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WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 • VOL. 16, NO. 24 • FREE

• A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMM UNICATIONS •

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

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Decatur man makesbaroque oboes at homeby Andrew [email protected]

Since 1974, Decatur resident Harry vasDias has been making baroque oboes fromhis home.

The 89-year-old makes copies of museumnstruments.

“This is a copy of an instrument that wasmade by Thomas Stanesby Sr. in England,”he said, showing one of the many oboes ina room packed with finished oboes, woods,cane and various implements used to makehe instruments. “It would have been made

around 1700 and 1730, maybe.”Vas Dias got started making baroque

oboes after hearing one.

“I was playing first oboe in a professionalorchestra in Birmingham, Ala.,” he said. “Agroup came called Concentus Musicus fromVienna. They were playing on these woodeninstruments.”

The first oboist had an original. “A real baroque oboe can go for $12,000,” vas Diassaid. “Mine only sell for $2,000.”

Vas Dias said he immediately wanted a baroque oboe, but could not find one for sale.He was told to write to a particular Swiss re-corder maker.

“Finally I got an instrument…and it wassupposed to be a copy of an English oboein a collection in Boston,” vas Dias said. “Iwent to Boston and I realized this one I had bought from a guy in Baltimore–it didn’t

Harry vas Dias, of Decatur, has made near-ly 500 baroque style oboes in his homesince 1974. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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Q &A

Q&A with Lee May, DeKalb County’s interim CEOGov. Nathan Deal suspended CEO Burrell Ellis June 16 after he was indicted on multiple felony charges, includingextortion. Ellis is accused of strong-arming county vendors into donating to his political campaign. Shortly after thendictment, Deal appointed DeKalb County District 5 Commissioner Lee May to serve as interim CEO. The Champion spoke with May about some of the recent events in DeKalb County and how he plans to use his new position to move thecounty forward.

Q. Has being the CEO enabledyou and the DeKalb CountyBoard of Commissioners tomplement things that might not

have been possible if Ellis wastill in office?

The ofce of the CEO is avery powerful position in DeKalbCounty, so there are many thingsas a commissioner that we wereworking to accomplish and now inhis role…we really have an op-

portunity to implement the thingswe were working on as commissionmembers].

One of my highest prioritiesight now is the development of the

2014 budget. It’s been one of our biggest areas of contention so thebig work now is to have the boardof commissioners fully engaged inhe development of the budget…

We’ve asked for things like budgetforecasts looking ahead four andve years, which we’ve never got-en before, and we’ve talked about

having an internal auditor.

Q. What are your thoughts on therecent special grand jury present-ment that alleges years of corrup-

ion at the county?I don’t want to get into the de-ails—but many of the recommen-

dations that the grand jury has putforward—I agree with just aboutach and every one of them.

I don’t know how much or howittle time I’ll have but I have the

full authority of the ofce of theCEO and in partnership with theboard.

Q. What would you say to some-one who is thinking about movingo DeKalb County? Why is it a

good place to live?We have weathered the storm

and you can see some of the goodhings that are coming to us. Youan see the good things that the newchool board is doing and you canee the relationship that the board

and the ofce of the CEO nowhave. I think the best years are yeto come and we’re going to work ollaboratively to ensure that we

have the best county around.What we have that will never

hange is the great diversity that wehave in our county. We have greatransportation infrastructure—thenterstates, the highways and thetate roads. We have green space

hat is very abundant in our county.We have the assets of a great coun-y—some of the best hospitals inhe world, universities and colleges,

parks and rec centers. So, we havethe assets here. What we have todo now is to move forward with a

plan that we are establishing as wespeak.

Q. What are some of the thingsyou think need to change in thecounty?

Well, we need to focus on our rst priorities. Our rst priority is toensure a high quality of life to our [residents] above all else. We haveto have a good public safety net-work; we have to have more policeon the street and re rescue person-nel available….

We need to make sure that we’rea competitive county. We’re doingsome specic things right now interms of economic development— creating and developing an eco-nomic strategic plan for the county.We have to beautify our county aswell and make sure we’re cuttingthe rights of way, picking up trash,and making sure that visibly, our county is a place…that people wantto come and call home.

Q. What is the county doing nowas far as job creation goes?

We have had some trying timesrelated to our permitting processwhen a business wants to come andopen up. There [have] been some

fundamental issues with our permit-ting situation and we are actuallyimplementing xes to that rightnow to streamline the process. We

are, as we speak now, nalizing theselection of a professional organiza-tion to help us create an economic

development and strategic plan for the county; we have not had one indecades. So that’s where we’re atright now.

We are creating a new struc-ture for economic development.Historically we have done that allinternally and now we’re lookingto partner with the developmentauthority to create an organizationwith new leadership that is jointlyfunded by the county and the devel-opment authority. So there are somegood things that we are on the cuspof implementing that will make usmore competitive for jobs and for industry.

Q. All the commissioners havespoken a little bit about doingaway with the office of the CEO.That’s something that has beentalked about a long time in thecounty. How can getting rid of the office of the CEO help thecounty?

It’s really about what form of government will best deliver theservices to our 700,000 residents.I personally believe a differentform of government would yielditself best to that end. I believe our current form of government it al-

lows politics to enter into what wedo each and every day too often.I believe that by becoming moreuniformly structured like the other

158 counties in our state, we will beable to better serve the residents of our county.

That’s my personal belief. Thereare still varying opinions of that butI believe what you will see in thecoming weeks is an open dialogueabout what is the best approach toour form of government.

Q. What would you say to resi-dents who have lost their trust inthe county and its government?

I would say to keep your headup. We understand that the county

has experienced some trying timesand I have been just as concernedas I think the everyday [resident]is. I would just ask them to real-ize that DeKalb County is a greatcounty. We have well over 6,000hard-working employees that areworking to make our county a bet-ter place and they have public ser-vants, me and my colleagues, whoare working to strengthen the publictrust in us and in our government.

I would also hope that theywould know that we are also deliv-ering the services that they expectus to. We’re still xing potholes;

we’re still providing clean water,still picking up the trash. We stillhave a robust police force and reand rescue force that is making our county safe.

Q. How do you see the numberof communities looking to incor-porate into cities affecting thecounty down the road?

It’s been a difcult situationfor the county. State law doesn’treally help the county in that situ-ation, nor anyone that’s looking toincorporate. We’re seeking somerelief from the state in that respect,in terms of creating a better process

for how areas are allowed to incorporate. I believe that every com-munity has the right to incorporateif they so choose, but the manner inwhich it’s happening, [has] really been detrimental to the county as awhole.

Each and every time an area isincorporated DeKalb County is leftwith certain xed costs. For exam- ple, pension and health care benetsthat we offer our retirees. Thoseemployees, when they were work-ing, delivered services to those ar-eas. When they incorporate they’reno longer responsible for those

costs. So it’s affecting us to the tuneof millions and millions of dollarsand we’re asking the state to help provide some relief in that area.

DeKalb County Interim CEO Lee May recently spoke with The Champion Newspaper about the struggles the county faces in the coming years.

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One of the nation’s most popular arts & crafts festivals returns for its 45th year

Dunwoody paved more than 19 lane miles of neighborhood streets

Daisy, Daisy, Stone Mountain’s in love with you

Dunwoody city crewspent this summer paving

neighborhood streets andbuilding sidewalks at a re-cord pace, according to cityofcials.

From June to mid-

August, city crews pavedand resurfaced more than

9 lane miles of streets andcity roads and constructed4,000 feet of sidewalks,completing all of the pav-ng prior to the start of thechool year.

Bob Mullen, Dun-woody’s marketing and PR director, said the consistentainy weather this summer

affected planned street pav-ng and sidewalk improve-

ments only slightly.“The city completed

more lane miles in a shorter amount of time than in any

previous year,” he said.Mullen said the city

continues its commitmentto maintain and improveits roads by investing morethan $2 million in pavingthis year, which is more

than 40 percent of the city’s2013 capital budget.

“Since 2009, includingthis year’s investments, thecity has spent more than$6.5 million paving an esti-mated 306 total lane milesof roads in Dunwoody,” hesaid.

Dunwoody has also re- paired 1,100 potholes oncity streets and laid or re- paired more than 4 miles of city sidewalks all within the13.2 total square miles of the city’s boundaries.

“This has been ac-complished in a relatively

short timeframe with notax increases and no needto borrow money,” Mullensaid. “As a comparison, thecity of Atlanta allocated approximately $4 million in2011 on road paving and

resurfacing and it is estimat-ed Atlanta city crews andcontractors annually paveabout 18 miles of the city’sroughly 1,700 lane miles of road.”

Roads to be repavedwere selected based on theresults of the 2009 City-wide Pavement Evaluation,which provided a numeri-cal condition rating for allroads in the city, accordingto Mullen. The analysis wascompleted using a specialtruck equipped with lasersfor crack detection, videoand computer equipment as

well as an accelerometer tomeasure overall roughnessand uctuations in road andstreet levels.

“Later this year the citywill be updating the 2009assessment with a new

citywide pavement survey,assisting in future road andstreet repair prioritizations,”he said.

Dunwoody expects thelatest pavement condi-tion analysis update to becompleted by the end of the year. The city’s paving plans are available for re-view at www.dunwoodyga.gov/Departments/Public_ Works/Paving.

Work also continues onseveral sidewalk projects as part of the city’s sidewalk improvement plan. The cityhas identied more than 21

miles of future sidewalk improvements and 87 futureADA–compliant sidewalk ramps.

“Since 2009, Dunwoodyhas invested nearly $1 mil-lion on completing roughly

5.4 miles of new sidewalk infrastructure, making Dun-woody a safer, healthier,and more enjoyable com-munity for all,” Mullensaid.

For more information onDunwoody’s Sidewalk Im- provement Policy, includingexisting and proposed side-walk maps, please visit theDunwoody Sidewalk Im- provement Plan page on thecity’s website at www.dun-woodyga.gov/Departments/Public_Works/Sidewalk_ Improvement_Program.

Stone Mountain’s YellowDaisy festival is not—as onemight think—a celebrationof the bright yellow ower hat blooms annually in lateummer and can only be

found within 60 miles of Stone Mountain. The ower now called the Confeder-ate Yellow Daisy—thought actually was discovered

approximately 15 years be-fore the Confederate Statesof America came into be-ng—has little to do with the

festival. Now in its 45th year, the

Yellow Daisy Festival isone of America’s largest andmost popular arts and craftsfestivals. What started as anannual garden club picnic

n 1960, ofcially became afestival in 1968 and over theyears grew into the four-dayevent that it is today. Thisyear’s festival is Thursday,Sept. 5-Sunday, Sept. 8.

Now called the YellowDaisy Festival Presented byHumana, this year’s eventwill feature more than 400artists and crafters from 38tates and two countries.

The Stone Mountain Park website describes it as “abig show with a small-townfeel.”

Artists with a wide vari-ety of talents and specialtieseek to be part of the award-

winning event. Some starthe application process as

early as August of the previ-

ous year; booth assignmentsare complete by mid-Marchfor the September event.But being allowed to sellartwork at the Yellow DaisyFestival is not as simple asgetting the paperwork inon time. It’s a juried event,meaning that a panel mustapprove the artist and hisor her work before it can be sold at the festival. Therules require artists to sellonly their own work andthe artist must be on the sitefor all four days. Resale of wholesale items is prohib-ited.

Festival organizers alsocarefully select food ven-dors. Those attending canexpect to nd such typical

festival fare as pizza, funnelcakes, barbecue, corn dogs,ice cream, kettle corn, ham- burgers and more. Festival-goers may bring coolers intothe festival area, but alcoholand glass containers are notallowed. Artists may not sell prepared food though theyare allowed to give awaysamples.

“The mission of recon-necting families and friendswith fun, shopping, live en-tertainment and good foodhas remained constant over the years. Multi-generationsof mothers, daughters andgrandmothers meander thewooded trails together insearch of the perfect item,”according to the park’s

website. In addition to artsand crafts for exhibit andsale, the festival featuresdaily live entertainment,Children’s Corner activities,and crafter demonstrations.There’s also a “Men’s Den,”where husbands weary of

arts and crafts can retreat towatch sports on a big screentelevision.

Though it’s an outdoor festival, the Yellow DaisyFestival continues rain or shine. Its one inside event isa nod to the event’s origins.

The annual Standard Flower Show, presented by the Red- bud District of Garden Clubof Georgia Inc. is now in its42nd year and is held insideMemorial Hall. It, too, isfree once the parking feehas been paid.

DeKalb CountyDepartment of Watershed Management

Public AdvisoryInterstate 85 & Oakcliff Industrial Court Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation

September 5, 2013 October 5, 2013Advisory Issue Date Advisory Close Date

This advisory is issued to inform the public of a receipt of an application for a variance submitted pursuant to a State Environmental Law. The Public is invited to comment during a 30 day period onthe proposed activity. Since the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has no authority to

zone property or determine land use, only those comments addressing environmental issues related toair, water and land protection will be considered in the application review process. Written commentsshould be submitted to: Program Manager, Non Point Source Program, Erosion and SedimentationControl, 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, Georgia 30354.

Type of Permit Application: Variance to encroach within the 25-foot Sate Waters Buffer.Applicable Law: Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act O.C.G.A. 12-7-1 ET seq.Applicable Rules: Erosion and Sedimentation Control Chapter 391-3-7.Basis under which variance shall be considered {391-3-7.05(2) (A-K)}: D

Project Description & Reason for Initiating:The proposed project involves buffer encroachments necessary to rehabilitate an existing gravity sewer line. Three sections within the buffer will involve direct line replacement and will impact 676 linear feet of buffer along an unnamed tributary to North Fork Creek. The project is located near Oakcliff Industrial Court and south to Interstate 85 in DeKalb County.

Project Location:This project is located in land lot 314 and 318 of the 18th district of DeKalb County, beginning at terminus

of Oak Cliff Industrial Court and running south to Interstate 85 and continuing south to the conuence of the North Fork of Peachtree Creek for a total distance of approximately one mile. The Public can review site plans at 1580 Roadhaven Drive Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083. Phone 770-621-7272.

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One Man’s Opinion

“This is a regime that hassomething to hide from the civilized world... States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, aiming to threaten the peace of the world.” — President George W.Bush during his State of the Unionaddress in January 2002, thenlabeling Iraq, Iran and North Koreaatop the short list of rogue nationsof the world of that day.

As it relates to calculatedand limited air strikes against anundetermined target in Syria, I’mwith President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerryon this one. And I was also with President Bush on this issue 11years ago when Obama and Kerrytook the opposing position—and thebad actor was Saddam Hussein,and the country gassing its ownpeople was Iraq. We can spendyears debating any linkage betweenIraq’s state sponsored terrorism,Al Qaeda and 9/11, but thereis no dispute that Saddam usedchemical weapons, long bannedby international treaty, against hisown people, as well as in military

conflicts with Iran and others.Damascus, the capital of

Syria, is the oldest and longestestablished city in the world, full

of antiquities and holy sites of many faiths. In context, Rome wasfounded sometime in 800 B.C. andDamascus around 1720 B.C. Syriaand particularly Damascus and theEuphrates River and surroundingregion are part of the “cradle of civilization” of man.

Since 2011, the country has beenembroiled in a bloody civil war,largely inspired by the Arab SpringRevolutions in Egypt and acrossthe region that year. Since 1970, theSyrian Arab Republic has had onlytwo “elected” leaders, PresidentBahar al-Assad, and his father. Thecurrent population is predominantly

Sunni Muslim, though the ShiaMuslim minority holds most all thethrottles of power. Assad’s familyare Alawite Muslims (a small Shiafaith subset) disproportionatelyholding most positions of power,influence and military leadership inthe country. Syria also has a sizableChristian population, the largestnumber of whom are Palestinianrefugees. And in addition to thisreligious turmoil and unrest, thegovernment of Syria is not evenrecognized by the Arab League of Nations.

President Obama is right, as

is Secretary of State Kerry, thatU.S. national security interestsare threatened, as are those of our

allies in the region, by the presence,deployment and use of chemicalweapons banned since after theFirst World War. Due to the nature

of these chemicals being further dispersed in the atmosphere andacross dessert winds, they pose a particularly keen threat to urban population centers, such as theDamascus suburb where Assad is believed to have killed more than1,300 of his own people, includingmany women and children, usingchemical warheads.

Ignoring such weaponrymisuse and mass loss of life, willmost likely only embolden our enemies if not lay meaningless theinternational treaties. That said,what is there to do? If we bombthe suspect chemical weapons plant

or munitions sites, we run the risk of endangering the domestic andcivilian population that we areseeking to protect. Most of the highvalue targets and population of thisnation are concentrated in cities andalong the Euphrates River.

This president does not need toseek permission of Congress for amilitary response. If he chooses todo that, he should move quickly,and Republicans should not seek tomimic the obstructionist model of many Democrats when PresidentGeorge Bush was seeking similar support for action against Iraq.

Another quote from GeorgeBush during his days as “CowboyPresident,” regarding the actions/

reactions he might take militarilyagainst someone deemed an enemyof the United States—“When I take action, I’m not going to fire a

$2 million missile at a $10 emptytent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.” (9/13/01)

So if the United States choosesto remain super cop to the world,and if our commander in chief canidentify with drone technology,our eyes in the sky or intelligenceon the ground, a high value targetwith potentially low or no civiliancasualties, then stop holding pressconferences about it and fire away.But before you pull that trigger,let’s please also make sure that wedo a lot more damage than hitting acamel in the butt. Secretary Kerryhas already been the butt of more

than a few jokes about the possibleuse of spitballs as a major weaponssystem.

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB- AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for TheChampion, Champion Free Pressand Georgia Trend. Crane is a

DeKalb native and business owner,living in Scottdale. You can reachhim or comment on a column at [email protected].

I’m with President Obama on this one

A The Champion Free Press, Friday, August 30, 2013OPINION

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For the past four-and-a-half years in this space I have shared myopinions, not necessarily humbly,on the issues, events and people of our time in DeKalb, metro and thenational scene. I even won a 2012Georgia Press Association Awardfor Best Editorial. That was a sourceof pride and a highlight of the pastfour years for me a retired broadcastnews journalist getting an award for

writing on the print side.It was immensely appreciated

when you dear readers took theime to write in response to myhoughts with thoughts of your own.

Sometimes we disagreed, but therewere only a few occasions whenome of you were disagreeable.

The ugliest comments over theyears came from people reacting tohe column taking to task former

DeKalb School Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson and giving her afailing progress report.

It was great to know that youwere paying attention and reading

he column. One long-timecommunity advocate wanted toknow when did the “newslady”

become the hatchet lady. Well,wouldn’t you know, we werevindicated because Dr. Atkinson

ended up failing miserably on somany fronts, resigned and left town.The columns that were the most

fun to write were those spotlightingsome worthy DeKalb citizen, our annual “thankful” columns or when each year we listed our greatdads and mothers. We offered our opinion on the political scene,complimented our leaders or offeredconstructive criticism. Sometimesthe columns were to bring to our attention the amazing lives of people who had transitioned fromour physical space but never fromour hearts and minds.

There are few words to thank

publishers Carolyn and Earl Glen for their unwavering love andsupport over the years even beforeI began my weekly rant. Theyepitomize as a couple what trueservant leadership means. Theyhave sponsored and supported somuch in the DeKalb communityfrom our police, to the preservationof our history in DeKalb alongwith saluting special communityservants.

They have connected the dotsfor so many in the DeKalb andmetro communities. The incrediblemission work they are doing in

Jamaica for children who have far less than the things our childrentake for granted is so very special.

Another highlight of my time withThe Champion was going with theGlenns to teach communication

skills to elementary and highschool students through their Unconditional Love Foundation.The children live in a mountain areaof Jamaica outside Montego Babywhere tourists rarely if ever see.Carolyn and Earl Glenn, God has aspecial place in heaven with your names on it.

General Manager John Hewitt and managing Editor KathyMitchell have been Godsends.Congenial John, who runs The Champion ship with an efficient,firm, friendly and steady hand, ismy brother by another mother. He isalways supportive of staff, but also

has the ability of kindly taking thoseof us who need it to the woodshed.Kathy is a dear sister and carriesout her role as editor with aplomb.She fact-checked me and kept meon my toes. Little known fact is shehas few rivals in the chocolate cakedepartment.

Bill Crane, my other brother by another mother, has been afriend in so many ways and is assmart, decent and compassionateas anyone you will ever meet. Hehas few rivals when it comes tohaving his pulse on the politicalscene. His columns, found on the

page opposite mine, evidencedthe ink in his blood and always put things in a rather centrist

perspective. We often agreed,despite my being labeled a liberaland he a conservative. Actually we

most often found middle ground.Finally, a big thank you to all theChampion staff from Mary Ann to Travis, Jenese to Andrew andeveryone who makes up that stellar Champion family.

I leave this space to do whatI’ve attempted to do my entireadult life and that is serve— through education, legislationand sometimes agitation. Withthis space I hope I have educated,enlightened, encouraged. It is with acolossal leap of faith I offer myself in service. When I get to my ninthinning, I want to slide into home plate with one shoe off and the

other on with a broken heel, suitdusty and tattered, pearl necklace broken, hair standing on end with ahuge smile on my face having usedup everything I was given for thehome team, as the Big Ump cries“SAFE!”

Steen Miles, The Newslady, is aretired journalist and former Geor- gia state senator. Contact Steen Miles at [email protected].

Let Us Know What You Think!

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinionsfrom its readers. Please write to us and express your views. Letters should be brief, typewritten and containthe writer’s name, address and telephone number for verification. All letters will be considered for publication.

Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347,Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send E-Mail to [email protected] To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior topublication date.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contributing edi-tors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or publishers.ThePublisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at anytime. The Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Publisher: John Hewitt

Chief Financial Officer Dr. Earl D. Glenn

Managing Editor: Kathy Mitchell

News Editor: Andrew Cauthen

Production Manager: Kemesha HuntGraphic Designer: Travis Hudgons

The Champion Free Press is published each

Friday by ACE III Communications, Inc.,

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

Phone (404) 373-7779.

www.championnewspaper.com

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FREEPRESS

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER

We sincerely appreciate the discussion surrounding this and anyissue of interest to DeKalb County. The Champion was founded in1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse for all communityresidents onall sides of an issue. We have no desire to make thenews only to report news and opinions to effect a more educatedcitizenry that will ultimately move our community forward. We arehappy to present ideas for discussion; however, wemake everyeffort toavoid printing information submitted to usthat is known tobe false and/orassumptions penned as fact.

New horizons

The Newslady

Printed on 100%post-consumer recycled paper

The Champion Free Press, Friday, August 30, 2013 AOPINION

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Champions of the Week

If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a

future Champion of the Week, please contact Kathy Mitchell at

[email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 104.

City of Decaturconsidering communitytransportation overhaul

Boy Scout Troop 134

Since the Decatur Book Festival beganin 2006, Decatur Boy Scout Troop 134leader John Ehrensperger said the troophas been volunteering at the festival,helping vendors and city workers breakdown on the last day.

“I think one of the mothers of the boysin the scouts was active with the festivaland we kind of got pointed to it and it’ssort of become one of the things that wedo every year,” Ehrensperger said.

Each year, Ehrensperger said, thetroop has several volunteer projectsthat have become a tradition, such asthe book festival and volunteering eachChristmas season at the Peachtree PinesHomeless Shelter.

At the homeless shelter, Ehrensperger said, the scouts feed the homeless din-ner. Additionally, the troop also volunteerscleaning up Lake Altoona.

Many members of the troop are Deca-tur residents; Ehrensperger said it is oneof the oldest Boy Scout troops in the At-lanta area. Since it was founded in 1927,

the troop has met at Decatur First BaptistChurch. The 22 registered scouts in troop134 range from grades six through 12.

“We’re just proud to be a part of thecommunity and able to give back,” Eh-rensperger said.

Ehrensperger, who lives in Decatur,said both of his sons went through thegroup and service is one of the importantthings that the Boy Scouts emphasize. Infact, it’s in their motto: “Do a good deeddaily.”

“This is one of the ways of living thatout,” Ehrensperger said.

In addition to being “helpful” scouts arerequired to follow 11 other rules, includingbeing trustworthy, loyal, kind and brave.

Ehrensperger said volunteering is impor-tant because it helps the scouts focus onthose principles.

“Service is one of the things we try toemphasize with the troop,” Ehrensperger said. “It’s good for the boys to get into thehabit of giving back to the community andit’s good to get started at a young age.”

by Daniel [email protected]

The city of Decatur isknown for its diverse res-aurants, pedestrian-friendlytreets and environmentally

conscious planning. Now, itmay become the rst city inGeorgia to have a commu-nity transportation plan.

David Junger, assistantcity manager for the depart-ment of public works, saidhe has received requestsfrom numerous residents

asking for trafc calmingmeasures.

Junger, who has been

a Decatur resident for 23years, began working for the city as a police ofcer in 1990. Since then, Junger said, he’s seen a lot of changes.

“I’ve been working withresidents for years trying toreduce the speed of SouthCandler Road,” Junger said.

According to a presenta-tion on the city’s website,the current speed limits in

See Transportation on Page 8A

Decatur has proposed a community-wide transportation overhaul unlikeny other currently in Georgia. Photo by Daniel Beauregard

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ATLANTA

Church to hold ‘Kids on aMission’ event

Shallowford Presbyterian Churchwill sponsor “Kids on a Mission”Friday, Sept. 13, 6-9 p.m. Thechurch describes this program for youngsters kindergarten throughfth grade as “a creative learningevening event where kids enjoyhree hours playing and workingogether to practice serving God byerving others.”

Registration is $10 and is re-quired by Sept. 11. Each participanthould bring a sack dinner. The

event will be in the church’s Heri-age Hall, 2375 Shallowford Road,

Atlanta. To register or for more in-formation, visit www.shallowford.org or call (404) 321-1844.

Fall planting class announced

A gardening class for beginners,Fall Is for Planting, will be held atPike Nurseries on LaVista Road,Saturday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m.

Gardening experts will walk guests through the process of electing, adding and caring for he best plant options for autumn

gardens. The class will offer advice

for the fall planting season and helpparticipants get the most out of their gardens.

Whether participants arerst-time gardeners or just needa refresher course, this class isdesigned to help them have a moreuccessful garden. The event is free.

The location is Pike Nurseries,2101 LaVista Road, Atlanta.

Dance historian to open lectures

The Emory Dance Program presentshe rst lecture in the 2013-2014

Friends of Dance Lecture Series “ACentury of Rites: The Making of anAvant-Garde Tradition,” on Tues-day, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in theOxford Road Presentation Room onEmory’s campus.

In this talk, dance historian andcritic Lynn Garafola will discussThe Rite of Spring choreographedby Vaslav Nijinsky with music bygor Stravinsky.

In anticipation of this lecture,he Emory Dance Program presents

“Know your Rites: an evening of video viewings” on Tuesday, Sept.0, at 7:30 p.m. in the Oxford Road

Building Presentation Room. Theevening will include a screening of

he original choreography and PinaBausch’s version of The Rite of Spring .

This program is free and open tohe public and is made possible by

the Friends of Dance at Emory. For more information about this event,visit www.dance.emory.edu.

BROOKHAVEN

City to host food trucks in park

The city is celebrating takingover management of city parkswith a series of food truck events atBlackburn Park.

The rst was the BrookhavenFood Truck Roundup. Food truck events will be weekly on Wednesdayevenings at Blackburn until the endof October.

Each week, the event will featurea variety of dinner and dessertvendors, as well as music andchildren’s entertainment. Limitedseating will be provided. Attendeesare encouraged to bring picnic

blankets or lawn chairs.For more information, follow

the city on social media: Facebook/BrookhavenGaGov and @BrookhavenGaGov on Twitter. Email

[email protected] withany questions or concerns about thefood trucks or call (404) 637-0500.

City assumes park maintenance

On Aug. 27, the Brookhaven CityCouncil authorized the city manager to enter into an emergency contractfor a vendor to maintain the city’s 11

parks for the rest of 2013. On Sept.3, the city will assume control fromDeKalb County of 11 parks withinthe city limits. This is two monthsearlier than initially planned.

The emergency contract ensuresthat crews will begin mowing grass,cleaning bathrooms, handling trashand providing continued upkeep tothe parks starting on the morning of Sept. 3 immediately upon takeover from the county. The city is nowreviewing quotes from severalvendors, but plans to nalize the

details by the end of the week.“Brookhaven residents valuetheir parks. This will ensure that thecity operates safe, clean and wellmaintained parks,” City Manager Marie L. Garrett said.

In late fall, the city will issuea request for proposals for a park maintenance contract for 2014.

The city manager is nowinterviewing the top ve candidatesfor a parks and recreation director.Brookhaven launched a nationwidesearch for a parks director in earlyAugust and has since received morethan 60 applications for the position.

The city’s public works

department is in the process of conducting an assessment of all parks, including the condition of all parks, recreational buildings,

playgrounds and other equipment.

Brookhaven will then prioritizeupgrades based on need and budget.

City releases interactive mapapplication

Brookhaven residents and businesses will now have accessto an interactive city map programonline.

The Brookhaven GIS WebAppallows users to view city boundariesand districts, look up zoningand parcel numbers, and search

properties by owner and housenumber.

Making this information easilyaccessible to the public will bevaluable for prospective businessesconsidering Brookhaven, as well as

residents who want to learn aboutnew construction or zoning changesin their neighborhoods, city ofcialssaid.

Neighboring cities, includingDecatur and Dunwoody, have alsoimplemented map programs similar to Brookhaven’s GIS WebApp to

provide information about city limitsand land use.

“This map is special in that ithouses all land use information thatis specic to Brookhaven,” saidMike Edelson, Brookhaven’s GISanalyst.

Edelson plans to hostadditional sessions for communityorganizations in the future.

To access the BrookhavenGIS WebApp, please visit http://

brookhavenga.gov/map.html.

CHAMBLEE

Library to host lawn carepresentation

Lynn Blackmon of the DeKalbCooperative Extension Ofce willgive a presentation titled Fall LawnCare at the Embry Hills Library Tuesday, Sept. 10, 7-8 p.m. “Do

you have warm season or coolseason turf? What height shouldyou set your mower to mow your turf? Come and learn the answersto these questions and many more,”states an announcement fromthe library. Call or visit branchto register. Embry Hills Libraryis located at 3733 Chamblee-Tucker Road, Chamblee. For moreinformation, call (770) 270-8230.

DECATUR

Authors to discuss their newestnovels

Authors Ann Hite and KarenSpears Zacharias will be at theDecatur Library Sunday, Sept. 8,at 5 p.m. Hite, whose Ghost On

Black Mountain was nominated for the Townsend Prize for Fiction andwon the Georgia Author of the Year

Award, is featured with GeorgiaCenter for the Book alumnusZacharias.

Hite’s latest novel is TheStorycatcher and Zacharias’ is Mother of Rain. “Both novelsfeature protagonists who possessgifts that defy explanation. Bothstories are richly detailed anddriven by characters so well drawnthat readers can easily see themwalking down a dusty, red clay pathin the Georgia hills,” according toan announcement from the library.The Decatur Library is located at215 Sycamore Street, Decatur. For

more information, call (404) 370-3070.

League of Women Voters to meet

The League of Women Votersof DeKalb County will hold itsannual meeting Saturday, Sept. 14,10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the MarriottDowntown Decatur in the AvondaleRoom. DeKalb County PoliceChief Cedric L. Alexander, will be the special guest speaker. Cost toattend is $27. Checks are payable to“LWV DeKalb County” and should be mailed to the P.O. Box 3640,Decatur, GA 30032. The Marriott

Downtown Decatur is located at 130Clairmont Road.

DUNWOODY

Center to host BBQ in the Hut

Marcus Jewish CommunityCenter of Atlanta is inviting thecommunity to celebrate the holidayof Sukkot with pit-smoked barbecueand live bluegrass music Tuesday,Sept. 24, 5- 7 p.m. Those attendingcan eat outside in the courtyard andMJCCA Sukkah while enjoying

music featuring The Cedar HillBluegrass Band. Barbecue and other menu items, including a vegetarianselection, will be available for purchase from Goodfriend’s GlattSmokehouse.

The program will include craftsfor children and other fun activities.The holiday celebration is for theentire family. It is open to all andwill be held rain or shine. MJCCAat Zaban Park is located at 5342 Til-ly Mill Road, Dunwoody. For moreinformation, contact Rabbi Glus-man at [email protected] or (678) 812-4161.

AROUNDDEKALB

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fday, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 8AloCAl news

See Briefs on Page 10A

Transportation Continued From Page 6A

Decatur range from 15-40mph and neighborhoodswith similar demographicsand usage don’t always haveconsistent speed limits. Ad-ditionally, there are severalstreets that have no postedspeed limits.

Junger said the new planwill enable city ofcials totake a look at these issuesand provide a more compre-hensive plan that will suitthe community better.

The presentation, whichwas posted on Decatur’swebsite to solicit publicinput, said that a “compre-hensive speed limit strat-egy, combined with trafcenforcement and calmingefforts is expected to reducethe number of accidents.”

City ofcials stated that traf-c accidents are most com-mon in areas with a speedlimit of 35 mph or higher.

Lena Stevens, resourceconservation coordinator for Decatur, said the city began looking more closelyat changing the speed limitin January, after the GeorgiaDepartment of Transporta-tion (GDOT) adopted a“complete streets” policy.The policy is designed toincorporate bicycle, pedes-trian, and transit accommo-dations into transportationinfrastructure projects toimprove mobility, access,and safety for the traveling public.

The city has developed a proposal to change all of itsexisting speed limits to 25mph unless otherwise noted.Stevens said that if the plan

passes Decatur will be therst city in Georgia to un-dergo a transportation over-haul focused specically ona small community.

Decatur has approxi-mately 5,000 residents per square-mile and the cityis 4.2 square miles in itsentirety. Stevens said sincemany of Decatur’s facilitiesand points of interest arespread throughout, the com-munity has become a verywalkable city.

Additionally, Decatur established a Safe Routesto School program in 2005that has encouraged parentsand students to walk or ride bikes to and from schooleach day and promote ahealthy lifestyle. The city

was also recently awardedBronze level certicationin the Bike Friendly Com-munities Program and Silver level certication in theWalk Friendly Communities program.

“Decatur is 85 percentresidential so there are justa lot of reasons that wouldmake Decatur an amazinglab for an idea like this,”Stevens said.

The city is soliciting pub-lic input until Sept. 30, after which it will revise the planand eventually present it tothe city commission. If thecommission passes a resolu-tion, the plan will must also be approved by GDOT.

For more informationvisit Decatur’s website atwww.decaturga.com.

Johnson appointed as interim budgetchair

DeKalb County District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson has been appointed to serve

as interim chairman of the Board of Com-missioner’s nance, audit & budget commit-ee. The committee was previously chaired

by Commissioner Lee May, who is currentlyerving as interim CEO.

“We have a number of priorities that weare working on and we, as a collective boardand the CEO’s Ofce, will begin working onhe budget for 2014,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who has served on the Board of Commissioners for 11 years has chaired anumber of committees and currently servesas the chairman of the planning and eco-nomic development committee and servedas chairman of the budget committee from2005-2007.

“I am looking forward to working on thebudget and working with the commission-rs on the committee and the staff as we

work toward a balanced budget for 2014.During these straitened economic times our mployees have done more with less andhey should be commended for the work they

have done,” Johnson added.

nterim chief nancial ofcerappointed

DeKalb County Interim CEO Lee May has appointed Gwen Brown-Patterson asnterim chief nancial ofcer effective imme-

diately.“Gwen Brown-Patterson knows DeKalb’s

nances inside and out,” May said. “Sheworks tirelessly with the Board of Commis-ioners to address their concerns, and bringstability to this vital function of county gov-rnment.”

Brown-Patterson will serve in an interimapacity until a national search for a perma-

nent replacement can be conducted.Brown-Patterson is a 29-year veteran of

he budget and grants division of the DeKalbCounty Finance Department and a third-generation native Atlantan. Throughout theourse of her career she has held several

management positions, including budgetand management analyst, senior budget andmanagement analyst, principal budget and

management analyst, nancial managementanalyst, budget manager, and deputy director of nance-budget and grants.

Brown-Patterson assumes the manage-ment of DeKalb County’s overall budgetotaling $1.75 billion and the supervision of

a 10-member staff. She will advise the CEO,hief operating ofcer, county department

heads, elected and appointed ofcials aboutbudget operations, scal policies, and relatedssues as needed.

Brown-Patterson earned her bachelor’sdegree magna cum laude from SpelmanCollege and her master’s degree of publicadministration from Georgia State Universityn 1981.

“With her depth of knowledge and experi-nce, I am excited that Gwen Brown-Patter-on has accepted this critical assignment,”

May said.

County accelerates commercialpermitting process

DeKalb County residents trying to start a

home-based business can now submit their business license application and requireddocuments to the county, receive an over-the-counter review, and leave with a businesslicense the same day.

This new process eliminates repeat tripsto county ofces and weeks of waiting to geta license.

For businesses moving into an existing of-ce or retail space of less than 3,000 squarefeet where there are no changes to the space,DeKalb County is now offering a “move-inas is” afdavit. This is in lieu of the businessowner submitting professionally prepared plans.

County ofcials says this enhancementwill save proprietors hundreds, if not thou-sands, of dollars, while reducing the timefrom application submission to businessopening down to seven to 10 days.

Local ofcial earns professionalcertication

Two DeKalb County workers recentlyearned their Local Finance Ofcer Certica-tion in the second quarter of 2013 throughthe Carl Vinson Institute of Government’snancial management training program.

Deshima Rodgers and Jessica Hudsonwere recognized with Level I certication for pursuing professional development in gov-ernmental nance, accounting, budgeting and

more.Level I certication requires nance of-

cers to participate in 108 hours of instructionabout the intricacies of government budget-ing, purchasing, accounting and other publicnance topics. Level II certied nancialofcers receive an additional 84 hours of instruction in intermediate governmental ac-counting and budgeting principles, internalcontrols, and revenue administration as wellas public nance electives.

Thirty-nine local ofcials from around thestate earned their Level I or Level II LocalFinance Ofcer Certication in the secondquarter.

“These community leaders strengthened

the skills they need to maintain sound ac-counting practices and build strong nancialfoundations for their governments,” saidTracy Arner, the institute’s nancial man-agement training program manager.

Upcoming court cases, hearing inDeKalb County

DeKalb County Judge Gregory Adamshas granted a motion for a Nov. 6, 1:30 p.m.

bond hearing led by attorneys of AndreaSneiderman.

Sneiderman was recently sentenced tospend ve years in prison for lying under oath and hindering the investigation into her

husband’s 2010 shooting death. Her former boss Hemy Neuman was found guilty of killing Rusty Sneiderman and is serving lifein prison without the possibility of parole.

NEWS BRIEFS

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013



by Carla Parker [email protected]

Hundreds of Lakeside areaesidents attended an Aug.

26 community meeting to getan update on the status of theLakeside cityhood efforts,

according to Lakeside CityAlliance chairwoman MaryKay Woodworth.

“This was probably our fth largest meeting,” sheaid. “Many of them had not

been to a meeting. They’veust heard a little bit about

Lakeside Alliance.”The newly interest in the

Lakeside cityhood couldbe contributed to the recentnews about the special grandury report that was released

Aug. 21 and depicts wide-pread corruption by high-

anking county ofcials,ncluding former DeKalbCounty CEO Burell Ellis and Vernon Jones and their administrations, and multiple

county departments.Woodworth said she be-

lieves the allegations aboutthe former CEOs and their administrations have contin-ued to heighten the percep-tion of residents “that some-thing isn’t right” within the

county government.“What we as residents can

do to change our communityto make it stronger and bet-ter is have more local controland local services,” she said.“The headlines are disturbing

See Cityhood on Page 14A

DeKalb County’s unemployment rate continues to improveby Daniel [email protected]

DeKalb County’s un-employment rate is show-ng signs of improvement,

according to new statisticseleased by the Georgia De-

partment of Labor (GDOL)

August 23.The most current GDOLdata illustrates a slow butteady growth in DeKalb

County’s job market. Inuly 2013, the unemploy-

ment rate dropped to 8.9percent, with approximately33,263 unemployed resi-dents compared to 35,714unemployed residents inuly 2012.

Since 2010, the county’sunemployment rate hasbeen slowly declining, drop-ping from 10.6 percent. In2010, the county’s estimated

workforce was 374,999.This year, it’s estimated

that there is a workforceof 374,116 residents in thecounty, with 340,853 of those residents employed.

Last month, the number of unemployment insuranceclaims also decreased from3,543 in July 2012 to 3,194.Additionally, the claims

rose 4.7 percent between themonths of June-July 2013, but have dropped 9.9 per-cent over the entire year sofar.

Some of the growth in-dustries in DeKalb Countyare transportation, educa-tion and health services,technology and government.Although these numbersare the most accurate employment data in the stateavailable, a spokesman for GDOL said there is always amargin of error.

“It is difcult to specu-

late an exact number of unemployed because the

numbers reported are resi-dential numbers and theresident may not work inthe county,” an ofcial for GDOL said.

Interim CEO Lee Maysaid the county has hadsome trouble attracting busi-nesses in the past because of

its permitting process.“There [have] been somefundamental issues withour permitting situation andwe are actually implement-ing xes to that right nowto streamline the process,”May said.

Additionally, May saidthe county commissionersand ofce of the CEO arein the process of selectinga professional organizationto establish an economicdevelopment strategic plan,something May said has not been done in “decades.”

May said he and his col-leagues are trying to create a

new structure for economicdevelopment in the county by teaming with the eco-nomic development author-ity.

“Historically we havedone that all internally andnow we’re looking to part-ner with the development

authority to create an orga-nization with new leadershipthat is jointly funded by thecounty and the developmentauthority. So there are somegood things that we areon the cusp of implement-ing that will make us morecompetitive for jobs and for industry,” May said.

In addressing unemployment concerns BurkeBrennan, a spokesman for DeKalb County, said thecounty takes a two-tieredapproach to job creation anddevelopment.

“The Ofce of EconomicDevelopment recruits busi-

nesses to the county tocreate capital investment jobs and the WorkforceDevelopment Departmenttrains workers for various positions where there is de-mand,” Brennan said.

Brennan said nearly 90 percent of businesses in

DeKalb are small businessesand part of the initiative isto spur development con-tracts between them and thecounty.

Statewide unemploy-ment rate rose to 8.8 percentin July from 8.5 percent inJune. The rate was 9.1 per-cent a year ago.

Estate Sale

Treasure Chest Estate Sales Specialist. ESTATE Sale of Captain H. John Steffes,

4782 Olde Village Lane, Dunwoody,

GA 30338. Thur., Fri., Sat., Sept. 5‐7; 9

am‐

5

pm. Go

to

estatesales.net

to

see

pictures. Contact email:

[email protected], cell (770) 846 8173.

STONE MOUNTAIN

VILLAGE

CITY-WIDE YARD SALE922 Main St. (behind Gazebo)

Saturday, Sept. 7

8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Setup begins 7:30 a.m.on day of sale

For info call City Hall

770-498-8984

Cityhood interest heightenedafter CEO allegations

Date Labor Force Employed UnemployedUnemployment

insurance claimsUnemployment rate

July 2013 374,116 340,853 33,263 3,194 8.9

June 2013 373,109 338,713 34,396 3,051 9.2

July 2012 370,827 335,113 35,714 3,543 9.6

DeKalb County Unemployment Data*

* Source: Georgia Department of Labor

DeKalb CountyDepartment of Watershed Management

Public AdvisorySNAPFINGER WOODS SANITARY SEWER ACCESS ROADS

September 5, 2013 October 5, 2013Advisory Issue Date Advisory Close Date

This advisory is issued to inform the public of a receipt of an application for a variance submitted pursuant to a State Environmental Law. The Public is invited to comment during a 30 day period on the proposed activity. Since the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has no authority to zone property or determine land use, only those comments addressing environmental issues related to air,water and land protection will be considered in the application review process. Written comments should be submitted to: Program Manager, Non Point Source Program, Erosion and Sedimentation Control,4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, Georgia 30354.

Type of Permit Application: Variance to encroach within the 25-foot Sate Waters Buffer.Applicable Law: Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act O.C.G.A. 12-7-1 ET seq.Applicable Rules: Erosion and Sedimentation Control Chapter 391-3-7.Basis under which variance shall be considered {391-3-7.05(2) (A-K)}: A

Project Location:The proposed project involves buffer encroachments necessary to improve existing sanitary sewer maintenance access roads and associated stream crossings. Articulated concrete block mats will beinstalled to improve ve existing dirt road stream crossings. The project is located near Snapnger Woods Drive in DeKalb County and will impact 184 linear feet of buffer along Snapnger Creek andunnamed tributaries to Snapnger Creek.

Project Description:The proposed site conditions will include the installation of 16ft heavy duty gravel road inside of a 20’ proposed access easement. The surrounding site conditions will not be altered from the existing. Alldisturbed non-roadway areas and landscaping will be replaced in kind. Abandoned drives will be planted

with approved materials and converted to wetland mitigation areas. County and state buffer encroachmentswill be required for sanitary sewer maintenance road access in order to gain access to different parts of the property that contain the overall sewer main. The Public can review site plans at 1580 Roadhaven DriveStone Mountain, Georgia 30083. Phone 770-621-7272.

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013



Sanitation union in DeKalbCounty becoming more likely

Briefs Continued From Page 8A

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by Daniel [email protected]

DeKalb County Commis-ioner Stan Watson recent-y introduced an item during

a Board of Commissionersmeeting that paves the wayfor sanitation workers toeventually unionize.

Ben Speight, organizingdirector for the Teamster

Local 728, said that sanita-ion workers in DeKalb

County have been asking tobe recognized as a union for decades.

“DeKalb sanitationworkers have been trying toorganize a union for, as far as we can tell, 40 years or more,” Speight said.

Speight said it hasn’tbeen until recently thatcounty commissioners haveaken the idea of forming a

union of sanitation workerseriously.

“We’ve actually seenome traction around their

call for justice and gettingome formal recognition

from the county,” Speightaid.

“With this ordinance thatwas introduced by Commis-ioner Watson…that’s be-

ginning this process to havea nal vote to recognizehe union and then begin to

address the concerns and is-ues that the drivers and col-ections workers have raisedince we began organizinghem about a year ago.”

In Memphis, Tenn., morehan 1,300 Black sanitationworkers walked off their ob in protest in 1968, citing

years of poor treatment, dis-

crimination and dangerousworking conditions.

Although much haschanged since then, Speightsaid their working condi-tions and the ones DeKalbCounty sanitation workersface contain some striking parallels.

“The demographics of the workers at that time andthe moral underpinning of

this whole effort, there’sdirect parallels and reallya lineage of the struggle[with] the two,” Speightsaid.

Recently, Forbes listed“refuse and recyclable mate-rial collectors” as the sixthdeadliest job in the UnitedStates, using data from theU.S. Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics. Speight said sanita-tion workers face a lot of dangers on the job, whichconsists of more than just picking up trash.

In addition to being pricked, prodded or bitten by whatever might be lurk-ing in the trash pile, Speightsaid sanitation workers alsohave to be careful of whatthey pick up. Recently, twoemployees were severely

injured when an oxygentank a resident threw awayexploded in their faceswhile their trash was beingcompacted.

Interim CEO Lee Maysaid he thinks many of thesanitation workers interestedin becoming organized aredoing so because they feel“underappreciated.”

“They have felt underap-

preciated and like they havenot had a voice throughthe administration. They’re just seeking some help inthat respect. What you havenow is them wanting to berecognized in their ability toorganize,” May said.

Although May wouldn’tsay whether he was for or against a union of sanita-tion workers, he did say thathis job is to make sure thatevery county employee hasan opportunity to voice their concerns.

“The number one dutythat I have is to make surethat all of our employeeshave a voice—that theyhave an open door not justto the administration butalso to me,” May said. “ I’mhere to listen.”

A DeKalb County sanitation worker on his route. In August, sanitation workers moved one step closer to beingecognized as a union by the county. Photo by Travis Hudgons

Attorneys for Neuman re- portedly said they plan to lean appeal within the next fewweeks as well, citing that hisconviction was based, in part,on perjured testimony.

Suspended CEO Burrell

Ellis will appear in court Oct.17 at 9 a.m. in Judge Court-ney Johnson’s courtroom for a hearing on all pending mo-tions related to the 15-countcriminal indictment againsthim.

Ellis is accused of strong-arming county vendors intodonating to his political campaign.

There will be a Sept. 5 preliminary hearing for Mi-chael Brandon Hill, the al-leged gunman in the shootingat Ronald E. McNair Discov-ery Learning Academy. How-ever, court ofcials said Hillwill likely waive the hearing.

DeKalb County DA andothers to host Paws ForThe Cause

DeKalb County DistrictAttorney Robert James will join a host of community partners and animal lovers for the 2013 Paws For The Causecommunity awareness eventon Saturday, Sept. 14, atGlenlake Park, 1121 ChurchStreet in Decatur. The eventruns from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Paws For The Cause is acollaborative effort in part-nership with Animal ActionRescue, Village Vets, DeKalbCounty Animal Services andEnforcement, DeKalb County

District Attorney’s Ofce andother organizations to combatcrimes against animals by in-creasing awareness of issuesof animal neglect and cruelty.

“Protecting animals fromcruel and neglectful behavior

is one of my top priorities,”James said. “These partner-ships are essential to com- bating animal cruelty in our community and promotinganimal adoption.”

The event will feature livemusic, food vendors, moon-walks, agility/Frisbee perfor-mances and more. An onsiteveterinarian will administer low cost immunizations andmicrochipping. Animal Ac-tion Rescue, DeKalb AnimalServices and Village Vets &Enforcement will have pup- pies and dogs available for adoption.

“As the former solicitor general and current districtattorney, I have seen a number of animal cruelty casescome through my respec-tive ofces. What I’ve seenis horric and disturbing,”James added. “Paws For TheCause was developed to helpus increase awareness aboutanimal cruelty and encourageloving individuals and fami-lies to adopt animals whoneed a safe and welcominghome.”

Vendor booth rentalsare $40. Interested vendorsshould contact ClarissaBrown at [email protected] or (404) 371-4961 for additional details.

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fday, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 11Aweek in PiCTures

Searching for Our Sons and Daughters:

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

Finding DeKalb County’s Missing

Stories 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.

This week in photos brought to you by DCTV

Aug. 30: Trafc is at a stand-still on the top-end of I-285, in Dunwoody. They delay was due to a three-vehicle wreck near Riverside Drive. Photo by Travis Hudgons

Aug 28. “Georgia country in the city, but it ain’t Doraville.” It’sDecatur. Photo by John Hewitt

Aug. 30. Decatur Book Festival kicks off with storytelling. Photo by JohnHewitt

Aug. 29, An unidentied man roller skates through the Wesley Chapel Road’svening trafc. Photo by Donna Turner

Aug. 29. Aluminum art perched on the cash register of Fellini’sPizza in Decatur. Created by employee Wes Stuart.

Aug. 31: Hallford Stadium, Clarkston - University of South Carolina commit Arden Key (49) leaps onto theeld as he leads the ML King Lions in their game against Florida's Blanche Ely in game one of the Battle ofthe Borders. Photo by Travis Hudgons

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013



Proposed Substantial Amendment to the 2008-2012

Consolidated Plan, including the 2009 Annual Action Plan

Addition of Two Projects to be Funded from the

HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantee - Approved March 6, 2009

The DeKalb County Community Development Department is proposing a substantial amendment to the 2008-2012 Consolidated Plan,including the 2009 Annual Action Plan. This substantial amendment adds two additional projects, Fire Station No. 3 and The ElaineClark Center to be partially funded from the approved HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantee of $14,000,000.

The approved HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantee of $14,000,000 was obtained in March 2009 authorizing the use of the loan funds tosupplement the construction cost of three Senior/Community Centers in the County. Based on using CDBG funds to assist with someof the earlier cost for the three Senior/Community Centers, we propose using some of the remaining HUD Section 108 Loan funds toassist funding of two additional projects that are approved in the current Annual Action Plan.

Addition of Two Projects:

1. FireStationNo.3,presentlylocatedat24NorthClarendonAvenuewasoriginallyconstructedin1947.Constructionofanewre

stationisneededtosupporttheenhancedreandrescueserviceresponseneedsoftheCounty.Combiningboththepresent24NorthClarendon Ave. site and the adjacent previously purchased 100 N. Clarendon Ave site provides a total of 1.1 acres for construction of thenewandexpandedfacility,whichwillhaveacrossoorareaofapproximate11,635squarefoot.

Thetotalprojectcostisestimatedtobeapproximately$2,600,000.Thesourcesoffundsareasfollows:a. 2013 CDBG - $1,104,228

b. 2014CDBG–495,772c. HUD Section 108 Loan - $1,000,000

2. TheElaineClarkCenterisanon-protorganizationthatprovidescomprehensiveservicesfordevelopmentallychallengedin-dividuals from infancy up to age 22. The agency is currently housed in a building that is in disrepair and not up to current code, and isalsospatiallyinadequateandlacksthebuildingcapacitytoservethecurrentindividuals.Theoriginalstructurewasbuiltin1950’s,andseveralsmallrenovationswerecompletedinthelast15years.

To meet overall needs of the combined agency and the increase in the number services and individuals served, the agency has ag-gressivelypursuedfundingfromanumberoffoundationsandhasraised$2,135,066asofJuly2013.PhaseIIofthestrategicplanincludesanew13,000SFadditiontothefacilitywithabudgetof$1,950,000.Thisexpansionprojectwillprovidethecapacitytoservethe current needs and help meet growing needs of the challenged youth in greater Atlanta area. The County will provide a grant up to$850,000tosupplementthePhaseIIconstructionproject.SomeofthesefundsmaycomefromtheHUDSection108Loanfund.

The County has designated Fire Station No. 3 as the higher priority project; however construction schedules and or 2014 CDBG alloca-tions may alter the prioritizations.

AllcitizensareinvitedtocommentontheproposedamendmentfromSeptember5,2013–October7,2013.Commentformsmaybeobtained and completed at each of the below listed locations. Comments may also be faxed or emailed to the Community Devel-

opment Department.

Fax: (404) 286-3337

Email: [email protected]

DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department

150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Suite 330, Decatur, Georgia 30030

Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Chamblee Branch Library Decatur Branch Library

4115ClairmontRoad,Chamblee 215SycamoreStreet,Decatur (770-936-1380) (404-370-3070)

Redan-TrottiBranchLibrary WesleyChapel-W.C.BrownBranchLibrary 1569WellbornRoad,Redan 2861WesleyChapelRoad,Decatur (770-482-3821) (404-286-6980)

Please contact the libraries for days and hours of operation.

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


The Champion Free Press, Friday, August 30, 2013 ALOCAL NEWS

OboeContinued From Page 1A

City ofDecaturpromotes itswalkability by Travis [email protected]

“Walk There! Decatur” is the city’snewest campaign that encourages walkingversus driving. The recently adoptedcampaign, from the Active LivingDepartment, uses signage, along withthe slogan, ‘It’s closer than you think,’ toindicate how long it will take one to walk to various points of interest.

“I have had a number of people tell methat they have been encouraged to walk by seeing the signs,” said Active LivingAssistant Director Cheryl Burnette. “We

put up five signs around Decatur in key places where people might park their car and then walk to where they need to go.There are five signs located in downtownDecatur, Oakhurst business district, EastDecatur Station, Agnes Scott Collegeand on Clairemont near the new CourtMarriott hotel.”

Each sign is site specific and showshow long it takes the average person towalk to selected localities. Each locationis assigned a QR code so that a pedestrianwith a smartphone can map his or her way. For those without a smartphonethere’s a map on the back of each sign.

“It promotes physical fitness,” saidActive Living Director Greg White.

White and Burnette agree that many people’s first thoughts are to take their cars to go somewhere, but the signs are areminder that walking is an option.

“The signs also inform tourists thatDecatur is a walkable city,” said White.

The Pedestrian and BicycleInformation Center designated theCity of Decatur a Silver Level Walk Friendly Community for its walkabilityinitiatives and programs. Walk FriendlyCommunities is a national programaimed at recognizing communities for their commitment to pedestrian safetyand is sponsored by the U.S. Departmentof Transportation Federal Highway

Administration and FedEx.White said the city’s goal is to achievegold level status next time.

WalkingTours

There are six Decatur

specific, self-guided walkingtours. The routes aredesigned to promote walkingas a safe, convenient exerciseand to familiarize participantswith local restaurants andshops as well as municipaland historical points of interest. They vary in lengthand level of intensity: Level1: Stretch Your Legs, Level2: Quicken Your Pulse andLevel 3: Challenge Yourself.The routes and key points of interest are presented in freebrochures, available at the

Decatur Recreation Center,the Downtown Development Authority office and localshops such as One Step at aTime in Oakhurst.

A “Walk There! Decatur” sign in the Oakhurstbusiness district shows local points of inter-est such as McKoy Park and The Wylde Center.Photos by Travis Hudgonsplay. So I thought, ‘I can do

better than that.’”And he made his first oboe,

which he didn’t know howo play. “It plays. It kind of

plays,” said vas Dias, whoonly played modern oboe athe time.

“I didn’t approach it in theight way,” vas Dias said. “I

was just kind of fooling witht. I made the bore by filing

with a rattail file, which is nogood. You can’t really make aproper bore that way.”

Then vas Dias traveled toOberlin College in Ohio to theBaroque Performance Insti-ute.

“When I made my firstnstruments I went to Oberlin

and showed them to my teach-er and he had to have one,”vas Dias said. “From that mo-ment, I had five orders. I never ooked back. I kept makinghem, improving them.”

Vas Dias has made 490oboes, he said, looking over his log book. At one time hehad a waiting list of two years.

“I should hit 500 beforedie,” said vas Dias, who

makes a dozen different typesof oboes from European box-wood trees.

The wood is “very smoothand it’s heavy and it’s the

ame as your boxwood shrubs.n Europe it grows into trees,”aid vas Dias, who also makeseeds out of cane from France.

The oboe maker moved toGeorgia in 1974 when his wifePatricia got a job playing vio-in with the Atlanta Symphony

Orchestra. Vas Dias thenwitched from being a profes-ional oboist to making oboes.

Born in Amsterdam, vasDias survived the Holocaustand served in the Dutch Armyfrom 1942-44. Currently heplays modern oboe for the

Atlanta Musicians Orchestrawhich plays in the WilliamBremen Jewish Center.

Vas Dias began his musicalcareer after World War II.

“I went to college withan old second-hand oboe,”he said. “They needed anoboe player but I didn’t playhat well. They sent me to aeacher and I learned to play.

Two years later I transferredo Juilliard School and went touilliard for two years.

“I’m not much of a player anymore,” he said.

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fay, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 14Alocal news

Residents pitch app ideas to judges

CityhoodContinued From Page 9A

by Andrew [email protected]

The Pitch Contest sponsoredby DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson on Aug. 28 hadnothing to do with sports.

Instead, it was an opportunity for DeKalb residents to pitch their tech-nology ideas for apps, games, simu-ations or concepts while simultane-

ously competing for prizes at thePorter Sanford Performing Arts &Community Center in Decatur.

“This is our version of Shark Tank ,” said Johnson, referring tohe ABC television show that gives

aspiring entrepreneurs the opportu-nity to pitch their business plan to apanel of potential investors.

“This is all about technology,”ohnson said. “Technology chang-s probably every three or four

months. Technology really is notgoing anywhere. It’s going to be apart of our lives forever.

In addition to Johnson, theudges were DeKalb County Clerk

of Superior Court Debra DeBerry;Sciberus Solutions President LaronWalker; Cynthia Edwards, vicepresident of community outreachand engagement at Georgia Pied-mont Technical College; GregWilson, vice president/Georgia areamanager at CH2M Hill; and Chris

McCary, community developmentproject manager for Georgia Pow-r’s metro east region.

All participants received amembership to Atlanta Technology

Development Center. The winnerscould receive additional support for their concepts. The six pitches were

judged for originality, innovationand use.“This is free coaching,” Johnson

said. “They’re going to get a chanceto rub elbows with everybody that’sgoing to be the next millionaire, bil-lionaire. This is a big deal.”

One of the winning pitches camefrom Jason Warner, CEO andcofounder of YourSafeBox (www.yoursafebox.com), the “rst ever virtual safe deposit.”

“You’ve heard of Dropbox andcloud storage, but what we’ve doneis taken that to the next level,” War-ner said during his pitch.

“We are encrypted to banking

and healthcare standards,” Warner said. “You can feel comfortable up-loading copies of wills, trusts, birthcerticates, pictures of your valu-ables. If that tornado comes todayand tears through your house, thatinsurance company wants you to

prove that you had that at screenTV, those diamond rings, thatCoach purse—all of those thingsthat you nd valuable.”

The service, which starts out at$49.99 per year, went live 90 daysago, he said.

Warner said winning the contestwill help him “get the word out.”

“The biggest thing is a lot of folks don’t know [about] somethingthat’s the rst of its kind [is] howit can impact you,” Warner said.“There are burglaries every day.

There are tornadoes that happen.Life happens. But are you prepared.It’s great to have your safe deposit

box at the bank but if you’re inLA and you need some documentsthat are here in Atlanta or DeKalbCounty, then you can just go onlineand retrieve those documents 24hours a day.”

The other winning pitch was for Knowledge Caster by Marion Cog-gins, a 22-year-old DeVry graduate;Darrius Clifton, 22, a student atArt Institute of Atlanta; and DeVrystudent Tyrone Arrington, 22.

Knowledge Caster is “a softwareapplication that allows young usersto discover more information abouttheir career [choices],” Cogginssaid. “We created this because when

we started college…we pretty muchknew what we wanted to do, but wedidn’t know how multifaceted thecareers we wanted were.”

“It’s to help people out, youngand old, to give them more insightin what they want to do in their ca-reer,” Arrington said.

The application would includevideos from workers in various in-dustries and interactive educationalgames. Coggins said they devel-oped the concept one day when theywere “thinking about how when werst started college we didn’t knowhow complex our elds were.”

Clifton said winning the contestis “a good opportunity for us. It’sreally going to help us nd resourc-es and people who develop. It’s go-ing to help us a lot.”

and the allegations are disturbing to thetax payers of DeKalb County.”

Woodworth said residents in atten-dance at the meeting were interestedabout the potential city of Lakeside and

asked a lot of questions, specically howthe new city would affect them and their

property taxes.“The biggest concern is always

money,” she said. “We assured them thata portion of the property taxes they arenow paying will shift from the county tothe city and their taxes will not go up.”

In June, members of the LakesideCity Alliance announced that it hasraised the $30,000 necessary for an eco-nomic cityhood study. The study willexamine whether the city can sustainitself nancially with the revenue it gen-erates with no tax increase. Woodworthsaid they expect to have the results of

the study by December.“Until we have that information all of the future decisions will be based on theeconomic feasibility study,” she said.

The proposed city boundaries for Lakeside include North Druid Hills tothe south, Interstate 85 to the west andthe Embry Hills community to the north-east. The city would be approximately20 square miles and include 63,000 resi-dents. It also includes part of Tucker’s30084 ZIP code.

Some of the proposed Lakeside cityis included in the proposed city of Briar-cliff, another area considering cityhood.The proposed city of Briarcliff has alsoincluded Druid Hills and Emory Univer-

sity in its proposed city. The city wouldstretch from Druid Hills north to Spa-ghetti Junction and east to I-285.

Druid Hills residents discussed ear-lier this month the prospect of becoming

part of a proposed city of Briarcliff, an-nexing into the city of Atlanta or staying

put in unincorporated DeKalb County.Emory University released a statementon its website stating the university isremaining neutral on annexation andcityhood.

“Emory is carefully studying all of the options and will closely examine thedata from the analysis currently under-way to determine the impact each option

would have on the institution,” said Bet-ty Willis, senior associate vice presidentfor government and community affairs.“We have not taken a position yet onanything being proposed, and will shareinformation to keep folks informed aswe learn more.”

A few days after Lakeside’s meeting,interim CEO Lee May released a state-ment asking state lawmakers to postponeany decision on incorporations and an-nexations for the upcoming session.

“I have no problem with new cit-ies being formed in DeKalb, but under current state law afuent areas have theability to cherry-pick choice residentialand commercial areas to create these cit-

ies,” May said. “Annexation works thesame way. This disenfranchises areaswith lower property values. They don’tget to vote on the matter, and they un-fairly shoulder the shift in taxation.”

Chris McCrary of Georgia Power, DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson, Greg Wilson of CH2M HIll, Clerk of Superior Court DebraDeBerry, Laron Walker of Sciberus Solutions, and Cynthia Edwards of Georgia Piedmont Tech judged pitches for several computer

nd cellphone application ideas.

rom left, Marion Coggins, Darrius Clifton and Tyrone Arrington pitched an idea for a career discovery program while Jason Warner toldudges about his company’s virtual safe deposit box. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fay, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 15AeduCATion

Meadowview principal is also a Baptist pastorby Andrew [email protected]

Norman Thomas’ fulltime job isprincipal of Meadowview ElementarySchool in the Gresham Park com-munity. His other fulltime job is pas-or of First Baptist Church Gresham

Road.The 39-year-old DeKalb County

native has been on a bivocationalpath his entire adult life.

“It’s been a blessing to me to serven both capacities,” Thomas said.The callings are all in one. The call-ng to serve as an educator and theall to serve as a pastor, I think they

t together.Thomas spent the rst decade

of his teaching career in the AtlantaPublic School system where he taughtgrades three, four and ve.

“I’ve been around education all of

my life,” said Thomas, whose mother was a principal and father was anxecutive director in education. Hisister Angela Bethea is the principal

of Clifton Elementary School. “Thatwas the only talk at the dinner table.Everything was education.”

Thomas joined the DeKalb CountySchool District in 2006 as an assistantprincipal at Meadowview and becameprincipal in 2010.

“Because we talked about it somuch, because it was something Iwas around so much, I just had an af-nity for teaching,” Thomas said. “Iust love teaching. I love being ableo see people’s ideas come to light. Iove being able to have an impact onhe lives of children.

“And I thought about the impacteachers had on my life,” he said.They may not have made the most

money in world, but they had a pro-found effect on the way my ideaswere shaped. It seemed a natural

move to teach.”Thomas said he was called to preach during his senior year atMorehouse College. He preached histrial sermon in January 1996 at Great-er Traveler’s Rest Baptist Church. Hethen served in various capacities inthe church, including as a youth pas-tor, and in 2009 was asked to pastor First Baptist Church Gresham Road.

Thomas said it is not difcult towork at the church and at the schoolwhich are three minutes apart by car.

“I have great help here,” he said.“My assistant principal, Dr. AmeliaJefferson, is outstanding. I’m ableto share my vision and meet with theleadership team and delegate whereneeded and I take care of whatever Ineed to.

“The same is true on the other

end,” he said about working at thechurch. “My wife helps me with theministry and a wonderful church fam-

ily has come together and is able toshare the vision.

“Sometimes it is a little bit tiring, but the Lord gives me strength to doit,” Thomas said. “I just count it a

blessing.”Thomas and wife Rondah have

three children Lauren, 11; Norman III, 8; and Lindsay, 6. The familylives in Conyers.

First Baptist Church GreshamRoad has grown from 50 members to500 members during the ve years of his leadership.

“A lot of the students and parentsare a part of the church as well,” hesaid. “They kind of see me in two ca-

pacities…even though I never adver-tise. I never say, ‘I want y’all to cometo my church. A lot of them walk inand are shocked to see me there as

well.”Thomas said being a pastor helps

with his role as principal.“It helps me be more compassion-

ate toward people and understandwhere people may be coming from,”he said. “It really helps me to under-stand the side of people that we maynot be able to see with our physicaleye.

“I can kind of read how a par-ent may be feeling,” he said. “Eventhough they come in upset, most of the time, I’m able…to use some of that pastoral counseling without of-fering too much of the Christianityside. I’m able to listen and get to theheart of the problem.”

On the other hand, being a principal helps at the church. He is able tocapitalize on his administrative, orga-nizational and teaching skills.

Thomas, who attended Chapel

Hill Elementary and graduated fromSouthwest DeKalb High School in1992, believes his visibility in thecommunity as a principal and pastor has led to increased parental involve-ment at Meadowview. Last year, theschool PTA had 40 members, most of them teachers. This year’s PTA has100 percent involvement from theschool’s parents and teachers. ThePTA has 420 parents, 45 school em-

ployees and 30 businesses.Thomas said he does not get con-

fused about which role he is in—atleast not anymore.

“When I rst started pastoring,…one Sunday I got up and I saidsomething about, ‘Thank you all for coming to Meadowview ElementarySchool,’” he said. “They got a goodlaugh out of it.”

“The calling to serve as an educator and the call to serve as a pastor, I think they ttogether,” said Norman Thomas. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

Norman Thomas is bivocational: he’s the principal of Meadowview Elementary School and pastor of First Baptist Church Gresham Road.

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fay, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 16ABusiness

DeKalb factory makes craft icecream in exotic favors

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce

404.378.8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org

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

by Kathy [email protected]

Such avors as roasted coffeearamel, bourbon burnt sugar and

mixed berry buttermilk are a cluehat High Road Craft Ice Cream is

not like that sold under commongrocery store brands.

“It’s made by chefs, for chefs,”explained Nicki Schroeder, whoheads marketing at High Road ands the wife of founder and CEO

Keith Schroeder, a professionalexecutive chef and culinary schooleducator.

As Keith Schroeder completedhis culinary education at KennesawState and started work as a chef, heealized that the custom high quality

ce cream chefs want wasn’t alwayseadily available. “He saw a real op-

portunity,” Nicki recalled.“Corporations are always

ooking to cut costs,” she said.“They wanted to use lower qual-ty ingredients to save money and

Keith wasn’t willing to do that. Hehought, ‘I wish there was a way toake the high road on this.’ Abouthen, the song ‘The High Road’ byhe Broken Bells came on the radio.t was like a sign. He knew he want-

ed to start his own company and callt High Road.”

Keith Schroeder and his partner

Hunter Thornton won the 2010nternational New Ventures Compe-ition at the University of Nebraska,

earning the seed capital to start HighRoad. The factory in the Chamblee-Dunwoody area now turns outwhat the Schroeders call “craft iceream.”

“We took the idea from craftbeer. Like craft beer, it’s made inmall batches, using unique reci-

pes,” Nicki Schroeder said, “Our ce creams and sorbets are made bynternational chefs and their cultural

backgrounds are reected in theavors. The avors of Spain, Thai-land and other places are nuancedin the varieties. Many ice creammakers use a mix that’s shipped infrom someplace else. We formulateour own beautiful mixes right herein house.” Ice creams, sorbets andgelatos are available in such exotic-sounding varieties as mango Chilelime, pistachio honey ricotta andsweet hibiscus ginger.

Since the company’s foundingin 2010, chefs around thecountry, including at such

places as Caesar’s Palacein Las Vegas, have usedHigh Road’s products intheir kitchens. It’s no longer necessary to go to upscalerestaurants to get the frozendessert Alton Brown, celeb-rity chef and commentator on Iron Chef America called“probably the best ice cream

made in America right now.”The frozen treats have become so

popular that High Road executivesdecided to make them more widelyavailable. “We had no way to sell itretail because we packaged it in thelarge containers restaurants use,”

Nicki Schroeder said, explainingthe High Road worked with a local

provider to get the product into pint-size containers. It quickly becameavailable locally at such grocery re-tailers as Whole Foods, Fresh Mar-ket and Harris Teeter. Then KingsFood Markets in New York, NewJersey and Connecticut, Gelson’sMarket in south California, CentralMarket in Texas and independentretailers across the United States

picked up the brand.“Our prices, of course, are higher

than what many people are used to paying for ice cream,” Nicki Schro-

eder said. “We don’t have the econ-omies of scale that large nationalcompanies have.”

High Road holds tastings at itsfactory store every Saturday 9 a.m.-2 p.m., offering the public an oppor-tunity to sample “exclusive, limited-edition avors, sneak in a tour, andmeet the frenetic High Road team,”according to the company website.

High Road is among the brandswith local connections being fea-tured at the sixth annual Taste of Chamblee on Sept. 28.

Frozen assets

‘Probably the best ice cream made inAmerica right now.’

Craft ice cream is often used in unusual creations such as this bacon ice cream sundae.Photo provided

Keith Schroeder shows off his specialty ice creams at a Saturday tasting where visitorssample his high-end craft ice creams. Photo by Kathy Mitchell

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013


Th Champ F P, Fay, Agt 30, 2013 Pag 17AClAssiFied

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See Green on Page 20A

Clarkston runs impressive times inDeKalb’s rst cross country competition

Wesley Green and runninggame leads M. L. Kingover Blanche Ely

by Mark Brock

Senior Muhozi Aimable and his Clarkston Angora

eammates clocked verygood times to lead the An-goras to a victory over CrossKeys and Stone Mountainn the boys’ opening race of he DeKalb County School

District’s cross country sea-on at Druid Hills Middle

School Aug. 27.Aimable led the way

with a time of 17:42.23and was followed by junior Gidey Shalu in 17:47.46and senior Leiso Tumbo in

7:51.01. Last year’s rstace winner senior Hussen

Sadik closed out a sweepof the top four spots byhe Angoras with a time of 8:00.67. Freshman Biney-

am Tumbo rounded out theop ve Clarkston runnersn seventh with a time of 9:24.96 to give the Ango-as a nal total of 17 points.

Cross Keys’ senior Christian Newkirk helpedhis team squeeze past StoneMountain into second in theace with a fth place nishn 18:48.71. Cross Keys’ se-

niors Christian Padilla waseighth (19:27.11) and Chao

Lin was ninth (19:38.56).Cross Keys compiled acore of 60 in the openingace.

Southwest DeKalb senior

Kameron Scott was sixthin 18:51.23 and Stephensonsenior Chaz Berry nished10th in 20:02.24 to round

out the Top 10 nishers.The Tucker Lady Tigers

captured the rst girls’ raceof the day with 47 points totop Stephenson (56) and Co-lumbia (61).

Twin sisters Nuba andNaima Jackson battledfor the top spot with Nubataking the race in a time of 21:57.74 and Naima in sec-ond with a time of 21:58.28.Sophomore Kiera Wash-ington gave the Lady Tigersthree Top 10 nishers as shetook fourth with a time of 26:11.39.

Stephenson placed four runners in the Top 10 withsophomore Jaylyn Wil-liams leading the groupwith a fth place nishwith a time of 28:27.27.Senior Darien Johnson nished seventh (28:43.96),Sarah Lovett nished ninth(30:13.39) and senior NyahMuhammad nished 10th(30:50.97).

Columbia took the sixthand eight spots in the Top10 as Danesha Cross wassixth (28:30.27) and De-

lissa Grant was eighth(29:37.15).

Southwest DeKalb junior Kayla Willis, running byherself, grabbed the third

place nish with a time of 25:03.70.

The Dunwoody Wildcatsswept the boys’ and girls’

races in the second half of the meet, putting up perfectscores of 15 points by eachteam to claim the victories.

Senior Owen Fire-baugh captured the boys’title in the nightcap witha time of 20:01.03 to leada Dunwoody sweep of therst seven spots. Senior Noah Doherty was sec-ond in 21:07.55 followed by a trio of juniors in MaxNoto (21:36.66), DrewD’Alessandro (22:00.13)and Nathan Bryant (22:03.01), respectively.

Senior Brook Joyner led the Lady Wildcats intheir sweep of the girls’ racewith a time of 22:51.59 tocapture the race title. Joyner was followed by, respec-tively, sophomore ShanelStewart (22:59.57), fresh-man Alexandra Womble (23:10.14), sophomoreSydney Drew (23:59.98)and junior Emily Cyr (24:12.36).

Martin Luther King Jr.’ssophomore Aissatou Barry was the only non-Dun-

woody runner in the Top 10as she nished seventh in atime of 25:42.25.

Tucker twin sisters Nuba and Naima Jackson nished rst andsecond, respectively, in the girl’s race. Photos provided

Clarkston senior Muhozi Aimablenished rst with a time of 17:42.23

n the boy’s opening race of the schoolistrict’s cross country season.

by Carla Parker [email protected]

Cortez Allen’s rst gameas head coach at Martin Lu-ther King Jr. High Schoolresulted in a big win as theLions routed Blanche Ely(Pompano, Fla.) 41-15 in therst game of Battle of theBorders Showdown at Hall-ford Stadium Aug. 31.

“I’m thoroughly proudof the guys,” Allen said.“I thought we had a greatgame. The kids played verywell and there was muchimprovement from what wehad in our scrimmage game[against Cedar Grove].”

Defensive back WesleyGreen led the Lions in thewin with three intercep-tions and a 48-yard puntreturn touchdown. Greenwas named the game’s MostValuable Player. Running

backs Robert Pritchett,

Jamel Smith and DevinWilliams also played a big part in the win.

Smith gave the Lions a7-0 lead in the rst quarter with a 1-yard touchdownrun. After M. L. King forceda three-and-out, Green ex-tended the lead to 14-0 withhis 48-yard touchdown onthe punt return.

Ely cut the lead to 14-7after a quarterback-sneak into the end zone by Ted-drick Moffet. The touch-down was set up by widereceiver LaDerrick Smith,who returned the ensuingkickoff 83 yards to the Li-ons’ 9-yard line.

Smith got his secondtouchdown of the game inthe second quarter with a27-yard run. Smith stiff-armed several Ely playersalong the way to the endzone.

The two teams traded

M. L. King defensive back Wesley Green scores a touchdown on a 48-yard punt return. Photo by Travis Hudgons

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013



Dallas Rivers, defense shine inStephenson’s win over Norlandby Carla Parker [email protected]

The Stephenson Jaguars completedhe Georgia over Florida sweep in the

Battle of the Borders Showdown with29-12 over Norland Vikings of Miami,Fla.

Senior running Dallas Rivers had abig game in his debut with the Jaguars,ushing for 120 yards and four touch-

downs. His performance earned him theMost Valuable Player trophy. Rivers, aformer Tucker Tiger, said it felt great tohave a big game in his rst outing withStephenson.

“A lot of hard work and dedicationwent into this game,” he said. “I want tohank my [offensive] line. They were bigonight.”

Stephenson head coach Ron Gartrell also credited the offensive linemen ineading the running game.

“Dallas played well but the offensiveine looked extremely good,” Gartrellaid. “For the rst game it took us a littleime to get started offensively but defen-ively we played really good from the

very beginning.”Most of the rst half was a defensive

battle between the two teams. Both de-fenses forced a few three-and-outs andacked the opponent’s quarterback a

couple of times. Norland’s defense con-trolled Stephenson’s running game for most of the rst half until the 2:31 mark of the second quarter.

Stephenson freshman Khalil Ladler gave the Jaguars’ offense a spark with a20-yard punt return to the Norland 19-yard line. Two plays later, Rivers ran10 yards for the touchdown to give Ste- phenson a 7-0 lead with 1:42 left in thesecond quarter.

Norland running back Ced Miller answered the touchdown with a kickoff return to Stephenson 9-yard line to putthe Vikings in scoring position just be-fore the half. Quarterback Taron James connected with wide receiver Kendrick Edwards on a touchdown on the follow-ing play.

Stephenson’s Jared Tucker andChauncey Rivers teamed up to block theextra point to help the Jaguars maintain a7-6 lead heading into the half.

Ladler opened the second half byreturning the kickoff to the Norland 48-yard line to give the Jaguars a short eldto work with.

Rivers scored his second touchdown

of the game on a 1-yard run. Quarterback Dewann Ford connected with tight endAri Werts on a two-point conversion togive Stephenson a 15-6.

The Jaguars’ defense forced two turn-

overs in the third quarter, a fumble andan interception by Ladler in the end zone,which prevented a scoring opportunityfor Norland.

The game was stopped in the fourthquarter after senior offensive linemanJeremy Leslie suffered a leg injury. Les-lie could be heard screaming in pain andwas taken off the eld on a stretcher.

Leslie was able to give the homecrowd a thumbs-up signal and told his

team to “nish the game.”Gartrell said he hoped Leslie’s injury

wasn’t too serious.“He’s probably going to be out for a

while but hopefully it won’t be long,” hesaid.

The Jaguars followed their injuredteammate’s command and nished thegame. Rivers scored two more touch-downs in the fourth quarter on 19- and6-yard runs. Stephenson took a 29-6 leadgoing into the nal 3:39 of the game.

Norland kept ghting and scored asthe clock ran out in the game on a 1-yardtouchdown pass from James to runningKhalil Muratt.

Stephenson’s defense will try to have

a repeat performance on Sept. 6 when players face quarterback Trevous Reyn-olds and the rest of Arabia Mountain’shigh-powered offense at PanthersvilleStadium at 7:30.

The Champion choosesa male and female high

school Athlete of the Week each week throughout the

school year. The choices arebased on performance and nominations by coaches.

Please email nominations [email protected] by

Monday at noon.

MALE ATHLETE OFTHE WEEK (three-way tie)Wesley Green, M. L. King(football-defensive back):Green had three interceptionsand returned a punt 48yards for a touchdown in M.L. King’s 41-15 win over

Blanche Ely (Pompano, Fla.)Aug. 31.

Dallas Rivers, Stephenson(football-running back):Rivers rushed for 120 yardsand four touchdowns inStephenson’s 29-12 win over

Norland (Miami Gardens,Fla.) Aug. 31.

Deion Sellers, Cedar Grove(football-running back):Sellers ran for 201 yards andscored two touchdown in the20-12 win over ColumbiaAug. 30. Sellers have four

total touchdowns in twogames and 361 rushingyards.

Mack Brown, Florida(football): The junior

running back from M. L.King rushed for 112 yardsand scored two touchdownsin Florida’s 24-6 seasonopener win Aug. 31.

Each week The Champion spotlights former high school players from the county whoare succeeding in athleticson the college level.

Stephenson quarterback Dewann Ford hands off the ball to running back Dallas Rivers, whonished the game with 120 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Norland quarterback Taron James (No. 2) is forcedo throw a pass as Stephenson defensive lineman

Braxton Butler brings pressure.

Stephenson wide receiver Colby Ransom catches aass. Photos by Travis Hudgons

7/29/2019 FreePress: 9-06-2013



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turnovers to start the second half as Williamsfumbled the ball on Ely’s 30-yard line. Greenintercepted a pass at the goal line on the fol-lowing Ely drive to end a potential scoringdrive.

The Lions drove 93 yards on the followingdrive, led by Pritchett who rushed for 66 yards

of his total 101 yards in the game on thatdrive. However, he fumbled the ball at Ely’s3-yard line but offensive lineman Kwan Stall-worth was there to pick up the loose ball andstumbled his way into the end zone to give M.L. King a 28-7 lead in the third quarter.

Green got his third interception late in thethird quarter, which led to another touchdownas quarterback Roland Rivers connected withwide receiver Raylan Elzy on a two-yard pass play to increase the lead to 35-7 in the fourthquarter.

Ely scored on its next drive on a 21-yard pass from quarterback Nelson Irvin to run-ning back Broderic James and then executedthe two-point conversion to cut the lead to 35-15.

Sophomore running back JonathanMathis extended M. L. King’s lead to 41-15on a 17-yard touchdown.

Allen thought his running backs playedwell from beginning to end and said the run-ning game will be a focal point in the offense.

“We’re going to keep punching that thingand grinding the ball out,” he said.

M. L. King will try to get win No. 2 Sept.6 when the team faces Southwest DeKalb at 8 p.m. at Hallford Stadium.

Green Continued From Page 18A

FreePress: 9-06-2013

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