Forsyth Herald - February 23, 2023

Students campaign for education funding equity

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ATLANTA — Francesca Ruhe and Mason Goodwin are ready to seize the power of young people, and they want to use it to bring equity to public school funding.

The two are registered lobbyists for their statewide organization, Georgia Youth Justice Coalition.

The organization has members from ages 14-22 focused on education justice in communities across Georgia. The nonprofit has grassroots and legislative divisions, all

Resident shares safety concerns over rezoning

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — While some nearby residents have raised concerns over increased traffic, Forsyth County officials approved a rezoning Feb. 16 allowing new residential development on agriculture land near Daves Creek and Old Atlanta roads.

County commissioners approved the rezoning application 3-0, with commissioners Alfred John and Todd Levent absent.

The request to rezone 32 acres from agricultural land to a single-family residential district was submitted by SkyLand Homes in December 2022. The Forsyth County Planning

See COUNTY, Page 5

Forsyth, Gwinnett partner together in upcoming Supreme Court case

► PAGE 4

led by students and young people.

On Feb. 16, Ruhe and Goodwin sat outside the Georgia Capitol for a quick break from one of their legislative initiatives. The pair are part of a lobby day, put on in partnership with organizations including the Southern Poverty Law Cen-

ter and the Deep Institute in Savannah. Goodwin said the groups created a coalition called Fund Georgia’s Future, focused on “fair and full funding” for schools across the state.

See STUDENTS, Page 5

SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA

Forsyth County resident Ravi Yeluguri tells commissioners Feb. 16 that allowing more residential development on Old Atlanta Road will raise the chances for accidents along the stretch near Daves Creek Road.

PUBLIC SAFETY

770-442-3278

AppenMedia.com

319 N. Main Street Alpharetta, GA 30009

Woman cited for DUI following traffic stop

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies arrested an Alpharetta woman Feb. 11 after a traffic stop turned up various pills and a glass pipe in the vehicle.

A sheriff’s deputy performed a traffic stop on a 2022 Buick Enclave spotted swerving and failing to maintain a lane on Buford Highway near Ga. 400.

Publisher Emeritus CONTACT

NEWS TIPS

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 Forsyth Herald 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.

According to the sheriff’s report, the female driver refused to have her blood alcohol tested, and she began yelling, cursing and was “very belligerent.”

The woman told deputies the vehicle was a rental. Deputies observed the front seats of the SUV were soiled, and they reported finding a blow torch and a glass pipe with burnt residue on the driver’s side.

A deputy also reported finding several pill bottles inside the woman’s purse. Deputies searched the system for the suspect’s Florida driver’s license, which returned invalid. The suspect told deputies that she did not have a driver's license.

The woman also had two active warrants in Forsyth County.

She was transported to Forsyth County Jail under misdemeanor DUI and failure to maintain lane charges.

Cumming man arrested for theft by deception

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County deputies arrested a suspect in a 2022 theft by deception incident.

Deputies arrested Harley Neal, 79, of Cumming Feb. 10 on nine counts of felony theft by taking and three counts of misdemeanor theft by taking.

The incident dates back to Oct. 8, when the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an officer at the Iowa City Police Department, who said someone in his jurisdiction had sent $2,000 to Neal.

Forsyth County deputies spoke with the manager at Shady Grove RV Park where Neal lives. The manager

POLICE BLOTTER

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.

told deputies that Neal had been receiving about two to three envelopes a week, which appeared to have cash inside.

The manager said he suspected Neal was “up to no good,” and he had taken photocopies of the envelopes sent to Neal, the sheriff’s report stated.

The manager also told deputies Neal had received card readers. When the manager inquired about the mailings, Neal reportedly told him he was not operating any business.

Neal is being held at the Forsyth County Jail with a bond amount of $110,240.

Woman cited for battery against her husband

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies arrested a Cumming woman Feb. 7 who had allegedly slapped her husband several times in front of their young son.

The woman’s husband called deputies and told them he had video footage of his wife striking his face in front of their child.

Deputies reported the footage showed the woman coming downstairs when her husband was getting their son ready for school around 7 a.m. After the husband had asked their son to go to his room, the woman struck him for the first time, the report stated.

The footage showed the husband returning home with the child around 8 a.m., because the boy was not feeling well. The woman then returned downstairs and struck her husband, who was sitting beside their son, the report stated.

The husband told deputies his wife had been drinking, and she had come downstairs to initiate an argument, which may have resulted from his recent request to file a divorce.

Deputies reported seeing minor lacerations on the husband’s arm, face and torso.

The woman admitted to slapping her husband, and she said they have a long history of domestic issues. Her husband, she said, had allegedly cancelled her credit cards.

Deputies reported smelling alcohol on the woman, and her speech was slurred. The report states three prescription bottles of Diazepam were on the counter.

The woman was arrested for misdemeanor battery family violence and cruelty to children. She was transported to the Forsyth County Jail.

Stolen packages reported on River Trace Drive

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — When going out for a morning walk in his neighborhood Feb. 8, a homeowners association president was approached by a resident who said her mail was stolen from her mailbox and front porch on River Trace Drive.

The man also told Johns Creek Police he received an email about suspicious vehicles driving through the neighborhood and looking in mailboxes around 6:20 a.m. Feb. 7.

He said he accessed the neighborhood’s camera system and was able to provide license plate info for three vehicles in the area around that time. The first vehicle was described as a white Toyota Corolla with a tag registered in Norcross. The second vehicle was a brown Nissan sedan with a tag registered in Marietta. The third vehicle had a Pennsylvania tag but did not come back with any information, the report said.

Police went to the victim’s home, but she was not there.

Two Feb. 7 reports were also filed regarding larceny from mailboxes, which occurred on Riverclub Parkway, about 1 mile north of River Trace Drive.

Macedonia Cemetery descendants remember dead, look ahead

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Plastic flowers now adorn the graves at Macedonia Cemetery, a historical Black burial site off Medlock Bridge Road. Relatives of enslaved people buried on the grounds gathered there Feb. 18 to learn about its extensive history from members of the Johns Creek Historical Society and tour the ground.

Of those venerating the dead, one was as young as 4 to 5 years old, whose family member guided her hand to drive a bundle of flowers into the dirt as they knelt.

Sabrina Aquell, who organized the gathering, had been going to Macedonia Cemetery for years.

Aquell said the site holds around 80 percent of her family members, including her grandfather Sam Jones.

Because of the sadness that overcame Aquell whenever she would visit Macedonia, seeing the graves and their condition, she didn’t go often.

But lately, Aquell said visiting the cemetery has rejuvenated her spirit and decided to invite more than 40 of her family members to the cemetery to share the newfound feeling. Aquell hoped to re-introduce to her family the importance of getting involved with Macedonia Cemetery project efforts.

Ownership

Aquell met with Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry a few weeks ago.

“I said, ‘How can you own us in life and [in death] too? How could you do that?” Aquell said. “I think this cemetery should be left for our family, for our children, for us to decide what we want to put up here.”

Aquell referenced the Georgia Cemetery Law that would have required the city to prepare a plan by a genealogist for identifying and notifying the descendants of those buried or believed to be buried at Macedonia before developing the property.

Aquell said she saw “They Were Here,” the grant-funded project consisting of four documentaries produced by local high school students about Macedonia Cemetery.

“Yes, we’ve been here,” Aquell said. “We’ve been waiting.”

The first formal presentation of plans to descendants was a Jan. 9 meeting at City Hall where Johns Creek City Manager Ed Densmore heard grievances from Kirk Canaday, a member of the Johns Creek Historical Society who oversees the project. Aquell attended the meeting as well as Madyun Shahid, a descendant of April Waters. Shahid, who lives in Virginia, had also previously visited Macedonia Cemetery with his family.

The Johns Creek City Council approved the measure to acquire the historic property in November 2020 and officially acquired the land September 2021.

While the city had been in contact with Shahid prior to the change in ownership, Shahid said he had only been engaged in casual conversations, rather than conversations about intent.

However, Bradberry said City Attorney Ron Bennett informed the city it had done everything necessary to move forward with acquisition and improvements.

The city only owns the land, Bradberry said, but not the graves themselves — echoing the Georgia Cemetery Law that declares “human remains and burial objects are not property to be owned by the person or entity” as they are “part of the finite, irreplaceable and nonrenewable cultural heritage of the people of Georgia.”

A history lesson

On the chilly afternoon, Aquell’s family sat in rows, holding laminated images of the cemetery and attentively listened to Aquell as she stated her reasons for inviting them there.

She opened with her philosophy on God, the soul, the purpose of life and the way everyone should treat one another.

“It’s the soul that counts,” she said.

Carla Carter walked over to Aquell carrying a binder of records that held the lineage of Sam Jones, Aquell’s grandfather who is buried at the cemetery. Through stories passed down to her, Aquell said she has a strong connection to Jones.

Carter joined the Johns Creek Historical Society a year ago after reading about Macedonia Cemetery, realizing that the cemetery had been in poor condition, overrun with weeds.

“[The graves] deserve to be recognized and taken care of,” Carter said.

Joan Compton, president of the Johns Creek Historical Society, stepped in to describe the history of the Cherokee Nation, which once lived in the same area and owned the plantation where many were enslaved — including April Waters.

“Part of researching the people that are buried here is how did they do? How did

A young girl, with help from an older family member, plants flowers at Macedonia Cemetery grave Feb. 18. Descendants of those buried at Macedonia gathered Saturday and heard from Johns Creek Historical Society members about the cemetery’s history.

they live when they got a chance? Did they ever learn to read and write? Did they ever accumulate any wealth? Did they ever buy land?” Compton said. “April’s one that did not, unfortunately.”

‘We is here’ Macedonia Cemetery had been the “one calling card” for the Black residents of Johns Creek, said Nicole Washington, founder of Impact Johns Creek. The organization, founded in 2020, is intended to

bring together and engage Black residents.

“There are Black people in Johns Creek,” Washington said. “But we’re not organized, we’re not structured, we’re not together, we’re not a unified front.”

Washington said she didn’t want the event to be the first and last time Aquell’s family was present. Things have just begun to change, she said, with people like Canaday and Devon Dabney, who was filming the event for an upcoming documentary about Macedonia.

Dabney said the student-produced documentaries about Macedonia Cemetery had been criticized as “sanitized,” and so, her documentary seeks to paint a fuller portrayal.

Dabney, a member of Impact Johns Creek, is also the co-chair of the Johns Creek Arts, Culture and Entertainment Committee. The committee recently recommended the city host a Juneteenth celebration and have the federal holiday added to the city calendar.

With a raised voice, Washington asked, “Johns Creek will know who we are, and by ‘we,’ who are we talking about?”

“Us,” the crowd responded.

“Because we is here and we ain’t going nowhere,” Washington said. “Can I get an ‘Amen’?”

The crowd responded, “Amen.”

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Alpharetta, Milton and Forsyth County support Gwinnett County in zoning case

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

METRO ATLANTA, Ga. — The Cities of Milton and Alpharetta and Forsyth County have joined hands in support of a Gwinnett County appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Ken Jarrard, who serves as city attorney for both Milton and Alpharetta and county attorney for Forsyth County, submitted an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief that supports Gwinnett County’s appeal of lower court decisions.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the county’s support of the amicus brief Feb. 2, followed by the City Councils of Milton and Alpharetta Feb. 6.

The outcome of the appeal could affect each government’s decisions to regulate land, as well as the appeals process for denied zoning applicants.

Under sovereign immunity, local zoning boards are exempt from damage claims that result from a zoning denial.

However, a recent Court of Appeals decision opens the door for inverse condemnation claims, meaning local governments could be held liable for monetary damages.

The Jan. 24 appeal, Gwinnett County v. Schroeder Holdings LLC et al., seeks to clarify whether the role of local zoning boards is legislative or adjudicatory.

In a draft of the amicus brief submitted by Jarrard, he said precedent cases hold that local zoning boards are adjudicatory.

Gwinnett County’s appeal further addresses the process of appealing a local zoning board’s decision. In the draft brief, Jarrard writes that according to precedent cases, denied applicants are required to submit a formal petition to the courts due to the adjudicatory nature of the boards.

Schroeder Holdings submitted a 100acre rezoning application in May 2019. The company had said the land had no “reasonable economic use as currently zoned.”

After the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners denied the rezoning application, the company filed suit against the county.

A state trial judge ruled in favor of the county, arguing that by failing to name the Board of Commissioners as a respondent in the suit, Schroeder Holdings and the other filing parties did not follow procedure. The court further ruled that the county had acted in its quasi-judicial capacity in the denial.

Schroeder then appealed the decision. The Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 5 in Schroeder’s favor, stating that zoning boards can act in a legislative capacity, which does not require a certiorari review.

The Court of Appeals’ decision also allows Schroeder to pursue an inverse condemnation claim, which refers to a

property owner’s ability to sue a government for taking private property without compensating the owner.

“This is a brief where we’re not a party to the case,” Jarrard said at the Feb. 2 Forsyth County commission meeting. “But the legal issues involved, to specifically include the specter of inverse condemnation damages in a zoning case, is of such importance, I believe, to Forsyth County as well as other local governments that we need to ensure that we educate the court as best as we can to give us some guidance on this issue.”

Gwinnett County Attorney Erik J. Pirozzi said in the county’s Jan. 24 appeal the opportunity for inverse condemnation claims would be disastrous for all counties and municipalities in Georgia and threaten to bankrupt local governments involved in such zoning disputes.

“The consequences would be severe, and result in not only threatening the coffers of every local government,” Pirozzi said in the appeal, "but would also deter them from properly exercising their police powers in zoning cases for fear of being exposed to money damages, resulting in great harm to the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the public, and there would be many other grave consequences as well.”

Gwinnett’s appeal is still under review by the state Supreme Court.

Private school pairs students in workshop

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Juniors at Valor Christian Academy who have interest in a career in the medical field, developed and led learning stations for first grade students Feb. 14.

The learning stations featured handson activities focused on the ears and eyes.

The workshop was organized through Valor Christian Academy’s Diploma of Distinction program, which provides high school students an opportunity to receive credit for further study, research and experience in their area of interest. The school creates a space in students' schedules for internships.

Because of the program, Head of School Jennifer Gastley said one student will be a licensed pilot by the time he graduates.

Gastley said Valor Christian Academy is one of the least expensive private schools in the area. Parents pay $10,500 for a fulltime, 12th grade student at Valor Christian Academy. Meanwhile, Mount Pisgah Christian in Johns Creek asks for $25,095 annually for upper school students.

School system offers guidance on bullying

ATLANTA — As part of a “Parent Safety Toolkit,” the Fulton County School System listed facts and tips on bullying for parents and children.

Bullying is distinctly different from disagreements between peers or aggressive behaviors between siblings or current dating partners and can be characterized by intentional and repeated behaviors that often have a power imbalance.

Bullying can take many forms, including direct and indirect bullying. Examples of direct bullying are verbal abuse or physical aggression, while direct bullying might be name calling, social isolation, defamation and rumor spreading. Bullying can also take the form of cyberbullying, which is any type of bullying carried out through electronic media.

Bullying can leave a lasting impact on victims, perpetrators and bystanders into adulthood, affecting them psychologically, socially, physiologically and academically.

“What we realized is that students learn differently, and not everybody needs to be sitting in a building five days a week learning,” Gastley said.

Students are given many options. They can be hybrid, receiving education at home and at school. They can go the traditional route, attending five days a week. High school students use Friday as an independent learning day, Gastley said, which helps them prepare for the college experience.

Parents can also do home school and pay Valor Christian Academy for a curriculum and standardized testing.

In the fall, the school is launching a fully virtual school program, but has one student piloting the program now.

Bullying involves a power differential between the bully and the victim that is based on real or perceived factors and often happens to vulnerable student populations, like LGBTQ+ youth, students who have a physical, mental, or intellectual disability, and students perceived as “different” due to weight, clothing or socioeconomic status.

Although bullying is pervasive and can have many effects, there are things that can be done to address these behaviors.

14 with first graders, who are studying the ears and eyes.

Opened in 2020, Valor Christian Academy on Kimball Bridge Road combines a hybrid school named Legacy Community Academy and a traditional school named Bridgeway Christian Academy.

More plans are in the works. Next year, Valor Christian Academy is rolling out a tiered special education support program. Special education is hard to come by in private schools, Gastley said, because there’s often not a mandate for private schools that they have to meet student needs.

“[Valor Christian Academy] is kind of like a one-stop shop for all modes of instruction,” Gastley said.

Parents can model and teach respectful behavior systematically; develop, implement and enforce anti-bullying policies; recognize bullying as a mental health and relationship issue; use a comprehensive approach to address bullying; teach responsible use of technology; and provide support to students who might be marginalized.

Meanwhile, children can report instances of bullying to adults; address bullying with bystanders by stressing the importance and responsibility to stop harassment and intimidation; show kindness to all students; reach out to students who are being bullied; and stand up to bullying if the situation is safe.

VALOR CHRISTIAN ACADEMY/PROVIDED Valor Christian Academy junior Sara Grace Bertolini leads a workshop Feb.

County:

Continued from Page 1

Commission recommended approval of the project at its public hearing Jan. 31, at which resident Ravi Yeluguri and seven other residents spoke in opposition.

Yeluguri, who lives on Rockleigh Way, said the intersection of Daves Creek and Old Atlanta Roads near the development is unsafe for area residents, and he requested the commissioners improve the intersection before moving forward with the rezon-

Students:

Continued from Page

The organizers are grateful for the help from their well-known partner organizations, but their focus is on what young people can bring to legislator’s offices.

“Legislators don’t expect some very highly motivated … young people who are demanding change,” Ruhe said. “We just kind of seize that power.”

At 18 years old, Francesca Ruhe lobbies in between classes at Georgia State University. For the Feb. 16 lobby day, she wore business attire — except for the bright yellow Converses, covered in pictures of Woodstock from the Peanuts cartoons.

Mason Goodwin, 20, is a student at Georgia State University.

They make up a fraction of Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, which has a “student base of hundreds” according to Ruhe. At the lobby day, their nonprofit brought about 25 students to the Capitol.

“There’s an infinite number of us, and we all have the same gripes with the public education system,” Ruhe said.

At the lobby day, the coalition of students and adults focused on an “opportunity weight,” which would add funding to schools that serve students in poverty.

“It could help make up the difference (in funding) between the richer schools in the North Metro Atlanta area and the South Metro area,” Ruhe said.

The opportunity weight is part of Georgia House Bill 3, called the “Support for Students Living in Poverty Act” introduced in January.

Georgia is one of only six states with a school funding formula that does not provide additional funds to schools with low-income students. The state does provide equalization grants through the “Quality Basic Education Act,” which was passed in 1985. The grants focus on filling funding gaps for poor and

ing.

Yeluguri said he first expressed concerns over the dangers as early as 2017. That February, Yeluguri said, a weeklong traffic study was performed on the intersection, and another was conducted in February 2022.

He said the most recent traffic study may have been inadequate because of more people working from home due to COVID-19.

“The traffic analysis report will not show how many people are avoiding that intersection, going and taking longer routes and stuff like that,” Yeluguri said. “That’s primarily what I want to bring to your notice.”

rural areas.

Goodwin and Ruhe said their experiences in Georgia schools are fundamental to their legislative work, especially when it comes to education funding.

Ruhe said she saw educational disparity for the first time in middle school. In sixth grade she joined an organization called Page Turners, aimed at bringing books to underserved schools across Metro Atlanta.

As a volunteer, Ruhe traveled around Atlanta and interviewed authors in front of groups of kids.

“It was incredible, the disparities,” Ruhe said. “In my own personal upbringing, which I consider to be pretty privileged I had all the resources I needed to be a fluent reader.”

At an early age, Ruhe saw the impacts of economic disparity.

Mason Goodwin had a different experience growing up but a similar takeaway. He was one of the “lower income, single-parent households kids” in Atlanta public schools.

Goodwin started in the general classes, where he was the only White student. In his junior year, Goodwin got pushed into honors classes. The classrooms were full of other White students.

“You start asking the kids and they’re like ‘Yeah, I’m getting tutors for my AP classes,’” Goodwin said. “You realize they have the resources to actually push through school.”

Goodwin said that “waking moment” pushed him into activism.

Ruhe and Goodwin said the Georgia Youth Justice coalition has been involved in major efforts, from onthe-ground work to stop book bans in Forsyth County to conversations about the school to prison pipeline in Gwinnett County.

“The beauty of the coalition is that we’re made up of students, and students always have a million different issues to contend with,” Ruhe said.

Even if the students don’t win every fight, the young organizers are optimistic.

Yeluguri said those who drive the route daily know the dangers, and adding more homes will add more drivers, increasing the chances for an accident.

County Commissioner Laura Semanson said even one more home will increase traffic, but not to the extent that the commission can hold the developer responsible for improving the intersection.

“That said, we have worked with engineering to try to come up with the best possible way to route that traffic going through across from a subdivision that’s on the straightaway, rather than on the curve at Daves Creek,” Semanson said.

She said the county is working on its updated transportation plan, and she requested possible improvements and solutions for the Old Atlanta Road area.

In other matters at the Feb. 16 meeting, commissioners approved the Vine Community Church’s request to operate a foster home in a future expansion to its building.

“Seeing we have seven foster homes in our county of 265,000 now, I would say this is very needed,” Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills said.

Commissioners also unanimously approved an increase to the county hotel and motel excise tax, raising the current rate from 5 percent to 8 percent.

Exercise Coach Alpharetta personalizes fitness

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When Eric Roberts lost his job in 2019, he was forced to reimagine what he wanted to do with his life.

“I was just kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and I was so glad to be back in Georgia,” Roberts said. “I was so glad to be back in Alpharetta that I absolutely thought, you know, I want to do something locally, and I’d always wanted to provide jobs.”

Roberts, a Macon native, spent his career traveling around the United States and Canada. After an opportunity relocated him and his wife to Georgia, Roberts opened The Exercise Coach Alpharetta in February 2021 after a year of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The studio, located in Suite 800 at 735 North Main St., offers customers two 20-minute sessions a week, where they work one-on-one with a coach to find a personalized routine that works for them.

Customers exercise on the studio’s proprietary Exerbotics equipment, which analyzes the user’s minimum and maximum force to tailor the experience. The machine, Roberts said, learns something new about a customer every time they use it.

The display on the equipment shows a range for each user. Roberts said the goal is to keep the line within the shaded area.

Rather than doing 20 reps, he said, a user will do between four and eight intense reps, which loads the body’s muscles and burns energy. With each experience, workouts get progressively

harder along with the customer’s individual pace.

Roberts, 54, said he had never enjoyed exercising, but a longtime friend introduced him to the studio’s Dunwoody location. There, despite initial skepticism, Roberts said he found a love of fitness, which he wanted to share with the community.

“And when I started to do it and I fell

in love with it, I then signed the deal,” Roberts said. “It not only meets the need of what I had wanted to do is to bring jobs locally, but it’ll allow me to work out with a coach because I still work out to this day with my own coaches.”

He said his father, who owned a convenience store when Roberts was growing up, often spoke of the pride he had for his business that gave him the

ability to give back to the community. The studio employs five coaches who build relationships with customers to provide a customized experience beyond the equipment, Roberts said. Many of the studio’s customers, he said, are retired or live lifestyles that leave little time for exercise.

See FITNESS, Page 7

SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA

The Exercise Coach Alpharetta employs five, including, from left, owner Eric Roberts, Studio Manager Roxanne Foster, and coaches Joe Dougherty and Justin Phillips. Coaches at the 735 North Main St. studio work individually with clients to provide a personalized fitness experience.

I was so glad to be back in Alpharetta that I absolutely thought, you know, I want to do something locally, and I’d always wanted to provide jobs.

ERIC ROBERTS, owner, The Exercise Coach

Continued

“We have a lot of pilots that come to us,” Roberts said. “We have a lot of retired people that come to us. We also have younger people as well, but it really is for that person that’s on the go, getting that full workout and not having to spend an hour in the gym and walking out of there and not feeling like you’ve just been attacked in any way, shape or form.”

Roberts also said the studio is a no-judgment zone that has no mirrors, and it lacks the atmosphere that many gyms have.

Before opening the studio, Roberts worked in the insurance and energy efficiency industries. While he still does some consulting work on the side, Roberts said The Exercise Coach Alpharetta is his passion.

Beyond providing employment opportunities, Roberts said seeing how his studio has improved his customers’ lives is a rewarding experience. He described himself as a customer and the owner, and working out alongside patrons gives him the opportunity to find ways to improve the business.

Part of the personalized experience,

Roberts said, is ensuring that customers get their money’s worth. He said the studio has been successful, and 10 percent of his customers have been there since day one.

The Exercise Coach has five other locations in Georgia. After his

experience with the Alpharetta studio, Roberts said he hopes to open another in Cumming, Woodstock or Canton in the next year and a half.

“It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever experienced,” Roberts said.

The studio stops by the North Main

Street Market at Alpharetta, which takes place in the parking lot in front of the studio, on Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30 p.m.

The Exercise Coach Alpharetta is open weekdays 6 a.m.-8 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

It’s time to focus on heart health

Brought to You by - Home Helpers of Alpharetta and North Atlanta Suburbs

While February brings thoughts of those we love and Valentine’s Day cards, the best gift of all is to remember it’s also American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization for those over age 65 and is still the leading cause of death in this country. Over 800,000 deaths a year are due to cardiovascular disease. The good news is it’s largely preventable, so let’s review how to improve and maintain your heart health.

Monitoring your blood pressure is a key indicator of where you stand with your heart health. Yet only 48 per cent of people aged 50 to 80 who take medication or have a health condition affected by high blood pressure (or hypertension) monitor it on a regular basis. Preventing hypertension lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke. So setting a regular schedule and getting a blood pressure monitor you can learn to use at home is the start of knowing the numbers for your heart health journey.

Eating a healthy diet with a variety of food with potassium, fiber, protein, and importantly is lower in salt is critical. Flavor your food using more spices, eat salads and steamed vegetables. Select grilled poultry or fish and avoid heavy sauces, salad dressings and fats. This will help you get to or keep a healthy weight.

Staying physically active and reducing stress comes next. Moderate walking or other forms of physical exercise can do wonders. While 150 minutes of moderate activity a week is recommended, be sure to check with your doctor about forming a personalized plan of action and regular visits that are right for your current health status. Social isolation can also impact your stress levels, so staying in touch with friends, community groups and family is an important part of the picture.

Sleep is emerging as an ever increasing factor in heart health. It keeps your blood vessels healthy, and not getting enough sleep on a regular basis correlate to increased rates of stroke, high blood pressure and heart disease. Aim for a regular schedule and seven to eight hours of sleep.

Stop smoking and be careful about alcohol consumption for a healthy heart. So, if this is an issue, monitor your use and start a plan to cut back.

At Home Helpers, we know how important a skilled and well-matched Caregiver is to helping an older loved one maintain their heart health. Whether it’s making sure a moderate walk can be done without fear of a fall risk, regularly monitoring blood pressure and vital signs, following a nutritious diet, keeping a regular sleep schedule, or creating social bonds to battle loneliness, we strive to make each day the best it can be.

Our heart centered Caregivers can assist with all personal care, help around the house, safely speed up recovery from surgery, or provide specialized care for Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s, etc.

We’re here to help - from six hours a day, several days a week to 24/7 and live-in care. For a free consultation contact Home Helpers of Alpharetta and North Atlanta Suburbs today at (770) 681- 0323.

Sunshine on healing skin — one step forward, two steps back?

The most common pre-cancerous lesion dermatologists treat is the actinic keratosis or “AK.” These rough growths are often frozen with liquid nitrogen and gone in a zap. Sometimes, however, a patch of skin is covered with precancerous lesions. One almost doesn’t know where to start. For such a patient, the correct treatment is often not to spray twenty or thirty AKs with liquid nitrogen. If the whole patch of skin is affected with precancerous lesions, then spot treatments like liquid nitrogen zaps will just result in a game of whack-a-mole. One AK is beaten down only to have one or two more pop up by the next visit.

Field damage demands field treatment. Rather than spot-treating individual AK’s, an entire patch of skin can be treated with certain creams and therapies to reduce the number of precancers and the amount of sun damage in an entire area. Field treatments like fluorouracil cream, imiquimod cream, and photodynamic therapy (“blue light therapy”) can reduce the AK burden across an entire zone such as the entire scalp or face. These treatments reduce the number of future cancers and get the number of AK’s back down to a reasonable number.

I often recommend field treatments to my patients but with one big caveat. I tell them, “Don’t undergo a field treatment unless you can stay out of the sun during the treatment and for a week or so afterwards.” I advise patients that I am worried that sun damage on skin that is being treated or is recovering may not only cancel out the benefits but might leave them worse off.

Why the worry? Am I overcautious? I believe not. I’m concerned about more than just a little sunburn. I’m concerned about the sun hitting cells when they are at their most vulnerable: when they are replicating – such as when cells fill in tiny wounds and even micro-gaps created from the killing of precancers like AKs.

Every system has its vulnerabilities, and our DNA repair processes are no different. Our cells’ repair processes work well during the resting phases of cell life when they are happily performing their usual functions. But when a cell decides to duplicate its DNA and divide into daughter cells in a process called mitosis, some of the repair processes are temporarily shut down.

Remember in the movie Jurassic Park when getting the park back online requires temporarily turning everything off? The electricity to the fences had to be shut off, too, and some of the carnivorous dinosaurs escaped and wreaked havoc. Well, the same thing happens in our cells when they duplicate their DNA and divide from one cell into two cells. When cells synthesize new DNA, many of the DNA repair processes are temporarily turned off to allow DNA duplication and cell division to take place. If a mutation, such as from sunlight, occurs when the repair systems are off, then the mutation is often not corrected. The resulting daughter cells are permanently affected with the mutation. Such mutated cells can develop into cancer.

Field treatments like fluorouracil, imiquimod and photodynamic therapy kill bad cells. The healthy neighbor cells must then start dividing to take the place of the bad cells. More cells dividing means more cells with DNA repair processes in the “off” position. Treatments aimed at eliminating cancerous lesions temporarily create a vulnerable state.

Advice to avoid the sun during AK treatments is not just a case of preventing your usual sunburn or of healing skin being more sensitive. Healing skin is more susceptible to mutations and DNA damage from sunburns than resting skin is. Biology argues against taking a “cheat day” and getting sun exposure during or after any treatment that requires skin to heal. If you find yourself in need of field treatment such as PDT, fluoruracil or imiquimod, remember it is only a good idea if you can stay out of the sun during the entire treatment and for the time it takes afterwards for your skin to repair itself.

Brought to you by - Brent Taylor, MD, Premiere Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta

Misconceptions about Active Adult 55+ Living

Brought

to you by - Outlook Gwinnett

Assumption: Active Adult and Independent Living are the same thing

Reality: FALSE! Active adult communities serve as choice-based option for individuals 55 and better who may not be ready for the needsbased services and amenities of a traditional senior living community.

Assumption: Active Adult site staff are medically certified

Reality: FALSE! Our staff does not provide any medical care or interventions. This allows our residents to maintain their long-time health care providers and medical independence.

Assumption: I have to be retired in order to move into an Active Adult community

Reality: FALSE! Just like living in a multi-family community, we encourage our residents to continue to engage in their career and social interests as they did prior to moving in!

The Active Adult environment caters to older adults who typically have lower

health needs and prefer an active, community-based lifestyle where they can engage with their neighbors of similar age. This may allow for a stronger sense of community and an easier adjustment to apartment living. Here at Outlook Gwinnett, we seek to provide luxurious, worry-free living long before you are ready to relinquish your independence. Look forward to spending hot summer days lounging by our meticulously cared for outdoor pool! Or connect with your neighbors and plan your evening get-togethers around our stocked wine nook and sports lounge. Add in our community calendar, packed with a never-ending variety of SUN program activities, the possibilities are limitless here at Outlook Gwinnett!

Stop by our leasing office today to find out how to reserve a spot in this unique community today.

1500 Laurel Crossing Parkway Buford, GA 30519

(678) 890-5371

outlookgwinnett.com

The senior orphans

Brought to you by –

Michelle Wilson, Wilson Legal, PC

Dear readers, This article is for those whose nest was never full. The senior orphans we call them. They don’t come see attorneys like me to make a plan for others to help with financial or health issues or to deal with their estate after death because they are sad, feel ashamed, or embarrassed that they don’t have family to fill those seats.

If this is you, I want you to know that there are people who can help. Helpers can be friends, extended family,

or professionals. And you can compensate a helper so that you don’t feel that you’re a burden. Sometimes friends love you just as much or more than your actual relatives and are happy to help.

Professionals passionate about helping people who feel alone in this area wonderful to meet and include in your plans. Please know that your life is valuable and that you can have an estate plan too. Please call us if you or someone you know needs help choosing helpers. At Wilson Legal, we love finding helpers for those who didn’t think they could have help. You don’t have to choose to age alone.

Shingles shot savings

discount code from one of the popular prescription drug discount websites.

I wrote about Medicare coverage on the Shingles Shot Vaccine several years ago, but beginning this year coverage of the vaccine has changed.

Prior to 2023, the Shingles Shot was subject to deductibles and copays, and was placed into higher drug tier levels. However, due to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, beginning this year the Shingles Shot will be covered by Medicare Part D plans for $0 cost.

This is exciting news!

So, whether you are on a Medicare Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plan (typically paired with Original Medicare and a Medicare Supplement) or the “all in one” Medicare Advantage plan (through private insurance companies), the cost for the Shingles Shot will be $0!

You can get the Shingles Shot at your in-network local retail pharmacy or your doctor’s office. If you don’t have any form of Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, the Shingles Shot will cost around $200 using a

If you need help navigating your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan options, or just have questions, please give us a call or text us at 770-3158145 or visit our website at www. SeniorSourceMedicare.com to send us a message.

Medicare 101 Educational Workshop Coming Soon!

Within the next several weeks we will begin getting the word out about upcoming dates and times on our Medicare 101 Workshops.

Whether you are new to Medicare, or simply looking for a refresher course, we would like to invite you to attend. We take the word “Educational” to heart, meaning no sales talk, just the nuts and bolts of Medicare and how it pieces together. We will be communicating these dates and times in the newspaper, but also through our blog. Sign up to receive our blog updates at www.SeniorSourceMedicare.com/ Blog

Paige Gorman Agent

Brought to you by – Jay Looft, Senior Source Medicare

Pain relieving Laser Therapy

Brought to you by - Johns Creek Physical Therapy

Having treated hundreds of patients over the past 6 years with Pain Relieving Laser Therapy, it’s not hard for me to appreciate how well it works. But if you’ve never tried it, trust me when I tell you…. you’re missing out!

Several years ago, John Deere ran a promotion on their zero turn lawn mowers. They used a fun tag line, “It’s not how fast

you mow, it’s how well you mow FAST!”

I wish I could come up with a similar tag line for Pain Relieving Laser Therapy because it can deliver pain relief in just a few minutes. It’s not uncommon for patients to have their pain be reduced by 50% on the first treatment.

How does it work? Pain Relieving Laser Therapy uses light energy to promote heal-

ing and reduce pain. Laser Therapy is FDA cleared to treat pain, inflammation, arthritis, and muscle spasms and is a great alternative to medications and injections.

The most common thing we hear after someone tries it for the first time is “WOW!” I’m sure if you are just reading this article, you are probably thinking, “yeah, RIGHT??!! Nothing works that fast!”

But don’t take my word for it, call our office today and schedule your FREE TRIAL. The only thing you have to lose is your pain!

Johns Creek Physical Therapy 4060 Johns Creek Parkway, Suite H Suwanee, GA 30024 770-622-5344

Meeting our students where they are

Center

While the pandemic is in the rearview mirror for many, we are still riding the wave of challenges brought on by Covid-19 with specific impact on our youth. Recent studies have shown that children are facing a variety of problems including anxiety, depression, impulsivity, sleep

problems, and beyond (National Library of Medicine). If left untreated, research tells us that these symptoms can lead to adverse consequences including drug and alcohol abuse, violence or self-destructive behavior, low educational attainment, and lower rates of employment in adulthood

(2023 Voices of Georgia Children Factbook). Additionally, suicide rates among youth are once again on the rise, with suicide being the 3rd leading cause of death

for individuals 3-17 in Georgia (2023 Voices of Georgia Children Factbook). These staggering statistics point to the vital need for mental health services in our schools. School board members nationwide consider student mental health the most pressing issue facing schools and students today, according to a new national survey of school board members commissioned by Mental Health First Aid USA. In our state, 45% of children aged 3-17 struggle to, or are not able to access needed mental health services due to the many barriers. (2023 Voices of Georgia Children Factbook).

By partnering with local public and private schools in our community, Summit Counseling Center addresses many of the mental health challenges facing youth today. Through Summit OnSite, we currently have therapists in 31 schools providing therapy to students on a daily basis. This program aims to meet each child where they are – physically at their schools, and financially through subsidized sessions – to ensure they have access to the support they need and otherwise may not receive.

As a nonprofit counseling center, The

Summit’s school-based program is one of the many ways we provide hope, healing, and restoration to our community. At our core, we strive to create a community where everyone has full access to professional, integrative mental health services without the barriers of affordability, accessibility, or stigma. To learn more about our services, visit us online at www.summitcounseling.org

We invite you to join our mission by attending or sponsoring our 8th annual Summit Gala: A Hope Full Experience on Saturday, March 25th at The Hotel at Avalon. Each year at our gala, hundreds of community leaders and Summit supporters gather to celebrate and reflect on how far we've come, share the joy and generosity of our community, and express our continued commitment to support mental wellness. Funds raised at this event help subsidize counseling for children, adults, and families in our community.

To learn more about attendance and sponsorship opportunities for our gala, please visit www.summitcounseling.org/ gala or contact Rachel Newcomer, Director of Development, at rnewcomer@ summitcounseling.org.

Brought to you by - Rachel Newcomer, Director of Development at Summit Counseling

Forget about halftime, Super Bowl wasn’t half bad

This is being written mere days after the Super Bowl.

It was fairly typical:

Good ads, bad ads, a stinker of a halftime show, politics and an unruly mob made up of the losing team’s fans.

Maybe I’m a sentimental sap, but the Amazon commercial where they tease the feisty family dog’s apparent banishment to a crate only to reveal there was no cell, just a four-legged pal. Maybe next year, they’ll show both pets wreaking havoc on hardwood floors and carpets.

For the most part, the ads were, well, normal. I am still giggling at Bradley Cooper trying to keep a straight face while he and his mom pitch T-Mobile. Ditto for J’Lo catching hubby Ben Affleck moonlighting at Dunkin’ Donuts. Ol’ Ben loves getting his donut/coffee fix at Dunkin’ in Boston and the commercial

tickled me.

I guess the best part was that weirdness was kept to a minimum.

For the most part.

I can’t criticize the halftime show. The two minutes of Rihanna’s lip-synching was inspiring. It inspired me to make a beeline upstairs and make a sandwich.

Not sure there is any necessity for two national anthems. Personally, I think the one played by Chris Stapleton covered things nicely.

Oh yeah, about that unruly mob, otherwise known as Philadelphia Eagles fans. They outdid themselves, booing Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott winning the ultra-humanitarian Walter Payton award.

I would have expected nothing less. After all, the late Jay Johnstone, who played for the Phillies, once told me when asked about playing in the cheesesteak city: “The fans are ridiculous. They go to the airport and boo the good landings.”

They boo philanthropic, civic-minded Cowboy quarterbacks, too.

Do you reckon whoever came up with

that city’s “Brotherly Love” moniker is laughing somewhere, knowing he played “pull my finger” while selling us a Whoopee Cushion of a slogan.

You know there had to be brawls at Independence Hall, a monstrous scrap where they make Scrapple, a broken hand when an “over-served” fan took out his frustrations by taking a swing at the Rocky statue.

And connecting.

Everyone got their money’s worth it would seem. And Philadelphia fans aren’t the only ones who lost.

We have to wait until September for any football.

Having attended a few Super Bowls, I’ll never forget Gramps showing up at our house in Bakersfield and telling me to take ride with him on a mid-January Sunday in 1967.

“You’re not going to make me dig in that riverbed again, are you?”

“Nope,” he replied. “We’re going on an adventure.”

Now my Grandpa might have been a tad nuts. This was the guy who hit golf

balls in the neighborhood trying to cure a slice. Broken windows and flowerpots were evidence that his game needed lots of work,

I also once spied him firing live .22 rounds into a blanket, somehow reasoning he was fashioning some type of hayseed silencer.

What Gramps had planned was way better than a lighter and a can of hairspray. That decrepit Ford station wagon barely made it over the mountains to Los Angeles. JL Stone, the grandpa who really cared, took his oldest grandson to the half-empty Coliseum to watch the Green Bay Packers wallop the Kansas City Chiefs in the first AFC-NFC Championship.

Those marketing geniuses hadn’t come up with the “Super Bowl” name yet. They were probably busy inventing Pringles.

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.

Answering the phone says a lot about a business

Our company does many things that are new – like cutting edge. We were first to market with our local podcasts. We were – back in 1995 – one of the first to market online with Internet coupons.

Ha, I still own these two domains: Couponscoupons.com and CouponsRus.com! But I digress.

While we try hard to stay “current,” we also do a lot of things the old fashion way, like answering the phone. The rule is that when you call Appen, a human (her name is Jade or sometimes Heidi or sometimes Ray) will answer your call by the second ring if not sooner. It is one of my pet peeves. If you are going to take your time to call us, the least thing we can do is respect your time and answer your call personally, and fast.

We get a lot of calls sometimes. And I will tell you that we are probably batting 95 percent answering them by the second ring. We don’t always operate our business as well as we want to, but it is not from lack of trying or a lack of caring.

I would say that 85 percent of the time I am calling a business – other than Appen – the person who answers is a machine, and I have to listen to a machine tell me what to do. “Press 1 for sales. Press 2 for service. Press 3 for

accounting. Press 4 if it is Wednesday (because we are closed). Press 5 if you want to relisten to this list. If you know the extension of the person with whom you wish to speak, press 9. If you want to wait for a long time to talk to a person, press 0 now.”

About half the time, when you press one of those numbers you get another round of questions that demand answers.

I can think of only a couple things that drive me crazier than this. One is when you press the customer service prompt, you are transferred to India to someone who reads a script and never, ever strays from what the script says no matter what you have just said. The other is those losers who harass other people on roundabouts because they are in a hurry or are having a bad hair day, or because they are just assess – like the late model dark blue or gray Dodge Ram who blasted that white BMW in front of me on the roundabout out near Freemanville Road area today. One hundred percent loser in a hurry to be a bigger loser and probably go home and beat his wife or kids or maybe his dog. In a hurry? Not. But I digress.

I recently had a test done at Emory. My insurance covered the bill but apparently there was a deductible that I still needed to pay even though it was my understanding that I had already met my deductible. I tried to call Emory to make sure I really owed that $100. I tried, and

I tried, and I tried. It was like going into a maze with lots of turns, blindfolded and walking with your hands and trying to get to the other end. Ultimately, I concluded that contacting someone who could help me on this outstanding bill was impossible and that maybe that text or email they were sending me was legitimate, so I caved and sent $130 to a machine online that said I owed Emory $130. Note – the bill went from $100 to $130 when I waited to pay it for about a week. I am sorry Emory, but it is virtually impossible to deal with your administrative “system,” and I use that term loosely. It is hard to have confidence in any business that fails so miserably in something as simple and basic as taking a phone call from someone who wants to pay a bill. Amazon does it right. Why can’t you?

How a business manages the phones tells a ton about the business. Technology very often pushes businesses further away from their customers – further away from meaningful communication with customers. Businesses think that they save money by having a “system” that makes a caller jump through hoops to ultimately – maybe – route the call to the desired person. It never ceases to amaze me that these businesses never seem to value the caller’s time – as if the caller’s time has no value at all. What are they thinking?

This “phone thing” is, to me, just an example of this trending disconnect between people that gets worse every day. It has something to do with values. It has something to do with how much we do or do not respect each other. The disconnect manifests itself everywhere every day –from on roundabouts to in schools, to in government, to in the quality of our health care, to our relationship with a neighbor.

It is all part of the noise that surrounds us at all times, and it can be hard to notice unless you step back and ask yourself, “Wait, why am I in such a hurry? Why am I sending that email instead of picking up the phone. Why am I harassing a complete stranger on a roundabout just because I am not having a good day? Why am I posting hurtful stuff on social media?”

We can continue to digress toward some truly dark unknown condition, but I believe we still have time to reverse some of this contamination that technology has generated and return to a way or life – an attitude – that makes us healthier, wiser and happier. But that means disconnecting from a lot of the technology – purposely, and with deliberate intent. It means reconnecting with others, personally. It starts with how we treat others and how we want to be treated. We don’t want technology to interfere with that – ever.

So, answer your phone, personally.

MIKE TASOS

Columnist

What happens in Opelika comes home to Roswell

Here’s a bit of news trivia for you: The locations at the start of articles (you know, the ones that look like this: SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — ) are called datelines.

the issues.

The meetings aren’t recorded or streamed online, and most city “notes” are scant. Last year Roswell went to Greenville for five days and came home with a plan to revise the city’s charter.

Alex Popp had it easy. Sandy Springs held their retreat in Sandy Springs.

Delaney Tarr is spending the weekend in Opelika, Alabama, to cover the Roswell City Council retreat.

We have problems getting metropolitan dailies to show up at city council meetings to cover the city council.

CARL APPEN Director of Content & Development carl@appenmedia.com

They’re used to show readers where the story is taking place. Some newsrooms use them to indicate a reporter had boots on the ground.

The last few weeks Appen Media has had some special datelines. We’ve published stories that start with GREENVILLE, S.C.; CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS, Ga.; ATLANTA, and now OPELIKA, Al.

Using them means Appen Media had boots on the ground in all those places.

Most of our city governments go on “strategic retreats” every year. The whole city council and administrative staff will pack up and head out of town for a few days. They offer a range of reasons – to visit a downtown they want to model, team building or really buckling down to focus on

The meeting minutes – the official record of what took place that week – was 34 words long. If you’ve ever been to a Roswell City Council meeting, you know they speak more than one word every four hours.

Of course, by law these meetings are open to the public. Any time a quorum – or voting majority – of elected officials gather for city business, discussion, research or action, you’re allowed to be there.

But if the meeting is in Greenville, who is going to drive three hours just to go along and be in the room?

Well, us, I suppose.

When the Johns Creek City Council traveled to Greenville, S.C. for the weekend, Amber Perry went along too. Shelby Israel woke up at dawn on a Sunday to be in Chattahoochee Hills for the Alpharetta retreat. Then she did it again the following day.

She really got the short end of the stick. The City Council is staying at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National. I tried to get her a room there too, but the entire place was booked. So, each day Delaney is making a quick drive over from Opelika’s Hampton Inn. Imagine that.

On behalf of city officials and staff, taxpayers are footing the bill for these excursions.

For the reporters in the room – and I assure you, we’re the only ones – that bill falls squarely on our shoulders. Your local newsroom. (So maybe after all, it’s a good thing every room was taken at the Grand National.)

We’re glad to do it.

In fact, Managing Editor Pat Fox and I think it’s pretty special that you can open up the local newspaper and see a dateline from South Carolina because there’s a newsroom willing to follow local officials there.

Local news is not always local. Just because Roswell is strategizing in Opelika doesn’t mean what they do there happens in a vacuum.

Chattahoochee Hills is not Las Vegas. What happens there comes home.

Shelby was in the room when Alpharetta approved requests for funding increases.

Amber got to walk along the Reedy River with the Johns Creek City Council as they took notes on Greenville’s public art, civic partnerships and cohesive branding. Now those are all lessons the city will hope to implement as the Johns Creek Town Center moves forward.

I can tell you this much, Delaney’s report from Opelika is going to be a lot more comprehensive than the one that comes from the city.

So, we think it’s important to go.

If the Johns Creek City Council is meeting, the Johns Creek Herald should be in the room. Even if we have to pay our own way.

Friends, Rome, Georgians, lend me your ears

Part of my job includes reminding our reporters about AP Style – that’s the official rulebook for language use as laid down by the Associated Press.

PAT FOX Managing Editor pat@appenmedia.com

Many of these rules I don’t agree with, and I encourage some to be ignored.

One rule I’d like to change regards U.S. House members.

AP Style guidance is to name the person, then, in parentheses, provide their party affiliation and the state they represent.

It seems a simple and salient practice, unless you consider the person and buffoonery of one Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Listing Ms. Green as (R-Ga.) is unfair to most residents of this state.

My recommendation would be to credit those local voters who unleashed her on our nation.

So, it would be: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome, Ga. or R-Floyd County, Ga.).

Give credit where it’s due, I say.

Greene’s continual outbursts are in contrast to a recent report from Preply, an online language learning platform, that recently ranked Georgians among the slowest talkers in the United States.

The report analyzed data from two nationwide studies based on YouTube videos and call recordings. It then ranked the average speech rates of Americans from 114 cities and in all 50 states.

Georgia ranked 5th among states with the slowest talkers with an average of 4.89

syllables per second. The U.S. average is 5.09 syllables per second.

Here are some of the key findings in the Preply study:

• The state with the fastest average speech rate is Minnesota at 5.34 syllables per second.

• The state with the slowest average rate of speech is Louisiana at 4.78 syllables per second.

• The U.S. city with the fastest average rate of speech is Portland, Oregon, at 5.38 syllables per second.

• The U.S. city with the slowest average speech rate is Peoria, Illinois, at 4.71 syllables per second.

Those in the Southeast ranked way up there in slow speech.

Having lived in the South for almost 40 years, I’ve learned to love the musical lilt of the local dialog.

Few things aggravate me more than actors, mostly from other regions, who feign Southern accents for their roles. They’re often preposterous and almost always exaggerated. Have you ever heard someone from Nebraska try to say “y’all?”

Oddly, the actors who can best nail a genuine Southern accent are British or Irish. (Tell me Kenneth Branagh isn’t dripping with perfect Buckhead portraying an Atlanta attorney in “Gingerbread Man.”)

The Pelpry study does not address the content of speech, whether what’s being said is worth saying or the time it takes to listen to it. Nor does it say whether the speech is infused with banal interjections, like “like,” “sorta like” and “you know.”

Such a study would be valuable, allowing us to focus our attention on those most reliable for not wasting our time.

Delivering Readers Award-Winning Newspapers

Call today to place your ad 470.222.8469 or email classifieds@appenmediagroup.com

SERVICE DIRECTORY

POOL TECHNICIANS WANTED

NFCC is looking for a full-time executive assistant to support the Executive Director and leadership team.  This person will play a vital role in help keep the NFCC leadership team organized and productive and will interact with the board of directors and other important stakeholder groups. Sensitivity, discretion and attention to detail are a must. Candidate must have a two-year degree, bachelor’s degree preferred and should have at least 2-3 years of relevant experience. For a complete job description visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

Client Services Specialist

The full-time Client Services Specialist greets visitors to NFCC and assists them with obtaining services. In addition, this person conducts followup interviews, enters data and may participate in additional follow-up activities.  A high school degree or equivalent is required along with at least one year in customer service or other relevant experience. Discretion and strong written and verbal communication skills in English and Spanish are also required. For a complete job description, please visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

Truck Driver

NFCC needs a reliable driver to work part-time picking up scheduled donations. The person in this role may also assist with facility maintenance and must maintain accurate vehicle maintenance records. It is crucial that they represent NFCC with a professional and friendly demeanor. 1-2 years of box truck delivery experience is preferred. Candidate must maintain a valid Georgia driver’s license and be free of any traffic violations for the past three years.  Work on Saturdays or Sundays may be required occasionally. For a complete job description, please visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

Part-time & Full-time positions available. Pay is $12-$14 per hour. Hours starting at 6:30AM, Monday-Friday. Pick-up truck not required but must have your own reliable transportation. Gas allowance provided. Looking for people who enjoy working outside and are enthusiastic, dependable & punctual. Able to contribute independently or on a crew with consistently friendly attitude.

Well-established commercial pool maintenance company providing service in the North Atlanta Metro area.

Call Bill: 404-245-9396

S9 Technologies Inc. is seeking Sr. Business Analyst and Sr. Lotus Notes Developer for related work. See www.s9technologies.com/career. html detailed duties & reqmts. Frequent reloc to client sites at various unanticipated loc thruout US. F/T. Mail resume to HR, S9 Technologies Inc., 4640 Valais Court, Suite 205, Johns Creek, GA 30022, or email to hr@s9technologies.com. Must refer to Job #.

Computer/IT: Pilot Travel Centers LLC (Roswell, GA) seeks Eng. III, Big Data to lead projs. & provide tech. expertise for the research, dev., & mod. of extract, transform, & load processes & jobs in support of a Big Data infrastructure. For more details/to apply online, see https://smrtr.io/cVJR6.

Now Hiring: Office Coordinator

Local commercial real estate company is hiring an Office Coordinator. The role includes coordinating administrative tasks between our property management, leasing and accounting departments. The position requires exceptional communication and organizational skills, knowledge of MS Office, a strong work ethic, internal drive, and a positive attitude. This is an office only (not remote work) position. Please contact us Employment@mpshoppingcenters.com for more information.

Tree Services

Roofing

ROOF LEAKING?

24 hour emergency service. Licensed, insured. Workers Comp, insurance claims. 25+ years experience. Family business. Free estimates. We Love Challenges!

Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts

770-512-8733 • www.yellowribbontree.com

COMPLETE TREE SERVICES

Appen-Rated 98

Text or Call us for a FREE quote appointment.

Tree removal, Pruning, Stump grinding, Free mulch. Fully insured.

Emergency 24/7 770-450-8188

Driveway

$250 OFF NEW DRIVEWAY!

Mention this ad. Concrete driveway specialists. Driveways, Pool Decks, Patios, Walkways, Slabs.  A+ BBB rating. FREE ESTIMATE. Call Rachael at 678-250-4546 to schedule a FREE Estimate. 30 years of experience. ARBOR HILLS CONSTRUCTION INC. Please note we do have a minimum charge on accepted jobs of $4,500.

Home Improvement

PHILLIPS HOME IMPROVEMENT

We offer drywall, painting, carpentry, plumbing and electrical. Basements finished, kitchen and bath rehabs. All types flooring. Also total home rehab for those who have a rental house or one to sell. Call 678-887-1868 for a free estimate.

BASEMENTS-FRAMING-DRYWALL-TRIM-PAINT

Decks repaired/built. Labor payment upon completion. 30-plus years experience. John Ingram/678-906-7100. Act now before prices increase next year! Heritage Home Maintenance homerepairga@ gmail.com. heritageconstructionga.com

HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING, PLUMBING

Repair Services Call Philip 678-910-1094

Cemetery

SAVE $12,000!

Greenlawn, Roswell.

Regularly $7995 each.

Owner: $12,000/all 3.

Side-by-side Fountain B. 26-c. 1.2,3. 770-490-6425

Call us for roof repair or roof replacement. FREE quotes. $200 OFF Leak Repairs or 10% off New Roof. Affordable, quality roofing. Based in Roswell. Serving North Atlanta since 1983. Call to schedule FREE

Quote: 770-284-3123.

Christian Brothers Roofing

Concrete/ Asphalt Retaining Walls

Brick or Wood

Contact Ralph Rucker. Many local references. Honest, punctual, professional and reasonable prices! 678-898-7237

Flooring

PHILLIPS FLOORING

Hardwood, laminate, carpet & tile installation and repairs. We do tile floors, showers, tub surrounds and kitchen back-splashes. Regrouting is also available. Call 678-887-1868 for free estimate.

Pinestraw

PINESTRAW, MULCH

Delivery/installation available. Firewood available. Licensed, insured. Angels of Earth Pinestraw and Mulch. 770-831-3612

full 24/7 oxygen delivery. Only 2.8 pounds. Free info kit. Call 877-929-9587

Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator

$0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-855-948-6176

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule free LeafFilter estimate today. 20% off Entire Purchase. 10%

Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-833-610-1936

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available.

Call: 855-761-1725

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800-245-0398

HughesNet - Finally, super-fast internet no matter where you live. 25 Mbps just $59.99/mo!

Unlimited Data is Here. Stream

Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499-0141

Become a published author.

We want to read your book!

Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author’s guide 1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/31/24. 1-866-479-1516

The Generac PWRcell solar plus battery storage system. Save money, reduce reliance on grid, prepare for outages & power your home. Full installation services. $0 down financing option. Request free no obligation quote. 1-877-539-0299

Safe Step. North America’s #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-theline installation and service. Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off - limited time! Financing available.

1-855-417-1306

Switch and save up to $250/yr on talk, text & data. No contract or hidden fees. Unlimited talk & text with flexible data plans. Premium nationwide coverage.

100% U.S. based customer service. Limited time get $50 off any new account. Use code GIFT50. 1-855-903-3048

MobileHelp, America’s premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you’re home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure! 1-888-489-3936

Free high speed internet if qualified. Govt. pgm for recipients of select pgms incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet. Android tablet free w/one-time $20 copay. Free shipping. Call Maxsip Telecom! 1-833-758-3892

Caring for an aging loved one?

Wondering about options like senior-living communities and inhome care? Caring.com’s Family Advisors help take the guesswork out of senior care for your family. Free, no-obligation consult: 1-855-759-1407

Inflation is at 40 year highs. Interest rates are way up. Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Car Loans. Do you have $10k or more in debt? Call National Debt Relief to find out how to pay off your debt for significantly less than what you owe! Free quote: 1-877-592-3616

Wesley Financial Group, LLC Timeshare Cancellation ExpertsOver $50,000,000 in timeshare debt & fees cancelled in 2019. Get free info package & learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Over 450 positive reviews. 833-308-1971 DIRECTV Stream - Carries the most local MLB Games! Choice Package $89.99/mo for 12 mos Stream on 20 devices at once. HBO Max included for 3 mos