods properties.

I am very disappointed that wecould not include the Century Center[area] into our budget this year, Clark-son said. Our staff is doing everythingthey can to not raise the millage rate,but I have to believe we would havebeen able to significantly lower ourmillage rate if we had not gone throughwith that annexation.

Clarkson said the annexation wentforward with the expectation that rev-enue from the Century Center wouldhelp pay for the upkeep of newly an-nexed neighborhoods.

Commercial pays for services,Clarkson said. We welcomed all ofthese folks into our city without theircommercial property taxes. So, here wesit. DeKalb County has ignored thatarea for a number of years, and theyneed a lot of services.

He said Chamblee has an obligationto treat all of its residents equally, butwithout the Century Center revenue,the budget is tighter than it would havebeen.

Chamblee millage rateremains at 6.4 mills

Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson said that, while he is happy not to have increased the millage rate,he would have preferred a decrease. Photo by Lauren Ramsdell

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PLOCAL NEWS

The Battle of Decatur occurred 150 years ago onJuly 22, 1864, and will be the focus of a new exhibitcalledTears and Curses: A Human Focus on the CivilWar and an original play at DeKalb History Center.The opening reception will be held Thursday, July 17,at 5:30 p.m. and concludes at 8 p.m. Light refreshmentswill be provided and drink tickets will be available for

purchase. The play will be presented at 6 p.m. and 8p.m.The title of the exhibit is from a letter in the history

centers collection written by Pvt.Dewitt C. Morgan to a woman who may have been a sweetheart. Angryat the Union forces, Dewitt wrote, They sow tears andcursesthey shall reap infamy and overthrow.

We offer a glimpse into the heart of our collec-tions and the fighting that occurred in DeKalb Countyand Decatur, Executive DirectorMelissa Forgey said.What you can expect is a beautiful exhibit that willhelp you tie the history in with the actual locationof events on July 22, 1864. We have selected some ofour best Civil War artifacts which tie into personalstories. Especially interesting are the pieces that areengraved and labeled and can be specifically traced to areal person.

The original play Shadows of the Past: A Play AboutDeKalb County During the Civil Warwas written withhelp from a grant from the Georgia Humanities Coun-cil Reception. Shadows of the Past is about the AtlantaCampaign, the Battle of Atlanta and DeKalb Countyduring the Civil War. It speaks in the voices of thepeople who lived in DeKalb during the war. Local char-acters such asMary Gay , a young lady from Decaturwhose home was invaded;George Washington Cash ,a staunch Unionist; and Sarah Forrer , the mother of aUnion soldier, are featured characters. The play is forfamilies (suggested ages 8 and older). Tickets are $10for history center members and $14 for non-members.

Photos by John Hewitt

DeKalb History Center presents Battle of Decatur exhibit and original play

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WEEKPICTURESIn

Searching for Our Sons and Daughters:

For a programming guide, visit www.yourdekalb.com/dctvNow showing on DCTV!

Finding DeKalb Countys MissingStories of our missing residents offer profoundinsights and hope for a positive reunion.

DCTV Your Emmy Award-winning news source of DeKalb County news. Available on Comcast Cable Channel 23.

Photos brought to you by DCTV

allookaville celebrated Independence Day with a corn dog eating contest. From left, second-placewinner Nick Latham, rst-place winner Kevin Jacob, Pallookaville owner Jim Stacy and third-placewinner Mike Parker. Photo by Travis Hudgons

Sword swallower Jason Munger entertains the crowd at Pallookaville in Avondale Estates on July 4. Photos by Travis Hudgons

Tamara Wilson prepares to donate blood at 2014s second Doraville blood drive.Photo by Lauren Ramsdell

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Brook Run dog park redesign in the worksby Lauren [email protected]

The saga of the Brook Run dogpark continues.

Originally due to be voted on June24will it stay or will it go?the loca-ion of the dog park at Brook Run

Park in Dunwoody is still under dis-cussion.

We havent made any determina-ion of where the park is going to go,aid Brent Walker , parks manager

with the city of Dunwoody. We aregoing to try to keep it in that area ofhe park, but we are not at the designtage yet. We have hosted communitynput meetings with the neighbors in

Lakeview Oaks and the dog park as-ociation, as those are the two groupshat we are trying to come to some

kind of compromise with.The issues are: the Brook Run

Dog Park Association (BRDPA), anonprofit group that maintains thepark, wishes the dog park to remainn its current location. It is currentlyn the western corner of the park ands approximately 150 feet from the

boundary of Lakeview Oaks, a neigh-borhood established in the 1980s.Lakeview Oaks neighbors cite noisessues and the environmental impact

of dogs running among the trees inhe heavily shaded areas.

I really dont know where weare right now , saidLaine Sweezey ,president of BRDPA. Our organi-

zation put together a proposal lastyear about how we could update thepark, but [the city] didnt seem to ac-cept that. Now, they seem a lot moreamenable to our position. I feel prettyure we are going to stay where we

are, but I am pretty sure there will bemajor changes to the layout. As longas we can stay in the area where weare and as long as we have aroundhree acres in the same vicinity then

were fine.

Frank Lockridge , president ofthe Lakeview Oaks HomeownersAssociation, said he was also presi-dent of the association when thepark was first implemented in 2006.Dunwoody was not incorporated atthat time, and then-CEO VernonJones pushed for the developmentof the dog park. Jones made com-ments at the June 24 meeting of theDunwoody City Council in favor ofmaintaining the park in its currentlocation.

My administration was respon-sible for a lot of things getting done

in this county but I think the thingthat most touched me that I willnever forget is the dog park, Jonessaid. I opened the first dog park inDeKalb County, and we got togetherwith some like-minded people in theDunwoody area and we were able toput together, I believe, a fine plan ondeveloping Brook Run that includedthe dog park.

Jones encouraged the council tohave the wisdom of Solomon in ne-

gotiating whether to move or main-tain the dog parks location.

I understand there are some is-sues and you have to make somedecisions, and certainly there was nointent to offend any of the homeown-ers, Jones said. We certainly wanteveryone to enjoy and appreciate it.

Lockridge said that at first, therewere issues with dogs jumping thefence and running loose. Most of thathas subsided but the noise level frombarking dogs is still something he sayshis neighborhood cannot deal with.

There have been people with the

Dunwoody Homeowners Associationthat have come over and have heardthe commotion that the dogs raiseover there, he said. In my meet-ings with Mr. Walker and with othermembers of the council, I have main-tained that I think the dog park is inthe wrong place.

Citing a 40-year career in civil en-gineering, Lockridge said that if thereare dogs running where there aretrees, as is the case with this park, the

soil will compact and the vegetationwill die. Moving the park will costmoney, he said, but so will maintain-ing it at its current location or updat-ing it using noise buffers or reconfig-

uring the footprint.[The BRDPA] has done a good job getting volunteers to work on thepark; however, I think the city is someday going to be obligated to maintainthe park anyway, he said.

Sweezey of the BRDPA, said shehas not experienced the level of noiseLockridge claims is occurring. Shesaid the association installed noiselevel meters in the park to gauge howloud it was.

The highest one I have seen is76 decibels, but it is usually between65 and 70, Sweezey said. We reallywant to be good neighbors. We are very proud of that park and it meansa lot to uswe dont want the peoplein Lakeview Oaks to hate us. But, weare happy that we think we are goingto stay where we are.

Seventy-six decibels is roughlyequivalent to a car driving at 65 milesper hour at 25 feet away, accordingto a chart found at chem.purdue.edu.The dog park is 150 feet away fromLakeview Oaks at its nearest point.According to the chart, upper 70s areannoyingly loud to some people.

Parks manager Walker said he istrying to come up with a solution thatpreserves some of the location of thedog park while also mitigating the

noise concerns of neighbors.The direction from city councilis for me to look for some options forthe dog park to stay in that area of thepark but also provide a suitable buf-fer, he said. The mayor [Mike Da- vis] did say he wants to see somethingsoon and it is a priority. We want tomake sure everybody that has anopinion about it can express it, takeall that and find the commonalitiesfrom both groups.

Dogs gather at the Brook Run dog park. The location of the park is up for debate as itsproximity to a neighborhood is disruptive for some Dunwoody residents. Photo provided by

Brook Run Dog Park Association


Two former DeKalb lead-ers expressed their concernsabout allegations of corrup-ion and ethics violations inhe county government.

It is distressing to meor people to stop me in thetreets and say, What has

happened? said formerDeKalb County CEOLiane Levetan.

Levetans comments were

made during a press confer-ence in her home duringwhich she expressed her sup-port for Sheriff Jeff Mann selection bid.

Mann faces formerDeKalb County CEOVer-non Jones in a runoff elec-tion for sheriff on July 22.

Im distressed that youcant pick up the paper for aweek without seeing head-lines about what is happen-ing [in DeKalb], Levetansaid. To see these continualheadlines make me verysad.

Levetan said she hopesthe corruption and ethicsinvestigations conclude as

rapidly as possible.What I would like tosee happen is that whoeveris doing the investigations,whether its the GBI, the FBI,

whoever, it needs to happenquickly, Levetan said. Icertainly hope and pray thatthese things can come to aconclusion so that DeKalbCounty can move in theright direction.

During the same newsconference, former sheriffThomas Brown addressedthe government purchas-ing card (P-card) scandal inwhich several county com-missioners are being inves-tigated for alleged misuse of

their P-cards.This needs to be re-solved as quickly as pos-sible, Brown said about theinvestigations. If the P-card

was used for personal ex-penses, clearly, one shouldnot have been doing that,and they must be dealt withappropriately.

Brown said, P-cardshave always been somethingthat one must handle verycarefully because if youdont have the right controlson them it can be slowlyabused.

I took the position notto accept it, said Brown,adding that in the sheriffs

office, P-cards are handledby a group of people whomake purchases and travelarrangements for the entireagency.

I dont think it was theintent of whoever put theprogram in place to use theP-cards to give grants [or] tobuy gifts at silent auctions,Brown said.

I think the most appro-priate thing at this point is tocollect all of the P-cards untilwe can put a set of guidelinesin place that would ensurethat this type of allegedabuse does not occur.

I use the word alleged,but I think its pretty obvious

that the P-cards have beennot used in the best inter-est of the people of DeKalbCounty, Brown said.

Former DeKalb leaders distressed by corruption allegations

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Commissioners Continued From Page 1A

CEO Continued From Page 1A

South River Continued From Page 1A

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PAGE 13LOCAL NEWS

gotten better. It wasnt this diresituation but the communitydidnt know that.

SRWA begin getting themessage out to the communityabout how the river hasimproved and started hostingwater events at the river,including multiple canoe trips.In 2012, SRWA partnered withGeorgia River Network to hostthe rst River Extravaganzawith more than 70 paddlers incanoes and kayaks on a four-hour jaunt down the river.

Tere have also beenseveral river clean up eventsincluding its rst Get the

rash Out event with supportfrom Keep DeKalb Beautiful,

and its rst Nothing Butires round up. SRWAmembers and volunteersremoved trash and debrisfrom the riverbank andhundreds of tires from theriver.

SRWA is currentlyworking to start a watertrail that will begin in southDeKalb and go throughRockdale, Henry and Newtoncounties.

Tats the long-termgoal along with other eventsthat feed into it like thecanoe outings, water qualitymonitoring and engaging theschools, Echols said.

SRWA will alsoreintroduce river cane toSouth River, which helps slowstorm water. Echols said SouthRiver can improve more ifpeople would properly disposetrash.

If you drop trash[anywhere] its going to endup in a water way becausethats where the stormwater goes, she said. Its aneducation process.

he complaint against Rader, filedby Timothy Brantley of Decatur, al-eges that Rader defrauded DeKalb

County residents by using his posi-ion as a commissioner to illegallynrich himself and his former em-

ployer, Jacobs Engineering.Rader described the allegations asbaseless.

When I first came into office, Iought and received from the eth-cs board an advisory opinion that

advised me how to conduct myself asa commissioner to avoid conflict ofnterest in regard to my employment.have followed the direction of the

advisory opinion since, Rader said.I think the charges arebaseless

and inconsistent with the advice ofhe ethics board, he said.

Brantleys complaint alleges thatRader illegally received pay fromDeKalb County in excess of $266,000and kickbacks from Jacobs Engineer-ng in excess of $600,000 for employ-

ment as their inhouse legislator onhe DeKalb County commission.

Rader unlawfully shared privi-eged and confidential information

with his employer and others andinfluenced the outcome of votes byhe board of commissioners and the

decisions of government executivesfor the purpose of benefiting his em-

ployer, the complaint alleges.Brantley accuses Rader of illegally

teering contracts to benefit his em-ployer.

According to the ethics complaint,

Rader, a professional planner, was anmployee of Jacobs Engineering athe time of his swearingin as a com-

missioner in January 2007 until hisermination from the company in

2013.In his complaint, Brantley states

hat Jacobs Engineering terminatedRaders employment in 2013 after ablog indicated influence peddlingand conflicts of interests involvingCommissioner Rader, DeKalb Coun-y and Jacobs Engineering.

he ethics complaint accusesRader of willfully, knowingly andllegally accepting employment fromacobs Engineering while the com-

pany illegally pursued and obtainedmultiple contracts from DeKalb

County in of $10 million.he complaint alleges that Rader

influenced commissioners votes on various contracts for Jacobs Engi-neering by discussing the nature andterms of the contracts with commis-

sioners and officials; by conspiringwith DeKalb County CommissionersKathie Gannon and Stan Watson toprovide monetary and other valuableconsideration in exchange for their votes on contracts affecting JacobsEngineering; and by influencing sus-pended county CEO Burrell Ellis ,former deputy chief operating officerTed Rhinehart and former interimplanning director Gary Cornell , whowas a former Jacobs Engineering em-ployee.

Some of these accusations are ofcriminal activity and are false and,frankly, libelous, Rader said.

Of her alleged complicity withRader, Gannon said, Its totally un-true. Im fairly confident that this wasa bogus attempt at diversion. Diver-sion is one of the primary tactics thatpeople use who are trying to divertattention from themselves because ofwhat theyre doing.

here wasnt one substantive alle-gation, Gannon said. here was justall this innuendo. I know its not truebecause I was named as doing some-thing which is untrue. o me, it saysthe whole thing was bogus.

he complaint against Gannon,filed by Monica Parrot of Lithonia,alleges that Gannon conveniently

hid her illegal transactions by usingher assistant, Michelle Walldorff , topurchase gift cards that Gannon usedpersonally during the Christmas sea-son (when the cards were purchased)as well as to pay off her cronies.

Although an official complaintwas not filed against Walldorff, Par-rot asks the ethics board to investi-gate her as well.

Parrott also accuses Gannon ofillegally and unethically paying at-torneys more than $25,000.00 ofmoney in her commission budget tosue DeKalb County and force zoningdecisions of the Board of Commis-sioners to be overturned.

Additionally, Parrot accuses Gan-non of illegally and unethically pay-

ing more than $60,000 for question-able Information echnology servicesmore properly handled by the execu-tive branch of the government.

he complaint alleges that Gan-non illegally paid more than $20,000

to support nonprofits basically forthe purpose of vote-buying and pub-lic manipulation.

hrough some of these organiza-tions, Commissioner Gannon is providing kickbacks for her operatives,the complaint alleges.

According to allegations in thecomplaint, Gannon also gave morethan $6,000 to Park Pride, an orga-nization sanctioned by the Board ofCommissioners to determine whereto equitably distribute county-allocat-ed park improvement funds through-out the County but [was] recentlyfound to be a wholly-owned-subsid-iary of Commissioners Gannon andRader when it was revealed that ParkPride was only spending money inDistrict 2.

he complaint also alleges thatGannon spent $13,000 of taxpayerfunds for planning and developmentservices in spite of the existence ofwell-paid county planning and devel-opment professionals.

In a news conference July 8, Gan-non called the allegations bogus.

No taxpayer money has beenspent on anything personal, Gannonsaid. I have never received a kick-back of any kind and I dont intendto. I have given no kickbacks and I

have conspired with no one.In April Gannon sponsored aresolution to audit all commissionersexpenses.

It is my understanding that auditstarted this week. Once that audit iscomplete and once the ethics [board]has an opportunity to review theseallegations, Im sure they will allbe seen as bogus and it will be dis-missed, Gannon said.

In addition to Rader and Gannon,ethics complaints are pending beforethe DeKalb County Board of Eth-ics for commissioners Elaine Boyer ,Larry Johnson , Sharon Barnes Sut-ton and Stan Watson.

ohnson said July 7.Te state law that created the

board is very clear that it is an in-dependent board, Johnson said.I dont think [May] can have anyontact with the board [or] make

any suggestions to the board. Tatsgoing to be my position and my at-

orneys position.I appreciate the fact that [May]s interested in ethics, Johnson said,butI have my reservations abouthe depth and quality of why hesnterested.

In a statement to Te Championon July 7, May said he stands by hisdecision to allocate additional re-sources to ethics board.

Te additional funding will al-low the ethics board to hire a chiefintegrity officer, investigator and ad-ministrative assistant, May stated.

Te chief integrity officer will beour full-time ethics watchdog. Heor she will not report to me or theboard of commissioners. Our eth-ics watchdog will report directly tothe board of ethics, many of whom

stood with me when I unveiled myrecommendations.

Te ethics board will have to de-cide whether to investigate the com-plaint against May.

Johnson said he may le acouple more complaintsthis timeagainst the ethics board itself. He

cited the June 25 news conference byMay about the new ethics changes.Tree members of the ethics board joined May at the news conferenceand John Ernst , the ethics boardchairman, asked the board of com-

missioners to immediately approvethe Mays proposed funding increasefor the ethics board. Te increasewould be $97,000 for the rest of theyear.

Tis was the rst time ever thatanybody can recall that there weremembers of the [ethics board]

present at a press conference withthe CEO in the 24 years that theethics board has been in existence,Johnson said.

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Peachtree-Dunwoody house celebrates20 years of helping families in needby Lauren [email protected]

With three childrens hos-pitals in the metro area, At-anta is a hub for people seek-ng answers to their childrens

complex medical problems.But when a child is sick,

ome things can fall by the

waysidesuch as securing aong-term rental, cooking ahot meal or showering.

Thats where the RonaldMcDonald House Charitiestep in. In 322 houses acrosshe world, families of sick

children are housed, fed andprovided a safe place to staywhile their child gets treat-ment. Families are asked todonate up to $20 per day, butf the family cannot afford it,he fee is waived. Scores of

volunteers keep the housestaffed and guests fed, caredor and entertained.

Ally Harris , 15, and hermom Iris arrived at thePeachtree-Dunwoody RonaldMcDonald House in earlyune after receiving a fright-

ening diagnosis. A juniorvarsity softball player, Allywas running on the field onemoment and unable to walkor roll over the next. Aftera week in the hospital, doc-ors decided on a diagnosis:

Guillain-Barre syndrome.Guillain-Barre is a disease

n which the bodys autoim-mune system attacks the

peripheral nervous system,causing numbness, tingling,paralysis and in extreme casesdeath.

At first I didnt have a clueabout the Ronald McDonald

House, they talked about itwhen she was in the hospitalbut I didnt really know exact-ly what it would be like, IrisHarris said. They talk aboutthe other Ronald McDonaldhouse being a little more likea hotel, and the families dontreally see each other. But onething I like about this one isweve gotten to know so manypeople and hear their storiesand see the progress that theirchildren have made. I thinkthats very important in ourhealing process to know thatthere are other people outthere. We thought what shehad was bad, but there are alot worse things out there. Soit has been a blessing.

Ronald McDonald Housesare so named because the

primary donor is McDon-alds, but the charity is runindependently. Atlanta cur-rently has two houses: Gate-wood House, opened in 2008near Emory University, and

Peachtree Dunwoody house,opened in 1994. Atlantasoriginal Ronald McDonaldHouse was established in At-lanta in 1979the fourth inthe country at that timebutwas decommissioned in 2008when the newest house wasbuilt on Gatewood Road.

During its 20-year history,the Peachtree-Dunwoodyhouse has served nearly10,000 families seeking treat-ment at nearby ChildrensHealthcare at Scottish RiteHospital. Last year alone ithosted 194 families in the11-bedroom house.

Currently, the Peachtree-Dunwoody house is fund-raising to add a wing of bed-rooms to bring the total to 31.

Another reason we are

expanding this house is thatits really not wheelchairfriendly or [accessible for]anyone that has a challengegetting around, which about

50 percent of our families inthat rehab program at Scot-tish Rite, saidBeth Howell ,president and CEO of AtlantaRonald McDonald HouseCharities. Theres no eleva-tor in this house, and thefact that we are turning awayaround 200 families a yearbecause we just dont haveenough rooms.

The house looks like anynormal home, with an en-tryway, sitting room, kitchenand dining room, patio, base-ment, family room and bed-rooms. But, with 11 familiesat a time, the proportions area little different. Everyone canhave some space of their own.

While the Ronald McDon-ald House has started to feellike a home away from homefor the Harrises, their actualhome is in Franklin, in HeardCounty.

We thought about driv-

ing back and forth but its80-something miles and I just couldnt do that everyday, Iris said. She probablywouldnt have been able tohave the rehab that she need-ed, because we couldnt affordto drive up here.

Ally has made a friend,Maggie , while staying at thehouse. And when they returnto Franklin on Fridays theytake Maggie and her momback home since they livenearby. On Sundays the Har-rises come back with Maggieand mom in tow. Ally saidthey will be lifelong friends,all due to the Ronald Mc-Donald House and its 20-yearmission of serving kids andtheir families.

Carrie Bowden , market-ing and communications di-rector for the Atlanta houses,said some families haveexpressed concerns that thePeachtree-Dunwoody housewill lose some of its homeycharm.

But, its the volunteersand the families and the spiritthat make it a home, she said.The house will still have thesame spirit. It will just be big-ger and more spacious.

Due to budget issues, noneof the rooms have televisionsand most share a bathroom.Though the Harrises wouldrather have a bathroom, Irissaid the lack of television hasmade them socialize withother families more.

I like it because I havefriends here, weve madenew friends, Ally said. Ifthis didnt happen to me wenever would have met those

people.Ally is currently undergo-ing day rehabilitation at Scot-tish Rite. Although Guillain-Barre is serious, many ofits effects can be mitigatedthrough quick hospital inter- vention coupled with rigor-ous occupational therapy.Ally and her mom spendmost of the day at the hospi-tal before coming back to thehouse to relax.

A lot of the time we get inthe car, turn the music up realloud, roll down the windows,grab the friends and hop inand just drive around, Allysaid.

Shes still a kid, youknow? Iris said.

Beth Howell is the president and CEO of Atlanta-area RonaldMcDonald House Charities. The Peachtree-Dunwoody house haserved patients on the border of DeKalb County for 20 years.

The light and airy kitchen is a gathering place for families at the Peachtree-Dunwoody house. Photos by LaurenRamsdell

Ally Harris is a patient at Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital. Her mom, Iris,is staying with her at the Peachtree-Dunwoody Ronald McDonald House.

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PBUSINESS

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce404.378.8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org

Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030

by Kathy Mitchell

Nick Purdy said that al-hough he and Eric Johnson

have been friends for morehan 20 years, they have nev-r lived in the same city. One

of the pleasures of visitinghis friend, Purdy said, wasalways sampling Johnsonshomebrewed beers.

Ive never been contento be a fan of something Ieally loveI have to turnt into a business. I said for

years, Man, you need to bot-le this commercially. I guessts the entrepreneurial spiritn me, said Purdy, who is

one of founders of the music

and entertainment publica-ion Paste Magazine.The collaboration be-

ween businessman Purdyand brewmaster Johnsonesulted in a new company

Wild Heaven Craft Beers.The two initially built a facil-ty in South Carolina, whichold its first beer in 2010, andn June of this year moved to

Avondale Estates, a short dis-ance from Pastes offices.

Ive always loved the De-atur/Avondale Estates area,

and this is where I want tobe, Purdy said. The busi-ness community here hasbeen welcoming and sup-portive.

Every Friday, Saturdayand Sunday, Wild Heavensowners invite the public forastings and tours of their

8,000-square-foot facilitywith its 30-barrel brewingystem. We want people toaste our beer and see that

we have something uniquehere. This is not just ourversion of what everybodylse is doing, Purdy said. I

want every product I bring to

market to be a better optionhan whats already out there.Were adding something newo the beer landscape.

Purdy describes the beeras having been designedn the great tradition of Eu-opean brewing but with a

distinctly American creativelair. We brew all-grain with

no adjunct sugars, creatingbigger flavor without excessalcohol.

He added, We want toaise the profile of beer in the

South. We want people to seeit as a complex and interest-ing drinklike good winesnot just as yellow suds. Wewant people to pair specificbeers with foods the way theypair wines.

On its website, WildHeavens varieties are de-scribed in language reminis-cent of what wine connois-seurs use to describe wines.For example, Ode To Mercyoverflows with bold flavorswoven into a very balancedand approachable beer that

finishes with creamy linger-ing hints of oak, coffee androasted goodness. Brightcitrus hops peek throughfrom time to time, addingadditional layers of complex-ity, according to the websitedescription.

There are currently six varieties of Wild Heavenavailable year-round withseasonal offerings through-out the year, and more are indevelopment, Purdy said.

Purdy, who like his busi-ness partner is a lifelongGeorgian, said the companyname was inspired by a songperformed by Georgia-basedrock band REM. The song isNear Wild Heaven, Purdy ex-plained. I love the juxtaposi-tion of two words that dontseem to belong together. Youthink of heaven as this calm,peaceful place with harpmusicthen you put wild infront of it.

He said that he and hispartner are pleased at howwell their products, which

are now offered in area bars,restaurants, supermarketsand other places, have beenreceived so far. Its been su-per fun making this happen.Were not a profitable com-pany yet, but that will come,he predicted. It takes timeto fully establish a business.Thats to be expected.

While he said they arestriving to create world-classbeer and become one ofAmericas great breweries,there is not an immediateplan to distribute nationally.

Right now, were only inGeorgia, and were planningto spread into other nearbystates, but becoming a na-tional brand? Thats not usright now, Purdy said.

Georgia natives adding somethingnew to the Souths beer landscape

The public is invited to the facility every weekend for tours and tastings.

Nick Purdy says he liked Eric Johnsons beer so much he had to turn itinto a business.

Six varieties are offered year-round and others are in development.

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THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 PEDUCATION

CRCT scores improve in four out of ve subject areasby Lauren [email protected]

Test scores improved for four outof five content areas examined by

he Criterion-Referenced Compe-ency Tests (CRCT) for students inhird through eighth grades, accord-ng to a release from the DeKalb

County School District.The scores were aggregated from

esults in all grades to produce anoverall proficiency percentage. Theesults:Reading increased by one per-centage point to 89.2 percentEnglish and Language Arts in-creased by 0.2 percentage points to84.9 percentScience increased by 0.8 per-centage points to 64.4 percentSocial Studies increased by 0.4percentage points to 67.4 percentMathematics decreased by 1.3percentage points to 70.6 percent

I am extremely proud of thetudents, parents and educators

who contributed to the improve-ment in our districtwide scores,aid Michael Thurmond , districtuperintendent. Our growth and

achievement model strategy isworking. We focused our resourceson] a districtwide effort to help ourtudents master the content of theubject matter. We understand that

growth and achievement, teachingand learning is our business.According to the release, thedecrease in math score can be attrib-uted to a new, more rigorous CRCTest in that area.

Thurmond said that to increasehe mathematics score, as well as tourther increase the percentage oftudents proficient in other areas,he district will increase tutoring

and resources for teachers. Therewill be a special focus on science,ocial studies and math, as the low-

est-proficient areas.We will be increasing profes-sional learning and development for

our teachers, we will encourage par-ents to better support their children,and we will make resources availableto make sure if that there is need fortutorial, that will be available to stu-dents that need it, Thurmond said.

Fourth-grade social studies andmath teacher Celeste Maye said thatwhile she doesnt teach to the test,she bases her curriculum on what islikely to appear on the end-of-year

exams. She also uses technology inher Wynbrooke Elementary class-room to measure students progressthroughout the year.

Data drives my instruction, pe-riod, she said. We usually take anassessment every six to eight weeksto see if they improve on thoseskills. On a weekly basis we look atthe data to determine what groupsto put students in. Then, we have agroup lesson, but differentiate to thestudents needs during center activi-ties.

Maye said she is appreciative ofthe districts emphasis on continu-ing education, including weekendworkshops where they learn how tobetter engage students. She said that

improving scores starts with enthu-siasm for the lessons.Teachers need to do more

hands-on activities and make themath applicable to life skills, Mayesaid. Our math is very relevant,and they can see how they use itin everyday life and it piques theirinterest. My instruction is fun andengaging, and we use a lot of tech-nology and make it interesting. I amteaching and the kids are enjoyingand because they enjoy it, that learn-ing is being maintained.

Next year, DeKalb will moveaway from the CRCT tests to a newsystem called Georgia Milestones,that will use one program acrossgrades three through 12 instead ofseparate tests, according to the dis-trict release. The test will requirestudents to show their thought pro-cess before coming to an answer,rather than just a fact or

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