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F REE P RESS

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FRIDAY, novembeR 6, 2015 • voL. 18, no. 30 • FREE

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

LocAL, 3A LocAL, 9A SPORTS, 17A

Business .................................14A

ducation...............................16A

Sports .................................17-19A

Opinion ......................................5A classifed ...............................17A

QuIck FInDeRGRAND JURY DOESN’TRecommenD chARges FoRoFFIceR-InvoLveD DeAths

ceDAR gRove,tuckeR set FoRtItLe RemAtch

oFFIcIALs vowto enD humAntRAFFIckIng

by Carla [email protected]

ucker is officially a city.Residents in the ucker

ommunity voted in avoro the city reerendum with73.92 percent, while 26.08percent o voters said “no” to

new city.Voters in the proposedLaVista Hills boundariesvoted against the city reer-ndum with 50.50 percent

voting against, and 49.50percent voting in avor.

Frank Auman o ucker015 said it took a lot o hard

work to incorporate ucker.“I [the volunteers] didn’t

do what they did we wouldhave been done somewherelong the way,” he said.Along the way somebody

showed up at the right meet-ing, made the right connec-

tion, knew the law, whateverit might have been. It eels

good that it was a commu-nity effort.”

Afer declaring deeat,Mary Kay Woodworth o“LaVista Hills Yes!” apolo-gized to supporters or “themissed opportunity or thiscommunity to make it a bet-ter, stronger community.”

“ons o volunteers gaveup their time, their money

and so much o their effort,”Woodworth said to support-ers. “I hope that you all makethe same effort and have thesame commitment to try-ing to fix the dysunction oDeKalb County.

“Te county will have tobe dismantled rom the bot-tom up, to the top down tomake it better,” Woodworthadded. “But I think that wecan all do it.”

Both cityhood bills passedthe Georgia General

See Tucker on page 13A

See Mayors on page 13A

Shortal HammetPittman ErnstJackson

y Andrew [email protected]

Voters in Brookhaven,Dunwoody and Pine Lakehose new heads o their lo-al governments at the polls

Nov. 3.

Attorney John Ernst, or-mer chairman o the DeKalbCounty Board o Ethics, ishe newly-elected mayor orookhaven. At Te Cham-ion’s press time, he led Dale

Boone, a competitive eater,5.24 percent to 14.3 percent.

“Basically this electionuts an end to Brookhaven

yes’ and Brookhaven ‘no,’”rnst said. “It’s now aboutrookhaven. We’re unified

o move orward or a betterrookhaven.”

Ernst said, “I am goingo take a strong look at our

paving to make sure that weare caught up and take a lookat our stormwater to makesure there are no ticking timebombs in the uture.”

In Doraville, Mayor Don-na Pittman ought off chal-lenger Tom Hart, a ormercouncil member. Pittmanreceived 51.72 percent o the vote to Hart’s 48.28 percent,

at press time.Dunwoody Mayor Mike

Davis lost his reelection bid.Denis Shortal, a ormercouncilman and retired U.S.Marines brigadier general,received 62.68 percent to be-come the mayor-elect. Davisreceived 33.75 percent o the vote, while Steve Chipka,received 1.04 percent, and

Chris Grivakis, received 2.28percent.

Lithonia Mayor Debo-rah Jackson was reelectedto another term afer deeat-ing Lithonia City Council-man and Mayor Pro em AlFranklin 63.09 percent to36.91 percent.

“I am very honored thatthe residents o Lithonia

decided to return me to o-fice,” Jackson said. “We havestarted a number o antasticinitiatives and I am lookingorward to bring those toruition in this second term.”

“I am going to continuethe work that I have beendoing,” Jackson said. “We’ve

established some good part-nerships with the DeKalbCounty Board o Health, thecooperative extension pro-gram and the Georgia De-partment o ransportation...these are all initiatives thatare ready to be implementedat this point so I’m really ex-cited about the opportunityto continue to be a publicservant.”

In Pine Lake, MelanieHammet was the only can-didate or that city’s mayoralposition, while AvondaleEstates Mayor Jonathan El-

Voters say ‘yes’ to Tucker, ‘no’ to LaVista Hills

Three cities vote in new mayors

The Tucker cityhood referendum was heavily favored by voters. Photo by Carla Parker

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The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 2A LOCALPage 2A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015

LOCAL

County launches project toend elder domestic violenceby Carla [email protected]

DeKalb County hasaunched a project to provide

more aid to seniors dealingwith domestic violence.

On Oct. 29, the countyaunched its Ending Abuse in

Later Life Project at its kick-off training event at the LouWalker Senior Center. TheDeKalb County Departmentof Human Services partneredwith other DeKalb officesand agencies on this project.

The project, which wasawarded by the Departmentof Justice’s Office on ViolenceAgainst Women in Septem-ber 2014, focuses on im-proving safety for domestic

violence victims ages 50 andolder—while enhancing theexisting services the countyoffers through specializedraining and a coordinated

community response team.The training event was

designed to announce theproject to the community,ncrease awareness of elder

abuse and to gather a coordi-nated community responseeam to address the top is-ues of DeKalb County se-

nior citizens.The grant has been

awarded through September2017. Victoria Ferguson-Young , coordinator of theproject, said one of the rea-ons the project was created,n addition to current pro-

grams that address domestic violence, is because there aredistinctions to elder abuse.

“This project focusesparticularly on domestic vio-lence in relationships—elderswho have relationships withpeople who are perpetratingor abusing them,” Ferguson-Young said. “Because ofthe challenges elders oftenhave—physically—it makes itmore difficult for them to getaccess to help. One thing weare working on is improvingand increasing that access.”

For the remaining twoyears of the grant, 850 lawenforcement officers—250from the DeKalb CountySheriff ’s Office and 600 fromthe DeKalb County Police

Department—will be trainedon recognizing and inves-tigating the signs of elderabuse. A coordinated com-munity response team com-prised of the community’sleaders will address victimaccessibility to resourcessuch as legal services, hous-ing and victim advocates.

Lithonia Mayor DeborahJackson, who gave remarksbefore the training session,said elder abuse is an impor-tant issue for the communitybecause of the growing se-nior population.

“Often, people are veryisolated so it’s important thatwe be much more vigilant,”Jackson said. “I think it’s im-portant that we look at the

village concept. We often useit as it relates to [children]—‘it takes a village to raise achild.’ I think it also takes a village to look after our se-niors as well so that peopleare more aware and con-cerned about these issues.”

Jackson said she wouldlike to see the city munici-palities in the county partnermore on these types of proj-ects.

“[The county] is lookingat that as an opportunity toexpand it because seniors livein cities as well as unincor-porated areas,” Jackson said.“We’re very excited aboutthe opportunity to be a partof this growing conversa-tion and making sure that

our law enforcement officersare trained to be much moreaware of the signs of seniorabuse.”

“We are very intentionalabout continuing the train-ing of police officers in thecities as well,” Ferguson-Young said. “Mayor Jacksondefinitely brought that to myattention and it’s somethingwe’re intentional about do-ing. With grants you haveparameters you have to fol-low and timing—how it hasto happen so at this pointI don’t believe we can startthose trainings until 2017.But if we can we absolutelywill.”

DeKalb sheriff deputies participate in the training session for the Ending Abuse in Later Life Project.

Representatives from DeKalb County ofces and law enforcement agen-cies learn about the statistics of elder domestic violence.

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The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 3A LOCAL

Officials vow to end human traffickingby Andrew [email protected]

Representatives from variousnonprofits and county and munici-

pal law enforcement agencies haveoined forces with the DeKalb Coun-y District Attorney’s Office to tackleocal human trafficking.

The representatives met Oct. 29or a human trafficking symposium

and official signing of a memo-andum of understanding for the

DeKalb Anti-Trafficking and Exploi-ation (D.A.T.E.) Watch multidisci-

plinary protocol to address humanrafficking.

“It’s historic. It hasn’t happenedanywhere else,” said DeKalb CountyDistrict Attorney Robert James.You don’t have anybody that has a

multidisciplinary task force.

“History doesn’t end here withhe signing of this agreement,” heaid. “History begins and ends with

what we do out in the streets pro-ecting these young girls and these

young boys.”James said, “Each month thou-

ands of men in Georgia pay for sexwith a young woman and many ofhem end up exploiting adolescentemales.”

Beginning at ages 12 to 14,thousands of girls are at risk of be-ng sex-trafficked in Georgia,” Jamesaid.

“This is not just a New York

problem or just a Chicago problemor an L.A. problem or an Oaklandproblem or a San Francisco prob-em,” James said. “This is a DeKalb

County problem and we have to doomething about it.”

The DA’s office currently has 40active trafficking cases.

Keisha Head, a survivor of hu-man trafficking, told how she was

“16 and at a crossroads—homelessand on the run, the product of afailed system that wanted to lock meaway due to lack of proper care andresources to treat my brokenness.”

With a background of “abuse,molestation and abandonment,”Head said her breaking point oc-curred when she gave birth to herdaughter “and was forced to give heraway to her father because I didn’thave the resources to care for her, just like my mom had to do me.

“I was broken beyond repair,” shesaid. “I turned to the streets.”

It was then that a friend put herin touch with “Sir Charles” who soonbecame her pimp, she said.

Two years later, “after countlessrapes, beatings, attempted kidnap-pings, and near death experiences,”she “found the courage to escape,”

only to return to the life she hadadapted to because she had no re-sources.

In 2006, she was incarcerated forthree years and upon release didn’treturned to prostitution, she said.

“Today, I am a survivor,” Headsaid. “I am not a survivor becauseI escaped something horrific. I ama survivor because I allowed my

pain and my losses to transform meinto God’s instrument of greatness.”

Heather Stockdale, executivedirector of Georgia Cares, the state-wide coordinating agency for child victims of sex trafficking and exploi-tation in Georgia, said, “Since Au-gust 2009 we have received reportsfor more than 1389 youth who havebeen sexually exploited and traf-ficked in Georgia. Last year alone weworked with 387 youth.”

Moments before the programstarted, Stockdale said she receiveda report from a young New York hu-man trafficking victim who was inDeKalb County.

“Now we’re going to work togeth-er today as we unveil this initiativefor the first time …to find, rescue…and be able to get her the servicesthat she deserves,” Stockdale said.

“The epidemic of human traf-ficking is enormous,” Stockdale said.“It takes all of us working together…on behalf of those who do not have a voice, on behalf of those who reallyare our most vulnerable citizens.”

Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May said the D.A.T.E. Watch is“about humanity, making sure thatevery human being in this county or

even anyone that traverses throughthis county is protected from thishorrific reality that so many peoplehave to live through.”

James said the signing of thememorandum of understanding is just the beginning of the joint effortto end human trafficking in DeKalb.

“We’re going to do some magnifi-cent things together,” he said. “We’regoing to lock up a whole lot of pimpsand traffickers—a whole lot of them.And we’re going to rescue a lot ofgirls.

“It’s time to make it happen,” hesaid. “It’s time to hit the streets. It’stime to rescue these young girls.”

James promised to work to estab-lish a receiving center/safe house for victims in DeKalb County.

“We have entirely too many girlsthat are coming from this county

that are being trafficked,” James said.“You’re asking them to change theirlives…but there’s no place for themto lay their heads in DeKalb County.Fulton has one, but what about theDeKalb girls? We can get a place forthese children to lay their heads untilthey can find more permanent shel-ter.”

From left, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James has spearheaded multidisciplinary task force to attack human trafcking. Photosby Andrew Cauthen

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The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 4A OPINION

Resident comments on corruption report

When our wings have been clipped, literally and figuratively

John Hewitt

[email protected]

Chief Operating Officer

When our wings have beenlipped, it is ofen difficulto do the day-to-day unc-ons that we normally take

or granted. We learn quicklyow difficult lie must be or

hose who are handicapped,emporarily or permanently.

On Oct. 1, I had dual ro-ator cuff surgery combined

with a bone scraping and ten-on repair. My world changed

hat day. Lucky or me, thisituation is hopeully tempo-ary.

I am now in a restrictiveling that totally prohibits any

movement rom the elbow tohe shoulder and I’m not ableo use that part o my arm or3 weeks. Tat means any-hing that requires the use o

my right hand and arm,–byhe way I am right handed–I

an’t do. I’ve had to learn too everything with one handnly and I’ve had to learn too everything with my lefand when my mind tells me

hat my right hand should beompleting the task.

Every move I make, everyask I attempt to complete,

must be assessed in advanceo determine the path o leastesistance. I can’t asten a pair

o trousers, tuck in a shirt, tiemy shoes or scratch most areaso my back.

Something as simple asputting on a pair o socks re-quires additional attention.When we have the use o both

hands we think nothing oputting on socks. When youonly have one hand, you haveto open the sock by insertingall o your fingers into it, placethe sock opening around oneo the outside toes and thenwiggle your oot in while at-tempting to straighten thesock so the heel is in the cor-rect position.

As difficult as it has been

to do, I’ve learned that I haveto ask or help doing even thesimplest o things. Where inthe past I would have con-tinued to try to do anythingbeore asking or help, I’velearned that it’s OK to ask orassistance. I’ve also learnedthat some things aren’t impor-tant enough to bother anotherperson to have things done theway we would like them to bedone.

Te first ew days afersurgery, my wie had to helpme dress; she had to help metake a shower; she had to helpme eat and she had to help meinto and out o a chair. Teentire process has been hum-bling to say the least.

Tus ar, I am keeping upwith my work airly well, eventhough it takes much longer

to do most things. Editingand communicating via e-mailwith one hand hasn’t beensuch a difficult task. How-ever, the thought o writing anopinion piece, which shouldbe at least 350 to 400 words,has been a daunting task; butit has to be done, I gave myword.

As I have begun to betterappreciate the simple things in

lie I’ve also learned to appre-ciate what modern technologymakes available.

Afer several attemptedand ailed efforts to use speechrecognition sofware, I thinkI’ve finally figured it out. Ap-parently, the most difficultpart o the speech recogni-tion sofware is that it doesn’trecognize my southern drawl

very well. A lot o editing isrequired, but it works.

However, even this takestwice the normal amounto time. Afer activating thespeech recognition sofware,you then tell your computerto “open Word”, “create a newdocument”, “begin typing”.You can even tell it to boldaceor italicize words or phrasesand where to insert the appro-priate punctuation marks.

I’ve also realized that theseemingly unlimited possibili-ties that technology affords us,it cannot express the hearteltgratitude we eel or the peoplein our lives who help us intimes o need.

My wie Dorothy has beenamazing. Whether it’s sittingseemingly patiently nearbywhile I shower, just in case Islip and all, or making sure

that whatever I may want orneed is available; she’s done it.

o my coworkers Gale,Jackie, Jenese, Mary Ann,Andrew, Kemesha, Travis,Ashley, Carla, Donna andKathy who have had to changethe way things are normallydone at Te Champion just toaccommodate me thank youor the sacrifices and or yourpatience.

My bosses Carolyn andEarl Glenn have allowed meto work in unconventionalways at unconventional hourswhile trying to recover. I willbe eternally grateul or theirsupport and understanding.

o each o you I want toexpress my sincere gratitudeor being flexible enough toallow me to continue to haveas normal a lie as possible

during a difficult time or all.Tank you or making it pos-sible to continue being activelyinvolved in the process obringing news and entertain-ment to our readers.

It is ofen said that it takesa village to raise a child; I’vecome to realize that it takes aworld o caring individuals orone to recover.

I spoke at the Lou Walker Centerat the town hall meeting hosted bynterim CEO Lee May . I am highly

disappointed that none o my wordsor comments made it to your paper. Iee where Playboy subscriptions wentrom 2.5 million to 800,000, and I see

where the Atlanta Journal Constitu-ion subscription is down and having

another layo. I think there existsa loss o interest on the part o thepublic because they say it’s nothing

o substance in the paper. I think thepaper tends to avoid the hard truthand make the news be what theywant it to be. I urther believe thenewspaper sotens and waters downhe news and I think it’s a relation-hip between the demand or the

newspaper and the contents. Whenirst heard o your newspaper I was

proud o its existence. I think themall newspaper usually do a betterob covering community issues.

I believe that 95 percent o whatwe paid or in Mike Bower’s reporthad already appeared in the AJC andmost o the inormation was peanuts,

with nothing o substance. However,he real corruption in this county haso do with bid kickbacks, bid-rigging,

no-bid contracts, inlated bids andpaying or services that were not pro-

vided.I have tried to put citizens on

notice that there is more involvedin this matter. he government isincredibly slow and it may take iveor more years or the real corruptionissues to come out. here were nu-merous indications o what’s to comehinted in the Burrell Ellis trial. Yes,I know there exists an element outthere trying to neutralize my com-ments; however, you may remember

I talked about contract corruptiongoing back some time.

I saw Hosea Williams start HoseaSpeaks to get out his message. I hopeyou will help me get out my message.None o the olks the grand jury rec-ommended be indicted have cometo trial. We live in an age where win-ning is everything and losing is noth-ing. I am araid the district attorneymay have reservations bringing casesto trial because o being portrayed asa serial loser.

For example, the county spends$200,000 to renovate a house that isworth less than $20,000. How does

this happen? he White communityis making big money while the Blackelected oicials and employees aregetting kickbacks o crumbs. Ourwater bills are inlated because we are

under a $10 billion consent agree-ment to repair and upgrade our wa-ter system in DeKalb County. his isbecause there is money on paper thatwas supposedly spent on our watersystem that was stolen. his has re-sulted in bills being inlated. Somepeople are getting $4,000 to $10,000water bills. I believe this is due to thecorruption. You may notice top level

employees in the water departmentare resigning. hey don’t want to beholding the bag when this mattergoes down.

I think you should cover the com-munity activist irst when it comes tocomments in the newspaper.

Joe Bembry

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 5A

Let Us Know What You Think!

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encour-ages opinions from its readers. Pleasewrite to us and express your views. Lettersshould be brief, typewritten and containthe writer’s name, address and telephonenumber for verification. All letters will beconsidered for publication.

Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P.

O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send emailto [email protected] • FAX To: (404)370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779 . Deadline for newsreleases and advertising: Thursday, one week priorto publication date.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions written by colum-nists and contributing editors do not necessarilyreect the opinions of the editor or publishers. ThePublisher reserves the right to reject or cancel anyadvertisement at any time. The Publisher is notresponsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Publisher: John Hewitt Chief Financial Ocer:Dr. Earl D. GlennManaging Editor:Andrew CauthenProduction Manager:Kemesha Hunt Photographer:Travis HudgonsSta Reporters:Carla Parker, Ashley Oglesby

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F REE P RESS

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PUBLISHERWe sincerely appreciate thediscussion surrounding this and anyissue of interest to DeKalb County.The Champion was founded in 1991expressly to provide a forum fordiscourse for all community residentson all sides of an issue. We have nodesire to make the news only toreport news and opinions to effect

a more educated citizenry that willultimately move our communityforward. We are happy to presentideas for discussion; however,we make every effort to avoidprinting information submitted tous that is known to be false and/orassumptions penned as fact.

OPINION

Coach, it’s time…

Bill Crane

[email protected]

Columnist

ONE MAN’S OPINION

“Winning isn’t everything.But wanting it is,” gol legendArnold Palmer.

Yes, the better known

ersion o that quote, “...It’she only thing,” by ootball

Coach Vince Lombardi, getslot more play most every

ootball season. I am not one those ans who believe in

winning at all costs, or thatwinning is all that matters.But SEC ootball, tailgat-ng and all the traditions

which this includes—amily,riends, ellowship and nos-algia—are a big part o myie each all.

I have seen what a strongUGA ootball program can

chieve and like the majority Bulldog Nation, we simplywant to see that again. Ourivals and riends rom Au-urn, Clemson, Georgia

ech and even the dreadedFlorida Gators have hadmany a championship seasonince. We have won severalEC trophies, the SEC East-rn Division and a ew bigowls since, but the brassing has remained out o oureach, since the year Ronald

Reagan was elected to hisirst term as president. hatounds even worse ater typ-

ng it.But win or lose, long

eore the tenure o CoachMark Richt began in 2001, Ihave remained a loyal UGA

donor each year, primarilyto the Grady College o Jour-nalism, and have remainedactive with many aspects othe institution since my own

graduation in 1984, and thatwill not change.

Like most ans, I stronglywelcomed the new blood andperhaps a more explosiveGeorgia oense, when Flori-da State University’s oensivecoordinator Mark Richt letthen Coach Bobby Bowdento come to Athens and UGAin 2001. In allahassee, Richthad coached two Heismanrophy winning quarter-backs, and been part o twonational championship sea-sons (1993 and 1999). Richt

appeared to know how tolead and win during his timewith one o the winningestcoaches in the game o col-lege ootball.

And ollowing Richt’sarrival there was promise—SEC Championships in 2002and 2005, and season end-

ings which had Georgia inthe op 10 or seven years.But out o 15 seasons, that isbatting less than 500, and inthose less than 500 seasons,the numbers and many othose games were simplymuch, much worse than thataverage sounds.

Most ans don’t expect usto win every game. As coach,Richt is not on the ieldthrowing those passes, oreven in all cases calling theplays, but winning coachesknow how to win, and evenwhen losing, how to keep thegame competitive.

However, to this day, Iwill give Coach Richt hisdue. Academics and class-room perormance actuallymatter within the Georgiaprogram. Minor drug o-enses, breaking curew orbehavioral challenges whichmight garner a wink at otherschools are not tolerated byCoach Richt. Athletes by thehundreds will attest the assis-tance, guidance and supportCoach Richt has providedlong ater they no longer

sport a Georgia ootball jer-sey. Richt knows that ew ohis athletes will ultimatelyhave a successul NFL career,so he attempts to inuse them

with the leadership and lieskills which will help themthrive on most any otherield o play. His aith is un-

questioned. Both his person-al relationship with Christand the manner in whichhe lives and shares that phi-losophy with others are to becontinually admired.

A close riend andyounger raternity brotheris a pilot, who requentlylies private charters on biggame weekends. While haul-ing a successul billionairedeveloper to a recent collegegame weekend, the subject othe Georgia program cameup. With an almost apologyqualiying his remarks thebillionaire said, “I don’t meanto be rude, but I’ve made aton o money on those Bull-dogs. In every big game, Ibet large and against them...and they almost alwayschoke. hat coach has mademe a small ortune.”

Well, I’m glad all thoselosses have been good orsomebody.

Your players love you andmany ans believe that youshould stay, but I can sensea red tide orming and mov-ing, and those are powerul

orces which seldom ebb ontheir own. It’s time, Coach,it’s time. It’s not going outon top, but the way thingsare heading, it would still

be you leaving on your ownterms, and well beore we hitrock bottom. Resignation orretirement certainly sound

and eel better than beingired. Go in peace, sir, intothe sunset and with the windat your back, but please con-sider, and please go.

Bill Crane also servesas a political analyst andcommentator for Channel 2’s

Action News, WSB-AM News/ Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM,as well as a columnist for TheChampion, Champion FreePress and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb nativeand business owner, living inScottdale. You can reach himor comment on a column [email protected].

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LOCAL

Seventy-year-old Deca-ur resident Sandra Harris s a retired educator whotays busy with her volunteer

work.

“I have a ministry andour mission is to help feedhose less fortunate. For

years I have fed the residentst Gateway Center,” an orga-

nization hat helps individualsmove out of homelessness,”Harris said.

The ministry is run alongwith cofounder Sandra Har-mon. “Both of us had beenn catering long before. We

knew how to cook food fromcratch. That’s what they re-

member us the most for atGateway,” Harris said.

Harris recalled that

her ministry prepared 180

pounds of chicken, threecommercial-sized pansof cornbread dressing, 18bunches of collard greens,rice, banana puddings, cakes

and punch.

The ministry, along with volunteers from churchesand social clubs, is now feed-ing people in the Lakewoodarea every fifth Sunday.

Additionally Harris vol-unteers with Georgia Depart-ment of Correction’s MetroTransitional Center whereshe teaches women how tomake greeting cards.

“Many of the womenmay have never had an artclass like this. Some of themhave been in and out of thepenal system,” said Harris,the mother of two daugh-ters and four grandchildren.“This for them is really oneway for them to expressthemselves. They look for-ward to [me] coming.”

Harris also volunteers to

to provide meals at anotherwomen and children’s shelter.She is a member of the Betaphi Beta Sorority and is the vice president and program

chairwoman of the SouthDeKalb Senior Center. Atthe center, Harris also is thechoir director of Voices ofVictory.

She attends St. TimothyEpiscopal Church in Decaturwhere she is president of thechurch’s chapter of Daughtersof the King, a service organi-zation, and sings in the choirat church.

When asked why she volunteers, Harris said, “I’ma Libra and I just like to seebalance and harmony. Ifthere’s something I can do, I

go on and volunteer to do it.

That may sound corny, butthat’s the way it is.”

“I know…it’s very neededand helpful. From a spiritualpoint of view, it’s what God

asks us to do—to feed thosewho are incarcerated or inprison, help feed the needy,clothe the homeless—when-ever you can,” Harris said.“He doesn’t ask much of us—share your blessing with oth-ers …whatever you can give.”

“It’s not all about you,”Harris said. “If you just sharea little, it could help some-body or inspire someone totry a little harder or to holdon a little longer.”

If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthenat [email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.

SANDRA HARRIS

Lithonia teennominated for club’s

metro Youth of the Yearby Andrew [email protected]

Seventeen-year-old Sabrina Arte-mus of Lithonia said an award she isn the running for has inspired her.

Sabrina, a senior at ChambleeCharter High School, is one of 16who will be honored at the annualyouth Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroAtlanta (BGCMA) Youth of the Yeardinner and awards ceremony on Nov.

2. One teen will be named Metro

Atlanta Youth of the Year during thevent.

The Youth of the Year award isBGCMA’s highest honor, recognizingeens from clubs in the metro Atlantarea who are working hard and dem-

onstrating leadership in their schools,lubs and communities.

“I thought I was just a normaleen and being nominated for youth

of the year [has] boosted my confi-dence because it made me feel like Iould be more,” said Sabrina, who has

been a member of the East DeKalbBoys & Girls Club for a decade.

“I love it,” she said about the Boys

nd Girls Club. “They give us a lot ofopportunities. We get to participate inwhole lot of different events and weet opportunities we wouldn’t have

outside the Boys and Girls Club.”

Sabrina recalled that when shewas 10, she didn’t have a computer todo her homework.

“They gave me a free computer,”Sabrina said. “That was really help-ful.”

Sabrina said her favorite Boys andGirls Club program is the Youth ArtConnection “where we can draw pic-tures and they send them to a panelof people” for judging. The pieces se-lected are displayed in an art gallery.

Winning a contest “inspired me

because I want to go into graphic de-sign,” Sabrina said. “That was the firstpicture that I...did for a competition.Being chosen made me feel great.”

Sabrina said she has made manyfriends at the Boys and Girls Club“and the staff there is like an extrafamily. It’s like having a support sys-tem.”

“The Boys and Girls Clubs’ mottois ‘great futures start here,’” said Sa-brina, who wants to double major incomputer science and graphic design.“And that’s not just a motto. The Boysand Girls Clubs give you a lot of op-portunities. I don’t think words can

express how much the Boys and GirlsClub has done for me. It has shapedme as a person. The best thing aboutthe B&G Club is having the supportand the opportunities.” Sabrina Artemus could be named Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro

Atlanta. Photo provided

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AtlantaEast Lake Family YMCA to hold CPR event foryouth

East Lake Family YMCA is holding a first-of-ts-kind Georgia CPR event.

A free to the public compressions-only CPRclass for youth ages 6 to 16 is being held Nov. 7, at11 a.m. and at noon. Children can learn lifesavingCPR without the need for mouth contact.

“Many children in Atlanta and the surround-ng areas are home alone with a parent or grand-

parent and need to be prepared for an emergen-cy,” states an announcement about the event.

“According to the American Heart Asso-ciation (AHA), 70 percent of all cardiac arrestsusually happen at home and 90 percent of theout-of-hospital cardiac arrests victims die be-fore reaching the hospital because those present,ncluding children, didn’t know CPR or how to

properly execute compressions-only CPR,” theannouncement states. “East Lake family YMCAalong with the Junior Heart Squad project wantto reduce those odds by getting Georgia’s childrenemergency-ready.”

The East Lake Family YMCA is located at 275East Lake Blvd. SE, Atlanta. To learn more, visitwww.healthythinkingkids.com.

For more information, call (678) 249-9070 oremail [email protected].

Avondale EstatesCity raises funds for Avondale ElementarySchool

On Oct. 21, at the Avondale Estates Board ofMayor and Commissioners regular work session,CommissionerRandy Beebe presented a checkfor funds raised in the amount of $750 to Avon-dale Elementary School Principal Dr. DontaeAndrews. Beebe conducted a fundraiser for theschool during AutumnFest for the school’s PTAfor school projects and improvements. Beebeenlisted Don Connelly to craft a T-shirt designthat he would sell at the festival. Beebe set up a

booth at AutumnFest and invited elected officialsand commissioner candidates to help out at thebooth. They spent time talking to residents andmaking donations.

ClarkstonCity reschedules council meeting

The Clarkston City Council voted at its Oct.27 special called meeting to reschedule the No- vember council meeting from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5 toallow Clarkston residents and elected officials fullparticipation in the general election. The coun-cil meeting will be held Nov. 5 at the ClarkstonCouncil Room, 3921 Church Street, at 6:30p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Decatur

LifeLine to host Healthy Pets DeKalb

LifeLine Animal Project invites DeKalbCounty pet owners to take advantage of free vac-cinations given by a licensed veterinarian, freespay or neuter vouchers to use at LifeLine’s Spay& Neuter Clinics, free microchipping and freedog and cat food at their Healthy Pets DeKalbevent on Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The eventwill be held at Shoal Creek Park II, 3643 Glen-wood Road in Decatur. No registration is neces-sary for this first-come, first-serve promotion.For more information, email [email protected] or call (678) 883-2FIX (2349).

LithoniaHealth tests and screenings offeredOn Nov. 21, Union Missionary Baptist

Church, located at 2470 Bruce St. in Lithonia,will offer low-cost health tests and screenings toall Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.

This special offer is made possible by UnionMissionary Baptist Church, pastored by Rev. Ed-ward L. Randolph Jr., Life Line Screening andDeKalb Medical Hillandale.

For additional information, call 1 (866) 579-5069 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com.

Lithonia church, senior center to hold

community concertSaint Paul AME Worship Center and the Lou

Walker Senior Center Performing Arts Groupwill present an evening of musical entertainmenttitled “Bridging the Gap in the Community.”

DeKalb County Super District 7 Commis-sioner Stan Watson will be the master of cer-emony.

St. Paul’s Pastor, Dr. Cheviene Jones, will bethe featured vocalist for the evening. The St. PaulMass Choir & Band under the director of Rev.Marc C. Grace and the Sacred Arts Dance Min-istry under the instruction of Toni Butts also willbe highlighted in the evening’s performance.

The evening also will feature the Lou WalkerSenior Center (LWSC) Performing Arts Group.The LWSC Praise Dancers will perform TheBattle Is Not Yours but the Lord’s. Gwendolyn F.Thomas is the producer/director of LWSC Per-forming Arts Group.

An added feature from the LWSC will be The

Smooth Sophisticated Gents, a male line dancegroup. Taliah Hasan is the founder and choreog-rapher of this group.

The event will be Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. atKES Inc., 6615 Tribble Street, Lithonia. Admis-sion and parking are free.

TuckerMetro Atlanta Rotary Clubs to sponsorelectronics recycling day

The Rotary Clubs of Northlake and StoneMountain will host an electronics recycling dayon Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First

Christian Church of Atlanta, 4532 LaVista RoadTucker.The event will benefit Friends of Disabled

Adults and Children (FODAC). Working andnon-working electronics (with the exception ofCRT monitors) will be accepted for recycling atno charge, but participants are encouraged tomake a donation to FODAC.

Working electronics and computers will becollected by FODAC for resale at its Thrift Storeat 4900 Lewis Road in Stone Mountain. Proceedsfrom thrift store sales as well as funds collectedat the event will support FODAC’s mission toprovide home medical equipment, such as wheel-chairs, walkers and shower benches, to those withmobility impairments, at little or no cost to therecipients or their families.

Non-working electronics will be recycledthrough partnerships with FODAC and aggregaterecyclers.

Examples of electronics eligible for recyclingare calculators, fax machines, keyboards, comput-er mouses, working and non-working computers,broadband and other electronics cabling, gamecontrollers, remote controllers, scanners, phones(mobile and landline), PDAs and routers.

For a full list of recyclable electronics, visitwww.fodac.org.

CountywideDeKalb Fire Rescue to provide driver

education

DeKalb County Fire Rescue Departmentpartnered with the University of Georgia to bringP.R.I.D.E.—Parents Reducing Injuries and DriverError—to help DeKalb County parents preparetheir 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds to drive. The free,two-hour P.R.I.D.E. seminar is a standardizedUGA course offered statewide. The course willbe held Nov. 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at theDeKalb County Fire Rescue Headquarters locatedat 1950 West Exchange Place in Tucker. A teenand at least one parent or guardian must registerto attend. To register, call the Public EducationUnit at (678) 406-7491 or email [email protected] and request a registration

form.

AROUNDDEKALB

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LOCAL

by Andrew [email protected]

As often as they can, some seniors at the re-ently opened South DeKalb Senior Center getogether to share their love for singing.

“We’re the Voices of Victory from all walks ofife. We’re retired and we’ve come to the center to

have a good time and share our talents,” said San-dra Harris, the choir’s director, during a recentpractice at the senior center, located on CandlerRoad.

The choir, which has approximately 20 mem-bers, recently performed at the grand openingof the South DeKalb Senior Center. For approxi-mately three years, while waiting for the old centero be torn down and rebuilt, the choir didn’t have

a permanent place to practice. It moved from theold senior center to St. Phillips A. M. E. Churchand then to the Scottdale senior center.

“We’re just glad to be here and share our voic-s,” Harris said.

The choir performs monthly at the senior cen-er’s birthday celebration and has begun to receivenvitations to perform.

“We have about 10 to 12 songs in our rep-rtoire,” Harris said. Those songs include such

Black classics as Do You Know the Man? , Glory,Glory Hallelujah and God has Smiled on Me. SouthDeKalb Senior Center members “might be tired

of hearing them, but they’re just going to have tohear them until we change seasons.

“We’re going to learn some more songs, likecontemporary songs, but it’s OK. [There are] a lotof people out there doing contemporary, so wedon’t mind keeping the tradition and remindingpeople about our heritage which we are proud of,”Harris said.

She said the group is practicing Christmassongs and is “looking forward to Black historymonth. We’re going to do a lot of songs for that.”

Voices of Victory sings everything a capella.“We didn’t always have musical instruments,

so we make music with our voices,” Harris said.“I’m the pitch pipe.”

Joyce Alvis, 77, of Decatur sings alto in thechoir. “I just love singing,” Alvis said. “I sing athome. I sing in the streets. I sing everywhere.”

To those interested in joining the choir, Alvissaid, “Come on. We have a wonderful choir. Andwe have lots of fun and we [do] activities andyou’ll enjoy becoming a part of our choir.”

Harold McGuire, 77, of Lithonia currently isthe only man in the choir.

“I’ve been asking them to get some more men,”said McGuire, whose wife also is in the choir. “Ithink we should have more men.”

McGuire said, “I never really sang in a choir—well, when I was really young, I sang with a choir alittle bit.

“I always sang with groups…and I’ve playedfor different groups,” said McGuire who sang andplayed guitar for several quartets. “I’ve been sing-ing since I was probably 12 or 13 years old.”

McGuire said he did not seek out the choir.“They joined me. They got me. They asked me to join them,” he said.

Glenzie Dunn, 72, has been with the group

less than a month. “I heard them singing and Ms.Harris asked if I could sing and I said, ‘Well, I usedto,”’ Dunn said.

Dunn said she has “really enjoyed being in thegroup. Everything is so nice and inspirational,” shesaid.

Mayreais Honore, originally from Louisiana,also enjoys being in the choir.

“I love singing,” she said. “I just enjoy singing.I sing at home and I might wake up in the morn-ing and start singing a song.”

Seventy-seven-year-oldBuel Allen, a nativeJamaican who lives in Decatur, said being in thechoir is “joyful, very joyful.”

“I love to sing. I love to give God praise,” Allensaid.

And the choir members are “very pleasantpeople—easy to get along with and they’re veryloving,” she added.

“We all cooperate…and that’s why our choir issuccessful,” said Vivienne Holt, 73, of Decatur.

Seniors share songs at center

Harold McGuire, 77, leads a song during a practice of the Voices of Victory of the South DeKalb Senior Center.

Sandra Harris directs the choir during a performance.

The choir performs at the grand opening of the South DeKalb SeniorCenter.

There are approximately 20 members on the choir.

So far the choir has a dozen songs in its repertoire. Photos by AndrewCauthen

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by Andrew [email protected]

A grand jury could notdecide whether to recom-mend an indictment ofhe officer who fatally shot

an unarmed Black man inMarch.In its October present-

ment, the DeKalb Countygrand jury stated that it wasunable to reach a consensus

on recommending indict-ment because there wereontradictions and incon-istencies in the testimonies

presented.”Twenty-seven-year-old

Anthony Hill, an Air Forceveteran from Chamblee,was shot and killed March9 by DeKalb County PoliceOfficer Robert Olsen, who

esponded to a call abouta man acting “deranged,”knocking on apartmentdoors and crawling on theground,” Cedric Alexander,deputy chief operating offi-er for public safety, stated in

a March news conference.The grand jury recom-

mended that “further inves-igation be conducted to aidn the decision to pursue thisase by” DeKalb County Dis-rict Attorney Robert James.

According to the grandury’s recommendation, the

DA’s Office should conducta follow-up interview withhe first officer on the scene

after the shooting, and re-nterview Olsen to “clarify”

his account.In a statement, James

said, “Our office will contin-ue to investigate this officer-involved shooting case andwill make a determination topursue criminal charges or

not.“I am familiar with thefacts and circumstances per-taining to the Anthony Hillcase and have serious con-cerns regarding this matter,”James said.

The grand jury also rec-ommended the evaluationof “the need for additionaltraining for [DeKalb CountyPolice officers] related toapproaching and handlingmentally impaired individu-als. We recommend that 911operators are trained andencouraged to obtain all pos-sible relevant details that canaide the officer in handlingmentally impaired individu-als.”

In another officer-involved shooting, the grand jury recommended that theDA not pursue an indict-ment against the officer.

In that case, Kevin Da- vis, 44, was shot in the chest

by DeKalb County PoliceOfficer J. R. Pitts on Dec. 29,2014, after calling 911 whenhis live-in girlfriend wasstabbed by a friend during anargument in their home onPine Tree Circle. Davis diedat Grady Hospital on Dec.31, 2014, as a result of theshooting.

“We will take the recom-mendation under consider-ation, review the facts andmake a final determinationhow we will proceed,” Jamessaid.

Attorney Mawuli Davis,who represents the KevinDavis family, said the family“is devastated by the newsand they have vowed to con-

Grand jury doesn’t recommend charges for officer-involved deaths

tinue fighting for justice forKevin.

“We will meet and dis-cuss our next steps in thecoming days,” Mawuli Davissaid. “The need for a legisla-tive mandate for body cam-

eras is underscored by thisdecision. The grand jurorswere left to rely on the wordof the officer. Additionally,the officer’s ability to be pres-ent and testify is fundamen-tally unfair.”

Friends and family members of Kevin Davis rally earlier this year for justice in his ofcer-involved shooting death. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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LOCAL

Halloween on Main Streetby Travis [email protected]

Tucker’s Main Streetwas transformed intoa trick-or-treat safe

zone for all to enjoy on Oct.31.

“We wanted to create anopportunity to provide a safeplace for folks to come trick-or-treat,” organizer NancyQarmout said. Sponsored byhe Tucker Farmers Market,he early evening Halloween

gathering had live music TheRockaholics, magic by JiinMichaels, an oversized ro-botic spider, pumpkin paint-ng, games and, of course,andy.

Qarmout, who is overhe Tucker Farmers Marker

and owns the Roly Poly onMain Street, was excited

about the turnout and theupport she received fromhe Main street businesses

and the Tucker precinct ofhe DeKalb County Police

Department. The officerspassed out candy, wore cos-umes and decorated their

police cars.“They have just as much

un as we do, Qarmout said.An event on Main Streets like being on your front

porch. People hang out, meet

heir neighbors and everyones excited to see each other—t creates community.”

Photos by Travis Hudgons

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Photo brought t you by DCTV

DeKalb County begins one-day-a-week sanitation collection service July 6, 2015

Residential customers will have same-day garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collection

For more info, call or visit:

(404) 294-2900

www.rollingforwardtoone.com

WEEKPICTURESIn

Members of Girl Scout Troop 28433 deliver fresh fruits and veggies to food-isolated and limited-ncome seniors in Decatur. Photo provided

nterim DeKalb County CEO Lee May talks to a group of residents in Dunwoody during a recent townhall meeting. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

Faye Edmundson and her dog Sweetie at the disABILITY LINK’s fourth annualdog day. Photo by Ashley Oglesby

8/20/2019 FreePress 11-5-15

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LOCAL

Former mayor to assist art initiativesby Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

After more than 16years of living in what someefer to as DeKalb hidden

reasure, Pine Lake’s formermayor Kathie deNobrigaaid she routinely turns off

her car radio, rolls down thewindows and drives slowlyhome, stopping completely atevery stop sign, listening tofrogs, crickets, cicadas, owls,porch laughter or lawn mow-ers.

DeNobriga was born inAtlanta and raised in King-port, Tenn. She attended

Wake Forest University inWinston-Salem, N.C. fromwhich she holds a master’s

degree in theater and a bach-elor’s degree in speech com-munication and theatre arts.

In 1999 deNobriga de-cided to move to Pine Lakewith her girlfriend Alice Tee-er and in 2002 ran for her

first seat in government as acouncil member.

“I’d been interested for awhile in artistic and creativepeople having more partici-pation in civic affairs,” deNo-briga said.

In her early careers, de-Nobriga worked with severaladult and youth communityheaters and founded a the-

ater in Smithfield, N.C.Since 1997 deNobriga

has served as a consultant,partnering with state, local

and national arts organiza-tions, foundations and smallnonprofit organizations.

She is project managerfor the Arts & DemocracyProject, a national team of

cultural organizers; seniorwriter for the National Per-formance Network in NewOrleans and a member of theconsultant pool at the Geor-gia Center for Nonprofits.

DeNobriga plans tocontinue her work in PineLake as an advocate for thearts and use her backgroundin the nonprofit sector andcommunity theaters to boostsupport for Pine Lake CityArts Inc., a local nonprofit.

“I’ve had a direct experi-ence of seeing how people

making art together couldbind a community and Ialso know that artists havecertain skillsets that are veryimportant in trying to builda city–the imagination, cre-ativity, collaboration, thecommon purpose that drivesa passion, the ability to workon time and under budget,...these are all attributes thatartists have and I know thatthat can really strengthen acommunity.”

Earlier in her careerdeNobriga said she’d heardfrom her colleagues that they

felt “powerless” or didn’thave a say in their politicalprocess… I had really beenencouraging people to getinvolved and then when I

moved to [Pine Lake] I real-ized I had actually moved toa town where I could con-ceivably get elected.”

DeNobriga ran for anunfinished term in March

2002 and again four yearslater.

Within her first term de-Nobriga assisted the city inefforts to dredge the lake andclean Snapfinger Creek.

Although she didn’thave much leadership in theprojects she said it “got meinterested in how our wa-tershed works and that’s anextremely important thingfor Pine Lake because webasically live in a bowl. Weare very keenly aware of theway water flows. A lot of

our ordinances regardingdevelopment [try] to addressmanaging storm water–not just for safety reasons butalso to preserve the health ofthe lake.”

She added, “I got veryinterested in that and it con-tinues to be a real core valuefor the city.”

DeNobriga became anadvocate for incorporatingmore of the arts into thetown life and encouraged thecreation of Eco Arts camp,a six-week summer campfounded by Ella Johannaber

in 2008 that aims to connectchildren with nature and fuelcreativity.

“I felt that a camp wouldcapitalize on two of our core

strengths, which are our at-tention to the environmentand to the many artists thatlive in Pine Lake,” deNobrigasaid.

In 2012 deNobriga be-

came mayor of Pine Lake, acity of 800 residents.

She began working withresidents to expand the city’sLakefest event, change theformat of council meetingsto increase participation,host staff meetings and withthe assistance of other coun-cil members started a quar-terly town hall meeting to getfeedback from residents.

“I tried to have a moretransparent window withwhat the decisions are andwhy we’re making them the

way we are. One of the thingsI’m really proud about iswhen I was elected in 2012we had one person runningfor mayor and two peoplerunning for two council seatsso we basically didn’t haveto have an election. Thisyear we have a total of eightpeople running for four posi-tions.”

She added, “I think thatpeople see more opportuni-ties for themselves in govern-ment.”

DeNobriga said there aremany disadvantages of being

in a small town but one isthat “you can actually makechanges pretty quickly...Itgets our government closerto a grassroots level, which I

think is a really good thing.”DeNobriga said when

she first took office PineLake’s government had gonethrough a period of contro- versy and bad feelings.

“I was very interested inconflict mediation and hadactually did some trainingaround it. I saw that we hadan opportunity to change theway we talked and workedwith each other,” she said.

DeNobriga added, “Oneof the hardest things wasdetermining what rules con-strained government in theway that we act. I was veryfamiliar with the conceptsof public trust and publicstewardship because thatunderlies the nonprofit sec-

tor as well as the governmentsector, but I wasn’t aware ofhow many limits there wereon the actions of governmentparticularly around openmeetings…”

DeNobriga said the big-gest learning curve for herwas “understanding the legalimplications” of the thingsshe said.

“As mayor if I’m seen asthe spokesperson for the citythen anything I say will beinterpreted as an official dec-laration by the city and that’sgotten me in trouble actu-

ally,” she said.She served as an elected

official for 12 years.

‘I felt that a camp would

capitalize on two of our corestrengths which are our

attention to the environment

and to the many artist that

live in Pine Lake.’Kathie deNobriga

Photo by Travis Hudgons

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th champin FRee PRess, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Pag 13A LocAL

Keep your family safe at

FoodSafety.com

DO N’T L ET E.CO LI C R A S H

Y OUR DINNER P A RT Y

Mayors Continued From Page 1A more had no opposition or his seat.

Avondale EstatesBrian Fisher and Adela Yelton will fill two open seats on

the city’s commission afer deeating John Pomberg , odd Pullen, and John Quinn.

BrookhavenCouncil District 1Linley Jones (incumbent), 80.49 percentEve Erdogan, 19.13 percent

Bates Mattison, who works in healthcare inormationtechnology, was unopposed or the District 3 council seat.

ChambleeCouncil District 2Leslie Robson (incumbent),57.08 percentVerle Van Hoozen, 42.78 percent

Council District 2Tomas Hogan II

(incumbent),

64.19 percentClara Azcunes de Ojeda,35.66 percent

Council at-largeDarron Kusman, 64.08 percentDan Zanger, (incumbent), 35.34 percent

ClarkstonFive people ran or three open seats on the Clarkston

City Council. Winning the race were Mario Williams, Awet“Howard” Eyasu, and Beverly H. Burks.

Decatur

In the race or the District 1, Post B city council seat,incumbent Scott S. Drake won with 54.71 percent over Va-lencia Monique Breedlove, 6.62 percent and Eric umperi,38.57 percent.

Commission District 2, Post BJames Johnson, 14.5 percentBrian Smith, 84.55 percent

Commission at-largeony Powers, 86.49 percentJohn Ridley , 13.81 percent

School District 2, Post B seat Tomas DeSimone, 65.65 percentasha Rose White, 33.68 percent

Incumbent Garrett Goebel was unopposed or the City

Schools o Decatur Board o Education District 1, Post Bseat.

DoravilleCouncil District 1Pam Fleming (incumbent),45.76 percent

Julie Newman, 54.24 percent

District 2M. D. Naser, 43.1 percent)im Snyder, 56.9 percent)

Dunwoody City council Post 4erry Nall (incumbent),69.28 percentBecky Springer, 30.4 percent

Tree candidates were unopposed: Pam allmadge, Dis-trict, Post 1; incumbent Lynn Deutsch, at large, Post 5; andincumbent, John Heneghan, at large, Post 6.

LithoniaShameka Reynolds (28.81 percent) and Fred Reynolds

Sr. (42.39 percent) won seats on the council.

Pine LakeTe two open council seats were filled by Megan Ross

Pulsts and onja Holder over Brandy Hall and Duganrodglen.

A special election to fill another council seat will go toa runoff between Jean Bordeaux (49.71 percent) and KrisMorlan Casariego (35.43 percent).

Stone Mountain

City council Post 2Steve Wells (incumbent),

63.75 percentDiana Roe Hollis, 35.83 percent

City council Post 3Charkira Johnson (incumbent), 59.18 percentJudy F. Asher, 40.19 percent

Richard Mailman ran unopposed or his Post 1 city councilseat.

Ethics Board Voters decided 91.29 percent to 8.7 percent to change

how county ethics board members are selected. As a resultto the vote, the seven ethics board members will be appoint-ed by independent organizations.

Staff writer Ashley Oglesby contributed to this story.

Tucker Continued From Page 1A

Assembly April 2. Last-minute negotiations weremade between the state Houseand Senate over a disputedarea in the Livsey Elementary

School area. Te House didnot agree with the alteredmaps approved by the SenateState and Local GovernmentalOperations Committee thatshifed 2,000 residents romucker’s map to LaVista Hills.

A Conerence Commit-tee was ormed, and voted5-1 to return 500 residents,along with a Wal-Mart and aQuikrip to ucker, and 1,500residents remained in LaVistaHills, according to reports.Te committee also removedthe Medlock and Mason Millsneighborhoods rom LaVistaHills’ map.

Te cityhood movement,specifically LaVista Hills, hadaced opposition rom sev-eral groups including DeKalbStrong, who worked to stopthe new cities rom orming.

Auman said once the uck-er reerendum passed, he hadno doubt that voters wouldsupport it.

“We were always confidentthat i we could get to a re-erendum it would pass,” hesaid. “Te trouble was gettingthrough the legislation and

getting the boundaries ironedout. We didn’t take anythingor granted. We’ve been work-ing hard since we passed thelegislature.

“We talked to the commu-nity and we did polling, beorewe ever advocated or a city, tofind out did they want [a city]at all, and i they did what ser-vices do they want.”

Auman said their nextstep is “fleshing out” the city’scharter.

“One o our services isparks and recreation and wehave to figure out what’s thatgoing to look like and who isgoing to do it,” he said. “Tesame with zoning—our zon-ing ordinance is in place theday that we become effectiveas a city. So, someone has toget those ordinances togetherso that they are ready or pas-sage the first time the citycouncil meets. We have a loto nuts and bolts to work toget things done.”

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BUSINESSThe Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 14A

After 30 years, pharmacist calls work rewarding

INCLUSIVENESSDeKalb Chamber of Commerce • Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite, Decatur, GA 30030 • 404.378.8000 • www.dekalbchamber.org

by Kathy Mitchell

The pharmacy business haschanged in some ways during thepast three decades, according to Syl-vester Lee, who recently celebratedhis 30 years in business at a banquetwith family, friends, colleagues andcommunity members. At the heartof it, however, the pharmacy busi-ness is—as it always has been—abouthelping people, he said.

“Pharmacy is a critical link in thehealthcare chain,” he said. “Pharma-cists work with doctors and their pa-ients to assure the best care possible.

Sometimes, for example, a patientwho is seeing more than one doctormay have been given prescriptionshat don’t interact well. I contact the

doctors so the situation can be re-olved. It’s very rewarding, satisfying

work.”After graduating from the Uni-

versity of Georgia’s pharmacy pro-gram in 1978, Lee went to work for achain drugstore. Seven years later, heeft to become an independent phar-

macy owner.“It was a bold move considering

hat I had a wife and two childrenwith a third one on the way. I wasgiving up the certainty of a paycheckand benefits for a lot of unknowns. Itook stepping out on faith, but I am

a man of faith and I know that myfuture is always in God’s hands,” he

said.Lee said that operating his own

business had been his plan from thestart. Growing up in Rockdale Coun-ty, he saw his father, the late WillieMelvin Lee, earn a living operating abarbershop with two partners and hismother, Genoulia Lee, sometimesearn money as a beautician.

“From them, I learned the valuesand skills necessary to operate a suc-cessful business,” he recalled. “Theytaught me that hard work pays off;you have to have a good work ethic.It takes real dedication to make abusiness thrive. You have to havegood people skills as well. Both myparents were friendly people whoknew how to get along with people. Isaw them live their strong Christian values every day.”

An active member of a Decatur

church, Lee said through his busi-ness, Forward West Pharmacy onMartin Luther King Drive in Atlanta,he feels connected to the entiremetropolitan Atlanta area. “I workwith doctors from DeKalb, Gwin-nett, Rockdale, Fulton, Clayton—allover the area. The same is true withpatients. People don’t mind driving alittle bit to get the quality of servicethey want.”

He said his choice of pharmacyas a career came from an aptitude forscience and a desire to help those inneed. “As a child, I was always patch-

ing up wounded animals. I kneweven then that I wanted to do some-thing in the medical field. I was goodin chemistry, biology, physics andother sciences. To be a good pharma-cist, you have to be good at scienceand pay close attention to detail. It’snot an easy field. People who don’tlike taking a lot tests would have ahard time becoming a pharmacist.”

Lee observed that althoughcomputers now do much of thework that was once done by hand,being a pharmacist today requiresas much skill as was required yearsago. “There still is a person operat-ing the computer and that personhas to know what he or she is doing.But technology does make manythings faster and easier. Some of theyoung people who come to workhere can’t believe we once had to use

a typewriter to make medicine bottlelabels.”

One of the first Black studentsto integrate Rockdale County PublicSchools in 1965, Lee said he’s neverbeen afraid to take on a challenge.“The first pharmacy I opened was ina location that had not been success-ful for others who had operated busi-ness there, but I felt I could make itwork and I did. In business, you takerisks. You take risks when you choosea location and when you hire per-sonnel. Sometimes things work outand sometimes they don’t, but when

you believe in what you’re doing youmake it work ultimately.”

During his three decades in thepharmacy business, Lee has seenmany changes. “Keeping up with in-surance coverage is far more complexthan it used to be. One insurancecompany might cover a particulardrug, while another one doesn’t—and it’s always changing. A companymay cover a drug in October and notcover it in November. We work withpatients to find ways to help themget their medications if they’re tooexpensive and not covered by insur-ance. It may mean calling the doctorto see whether he’s willing to pre-scribe a more affordable medication.

“One of the things I love aboutoperating an independent pharmacyis that we know most of the patientsand they know us. It’s a very personal

relationship. You may not find that ina chain drug store,” he added.Lee and his wife, Jacques, have

four children. The youngest, Sted-man Lee, has not only followed inhis father’s footsteps and become apharmacist, but he works with hisfather in his pharmacy. “I kept tellinghim when he was in college that hisschool, Florida A&M, has an excel-lent pharmacy program. He resistedat first, but he finally decided to tryit. Now he loves it.”

amily and friends prepare for a 30th anniversary celebration at Sylvester Lee’s phar-macy.

ee says he especially likes having a personal relationship with customers. From left, Stedman Lee has joined his father, Sylvester Lee, in the pharmacy business.

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EDUCATIONThe Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 16A

Non-traditional school aims to improve student successby Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

Approximately 150 students from

Elizabeth Andrews High School par-icipated in a career week event host-d by the school’s career technology

department Oct. 19 through Oct. 23.This year’s career exposition

brought more than 40 communitybusiness leaders into Elizabeth An-drews’ classrooms.

Each speaker addressed groups of20-25 students.

McCrary said the best thing abouthe event was “we had so many dif-erent speakers from industries andields that many students may not

have ever heard of before.”She added, “To be able to ask di-

ect questions to these speakers andind out about their past—what de-grees they have, what they majored in,what they do on a day-to-day basis–t’s invaluable to the students.”

The school offers a nontraditionalecondary program that provides edu-ational opportunities to high schooltudents who desire to enter college or

join the workforce early.It also offers programs to high

school dropouts and students whoneed to make up courses for gradua-

tion.Department Chairwoman and

Career Technology Educator NatoshaMcCrary said the unique part of theschool’s curriculum, because it is aschool choice, is “[the students] reallywant to be here and we want to opendoors and provide opportunities forthem.”

She added, “We give them careeropportunities and the ability to find jobs and internships. We also helpthem develop skills that they can takeinto the workforce and develop theirabilities to create their own businessesand opportunities.”

McCrary joined the DeKalbCounty school in 2007, and she cur-rently teaches students Photoshop andAdobe Illustrator; she has also taughtweb design and photography.

“They’re getting hands-on skillsthat they can use anywhere,” McCrarysaid.

The career technology program

also offers courses in video produc-tion, fashion marketing and entrepre-neurship.

“The skills that they develop will

take them across any career field. Thetechnical and computer skills: Photo-shop, Illustrator… those can be usedin any career field that they choose togo into,” McCrary said.

She said many of her studentshave used the techniques that they’velearned to work for magazines andstart their own photography busi-nesses.

Elizabeth Andrews’ enrollment isavailable to DeKalb County residents16 years of age who have completedsix units of credit that include threecredits from the content core areassuch as: English, math, science, social

studies and world language.Students enrolled in the schoolalso have the option of participatingin programs at the DeKalb Technol-ogy North program at Cross KeysHigh School, independent studyprojects or community-based ap-prenticeship programs; take CollegeBoard sanctioned AP classes; train

and participate in a peer counselingprograms and take joint enrollmentcollege courses. For students planningto attend college, a college curriculum

is available.The school also provides a high

school mentoring program that focus-es on empowering students to makechoices that lead to academic and per-sonal success.

“We do this career week everyyear so we’re always looking forpeople who are interested in comingin and speaking with students. We arealso trying to develop an internshipand job shadowing program at ourschool,” McCrary said.

At the end of the school year, Mc-Crary said, school officials are alsoplanning to organize a job fair and arecontacting businesses that may be in-terested to hire some of their students.

Those interested in offering job or volunteer opportunities to ElizabethAndrews High School students cancontact McCrary at [email protected].

by Ashley Oglesby

[email protected]

Teen entertainment andvariety talk show The Bridge has served as a gateway formany DeKalb County schoolso get involved with media

production. The show firstbroadcasted in May 2014 andhas increasingly gained lever-age in youth entertainment.

DeKalb School of the ArtsDSA) Senior Joy Jones is one

of the many students involvedn the production.

She helps with selectingcast members for shows–pitches ideas for shows soon,her latest suggestion of agame show will be soon fea-ured on the program–and

writes scripts for segments

“What’s the move,” a part

of the show that focuses onhelping high school studentstransition to college, tradeschool, the military or work-force.

She said of the show,

“There aren’t many restric-tions of creativity or usingyour imagination as a whole.

“It helps me personallybecause I’m not really surewhat I want to do in collegeas far as the media industry,”Jones said.

She said when she’s be-hind the scenes she “watchespeople on set and looks at thecameramen to see how theyuse the cameras and how theymaneuver themselves aroundthe set” as well as identifytheir equipment.”

She added, “It’s good toknow what to do and howto be professional in front ofthe camera and behind thecamera.”

The Bridge targets stu-

dents and young adults ages

13-25 with tips on video gam-ing, how to stay fit, budgetingfinances, fashion and moretopics. The series featuresinterviews of celebrities, com-munity leaders, as well asstudent performers, includingsingers, rappers, spoken wordartists and dancers.

She said outside mediaclasses she’d never had anyhands-on experience withmedia broadcasting until she joined the program.

“The biggest challengeis having to deal with peoplewho might not be as coop-erative or reliable as others.People who might turn intheir scripts late or who mightnot take into account thatyou might want to get things

done early. Usually when that

happens you have to waituntil the last minute and thatbecomes really stressful, shesaid.

“One thing that I’ve reallylearned from [The Bridge] ishow to express my ideas whilestill respecting everyone else’sopinions,” Jones said.

Jones majors in instru-mental music major at DSAand minors in media broad-casting.

She is undecided on a col-lege but said she is in pursuitof a college where she can bewell-rounded.

To learn more about TheBridge visit www.dekalb.k12.ga.us.

Local teen participants in student-run production

Jones

lizabeth Andrews High School’s Career Technology educators Christopher Cave, Natosha McCrary, Renee Allen, Amy Starnes and Yuanette Pleas.

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SPORTSThe Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 17A

Cedar Grove and Tucker set for Trail to the Title rematchFOOTBALL

by Mark Brock

Arematch of the 2014 Trail to

the Title championship gamewas set as the Cedar Grove

Saints and Tucker Tigers won theirsemifinal games Oct. 31 at HallfordStadium.

The undefeated Tigers (8-0)won their 26th game in 27 tries asthey knocked off Miller Grove (6-2)8-0 in the first semifinal game.

Tucker controlled the first halfholding the football for 11 minutesand 20 seconds on its opening driveof the game.

The Tigers overcame three oftheir five penalties on the first driveas they reached the Miller Grove

seven for a first and goal. But, thelast two penalties proved costly bywiping out an 18-yard touchdownrun by Quarius Smith and forcingthem into a fourth and goal at the21.

A pass from Joseph Jackson toIsaiah Dunson went for 16 yardson the play but came up five yardsshort of the touchdown with 4:40 toplay in the first half.

Three plays later, the Tigerdefense came up big as the trio ofRobert McGhee, Sharrod Morley and Dawson Rivers combined totackle a Miller Grove running backin the end zone for a safety with

3:59 left in the first half. The two teams went to the half

with Tucker holding the 2-0 lead. Miller Grove opened the sec-

ond half with its best drive of thegame as a 31-yard run by DannyCarter moved them to the Tucker41. Carter then connected withJames Pray for 18 yards to theTucker 28.

The drive then went bad as apair of illegal procedure penaltiesand a sack by the Tiger defenseforced Miller Grove to turn the ballover on downs.

Dunson set up the final score of

the game with a 30-yard punt returnto the Miller Grove 35 with 3:25 toplay. Dunson would score on a firstand goal play from the 10 with 30seconds remaining to give Tuckeran 8-0 lead.

The Wolverines would throwon the first play following the kick-off and Dunson once again came upwith the big play for the Tigers as heintercepted the pass with 11 secondsto play to seal the victory.

Cedar Grove 20, Stephenson 0The defending champion Cedar

Grove Saints set up the rematch oftheir 20-14 overtime thriller with

Tucker in the 2014 title game witha hard fought 20-0 victory over theStephenson Jaguars (7-1) in thesecond semifinal of the day for their17th consecutive victory.

Cedar Grove (8-0) missed threeopportunities in the f irst half as theJaguar defense stiffened to make

stops. Nicholas Brannon intercept-ed a Cedar Grove pass at the Jaguar14 and Dequandre Moore pickedup a Saints fumble at the Stephen-son seven-yard line to stop a pairof Cedar Grove threats. Holdingpenalties nullified two Saints touch-downs in the first half.

The Saints would get one moreopportunity in the first half with afumble recovery at the Stephenson39. The Jaguar defense would forcethe Saints to turn the ball over ondowns.

The second half opened tosimilar results as Cedar Grove had

a drive stopped at the Jaguar 17 asKamar Wilcoxson intercepted atthe five after another holding callbrought back a touchdown. TheSaints would force a short punt anddrive to the Stephenson one-yardline, but a bad snap at the Stephen-son one was recovered by Stephen-son’s Destin Logan to kill anotherscoring threat.

The second play of Stephenson’spossession Cedar Grove defensivelineman Nazir Stackhouse brokethrough and tackled a Stephensonrunning back in the end zone for a2-0 Cedar Grove lead with 7:44 toplay in the game.

Following the free kick theSaints started at the Jaguars’ 48and Isaiah Ratcliff set up the firsttouchdown of the game with his 30yard run to inside the Jaguars’ five.Two plays later, Alvin Williams would score from one yard out tomake it 8-0 in favor of the Saintswith 5:35 to play.

Ratcliff made a big play on Ste-phenson’s first play following thescore with a fumble recovery at theStephenson 47. He would then getloose for a 32-yard run that set upWilliams’ second touchdown and a14-0 Cedar Grove lead with 3:20 to

play. Joshua Walker would interceptfor the Saints and Earl Graham’s50-yard run set up the final score ofthe game. Graham would connectwith Crispus Conner on a 20-yardtouchdown pass for the final marginof 20-0.

Ratcliff finished with 128 yardsrushing on 14 carries and had twotouchdowns called back on penal-ties.

Cedar Grove (8-0) and Tucker(8-0) meet in the Trail to the Titlechampionship at 10 a.m. on Nov. 7at Hallford Stadium.

DeKalb Schools Athletic Director Horace Dunson presents Cedar Grove Coach Rickey Wrightwith a trophy. Photos by Travis Hudgons

Tucker Coach Jermaine Walker holds up the trophy.

Stephenson’s Javier Morton tries to bringdown Cedar Grove’s Alvin Williams.

Tucker’s Isaiah Dunson stiff arms MillerGrove’s Terrance Edwards.

A Cedar Grove player tackles a Stephenson player.

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SPORTSThe Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Page 18A

St. Pius falls to Buford in volleyball state title match

DeKalb County picks up four region cross country titlesCROSS COUNTRY

VOLLEYBALL

by Mark Brock

Four region cross country titlesand four individual regionchampions reside in DeKalb

County for 2015 as 13 teams advanceo their respective state meets on

Nov. 7 at Carrollton High School.Lakeside swept the Region

2-AAAAAA championships as An-drew Kent ran a 16:03.17 to leadix Vikings’ runners in the Top 10

and an almost perfect score of 18.Rockdale County was second with 41points and Tucker qualified for staten third with 74.

Defending AAAAAA individualtate champion and 2015 DeKalbCounty champ Davis Stockwell wasecond in 16:31.80.

Rockdale County’s Dax Willette prevented the Lakeside sweep of theop five spots in third as Lakeside

would take fourth through seventh towin the title for the second consecu-ive season.

Sophomores Myles Boyd 17:43.91) and Jake Tubesing 17:47.16) were fourth and fifth,espectively, followed by freshmanay Clinton in sixth (17:58.22) andophomore Caleb Cloud (17:58.30)

was seventh to round out the Lake-

ide runners.Tucker junior Ryan Wurapa led

he Tigers’ third-place finish andecond consecutive state qualify-ng finish by finishing 12th in the

individual standings with a time of19:06.22.

Lakeside junior Corrie Smith won the girls’ race with a time of19:28.20 to lead the Lady Vikings toa 15-50 win over Tucker in the girls’championship. Smith also won theDeKalb County title this season.

Smith’s teammate, junior Mor-gan Mihalis, was second in 19:31.07while sophomore Eliana Blam (22:40.85) was fourth and freshmanEmma Hanson was fifth (22:54.44).

Sophomore Kirtina Martinez (23:24.34) was sixth while senior Jen-nifer Guzdial (23:24.67) and sopho-more Rachel Grimes (23:56.12) wereseventh and eighth, respectively, forthe Lady Vikings.

Tucker’s Brea Manual finished inthe Top 10 at ninth (24:56.16) to leadthe Lady Tigers to their second con-secutive state berth.

Region 6-AAAAAThe defending Class 5A state

champions Clarkston Angoras andDunwoody Lady Wildcats repeatedas Region 6-AAAAA boys’ and girls’champions respectively.

Clarkston junior Suheib Mo-hamed (16:20.51) finished 20.47 sec-onds ahead of Druid Hills junior Er-

mais Tewolde to grab the individualboy’s title as six Angoras claimed Top10 finishes. The Angoras are three-time region champs and will maketheir fourth consecutive trip to the

state meet.Junior Bineyam Tumbo

(16:44.74) and senior Paul Nikobiri (17:12.70) were third and fourth,respectively, for Clarkston whilefreshman Ngabo Daniel was seventh(17:33.85). Sophomore Awet Fitwi (17:49.32) was ninth and freshmanRukundo Uwimana (17:55.66) as allthe Top 10 finished in less than 18minutes.

Stephenson senior BrandonHines qualified as an individual forthe state meet with his fifth-placeoverall finish in 17:14.46. Druid hillssophomore Celestin Yacta joinedteammate Tewolde in the Top 10in sixth (17:31.34) and Dunwoodyfreshman Samuel Mahle (17:38.30)was eighth to round out the Top 10.

The Druid Hills Red Devils ad- vanced to their fifth consecutive statemeet with their second-place finish.

Southwest DeKalb senior AshleyMiddlebrooks (21:13.85) claimedthe individual girls’ title, but a trio ofDunwoody runners next to finish asthe Lady Wildcats won their fourthconsecutive region title 23-56 overSouthwest DeKalb.

Junior Julia Echols (21:16.94)lead the Dunwoody trio with hersecond-place finish as sophomore

Chloe Thomas (21:46.80) wasthird and senior Sophia Tarrago (21:47.71) was fourth. SophomoreJulie Hensley (21:55.95) and juniorOlivia Vergura (22:25.09) w

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