whyhappy - donutsdocshare01.docshare.tips/files/10454/104542663.pdfpage 3a the champion free press,...

WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM • FRIDAY, AUG. 31, 2012 • VOL. 15, NO. 23 • FREE

FREEPRESS• A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS •

FFWHYIS SHE

SOHAPPY ?

Because she gets her news updates online from the The Champion.

And you can too! Follow us.www.facebook.com/championnewspaper

www.twitter.com/championnews

www. championnewspaper.com

WHYIS SHESOHAPPY ?





WHYIS SHESOHAPPY ?





WHYIS SHESOHAPPY ?





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

See Books on 5A

Terra McVoy, the book festival’s director of programming, at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur shows some of the children’s books featured at this year’s AJC Decatur Book Festival.

Pete the Cat author James Dean acquaints young readers with one of his books.

A packed children’s stage at a previous AJC Decatur Book Festival listens to a reading from a Ladybug Girl book.

by Kathy [email protected]

From its inception in 2006, the AJC Decatur Book Festival set out to be a festival for every-one, including the very youngest readers. In fact, each festival includes books, authors, activities and a special area designated for young book lovers.

“We decided at the start that the festival has to have great children’s programming,” recalled Terra McVoy, the festival’s director of program-ming. “Decatur is such a child-friendly city. It has great schools that are very much pro-reading. There are many children’s authors and book-stores such as Little Shop of Stories that cater to children.

“One of the festival’s goals is to encourage literacy and a love of reading. What better way than to start with preschool children?” McVoy asked.

The Children’s Stage each year has been an extremely popular festival site with hundreds of children and their parents packing the area. “The children’s stage has just grown bigger and big-ger,” McVoy said.

Previously on the lawn of a church, the chil-dren’s stage this year “is moving out of the glar-ing sun into more bucolic settings,” according to the festival website. “You’ll fi nd the children’s stage on the west side of Clairemont Avenue, in the dappled shade of one of Decatur’s prettiest green spaces, just south of the Marriott Court-yard.” The site promises plenty of chairs, but also invites families to consider bringing blan-kets and picnics.

Even before the festival offi cially starts on Friday evening, it visits city of Decatur schools during the day on Friday, giving youngsters a chance to meet and interact with authors. “The youngest children may not understand that books start with an author, but they recognize that this is a person connected to a book they love and they are thrilled. For the ones old enough to un-derstand how an author creates a book, meeting a children’s book author is like meeting a rock star,” McVoy said.

In at least one instance children were excited to meet a person connected with their favorite books even though the person wasn’t the author.

It takes a children’s village to complete a book festival

A The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012

Residents talk of Tucker cityhood, improvement districtby Daniel [email protected]

With Brookhaven soon to become a city, some DeKalb County residents in the Tucker area said although it wouldn’t benefit from in-corporation, it might become a Community Im-provement District (CID).

President of the Tucker Business Association (TBA) Burke Brennan, who is also a spokes-man for DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, said business owners or residents bring up in-corporation of the Tucker area occasionally but he hasn’t seen a “ground swell” of support for it yet.

“The business community has not asked for it,” Brennan said.

Incorporated areas in DeKalb County pay more in taxes than unincorporated areas, which may be why those in the business community are hesitant to discuss incorporation.

“Why would any business move into an in-corporated area at a higher tax rate than move into unincorporated DeKalb County?” asked Honey Van De Kreke, a member of the TBA board of directors.

Van Der Kreke said several years ago a group of people got together, performed an in-depth cityhood study and came to the conclusion that there wasn’t a large enough commercial tax base “to foot the bill” for a city.

“I’m all about unincorporated DeKalb Coun-ty,” Van Der Kreke said. “In all of these Tucker cityhood meetings, almost everyone stood up and said they liked the services they’re getting from DeKalb.”

The push for Dunwoody cityhood began in 2006 and it incorporated September 2008. Since then, it has been a model for other growing com-munities in unincorporated DeKalb with an eye toward cityhood. Residents of the soon-to-be city of Brookhaven will be electing its mayor and city council this November. However, Van Der Kreke said in Brookhaven’s case, there were residents who voted for the area to incorporate. Many businesses were against it, but “businesses can’t vote.”

“If we’re looking at where we’re going for the future and trying to encourage businesses to come into DeKalb County and stay here we need to be working a little harder with the business community,” Van Der Kreke said.

Last year, DeKalb County commissioners voted unanimously to create a CID in the Stone Mountain Industrial Park area. Since it involves taxes, the commission is required to vote on it. However, most CIDs are driven primarily by businesses in the surrounding area.

President of the Stone Mountain CID, Emory Morsberger, said the main purpose of creating the district is to create jobs and boost economic development.

“Anytime you talk about raising anybody’s taxes, people get a little bit wild eyed,” Van Der Kreke said. “But I think a CID would be ben-eficial and I think it’s probably one of the best vehicles to shape a city’s future.”

Van Der Kreke said although it may take some hard work to get Tucker’s downtown busi-ness area established as a CID, it would allow more local control in terms of bringing new business to the area, construction projects and other developments.

“I imagine there’s going to be some people eyeballing what a CID could do for Tucker,” Van Der Kreke said.

DeKalb County’s Tucker neighborhood has seen improvements to its business district over the past year. Some residents say creating a Community Improvement District (CID) may help develop the area further. Photos by Dan-iel Beauregard


by Daniel [email protected]

A crowd stood in applause as several people helped retired U.S. Air Force navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk to the front of the room. Van Kirk, a Stone Mountain resident, is the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II.

Van Kirk spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Marietta History Museum Aug. 11, several days after the 67th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. On Aug. 6, 1945, a then 24-year-old Van Kirk joined bombardier Thomas Ferebee, under the command of Col. Paul Tibbets, and carried out a secret mission that still holds an important place in history today.

“Gentlemen, this is just a war story,” Van Kirk began. During his career Van Kirk met and flew President Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to North Africa while he was stationed in England. He said the crew flew to Gibraltar to “pay off” the French in gold so the United States could invade North Africa. Van Kirk also spoke of the time he met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Casablanca.

After his return from England in 1943, Van Kirk had flown 58 missions overseas and was living in New Orleans, where he attended flight school. He said one day he got a phone call from Tibbets who asked if he was ready to go overseas again.

“He said, ‘I just got command of a new outfit trained to do something special. I can’t tell you what it is, but if it works, we have a possibility to either shorten or end the war,’” Van Kirk said.

The newly married Van Kirk talked it over with his wife, who gave him her blessing and shortly thereafter he headed overseas to train for the “secret mission,” which he later found out was to drop a newly developed bomb onto Japan.

“Our training wasn’t much of anything unusual—we’d just go up to 33,000 feet and drop bombs one at a time…that was the most monotonous thing you ever saw in your life,” Van Kirk said.

Van Kirk said at one point during training, he and his fellow crew members had a meeting with several scientists who worked for the Manhattan Project, the program that developed the first atomic bomb.

“One of the scientists looked at us and said, ‘Well, we think the crew will be OK if you’re 11 miles away when you drop the bomb,’” Van Kirk said. “I can remember looking at the guy and saying, ‘What do you mean you think we’ll be OK?’ He then told me, ‘We don’t know, you’re just going to have to take your chances.’”

On the evening of Aug. 5, 1945, Van Kirk and his fellow crew members were given their final briefing and were told that they would drop the bomb the next morning at approximately 8:15 and then told to “go get some sleep.”

“Imagine being told you were going to drop the first atomic bomb and then to go get some sleep,” Van Kirk said. “None of us slept, and I know none of us slept because we were all in the same poker game.”

Van Kirk said the crew had pineapple fritters for breakfast, which he hated, and before takeoff the crew did extensive interviewing and picture taking with members of the Manhattan

Project—he said there were no media representatives present.

“The closest they got to us was about 60 miles away,” Van Kirk said. “Anyway, we went in and dropped the bomb—Tom Ferebee missed the target by about 400 feet, which is not bad. Then we turned around and ran away as fast as we could.”

When the bomb exploded, Van Kirk described a scene of “utter chaos” in the plane. He said the crew couldn’t hear the explosion above the roar of the Enola Gay’s engine but they felt the shock wave and saw a bright flash.

“We knew that the bomb exploded—that it had probably done some good—and we got 20 miles away from it,” Van Kirk said. “Then we turned to see what was happening and all we saw was that large white cloud—you’ve all seen pictures of it—that mushroom cloud.”

Van Kirk said he never thought of what his historical role would be when he performed that mission. During the Q&A session that followed his lecture, an audience member asked about it and he said, “If I had known that I’d be giving speeches like this I’d never have done it, but it becomes necessary.”

Although the bomb killed many people, reportedly 70,000-80,000, and injured nearly as many, Van Kirk said he and other crew members felt no regret.

“We did not feel bad or stay awake at night,” Van Kirk said. “We are all comfortable with what we did. Yes we killed a lot of people but we also saved a lot of people too.”

Van Kirk did say however that as he grew older he began to see what he called “the futility of war.” He said he didn’t understand why the United States was fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and didn’t think it was doing much good.

Before finishing his lecture Van Kirk described one of the more emotional effects of war. After the dust had settled, Van Kirk and his fellow crew members visited Hiroshima with scientists from the Manhattan Project to survey the damage the bomb had done. While there, Van Kirk said they witnessed a member of the Japanese Army returning home from where he was stationed. He got off a bus where he thought his home was but found nothing, only the charred remains of his village.

“What could we say to him?” Van Kirk asked. “There was nothing to say to him to make it all right.”

Retired navigator describes dropping atomic bomb

Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, a Stone Mountain resident and retired U.S. Air Force Navigator, is the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Van Kirk recently spoke about his experiences to a sold-out crowd at the Marietta History Museum. Photos by Daniel Beauregard

Weapons of mass destruction: Hatred

A The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012Opinion

There are weapons of mass de-struction in America and collective-ly they are called hatred. A cache was discovered in Oak Creek, Wis., recently, stockpiled by a 40-year-old self-avowed White supremacist by the name of Wade Michael Page.

Page should best be described as a terrorist. You see, apparently without provocation or for reasons known only to him, Page went on a blind hate-filled rampage to a Sikh holy house with his recently purchased Springfield 9mm semi-automatic and mowed down six worshippers. What possesses some-one to be filled with such hatred? The use of these weapons of mass destruction called hate is not new to America. For centuries, terrorists have carried out lynchings, rapes,

massacres and church bombings killing little children in Sunday school or assassinating innocents in a movie theater.

A memorial service was held Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Sikh Gurd-wara in Stone Mountain. Represen-tatives from the FBI, the Justice De-partment and members of the Faith Alliance of Metropolitan Atlanta including Baha’i, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu faith traditions were there to offer condolences. I attended as a Christian Baptist. It was a beautiful show of solidarity.

Representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI pledged to do everything humanly possible to make certain murderous attacks like the Wisconsin tragedy never happen again. Unfortunately, to date those agencies have not been able to root out the ignorance and hatred that lead to these horrendous tragedies. Until this country comes to grips with the rabid racism and hatred that plagues us, we will continue to see these senseless acts of violence.

Supremely ironic is that the Sikhs were founded as “Saint Sol-

diers of God’s army.” Established in 1469, the religion has as its basic tenets love and peace and to defend the honor of the oppressed. Sikhs believe in one Supreme Being–one universal force conceptualized as truth. Part of their tradition is the serving of a community meal fol-lowing the worship experience. It is a time for fellowship.

For me it was also a time of learning. Along with the delicious curry-laden cuisine, Manjeev Sa-char Singh gave me a crash course in Sikhism. All male Sikhs have the last name Singh. It means “Tiger” or “Lion” and serves to remove bar-riers of class and caste when every-one has the same last name. All the female Sikhs have the middle name Kaur, which means “Lioness” and relieves them of having to take their husband’s last name. Sikhs are peace loving, family and commu-nity oriented people who are mostly entrepreneurs.

There are some 25 million of them worldwide, an estimated 700,000 here in America and a few thousand in metro Atlanta served

by four Gurdwaras. The Stone Mountain Gurdwara is currently led by President Dalip Cheema Singh. New leaders are elected an-nually. As I reached out to console, I was gifted with education and enlightenment. Most importantly I experienced love from others of the Creator’s children. It was a unique experience to cover my head and go barefoot to worship. While I did not understand the spoken words of the prayers, the spirit of peace and love was a familiar language. There is a renewed sense of purpose and understanding that the only defense against the weapons of mass de-struction called hatred is a missile of love aimed straight at the heart, propelled by the knowledge that in due course the Creator will prevail and in the Sikh tenet, there will be “life for all, peace for all and love for all.”

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

The Newslady

Eat more chicken, buy more gas

Let Us Know What You Think!THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinions from its readers. Please write to us and express your views. Letters should be brief, typewritten and contain the writer’s name, address and telephone number for verifi cation. All letters will be considered for publication.Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send E-Mail to [email protected]

FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779 Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior

to publication date.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contributing editors do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of the editor or publishers. The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time. The Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Publisher: Dr. Earl D. GlennManaging Editor: Kathy MitchellNews Editor: Andrew Cauthen

Production Manager: Kemesha Hunt Graphic Designer: Travis Hudgons

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

114 New Street, Suite E, Decatur, GA. 30030Phone (404) 373-7779.

www.championnewspaper.com DISPLAY ADVERTISING (404) 373-7779 x 110

FREEPRESS

The Race to the bottomThe American middle class isn’t the envy of the world anymore

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHERWe sincerely appreciate the discussion surrounding this and any issue of interest to DeKalb County. The Champion was founded in 1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse for all community residents on all sides of an issue. We have no desire to make the news only to report news and opinions to effect a more educated citizenry that will ultimately move our community forward. We are happy to present ideas for discussion; however, we make every effort to avoid printing information submitted to us that is known to be false and/or assumptions penned as fact.

Is the love of money the root of all evil? OK, so Jesus may have played down bigotry and megalomania when he said that, but overall his observation holds true 2,000 years later.

Labor relations are a contem-porary battleground for greed. Man’s inhumanity takes many forms. But we all have to work, and that means interactions be-tween owners and toilers gener-ate a lot of confl ict.

Happily, a few nations have acted to help workers get a fair shake. Western Europe, shaken today by waves of economic turmoil, got the hang of it a cen-tury or so ago. The United States jumped on the worker bandwag-on after the Great Depression. Our very successful experiment with employee rights, which

have been gradually dismantled for years, ushered in the heyday of the American middle class.

Communism promised mil-lions some hope for a fair shake, but it relied too heavily on re-pression meted out in the name of the people. Japan later picked up the concept of worker equity, followed by Taiwan and South Korea.

Today, Brazil, Argentina and other Latin American nations are reshaping their economic sys-tems to be more labor-friendly.

Most United States leaders don’t worry about worker rights anymore. They believe that gov-ernment has no business in busi-ness. We’re gradually privatizing whatever public services we can. Across the nation, public schools and prisons are increasingly run by private companies.

And mercenaries and other “military contractors” have re-placed hundreds of thousands of United States troops in our end-less wars.

This privatization push is a key part of the trend toward exporting jobs and attracting im-

migrant workers who will accept conditions that most Americans thought they had long ago tran-scended. It’s called “the race to the bottom.”

Under our cherished old sys-tem, championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the government set standards that all employers had to obey. Mini-mum wages, safety conditions, child labor laws, limits on the length of a permissible workday, and the freedom to form unions and collectively bargain — all these rights were supposed to be protected by law.

This system once worked commendably. By the 1960s, the American middle class was the envy of the world. No more. After big employers transferred millions of industrial and service jobs overseas, and technologi-cal advances rendered millions more jobs obsolete, we’ve got a surplus of workers. Wages have plummeted to the point that many autoworkers aren’t middle-class anymore. Unions are a vanishing breed, especially in the private sector.

Nothing much has changed, of course, for agricultural work-ers. They’ve long enjoyed virtu-ally no protections at all, lest they drive up the price of food. The same goes for domestic workers, like caretakers and housekeepers, whose exploita-tion is a growing problem as our population ages and more moth-ers work outside the home.

As much as I’d like to point to some silver lining to relieve all this despair, I’m just not see-ing any faint glow on the ho-rizon. If anything, things look worse now that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling has stripped many previous lim-its on the torrent of corporate cash that can fl ood political cam-paigns. As a result, very wealthy companies and individuals are positioned to tighten their con-trol over Congress, as well as state and federal governments.

What would Jesus say?

OtherWords columnist William A. Collins is a former state repre-sentative and a former mayor of Norwalk, Conn.

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 A Opinion

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 AOpinion

A bold new call for a 'maximum wage'A national labor leader aims to expand the economic fairness debate.

Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

The following comments are pulled straight from our website and are not edited for content or grammar.

County to spend $11.3 million on three new senior centers This is bieng done with Federal Funds,Good. Once they are built will the tuiti on, and special class fees steady rise like Lou Walker?There are a few other Centers that can use some help.Why doesn’t the County evaluate all Senior Faciliti es on an annualbasis? I rather go to the non county faciliti y because they are up-front with their cost.Why do the Commissioners need a FREE MEAL? Lots of hungry people in dekalb county, Chomp On litt le or no changes. I am not impressed.How are you picking spots for Senior Facilliti es?

– Southside Senior posted this on 8/24/12 at 9:03 a.m.

Many of DeKalb’s Senior Centers that I have visited are nasty, dreary, hard to access and with few organized acti viti es.

Commissioner Lee May and the enti re BOC plus their staff conti nue to eat for free on the backs of all of DeKalb’s citi zens. The DeKalb BOC and Lee May “dragging their feet” on issues for seniors and the care of DeKalb’s animals is nothing new.

Lots of money here, I hope someone honest is keeping an eye on how it is spent ?

An honest elected offi cial in DeKalb County = Is that an oxymoron combinati on of words ?

– gresham resident posted this on 8/23/12 at 2:13 p.m.

Q&A with newly elected DeKalb County school board member Marshall OrsonIn order for the DeKalb County School Board to be successful, all of its ineff ecti ve members need to be replaced. The replacement of incumbents have started but need to conti nue unti l all are gone. Old and ineff ecti ve ideas will not work with fresh, innovati ve, and thinking outside the box board members. Just as one would not put old car parts on a new car...the same goes for a fresh start with the DeKalb County School Board. Out with the old, in with the new.

–Arnold Butler posted this on 8/25/12 at 10:24 p.m.

How about taking a moment this Labor Day to reflect about those Americans who earn the least for their labor?

These Americans — workers paid the federal minimum wage — are now making $7.25 an hour. On paper, they’re making the same wage they made in July 2009, the last time we saw the minimum wage change. In reality, minimum-wage workers are making less today than they made last year because inflation has eaten away at their incomes.

Minimum-wage workers here in 2012 simply can’t purchase as much with their paychecks as they could in 2011. And if you go back a few decades, today’s raw deal gets even rawer. Back in 1968, minimum-wage workers took home $1.60 an hour. To make that much today, adjusting for inflation, a minimum-wage worker would have to earn $10.55 an hour.

In effect, minimum-wage workers today are taking home almost $7,000 less a year than minimum-wage work-ers took home in 1968.

Figures like these don’t particu-larly upset many of our nation’s most powerful, in either industry or gov-ernment. We live in tough times, the argument goes. The small businesses that drive our economy simply can’t afford to pay their help any more than they already do.

But the vast majority of our na-tion’s minimum-wage workers don’t labor for Main Street mom-and-pops. They’re employed by businesses that no average American would ever call small. Two-thirds of America’s low-wage workers, the National Employ-ment Law Project documented in July, work for companies that have at least 100 employees.

The 50 largest of these low-wage employers are doing just fine these days. Over the last five years, these 50 corporations — outfits that range from Walmart to Office Depot — have together returned $175 billion to shareholders in dividends or share buybacks.

And the CEOs at these companies last year averaged $9.4 million in personal compensation. A minimum-wage worker would have to labor 623 years to bring in that much money.

So what can we do to bring some semblance of fairness back into our workplaces? For starters, we obvious-ly need to raise the minimum wage. But some close observers of Ameri-ca’s economic landscape believe we need to do more. A great deal more.

Count Larry Hanley among these more ambitious change agents. Han-ley, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, sits on the AFL-CIO’s executive council, the labor move-ment’s top decision-making body. He recently called for a “maximum wage,” a cap on the compensation that goes to the corporate execs who profit so hugely off low-wage labor.

Hanley wants to see this maxi-mum defined as a multiple of the pay that goes to a company’s lowest-paid worker. If we had a “maximum wage” set at 100 times that lowest wage, the CEO of a company that paid some workers as low as $16,000 a year could waltz off with annual pay no higher than $1.6 million.

During World War II, labor leader Hanley points out, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for what amount-ed to a maximum wage. FDR urged Congress to place a 100-percent tax on income over $25,000 a year, a sum that would now equal, after inflation, just over $350,000.

Congress didn’t go along. But FDR did end up winning a 94-percent top tax rate on income over $200,000, a move that would help usher in the greatest years of middle-class prosper-ity the United States has ever known.

Throughout World War II, FDR enjoyed broad support from within the labor movement — and the gen-eral public — for his pay cap notion. Now’s the time, Hanley believes, to put that notion back on the political table. We need, he says, “to start a national discussion about creating a maximum wage law.”

Hanley may just have started that discussion.

OtherWords columnist Sam Piz-zigati edits Too Much, the Institute on Policy Studies weekly newsletter on excess and inequality. OtherWords.org

by Sam PizzigatiColumnist

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 ALocal News Champion of

the WeekEmory says admissions data ‘misreported’

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.

Champion of Champion of the WeekChampion of the WeekChampion of Champion of the WeekChampion of Champion of the WeekChampion of Champion of the WeekChampion of Champion of the WeekChampion of the WeekMildred Brinkley

Mildred Brinkley considers the time she spends at the DeKalb County Jail to be well spent. Brinkley is a volun-teer chaplain who visits the jail often to talk with, pray with, read scripture to and listen to incarcer-ated women.

“These women really need someone to care about them, someone to listen to them. I try to in-spire them to straighten out their lives so they won’t end up back in jail. Many of them are smart and talented. They could do so much if they would just take their lives in a different direction. I’ve met women who can sing, write poetry—they just got caught up in something and didn’t handle the situation well,” she said.

DeKalb Sheriff Thomas Brown, who nominated Brinkley as a community hero, said she brings to her volunteer work “dedication, loyalty and respect for this population. I know that she is a special angel. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office is blessed

to have a woman of this character volunteering her services and time to work in this field.”

A retired health care worker, Brinkley has no formal training as a chap-lain, but her pastor, Rev. Ulysses Ponder of Poplar Springs Baptist Church, recognized in her com-passion for others as well as talent for counseling and teaching. He asked her to consider volun-teering with imprisoned women.

“At first I wasn’t so sure,” Brinkley recalled. “I thought about it and prayed about it. Finally, I decided to try it and I’m so glad I did.” That was more than 15 years ago and Brinkley has been making regular visits to the jail ever since.

While she has taught Bible classes at the jail, Brinkley feels she’s most effective one-on-one. “Each of these women has a story and wants to tell it to someone who cares and sympathizes. They would never tell these stories in a group setting, but one-on-one they will tell you the things that are truly caus-ing them pain. Some-times just getting it out helps them start in a dif-ferent direction.”

Brown said of Brinkley, “She has a beautiful spirit and a peaceful smile. Her smile says, ‘No matter what the problem may be, my God will always be here for you.’”

Massey Watson Bowers & Hembree, LLC

is interviewing

Dekalb Local Small Business Enterprises

related to

Dekalb County RFQ No. 12-700008

(State Legislative Lobbying Services)

For addition information a copy of RFQ can be downloaded at:

http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/purchasing/pc-fbr_current_bids.html Interested firms or individuals should submit:

1. Statement of Interest 2. Qualifications 3. Status related to Dekalb Local Small Business Enterprise

Ordinance, and 4. Contact Information

VIA EMAIL ONLY to [email protected]

DEADLINE for submissions

Friday, September 7, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.

by Andrew [email protected]

Emory University an-nounced Aug. 17 some school offi cials had a practice of misreporting admissions-related data. The announcement came as the university released the results of a three-month in-vestigation.

According to a statement on the university’s website, John Latting, an assistant vice provost for undergrad-uate enrollment and dean of admissions, discovered dis-crepancies in some data that had been previously been made public.

“Specifi cally, [Latting] discovered that reported SAT/ACT scores were those for admitted under-graduate students, not the requested scores for en-rolled students, which were somewhat lower,” stated Emory President James Wagner, in a letter posted on the university’s website. “A similar misrepresenta-tion was discovered in data for our entering students’

high school class rank.”The falsifi ed data was

provided to the College Board, Peterson’s college guide, U.S. News & World Report and the U.S. Depart-ment of Education’s Na-tional Center for Education Statistics.

An outside fi rm hired to investigate the discrepan-cies “found that there had been in fact intentional errors in reporting stan-dardized test scores and class rank dating at least to 2000,” Wagner wrote.

The investigation de-termined that two former deans of admission and the leadership of the Offi ce of Institutional Research were aware of and participated in the misreporting. The em-ployees responsible for this conduct are no longer em-ployed at Emory, according to the university’s website.

The investigation, which was not able to determine how the practice began, did not fi nd evidence that any member of the provost’s, dean’s or president’s offi ces knew that data was being

misreported, directed em-ployees to misreport data, or coerced staff to do so.

Wagner stated that, through the provost’s offi ce, “appropriate personnel ac-tions have been taken, and corrective steps are under way to ensure the future integrity of Emory’s data reporting.”

“As an institution that challenges itself, in the words of our vision state-ment, to be ‘ethically en-gaged,’ Emory has not been well served by representa-tives of the university in this history of misreport-ing,” Wagner wrote. “I am deeply disappointed. Indeed, anyone who cares about Emory’s reputation for excellence in all things must regret this news.

“I assure you that I and my colleagues on the cabi-net are doing all that we can to see that nothing like this happens again, and that Emory lives up to its standards of excellence and integrity,” Wagner said.

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 ALocal News

Avondale sees slow but steady growth for some businessesby Daniel [email protected]

Several businesses in Avondale Estates have closed or moved this year but resident and owner of Finders Keepers consign-ment stores Bonnie Kallen-berg said there is one type of business in Avondale that is doing well.

“I think destinations that people drive to that are a bargain are doing fine,” Kal-lenberg said.

Beginning in 2007, Kal-lenberg said Avondale resi-dents expected a big change in the neighborhood because a company planned to build a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use development, which was supposed to feature a Publix, as well as other retail stores with con-dominiums above the retail spaces.

However, the project was later put on hold due to fi-nancial strain and eventually nixed when Century Retail, the Florida-based developer that bought the property, filed for bankruptcy in 2011.

Now, many of the build-ings the company purchased to develop sit vacant on the city’s main strip, located off East College Avenue/North Avondale Road. Avondale Estates City Manager Clai Brown said it’s unfortunate that the properties tied up with the bankruptcy hap-pened to be right in plain view. However, Brown said a lot of developers have been eyeing those proper-ties, as well as the adjacent 13-acre property, which once housed the Fenner-Dunlop manufacturing plant.

“That area is very prime for development and there have been many developers coming through and speak-ing with the bank about acquiring the properties,” Brown said.

Kallenberg, who has op-erated her clothing store in downtown Avondale Estates since 1984 and opened a furniture store in 2003, said some of the businesses that moved into the area during the planning phase of the development anticipated the heavy foot traffic areas such as Decatur or Virginia-Highlands have.

“We don’t have that yet,” Kallendberg said. “An area where people just go to shop and walk. You don’t really see people walking from store to store.”

Kallenberg said she thinks the city is doing everything it can to encour-age business. Over the past years she said Avondale Estates has become easier for businesses to work with and it has even hired City Planner and Community Development Officer Keri Stevens.

“Now she is the go-to person and the city realizes that they need us as much as we need them,” Kallenberg said.

Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Reiker said an invest-ment firm recently pur-chased the “Tudor Village” in Avondale, which consists of several properties–some vacant–that are designed to look like cottages one might find in the mountains of Switzerland.

“We’ll have new owners there and they’ll be able to update that building and we think that’s going to be part of the start of revitalizing that downtown area,” Reiker said.

Reiker also said that hir-ing Stevens was a big step for the city, which until then didn’t have a dedicated staff member to concentrate on city planning and active economic development.

Lisa Whiddon owns a barber shop on the corner of North Avondale Road and

Finders Keepers, which has been located in Avondale Estates since 1984, has seen steady growth over the years because it is a “destination” business, according to owner Bonnie Kallenberg.

The James Joyce pub, which closed recently, is located off North Avondale Road. Photos by Daniel Beauregard

Clarendon Avenue in down-town Avondale Estates. The Brass Chair Barber Shop has been on the corner since 1997 and Whiddon said over the years business has been relatively steady.

“It dropped off there for

a while but it’s starting to pick back up again now,” Whiddon said. “The last month or so I’ve had a lot of new customers for some reason.”

Whiddon echoed Brown and said it was unfortunate

that many of the properties located on the downtown area’s main strip are caught up in the bankruptcy court.

“They’re kind of stuck in limbo right now,” Whiddon said.


by Daniel [email protected]

A criminal trial alleging former school officials con-spired to defraud the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) of millions of dollars’ worth of con-struction projects be-gins in September and its outcome could cost the district millions in legal fees for another case.

Former DeKalb County School Dis-trict (DCSD) super-intendent Crawford Lewis and architect Tony Pope, along with Pope’s ex-wife Patri-cia Reid, are charged with running a criminal enterprise within the school system. Lewis has been charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Cor-rupt Organizations Act (RICO), theft by tak-ing by a government employee and bribery. Pope and Reid face similar charges.

In 2010 a grand jury re-turned an indictment alleg-ing Lewis, former schools construction chief Reid and Pope conspired to defraud the school district of approxi-mately $2.4 million.

Reid allegedly used her role as the district’s construc-

tion chief to award contracts to then-husband Pope. Ac-cording to officials and court documents, Lewis signed off on contracts and knowingly participated in the conspiracy.

The trial is scheduled to

begin the second week of September, officials from the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office said.

Pope’s attorney John Petrey said Pope, who is charged in the RICO count, did not participate in a con-spiracy to defraud the school

system. “He was upfront about

who he was and what the work he was providing was, and we look forward to hav-ing an opportunity to present his defense to a jury,” Petrey

said.Reid’s attorney Tony

Axam and Lewis’ attor-ney Rep. Edward Lind-sey did not return repeated requests for comment.

In 2006 Reid fired construction firm Heery/Mitchell, which had overseen construction contracts for the district, citing overbilling and questionable work. Heery managed the school SPLOST account from 2002-06.

Heery International has since sued DeKalb County School District for $400,000, which it said the system still owes for work it had done. The school system conse-quently countersued for $100 million, alleging fraud and claiming that the company misman-aged projects.

The construction firm denies those claims and contends the real reason it was fired was because Reid wanted to award con-tracts to people she had connections with.

Heery officials have contended that for the

civil case involving the school board and Heery International to proceed, the pending crimi-nal case involving Lewis and Reid must be resolved. Then both can be called as wit-nesses in the civil trial without incriminating themselves.

Since the beginning of the case with Heery International, the school board has accrued upward of $30 million in legal fees, according court docu-ments.

Earlier this year DCSD lost two pre-trial procedural decisions in the civil case. Lawyers for the district filed a motion to seal documents made public by the updated criminal indictment of Lewis, Pope and Reid, which was de-nied by DeKalb County Judge Cynthia Becker.

DCSD claimed that part of the indictment included “privileged communications between DCSD and its at-torneys.” However, the court ruled the exhibits DCSD re-quested to be sealed were not

“privileged communications as a matter of law.”

The documents requested to be sealed, labeled exhib-its FFF, GGG and JJJ, detail conversations between several school officials including Lewis, who at one point said: “[Pat Reid] wanted to hire her friends for SPLOST work.”

Additionally, DeKalb County Judge Clarence Seeli-ger ruled July 19 that the stat-ute of limitations for approxi-mately three-and-a-half years of DCSD’s breach of contract claims levied against the con-struction firm had run out.

“There is a six-year stat-ute of limitations for breach of contract and [lawyers for Heery International] asked to have that dismissed based on the statute of limitations,” said Greg Euston, a spokesman for Heery International.

“It’s only for one claim but from Heery’s point of view the decision is worth tens of millions of dollars, potential-ly,” Euston said.

Outcome of school corruption trial could impact civil case with construction firm

The Mayor and City Council of the City of Chamblee, Georgia will hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at the Chamblee Civic Center, 3540 Broad Street, Chamblee, GA 30341 at 6:00 p.m. to receive public comments regarding the following zoning matters: 1. Chapter 34, “Environment”, Article XV, “Stream Buffer Protection”, Section 34-

1005(a), “Land development requirements”. The subject property is located at 1868 Dyer Circle. The applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the 75’ stream buffer requirement to 41’ to allow the construction of a 12’X15’ rear addition (2012V-007).

2. Pursuant to Appendix A, “Zoning Ordinance”, Article II, “Administration”,

Section 202.A.1 the City of Chamblee, GA seeks to rezone 5970 Peachtree Blvd from Neighborhood Residential (NR-1) to Corridor Commercial (CC) (2012Z-002).

3. Pursuant to Appendix A, “Zoning Ordinance”, Article II, “Administration”,

Section 202.A.1, the City of Chamblee, GA seeks to rezone 5000 Kristie Way from Corridor Residential (CR) to Industrial (I). (2012Z-003).

4. Appendix A, “Zoning Ordinance”, Article XIII, “Signs”: Section 1307.B.2.b,

“Planned centers: one principle building sign for each business on a wall facing a street frontage with a curb cut”; Section 1308.B.5, “20’ maximum setback for principle freestanding signs from the driveway curb cut”; Section 1304.B.1, “prohibition of a rotating sign”. The subject property is located at 5241 New Peachtree Road. The applicant is requesting variances to allow principle building signage to be placed on an accessory structure; to allow a rotating sign; and to allow a greater setback of the monument sign from the driveway curb cut (2012V-008).

Notice oF PUBLic HeARiNG

420-326073 8/30,9/6,9/13,9/20,9/27 STATE OF GEORGIA

COUNTY OF DEKALB

NOTICE OF SALE UNDER POWER Because of a default in the payment of the indebtedness secured by a Security Deed executed by Terrence Forde, Jr. and Kieslia Forde to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. dated April 24, 2003, and recorded in Deed Book 14865, Page 6, DeKalb County Records, said Security Deed having been last sold, assigned, transferred and conveyed to Wells Fargo Bank, NA, by Assignment, , securing a Note in the original principal amount of $155,080.00, the holder thereof pursuant to said Deed and Note thereby secured has declared the entire amount of said indebtedness due and payable and, pursuant to the power of sale contained in said Deed, will on the first Tuesday, November 6, 2012, during the legal hours of sale, before the Courthouse door in said County, sell at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash, the property described in said Deed, to-wit: ALL THAT TRACT OR PARCEL OF LAND LYING AND BEING IN LAND LOT 160, OF THE 16TH DISTRICT, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA RECORDS, AND BEING LOT 30, DESI-ION CREEK, AS PER PLAT RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 108, PAGES 97-102, DEKALe COUNTY, GEORGIA RECORDS, WHICH RECORDED PLAT IS INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF SAID PROPERTY. Said property is known as 700 Deshon Creek Drive, Lithonia, GA 30058, together with all fixtures and personal property attached to and constituting a part of said property, if any. Said property will be sold subject to any outstanding ad valorem taxes (including taxes which are a lien, whether or not now due and payable), the right of redemption of any taxing authority, any matters which might be disclosed by an accurate survey and inspection of the property, any assessments, liens, encumbrances, zoning ordinances, restrictions, covenants, and matters of record superior to the Security Deed first set out above. The sale will be conducted subject (1) to confirmation that the sale is not prohibited under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and (2) to final confirmation and audit of the status of the loan with the holder of the security deed. Notice has been given of intention to collect attorney's fees in accordance with the terms of the Note secured by said Deed. The property, to the best information, knowledge and belief of the undersigned, being presently in the possession of Terrence Forde, Jr. and Kieslia Forde or a tenant or tenants. The proceeds of said sale will be applied to the payment of said indebtedness and all the expenses of said sale, including attorney's fees, all as provided in said Deed, and the balance, if any, will be distributed as provided by law. Wells Fargo Bank, NA as Attorney-in-Fact for Terrence Forde, Jr. and Kieslia Forde

File no. 12-033955 SHAPIRO & SWERTFEGER, LLP* Attorneys and Counselors at Law 2872 Woodcock Blvd., Duke Building, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30341-3941 (770) 220-2535/CP www.swertfeger.net *THE LAW FIRM IS ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

See School on Page 10A

‘He was upfront about who he was and what the work he was pro-viding was, and we look forward to having an op-portunity to pres-ent his defense to a jury.’

- John Petrey

“


Doraville redevelopment plans delayed againby Donnell Suggs

Doraville offi cials are mulling over an Urban Re-development Plan (URP) that would address the site formerly occupied by the General Motors plant.

The plan, presented in two drafts during a town hall meeting Aug. 9, was prepared by Luke Howe, assistant to the mayor’s of-fi ce and the city economic development manager. The council agreed to table the item for a work session to do more research before voting on it later this year.

Draft A of the plan fo-cused on redeveloping the General Motors plant and adjacent Seaboard Oil prop-erty, both vacant.

Draft B calls for rede-velopment of both of the properties as well as other vacated commercial prop-erties, retail spaces and neglected apartment com-plexes around the city.

“[Draft] B is a broader urban redevelopment plan that includes almost every non-residential parcel in the city,” Howe said before an Aug. 20 city council meet-ing. “The other [draft] is much more narrow.

“Those plans are criti-cal,” he said. “You have to have some incentives in place because of marketing. The market forces alone aren’t going to redevelop those properties.”

According to documents provided by the mayor’s of-fi ce, Doraville is currently at 20 percent vacancy in its downtown commercial cen-ter and the redevelopment plan, if passed, could create fi scal opportunities for both business owners and resi-dents.

“The opportunities on potential tax credit, when compared to the tax credit program that is place for us right now, which is a Tier 3 credit program, is so much more dynamic and conducive to small business development because you would only have to cre-ate a minimum of two jobs before you can claim that credit,” Howe said.

The present Tier 3 credit program only allows a busi-ness owner to claim a tax credit after creating a mini-mum of 15 jobs at $1,250 per employee.

The number of business permits issued in Doraville has dropped since 2007 when 16 permits were is-sued. Since 2011, no more than three have been issued in the city (the 2012 num-bers were not available) compared to 34 in Sandy Springs during the same year.

For a city to qualify ac-cording to the Urban Re-development Act (URA), adopted in 1995 and re-vised in 2004, a city would have to meet two criteria:

the area that is to be re-developed would have to be within a census tract that has a poverty level of 15 percent or greater (Doraville has a poverty rate of 32.60 percent ac-cording to the 2010 U.S. Census) and the city must have an urban redevelop-ment plan in place.

The redevelopment plan has to declare that the areas of town to be redeveloped are blighted.

“From our perspective, it is what it is,” Howe said. “We essentially have to say we are economically distressed. Any town that loses that kind of tax base is going to be distressed It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

During the council meet-ing, several residents pre-sented their cases against the redevelopment plan.

Former council mem-ber Tom Hart, a 23-year Doraville resident and re-tired chemist, compared the URA to a line in the movie Used Cars: “Get their friendship, get their con-fi dence, get their trust and then get their money.”

“That’s what this meet-ing is all about tonight,” said Hart, who lost his seat on the council after an un-successful bid for mayor. “The core of this act is con-demnation. They [the coun-cil] are going to tell you that they are not going to

use the condemnation part of the law, but they are go-ing to pass the law anyway.

“I am saying that the council and the mayor caused the blighted areas, [and] now they are going to use that as one more step to do something to the city,” he said. “Trust me.”

Hart said that approval of the plan would “desig-nate Doraville an offi cial red line city, an offi cial fed-eral slum.”

Many of the residents in the meeting expressed con-cern that development of the surrounding properties threatened to take business away from current business owners. No resident in at-tendance spoke openly for the URP.

Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman said, “I think I can probably speak for this council and myself when I say that there never ever will be an objective for our goals to take people’s prop-erty.”

Howe called the redevel-opment plan a “no brainer.”

“We don’t have an eco-nomic development pro-gram unless we pass this plan,” he said. “[Doraville] is not in the position to of-fer incentives [to future business owners] ourselves. The worse thing that hap-pens is that nothing hap-pens.”

Runoff results show Davenport, Anderson, McMahan, Johnson as winners

Two state legislature seats and two county Board of Ed-ucation seats were decided in the Aug. 21 primary runoff election. The results were of-fi cially certifi ed Aug. 27.

In the state Senate Dis-trict 44 Democratic runoff incumbent Gail Davenport defeated challenger Gail Buckner by more than a three-to-one margin.

In the state House of Representatives District 92 Democratic race, Tonya P. Anderson garnered more than 63 percent of the vote, defeating opponent Doreen Williams.

The nonpartisan Board of Education runoff resulted in Jim McMahan taking more than 65 percent of the vote and defeating incum-bent Paul Womack for the District 4 seat. The District 6 seat was won by Melvin Johnson, who defeated op-ponent Denise E. McGill, receiving more than 66 per-cent of the vote to her 33 percent.

The former General Motors plant in Doraville is the focus of an urban redevelopment plan being studied by Doraville offi cials. File photo

Attorney Robert Khayat, who is representing DCSD, said the school system is pur-suing damages back to 1997 under other legal grounds, such as violations of the Racketeer Infl uenced and Cor-rupt Organization (RICO) law, so Seeliger’s ruling didn’t af-fect the amount of money the school system could recover.

“From our position it doesn’t affect it very much because we were seeking the same damages through other outlets,” Khayat said. “We’d rather have it in, no doubt about it, but we still have other really strong claims cov-ering that same time period.”

A trial date has been set for Feb. 13, 2013, for the case.

The school board and construction fi rm have been ordered into mediation by Seeliger—once in 2009 and again in 2011—but the parties have been unable to reach a settlement agreement.

“We believe the facts in the civil case matter, and when presented to a jury, the jury will agree with us,” Heery International spokes-man David Rubinger said.

Seeliger has set a trial date of Feb. 4, 2013, for the civil case against the DeKalb County School Board.

School Continued From Page 9A


Swimmer represents DeKalb County in Paralympicsby Donnell Suggs

Imagine having to com-pete in five separate swims at an Olympic meet with the entire world watching. Now imagine being a world record holder in two events and attempting to hold on to those records. Now imagine trying to do that paralyzed from the waist down.

DeKalb County’s Curtis Lovejoy doesn’t have to imagine it because he’s liv-ing it after a 1986 car acci-dent left him without the use of his legs.

Lovejoy, who is com-peting in the London Para-

lympic Games set for Aug. 29- Sept. 9, participated in the Games in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. He currently holds world records in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events in his classification and is scheduled to defend his records in those events as well as compete in the 50-meter breaststroke, 50-meter backstroke and 200-meter freestyle.

Lovejoy, who enjoyed basketball, football and cy-cling prior to his accident, competed in fencing in previous Paralympic games but will not at the London games.

“I decided not to compete this year to better focus on swimming,” said Lovejoy, who medaled in the event at previous games and enjoys the sport.

In addition to competi-tive athletics, Lovejoy, a graduate of and Morris Brown College, is a moti-vational speaker who has appeared before groups as large as 85,000.

When asked who inspires him, Lovejoy said, “I am in-spired by Michael Jordan, for both his professional and Olympic achievements.

“I also really admire [late tennis star] Arthur Ashe,”

Lovejoy said. “His memoir Days of Grace was just so inspiring to me.”

Curtis earned a bachelor of science degree in thera-peutic recreation to better understand and tell others what it takes to keep active while disabled.

While Lovejoy is in Lon-don, he’ll be getting around the Olympic Village on a motorized scooter donated by Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FO-DAC) and MobilityWorks and decorated with a U.S. flag-themed wrap. FODAC donated the scooter while MobilityWorks covered the

cost of the scooter’s custom-ization.

MobilityWorks, a nation-al supplier of wheelchair-ac-cessible vans, has sponsored Lovejoy since 1996.

“We couldn’t ask for a better example of a strong, independent spirit than Cur-tis,” said MobilityWorks marketing coordinator Holly Cothran Drake.

Lovejoy has a simple answer for anyone that asks about his athletic success.

“You control the disabil-ity—don’t let the disability control you,” he said.

by Nigel Roberts

There are just a couple of weeks remaining until the Sept. 15 dead-line to apply for a nursing school scholarship from DeKalb Medical Foundation. Each year the founda-tion awards several Dr. Mark Cop-page Nursing Scholarships, ranging from $500 to $5,000, to nursing students.

Named in honor of Mark Cop-page, who died in a 1989 car accident, the scholarship provides financial support to students pursu-

ing a nursing education and who actively serves their community.

Registered nursing is at the top of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job growth projections for the 2010 – 2020 period. The bureau anticipates the number of registered nursing positions to increase from 2.74 million in 2010 to 3.45 million in 2020.

A rapidly aging baby boomer generation is fueling much of the demand. At the same time, many observers expect an influx of new patients who will obtain health

insurance through the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld as constitu-tional.

However, there is a shortage of registered nurses to meet the grow-ing demand. The current registered nurse workforce averages 50 years of age, and the profession has a high turnover rate. According to some projections, the registered nurse shortage will grow to 260,000 by 2025.

With the need for registered

nurses on the rise, scholarship opportunities are a step toward a solution. DeKalb Medical Founda-tion has already given more than $300,000 in nursing school scholar-ships to 126 students since 1993.

Those interested in applying for a scholarship are required to com-plete an application and answer four essay-style questions. Applications may be acquired by visiting www.DeKalbMedical.org and going to the foundation webpage, then click-ing on the scholarships link.

DeKalb Medical Foundation offers scholarships to nursing students

Lloyd Ames, FODAC donations manager, and Holly CothranDrake, marketing coordinator for MobilityWorks, pose with Paralympics participant Curtis Lovejoy in his new Olympic-themed scooter. Photo provided


Visit

Atla

ntas

DeKa

lbCo

unty

.com

DeKalb Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Reunion Specialist will teach you everything you need to know to plan the perfect Family Reunion from 9 a.m. to Noon.

T-Shirts, Attractions and Tour Informationwill be available at the Vendor Showcase from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Doubletree Hotel Atlanta NE/Northlake4156 LaVista Road, Tucker, GA 30084

Call 770-492-5050 ext. 1181Pre-registration is required

Saturday - September 15, 2012

FREE Family Reunion Planning Workshop & Showcase

Host your Family Reunion in DeKalb County!

Clarkston farmers marketFresh produce, music and vendors selling their wares were on hand Aug. 26 at the Clarkston Farmers Market, at the Clarkston Communi-ty Center activities, located at 3701 College Avenue in Clarkston. The markets are held on the last Sun-day of the month through October. Photos by Travis Hudgons

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 A

Send your comments and/or concerns regarding Comcast’s current performance under the current franchise agreement and/or the future cable-related needs and interests of your community to www.dekalbcountyga.gov.

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

with Comcast Cable Communications

by Andrew [email protected]

An eyesore on North De-catur Road will soon meet its fate.

The county’s Board of Commissioners approved a plan Aug. 14 to demolish Brookside Apartments, an abandoned, derelict complex located on North Decatur Road just outside I-285 with frontage on Rockbridge Road.

The 7.5-acre site will become a passive park, said Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who authorized $247,000 in District 6 park bond funds to pay the back taxes to acquire the property.

As a passive park, it would include no athletic fielfds, but could include a playground, walking trail, picnic areas and greenspace, Gannon said. The county’s recreation and parks department will engage the surrounding neighborhood to plan how the property will be used.

The previous owner’s plans to redevelop the com-plex failed during the collapse of the real estate market and the property deteriorated. The owners abandoned the prop-erty which then fell to decay.

Broken doors and win-dows, roting wood and over-grown kudzu and other weeds can found throughout the complex.

“We had sanitation [work-ers] in there taking out piles and piles and piles of tires and mattresses and God knows what,” Gannon said. “There was evidence of people stay-ing in the [abandoned] build-ings.”

Gannon said the county has received several com-plaints from the owner the ad-jacent condominium complex who is attempting to sell his property.

The county’s code en-forcement advisory commit-tee also has highlighted the eyesore, Gannon said.

“It’s been brought to our attention in a number of dif-ferent ways,” Gannon said. “These buildings have to come down.”

DeKalb County will ac-quire title to the site by pay-ing back taxes.

“Acquiring this property at less than $33,000 per acre is a relative bargain,” Gannon said.

The county will then use federal Neighborhood Stabili-zation Funds to demolish the buildings and haul away the debris.

Eyesore will be razed for greenspace“This was a coordinated

effort with several depart-ments in the administration to remove this slum property,” Gannon said. “In the near future we will have stabilized this community and added a recreation amenity for the citizens of central DeKalb County and District 6.”

The project “eliminates a huge code enforcement [prob-lem] that happens to be in the middle of a central area and convert it into greenspace,” Gannon said.

Because of the lagging economy, these derelict prop-erties “are popping up all over the county. They’re all turning into these public safety and public health nuisances,” said Gannon, who plans to put to-gether a think tank to address the problem of blighted prop-erties in the county.

“This one happened to be in an area that has little to no greenspace,” Gannon said.

“Not every property is like that, especially single family dwellings.”

It could be several weeks before demolition begins at the site.

The vacant Brookside Apartments will soon be demolished to make way for a 7.5-acre community park on North Decatur Road. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

Full8/31

New9/15

The Northeast will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with a few thunder-storms today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 95º in Eau Claire,Wis. The Southeast will see widespread rain today as Isaac moves through the

region, scattered thunderstorms Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 94º in Ft.Myers, Fla. The Northwest will see mostly clear skies today through Saturday, with the highesttemperature of 89º in Torrington, Wyo. The Southwest will see mostly clear skies today throughSaturday, with the highest temperature of 107º in Bullhead City, Ariz.

THURSDAYT-storms Likely

High: 82 Low: 70

Last9/8

The Champion Weather Aug. 30, 2012Seven Day Forecast

Local UV Index

WEDNESDAYMostly Cloudy

High: 84 Low: 65

TUESDAYPartly Cloudy

High: 88 Low: 69

MONDAYScat'd T-storms

High: 86 Low: 68

SUNDAYIsolated T-stormsHigh: 87 Low: 72

SATURDAYScat'd T-storms

High: 86 Low: 71

FRIDAYScat'd T-storms

High: 85 Low: 71

In-Depth Local Forecast Today's Regional Map

Sunrise7:10 a.m.7:10 a.m.7:11 a.m.7:12 a.m.7:12 a.m.7:13 a.m.7:14 a.m.

Sunset8:05 p.m.8:04 p.m.8:02 p.m.8:01 p.m.8:00 p.m.7:58 p.m.7:57 p.m.

Moonset6:11 a.m.7:13 a.m.8:13 a.m.9:11 a.m.

10:09 a.m.11:05 a.m.12:00 p.m.

Moonrise7:20 p.m.7:54 p.m.8:26 p.m.8:58 p.m.9:31 p.m.10:06 p.m.10:43 p.m.

First9/22

www.WhatsOurWeather.com

Weather HistoryAug. 30, 1982 - A tropicaldepression brought torrentialrains to portions of southernTexas. Up to 12 inches fell southof Houston and as much as 18inches fell southeast of Austin.The tropical depression spawned14 tornadoes in three days.

Weather Trivia

Tonight's Planets

Are all weather stationsautomated?

Answer: No. Some are automated andothers are manned by meteorologists.

?

DayThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayMondayTuesdayWednesday

National Weather Summary This Week

Local Sun/Moon Chart This Week

StarWatch By Gary Becker - Blue Moon Shining on Me

Today we will see cloudy skies with a 70%chance of showers and thunderstorms, high of82º, humidity of 89%. Southeast wind 5 to 10mph. The record high for today is 98º set in1948. Expect cloudy skies tonight with a 30%chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Aug. 31, 1954 - Hurricane Carolswept across eastern NewEngland, killing 60 people andcausing 450 million dollars indamage. It was the first of threehurricanes to affect NewEngland that year.

While listening to an Elvis Presley CD, my attention was riveted to one of his songs, “Blue Moon.” Richard Rodgers’s, another famous song writer, also wrote about theblue moon. Both Presley’s and Rodger’s renditions of the blue moon were negative. In the Presley song, Elvis is pining about lost or future loves while Rodgers is writingabout the “bad in every man.” But there is an astronomical definition of a blue moon which carries no emotional stigma. Here the blue moon is the second full moon of amonth, a condition that occurs once every two or three years and twice in a single year when a blue moon falls in January, and then again in March. Since the moon requires

29-1/2 days to complete its phase cycle, no blue moon could ever happen in February, since even in a leap year, there are only 29 days. Yet it wasn’t always that way. The origin of ourmodern concept of a blue moon really occurred as an error made in a 1946 issue of “Sky and Telescope” magazine. Data garnered from the “Maine Farmers’Almanac—1937” was inter-preted incorrectly and became our modern concept of the blue moon. In a normal year there are 12 full moons, but every couple of years, an extra full moon must occur. The “MaineFarmers’Almanac” divided the year into four lunar seasons with each full moon having a name. The first full moon of year was called the Moon after Yule, followed by the Wolf Moon,and then the Lenten Moon. A fourth full moon added into the mix would cause the full moon names to become out of synch with the seasons. To correct for this error, the third full moonin the sequence became known as the blue moon, thus keeping the run of full moon names always in step with the seasons. The first full moon in August occurred late on the first. A sec-ond full moon, a blue moon, happens late on Friday, August 31. www.astronomy.org

Rise SetMercury 6:18 a.m. 7:42 p.m.Venus 3:38 a.m. 5:34 p.m.Mars 11:43 a.m.10:33 p.m.Jupiter 12:50 a.m. 2:58 p.m.Saturn 10:59 a.m.10:20 p.m.Uranus 9:19 p.m. 9:39 a.m.

3 50 - 2 4 6 8 107 9 11+

UV Index0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate,

6-7: High, 8-10: Very High11+: Extreme Exposure

Atlanta82/70

Decatur82/70

Doraville81/70

Dunwoody80/69 Lilburn

81/70

Snellville82/70

Lithonia83/70

Morrow83/70

Smyrna81/70

Hampton84/71

Union City83/70

College Park83/70

*Last Week’s AlmanacDate Hi Lo Normals PrecipTuesday 88 62 87/70 0.00"Wednesday 86 66 87/69 0.00"Thursday 88 65 87/69 0.10"Friday 87 67 87/69 0.00"Saturday 88 64 87/69 0.00"Sunday 91 64 87/69 0.00"Monday 90 67 87/69 0.03"Rainfall . . . . . . .0.13" Average temp . .76.6Normal rainfall . .0.78" Average normal 78.1Departure . . . . .-0.65" Departure . . . . .-1.5

Place Your Ad Here!

*Data as reported from De Kalb-Peachtree Airport

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 AHealth

CDC now recommends all baby boomers receive hepatitis C test

CDC: West Nile outbreak one of largest in U.S.

New approach could major increases in liver disease and deaths in United States

All U.S. baby boomers should get a one-time test for the hepatitis C virus, according to final recom-mendations published recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in 30 baby boomers—the generation born from 1945 through 1965—has been infected with hepatitis C, and most don’t know it. Hepatitis C causes serious liver diseases, including

liver cancer (the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related deaths) and is the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.

The final recommendations are published in the Aug. 16 issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Draft recommenda-tions were issued in May, followed by a public comment period.

“A one-time blood test for hepatitis C should be on every baby boomer’s medical checklist,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “The new recommen-dations can protect the health of an entire generation of Americans and save thousands of lives.”

CDC’s previous recommenda-tions called for testing only indi-viduals with certain known risk

factors for hepatitis C infection. Risk-based screening will continue to be important, but is not sufficient alone. More than 2 million U.S. baby boomers are infected with hepatitis C – accounting for more than 75 percent of all American adults living with the virus. Studies show that many baby boomers were infected with the virus decades ago, do not perceive themselves to be at risk, and have never been screened.

More than 15,000 Americans, most of them baby boomers, die each year from hepatitis C-related illness, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, and deaths have been in-creasing steadily for over a decade and are projected to grow signifi-cantly in coming years.

CDC estimates one-time hepa-

titis C testing of baby boomers could identify more than 800,000 additional people with hepatitis C. And with newly available therapies that can cure up to 75 percent of infections, expanded testing – along with linkage to appropriate care and treatment – would prevent the costly consequences of liver cancer and other chronic liver diseases and save more than 120,000 lives.

Comments received from indi-viduals and organizations during the public comment period (May 22-June 8, 2012) overwhelmingly sup-ported CDC’s original proposal. As a result, the agency did not make substantive changes to the draft rec-ommendations.

by Mike StobbeATLANTA (AP) The

current West Nile outbreak is one of the largest in the United States, with four times the usual number of cases for this time of year, federal health officials said recently.

It’s still too early to say how bad the year will end up because most infections are reported in August and September. But never before have so many illnesses been reported this early, said Dr. Lyle Petersen, of the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“We’re in the midst of one of the largest West Nile outbreaks ever seen in the United States,” said Peters-en, who oversees the CDC’s mosquito-borne illness pro-grams.

So far, 1,118 illnesses have been reported, about half of them in Texas. In an average year, fewer than 300 cases are reported by mid-August. There have also been 41 deaths this year, the CDC said.

And cases seem to be accelerating: about 400 of the cases were reported in a single week in August.

Experts think the mild winter, early spring and very hot summer helped stimulate mosquito breeding and the spread of the virus. Mosquitoes pick up the vi-rus from birds they bite and then pass it on to people.

CDC officials are also looking into the possibility that the virus mutated, but so far have no information

showing that happened, Pe-tersen said.

West Nile virus was first diagnosed in Uganda in 1937, but no cases were reported in the U.S. until 1999 in New York. The virus gradually spread across the country.

It peaked in 2002 and 2003, when severe illnesses reached nearly 3,000 and deaths surpassed 260. Last year was mild, with fewer than 700 cases.

Only about one in five in-fected people get sick. Early symptoms can include fever, headache and body aches. Some recover in a matter of days. But one in 150 in-

fected people will develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.

Many illnesses probably go unreported, especially milder cases. In this year’s case count, more than half are severe, CDC officials said.

In recent years, cases have been scattered across the country. Hot spots are usually in southeast Loui-siana, central and southern California, and areas around Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Phoenix.

Those areas seem to have a combination of factors that include the right kinds of

virus-carrying mosquitoes and birds, along with large numbers of people who can be infected, health officials say.

Illnesses this year have been reported in 38 states, but the bulk of them have been in Texas, with a con-centration in the Dallas area.

It’s not clear why Texas is seeing so many cases, but it’s alarming. Twenty-one deaths have been reported in the state so far this year, which is more than all other years combined. Four of the Texas deaths were reported on a single day—Aug. 21.

Officials started aerial spraying for mosquitoes in

Dallas County in August. But it’s too soon to measure the effect—it takes between three and 14 days for people to develop symptoms after being infected by a mos-quito.

The best way to prevent West Nile disease is to avoid mosquito bites. Insect repel-lents, screens on doors and windows, and wearing long sleeves and pants are some of the recommended strate-gies. Also, empty standing water from buckets, kiddie pools and other places to dis-courage breeding.


Books Continued From Page 1A

“We had an editor of the Harry Potter books at the festival and the kids enjoyed playing ‘stump the edi-tor’—asking questions to see if they could come up with one the editor couldn’t answer.” One presentation featured an illustrator who had the audience participate in a “draw-off.”

In addition to meeting people connected with books they’ve read, children are introduced to books that they hadn’t heard of. “When children have fun at a presentation, they can’t wait to read the book. Sometimes they find a new favorite

author,” McVoy said. Decatur is known for its free-

form parades that include lots of children, so it was natural that a children’s parade be incorporated into the book festival. It succeeded far beyond the organizers’ expecta-tions. “We looked up and the line of children stretched on for blocks and blocks. There must have been more than 1,000 of them,” McVoy said. The solution was two parades. Now there’s one on Saturday and another on Sunday.

The festival traditionally starts

with a keynote speaker—a widely known author who opens the event with a Friday evening presentation. New this year is a “kidnote” pre-senter, who will open the festival for children. Jose-Luis Orozco, author of Rin Rin Rin, Do Re Me, will be in Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall at 4 p.m. with an interactive presentation in Spanish and English that will include dancing and mu-sic. “How cool would it be to know how to sing an old favorite like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider in two languages?” notes the festival website.

The activities for children are essentially all interactive. Children don’t just watch and listen, they are part of the action—“and they just love that,” McVoy said.

No child is too young to be part of the festival. Parents are encour-aged to bring even infants. “Studies show that the No. 1 thing parents can do for children to help them be successful in life is read to them from ages 0 through 5,” McVoy said.

The festival run Aug. 31 - Sept. 2.

Parents and children enjoy the Children’s Stage at a previous AJC Decatur Book Festival. The festival runs Aug. 31-Sept. 2. Photo provided

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 AEducation

Local nonprofit develops support group for bullying victimsby Daniel [email protected]

Polina Milter said when she attended Dunwoody High School bullying ranged from name calling to “complete avoidance.” In some cases, Milter said she would walk up to a group of students to try to join their conversation, only to be completely ignored.

Milter, who graduated from Dunwoody in 2009, now attends Georgia Perim-eter College. Last year she founded The Push Back, a nonprofit group formed Project to combat bullying and help students cope with being bullied.

“We want to talk to prin-cipals, teachers and stuff like that,” Milter said. “We want to go from classroom to classroom so people can talk to us, so we can answer questions and they can tell us their stories.”

The nonprofit recently

held its first meeting and nearly 40 students of all ages crowded into Dun-woody restaurant Gyro, Gyro, which is sponsoring the organization. Addition-ally, Joli Kobe in Sandy Springs is allowing the or-ganization to hold monthly meetings at its location as well.

“We did some activi-ties and we did some social games,” Milter said. “We were trying to get the at-

tendees to meet new people. I was talking to one girl’s mom after it was over and she said her daughter didn’t want to leave.”

In addition to the large turnout of students at the meeting, Dunwoody City Council member John Heneghan and members of the Dunwoody Police Department were present to show their support.

“It was so great because it really showed that the community cared about what

we are doing and they were full of support,” Milter said.

The Push Back Project is working alongside the DeKalb County School Dis-trict’s antibullying program, which asks students to take a pledge and sign their names at the beginning of each school year.

Titled “Resolution of Re-spect,” the pledge asks stu-dents to combat prejudice, stop those who violate the civil rights of others and cre-ate a community where there

is “No Place for Hate.” How-ever, Milter said the pledge is only a piece of paper.

Currently, Milter said, the organization is raising money by selling T-shirts and has had booths at several local events and concerts to spread the word and accept dona-tions.

“It costs a lot to make a project like this start and we’re raising the money now to make sure we give every-one the help that they need,” Milter said.

Aside from providing awareness of bullying, a large part of the organization is providing a support group for victims. Milter said all of the money raised will go to-ward expanding the activities at each meeting and bring-ing in guest speakers such as teachers, therapists and other antibullying supporters.

“If all things go accord-ing to the plan—the best case scenario—I would like to open up a location for students to go after school if they want to just hang out and meet new people. This program is a lot about build-ing support groups and if we had a location we can have people supporting each other

every day,” Milter said. Milter said without the

help of schools, parents and faculty, bullying will con-tinue to be an ongoing prob-lem. Additionally, she said it was important for The Push Back Project representatives to speak with members of the PTA because “sometimes the teachers can’t see bullying but the parents can.”

Milter said it’s important for a victim of bullying to know there is always some-one who can help or who, in most cases, is going through something similar.

“People can be there for each other. If they don’t feel comfortable contacting someone they know then they can contact us,” Milter said.

Currently, The Push Back Project is having a contest for artists. Those interested in designing a T-shirt for the organization can email Milter at [email protected].

The Push Back Project’s next meeting will take place Sept. 8 at 5 p.m., at Joli Kobe Bakery and Café, located at 5600 Roswell Road NE in Atlanta.

The Push Back Project, a nonprofit developed to help bullying vic-tims, held its first meeting earlier this month. Photos provided

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 ABusiness

CozeeTeas offers teas, therapy, treats

Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030404-378-8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce

by Bryan Fazio

CozeeTeas owner Leigh Canada has strong feelings on the healing tendencies of drinking tea.

And she should, since it was her go-to remedy as a young child growing up in Massachusetts. Canada said she frequently caught colds or was stricken with sore throats but couldn’t take many of the prescribed medicines due to allergies. She would then peruse her grandfather’s back yard, and the two would come back into his kitchen with rhubarb, lilac, sage and other herbs and he would boil them up for her.

Those simple homemade teas stuck with her and, af-ter 27 years in the corporate world, she decided to retire and open her own tea shop business.

That business, CozeeTeas, is located at 225 East Ponce De Leon Ave. Suite 130 in Decatur.

It’s a loose-leaf tea shop

offering in-store beverages as well as tea blends and custom tea mixes to brew at home. CozeeTeas also serves “nibbles” such as Friday’s Banh Mi sandwich, cupcakes from Yum Yum Cupcakes and vegan deserts.

“I decided to retire and start working where my heart was at and it is with loose leaf teas and helping people, help-ing children and just giving back,” Canada said.

Canada and CozeeTeas are helping people in more ways by providing a comfortable space with free Wi-Fi and of-fering to blend teas to treat maladies such as headaches, stress and anxiety.

The tea shop has also offered to work with area charities and will begin host-ing events to raise money for various causes. CozeeTeas will be hosting an event Nov. 4 to benefit a four-year old St. Jude’s cancer patient and in September and October will be working with children in the community to recycle

broken jewelry and jeans into arts and crafts.

CozeeTeas also offers tea parties, high tea, afternoon tea, children’s tea, open mike night for musicians and poets, a writer’s group, jazz shows on Sundays, live music on Fridays and Tea Therapy groups.

The Tea Therapy is a take on high tea but instead of patrons coming in dressed up and ready for an afternoon of frivolity, they will be able to hear from a therapist or another expert on a particular topic while noshing on teas and finger foods.

“It is designed to help peo-ple and encourage people,” said Keturah Israel, creative director of events at Cozee-Teas.

Canada has made it so CozeeTeas is more about what tea can do for a person rather than just simply pro-viding an accompaniment to fried food.

“It has a lot of benefits–the taste, the look and aroma; tea

in itself is an art. There is an art to making tea and to sip-ping tea,” Canada said. “Cus-tomers call in with some sort of ailment, such as a lady the other day called in and want-ed help with blood pressure, and we can put different teas together for whatever they’re dealing with.”

Canada is certified in her art, having gone to a class in Indianapolis taught by a master tea blender from Sri Lanka. She hopes to travel to Sri Lanka in 2013 to visit tea plantations.

There is only one in North America, located in Charles-ton, S.C.

Canada said a representa-tive of that plantation has dis-cussed working together.

Any updates on that part-nership or other CozeeTea events can be found on its Facebook page, along with upcoming events, menu changes and specials such as banana nut bread and blue-berry coffee cake, grilled lemongrass chicken and dac

biet (pork deli cuts and pate), along with tea specials.

During the summer months, one of CozeeTeas most popular beverage selec-tions has been its iced teas made with green and black teas, resulting in concoctions such as coconut pineapple, raspberry mojito and pepper-mint iced teas.

“It’s an almost intimate setting,” Canada said of Coz-eeTeas. “You’re well taken care of while you’re here, and I think that’s why people leave feeling so good and why they continue coming back.”

CozeeTeas, which opened March 12, coincidentally on the birthday of Canada’s tea-making grandfather, is open for business seven days a week. Monday through Thursday hours are 10 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday and Sat-urday are 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday CozeeTeas is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

CozeeTeas’ owner Leigh Canada retired from 27 years of corporate to follow her heart and work with “loose teas and helping people, helping children and just giving back,” she said. Photos by Bryan Fazio


AVONDALE ESTATELabor Day race set

Avondale Estates will hold its 34th Annual Labor Day 5K Race and 1 Mile Race Monday, Sept. 3, in Willis Park, 51 Dartmouth Ave. (cor-ner of Dartmouth Ave. and Claren-don Place). Onsite registration starts at 7:30 a.m. The one-mile race starts at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K main race starts at 9 a.m.

Walkers and runners of all ages and athletic levels are invited to participate in the event, which was created to benefit the Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis Association (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). For more infor-mation, contact Karen Holmes at (404) 294-5400 or email [email protected].

DECATURFoster youth attend indepen-dence forum

More than 60 DeKalb County foster youth attended the third an-nual Roadmap to Independence Fo-rum, hosted by the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center (DCCAC) at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center in Decatur earlier this month.

The Roadmap to Independence Forum is a day-long program tai-lored to DeKalb County foster youth, ages 13 to 17, soon to transition into the broader community as in-dependent adults. Because many foster youth lack traditional family networks and support systems, the forum exposes them to informa-tion and resources to assist them in achieving independence and healthi-er, more fulfilling adult lives.

This year’s forum featured inter-active workshops, guest speakers, community resources and services, and other opportunities geared toward building youth’s financial, physical, educational, vocational and emotional stability.

Numerous public and private-sector partners participated in the forum, including DeKalb Workforce Development, the Atlanta Center for Healing, Chris Kids, DeKalb County Voter Registration, Enchanted Clos-et, Georgia Department of Labor, Families First, Georgia Perimeter’s Gateway to College, and others. A back-to-school barber station provided free haircuts and other ser-vices.

Labor Day concert announced

Bethesda Cathedral has an-nounced a Labor Day Benefit Con-cert, Sunday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m., featuring jazz saxophonist Richard Shaw Jr. There also will be per-formances by LaVoria Reese, Eric Moore and others. The event honors Dr. and Mrs. Stewart Re-ese Jr., parents of Pastor Stewart Reese III. Bethesda Cathedral is located at 1989 Austin Drive, Deca-tur. For more information, call (404) 289-3751 or visit www.bethesdaca-thedral.org.

Senior community to hold September events

The Regency House, an inde-pendent senior living community in Decatur, invites area seniors to welcome fall with free seminars and activities throughout September. The Regency House, www.theregency-house.net, is located at 341 Winn Way in Decatur.All events are free and include:• Sunday, Sept. 2, at 5:30 p.m.

— Dinner and a movie under the stars

• Thursday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. — “Using Home Health to Your Ad-vantage” presented by Bright Star Lifecare

• Saturday, Sept. 8, at noon — 9/11 remembrance luncheon

• Monday, Sept. 10, at 2 p.m. – Fall prevention seminar with Light Homes Care

• Saturday, Sept. 15, at 2 p.m. – Dream A Little Dream musical by Atlanta Theatre to Go

• Saturday, Sept. 22, at 2 p.m. – Football kick off with entertainment from John Frietas

• Monday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. – Medicare changes seminar

• Sunday, Sept. 30, at 5:30 p.m. — Complimentary chef-prepared supper To RSVP, call The Regency

House at (404) 296-1152.

Commissioner to hold Business Night Out for District 3

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson is sponsoring the Candler Road Business Night Out, scheduled for Sept. 4, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Candler/McAfee Plaza, 2000 Candler Road, Decatur.

Representatives from the south precinct of the DeKalb County Po-lice Department will be on hand to provide safety tips and on forming a business watch program.

In addition, the plaza owner, Shawl Pryor will make an an-

nouncement about businesses that are slated to take over vacant store-fronts in the plaza.

“This is an opportunity for the business community as well as the community at-large to come out, meet and greet the business owners and hear the exciting news about the new businesses coming to the area,” Johnson said.

The Business Night Out is an ini-tiative launched by Johnson in 2008 to provide businesses along the Candler Road, Glenwood/Columbia Drive, Memorial Drive, and Gresham Road corridors an opportunity to network with other businesses and to get information on the incentives available from the county. Business owners in the area are urged to stop by.

The Business Night Out is free, open to the public and refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact the Johnson’s office at (404) 371-2988.

DUNWOODYLocal student filmmakers receive Hollywood awards

The Art Institute of Atlanta was recognized at this year’s Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest stu-dent film festival, held earlier this year at the Globe Theatre at Uni-versal Studios in Hollywood. The short film Elias Cromwell, directed by Joshua Gary, a student in the bachelor of fine arts program in digi-tal filmmaking & video production, was recognized as a “Top 25” nomi-nee for Best Picture as well as a Golden Tripod Nominee for Best Ac-tor, Best Director, and Best Cinema-tography. Elias Cromwell won Best Picture in the local CMF competition at The Art Institute of Atlanta.

CMF, founded by four students more than 11 years ago, has provid-ed more than 500,000 participants with laptops, camcorders, and train-ing to create short movies at no cost to the participants. Student filmmak-ers from nearly 100 participating schools attended the event, with award-winning films showcased.

All films can be viewed at www.campusmoviefest.com/hollywood.

STONEMOUNTAINVolunteers needed for golf tour-nament

Volunteers are needed for the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s eighth annual golf tournament Monday, Sept. 24, at Smoke Rise Country Club in Stone Mountain. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and the tournament is 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. The chamber also is interested in dona-tions of door prizes such as hotel stays, airline tickets, football tickets and other high-end items. It also is interested in donations of smaller items that can be placed in goody bags. For more information, contact Dan Lindsay of Prestige Golf Ar-rangements at (404) 321-5019 or email him at [email protected].

TUCKERPolice Alliance to benefit from race proceeds

The Chick-fil-A® restaurants of

DeKalb County, in conjunction with the DeKalb Police Department, will host the Beat the Badge 5K on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 9 a.m. All pro-ceeds from the event will benefit the DeKalb Police Alliance.

Registration is $25, and partici-pants can register online at www.dekalbpolice5k.org or the day of the race. Participants ages 12 and younger can register for $15. Each registered participant will receive a T-shirt. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., and the race will start at 9 a.m.

Registration and race start-ing point will be at DeKalb County Police Headquarters, 1960 West Exchange Place, Tucker. The 5K is open to walkers and runners and is a USATF certified Peachtree Road Race qualifier.

The DeKalb Police Alliance pro-vides life insurance for all full-time, sworn officers in DeKalb County as well as support for families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty.

Following the 5K, a post-race celebration will take place featuring vehicles from every police depart-ment in DeKalb County, including the SWAT mobile command unit, the bomb squad, the helicopter unit, the K-9 unit, the motorcycle unit, police cars from every jurisdiction, fire trucks and ambulances. Guests may also stay for food, music and games.

AROUND DEKALBAROUND DEKALB

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 A

AUCTIONS

ADVERTISE YOUR AUCTION in over 100 newspapers for only $350. Your 25-word classifi ed ad will reach more than1 million readers. Call Jennifer Labon at the Georgia Newspaper Service, 770-454-6776.

BIDS & PROPOSALS

State Lic. Contractor with 29 years experence in additions, r e m o d e l i n g , p a i n t i n g , carpentry, etc... Cal l Carl McCurdy@770-761-5100 dba Better Improvements, Inc.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

START NOW! OPEN Red Hot Dollar, Dollar Plus, MailBox, Discount Party, Discount C l o t h i n g , Te e n S t o r e , Fitness Center from $51,900 Worldwide! www.DRSS23.com 1-800-518-3064.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Backhoe/Bobcat Owner /Operator Small Job, Stone Mt Area 828 298-6060

DRIVERS

35 New Dr i ve r Tra inees Needed! Learn to drive for TMC Transportation! Earn $750 per week! No experience needed! Local CDL Training! Job ready in 3 weeks! 1-877-648-2755.

ATTN: DRIVERS: Apply Now, 12 Drivers Needed. Top 5% Pay, 58 Yrs stability. New KW Conventionals. 2 Mos CDL Class A Driving Exp. 877-258-8782.

Drivers – CRST offers the best Lease Purchase Program! SIGN ON BONUS. No down payment or credit check. Great Pay. Class A CDL required. Owner Operators Welcome. Call: 866-546-7656.

CALLING ALL CDL-A DRIVERS! Join the Team at Averitt. Great Hometime & Benefi ts. 4 Months T/T experience required – Apply now! 888-362-8608.

AVERITTcareers.com. Equal Opportunity Employer.

MISCELLANEOUS

DIVORCE with or without chil-dren $99.00. Includes name change and property settlement agreement. SAVE HUNDREDS. Fast and easy. Call 1-888-733-7165 24/7.

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE

KILL ROACHES! Buy Harris Roach Tablets or Spray. Elimi-nate Bugs Guaranteed! Odor-less and Long Lasting. Available at Ace Hardware, Home Cen-ters, and Feed & Seed Stores.

CHURCH FURNITURE: Does your church need pews, pulpit set, baptistery, steeple, win-dows? Big Sale on new cush-ioned pews and pew chairs. 1-800-231-8360. www.pews1.com.

HIGH SPEED INTERNET AVAIL-ABLE ANYWHERE!!!!! FREE Standard installation. No phone line required. Call now for spe-cial offer. Next day installation available! Call 888-313-8504.

POWER WASHING

POWER WASHING! Local Company cleaning everything. Houses, Concrete, Wood and more. Call now for great sum-mer savings! (770)288-2288, (800) 311-8360.

REAL ESTATE

EVERYONE’S APPROVED – Horton Homes, Georgia’s largest inventory. Over 25 fl oor plans to choose from. Located directly across from the fac-tory. Deep discounts on model and built to order homes. Land home packages available, use land for you down payment! Lake lots available! Hurry, won’t last! Call now! 706-485-6966.

SERVICES

AIRLINES ARE HIRING – Train

for high paying Aviation Main-tenance Career. FAA Approved program. Financial aid if quali-fied – Job placement assis-tance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (866) 564-9634.

SPORTING GOODS

Gun Show – Sept 1-2. Sat. 9-5 & Sun. 10-5. Marietta Cobb Co Civic Center. 548 S Mari-etta PKWY. BUY-SELL-TRADE. INFO: (563) 927-8176.

RATES: $30.00 for up to 40 words, each additional word $0.60. All ads are prepaid!All Major credit cards accepted!

ClassifiedsTheChampionFor Prices, Deadlines and Information

Visit www.championclassifi eds.com

We do not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate, or intend to discriminate, on any illegal basis. Nor do we knowingly accept employment advertisements that are not bona-fide job offers. All real estate advertisements are subject to the fair housing act and we do not accept advertising that is in violation of the law. The law prohibits discrimination based on color, religion, sex,

national origin, handicap or familial status.

DISCLAIMER

Ads Due By Friday - Noonfor next publication date.

The Champion is not responsible for any damages resulting from advertisements. All sales final.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPERRowellAuctions.com

Rowell Auctions, Inc. | 800-323-8388A MarkNet Alliance Member GAL AU-C002594 • 10% Buyer’s Premium

2% Broker Participation

Selling Absolute, No Minimums, No Reserves!Georgia & Alabama

63 BankForeclosed Properties

Thursday -:- September 20th -:- 2:00 p.m.Sale Site: Hilton Garden Inn, 110 Interstate West Parkway, Lithia Springs, GA

Online Bidding Available

Town Home Lots, Saratoga Lakes S/D, DecaturTown Home Lots, Austin Walk S/D, Decatur

97 ± Acres, Pleasant Hill Rd, Lithonia23 ± Acres, Hwy. 124 & Enid Rd. Lithonia

17 ± Acres, Hwy. 124 & Rock Chapel Rd., Lithonia

Donate A Boat

sponsored by boat angel outreach centers STOP CRIMES AGAINST CHILDRENwww.boatangel.com

“2-Night Free Vacation!”

or Car Today!

8001- CAR LANGE--

RENEWING OR GETTING YOUR LICENSE?

For details or to print a check-list of what you need to bring,visit dds.ga.gov.

Effective July 1, 2012,you’ll need to come IN PERSON and bring the following:

Original birth certificate or valid passport

Social Security card

Two proofs of residency

Documents supporting any legal name changes

888-237-4252 x 84TRANZON.COM

Georgia Statewide Classifieds, 2x2, Aug. 20 & 27

Online Only Auction | 93± Properties in GAResidentialCommercial

Land

Tranzon Integrity Partners I GA Auction Firm # ACNR002334; Auctioneer # AUNR002742 | 10% Buyer’s Premium

Bids Close August 28 – September 12

GA Statewide3.792 x 2

Georgia PropertiesAugust 22 - 31

real estate auctions

GA Daniel Nelson Re Lic 337384. Williams & Williams Re Lic H-16048. Monte W. Lowderman Auc Lic AUNR002789. Buyer’s Premium May Apply.

4166 Cumberland Point Dr, Gainesville

Nominal Opening Bids from $1,000

For details, visit williamsauction.com

800.801.8003

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 ASports

by Wade Marbaugh

Veteran head coach Ray Bonner recalls the mo-ment two years ago viv-idly. A lanky sophomore

was starting at quarterback for his Cedar Grove Saints.

“I realized Johnathon was ex-ceptional when he played in his fi rst varsity game as quarterback and his fi rst throw resulted in a touch-down,” Bonner said.

Welcome to the Johnathon Mc-Crary era.

As the 2012 season gets under-way, “McCrary”—or “that Cedar Grove quarterback”—is on the fi ngertips of writers and the lips of coaches and fans around Georgia.

McCrary, a senior measuring 6-4 and 200 pounds, is chasing Georgia gridiron history this sea-son. As a junior last fall he com-piled 2,643 yards, pushing his ca-reer total yardage beyond 6,000.

This fall he could break Zach Stanford’s state career record of 9,062, established in 2004 at Metter High School.

McCrary, who has committed to Vanderbilt, threw 27 touchdown passes in 2011 with a 68.5 comple-tion percentage, nailing 165 of 241 attempts.

“He’s one of the top quarter-backs in the country,” said Bonner, who enters his 10th year as head coach at Cedar Grove and 15th overall.

“Johnathon is a good student and respected among his peers. He’s always smiling and likes to make others laugh.”

McCrary even hails from good football lineage. Brother Greg was drafted out of Clark Atlanta by the Atlanta Falcons in 1975 and played tight end six seasons in the NFL for the Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins.

The younger McCrary leads an impressive list of the class of 2013 college prospects in DeKalb County, an entity well-known for

its own football lineage. The Cham-pion’s preseason all-county roster is spackled with stellar recruits that major university programs are scrambling to sign.

Chamblee’s Davin Bellamy—a defensive end, outside linebacker and tight end—garnered 33 scholar-ship offers before he committed to Florida State.

“He’s a very charismatic kid. He brings energy to the team,” said Chamblee head coach Allen John-son.

David Johnson, a 6-2, 240-pound defensive end and line-backer for Lithonia, has committed to South Carolina.

“David is a real talented guy,” said Lithonia head coach Marcus Jelks. “He’s highly motivated—that’s his claim to fame. He’s kind of all over the place.”

M.L. King’s trio of Josh Out-law, Demarcus Polite and Jeremy Tyler has received a combined total of more than 70 scholarship offers. Teammate Jacarthy Mack,

a linebacker, has committed to Lou-isville.

Miller Grove’s Courtney Miggins, a defensive end and of-fensive tackle, measures 6-5, 250 pounds, but he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds.

Stephenson quarterback Justin Holman has committed to Central Florida. His offensive line is a wall of Goliaths.

Edmend Banks, a Southern Mississippi commit, stretches the tape at 6-8 and weighs in at 320 pounds. Center Jordan Dunham, 6-2, 295 pounds, and guard Justin Haymes, a mere 6-1, 265 pounds, are all-state contenders.

Like Stephenson, Southwest DeKalb has too many exceptional players to list them all. Baron Poole is 6-3, 270 pounds, and the senior defensive end runs the 40 in 4.65 seconds. Senior running back Malik Wright averaged 11 yards per carry last year. Guard-lineback-er Ramel Crawford is a solid 6-3, 250 pounds, and he can run.

Tucker, the state 4-A champion now playing in the formidable Re-gion 6-AAAAA, has several ath-letes drawing college scouts. Run-ning backs Yusuf Minor (senior) and Dallas Rivers (junior) posted impressive stats last year and scored touchdowns in the champi-onship game.

Their quarterback, Juwaan Williams, is a top-line passer and runner. “He’s very smart—a coach on the fi eld,” said fi rst-year head coach Bryan Lamar.

Druid Hills’ Jaquan Johnson is “a threat to score every time he touches the ball,” according to head coach Kip Hall. In a scrimmage Johnson ran the opening kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown and scored twice on pass receptions.

“Not bad for a player who didn’t start his high school football career until the second week of the 2011 season,” Hall said. “The fi rst game and the fi rst time he touched the ball last year, he went 86 yards on a kickoff return.”

Top TalentsMcCrary among many in DeKalb wooed by colleges

Tucker’s Dallas Rivers rushes for a touchdown. Photos by Travis HudgonsStephenson’s, 6-8, 320-pound lineman, Edmend Banks.

Cedar Grove quarterback Johnathon McCrary. Photo by Travis Hudgons


Numbers Game: County has 12 state titles,contenders most years

OFFENSEMVP Johnathon McCrary, QB, Cedar Grove , SeniorQB Juwaan Williams, Tucker, SeniorRB Dezmin Reed, Chamblee, SeniorRB Malik Wright, Southwest DeKalb, SeniorRB Yusuf Minor, Tucker, SeniorRB Dallas Rivers, Tucker, SeniorWR Everett Nicholas V, Cedar Grove, SeniorWR Terryon Robinson, Decatur, SeniorWR Demarcus Polite, M.L. King, SeniorTE Baron Poole, Southwest DeKalb, SeniorOL Josh Outlaw, M.L. King, SeniorOL Courtney Miggins, Miller Grove, SeniorOL Kyle Bailey, Southwest DeKalb, SeniorOL Jordan Dunham, Stephenson, SeniorOL Justin Haymes, Stephenson, SeniorOL Edmend Banks, Stephenson, SeniorPK Ben Wheeler, Druid Hills, Junior

DEFENSEMVP Carlos Garrett, DB, M.L. King, SeniorDL Davin Bellamy, Chamblee, SeniorDL Eric Smith, Columbia, SeniorDL Greg Toboada, Marist, SeniorDL Brad Earnest, Lakeside, JuniorDL David Johnson, Lithonia, SeniorLB Danny Ezechukwu, Arabia Mountain, SeniorLB Kwame Bowens, Arabia Mountain, SeniorLB Jason Morris, Marist, SeniorLB Jacarthy Mack, M.L. King, SeniorLB Solomon Parker, Stone Mountain, SeniorDB Khalif Harper, Clarkston, SeniorDB Jeremy Tyler, M.L. King, SeniorDB Kaleel Hasan, Redan, SeniorDB Nicholas Glass, St. Pius, SeniorDB NicholasRuffin,St.Pius,SeniorP Francisco Hernandez, Clarkston, Senior

by Wade Marbaugh

What two DeKalb County high school football teams are the only teams from the county to go 15-0 in a season?

With Tucker High School’s 2011 15-0 sea-son and state championship in Class AAAA, it’s time to note some history. DeKalb County schools have earned a solid reputation in Geor-gia for football individual and team achieve-ments.

DeKalb teams have won 12 state football

championships and the county annually lands teams in top 10 polls and produces postseason contenders. Appearances in state playoffs are frequent—17 DeKalb schools have been there one or more times.

Two schools have captured three state foot-ball titles—Avondale in 1958, 1963 and 1976, and Lakeside in 1970, 1972 and 1991.

Winning two state championships are South-west DeKalb (1972, 1995) and Tucker (2008, 2011).

Two schools have won one state title each—Redan in 1979 and Dunwoody in 1993.

Going into the 2012 season, three DeKalb teams are ranked in the Class AAAAA top 10 in preseason polls—Tucker, M.L. King and Ste-phenson. Marist is ranked in Class AAAA, and St. Pius and Cedar Grove made preseason rank-ings in Class AAA.

Marist head coach Alan Chadwick boasts a 299-53 overall record as the War Eagles’ head coach, and has reached the playoffs in every one of his 28 seasons.

Stephenson head coach Ron Gartrell has his own streak going. His teams have made the playoffs since 2000, for 12 consecutive years.

Chadwick’s overall record is a 299-53. Southwest DeKalb’s Buck Godfrey enters the

season at 266-85-1.On February’s national signing day, DeKalb

took the spotlight with 132 players inking letters of intent to accept scholarships and play college football. Twenty-five players from Stephenson’s 9-2 2011 team signed. M.L. King had 22 players sign, while 17 from Columbia signed.

Another proud individual accomplishment occurred in April. Three former DeKalb play-ers were selected in the 2012 National Football League draft.

In the first round, the Seattle Seahawks drafted Bruce Irvin, a tight end from Stephen-son High. Irvin, who played college ball at West Virginia, sacked famed quarterback Peyton Manning in an exhibition game with the Denver Broncos two weeks ago.

Miller Grove’s Stephen Hill, a wide receiver who played at Georgia Tech, went to the New York Jets in the second round. Dunwoody safety Corey White, a Samford University alumnus, was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round.

The answer to the quiz in the opening para-graph—Dunwoody and Tucker. In 1993 Dun-woody finished with a 15-0 record. Likewise, Tucker frosted its championship run last Decem-ber with a perfect 15-0 season.

Sound bytesAnticipation is in the air as the 2012 high

school football season kicks off in DeKalb County. The preseason always brings on a range of emotions—enthusiasm, confidence, uncer-tainty, even anxiety. But always there’s just the sheer pleasure of seeing potentially great ath-letes in preparation and watching how the fickle football bounces in scrimmages. Here are a few comments spoken or sent via email during the preseason.

Towers head coach Marvin Jones, com-menting on his young, inexperienced, but tal-ented team: “We’re going to play freshmen this year. They’re going to have to grow up fast.”

Tucker Head coach Bryan Lamar, on tak-ing over the Class AAAA reigning champion-ship team after Franklin Stephens left for Lamar County: “I’m excited about taking over a championship program. As a coach you al-ways want to be where expectations are high. It

keeps you on your toes.”John Morgo, Marist alumnus and local on-

line broadcaster who sometimes calls DeKalb games: “Tucker is moving up a classification to AAAAA in the new classification system, and they are in a killer region with Stephenson, M.L. King and Southwest DeKalb.”

Marist head coach Alan Chadwick boasts a 299-53 overall record as head coach at Marist, and has reached the playoffs in every one of his 28 seasons, but the War Eagles face a challeng-ing rebuilding season: “We have a lot of work to do. … But we have a great combination of things going—a great coaching staff; the kids are committed; a good system which fits our type of players; great administrative, parental

and community support. Success builds on suc-cess.”

Chamblee head coach Allen Johnson, on his seniors: “We’re expected to do good. These are the same guys I coached in ninth grade as an assistant.”

St. Pius head coach Paul Standard, whose Golden Lions have won region titles in three of his last four seasons with a 42-7 record: “We’re young and inexperienced on the offensive line. … The greatest strength will be our secondary with two returning starters. The other greatest strength is our team’s work ethic and tradition.”

Columbia head coach David Edwards on returning to his alma mater: “I played for RayBonner at Columbia. I want to provide Bon-ner’s discipline, trust and academics example.”

Redan head coach Willie Griffieth, who re-turns after a 5-5 stint as Raiders mentor in 2002: “We’re trying to instill some pride back into the program. We started with about 15 players in the first meeting. We got it up to 50 now.”

DeKalb Southwest head coach Buck God-frey, when asked who is Southwest’s top rival: “Everybody.”

Jones Standard Edwards

Juwaan Williams Carlos Garrett

Danny EzechukwuEverett Nicholas

Tucker celebrates their 15-0 season and state champion-ship in Class AAAA . Photo by Travis Hudgons

The Champion 2012 preseason all-county football team


Arabia Mountain Rams Head Coach: Christopher Beal (4th season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 3-7

Outlook: The Rams jump two classifications to AAAAA but may be com-petitive among talented seniors is defensive end-linebacker/tight end Danny Ezechukqu, who had 57 tackles and seven sacks in 2011. Linebacker Kwame Bowens led the team with 76 tackles. Speedy running back Michael Holloway ranked in DeKalb’s top 10 with 776 yards rushing. The juniors are equally impressive. Trevous Reynolds fin-ished fifth among DeKalb quarterbacks as a sophomore (56.8 percent completions, 1,014 yards, six touchdowns). Jonathan Slaton posted 29 receptions, 353 yards and two touchdowns.

Cedar Grove Saints Head Coach: Ray Bonner (10th season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 7-4

Outlook: A returning cast of talent and experience, coupled with the new and young, brightens the Saints’ postseason prospects. Vanderbilt-bound Johnathon McCrary threw for 2,643 yards in 2011 with a 68.5 completion percentage, which istops in the county. He’ll team up with returning target Everett Nicholas V, who caught 35 passes for 400 yards and five touchdowns. Averag-ing 7.7 yards per carry, junior Deion Sellers is a running back to watch. Daletavious McGhee, a senior defensive back who is as-tute at being in the right place, registered 40 tackles and 24 assists.

Chamblee Bulldogs Head Coach: Allen Johnson (1st season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A - 2011 record: 4-6

Outlook: Fourteen start-ers return for the Bulldogs, but some are in new posi-tions. Davin Bellamy, a 6-5, 235-pound two-way end and linebacker, has committed to Florida State. Another tight end standout is senior Des-mond Noird and wide receiver Timothy Fa-vors is a playmaker. Parkview junior transfer Ja’tavian Johnson will handle quarterback duties. He’ll hand off to fullback Dezmin Reed, a senior who led the team in rushing with 70.6 yards per game and four touch-downs. Beware the hard-hitting middle line-backer, junior Darrell Sambro.

Clarkston Angoras Head Coach: Gary Wansley (2nd season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 2-8

Outlook: The Angoras won seven games in six sea-sons, but with 13 returning starters they may improve the “W” column. Expect big plays from senior utility man Khalif Harper (running back, receiver, safety, linebacker).

Senior offensive tackle Ken Kamana, a 3.65 student, understands the scheme and the game as well as any lineman. Senior Eddie Smith amounts to a strongman at linebacker and fullback and had 42 tackles last year. Punter Francisco Hernandez ranked fifth in DeKalb, averaging 36.7 yards per kick.

Columbia Eagles Head Coach: David Edwards (3rd season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A - 2011 record: 6-5

Outlook: David Edwards returns to his alma mater where he was head coach in 1998 and ’99. The Eagles are led by senior two-way tackle Eric Smith, who at 6-5, and 290 pounds has good speed and attitude and will draw college scouts. On offense Co-lumbia needs to replace O’Keeno Royal, who last year was fourth in the county with 110.6 yards rushing per game. Two seniors may help fill that void, tailback-linebacker Harold Peterson and Mckenda Cheridor, a receiver, tight end and defensive end 6-5, 240-pounds.

Cross Keys Indians Head Coach: David Radford (4th season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 2-8

Outlook: The Indians aren’t rebuilding—they’re digging the foundation. With only one senior on the squad and five returning starters, they must mature quickly. Junior Patrick Huff is the marquee player, a scatback-type running back who patiently finds holes and who runs the defense at strong safety. As a sopho-more last year Oluwatomi Adedayo worked his way up from third string to starting quar-terback. Senior linebacker Ashantie Davis has an eye for finding the ball and is very physical.

Decatur Bulldogs Head Coach: Brad Waggoner (1st season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 4-6

Outlook: In Brad Wag-goner’s ninth overall season as a head coach, he inherits a young team with some experience at skill posi-tions. Though only five starters return—and only nine seniors—there’s plenty of talent. Sophomore quarterback Devontae Carter will work with a bevy of senior wide receiv-ers, including talented senior Terryon Rob-inson. Fans will see double with twin senior receivers Terez and Perez Cowan. Andrew Brown, a senior transfer from Pennsylvania, also will work as wide receiver.

Druid Hills Red Devils Head Coach: Kip Hall (7th season)Region: 2-AAAAAA - 2011 record: 6-4

Outlook: The Red Devils are a talented bunch, but they must develop depth among the sophomores. Senior Jaquan Johnson,

a threat to score whenever he touches the ball, aver-aged 47.1 yards returning kickoffs in 2011 and gained 15.3 yards per reception. Senior quarterback/defensive back Kyle Simmons brings maturity to the huddle, and linebacker D’Andre Byrd led the county in solo tackles last year. Junior kicker Ben Wheeler led in PAT percentage, 91.1, hit all three field goal attempts and finished second in punting with a 40.1 average.

Dunwoody Wildcats Head Coach: Jim Showfety (3rd season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 6-4

Outlook: With only four returning starters, the very young Wildcats must count on sophomores. Senior linebacker/running back/tight end Charley Beausoleil should be an impact player, along with senior quarterback Ryan Gaines, who started as a receiver last year. Also keep an eye on Jordan Haas, a junior who will go both ways at center and linebacker. Fellow junior Robert Johnson will handle the fullback spot. Offensive tack-le/defensive end Steven Camara, a senior, is a cancer survivor and an inspiration to all.

Lakeside Vikings Head Coach: Mike Rozier (1st season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 0-10

Outlook: Once a power-house with three state cham-pionships, Lakeside has fall-en into hard times playing in the toughest region in Class AAAAA. Mike Rozier takes the reins as the school’s fifth head coach in the past seven seasons. An athletic, smart junior, Brad Earnest, is a utility man at quarterback, fullback, defensive guard and strong safety. Scouts will keep tabs on Mi-chael Horton, an offensive and defensive tackle who is 6-3, 295 pounds. Also count on Kyle Smith, a senior outside linebacker for strong performances.

Lithonia Bulldogs Head Coach: Marcus Jelks (3rd season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A - 2011 record: 4-6

Outlook: The Bulldogs, laden with underclassmen, return a lone starter on of-fense and one on defense but could improve this sea-son. Running a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at 6-2, 240 pounds, senior defensive end/linebacker David Johnson is a major team motivator. He’s committed to South Carolina. Senior running back Clark Jones also is fast and should make some big plays, as will Cameron White, senior wide receiver. An aggressive junior lineback-er, Devern Wallace has a great nose for the football.

2012 DeKalb County High School Football Team Previewby Wade Marbaugh

Continued on Page 23A


Marist War Eagles Head Coach: Alan Chadwick (28th season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A - 2011 record: 9-2

Outlook: After 29 con-secutive seasons in the playoffs, Marist moves up to Class AAAA and will have to work for its 30th. A solid core of seniors will lead the way. Greg Toboada—a 6-5, 245-pound both-ways end with good hands—defi nitely will attract D-1 scouts. A two-year starter, quarterback Miles Willis will run the option. Gray King is a three-year starter at running back. Yet another senior, Jason Morris, is tough as nails at middle linebacker and is a three-year starter at fullback.

M.L. King Lions Interim Head Coach: Rober Freeman (1st season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 12-1

Outlook: M.L. King lost much to graduation, includ-ing the state’s all-time sec-ond leading passer, Jonquel Dawson. But the Lions will be talented, fast and primed for more post-season. Nine players already have college offers, including senior offensive tackle Josh Outlaw (6-4, 285), who has committed to Florida. Wide Receiver Demarcus Polite has offers from the SEC and ACC. Senior Carlos Garrett racked up 124 tackles at strong safety last year. Linebacker Jacarthy Mack has committed to Louisville, and safe-ty Jeremy Tyler has received 25 offers.

McNair Mustangs Head Coach: Tywanois Lockett (3rd season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 2-8

Outlook: A trio of two-way seniors will lead the fairly experienced Mustangs, who return fi ve starters on offense and fi ve on defense. Speedy defensive backs Mike Minter and Jalandis Sellers line up on the other side of the ball at wide receiver and running back, respectively. Jamil Russell also will do double duty at de-fensive tackle and offensive guard. There’s a sophomore trio—Christian Brown takes the helm at quarterback, while running backs An-tonio Crawford and Justin Corley also will see action as linebackers.

Miller Grove Wolverines Head Coach: Damien Wimes (3rd season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 6-4

Outlook: With 15 returning starters, the Wolverines have ample talent mixed with youth and more depth than in 2011. Colleges have their sights on Courtney Miggins, a 6-5, 250-pound senior defensive end and offensive tackle who runs 40 yards in 4.65 seconds. Classmate Jonquavious Mc-Bride, defensive back and wide receiver, has attracted numerous offers with his football IQ and aggressive play. Three-year

starting quarterback Ken Allen threw for 1,637 yards and seven touchdowns last year and ran for fi ve TDs.

Redan Raiders Head Coach: Willie Griffi eth (1st season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A- 2011 record: 3-7

Outlook: Willie Griffi eth, who mentored the Raiders in 2002, says his squad has good buy-in to the new program and may be com-petitive. The Raiders are quick on defense, led by senior defensive back Kaleel Hasan, a two-year starter. Senior running back De-ion Reid also is a good kicker and will per-form punting and place-kicking duties. Look for impact plays by Tyler Layton, a 6-2, 230 senior tight end and linebacker who runs a 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds.

St. Pius Golden Lions Head Coach: Paul Standard (12th season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 12-1

Outlook: The Golden Li-ons are 42-7 over the past four seasons with three region titles in four years. With 10 returning start-ers, they can be a major contender again this season depending on a young, inex-perienced line. A junior tandem, Nicho-las Ruffi n and Nicholas Glass provide the squad’s greatest strength as running backs and defensive backs. Senior quar-terback Jack Spear is new but among the team’s dozen college prospects. The kicking game will be solid with a veteran kicker, junior Thomas O’Leary.

Southwest DeKalb Panthers Head Coach: Buck Godfrey (30th season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 8-3

Outlook: When veteran coach Buck Godfrey is enthusiastic about a team, look out. He says it may be his best team since the 1999 squad that fi nished 12-1. A good bunch returns on defense, the offense will have fi ve or six returnees and both sides have great size. Offensively, the Panthers are fundamentally sound with fi ve to seven fast game-breakers. Addition-ally, the Panthers will have a strong kicking game, drawing from four punters and three place kickers.

Stephenson Jaguars Head Coach: Ron Gartrell(17th season)Region: 6-AAAAA - 2011 record: 9-2

Outlook: The Jaguars have made 12 consecu-tive playoffs. They’re inex-perienced with only four returnees, but still loaded for bear. Jordan Dunham (senior, 6-2, 295) anchors the huge offen-sive line at center, along with guard Justin

Haymes (senior, 6-1, 265), both D-1 pros-pects. Committed to Southern Mississippi is tackle Evmend Banks, measuring a whop-ping 6-8, 320 pounds. The defensive front is strong. At one end is Alpharetta transfer Khari Waithe-Alexander, also a Southern Mississippi commit. The key may be how well the skill players mature.

Stone Mountain Pirates Head Coach: Dante Ferguson (4th season)Region: 6-AAAA, Div. A - 2011 record: 8-2

Outlook: The Pirates are young, but the youngsters had plenty of playing time last year and know what it takes to win. Senior linebacker-fullback Solomon Parker (6-2, 250) is quick and athletic. As a sophomore in 2011, quarterback Cord-eral Cook was DeKalb’s seventh-ranked passer, completing 53.7 percent and tossing six touchdowns. He’ll hand off to classmate Raymone Jennings, a speedy running back and cornerback. The defense is anchored by junior safety Jordan Collier, a hard-tackling muscleman who also is a running back.

Towers Titans Head Coach: Marvin Jones (3rd season)Region: 6-AAA - 2011 record: 2-8

Outlook: Towers graduated the county’s fourth top passer and No. 5 receiver and have only four returning starters, two each on offense and defense. Juniors, sophomores and some freshmen dominate the starting lineups, but talented senior Aar-on Meades will handle the quarterback slot. Junior Damien Hassell promises to be a top receiver and defensive back, and will per-form kicking chores. His fellow classmate, Malik Sannea, is a solid defensive end and wide receiver.

Tucker Tigers Head Coach: Bryan Lamar (1st season)Region: 6-AAAAA -2011 record: 15-0

Outlook: With only six re-turning starters, the reigning Class AAAA champs move up a classifi cation into a super-tough region after posting a 28-1 record the past two seasons. Returning impact players include two sea-soned running backs, senior Yusuf Minor (945 yards rushing, 252 yards receiving, 21 touchdowns) and junior Dallas Rivers (882 yards, 18 TDs). Senior quarterback Juwaan Williams threw for 557 yards and seven touchdowns in 2011, while rushing for 617 yards and 11 touchdowns. Solomon Jack-son, senior defensive end, collected 34 tack-les, fi ve sacks and seven tackles for losses.

To view all team schedules, visit ghsa.net/football and click on Schedule.

2012 DeKalb County High School Football Team Preview


– Angie StoneSinger, Songwriter, Actress | Atlanta, GA

PicturedAngie Stone’s Juicy Burgers

I’m not a chef, but I love to cook and entertain. And on game day, the more the merrier.

I’m always trying new ways to add fl avor, too. I love watching my friends enjoy the food

I’ve made almost more than watching the game. Publix is always on my team, because they

make it even easier to bring folks together on Sunday or any day.

© 2

012

Pub

lix A

sset

Man

agem

ent

Co

mp

any

Don’t forget your neighborhood Publix will be open during regular store hours Labor Day, September 3, 2012.

10 x 13