PHOTOS BY: HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
The All Saints Catholic Church gymnasium hums with the sound of friends, families, neighbors and strangers enjoying the March 7 Knights of Columbus Fish Fry. The kickoff of the Dunwoody tradition combined mouth-watering seafood and Southern-style sides with one of Metro Atlanta’s closest-knit communities.
By HAYDEN SUMLIN | hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — More than a thousand people pack All Saints Catholic Church in Dunwoody for the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry each Friday night during Lent.
The Knights from All Saints Council 11402 serve more than 1,000 meals to the public over three hours Friday evenings. It’s become the place to be, and residents from surrounding cities make sure to be there.
The Knights reported serving a record 1,342 meals March 7.
See FISH, Page 15
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — The Dunwoody City Council discussed amending the City Charter March 13 to increase city revenue amid growing operational costs and inflationary pressures.
One major takeaway is that elected officials are considering a de facto property tax increase through the creation of special tax district to fund public safety.
Some elected officials say a tax increase may be worth it for homeowners to pay more for continued public safety and expanded city services.
The Dunwoody City Council spent the second day of its annual strategic planning retreat March 13 at the Glenn-Ella Springs Inn & Restaurant in Habersham County with a discussion on how to invest in, protect and operate the city.
See RETREAT, Page 16
elected officials and city department heads gather for two-day strategic planning retreat at the Glenn-Ella Springs Inn & Restaurant in Habersham County March 12-13 to discuss a range of topics including a property tax increase to fund municipal services. Because of the city’s looming shortfall in operational funding, elected officials are pursuing a special tax district to fund the Dunwoody Police Department.
NEWS TIPS
770-442-3278
AppenMedia.com
319 N. Main Street Alpharetta, GA 30009
HANS APPEN Publisher DICK WILLIAMS Publisher Emeritus CONTACT
Contact reporters directly or send story ideas to newsroom@appenmedia.com.
LETTERS, EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Send your letters, events and community news to newsroom@appenmedia.com. See appenmedia.com/submit for more guidance.
ADVERTISING
For information about advertising in the Dunwoody Crier or other Appen Media properties, email advertising@appenmedia.com or call 770-442-3278.
CIRCULATION
To start, pause or stop delivery of this newspaper, email circulation@appenmedia.com or call 770-442-3278.
All crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police arrested a 50-year-old Conyers man for alleged forced entry March 9 at a North Peachtree Road residence near Chesnut Elementary School.
According to the police report, the man said he was walking from the Atlanta Recovery Place along Mount Vernon Road and tried asking a homeowner for a cellphone to get a ride home.
The homeowner, a 50-year-old Dunwoody man, said he told the suspect to leave when he knocked and asked to use a phone, but the man tried to force his way into the home.
Eventually, the homeowner said the man left on foot after he realized he could not open the door.
After reviewing security footage of the incident, officers said the video shows the suspect trying to force open the door with his shoulder while the homeowner asked him to leave.
Officers said no weapons or contraband were found during a search of the suspect.
Officers secured warrants for attempted forced entry, loitering and prowling before transporting him to DeKalb County Jail.
— Hayden Sumlin
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police arrested a 36-year-old Brookhaven man March 6 for alleged disorderly conduct under the influence after the man went to a sports bar to try to get his job back.
An officer said he learned the man
used to be employed at the restaurant and he appeared to be heavily intoxicated.
Taco Mac employees called 911 and said they wanted the man to be criminally trespassed from the restaurant after he spent 30 minutes making patrons feel uncomfortable, using offensive language and suggesting physical threats, according to police records.
The officer said the man called his girlfriend to come pick him up in an Uber, displaying the same aggression and disrespect he allegedly gave to patrons and employees.
When the Uber arrived, the man eventually got in the vehicle after officers made multiple demands for him to do so.
Once in the rideshare, officers said the man made some comments about guns, which made the Uber driver uncomfortable.
Officers said they arrested the suspect for disorderly conduct when he stepped out of the vehicle, trespassed him from the bar and transported him to DeKalb County Jail.
According to records, the man was bonded out March 7.
Hayden Sumlin
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police arrested a 28-year-old Florida woman March 4 after Von Mauer loss prevention caught her allegedly trying to leave the store with jewelry.
An officer said he met with loss prevention after arriving at Perimeter Mall and viewed security footage of the incident.
The officer said a woman selected three pieces of jewelry, totaling $137, and began wandering around the store while juggling the merchandise from hand to hand.
Because loss prevention was watching the suspect on security cameras, employees said they apprehended her as she was passing all points of sale with the merchandise.
Officers said they charged the woman
Correction: The March 6 Crier published a story titled, “DeKalb County water rates to climb 20% by January 1” that contained two mistakes. The county commission deferred, not approved, the watershed capital improvement plan. Also, due to an error in the editing process, a regretful typo was used.
with shoplifting and transported her to DeKalb County Jail without issue.
During the Dunwoody City Council’s March planning retreat, Police Chief Mike Carlson said his department still responds to shoplifting calls unlike some other Metro Atlanta law enforcement agencies. The Dunwoody Police Department faces the highest officer-to-serious crime ration in Metro Atlanta, Carlson said.
— Hayden Sumlin
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A 46-year-old Alpharetta man reported a car was stolen from his home Feb. 26.
The theft was reported at a Ruth’s Farm Way home, according to an Alpharetta police report.
The man said he left his Honda Accord in the driveway unlocked with the keys inside.
About 2 a.m., two suspects dressed in black were seen on the man’s property, pulling the door handles of vehicles in the driveway.
The suspects left the driveway and returned about 15 minutes later. They then entered the Accord and drove away.
Police checked Flock Safety cameras but failed to locate the car.
Officers spoke with the man’s neighbors, who reported no missing property but said the suspects had attempted to open other vehicles.
The man’s home security camera showed one of the suspects carrying a white purse.
The incident was classified as a felony motor vehicle theft.
— Jon Wilcox
A look at 56 Perimeter Center East shows a roughly 6-acre site with a six-story, 98,000-square-foot office building and a large surface parking lot. The property owners, Providence Group of Georgia, is requesting a rezoning to allow the redevelopment of 122 townhomes.
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — New missing middle housing is on the horizon within Dunwoody’s slice of Central Perimeter with a proposed teardown of an old office building along I-285.
The Dunwoody Planning Commission heard a presentation March 11 from developers interested in tearing down an office building at 56 Perimeter Center East and replacing it with 122 townhomes.
Missing middle references housing types between single-family residences and multi-family apartments, including townhomes, cottage courts and mixeduse developments.
Because the applicant did not submit elevations to Community Development staff before the formal presentation, developers are slated to be back in front of the Planning Commission in April. Developers said
the buildings will be around four stories.
City staff’s memo said the building is largely vacant.
The applicant seeks permission to rezone the property to allow the site to be redeveloped into 122 condominiums in the style of townhomes. The proposed redevelopment also includes interior driveways, resident amenities and a connection from Perimeter Center East to the Georgetown Trail.
The Providence Group of Georgia, a Johns Creek-based homebuilding subsidiary of Green Brick Partners, is seeking a rezoning of the 6.2-acre site from office institution, O-I, to a planned development, PD, district.
See REZONE, Page 14
Dunwoody Senior Planner Madalyn Smith said the property’s current zoning district is a limited classification that does not accommodate residential development. CITY OF
A site plan for 53 Perimeter Center East from the Providence Group of Georgia shows 122 townhomes on just over 6 acres abutting I-285. Currently, there is a mostly vacant six-story office building on the 6-acre property.
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Parks and Recreation
Director Rachel Waldron said the city is resodding the Peachtree Middle School athletic field with grass in the next few months rather than turf.
The move comes after the City Council’s two-day Strategic Planning Retreat March 12-13 at the GlenElla Springs Inn & Restaurant in north Habersham County near Tallulah Gorge State Park.
The city budgeted a turf field replacement in 2024 and 2025, and included the roughly $1 million project in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan. However, officials are shifting the project to less expensive grass, saying the city’s funds could be best spent elsewhere.
A few residents, including students and parents at Peachtree Middle School, lobbied Dunwoody elected officials at a March 10 meeting to fund a new turf field.
While the city resodded the field before the pandemic, it’s now an assortment of mud, sand and some grass.
Three students at Peachtree Middle School, sixth graders Giuliana Scazzero, Ana Lemos and seventh grader Emory Lucero asked city officials to address the athletic field’s condition with a turf replacement.
“Currently, it’s a mixture of lumps, dead grass and mud holes,” Lucero said. “It’s very unsafe, and I have seen many of my fellow peers twist an ankle or get injured … uneven fields with no holes or mud can
help us prevent these injuries.”
From left, three Peachtree Middle School students including sixth graders Giuliana Scazzero, Ana Lemos and seventh grader Emory Lucero stand behind the podium after public comment at the March 10 Dunwoody City Council meeting. The middle schoolers described their experiences on the field and asked for the city to replace it with turf.
A few parents also spoke, emphasizing the safety concerns for 1,100 students using the field for physical education and the athletes practicing on it.
Hela Sheth, mother of a sixth grade student, said she realized how bad the field’s condition was at her daughter’s first soccer practice in February.
Sheth said the middle school soccer players awkwardly avoided muddy sections and sand pits
during the practice. After that, she said it was clear something needed to be done about the field.
“Turfing the field would have a lot of benefits, but I also realize it is not just that simple,” she said. “These girls … they deserve better.”
Another parent, Carlos Lemas, called the field’s condition “unacceptable.”
“These fields are not just used for one sport, they serve multiple teams and activities,” he said. “Yet, they are in such poor condition that they pose a risk to our children’s safety and development.”
Lemas pointed out that some students’ only opportunity to play youth sports is through their public school. Not every family has the means to afford private clubs and travel teams, and Lemas said a lack of a playable, safe field fails those students.
Regardless of how residents feel about turfing the field, the city is preparing to resod it with grass to be ready before next school year.
“Why are we not turfing it?” City Councilman John Heneghan asked. “I don’t understand what has changed … I don’t understand the philosophy.”
With dwindling operational and capital funds, elected officials said they are hamstringed and must be more selective with what capital projects receive taxpayer dollars.
Despite the city budgeting a turf field replacement in 2024 and 2025 and including the roughly $1 million project in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan, elected officials signaled a shift away from it.
See FIELD, Page 16
If you live in Georgia, you can still get help with recovery from Helene or Debby through housing assistance, loans, resources and more. Stay in touch and check your application for updates.
Housing: FEMA may call for more information from an unfamiliar number. Be sure to answer, as FEMA may be able to help with immediate housing, additional support and information on housing opportunities.
Home Inspection: Inspectors will make an appointment before they visit and will show your application number and their photo ID.
SBA Centers: FEMA staff is available to assist at Small Business Administration centers in Bulloch, Coffee, Jeff Davis, Lowndes, Richmond, Telfair and Toombs counties.
Statesboro Library: 124 S. Main St., Statesboro, GA 30458
Satilla Library: 200 S. Madison Ave., Douglas, GA 31533
Jeff Davis Rec Dept: 83 Buford Rd., Hazlehurst, GA 31539
VSU Foundation:
901 N. Patterson St., Valdosta, GA 31601
Centro Cristiano Oasis VIP: 3265 Deans Bridge Rd., Augusta, GA 30906
Telfair CSC: 91 Telfair Ave., #D, McRae-Helena, GA 31055
Center for Rural Entrepreneurship:
208 E. 1st St., Vidalia, GA 30474
Read your FEMA letter carefully. If you’ve applied for FEMA disaster assistance and were not approved, you may need to send additional documentation.
Scan the QR code or go to fema.gov/HelpIsHere and select “check your status” to upload documents, track your application, update contact information, get directions or get help.
ONLINE: fema.gov/HelpIsHere
DOWNLOAD: The FEMA App CALL: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
1. Unit of measurement. Gold__ (do nothing). Poker pot.
2. Gold __ (commendation). Barber shop request. Box.
3. Ambrosia. Destroy. Gold __ (Krugerrand).
4. Eye color. Hate. Gold __ (49er’s adventure)
5. Campus building. Gold __ (person of avarice). Police action.
6. Gold __ (dentist’s implant). It’s overhead. Armada.
7. Hawaiian dance. Season. Gold __ (tank resident).
How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!
How to Solve: To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
How to Solve: Kakuro, also known as Cross Sums, is a challenging number puzzle, solved in a crossword style grid. The rules are easy: A number above the diagonal line in a black square is the sum of the white squares to the right of it. A number below the diagonal line is the sum of the white squares in the sequence below it. You may only use the digits 1 to 9, and a digit can only be used once in any sequence.
By CARL APPEN, PAT FOX and HAYDEN SUMLIN
carl@appenmedia.com pat@appenmedia.com hayden@appenmedia.com
ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled March 13 that a lowercourt decision favoring the City of Sandy Springs in an Open Records lawsuit was premature.
The ruling is a setback for Sandy Springs and its practice of tailoring police reports released to the public to include nothing but the barest of data.
Responding to the ruling, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said the appellate court’s procedural determination does not affect the substantive part of the trial court decision.
“Council will discuss this matter and proceed in a manner that ensures public access to vital information while protecting the integrity of the investigative process,” Paul said.
Appen Media brought suit against the city May 2024, claiming it is violating the Open Records Act by denying the newspaper access to initial police officer narratives that are routinely filed during early stages of investigations.
After a Fulton County judge ruled in favor of the city last December, Appen appealed the decision to the higher state court. In its ruling, the Court of Appeals determined, “the trial court’s grant of summary judgment was premature. Genuine
issues of material fact remain based on this record and thus the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to the City.”
The Georgia Open Records Act maintains that all public records are open for public inspection, but it does allow exceptions. The law provides some latitude for withholding materials surrounding ongoing police investigations. However, initial police crime and incident reports are required to be made available to the public.
For over a year, the paper has pushed Sandy Springs for more details about calls its police officers have been dispatched to investigate.
In most cases, the agency has returned the requests with onesentence narratives stating when and where police were dispatched to and, usually, for what reason. Unlike incident reports provided by police agencies in surrounding jurisdictions, the Sandy Springs reports lack details on the nature of the crime, an accounting of property damage, injuries associated with a crime, whether any arrests were made, and whether any suspects have been identified.
Sandy Springs admits that officers responding to incidents generally write more detailed reports in a second document, often written the same day. The city claims in its legal defense that this second report is not part of the initial incident report, and therefore doesn’t have to be disclosed.
In its complaint, Appen cited examples of Sandy Springs reports where both documents were created at the same time on the same day.
When the newspaper filed open records requests for the reports associated with these incidents, the city only provided the first, onesentence page.
Appen noted in its complaint guidance from the Attorney General’s Office that, “A common-sense interpretation of ‘initial incident report’ is that anything written at the same time as the first part of the report is part of the initial incident report.”
In December, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Adams ruled in favor of the city, saying Appen Media failed to prove it is unlawful for the department to withhold the additional information.
Adams said Appen’s use of the Attorney General’s assessment is not the law, “although [Appen] may be correct in its assertion that [the Sandy Springs Police Department’s] practice violates the spirit of the Open Records Act.”
Appen appealed the decision to the state Court of Appeals. On March 13, the higher court rejected the lower court action.
The ruling says the city did not prove that the records should have been withheld in the first place.
“Here, it was the City’s burden to show why the requested records should not be disclosed as a matter of law,” the judgement states. “The City fails to meet its burden.”
The court also focused on the Georgia laws underpinning the case.
State open records laws read that “initial police arrest reports and initial incident reports,” are always subject to release, even if they are part of an ongoing investigation.
The appellate court’s decision points out that while, “the Act requires disclosure of ‘initial incident reports,’ it does not define that term.”
Even so, it argues that whether or not a document is an initial incident report must be weighed on a case-bycase basis, instead of the report’s title or when it was produced.
The Court of Appeals rejected the city’s blanket defense that only the first, brief report is always considered the initial document.
cases it may not.”
The appellate court’s ruling says it did not, nor did the lower trial court, have enough information to determine whether the documents in question should have been released.
During the lower court’s discovery process, Appen Media asked the city to submit the complete reports – both the brief account and the second account with more details – for the incidents.
Sandy Springs did not provide all of the materials.
Without these materials and the ability to compare the two, the appeals court says “the trial court’s grant of summary judgement was premature. Genuine issues of material fact remain based on this record and thus the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to the City.”
As a result of this decision, the case will go back to the lower court for reconsideration. Both parties also have the option to appeal to the state Supreme Court or reach a settlement.
Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Christopher McFadden filed a concurrent opinion in the decision, saying that the ruling should have gone a step further.
Citing the city’s actions for filing separate reports, McFadden wrote: “I would hold that this practice is an improper circumvention of the [Open Records] Act and that the responding officer’s full narrative about his or her initial response to the incident also constitutes an ‘initial incident report’ subject to disclosure under the Act.”
McFadden also addressed the lack of materials the city provided in the discovery process.
“The possibility that the more detailed narratives associated with Appen Media’s requests might also contain information that is exempt from disclosure merely highlights the existence of questions of fact as to whether the City disclosed what it was required to in response to Appen Media’s requests,” he wrote.
“The evidence, viewed most favorably to Appen Media, shows that Appen Media requested incident reports but received only the short reports and not any more detailed narratives. And there is evidence, by way of examples from closed cases, of instances when responding officers included one- or two-sentence narratives about an incident in a short report and the rest of that narrative in a more detailed narrative report.”
“Whether a narrative report prepared at the same time as an incident report actually constitutes part of that initial incident report is a fact specific inquiry,” the court wrote. “In some cases it may, and in some
After describing an example in the court record, McFadden went on: “A factfinder could infer from the closed-case examples that similar, more detailed narratives exist for the incidents that are the subjects of Appen Media’s open records requests, but the City did not disclose them.” Continued from Page 8
By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com
NORTH METRO ATLANTA, Ga. — Short-term rentals offered through online platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com pay hotel taxes in Georgia in accordance with a state law signed in 2021.
Just like traditional hotels and motels, the online platforms collect the taxes, along with other taxes, and pay them to the appropriate government entity.
In Georgia, short-term rentals are subject to a 4 percent state sales tax, local sales tax, hotel fee of $5 per night and local hotel-motel taxes that can range up to 8 percent. Guests are often charged the taxes as part of their reservation.
In 2021, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law requiring short-term rentals pay the tax. The law went into effect in 2022.
Short-term rentals have become an increasingly large part of the hospitality landscape since the launch of popular online platforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In Alpharetta, the City Council passed an ordinance in January 2025 regulating the rentals, requiring them to seek city permits after residents
voiced concerns. Many residents said they were seeing more and more of the rentals and were worried they would change the character of their neighborhoods. Owners of the rentals said they provide an essential service.
At least 89 short-term rentals operate in Alpharetta, according to the city.
Hotel-motel taxes can fund a variety of programs and purposes related to tourism.
Cities and counties often take a portion, leaving the rest for convention and visitors bureaus.
Awesome Alpharetta, Alpharetta’s convention and visitors bureau, is funded by the tax, spending about 95 percent of its dollars on marketing for the city’s many attractions, said Janet Rodgers, president and CEO of the bureau.
The money for marketing goes toward numerous advertisements and marketing campaigns from search engine optimization to traditional advertising.
The marketing benefits local hotels, motels, attractions and short-term rentals, which may see an increase in customers as a result, she said.
“We really put the money to work,” she said. “I can’t sell a hotel room, but I can sell a destination.”
In the previous Past Tense, Joe Greear recalled he saw his first scary movie at The Brookhaven Theater on Peachtree Road. It was 1958 and the movie was “The Fly,” starring Vincent Price.
“I was about 6 or 7, and I remember being so scared that I couldn’t watch the end and left my seat to wait in the lobby for my brother to emerge,” Joe said. “The Brookhaven Theater was not an elaborate movie house like the Fox, and it had only a few embellishments. Despite its simplicity, it was a nice place to watch a movie, and I always loved the smell of the popcorn in the lobby.”
When Peachtree Road was later widened and straightened, Brookhaven Supply and the other original businesses were demolished. Greear remembers the A&P and post office moving to a new shopping center called Cherokee Plaza.
Going east along North Druid Hills Road past Briarcliff Road, Greear recalls a community of Black families known as Mt. Moriah. There were homes, a church and a cemetery. The last church building and cemetery are still there, but Mt. Moriah Church moved to Brockett Road in 1997. Where the homes once stood, a Richway store opened in 1972. Today, this is the location of a Target.
Greear remembers first hearing sounds of land being cleared for the construction of I-85 in 1955 or 1956. Joe and Sol were still preschoolers and enjoyed watching the crews at work. They saw and heard large machines moving dirt to make a level roadbed.
“Over several weeks the tree cutting crew crept slowly through our woods, leaving behind a treeless swath that seemed hundreds of feet wide,” Joe said.
“The Northeast Expressway (I-85) was to impact my life in many ways. First was the most obvious, the expressway was within sight of our house which had once been isolated in deep woods,” he said. There was also the constant sound of passing cars, the lights at night and the construction of new businesses nearby.
Riding go karts at Northeast Plaza are, from left: David, Joe and Sol Greear Jr. David is the youngest brother by seven years.
Joe and Sol hiked from their home to Northeast Plaza on Buford Highway after it opened in 1957. They followed a path similar to today’s Peachtree Creek Greenway. The brothers would visit shops, play mini golf or go bowling. (Atlanta Journal, Nov. 13, 1957, “Gigantic Northeast Plaza sets formal opening Thursday”)
The boys began elementary school at Briar Vista Elementary School in 1956. The school was already overcrowded, and in 1957 they were moved to Kittredge Elementary.
When Joe was a freshman at Briarcliff High School, the school shared their building and day with Lakeside High School students. Lakeside was under construction.
Joe Greear would pass the Tullie Smith property on his walks to the east on North Druid Hills Road. The house was back
off the road, “…but a home mailbox, a replica of her farmhouse, clearly identified its location.”
He did not know anything about who lived there, until one day when he was walking home from Kittredge Elementary School. A woman was standing on the sidewalk by the mailbox of Tullie Smith. The woman lived behind the Smith house and asked if Joe would walk along with her son when he left Kittredge each day.
The two boys would play for a while each day at the Smith home. Tullie Smith invited the boys into the kitchen occasionally for lemonade. By the following year, the boy no longer walked along, with Joe and the visits to the Tullie Smith house ended.
Greear just remembers it as an old farmhouse, but after Tullie Smith died in 1967, the house was moved to the Atlanta History Center. As an example of a mid19th century Plantation Plain farmhouse, it is now part of the educational experience known as Smith Farm.
Read more about the events and changes to Joe Greear’s house in the woods in his full memoir, “Growing up on the edges,” available on the DeKalb History Center website, dekalbhistory.org.
Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.
• Does my Will protect my “stuff”? (It does not.)
• Should I upgrade my Will to a Trust?
• What do I need to know about Revocable Living Trusts?
March/April Workshops:
Thurs., Mar 20 – 12 pm (lunch and learn)
Tues., Apr 1 – 4pm
Thurs., Apr 3 – 12pm (lunch and learn)
Tues., Apr 15 – 4pm
Thurs., Apr 17 – 12pm (lunch and learn)
Tues., Apr 29 – 4pm
Thurs., May 1 – 12pm (lunch and learn)
• How do Irrevocable Trusts work?
• Medicaid. What’s true and what’s not?
• How do I protect my assets for my family and legacy?
• How do I remain in control?
• How do I avoid losing everything to nursing home costs?
• How can my family avoid probate?
Attend our FREE Educational Workshops. Reserve your Spot and Get a FREE Consultation for attending the Workshop (a $500 Value) CODE: herald2023
1100 Cambridge Square | Suite B | Alpharetta, GA 30009 | 770.209.2346 | lisa@gklawgroup.com
Brought to you by - Estates Law Center USA
When it comes to planning for the future of your children, establishing trusts for minors can be an invaluable tool. These specialized trusts are designed to manage and protect assets for young beneficiaries until they reach adulthood, ensuring their financial security and stability. Minors can never receive ANY assets while minors. A Will where you name a guardian for minor children has nothing to do with your assets if you should pass away leaving your children without any protections. Probate takes control of the assets until the children reach age 18, which basically leaves your children to fend for themselves and is a Disaster, even when they turn 18, they receive a lump sum from Probate court after years of fees by the court administrator. Children at age 18 are not equipped to receive large sums of money or assets without the necessary protections.
There are several types of trusts tailored for minors, each serving unique purposes. Custodial accounts, for instance, allow a custodian to manage
assets on behalf of the minor until they come of age. Irrevocable trusts can provide long-term protection, as the assets placed in the trust are safeguarded from creditors and can offer tax benefits. Revocable living trusts allow for flexibility; while the trust can be altered during the parent’s lifetime, it still ensures that assets are distributed according to the grantor’s wishes upon their passing. It also ensures a family member can be appointed by you to oversee the assets in the trust in the event you pass away while the children are minors.
To learn more about how to protect your children if minors or disabled, book your free initial consultation now or sign up for one of our workshops and take the first step toward securing your legacy and ensuring peace of mind for the future!
Continued from Page 4
As a solution, staff is proposing rezoning the site to a planned development district, which is not subject to specific regulations.Instead, the city’s Overall Development Plan determines uses and regulations within the district. It allows flexibility to achieve city goals.
The value of the land and building at 53 Perimeter Center East peaked at $15.49 million in 2020, according to the DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department. It’s worth $9.5 million today.
In May 2016, OA Development purchased the property from the Simpson Organization for $13.7 million.
During the Planning Commission’s discussion with the applicant, members confirmed that its purchase of the property is contingent upon the rezoning.
The Providence Group is proposing to construct 10 condominium buildings, appearing as traditional townhomes, with one-car garages for each unit and a balcony.
Planning Commission members sought clarification about the developer’s intent as to whether the units will be owner-occupied or serve as rentals. Staff said they could limit renting to a certain percentage of units, which they have required for some Dunwoody Village townhomes.
Vice-Chair Scott Brown said he has some concerns about the townhomes’ proximity to the proposed I-285 Top End Express Lanes project.
Dunwoody Economic Development Director Michael Starling said the city’s guiding document for Central Perimeter growth — the Edge City 2.0 study — identifies a need for more missing middle housing.
“I believe the proposed concept from the Providence Group fills this need with a unique townhome product,” he said. “Redevelopment, repositioning or reusing the older office stock in Dunwoody is critical to the long-term health of our office and retail market.”
Starling said he thinks the commercial real estate market in Perimeter and other Metro Atlanta suburbs are poised for significantly more office redevelopment because the property valuations are at a level that makes similar projects more financially viable for developers.
“The Edge City 2.0 study articulates Dunwoody’s vision for redevelopment, and we welcome developers engaging with staff and city leaders to identify projects that fit this vision,” he said.
Continued from Page 1
There are still four Friday night Fish Frys coming up March 21 and 28 and April 4 and 11.
The Knights take off Ash Wednesday March 5, Good Friday April 18 and Easter Sunday April 20.
At the three-hour kickoff, about a hundred Metro Atlanta residents waited patiently in line outside, chatting with friends, neighbors and strangers before placing an order.
Patrons can order to-go meals or grab a table inside the gym and wait for Knights to bring over their plate. Seniors receive a $1 discount, adult dinners range from $11-$14 and kids meals are $7.
Patrons have the option to grab additional sides or buy a dessert depending on how hungry or susceptible to grandma’s baked goodies they are.
Amid all the controlled chaos, seasoned Knights of Columbus members are all smiles, working diligently to ensure everyone is served good food with Dunwoody’s finetuned Southern hospitality.
SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
A couple of dozen patrons form a line outside the All Saints gymnasium for the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry March 7. The atmosphere for the kickoff of the annual Catholic tradition was buzzing with chatter among friends and families.
An army of about 100 Knights of Columbus members, including City Council members John Heneghan and Joe Seconder, chip in on the work at the church gymnasium.
On his way to the All Saints gym for his shift running the clam chowder station, Seconder said it’s a mistake to skip out on the renowned side dish. Heneghan, running the bar, served drinks to patrons while fielding
an occasional question about city developments.
Dunwoody’s Knights of Columbus Fish Fry began in 1997 but traces its origins back to the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent to honor
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which occurred on a Friday.
Most Christians observe Lent from Ash Wednesday up to Easter, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting and penance.
Everyone is welcome at the All Saints Fish Fry, whet Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu. If someone doesn’t practice a faith, the Knight of Columbus at All Saints want to serve them. All proceeds benefit the nonprofit’s many charities throughout the community.
The Fish Fry is all about sharing in the Dunwoody community camaraderie and bonding with fellow Metro Atlantans.
Knights of Columbus members
Woody Jones and Tom Simon manage the World-Famous Fish Fry at All Saints. Other members run around the gym and helping with service.
Simon said the Fish Fry is always a happening in Dunwoody.
“It’s a wonderful thing that we are glad we’re a part of,” he said. “We really thank all the Dunwoody people, as well as the metropolitan folks, who come by and partake in the fish fry.”
Simon said members of the Dunwoody Police Department eat free.
“We thank God for them,” Simon said. “I want to invite all of our Dunwoody police officers to come by, look for me ,and I’ll make sure they get a great meal.”
Memberships is now opendon’t miss out on this exciting new chapter! today and become part of a dynamic network that’s shaping the business landscape
Together, we’ll create opportunities, drive innovation, and build a brighter tomorrow YOUR VOICE. YOUR BUSINESS. YOUR SUCCESS. YOU ARE WHAT MAKES US GREATER. JOIN US
Continued from Page 6
Council members and Mayor Lynn Deutsch discussed informal bids for a turf replacement at a Feb. 24 meeting, saying the city’s funds could best be spent elsewhere, citing communication failures with the school district and saying the project may not happen because the 2023 bond referendum failed.
Little has changed since then, and the turf project looks to be a thing of the past.
Despite the bond referendum failing 10 months prior, elected officials passed this year’s budget with funding set aside for a turf replacement at the middle school abutting Brook Run Park.
The city has invested $160,000 in field lighting, which was not a
Continued from Page 1
Mayor Lynn Deutsch said the elephant in the room is the city’s looming shortfall in operational funding, while also pointing to the fact that Dunwoody has not spent its reserves yet. While the city has budgeted the use of reserves for the past two years, its conservative budgeting has kept it out of the red.
“We need to start working on this; we are not running out of money today … [or] next year,” Deutsch said. “How do we put down the foundation so the decisions we are making are sustainable and continue to be the city that people expect?”
The city’s recuring expenses are outpacing revenues, and federal money has been used to shore up some operations. That money, awarded for pandemic relief, will all but dry up by the time the 2026 budget process begins this summer.
Things like a designated ambulance that drives down response times, competitive pay for police officers, basic park maintenance and administrative management are elements the city needs to pay for to maintain the level of service that residents expect.
Deutsch said the city needs to be transparent about these expenses, and her priority is to find a solution the city’s looming deficit by the end of her second and final term in December 2027.
The City Charter limits elected officials’ ability to raise the property tax levy any higher because of a builtin millage rate cap.
While City Councilman Joe
responsibility laid out in the agreement with the school district. Elected officials point to that when asked about funding a turf replacement.
Because the city’s 2016 land swap agreement with the DeKalb County School District, it is required to repair the stormwater system underneath the field and maintain its surface conditions.
While the city has spent $7,000 in the last nine months on seeding and fertilizer, the athletic field is unsafe for middle school athletes and cannot be used for competitions, according to coaches and parents.
The plan is to resod the athletic field with a natural grass surface for around $10,000 and work with the school on a temporary closure after the end of the school year, Parks and Recreation Director Waldron said.
“We would solicit three quotes from maintenance companies we’ve used before,” she said. “It won’t be a formal
ASeconder signaled a willingness to remove or raise the millage rate cap by ordinance, other council members and Deutsch opted to pursue establishing a special tax district.
A special tax district allows a governing authority, like Dunwoody, to levy and collect taxes within a geographical boundary to pay for the cost of providing a service.
Dunwoody has some of the lowest municipal property taxes in Metro Atlanta because of the Charter’s 1-mill homestead, property assessment freeze and millage rate cap.
The Dunwoody residents who founded the city in the early aughts baked low property taxes into the municipal constitution.
Councilman John Heneghan, elected to the inaugural City Council in 2008, said former officials told residents that any tax increase would come to a citizen vote via a referendum.
Heneghan asked if the special tax district for public safety would be a back-end property tax rate hike, or if the city’s existing millage would be reduced to even out an increase.
“I’m all in on public safety, it’s the number one reason for government,” Heneghan said. “Back in the day, we said we were going to go to the residents with anything above the tax rate that we’re currently at.”
Other elected officials pushed back on a measure reducing or evening out city revenue, saying the point of a special tax district would be to increase operational revenue.
request for proposal.”
Waldron said keys to the resodding are keeping people off it for a month to let the grass set in and working with the school to enforce it.
The resodding plan looks to knock out a couple problems at once.
“The water on the field is from our irrigation line,” Waldron said. “Operations is still trouble-shooting the cause but yes, that will also be repaired when we resod.”
City Manager Eric Linton said he spoke with the school district’s Chief Operating Officer Erick Hofstetter about the city’s plan to spend $10,000 and resod the field during late spring or early summer. Linton said Hofstetter told him there’s no chance the school district will turf it in the next six years.
“The plan is to resod it unless y’all want to go a different route,” Linton said.
City Councilman Tom Lambert
Potential City Charter amendments
1. City Council member swear-in schedule
2. Environmental protection
3. Budget adoption schedule
4. Mayor’s emergency powers
5. Compensation change
6. Term limits for municipal judges
7. Special tax districts
City Attorney Andy Bernard told elected officials and high-ranking staff that in his legal opinion the city could go through an ordinance process to amend the City Charter.
There are essentially four options facing council members, the mayor and city manager: send a property tax increase to a citizen vote, use home rule to change the Charter and remove the millage rate cap, use home rule to create a special tax district to fund public safety operations or cut municipal services.
Mayor Deutsch, and most council members, supported a special tax district for public safety, the city’s largest operational expense. Including contracts for a city-based ambulance, police salaries and operational costs, Dunwoody is set to spend more than $14 million this year on public safety.
The city has increased starting police officer salaries around 45 percent since Mayor Deutsch took office in 2020 to support public safety personnel, remain competitive with surrounding cities and help a department with too few officers for its share of criminal activity.
Central Perimeter, which includes parts of Sandy Springs east of Ga. 400 and southwest Dunwoody, is one of Metro Atlanta’s largest commercial districts. Following a national trend,
said it doesn’t make sense to spend the city’s small chunk of capital funds on property it is leasing. Lambert said the city needs to redo its Capital Improvement Plan and identify priority capital projects after the bond failure.
He pitched an idea to take maintenance funds and the $1 million for turf and look for other projects in the city that may serve more residents.
“What we need to decide is what’s most important to us … it’s not a perfect world, we don’t have unlimited resources,” Lambert said, who chaired the 2022-23 Citizens Capital Committee.
The differing perspectives on the City Council led to a back and forth between Lambert and Heneghan at the retreat.
Despite the push for a turf field, city staff said the plan is to move forward with resodding the field while elected officials narrow down their capital priorities.
the value and viability of commercial properties in the district is declining, further squeezing Dunwoody’s operational budget.
The Dunwoody Police Department, protecting a daily population of more than 150,000, sports the highest officer-to-serious-crimes ratio in Metro Atlanta, according to Police Chief Mike Carlson with the department’s latest annual report.
Serious crimes include homicide, robbery, assault, domestic violence, sex and drug crimes and felony thefts.
Carlson said his department has eight sworn-officer vacancies, but he has that many candidates in-background and headed toward onboarding. He also said he plans to request more funding for two additional officers and a major, along with the lease of a drone.
The special tax district would more likely include residential properties than commercial ones in Central Perimeter that are already paying tax to the Perimeter Community Improvement District, which chips in city projects in the area.
Assistant City Attorney Jay Vinicki said the timeline for a special tax district requires the city to create the public safety tax district this year to be active Jan. 1, 2026.
“You would get two line items on your bill, one would say police/public safety tax and one would say general fund tax,” Vinicki said.
After City Councilwoman Catherine Lautenbacher presented a series of potential Charter amendments vetted by City Attorney Bernard, the plan was to review each specific change over the next few weeks until the April 14 meeting.
There is another regular meeting March 23.
Name: American Pride Bank
Key Team Members: Erik Bykat, chief lending officer; Doug Fountain, commercial relationship manager; Richie Perez, business development officer; and Jennifer Overton, customer service manager.
Description: American Pride Bank is a community bank that specializes in high-touch, friendly, and flexible banking and lending for small business owners and individuals. We partner with people and places to build wealth, grow wealth and ensure customers can pass it on for future generations.
Month Opened: October 2024 - Ribbon cutting March 27, 2025”
Address: 6503 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, Ga
Phone: 678-233-2700
Web Address: https://www. americanpride.bank
Name: Senior Helpers
North Metro Atlanta
Owners: Amber Hamani and Anum Virani
Description: Senior Helpers of North Metro Atlanta is the premier provider of in-home senior care. We offer tailored home care services ranging from companion care for seniors who need daily assistance to in-depth specialized care for those with Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s and other chronic diseases.
Opened: May 2024
Address: 3000 Old Alabama Road, Suite 111, Johns Creek
Phone: 770-442-2154
Web Address: seniorhelpers.com/ga/ north-atl
Join today for $16/month
DC Aiken
Big Sky Franchise Team
David & Michelle Bertany
Amour & Duane Carthy
Adam Corder
Barbara Anderson
Kerry Arias
Scott Baynton
Joseph Bell
James Bennett
Patrick Cressaty
Robert Flint
Robin Fricton
Zachary Hahn
Allison January
Rita Brown
Mark Casas
David Conti
Theodore Davis III
Maureen Drumm
Carl Abernathy
Bruce Ackley
Salpi Adrouny
Alpharetta Lions Club
Omar Altalib
Dave Altman
Ron Altman
Joel Alvis
American Legion Post 201
Alice & Dr. Richard Appen
Gaye Armstrong
Mary Asbury
Bangkok Boxing LLC
Shannon Banna
Beth Barnes
Janet Bass
Caitlin Bates
Jannet Bauer
Barbara Bauschka
Miriam Beattie
Kathy Beck
Laura Bentley
William Bentley
Leslie Berry
Tom Billings
Tochie Blan
Ron Boddicker
Jodi Bogen
Sherri Bolles-Rogers
Helen Borland
Debra Bowen
Joe Bowen
Ryan Brainard
Mark Brandus
Mel Brannen
Carol Bright
Linda Brill
Dorothy Brouhard
Erendira Brumley
Bernhard Burgener
Alvin Burrell
Mike & Theresa Buscher
Mary Busman
Clea Calloway
Kirk Canaday
James Carr
Bridgette Carter
William Cartwright
Frank Catroppa
Pat Check
Virginia Christman
Christopher Cleary
Ann Coaloa
Kim Coggins
Evelyn Collazo
Michael Mackenzie
Communications
Joan Compton
Carol Cookerly
Terri Coons
Rhonda Cude
Connie Cunningham
Christopher Cupit
David Davis
Duane DeBruler
Marilyn DeCusati
Rebecca Donlan
Tom Driscoll
Michael Dudgeon
Jeanette Dummer
DutchCrafters Amish Furniture
Thomas Edmonds
Denise Eicher
Mim Eisenberg
Danny Elkins
Su Ellis
Martha Fasse
Nell & Doug Fernandez
Daniel Fleck
Lee Fleck
Laura Floyd
Cathy Flynn
Paul Folger
Adrienne Fontaine
Mary Ford
Nanci Foster
Amy Frederick
Kelly Frommer
Carol Fry
Tracey Ganesh
Daniel Gay
John Gibbs
John Gilberto
Leslie Gilliam
Michael Kenig
Roderick Liptrot
Bob Meyers
Claude Nardy
Cliff Oxford
Charlcie Forehand
Aileen Horton
Deborah Jackson
Ali Mahbod
Richard Matherly
Bailey & Ryan Gladysz
Michelle Glotzbach
Harvey Goldberg
Christopher Goodrich
Phyllis Goodrich
Ralph Griffin
Marilee Hamilton
Susan Hanna
Marion Hannah
Roxanne Hazen
Joe Hirsch
Penn Hodge
Dianne & Steffan Holmquist
Joan Hostetter
Austin Hughes
Jacqueline Hursh
Lynn Johnson
Tyler Jones
Arthur Kebanli
Laura Keck
Mark Kelly
Nancy Kennell
Randall Kent
Carol Kerr
Allison Kloster
Dyna Kohler
Larry Krueger
Jess & Chris Kysar
Malinda Lackey
Brandon Leach
Dennis Lee
Ken Leffingwell
Carol Lehan
Bonnie Lind
Francia Lindon
Harlan Little
Ross Long
Kyser Lough
Rita Loventhal
Brenda Lundy
Rita Loventhal
Karen Magill
Kyile Marshall
Julie Martin
Carla Masecar
Valerie Matthews
William Maxwell
Ross & Lori Ramsey
Sarah Reiter
Mark Rundle
Lynn Thomas Kim Truett
Evan McElroy
Vickie McElroy
Patricia Miller
Anne Peer
Robert Popp
Rachel McCord
Austin McCully
Diane McDonald
Karen McEnerny
Lynn McIntyre
Mike McLoughlin
Jennifer Mendoza
Al Merrill
Chris Miller
Christine Miller
Joe Modica
Fred Moeller
Sarah Moen
Catherine Moore
Carol Morgan
Kathy Morgan
Stu Moring
Leslie Mullis
Donna Murphy
Jack Murphy
Cindy Nolan
North Fulton Master Gardners, Inc.
Tricia Novarro
Bob O’Brien
Anne Pappas
Lynn Pennington
Jonathan Peters
Kurt & Leslie Phillips
Mary & Jan Phillips
Debra Powell
Joyce Provissiero
Chuck Pugh
Robert Radloff
Raj Rajagopalan
Ashwin Ramaswami
Cheryl Rand
Jean Rearick
Joseph Reed
Righteous PR
Angie Rigney
Neil Robertson
Kimberly Robinson
Matt Rohs
Kelly Sarmiento
Stephanie Schniederjan
The Schoenblum Family
Robert Scholz
To join go to appenmedia.com/join and follow the prompts to select your membership level and select your t-shirt size! Questions? Email Hans Appen at hans@appenmedia.com or call 770-442-3278.
Roger Wise Jr. Colt Whittall
Sergey Savin
Helen Scherrer
Kate Seng
Kimberly Verska Carol Williams
Stephanie Schuette
Susan Searles
Tina Shelton
Lisa Shippel
Joanne Simmons
Tom Simon
Cindy Simpson
Robert Singleton
Faye Sklar
Judith Slaughter
Andy Smith
Gena Spears
Donald Spencer
Melissa Spencer
Gloria Stathos
Robert Stevens
Wesley Stewart
Cathryn Stovall
Celeste Strohl
Diana Sullivan
Andy Sumlin
Mike Tasos
Candice Teichert
The Small Business Advisor
William Tietjen
Lisa Tilt
Michael Townes
Trunnion LLC
Matthew Tyser
Ollie Wagner
Lewis Walker
Jonathan Washburn
Michael Watson
Michael Weiss
Herbert Wells
Sally White
Thom White
Umpika White
Christine Williams
Jamie Wimberly
Jonathan Winkie
Nancy & Dave Wistrand
Carla York
Jonathan Young
Scan QR code to join the Appen Press Club
My daughter and I were talking yesterday about music. She told me she had heard good things about the new Bob Dylan movie. I replied to her that I had too.
We then moved on to other topics including how young people today make friends and socialize. I said that I know of young adults who have substituted online for in-person. I am sure we all know young people like that. The daughter of a friend of ours – an engineer with a degree from Purdue I think – lives 100 percent online our friend told us, really, 100 percent.
“She goes to work and then comes home and stays in front of her computer until it’s time to sleep. She doesn’t have any friends. She doesn’t go out. She just works and lives online,” she said.
She told us that her daughter recently commissioned an avatar for her online persona and was spending serious money, like thousands.
Our friend’s daughter lives at home with our friend in the same house where she grew up, the same town. She lives near the kids she went to school with, went to movies with, probably dated and went to football games with. Yet, her only friends are her online friends now – and if I am to understand it correctly – most of those friends are virtual friends, like avatars and such and not even actual people. Huh?
She recently quit her job and admitted herself to some sort of recovery program. From?
I am treading into space about which I know so little. I know what I don’t see. But I am not sure what it is that I actually do see.
I had a conversation with another friend’s daughter who recently moved to Atlanta. I told her that I could relate to moving to another place and struggling to meet people, make new friends and get one’s bearings. I told her that in another life, I had moved to Chile for two years and knew how isolated and at times lonely it made me.
She looked at me with a quizzical look and shook her head.
“I don’t have that problem” she said.
“Last night I went to dinner with one of my Facebook group friends. I don’t have problems meeting or finding people; I find them on Facebook or via (something to do with) TikTok. It’s not a big deal,” she shrugged her shoulders.
Like what planet did I live on or how dumb could I be - she intoned, without malice.
Instead of replying, I nodded and thought about what she said. I wondered how different she was – her life was –from the engineer whose friends were primarily virtual. Surely, I thought, she was navigating somewhat differently. I mean, she actually went out and did something with another person. But, I thought, how often does that really happen for her as opposed to a relationship only with screens?
My daughter listened to me and thought for a moment, then she told me a brief story. She said she’d recently watched a documentary on the Dylan movie. They played an interview that someone did with Dylan and asked him how he felt about the availability of music – all music – today at the tip of your fingers, access to every song, every symphony, every note via Spotify and
It’s a chilly, windy March afternoon, and I’m knee-deep in the cold waters of a north Georgia river with a fly rod in my hand.
I admit it. I’m cold! Saner minds would probably be inside with a cup of hot tea and a good book. But not me. Not today. I’m shivering in the interest of fishing because white bass season has arrived.
For much of the year, white bass hang out in deep water in large lakes and are not accessible to fly fishers like me. But every spring, usually starting sometime in March and lasting into mid-April or so, huge numbers of white bass school near the mouths of major tributaries and then migrate upstream to spawn. That puts them within reach, and for several weeks the fishing can be off-the-chart good.
That’s what I’m hoping for today.
This is the first time I’ve waded this river this year, and I’m going slowly in case the bottom contours have changed. I ease along, feeling the bottom through the soles of my wading boots, noting changes since last year as I go. Time
does that to rivers, you know, resculpting them and turning them into something always new.
Over there, where there used to be a good fish-holding run, there is now a shallow sandbar. But yonder, where last season the water was barely ankle deep, I spot a tangled mass of roots and limbs with strong current flowing through a brand-new zone of deeper holding water that must surely be 4 feet deep.
Ahh – I’ve found flowing water close to a brush pile. That’s what I’m looking for. Why? Because that’s what the white bass are looking for too.
White bass are ambush predators, and they continue to feed throughout their runs upriver. They’ll hold close to the cover waiting for the flow to bring something interesting their way (perhaps a small shad imitation like the one tied to the end of my line). Then they’ll grab it –and the battle is on!
I angle left to put myself in better casting position. Then I shake out a little line and make a cast – the first cast of the season. The rod bends like I want it to. The line does my bidding. The fly sails through the air, line unrolling smooth and straight and pretty as can be.
The fly lands with a soft splash a yard or two upstream from the tangle of
the like on a smart phone. She said Dylan replied that back in the day, when he was just starting out, there was no TV, just radio. So, when he would hear a song that struck him, he might not hear it again, but he would listen for it on the radio and would hope that it got played. She said that he would try to find out where the musician was playing or lived so he could go hear him or her. He said he would network to try to find the music; he would search for it and try to track it down – like he did with Woodie Guthrie.
My daughter then threw out an idea that struck me – like being hit in the face or head with something hard, cold, and unforgiving.
“What,” she pondered, “what happens to the top of the mountain? How does the top of the mountain change when you no longer have to work to get to it?”
I had no clue, just the weight of a great big rhetorical 800-pound gorilla standing on my chest.
Anyone who reads my columns knows that I have always said that everything important that I know, I have learned from my children. And that only continues. Indeed.
brush.
Lowering my rod’s tip, I count (one… two…three) to let the fly sink. White bass in flowing water tend to hang out in the lower portion of the water column, and “counting down” your lure helps you try different depths to figure out where they are in each particular area.
Then I begin to retrieve in regular foot-long strips, roughly one per second, trying to make the fly look like a minnow that doesn’t have a care in the world.
It happens on that very first cast. One minute I’m stripping in line. The next, there’s an electric jolt and the rod’s tip surges and suddenly I’m tight into a fish. A minute or two later, I bring it to net. It’s a white bass of just over a pound.
It’s a good sign, a good omen.
White bass season has begun!
But what’s a white bass?
My friend the fisheries biologist tells me that white bass are known in scientific circles as Morone chrysops. They’re members of the Moronidae family of temperate-water true bass –unlike the more famous largemouth bass, which is technically just a sunfish!
As noted earlier, white bass continue to eat during their spawning runs and like to hold near cover waiting for small minnows to swim by. In addition to
targeting brush piles and root balls, look for them along edges of deeper channels or sandbars. The area just downstream of a creek mouth can also be good. When white bass are running, you’ll pick up fish just about anywhere – but targeting holding spots will increase your odds of success.
Once you find suitable water, all you have to do is cast. If the white bass are there at the same time you are,
Much has been written recently about Bailey-Johnson School on Kimball Bridge Road in Alpharetta, which was built to serve Black children during the age of segregation. It was the first public high school in North Fulton County for Black students that offered all grades 1 through 12. Prior to that, education for Black children ended with 7th grade. The school operated from 1950 to 1967. Originally called the Alpharetta Colored School, it was renamed in 1952.
The school’s name comes from the first names of George “Hard” Bailey and Warren Johnson who played major roles in founding the school. In its heyday, the small neighborhood had about 25 Blackowned homes and the Pineview Cemetery which today has more than 160 memorials.
Hard Bailey was a well-respected Black farmer and blacksmith who, in the early 1900s, owned a shop on South Main Street in Alpharetta. He donated land from his farm on Kimball Bridge Road for the school. He was honored in February 2025 with the unveiling of a historical marker at the site of his blacksmith shop. The marker was a joint effort of the City of Alpharetta and the Alpharetta and Old Milton County Historical Society.
“The marker is important because until Bailey-Johnson, few Black students were able to go beyond 7th grade and thus were kept in generational poverty,” said Historical Society President Pat Miller.
Roswell resident Warren Johnson was a former slave who became a life-long advocate for Black education. He promoted the idea of a separate Black school, helped raise donations for the school and worked to recruit qualified teachers.
The impact of the school was quite amazing, given its small enrollment. It had 166 elementary and high school students and 13 faculty when it closed. The last graduating class had only eight students.
Charles Grogan, a well-known local Black historian, Bailey-Johnson alumni and former star basketball player, attributes the school’s success to the impact of four initial teachers who taught students about respect for others.
Various plans have been put forth over the years to repurpose the school building, but to date it remains a ghostly reminder of a past era.
Adjacent to the school is the former Alpharetta Colored Methodist Church established in 1867 by a group of former
ALPHARETTA AND OLD MILTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ALPHARETTA STORIES PROJECT/PROVIDED
Long time resident Dorothy Anderson’s house is across the street from the Bailey-Johnson School. Her home is well-known for the elaborate lights she displays at Christmas and Easter. “They make people happy,” she says.
slaves. It occupied several locations over the years and moved to Kimball Bridge Road in 1963. It changed its name in 1967 to the St. James United Methodist Church. The church again moved in 2000 and today is located on Webb Bridge Road.
The former church property is currently owned by the Diamond Glass Company which purchased the building from the church circa 2020 to house its executive offices.
“I have been in the neighborhood for some 42 years, and I couldn’t see someone tear down so much history,” said Andy Kalifeh, Diamond Glass Company president. “We kept the exterior integrity of the church.”
Kalifeh wants to put a history room in the building, possibly dedicated to Chestene Manning Carter (1932-2018), a beloved member of the church.
Only one original house remains in the neighborhood. It is located across the street from the church building and is owned by 94-year-old Dorothy Mae Anderson. Charles Grogan, her long-time friend, and I recently spent a delightful afternoon at her home discussing her fascinating life.
Dorothy spent her formative years on the Guy Washington Findley (1907-1961) farm on McGinnis Ferry Road where her parents were sharecroppers and worked in the farm’s 12-acre cotton field. She recalls her father telling her to “bend her back” when picking. It was a tedious job, and the cotton bolls hurt her fingers.
“We picked 10 bales each year,” she said.
She attended the Sheltonville School
The Alpharetta Colored School was founded in 1950. Two years later, it changed its name to the Bailey-Johnson School. The sign on the white car parked in front of the school says Dental Division Fulton County Health Department.
for Black Students through the 7th grade, although her teacher continued to instruct her on the side. At age 19, she moved to Alpharetta where she worked in the home of Roy and Suzie Day and later at the home of Doctor Morris. She was employed for 29 years by the Fulton County Board of Education in food service. She still loves to cook.
She married Howard Eugene Anderson (1927-2008) in 1951. He drove a school bus for 38 years.
“I went with him at first to draw a map of all the roads and every stop from Bailey-Johnson to Sheltonville,” Dorothy said.
After Bailey-Johnson closed in 1967
their son Terry, now retired from General Motors, attended Milton High School where he played on the basketball team.
Dorothy is famous for the elaborate Christmas and Easter lights in her yard.
“People tell me they like to drive by my house because it makes them feel good,” she said. She sums up her life saying “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns about local history.
I decided to transition my landscape to native plants because I wanted to create a habitat in my yard to promote more biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to different kinds of life in one area that work together to make an intricate web, maintaining and supporting life.
Planting native plants also conserves water and reduces maintenance needs. It has taken me several years to make these conversions in my yard. I have eliminated the lawn in my backyard, and I am gradually working on my front yard. You can start with one corner or an area of your yard and expand the scope as you desire.
Here are my suggestions for adding native plants and more biodiversity to your yard.
Steps to transition:
1. Assess Your Site:
Identify drainage and sunlight exposure. Determine the nutrient levels in your soil by taking a sample to your local county extension office. All plants thrive in the right conditions, so match your plant choices with your yard’s natural characteristics. Prepare the soil, add organic material like mushroom compost, topsoil, humus, sand and mix well to a depth of 6-8 inches.
2. Plan your design:
Cluster Plants: Group similar plants together by their water and sunlight needs. Plant taller plants toward the back of the bed or planting area and shorter ones toward the front.
Layering: Use a variety of plant types, including trees, shrubs, perennials and ground covers to create a diverse ecosystem. Choose a mix of plants that provide year-round interest, such as flowering shrubs for spring and colorful berries for winter.
3. Select native plants:
Trees: White oak, Southern red oak, Eastern red cedar, American holly, flowering dogwood, Eastern redbud, American beech, red maple, American hornbeam, Eastern white pine, black gum, tulip popular, among others.
Shrubs: Oakleaf hydrangea, American beautyberry, sweet shrub,
This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Roswell resident Katherine Coppedge. Katherine has been a Master Gardener since 2009 and has been gardening in the Atlanta area since the ‘70s. Katherine is an avid hiker and lover of walking in the woods. She is a member of the Spalding Garden Club and has been a board member of the John Ripley Forbes Big Trees Preserve in Sandy Springs since 2006. Katherine shared her love of trees and forest bathing in her spring 2021 garden lecture “Big Trees of Sandy Springs” which is viewable at https://youtu.be/oeOlLc21ue0
Southern wax myrtle, azaleas, blueberry, bottlebrush buckeye, butterfly weed, buttonbush, inkberry, leucothoe. I removed a whole beautiful row of fatsia and replaced it with leucothoe in my yard.
Perennials: Black-eyed Susan, Georgia aster, purple coneflower, phlox, swamp milkweed, red columbine, green and gold, Virginia sweet spire, cardinal flower, beebalm, sunflowers.
Grasses: Little bluestem, river oats, switchgrass, autumn bentgrass, southern waxy sedge.
4. Remove invasive, non-native species:
Before planting natives, clear out invasive plants, such as like kudzu, privet, English ivy, vinca, Japanese honeysuckle, cogongrass, leatherleaf mahonia, Japanese stiltgrass and scutch grass that compete with native species.
5. Mulch and water wisely: Apply pine straw or hardwood mulch around the plants as needed to maintain moisture and reduce weed growth. Water wisely, in the morning or late evening, 2-3 times a week to establish. Then water weekly as needed so that plants get about 1 inch of water per week.
6. Plant species to attract pollinators: Milkweed for monarchs, bee balm for bees, American persimmon, phlox, purple coneflowers, butterfly bush, chives, parsley.
7. Maintain properly:
Native plants generally need less care, but they will still benefit from
occasional pruning, weeding and mulching. Allow the plants to reseed and spread naturally for a fuller looking landscape over time.
8. Challenges
One of my personal challenges was being patient with the process. It takes time to prepare the areas you want to change and figure out which plants you want to use. Another consideration was the cost to replace my non-natives with natives. I am very happy with the results and the great biodiversity and other benefits it has brought to my yard.
9. Use local resources.
Georgia has many organizations and plant societies dedicated to native plant gardening. Check with your county extension office or groups like the Georgia Native Plant Society for online plant lists, resources and expert advice. North Fulton Master Gardeners and the Georgia Native Plant Society will be hosting a great plant sale and opportunity for you to learn more at Garden Faire on Saturday, April 12, 2025, where you can choose from thousands of plants for your garden. The event is FREE from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at The Grove at
Wills Park, 175 Roswell Street in Alpharetta. For more information go to www.NFMG.net
10. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
By following these steps, you’ll create a thriving, low-maintenance landscape that supports local wildlife and contributes to Georgia’s ecological health.
Happy Gardening!
North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology in order to promote and foster community enrichment. Master Gardener Volunteers are trained and certified by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Learn more at nfmg.net. Previous Garden Buzz columns are featured at: https://appenmedia.com/ opinion/columists/garden buzz/.
Save the dates for North Fulton Master Gardener’s 2025 Signature events: Garden Faire on April 12 and Garden Tour on June 7. Learn more at www.nfmg.net
“I could live my whole life, without a phone call, the likes of what I got today.”
The late Texas troubadour, Jerry Jeff Walker, spoke to me on that late January morning when my world crumbled like a week-old muffin.
The above lyric from “I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight” smacked me in an unexpected way that put me into a month-long funk that I’m pretty sure I’ve crawled out of.
Thanks to Vicki, the boys and lots of friends, some sense of normalcy has returned. I’m back, but not all the way back. Melancholy, profound sadness and a big dose of “why” bewilderment, sneaks in without warning, leaving me to deal with an adjustment I never wanted to, or thought I would have to deal with.
After attending 9 a.m. mass on that cold January morning, I was nestled in the Man Cave, all set to watch the Eagles and Commanders try to get to the Super
Continued from Page 18
that’s usually all it takes. No special techniques are required, and that makes white bass fishing a great way to share your joy of fishing with beginning anglers or with kids.
What kind of flies or lures work best?
Spin fishers use small crankbaits (silver is a great color), in-line spinners, or similar minnow imitations. A silver or white Rooster Tail or Mepps spinner is effective, as is a simple curly-tail grub on a white or red jig head hook.
Flyrodders like to use minnow imitations (especially silver or white ones) about 2 inches long. Good patterns include white Woolly Buggers, silver or silver-and-gold Rolex-style flies, or the ever-popular Red-Nosed Yeti shad imitation. Again, there’s no special trick to it; simply make the cast and retrieve with steady strips of 10 or 12 inches.
Now the big question: where can you fish for springtime white bass? In our area, and as the water warms and spawning runs build, look for them in major tributaries feeding Lanier or Allatoona. Top Lanier tributaries are the Chestatee (at least as far upstream as the Georgia 400 bridge) as well as the Chattahoochee above Lanier. If focusing on Allatoona tributaries, look at the Coosa River system (many target the river downstream from Lock and Dam
Bowl in New Orleans. An easy, relaxing day.
The phone rang and my sister-inlaw Suzanne was calling. Cheerily, I was chipper and gave her a “Hey, what are you up to?” That’s when the whole Sunday and many days since slammed me with a “Life is really short” message. Suzanne was crying hysterically. Not good. She told me my 64-year-old brother Matt had died in his sleep in Idaho. Totally unexpected. Matt and I had spoken Friday afternoon. In retrospect, maybe Matt knew something wasn’t right. He insisted on staying on the phone for nearly an hour and wanted to talk about everything. We talked about family, friends, politics, business. In a quintessential “if I knew then what I know now moment,” the hour-plus call should have gone past dinner. In retrospect, his wanting to talk so long has fortified my belief that he knew something wasn’t right.
Matt’s family was shattered and I spent Sunday fielding their calls. Then there were calls from friends in Bakersfield who wanted to know what had happened.
Park) as well as the Etowah (you’ll find fish as far up as Canton and beyond) and Little River.
Much of this water is best accessed by boat. Knowledgeable anglers fish it by drifting downriver, keeping the boat within casting range of near-shore holding areas. If they find fish they’ll stop and work that water thoroughly.
Don’t have a boat? In some areas it’s often possible to fish from shore –particularly with spinning gear. I think of the Etowah in Canton, where a great riverside parks system provides several spots where fishing from the bank is feasible.
There are some wade-fishing opportunities, too, though you may have do some hunting to find them. One popular wading area is the portion of Little River near Olde Rope Mill Park, though it can be crowded. A bit of research will point you toward other (and less crowded) wadable spots on other white bass waters. In this case, the Internet really is your friend.
Folk wisdom says that the white bass runs peak about the time the dogwoods bloom, so keep your eyes on the trees!
But they’ll start their runs before that. Water temperature is key, and if you really find yourself getting into this (which a surprising number of white bass enthusiasts do) then pick up a stream thermometer and check water temperatures yourself! When the readings reach the mid-50s, you can figure that the white bass are heading
In simple terms, Matt took a snooze on the couch and never got up. Kenny Rogers sang “The best you can hope for is to die in your sleep” and that’s what Matt did. No suffering. No fuss. No muss.
Apparently, Matt’s heart was lessthan-robust. One artery was 100 percent blocked, another more than 80 percent blocked. I keep reasoning that he had to feel bad.
My little brother was a pillar of the Bakersfield community. Social media erupted with tributes and gratitude. There were more than 1,000 messages detailing all the good he had done while operating a successful livestock/pet supply store.
As the tributes appeared on various message boards, I was profoundly proud at all the philanthropic deeds he had done. And in typical Matt fashion, the deeds were done without anything close to needing to take a bow.
He just did the right thing by a lot of people. Never wanted credit for the good he had done. That was just Matt.
My two younger brothers are no longer with us. I miss the laughs. It’s lousy being “brother-less.” Never in
up the rivers. From that point, the spawning runs (and the good fishing) will last for several weeks, sometimes well into April.
Start planning now, and you just might make fishing memories you’ll treasure for years to come.
And if you see me on the water, be
John was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Hubert and Maude Wright. He was the youngest of three children, with a sister, Sandy Stine, and a brother, Pete Wright. Growing up in Tampa, Florida, he met his childhood sweetheart, Linda Crockett, at the age of 14. They would later marry, and John loved her deeply throughout his life. John attended Plant High School, where he excelled in both basketball and football, leading his team to a state championship. He was recruited to play football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and later served four years in the U.S. Army. John and Linda had two children: a son, Matt, and a daughter, Mallory. In 1984, after a successful career in sales, they opened the Wright Gourmet Shoppe in Dunwoody. For over 30 years, Matt worked alongside his father as the manager and right-hand man. Mallory also spent a season at the
a million years did I think I’d be the “last man standing.”
Friends and family have diligently been checking in, making sure I’m okay. The first few weeks were awful, filled with tearful recollections of regular phone calls. Good friend Klint Schahrer reached out and warmed my heart, saying “I’ve always considered myself your brother.” That one resulted in few more tears.
So, that’s where I’ve been for the past few weeks, not having the ability to sit down at the MacBook and write. Like the old bull rider, I needed to jump back on, and even though I’ve been thrown, I needed to ride until I got thrown again.
Through all this, even though Matt up and died without a proper goodbye, I had to be thankful for the last thing I said to him on that chilly Friday.
My last words to him: “I love you, Brother.” I meant it then and mean it now.
Mike Tasos has lived in Forsyth County for more than 30 years. He’s an American by birth and considers himself a Southerner by the grace of God. He can be reached at miketasos55@gmail.com.
sure to say hello!
If you are a fly fisher and enjoy tying your own flies, check out the author’s Red-Nosed Yeti Fly Tying Kit. Ask for it at your local outfitter or fly shop, or order direct from the author at flybooks.net.
shop, along with his future daughter-in-law, Allison Weseman Wright. By any measure, Wright’s was a family-run business. After 35 wonderful years, the iconic shop closed its doors in 2019. In retirement, John dedicated his time to his children and grandchildren, who were his greatest legacy. He is survived by his beloved wife, Linda Wright; his son, Matt Wright; his daughter, Mallory Staples; and his grandchildren, James Staples, Reagan Staples, John Staples, Matthew Wright, William Wright, Jack Wright, and Sam Wright. He is also survived by his sister, Sandy Stine. Heaven’s tremendous gain has left earth emptier without John’s limitless love and warm wit. He was truly an impact player—he didn’t merely exist in people’s lives; he changed them forever in the best ways.
Don’t waste good paint on rotten wood. Minor repairs make a major difference!
Thurman | 770.899.1354 | www.rot-doc.com
passed away on March 4, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Joann Doyle, 82, of Alpharetta, passed away on March 4, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Maye Eaton, 86, of Alpharetta, passed away on March 11, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
John Horn, 82, of Alpharetta, passed away on March 5, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Mamie Jacobus, 91, of Alpharetta, passed away on March 4, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Viktor Kurenkov, 55, of Roswell, passed away on March 7, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Steven Lauder, 79, of Roswell, passed away on March 12, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
Deacon Kevin Tracy, 70, of Roswell, passed away on March 5, 2025. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.
