Sponsored Sections Health & Wellness ►►page 24 Summer Camps ►►page 33
Alpharetta cop faces gun charge Arrested for selling weapons to felon ►►page 2
App linked to cyber bullying Yip Yak makes bullies anonymous ►►page 42
JC photo/artist exhibits in museum Pictures trace journey across America ►►page 41
March 13, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 18, No. 11
Election explosion 9 qualify for council By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – It’s amazing what an empty City Council seat does for the political pulse of the city, let alone two. Nine Johns Creek citizens qualified last week for the May 20 special election to fill the seats resigned by former Councilmembers Bev Miller and Ivan Figueroa. Elections in the past had been rather sleepy affairs for Johns Creek, but that all changed last summer. Long-simmering frustrations on the part of the 2013 City Council led five
HATCHER HURD/Staff
Mayor Mike Bodker makes his pitch for a city center for Johns Creek during his State of the City Address at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
Bodker State of the City Address »
Mayor asks support for city center Calls it missing piece to assure city's future By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Mayor Mike Bodker issued a call for support for a new city center that would help brand the city while raising the quality of life in Johns Creek. He warned of “shortterm” thinking that does not plan adequately for the future.
City Council takes up mayor's challenge — Page 8 Addressing a packed house at the March 7 State of the City Address at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Bodker said he wanted to “start a dialogue” about the future of the city and the need to look beyond the first seven years as a city. “Johns Creek’s greatest asset is
See MAYOR, Page 6
of the members to try to unseat Mayor Mike Bodker. It was a two-pronged attack. The first salvo was the launching by council of the “investigation” into alleged misdeeds by the mayor. The second came with Miller’s resignation to run in a bid to unseat Bodker at the polls. Both tries fizzled as two of the leading proponents of the investigation, Councilmembers Randall Johnson and Karen Richardson, were defeated at the polls in their own re-election bids by newcomers Lenny Zaprowski and Cori Davenport, respectively. Miller also lost to Bodker. When Figueroa stepped down to move to
See COUNCIL, Page 18
Opting out Common Core bill may have math silver lining Changes could ease ‘traditional math’ worries By CANDY WAYLOCK candy@northfulton.com ATLANTA – Within the fine print of the controversial bill dealing with the Common Core educational standards could be help for the Fulton County School System and its goals for teaching traditional math. Georgia legislators are considering Senate Bill 167, which could essentially separate Georgia from the Common Core standards by prohibiting any testing of students based on the national curriculum. It would require Georgia to develop its own standards and create
assessments to go along with those state standards. In August 2012, Georgia joined more than 40 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting a set of academic core standards called the Common Core Performance Standards. The standards were developed to provide a consistent framework of education across the country. The standards were initiated by state leaders, however some groups maintain there is too much federal intervention in the policies and funding. Many educators are concerned that taking the teeth out of the Common Core standards could hurt students – especially those who transfer in or out of Georgia schools during their K-12 years. However, officials with Fulton Schools see a silver lining to the potential chaos. By forcing the Georgia Department
See CORE, Page 15