Appen Media Group, 2016 Best of the Best by Appen Media Group

21 National Awards Association of Free Community Papers 2016 Best of the Best NORTHFULTON.com

Our awards and award winners from AFCP’s Best of the Best AFCP’s Best of the Best had over 1,400 individual entries in 75 individual award categories. 1st Place • Original Writing, Column / Educate • Original Writing, Opinion • Single Ad, Color, More Than 12in. Depth, Newsprint • Single Ad, Color, More Than 12in. Depth, Gloss • Fitness, Fashion or Beauty Ad, Color, Newsprint • Special Section or Promotion, In Paper • Ad Design Contest, Day Spa

David Brown

Mike Dorman

Hatcher Hurd

AJ McNaughton

Suzanne Pacey

Kathleen Sturgeon

2nd Place • Original Writing, Column / Educate • Original Writing, News Article • Fitness, Fashion or Beauty Ad, Color, Newsprint • Ad Series • Sales Presentation • Most Improved, Minimum 26% Editorial • Best of Show 3rd Place • Website • Original Editorial Photography, Color, News Article • Original Writing, Opinion • Single Ad, Color, More Than 12in. Depth, Newsprint • Use of Art/Photography Service • General Excellence, Gloss Honorable Mention • Feature Article Layout

Meet the Chambers

Chambers tell successes,

3rd place – Kathleen Sturgeon future plans. PAGES 16 – 17 Best Original Editorial Photography – Color/News Article

erokee • Cobb • Forsyth • Fulton • Gwinnett • Hall • An Appen Media Group Publication

spirit

eet ge 30

Forsyth in the forefront

Forsyth County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, and we’re here to tell the story. Mixed-use, diverse economy and the Ga. 400 widening project are just some of the topics we touch on. (Pictured: the recently unveiled Lady Justice statue by artist Gregory Johnson in front of the new Forsyth County Courthouse). Read more, Pages 22 – 27 Kathleen Sturgeon/Staff

A L P H A R E T TA C H A M B E R

Gala 2016

January 23

Save the date for the 2016 Alpharetta Chamber Gala at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Alpharetta, January 23.

Learn more, Page 7

2nd place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - Column/Educate Article

Legislature needs to let Fulton commission right own ship Fulton County’s legislators seem determined to fix Fulton County whether it needs it or not. They should take a step back – the fixes they want for Fulton may already be in place. Back again is House Bill 628, which would double the homestead exemption for Fulton homeowners from $30,000 to $60,000. Keep in mind they have already doubled the homestead exemption to its current $30,000, twice that of any other county in Georgia. They say the need for this is to curb runaway spending in Fulton that was draining the county’s cash reserves and heading for fiscal oblivion. The measure is aiming to slam on the brakes before that happens. The reality is the Legislature may have already done that when it reapportioned the district in 2013. Then, as they should recall, a new North Fulton district was created by halving the existing District 3. This gave North Fulton two districts above the Chattahoochee River and left Sandy Springs with a larger share of Atlanta. What that has done is equalize the voting strength of Atlanta and South Fulton Democrats with that of North Fulton Republicans. The 2014 election violently uprooted the status quo on the BOC, bringing three new members on the commission. They have already shown it is not fiscal business as usual at Fulton County. In its newly configured body, they took on a budget that many feared would contain a 2- or 3-mil tax increase. Instead, the commissioners found a way to pass a no-increase budget – and Fulton remains the only county not to have a millage increase in the last 24 years. The commissioners also restored full hours of operation for all Fulton libraries (as of April 1). They have a budget that puts Fulton on a mandatory 12 percent fund balance that will force the county to

stay out of future fiscal trouble. In effect, reapportionment –and new Democrats on the commission – are doing what North Fulton residents have wanted – live within our means and see that North Fulton gets its share of services. Folks, we are just barely four months into this new dawn. Do we really need North Fulton legislators trying to control the budgeting process from afar? That is not the way the democratic system is designed. The bill to double the homestead exemption sucks $38 million off the top in Fulton revenues. The tax cut would render some 12,500 homes tax-free in Roswell, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton and Mountain Park. It renders 60,000 homes tax free south of Sandy Springs. Is that taxation equality? Is that going to have the desired effect in getting more service dollars directed north? I don’t see how. Where is a fourth vote for North Fulton services going to come from? Based on pure party politics, it is not there. Yet the board in place now has shown a willingness to negotiate and compromise that is refreshingly free of the internecine politics of the last 20 years. We should nurture this bud that has bloomed. After all, this is fire-engine legislation designed to put out a fire that isn’t there. And it is a ham-fisted way to try to run a county. Like it or not, Fulton looks to be the best looking gal on the metro dance floor. Is there anything to envy in DeKalb politics? It is a county in need of the state’s intervention. Gwinnett? When it is not sending commissioners to jail, they seem to be always dancing on the edge of some ethics probe. Cobb County has just mortgaged its fiscal stability by building a new Braves stadium with taxpayer contributions. No, trying to run Fulton County from the General Assembly is a poor

solution. It also a gross intrusion by the state on what should be a local government issue. This bill may be introduced as “local legislation” but it is only possible because North Fulton GOP legislators have stacked the deck by giving eight legislators who pay homestead taxes in DeKalb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Cobb and Gwinnett counties a few voting precincts in Fulton county. This gives Fulton Republicans a one-vote majority on the Fulton legislative delegation. This is a little-known body with a membership of all the legislative delegates with at least one precinct in Fulton County. The legislative delegation normally is a pass-through body to bring local legislation from the county or a city before the General Assembly for passage. An example of this would be a change to a city charter or a passage of a change in local homestead exemptions. This is the only case I have heard of in nearly 30 years of reporting where the legislative delegation is forming its own legislation in defiance of the elected body it is proposing to change. However high the motives may be, in politics as in the rest of life there is a right way to do things and a wrong way. This, to me, is patently the wrong way. And what does this do for the new coalition of Fulton commissioners who are showing a willingness to work for the betterment of all of Fulton County? Put the shoe on the other foot. What would North Fulton residents think of a Democratic legislative delegation passing bills that directly affected Fulton taxpayers? Didn’t GOP candidates turn Georgia into a red state from a blue state saying, “The government that governs closest governs best?” I haven’t heard that one lately.

1st place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - Column/Educate Article

APS cheating scandal has no winners, only victims With the trial of the Atlanta Public Schools over, we are still left with the big question – why did this happen? How does one of the biggest school systems in the state stray so far from true north to alter test scores on such an enormous scale? It points to a number of problems in the education system today. First, we rely entirely too much on test scores to judge performance. Testing is necessary, of course. We have to measure results. But standardized tests are only one way to measure. But we are losing the point of education. We are a nation that seems only teach to the tests. Realtors are selling homes in neighborhoods based on the average SAT scores those neighborhoods produce. Parents are desperate for their children to perform well on standardized tests, and teachers are under enormous pressure to produce those scores as well. At the APS, that pressure – and the rewards given for performance – sent an entire school system over the cliff. In the end, it was almost laughable that the APS administration thought they could get away with it. As it turns out, state educators actually look at the tests and look for such institutional erasures on these standardized tests. Scanning tests that

show abnormal amounts of erasures, especially from wrong answer to right answer, are then measured against the answers from all students as a whole. For example, one class of fourthgraders at one school would have erasures measured against all other fourth graders statewide. State Board of Education results showed APS tests were “off the chart” in terms of suspected tampering. So it was known fairly early that cheating was widespread in the APS. When confronted with the evidence provided to APS School Superintendent Beverly Hall, she was charged to investigate what was happening on her watch. Instead, what happened was a total whitewash of the affair by what was supposed to be a blue ribbon committee. Give full credit to Gov. Sonny Perdue for initiating a more prudent investigation. Headed by, among others, former state Attorney General Michael Bowers, it quickly became apparent that the cheating was institutional, leading to the very top of administration. Now, there has been some shock at the severity with which these former educators have been handled. They were led away in handcuffs (save one who is pregnant) and speculation is

having been convicted of the worst offense, racketeering, will receive stiff prison sentences. My first reaction was that these people did wrong, but they are not gangsters. How much of a threat to the community are they now? But on further reflection – and hearing what parents of APS students were saying – my heart has been hardened. Educators have the most sacred trust we can give – the education of our children. The APS administrators, principals and teachers who were involved betrayed that trust. Worse, they betrayed those children. To hear parents tell their stories is heartbreaking. “My child can’t read. I knew that. But I was told she could not receive remedial help offered by the [APS] because her test scores were too high,” said one parent. It was a story that was repeated over and over. Bowers put it bluntly. “They robbed a generation of children of their education,” Bowers said on a PBA 30 interview. “They are the real victims. This was a terrible wrong done to some of the most vulnerable children in the state.” And so it is. Whatever justice is meted out, it won’t repay those children for what was done to them.

3rd place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - Opinion

Full City Council needed now more than ever This new Johns Creek City Council has just flubbed one of its first big tests in leadership. Instead of calling for a special election to replace not one but two vacant seats on the City Council, it has chosen to “spare the tired electorate” and leave those seats vacant for a year. It didn’t have to happen. The council could have done the right thing straight out of the block and no one would have said a word. They only had to do what was expected. But they didn’t. It was disconcerting when the two most experienced members resigned immediately after council elections to go fish in a bigger pond. Actually, they were the only experienced members on council. Put aside the fact these two who created the situation put their own political ambitions above their duty to the citizens who elected them to the council. There is the issue of what council should do now? What was expected of the remaining councilmembers was to immediately call a special election in early November. That would have given prospective candidates almost five months to decide if they wanted to make a run at one of the two open seats. The kindest thing that can be said is they dithered. Of course the mayor muddied the waters by bringing in the issue of the expense right away. That was never an issue with previous vacancies. Was that a smoke screen? Well, I am not a mind reader. Yes, $200,000 is a lot of money. But good government costs money. That does not mean the city should be extravagant. But it should do what is necessary to be effective. Instead, we have a shaky quorum of just five members on the council. Yes, they have all pledged to do the right thing and get perfect attendance certificates at council meetings. But who knows what the future holds? A bad traffic accident, a medical emergency, a stubbed toe and raising a quorum could easily become a tenuous business indeed. If two miss a meeting, no business can be done – no zonings decided, no budgets passed. It’s why a special elec-

tions clause is in every city charter. The councilmembers are gambling with the house’s money. If, God forbid, the mayor goes down, then we have zero experience for the arcane and tricky business of running a city. Just look what happened with the last lot who sat in those seats. Council made the right noises. It is only for a few more months – well a year – and the situation will right itself in November. And yes, there may well be “voter fatigue” for another special election. But then that would be the voters’ decision. Now they don’t have that decision. It has been taken from them. That was wrong. The council has also deprived the two future councilmembers of needed months to acquire the knowledge and expertise to learn their new jobs. Instead of seating them sooner, they will be further behind the experience curve than their colleagues. Crafting budgets, weighing important zoning decisions, getting their hands around creating a new and vibrant city center and a myriad of other decisions takes more than just a good head on one’s shoulders and good business sense. Political decision-making – contrary to popular myth – is not the same as running a business. By definition, political decisions are entirely different from business ones. They may often intersect, but not always, and maybe only seldom. The job is mostly about the willingness to make the unpopular decision. It is easy to vote for parks and roads. But along with the dessert, elected officials have to make the public eat their vegetables too. For example, there is the issue of the public safety radio tower. It may well require a tower in the Shakerag community. Currently, the last best alternative site is being explored. But if that fails to answer, Shakerag will have the tower. Somebody is going to have to summon the political courage to tell a lot of constituents something they don’t want to hear. Because it is the right thing to do. Look at the billboard situation.

There, the City Council had that courage – and the good sense – to accept the best decision they could make in a bad situation. They could have pursued a quixotic lawsuit, but in the end, they would have lost. In the billboard case, they did the right thing. A legal fight at that point would have been useless and cost far more than any special election. This time it was different. Clinging to that frivolous online “poll” of whether to have an election or save the cost by postponing elections was just a device to provide some cover. If the important questions of the city are going to be left up to the 700 or so people who bothered to answer, why do we need a council at all? The question was crudely designed to elicit the desired response. It did nothing to balance the need for the election but touted only the monetary cost of the election. The cynic would say they got exactly the response they wanted. It gets worse. Arguments were also made that a delay would save prospective candidates more time to prepare the expense of running two campaigns, one in March and another in November. So who are we protecting here? What is more important, the campaign or the office? Besides, even a short incumbency would be a huge advantage in November, possibly scaring off any competition in the fall, having beaten all comers in the spring. Delaying the elections creates more of an experience gap that could be closed more quickly than if they came aboard sooner. Kudos go to Councilman Lenny Zaprowski for defending the intent – if not the letter – of the city charter. He alone argued for special elections to fill the seats immediately. It took guts to stand alone to call for elections when he knew support would be hard to find on council. Leadership is about doing the right thing, not the popular thing. And in this instance, it was to defend the charter – which calls for a council of seven.

1st place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - Opinion

What’s a high school diploma really worth? When I was in school – no, not with Abraham Lincoln – what was drummed into our heads was the need to graduate high school. “You can’t get a good job without a diploma,” I would hear from my parents, my teachers, even quasi-subliminally on TV and the movies. Anybody who quit school was practically resigning her or himself to a menial, low-wage job for life. With that diploma, we were told, the world was our oyster. You didn’t have to go to college then, but most of the good jobs to be had in those days have either gone overseas or have been lost to automation. And it was important to be able to check that box on almost any job application. So what is that paper really worth today? As you might have read in this space in the past, I think the 12th grade is not worth the taxpayers’ investment nor the students’ time. Do away with it I said only half in jest, and let those kids get on with their lives, be it college or a job. But that was the wrong solution because it did not address the real problem of high school education today. The problem is the diploma does not offer a direct path to a job. After 12 years of education, you should be able to walk out into the world for a job that pays more than minimum wage. High school can do so much more today – and it should. Take the last two years of high school at a mini-

mum. Have students enter into broad career diversion programs after 10th grade. Those bound for college should go to the college-prep program to take courses that count toward the first two years of college. That program already exists in Georgia. It’s called Dual Enrollment. It is better than Advanced Placement, because colleges do not have to accept all AP course credits. Think what it could mean to leave high school and go to college as a junior at Georgia Tech. I wrote about just such a kid. He got his two-year associate degree from Perimeter College two weeks before he got his high school diploma. He was already accepted at Tech. Think what that would mean for families saving for college. It cuts that cost in half for a four-year degree. But not every kid is college material, you say? Absolutely right. So what are we doing for them? I just saw the Georgia Department of Education figures on graduation rates for the state. At the DOE, they were beaming at the news that the graduation rate had risen over 5 percent from 67.4 percent in 2011 to 72.2 percent in 2014. That means nearly three of every 10 students still walk away from high school here. Why? They don’t see themselves getting anywhere in school. Today, we have one of the best technical college systems in the country. We need to make better use of it. The Technical College System of

Georgia just broke ground on its Alpharetta campus. Why can’t our high school juniors be taking their courses in biotechnology, avionics, culinary arts, biotechnology, robotics, medical services, nursing and 600 other fields? Why should they be toiling away for a high school diploma when the real goal might be a technical degree? Let’s put some real muscle in career counseling and get students motivated with a relevant curriculum that will get them a job, and maybe an apprenticeship to boot. It would mean a workforce that starts earning earlier and earning more. They are also repaying the public’s investment by turning them into taxpayers earlier. Your child can still go to Harvard. It will just mean she’ll be a junior when she gets there. Bank the $140,000 you saved on the first two years of tuition for graduate school. Instead of fussing all the time over what kind of tests we are going to use to measure student progress or how to teach them math, let’s really think outside box. Let’s think about what education should really be doing to be relevant for all these 21st century students. I have seen some of what the best and the brightest can do in our schools. And it tells me we don’t challenge all of our students enough. Mix those challenges with some incentives – like a paycheck – and they will surprise us, if not themselves.

2nd place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - News Article

Swatter meets bulldog, swatter loses JCPD cop tracks down elusive cyberbully A cyberbully who went by the apt alias of Obnoxious thought he was too smart to ever get caught harassing and terrorizing his victims. But he didn’t count on one Johns Creek police detective who just would not give up on the case. The crime is called “swatting,” and at first glance seems to resemble the juvenile pranks teenagers used to play by making offensive or inane phone calls to strangers. But with the advent of the Internet and the virtual anonymity it provides perpetrators, swatting has taken an ominous tone. Today, cyber loonies call local 911 operators with wild scenarios so heinous and dangerous that authorities respond by calling out SWAT teams. On a 911 screen, a swatting call appears to be from the address that pops up, which means victims will have helmeted and heavily armed officers surrounding their house or even bursting through the door. When just such a case occurred in Johns Creek, Detective Sgt. B.A. Finley spent a year tracing the steps of the perpetrator, who called himself “Obnoxious” and thought he was safe behind an impenetrable digital wall he had created. Without Finley’s dogged determination, Obnoxious might be out there yet. Finley’s involvement began Jan.16, 2014, when the city’s 911 call service, ChattCom, received notification from nearby Alpharetta’s 911 that someone had phoned from a home in Country Club of the South. The caller claimed he had shot a man, woman and child and was threatening to kill another hostage if he wasn’t given $30,000. It was all a hoax, but the scammer was sophisticated enough to have his call appear to be coming from inside the house. So the Johns Creek SWAT team, including Finley, rolled up to the house along with fire and medical personnel. The officers were staging a response, expecting to confront a gunman with a hostage. But they only found a nanny and two small children.

“We determined it was just them in the house. But by that time we already had contacted the mother, an attorney, and gave her the information we had at the time,” Finley said. “So she was driving from Forsyth County to her home, wondering if she would ever see her children again,” he said. “It’s a tremendous safety issue when you have officers responding to those kinds of situations,” said Johns Creek Police Chief Ed Densmore. “When the report comes in of people shot and killed in the middle of the afternoon and more hostages held – that warranted a very high response. “You have such a propensity for a bad situation to get even worse,” the chief said. Add to that the cost of assembling a response and such hoaxes become a serious attack on the city, Densmore said. Then the same house was swatted

again. Obnoxious called back, saying he had planted bombs all around the house. The SWAT team had to return and check things out. That was when Densmore had had enough. Law enforcement agencies have to broaden their scope to include cybercrime, Densmore said, and he decided Johns Creek would start with this case. He assigned Finley the job of doing whatever it took to track down whoever was doing this. Finley, who says he did not have any particular Internet skills at the time, quickly began to develop them. The first thing he discovered was his adversary was adept at disguising his cyber trail. “This was no case of local phone calls. It was far more sophisticated and led to crossing borders and even oceans,” Finley said. What he discovered is swatting seems to have migrated to the online Article continued on next page

2nd place – Hatcher Hurd Best Original Writing - News Article Continued from previous page: gaming world – a world most adults know very little about. But it is an alternate universe to millions of teenagers and young adults. They are quite at home at sites such as Twitch, which is owned by Amazon and has been described as an interactive, live TV universe for gamers. The very best of the players, called “streamers,” are the rock stars of these sites, attracting followers by the thousands and earning big paychecks from video game companies for popularizing their specific games. They can also earn the envy of players such as Obnoxious, who apparently would exact revenge against those who beat him at gaming, something authorities think may have occurred with the Johns Creek’s home’s previous owners. In tracking down Obnoxious, Finley discovered he would especially target female streamers with escalating demands that often graduated to demands for nude photos, which Finley called “sextortion.” For those who refused, Obnoxious used his cyber skills to render their Internet portals unusable, ruin their (or their parents’) credit, send fake social media messages, get into their school files or have 50 pizzas delivered to their homes. And he could accomplish such acts because he learned to gain the confidence of voice Internet providers (VoIP) themselves and get passwords. “He would tell Internet providers he forgot his password, but say, ‘Here’s my birthday.’ And the VoIP people would give him the passwords,” Finley said. “He is an excellent con man.” While authorities were aware of Obnoxious’ activities, he made it so difficult to find him that most would just give up.

“The laws haven’t caught up to the crime yet,” said Finley. He slowly began to connect the dots, building a network of swatting cases with other departments around the country. He had seemingly unsurmountable obstacles as digging through millions of phone numbers, numerous VoIP identities and crossing multiple jurisdictions. Finley eventually discovered Obnoxious had harassed people —often young girls — from California to Florida. “The picture we developed was this guy was terrorizing women, young girls and their families all over the country,” Finley said. “And the severity of it was such you couldn’t just dismiss it.” A break came when the FBI took an interest in the case. He was nominated by his fellow police officers around the country as the best man to interface with the FBI since he was most familiar with the breadth and depth of the case. “The FBI was great,” said Finley. “The stereotype is the FBI is uncooperative with other agencies. That simply wasn’t the case.” He was summoned to Washington, D.C., to brief agents on what he and other law enforcement agencies had pieced together. “I was able to sit down with the FBI cyber unit and we figured out our guy was living in Canada,” he said. Specifically, Obnoxious turned out to be a 16-year-old boy in British Columbia. “We spoke to the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] and they were already aware of him. They were guarded about talking about him because they knew he was a juvenile.” Finley participated in a conference call with the FBI and the RCMP to explain the case they had against Obnoxious, who had become his own worst enemy. He had become so arrogant and confident that he could not be caught

that he conducted an eight-hour swatting marathon while streaming it live online on Twitch. The RCMP came in and finally closed him down. They made a case against Obnoxious that will have him in juvenile custody for two years. Finley said it brought a great deal of satisfaction to everyone to put him away, even though he has only recently turned 17. “He operated by intimidation. He was an Internet bully and he liked the fact that he could push people around with impunity and then would brag about it,” Finley said. “He did a lot of harm to a lot of folks.” Talking with the victims and hearing how their lives had been held hostage convinced Finley that the time and effort devoted to finding Obnoxious was worth it. Mayor Mike Bodker agreed and praised the efforts of the Police Department and Finley in particular. “Swatting is a very dangerous practice, and few fully understand how badly it can go,” said Bodker. There have been four Johns Creek swatting incidents since the initial Jan. 16, 2014, case. Now, with the apprehension of Obnoxious, all the perpetrators have been identified. “When you call police officers to the scene of what they think is a crime in progress, they come ready to react. “People could get hurt or killed,” Bodker said. “But Sgt. Finley went above and beyond to find this lowlife who put a Johns Creek family and their young children through absolute torment. “He literally chased this person around the world to find him in Canada. It is my hope the Canadian authorities find a way to lock him away for a very long time. [Finley] is a hero for what he was able to accomplish.”

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Honorable Mention – Suzanne Pacey Feature Article Layout

theinterview

For the love of a

horse Roswell woman finds inspiration to battle breast cancer through rescue

BY CANDY WAYLOCK

candy@northsidewoman.com

rouble came into Miaka Palmieri’s life for a reason, and stayed forever. But unlike the breast cancer she has successfully battled to the curb, this Trouble was welcomed and came in the form of a headstrong donkey who spent his days alone, rejected by all, and slowly giving up on life. Palmieri has a deep connection with animals. The Roswell resident is the founder and president of the For the Love of a Horse Inc., a rescue organization that has worked to save and rehabilitate injured horses since 2009. And the lonely donkey who spent his days alone in the corner of a pasture looking out on Highway 20 was breaking her heart. “Oh my goodness … Trouble gave me a purpose, a challenge,” said Palmieri. “He came into my life for a reason. I needed him as much as he needed me.” Palmieri knows Trouble reflects her fight against breast cancer, of everything she wanted to do when she was diagnosed in 2013 with the most aggressive form of breast cancer. She wanted to stop the treatment, retreat to a corner and give up the fight, until friends and family begged her to try. Two years later she is in remission. “Trouble gave me a reason to get up and get out of the house every single day … if only just to let him know he wasn’t alone and someone cared for him,” Palmieri said of the donkey whose owners handed him off to her not long after her cancer treatments ended. She grew up in Long Island, New York, married her high school sweetheart, Richie, 25 years ago, and moved to North Fulton in 2000. Palmieri worked for a time in “corporate America” but realized her time and talents were better spent on her community, and primarily in animal welfare. 22 | northsidewoman.com | october2015

“I’ve always had a love for all creatures great and small,” she said. “My love and first interaction with horses came when my best friend and I would sneak in to the paddocks at Belmont Race Track and pet the horses.” She was volunteering for a local animal rescue when Gracie limped in with a hurt shoulder and broken leg, most likely caused by a car. ”It was love at first sight,” Palmieri said. “The rescue was going to euthanize her after getting a bad prognosis. We couldn’t let that happen.” So she and four other volunteers adopted Gracie, sought treatment out of state, raised the money in every way they could, and got the help Gracie needed. And For the Love of a Horse came to be. “It is because of Gracie, and the need to help other horses like her with critical medical care needs, that we formed FTLOAH,” Palmieri said. “We felt strongly we could help horses that would otherwise be euthanized because their owners don’t have the money to get them the care they desperately need.” Four years into her work with FTLOAH, Palmieri got the devastating news that affects about one in every eight women in the United States. Breast cancer. She followed medical advice for an aggressive approach she felt would stop the spread. “I elected to have a radical double mastectomy to ensure we would remove any possibility of the cancer spreading, and so I wouldn’t have to have chemo or radiation,” Palmieri said. But lightning struck again just after the surgery in August 2013. She learned she was among the low percentage of women with triple negative breast cancer, a very aggressive, fastmoving form of the disease which required intensive chemotherapy. Palmieri said “no.” “I was adamant I was NOT going to get

treatment … after all, that’s why I went the radical route,” she said. “My family begged me to reconsider. Time was of the essence. I was holding firm.” But after years of Palmieri saving the lives of horses, her horses saved her. “It was not until my brother said to me, ‘Miaka, the horses need you. What would happen to them if you’re not here?’ It was at that moment that I consented to explore getting treatment,” she said. Two months later, in October 2013, Palmieri began treatment at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, and she is coming up on two years in remission. Back home, her horses were being tended to by a network of volunteers who filled in the gaps and kept FTLOAH going strong. After six years, the rescue group has a long list of success stories, and is often the last hope for horses suffering from broken bones, starvation, cancer, old-age issues and a host of other ailments many traditional rescues won’t take on. “Each situation is different, but they must be ‘critical medical care’ cases. Our organization will arrange and pay for treatments for the equines cases that are approved by our board,” said Palmieri. “No money exchanges hand with the owner, we pay the care provider directly, typically

University of Georgia, Auburn or local vets.” Vet bills can run many thousands of dollars, so fundraising is an important part of what FTLOAH does to continue its mission. A golf tournament hosted annually by the group, the Fore the Love of a Horse Golf Classic, now in its fourth year, provides many of the funds needed. While some horses are returned to their owners with the promise of continued welfare checks, some find a permanent place on Palmieri’s farm and further the goals of FTLOAH. “Gracie, Sterling, Bishop, Gambit and Cole will have a forever home with us,” said Palmieri, whose personal menagerie of 14 pets includes horses, donkeys, goats, dogs and cats. “They are used to educate the public and bring joy to all those who visit us or through the visits we make to nursing homes, assisted living centers, etc.” With cancer in the background, Palmieri says her “perfect days” include breakfast with her family, working with her horses and other animals, and knowing in her heart they are happy and safe. She adds her “typical days” also include mucking out stalls, and lots of cleanup, but everything leads back to a sense of fulfillment. “Taking care of [my animals] is a powerful way with which to get in touch with thoughts and feelings. They have a unique ability to sense our emotions and they react

accordingly. I’ve been able to work with them to develop trust,” she said. “I am comforted by their gentle, loving and peaceful souls.” And as for Trouble? He, too, is enjoying a happy ending. “I’m so proud to say Trouble is now with us in a loving home where he is a spoiled brat,” Palmieri said with a laugh. For the Love of A Horse future plans: • Continue to raise enough money, through fundraising and grants, to be able to take on more critical care medical cases and help more horses • Expand the community outreach program to include equine therapy, work with at-risk children/young adults • Grow their volunteer program • Continue to educate horse owners and the public about proper equine care and the problems of neglect, abuse and slaughter • Attain a sanctuary property whereby they could house/ care for abused, neglected or unwanted horses to rehabilitate and find proper, loving forever homes for them To find out how you can help For the Love of a Horse, visit the website at www.fortheloveofahorse.org. ■

Palmieri shares a special bond with Trouble who provided her with purpose during her treatments while nursing him back to health. october2015 | northsidewoman.com | 23

2nd place – Mike Dorman Best Sales Presentation

Who is Appen Media Group? Thirty years ago, Ray and Christina Appen bought a bi-monthly newspaper in Alpharetta called The ReVue, left their positions at The Miami Herald and moved to run the newspaper. In the following years, they renamed the paper The Revue & News and increased the publishing frequency to weekly. Following the success of The Revue & News, the Appens started publishing three more weekly papers, a monthy women’s magazine Health & Wellness Sponsored section ► page 18

Touring history

GOOOAl!

Al Qaeda and Nazis Education Spy-thriller explores Focus 9/11 funding

World Cup fever? We got the remedy ► page 24

Cumming cemetery offers glimpse of past ► page 8

Sponsored ► page 13 section ► PAGE 21

Public art

Milton approves Bell Park art ► PAGE 4

Helpful volunteers YMSL logs 5,500 hours ► PAGE 9

Education Eagles Focus soar Sponsored section Baseball team in state►championship PAGE 20 ip ► PAGE 12

School board nixes armed staffers No weapons allowed on school property ► PAGE 5

First lady touts child immunization Sandra Deal visits Emory Hospital, family ► PAGE 12

Going green

How a local restaurant Sponsored Sections is re-imagining HEALTH & WELLNESS food to table ► page 34 ► PAGE 32 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ► page 17

and a quarterly relocation guide. They even expanded outside of publishing to social media management, design and graphics services, digital newsletter management and website services. However, the core business remains community news publishing.

Ray Appen Publisher ray@appenmediagroup.com

July, 2014 marks a new chapter for the Appens with the introduction of the North Atlanta Business Post, covering six counties north of Atlanta.

Christina Appen Publisher christina@appenmediagroup.com

AUGUST 2014

Hey y’all

Roswell drug bust

Paula Deen cooks up comeback with live tour page 10

4 arrested in sting ► page 6

Alpharetta-Roswell

North Fulton Football

Revue News

June 11,2014 | forsythherald.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 17, No. 24

Schools prepare for football season ► page 17

DUI accident kills teen

RUNOFF ELECTIONS:

Then there were seven

Two arrested in fatal wreck

‘Gunfight in front of courthouse’

Shooter carried assault rifle, bombs

Law enforcement gather to begin search for possible explosives planted by the courthouse shooter. Right: Dennis Ronald Marx stormed the Forsyth County Courthouse the morning of June 6. ALDO NAHED/StAFF

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Dennis Ronald Marx was ready for battle. Wearing a gas mask and a heavy vest, the 48-year-old laid down homemade spike strips on the road shortly before 10 a.m. June 6. The strips were meant to slow authorities’ response along Veterans Memorial Boulevard and East Main Street. Marx drove through the sidewalk into the steps of the courthouse and that’s when gunfire erupted. Marx didn’t get very far. He tried to

run over a Forsyth County Sheriff deputy, who opened fire. Marx, who was acting alone, fired at the deputy through his windshield and struck the deputy in the leg. Daniel Rush, a 30-year sheriff’s veteran, hit the ground and was later transported to North Fulton Hospital in Roswell. He is expected to have a full recovery. Several other deputies stationed inside the courthouse and a SWAT team training nearby rushed to the entrance of the courthouse. They started to shoot at Marx

See MARX, Page 4

Fulton headed to court over 17% tax hike

Gray, Broadbent fill last 2 council seats

By aLDO NaHeD aldo@forsythherald.com

Hans Appen General Manager hans@appenmediagroup.com

august 14, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 32, No. 32

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Saturday night started with a bonfire party, booze and 60plus friends. It ended by 1:20 a.m. CAsTEll Sunday, June Cpl. Harry Vaughan, inset right, graduated from Milton High School in 1967. Within a year, 1, with a lot of heartbroken Sharma he was shipped over to Vietnam heparents died. Local veterans honored him Saloni May 22 at thesits amid dozens of bags of school supplies donated by families of Sugar Mill teens,where grieving and one subdivision in Johns Creek. The nonprofit she started, Project Darasani, helps needy Tanzanian school. See story, page 28.death. students acquire the basic school supplies they need to get an education. Paul “Louis” Castell Jr., 17, of Dawsonville, died after he PROJECT DARASANI: was thrown from a truck that wrecked with a telephone pole. The rising senior at North Forsyth High School was a passenger. • Walmart driveway The drunken driver, a • Genesis Way/Deerfield Place 17-year-old, (this newspaper • Soneley Court/Keyingham Way policy does not print names • Sunfish Bend of anyone under 18 who was • Creek Club Drive arrested) was charged with first degree vehicular homicide, DUI, underage the public took their possession first look and By JONATHAN COPSEY of alcohol. at theconsumption proposed improvements, jonathan@northfulton.com which include 9 1, a Aboutwidening 1:20 a.m.Ga. June from white Windward northwith MILTON, Ga. – The Georgia 2011Parkway Dodge Ram to thefour Forsyth linehad intoleft Department of Transportation teensCounty onboard what he had seen, he saw a goal on his bucket list. He By HATCHER HURD roadFunke’s – two inhouse each party (GDOT) and city of Milton want a four-lane Jeremiah that his then 13-year-old also saw a lot of poverty and hatcher@northfulton.com direction. Included to make major improvements on Hyde Road.with these daughter Saloni was moved how little the country could improvements willparents be the elimito Ga. 9 in coming years. Funke’s were out by what he had seen. They do for school-age children. JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – When the center lane to be Those improvements, however, of of town. WSB-tV nation talked about it and she said Determined to do someRupesh Sharma made the replaced The withtruck a center median will not begin for almost a traveled fast News helicopter captured the SUV she wanted to go with him on thing, he knew he would trip to Tanzania to hike up and thedecade. aftermath of the chaos at the See CHANGES, Page 7 modifications to existing traffic signals a section Ga. 9. At an open house May 21, return.along When he cameofhome Kilimanjaro, it became courthouse. See ACCIDENT, PageThe 5 red dots indicate new or Mount and told his family about more than chance to cross off See SHARMA, Page 31

Milton honors fallen veteran

Ga. 9 to be widened to county line

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – In a tumultuous year of political bloodletting on the City Council, it ended with neither a bang nor a whimper. Instead, it ended July 22 with a calm, clean runoff election among four candidates for the last two council seats. The runoffs were won handily in the end by Steve Broadbent and Bob Gray for posts 6 and 4 respectively. A season of local politics that had burst on the usually quiet Johns Creek political scene the summer of 2013 ended quietly. Conventional wisdom says turnouts in runoff elections are usually light And this was a special election called in July – just a couple weeks before

Trip to Tanzania inspires Saloni Sharma to start club to support students she met

TUTORING

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Culinary charity events

By HaTCHeR HURD hatcher@northfulton.com GRAY

BROADBENT

Election results POST 4 votes: Bob Gray 2,900, 58% Eric Fragoso 2,134, 42%

POST 6 votes: Steve Broadbent 3,346, 66% Nancy Reinecke 1,213, 34% PHOTOS By KIMBER DAVISON See ELECTIONS, Page 5 At 86 years young, Dick Davis gets ready to take off in a Boeing Stearman at Fulton County Airport Aug. 7. The Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation provides “Dream Flights” to former military pilots living in senior communities.

Where would new traffic lights go?nonprofit Northview teen’s City to let Fulton County helps African students

Bethany Bend intersection reworked

Dine Out Do Good

Fulton legislators file lawsuit hours after budget passes 4-3

Veterans relive administer HUD grantswar days

Atlanta. Korean, WWII veterans take ‘Dream Flight’ They were met on the runway by a Boeing Stearman nity Development Block Grant However Aug. 7,to three By a.J. McNaUgHTON (CDBG)on program Fulton biplane, the same aircraft used to train many military Alpharetta veterans aj@northfulton.com County, but thewere city does not givencede a special plane rideprojects they aviators in the late 1930s control of the won’tthat soonare forget. ATLANTA — Flying in an approved for Johnsand early 40s. On this day, they would all take a “Dream Veterans Art Danielson, airplane can be quite the Creek. By HATCHER HURD Flight.” Dale Livingston and Dick mundane task. Waiting in the CDBG grants are fedhatcher@northfulton.com The Ageless Aviation Davis traveled from Cottonsecurity line, waiting to board eral dollars issued by the U.S. Dreams Foundation, a wood Estates independent and even waiting to take off Department of Housing and JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns living home in Alpharetta to are just a few of the bores of air Creek travel.will turn over adminis- the Fulton County Airport in See FLIGHT, Page 5 tration of the city’s CommuSee CDBG, Page 4

Will still OK CDBG projects

ATLANTA - The showdown whether the state can single out Fulton County to limit its ability to raise taxes will now be settled in the courts. The Fulton Commission adopted Aug. 6 a General Fund millage rate of 11.781 mills, a17 percent increase for property owners. The vote was 4-3 with commissioners Liz Hausmann, Joan Garner and Robb Pitts dissenting. That not only put the

HauSmaNN

Let it shine!

pITTS

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county in contravention of the General Assembly legislation barring Fulton from raising taxes until 2015, it triggered

See COuRT, Page 43

Super Scoops

Tax Increase With Standard $30,000 Fulton County Homestead Exemption Home Fair Market Value

Annual

$100,000.00

$15.70

$1.31

$150,000.00

$47.10

$ 3.93

$200,000.00

$78.50

$250,000.00

$109.90

$300,000.00

$141.30

$350,000.00

$172.70

$400,000.00

$204.10

$450,000.00

$235.50

$500,000.00

$266.90

Monthly

$6.54

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$9.16 $11.78 $14.39 $17.01 $19.63

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$22.24

The table above provides an estimate of the annual and monthly increase for properties with the standard Fulton County homestead exemption of $30,000.

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WE SIT DOWN WITH MILAN EYE CENTER

Letters from the Mayors

North Fulton leaders share what’s new in their cities. PAGE 4B

from Appen Media Group

from Appen Media Group relocation guide

Eyes on you

All about resins

An inside look into the billiondollar Allnex deal. PAGE 1B

Volume I, Issue 2 • Part of Appen Media Group • Cherokee • Cobb • Forsyth • Fulton • Gwinnett • Hall

Home of the Braves

CALL PAUL

Multi-use project starts near Braves new stadium. PAGE 4A

CULTURE CREATURES

Fellowship Christian School leads the way

Paul Martin Interiors talks relocating, redecorating

The top hotspots in North Fulton and South Forsyth

GM on the move

Company brings 1,000 jobs to Roswell. PAGE 10A

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

BANK$ BOUNCE BACK Close to 90 Georgia banks have failed since 2007, far more than any other state.

But there’s a bright side to the decline. It appears we’ve hit the bottom and now it’s a slow, upward climb back to the top. While the effects of the severe financial downturn and the severity of the recession seem to be in the rearview mirror, it’s the smaller banks that were hit the hardest.

Groundbreaking

Top parks in your area

Fiserv to open headquarters in Alpharetta. PAGE 15A

That’s because larger banks have a long history of navigating rough economic waters and community banks often have fewer resources.

Wendy Goddard Manager of Marketing and Innovation wendy@appenmediagroup.com

See the complete story plus our infographic on pages 16A and 17A.

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Superintendents sound off

Fulton, Forsyth leaders give update on their schools

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Our four weekly newspapers Health & Wellness Sponsored section ► page 18

Touring history

GOOOAl!

Cumming cemetery offers glimpse of past ► page 8

Al Qaeda and Nazis

World Cup fever? We got the remedy ► page 24

Education Focus

Spy-thriller explores 9/11 funding ► page 13