Business builds community, sanctuary for connoisseurs
By JON WILCOX | jon@appenmedia.com
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — The joy of a good cigar is about more than savoring the rich flavor of aged tobacco.
At The Chateau Cigar Lounge, it’s about camaraderie, connection and company.
“I first thought I was selling cigars, beer and wine, but we sell community,” owner Jeff Curry said. “You can come in here as a stranger, but you won’t leave as one.”
When Curry purchased The Chateau in 2018, the business was struggling, he said. The location at 9700 Medlock Bridge Road had little more than a dozen cigars, beer coolers, televisions and furniture. The meager cigar inventory and less-than welcoming environment had stolen customers’ trust, he said.
See CIGAR, Page 8
County approves water distribution master plan
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
ATLANTA — County commissioners approved the North Fulton Water Distribution Master Plan March 5, detailing around $278 million in capital improvements over the next 25 years.
Fulton County Public Works Director David Clark said the master plan and a separate rate study will help determine which projects and funds are necessary to maintain the system.
The county approved a 5 percent per year increase in water and sewer rates running from 2020-25 to generate revenue
for upgrades and expansions. A new rate increase package is in the works.
“An ongoing rate study … will be brought back to the commissioners probably in a month or two about our water and sewer rates,” Clark said.
With anticipated growth in population and development, Fulton County is taking
steps to adjust its water and sewer capacity to meet the need. While the county owns all sewer collections north of Atlanta, its water distribution pipes only service Johns Creek, Mountain Park, Alpharetta, Milton and most of Roswell.
See WATER, Page 21
JON WILCOX/APPEN
Manager Staci Gibbs and owner Jeff Curry stand in the humidor of The Chateau Cigar Lounge at 9799 Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek.
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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.
Store
staff detain
2 men suspected of shoplifting
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Officers investigated a reported felony shoplifting of more than $500 of clothing at a North Point department store Feb. 23.
Police arrested two Gainesville men, aged 28 and 39, charging them with theft by shoplifting.
Officers were dispatched to the department store about 8:30 p.m. after a shoplifting was reported, according to an Alpharetta police report. They met loss prevention staff who said four men had entered the store, concealed items in a Nike shopping bag and left.
Police also reviewed surveillance camera footage that showed the alleged theft.
The men stole swimming trunks, pants, shirts and shoes.
Loss prevention staff apprehended two of the four men.
— Jon Wilcox
Woman finds recorder hidden in her vehicle
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A 36-year-old Milton woman reported Feb. 24 she had found an audio recording device in her car.
Officers were dispatched to North Point Parkway after an argument between the woman and her husband, according to an Alpharetta police report.
The woman said she and her husband were in the process of a divorce.
The woman searched her car after she heard her husband tell her daughter he would be able to hear her have a conversation.
The woman purchased a device that finds cameras and recording devices and
located the recorder in the pocket behind the driver’s seat. Her attorney advised her to report it to police.
The woman turned over the listening device to officers, who entered it into evidence.
The incident was classified as a felony eavesdropping or surveillance.
— Jon Wilcox
Officers arrest suspect with copper pipes, tools
ROSWELL, Ga. — Police arrested a 24-year-old Roswell man Feb. 28 after an officer stopped a cyclist carrying copper pipes around Old Holcomb Bridge Road and Creekside Way.
The officer said he initiated a traffic stop on two pedestrians because one carried a bundle of brass or copper tubing. He also said there is an ongoing issue involving vandalism and squatting at vacant apartments around the Roswell Creek apartments.
The officer said a 24-year-old Roswell man threw the bundle of copper into the tree line seconds before the encounter.
While checking their identifies, the officer said the Roswell man had an active arrest warrant out of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office for a probation violation related to shoplifting.
The officer said the man with the copper would not say where he was living.
The other pedestrian, a 26-yearold woman, said she was two months pregnant, and the couple was on the way to her mother’s house in Forsyth County.
After Fulton County confirmed the man’s warrant was active, officers said they searched and detained him and found voltage probes, wire cutters, screw drivers, two ski masks and glass pipes with burnt residue.
Officers retrieved the copper lines, which appeared to have been cut from an air conditioning unit with fresh marks. They said the evidence led them to believe that the man was using the tools to commit thefts.
Because the man said he swallowed fentanyl before the police stop, an
ambulance was called to transport him to Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center.
After he was cleared, police took him to the North Fulton County Jail. It’s his fourth arrest since August 2023.
According to jail records, the man was charged with two probation violations, possession of tools for the commission of crime, theft by taking, criminal damage to property and tampering with evidence.
— Jon Wilcox
Resident says swindler took him for $80,000
ROSWELL, Ga. — A 67-year-old Roswell resident reported he was scammed out of $80,000 Feb. 26 through a fraudulent scheme conducted on the messaging platforms WhatsApp and Telegram.
The victim told officers that he had been messaging a phone number with a 786 area code from Miami-Dade County, Florida. He said the unidentified person reached out to him on WhatsApp about a money-making opportunity.
After the conversation switched over to another messaging app, Telegram, the victim said he was asked to buy programs in exchange for a profitable return.
The victim said he continued to send the person more money, until he refused to pay after not receiving any return on his investments.
Based off the officer’s report, it’s unclear when the victim began the interchange and when he ended communication.
When the victim finally refused to pay, he said the person sent him pictures of his residence and told him he would hire a hitman to kill him.
Officers did not identify a victim in their report.
Police said the victim sent a total of $80,000 to the alleged scammer, though the report did not identify how the funds were transferred.
The two felony charges against the perpetrator are theft by deception and terroristic threats.
— Hayden Sumlin
ASK APPEN
Fling to Spring
North Fulton Chamber accepting applications for leadership programs
NORTH FULTON, Ga. — The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce invites the next batch of future leaders to apply for the Leadership North Fulton and Emerging Leaders Program.
Both programs are created by the chamber to foster leadership development in the community. The chamber aims to grow business, develop talent and lead regional prosperity across North Fulton.
Leadership North Fulton has led the region with its signature leadership development program for more than 30 years by allowing members of the community to build relationships with businesses and nonprofit partners.
The program contains a mix of executives, small business owners and young professionals, with a class size of around 35 members. The program will consist of eight, eight-hour class days, in addition to the evening opening reception, overnight retreat and graduation luncheon. Classes are held on the third Thursday of the month and range from arts and culture to public safety.
Participants can learn from a diverse curriculum, while promoting community awareness, instilling civic responsibility and building relationships. Graduates can join the ranks of more than 500 alumni. The
all-inclusive program costs $2,500 for Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce members and $3,000 for non-members. Payment plans and two half-scholarships are available on a situational basis.
Applications for the Leadership North Fulton Program close March 25.
Juniors and seniors from North Fulton high schools who are looking to join in on the leadership development can apply for the Emerging Leaders Program. High schoolers can learn leadership skills, identify and address community issues and interact with local leaders, while becoming good citizens.
Students will attend six class days, in addition to orientation, retreat and graduation. Outside of class days, students are expected to complete five activities that correspond with class day themes to develop life lessons. Curriculum such as financial literacy and mock interviews are among the topics students will learn.
Applications for the Emerging Leaders Program close March 20 and include a $300 program fee upon acceptance.
Those interested can apply on the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce website.
— Sarah Coyne
Whether you are a seasoned designer or a savvy homeowner who appreciates
you’ll love shopping at Boca Bargoons!
Black Alpharetta entrepreneur honored with memorial plaque
By SARAH COYNE sarah@appenmedia.com
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Residents and visitors to Alpharetta can now learn a bit about the city’s past through a new historical marker dedicated Feb. 27.
The plaque marks the site of George “Hard” Bailey’s Blacksmith Shop at Citizen Soul restaurant on South Main Street. The marker recognizes Bailey, an African American, who owned and operated the shop in the early 1900s.
Bailey was one of the earliest Black entrepreneurs in Alpharetta. He provided land from his farm on Kimball Bridge Road for construction of the Alpharetta Colored School. Community members later honored him by changing the school’s name to the Bailey-Johnson School. The school operated from 1950 to 1967, when segregation of public education ended in North Fulton County.
Bailey’s historical marker is part of a joint effort of the Alpharetta and Old Milton County Historical Society and City of Alpharetta to celebrate Black History Month.
Historical Society President Pat Miller wrote the excerpt displayed on the plaque.
“The main thing it does is it gives people a glimpse into what Alpharetta was like, because so many people that live in this area now have no longterm ties to the area,” Miller said.
Miller said the markers around the
city allow for the community to “run into history.”
Little was known about Bailey, and Miller said she enjoyed learning about him while preparing for the BaileyJohnson School & Community Exhibit and the historical marker unveiling.
“I just keep researching and hopefully one day I’ll solve all these mysteries,” Miller said.
Phillip Cooper, owner of Citizen Soul, 60 S. Main, honors Bailey with a hammer and anvil logo for the business. The historical marker adds to the aesthetic.
“Once we kind of stumbled on his story, I just kind of ran with it, and it made a lot of sense,” Cooper said.
Servers at the restaurant also wear blacksmith aprons to complement the theme.
“It’s a tribute to how far we’ve come from then till now,” Cooper said.
After years of talk about the plaque, Bailey’s granddaughter, Patricia Centers Martin, participated in the marker unveiling, alongside Linda Brown, Bailey’s greatgrandniece.
Martin thanked the crowd for their help and for thinking about her “granddaddy.”
“I’m overwhelmed. I would have never dreamed of this,” Martin said.
Martin said her favorite memories are when she went to visit her grandfather.
“I just couldn’t wait,” she said.
SARAH COYNE/APPEN MEDIA
Linda Brown and Patricia Centers Martin unveil the historical marker for George “Hard” Bailey’s Blacksmith Shop along South Main Street in Alpharetta Feb. 27.
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival wraps 25th anniversary season
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The 25th annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival wrapped another successful year March 5 with its Closing Night celebration, featuring the heartfelt Brazilian dramedy “Cheers to Life!”
The annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is one of the largest cultural events of its kind in the world, celebrating the power of film to foster understanding and strengthen connections between Jewish and diverse global communities.
After the 88 in-theatre screenings across six venues in two weeks, some 1,000 patrons packed the Byers Theatre at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center.
Before spending most of the film giggling, reading subtitles and releasing some tears, the audience was treated to a quarter-century celebration of international film in the Jewish center of the South.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, welcoming the audience and film festival organizers, promoted the city’s Performing Arts Center as a hub for exploring different cultures.
In a major announcement, festival organizers revealed an upcoming onenight-only concert Oct. 20 in partnership with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Turner Classic Movies. The concert is at Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center with TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz hosting.
"I've been coming to the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival for years, and I couldn’t be more excited for this extraordinary celebration of film and music,” Mankiewicz said. “Iconic scores from classic Jewish cinema performed live? That’s a night you don’t want to miss.”
A panel of filmmakers, journalists, students and industry experts determine the Jury Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in Jewish
cinema across six categories.
The 2025 winners are: “Pink Lady” for Narrative Feature, “Riefenstahl” for Documentary Feature, “The Sacred Society” for Short Film, “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” for the Building Bridges Award, “Sapir” for the Human Rights Award and Tom Nesher as Emerging Filmmaker for “Come Closer.”
James Alexander, a marketing executive and the next president of AJFF, announced Coca-Cola’s $250,000 investment in the festival’s Kenny Blank Vision Initiative, a $2.5 million capital campaign designed to expand the festival’s impact beyond its annual programming.
Kenny Blank, AJFF’s executive and artistic director, said the 25th anniversary is a defining moment for the nonprofit.
“We are grateful to our audiences, supporters and partners for making this milestone so special,” Blank said. “We look forward to building on this momentum as AJFF continues to evolve, expand and elevate its impact in the years ahead,”
During the North American premier of the 2024 Brazilian film “Cheers to Life,”
See FILM, Page 21
Owner John Hogan & Designer Bobbie Kohm
John Hogan & Designer Bobbie Kohm, re-imagining how bath & kitchen remodels
you through the whole design process. Ask about our 3D Renderings.
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Moderator Holly Firfer, at left, conducts a post-film discussion at Closing Night in Sandy Springs’ Byers Theatre March 5 with the cast and crew of the comedy drama “Cheers to Life!”
Cigar:
Continued from Page 1
So, when Curry announced the change in ownership, few were impressed.
“We were getting snarky replies. ‘Oh, really, you actually have cigars?’” he recalled hearing.
There was plenty of work to be done, and Curry, who had spent the previous 15 years in software sales, first recruited Staci Gibbs, an employee of the former owner. Gibbs now serves as general manager.
Together, they worked to make The Chateau a welcoming place where patrons could gather, relax and explore the world of fine tobacco.
Today, the business boasts close to a thousand cigars in its humidor. It’s also cultivated a cult customer base, who routinely visit to play poker, participate in raffles, watch sports and socialize.
“I have a customer who came here 340 times last year,” Curry said.
Tucked into the first floor of a small row of shops, The Chateau offers a refuge from the congested traffic of nearby Medlock Bridge and State Bridge roads.
A sweet smell of smoke lingers in the spacious interior, which features stainedwood flooring and high ceilings.
The space is perfect for hanging out, Curry said. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the room with natural light. A fully stocked
bar serves beer, wine, top-shelf liquors and craft cocktails. Some days, food trucks populate the ample parking lot. Plush leather armchairs invite visitors to unwind alone or in groups. A state-of-the-art ventilation system facilitates indoor smoking, but many opt for the patio when the weather is nice.
“It’s a beautiful thing to watch when … new faces come in here,” Gibbs said. “Maybe five minutes will pass before somebody walks up and strikes up a conversation. Then, they move their seats together.”
One popular informal event, a weekly “cigar bible study,” allows connoisseurs to analyze and evaluate flavors. Customers are welcome to enter their thoughts about a smoking experience into a handsomely bound leather tome and mark the flavors, whether they be of coffee, fruit, spice, nuts, earth or vanilla.
“What our people do is they sit around, and they smoke cigars, and they go, ‘OK, here’s the name of the cigar I had. This is what it’s like,’” Curry said.
There are plenty of opportunities to explore all manner of cigars from triedand-true favorites to limited editions in The Chateau’s humidor.
The narrow, wood-paneled room is climate controlled and dehumidified to extend the tobacco’s shelf life almost indefinitely.
See CIGAR, Page 9
JON WILCOX/APPEN MEDIA
Owner Jeff Curry holds a premium cigar in the humidor of The Chateau Cigar Lounge at 9799 Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek.
Cigar:
Continued from Page 8
Curry said the inventory caters to new and experienced customers.
For those who are just getting into tobacco, he recommends the Perdomo brand, which are like the “Johnson & Johnson” of cigars, he said.
“Whether you’re an experienced cigar smoker or novice, no one’s going to smoke that cigar and say they don’t like it,” he said.
Figuring out personal tastes is a big part of the fun for beginners, he said.
“It’s just seeking out where are you in your journey. Where are you in your experience?” he said. “And then, let us give you variations within that same flavor profile.”
For those who know what they like, The Chateau offers some exciting options from premium cigars that can range into the hundreds of dollars to rarer batches.
Curry maintains personal relationships with suppliers to ensure he gets the latest and greatest.
The shop boasts cigars from all over the world, including brands such as La Flor Dominicana, Sin Compromiso, Oliva, Mi Querida, Plasencia and many more.
On one shelf, Gibbs keeps a special stash, which she sometimes allows patrons to smoke from if they’re lucky.
It’s a beautiful thing to watch when new faces come in here.”
STACI GIBBS
General manager, The Chateau Cigar Lounge
“Some of the best cigars on the planet are sitting right down there in those boxes,”
Curry said.
For Curry, now retired from sales, owning The Chateau has been a dream. He frequents the shop almost seven days a week, chatting up regulars and meeting new faces.
Curry admits he may not make as much money as he used to, but there’s something special about running a business that provides real satisfaction to customers.
“We took something that was dead, and we managed to regrow the business,” he said.
Curry said he certainly enjoys indulging in a good cigar, but the real joy is being a part of the community the shop has fostered.
“I quit my day job at the end of 2020,” he said. “I haven’t set an alarm clock in years, and it’s been like, we got real a business here.”
GEORGIA FARMERS NEED YOUR SUPPORT
(AND YOUR VOTE)
For generations, the farmers you represent have worked, studied, retooled, innovated, and done their best for the land—and the communities you serve benefit from their expertise.
Georgia farmers trust the science and know glyphosate can be used safely. The litigation industry, on the other hand, relies on junk science in the courtroom to threaten the go-to crop protection tools farmers depend on every day. Experts estimate that without glyphosate to ensure our food supply, inflation at the checkout line will double.
More than 90 organizations in the Modern Ag Alliance are standing up for farmers to sustain the work of feeding America. Will you help us keep glyphosate available to them?
Honored to be Voted: Best Dermatologist and Best Vein Specialist
Insist on the
BEST
Dr. Brent Taylor is a Board-Certified Dermatologist, a Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeon, and is certified by the Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine in the field of Vein Care.
He is an expert in skin cancer and melanoma treatment, endovenous laser ablation, minimally invasive vein procedures and cosmetics procedures such as Botox and injectables.
Kathryn is a certified physician assistant with over 22 years experience as a Dermatology PA and cosmetic dermatology.
Her specialties include general dermatology such as acne, eczema, rashes, hair loss, full body skin exams, abnormal growths etc. Kathryn also specializes in cosmetic dermatology including lasers, injectables, micro-needling, PRP, facial peels, sclerotherapy for spider veins and at home skin care.
Is Lidocaine a secret weapon against cancer?
We always worry about the negative side-effects that a medicine might have. At the end of a pharmaceutical company’s commercials, an auctioneer very quickly states the twenty terrible things that might happen if you take the advertised medicine. Side effects range from your ear falling off when you sneeze to the belief that you are Elvis. Side-effects make almost any medicine sound scary. But occasionally, a positive side effect emerges. Sometimes, we discover something wonderful about a medicine that is wholly unexpected. Examples of positive side-effects are not hard to find. The medicine finasteride was first being used to help decrease the size of the prostate in men who were having difficulty urinating. An unexpected positive side-effect was discovered when it was noticed that many of the men were re-growing their scalp hair. With finasteride, male pattern baldness was often partially reversed or stopped in its tracks.
One of the most recent medications discovered to have a possible positive side effect is lidocaine, which has been around since 1943. Lidocaine is an injectable anesthetic. We use lidocaine for skin biopsies, excisions, Mohs surgeries and countless other procedures every day in the dermatology office. Amazingly, lidocaine may be more than an anesthetic. It may also have anticancer effects.
A team of surgeons in India operating on breast cancer divided patients into two groups. One group had standard breast cancer surgery. The other group received a lidocaine injection around the tumor 7-10 minutes prior to surgery. During the 5 years after surgery, the group that received the lidocaine injection had an 8.5% rate of the cancer recurring (popping up again) at a distant site versus an 11.6% rate of distant recurrence in the surgeryonly (no lidocaine) group. The study has some limitations including not being a double-blind trial and
being a single-center study, but it is intriguing enough to warrant further investigation. The authors reported that injecting lidocaine around breast cancer before removing it increased survival in their study.
What made the surgeons perform this study in the first place? Why lidocaine? Over the last few years, researchers have discovered that electrical gradients maintained across the membranes of cancer cells are important to their ability to metastasize or spread. Our cells have pumps in them called “ion channels.” They allow certain ions to pass across the cell membrane. The resulting ion concentration gradient creates an electrical charge across a cell. This gradient affects the way other proteins in the cell function. Importantly, some of the proteins affected by the charge across a cell membrane are important for healthy cells’ growth and development as well as for cancers’ ability to grow and spread.
Lidocaine works by blocking sodium channels in cell membranes. Disrupting the electric charge across a cancer cell membrane was suspected to have the potential to weaken the cancer itself. Pre-clinical studies supported this hypothesis, and the breast cancer surgeons took the next step of performing a trial with breast cancer patients and peritumoral lidocaine injections.
I don’t know if breast cancer surgeons in the United States consider these results valid, are awaiting confirmatory studies or are already injecting lidocaine. However, in dermatology, these results are exciting because, for now, we do not need to change anything that we are already doing. Every day that I perform Mohs surgery, we inject the area around a tumor with lidocaine prior to surgically removing the cancer. If lidocaine is more than an anesthetic, then our patients are likely already benefiting from any anti-cancer properties that lidocaine has.
Mohs surgery is the gold standard for treating most skin cancers and has a cure rate that is usually at or above 99%. Perhaps lidocaine is one of the secrets to this success.
Dr. Brent Taylor
Kathryn Filipek, PA-C
Brought to you by – Dr. Brent Taylor, Premier Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta
The connection between oral plaque, heart disease, and brain health
How oral health affects brain function
Most people think of plaque as a problem that affects only their teeth. Dentists warn us about plaque buildup leading to cavities and gum disease, but what many don’t realize is that the same plaque lurking in your mouth could also be harming your heart and brain. Mounting research shows a striking connection between oral health and systemic diseases, particularly heart disease and cognitive decline.
The link between oral plaque and heart disease
Plaque in your mouth is a sticky film of bacteria that forms on your teeth when food particles and saliva mix. If not removed through brushing and flossing, this plaque hardens into tartar, leading to gum disease (periodontitis). The bacteria from gum disease don’t just stay in the mouth— they can enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation throughout the body.
Chronic inflammation is a key factor in heart disease. When oral bacteria reach the arteries, they can contribute to the formation of arterial plaque—the fatty deposits that clog blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Studies have shown that people with gum disease have a significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular conditions, including high blood pressure and atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries).
One of the most well-documented bacterial culprits is Porphyromonas gingivalis, a pathogen found in gum disease patients. Researchers have discovered this bacterium in the arterial plaque of heart disease patients, suggesting a direct link between gum infections and cardiovascular complications.
The impact of oral plaque doesn’t stop at the heart—it also affects the brain. Recent studies indicate that poor oral hygiene may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Like its role in heart disease, oral bacteria can enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain, triggering inflammation and potentially contributing to the formation of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists have found P. gingivalis in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, further strengthening the connection between oral bacteria and cognitive decline. Inflammation caused by gum disease may accelerate brain cell damage, leading to memory loss and other cognitive impairments. Additionally, poor oral health has been linked to an increased risk of strokes, which can further contribute to dementia and other neurological issues.
Protecting your mouth, heart, and brain
By taking care of your teeth and gums, you’re also protecting your heart and brain. Your oral health is a vital part of your overall well-being— don’t overlook it! Dr. Hood and her team at Roswell Dental Care help you understand your health status and risks and customize your treatment. We assure you will feel confident in the solution you choose before beginning any treatment. For enhanced comfort, we offer FREE nitrous oxide. You can rest assured that your experience will be positive, relaxing, and rewarding on many levels.
Give our office a call at 770.998.6736, or visit us at www. roswelldentalcare.com, to begin your journey to happy and pain-free oral healthcare!
Brought to You by - Dr. Destinee Hood, Roswell Dental Care
Make colon health your habit
Brought to you by - Wellstar
For many people, talking about colon health can be a little uncomfortable, but potential medical issues don’t just go away if you ignore them.
Being proactive about your wellbeing with preventative care can help catch colorectal cancer or another serious condition early—often before it becomes a bigger problem.
Wellstar is committed to keeping your colon healthy with preventative screenings and expert care, so you can continue to live well.
Catch colon cancer early
Early detection is the best prevention, especially when it comes to colon cancer. People at average risk should start colonoscopies at age 45. Those with a higher risk or a family history of colorectal cancer may need
to start screening sooner. Partner with your care team to create a personalized screening plan—and stick with it to stay ahead of the disease.
The death rate for colon cancer in older adults has been decreasing for the past several decades due to screenings, according to the American Cancer Society. Screenings can identify polyps before they become cancerous and can catch cancer earlier when it is more easily treatable. However, in people under 55, death rates from colon cancer have been increasing by about 1% per year since the mid2000s.
Why colonoscopies work
During a colonoscopy, a Wellstar gastroenterologist will view the inside of your colon and look for polyps or any other abnormal tissue that could be cancerous. This preventative testing is key to catching colorectal issues at
the start. Polyps take about five to 15 years to evolve into an invasive cancer, so regular colonoscopies can catch polyps before they become cancerous. The procedure itself is not painful.
Signs of colorectal cancer
Colon cancer is typically discovered when a patient has a colonoscopy, but it’s important to watch for these warning signs:
• A change in your bowel habits, such as persistent diarrhea or constipation
• Bloody stools or rectal bleeding
• Abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas and pain
• Feeling like you are unable to empty your bowels completely
• Weakness or fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss
If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your care team right away.
Colorectal cancer care at Wellstar
If you have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, count on Wellstar for comprehensive, personalized care. Our specialists will work together with you to form a tailored treatment plan and offer support every step of the way.
Wellstar offers medical expertise close to home, clinical trials and state-of-the-art surgical procedures to treat colorectal cancer. We also have a multidisciplinary gastrointestinal (GI) tumor board that diagnoses and creates treatment plans collaboratively.
Along with cancer surgeons, medical oncologists and other experts, our care team also includes nurse navigators, dietitians, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors to provide complete care and support.
Visit wellstar.org/gastro to learn more about gastroenterology care.
At Wellstar, you’ll find a multidisciplinary team of cancer care experts built around your needs and dedicated to comprehensive, personalized treatment.
We are a leader in cancer care, embracing innovation to improve patient outcomes. Our surgeons perform a variety of minimally invasive procedures—providing patients with smoother recoveries and less pain. We also support patients during their cancer journeys with STAT Clinics, which bring cancer care clinicians together and put people at the center of their treatment. With this multidisciplinary approach, patients start care sooner, optimizing treatment and outcomes. wellstar.org/northfultoncancercare
Let’s talk about social media & screen time
Brought to you by -
Alyssa Kiss, M.A., Summit Counseling Center
Parents raising a teen in today’s world of technology can often experience confusion, stress, and judgement from others for their decisions surrounding social media use and screen time. There are mixed messages, a lack of sufficient research, and little support out there to help parents navigate these tough decisions. As a therapist who primarily works with adolescents, teens, and young adults, I am surrounded by the issue of social media and phone addiction. Often, I work with parents who say the same thing – “I don’t want them to be on their phones so much, but I also don’t want them to be isolated from their friends.”
There is no doubt that screen time and social media are impacting us all, especially kids and adolescents. This age group is inundated with screen time which is causing issues with attention and the brain’s reward system. The research we currently have clearly shows that excessive screen time can impact social-emotional development, language development, and executive functioning. These can deeply impact adolescents who are already struggling with increased academic pressure and developing peer relationships. So, what can we do about it? I have often found myself after a day of sessions with adolescents just wishing that I could wake up and social media would have vanished. I see the impact it has on these students while also knowing it is unrealistic to believe that it can be completely cut out of anyone’s life. Here are a few tips about navigating this difficult topic.
1. Have an open discussion. Help educate your child on the impact of social media and screen time. Oftentimes kids don’t understand or fully realize why their parents are limiting their screen time. Take some time to openly talk to your child about the ways that social media and screen time impact them without using judgements.
2. Educate yourself on the issue. This is a very complex issue with lots of different things to consider. Take some time to read up on the research and tips from leaders in the field. Here are a few recommendations:
a. Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive
(and survive) in Their Digital World by Dr. Devorah Heitner
b. The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen
3. Model the relationship with your phone that you want your child to have.
Kids are constantly watching their parents to learn about the world around them. This is no different when it comes to screen time and social media use. By modeling the relationship with technology that you would like your child to have, it can help your kids learn how to navigate their use of technology.
4. Implement screen time limits that your child is actively involved in. Use collaboration with your child to set screen time limits that they can understand and feel a part of. Giving a teen or adolescent a level of autonomy in their own screen time typically helps them adhere to the rules set. This varies given the child’s age and is best suited for middle and high school students.
5. Give yourself grace and be flexible. We are in unprecedented times as we all learn to navigate the way technology has so prevalently impacted our lives. Remember to be kind to yourself and maintain a flexible mindset. As we learn new things in this area, give yourself space to adjust your stance or approach.
KISS
Time for spring cleaning?
Brought to
by – Dr. Bradley Hepler, Atlanta Center for Dental Health
I don’t know about you, but I am ready for Spring. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up. I want to walk and run and spend more time outside. I can’t wait to see everything start blooming and everything get greener. Spring is coming! It’s time to get ready. It’s time to get in shape! It’s time for Spring Cleaning! Do you need a Spring dental cleaning or maybe a Smile Tune-up?
This year, let’s eat healthy, exercise, and address our health proactively and preventively. This includes a visit to the dentist to address those problems that you know are getting worse and to prevent future problems.
• Restoring Your Smile – Repairing your teeth allows you to keep your teeth for a lifetime and look and feel your best.
• Cosmetic Dentistry – It’s more than just Whiter Teeth. Uneven and chipped teeth can be reshaped painlessly. You can make your smile
healthy and vibrant again and create the smile of your dreams.
• Dental Implants – Replacing missing teeth allows you to eat your favorite healthy foods again, smile without fear, and provides support to
your face to avoid looking older.
• Invisalign – The metal-free way to straighten your teeth, improve your bite, and have an attractive smile that everyone notices.
• Preventive Tooth Cleaning –
Routine cleanings prevent problems and keep your teeth healthy, white, and attractive.
• Don’t Forget that these things can be accomplished comfortably while you rest… with Sedation Dentistry!
“Preventive Dentistry can add 10 years to human life.”
-Dr. Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic
A healthy mouth is part of a healthy body. Our wish for you is that you look and feel your best!
Dr. Bradley Hepler and the experienced team at the Atlanta Center for Dental Health provide the most modern advances in complete dentistry. Experience immediate results with procedures to greatly enhance your smile and your health. If you would like a complimentary consultation to discover which of these options is best for you, please call us at 770-992-2236. Dr. Hepler is highly trained to provide you with the latest and best techniques to allow you to achieve your cosmetic and restorative goals.
Delivers to 28,000 households every Thursday Zip Codes: 30005, 30009, 30022, 30075, 30076. Alpharetta & Roswell’s primary news source. Alpharetta and Roswell’s paper of record. Est. 1983
Delivers to 17,000 households every Thursday. Zip Codes: 30040, 30041. Forsyth County’s largest circulation newspaper. Est. 1998
Delivers to 10,000 households every Thursday Zip Code: 30004. Community news for and about the City of Milton. Est. 2006. Milton’s paper of record. Delivers to 20,000 households every Thursday Zip Codes: 30022, 30097. Johns Creek’s primary news source. Est. 1997. Johns Creek’s paper of record.
Delivers to 18,000 households every Thursday
Zip Codes: 30338, 30350, 30360, 30346, 30319. Community news for and about the City of Dunwoody and surrounding areas. City of Dunwoody paper of record. Est. 1976.
Delivers to 12,000 households every Thursday Zip Codes: 30327, 30328, 30342, 30350
PRESERVING THE PAST
Aubrey Morris, beloved broadcaster and historian
Few readers will be unaware of the legendary Aubrey Morris. Local folks either read his articles in the Atlanta Journal or heard his gravelly voice on WSB Radio. But Aubrey Morris achieved and retained throughout his career the status of beloved and friend to all. One might consider Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow and Barbara Walters as some of the greatest journalists and broadcasters. Morris played in that league, yet he was a humble and considerate man.
Aubrey Richard Morris (1922-2010) was born and raised in Roswell.
“Since Roswell did not have a high school, he took a school bus every day to Milton High School in Alpharetta graduating in 1940,” says local historian Connie Mashburn.
While in high school, he worked for the Atlanta Journal as a community reporter for Roswell. Reportedly, his first article was “What is the best pet, a cat or dog?”
Morris was trying to figure out what he wanted to do after graduating from high school. A friend, local farmer Earl Mansell, knew that about Aubrey and invited him to attend a meeting of the Agricultural Extension Service at the University of Georgia in Athens. Morris attended and according to Earl Mansell’s son Barry, “Aubrey decided
then and there to major in journalism at UGA” where he held leadership positions in numerous campus organizations and programs.
On the day of his graduation in 1945 Morris joined the Atlanta Journal, where he spent 13 years as a police reporter covering city hall and many major stories including desegregation, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1946 Winecoff Hotel Fire.
In 1957, WSB Radio program director Elmo Ellis hired Morris away from the Atlanta Journal and made him Atlanta’s first radio newsman. He worked as a news and editorial director at WSB for 30 years before retiring from his remarkable career in 1987.
Tom Brokaw was a news anchor at WSB-TV in 1966 before he joined NBC. He was 25 years old. He and Aubrey became good friends. Brokaw published a lovely remembrance of Aubrey when he died titled “Thank God for newsman Aubrey Morris.”
Carl Jackson, retired educator and board member of the Milton Historical Society, was an intern at WSB Radio in 1974 while he was a high school senior. On his first day when he was “scared to death,” he met Morris “who
took one look at me and told me to clear the news wire machines and sort the stories and updates. I knew then I was part of something special, and Aubrey Morris made me feel at home. I will never forget the day I met a legend.”
In 1949, Aubrey married Tera Travlis Griffin (1927-2021), a student at the Grady Hospital School of Nursing where she was president of the Student Council and treasurer of the senior class. They met when Aubrey was covering a beauty pageant for student nurses, which Tera won. Aubrey and Tera had three daughters, Rebecca Fricton and Susan Moe, who live in Alpharetta, and Rhoda Owens who lives in Cumming.
Aubrey and Tera attended St Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Milton where they renewed their friendship with Barry and Suzanne Mansell. Barry recalls that Aubrey did carpentry work at the church and that he knew landscaping, trees, plants and how to fix things since he grew up on a farm. “He was proud of his country heritage,” says Barry.
See MEYERS, Page 20
BOB MEYERS Columnist
PHOTO DIGITAL LIBRARY OF GEORGIA
At right, Aubrey Morris operates a control console in a WSB control room while two students observe.
Connect-It
Each line in the puzzle below 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, 6 and 4 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with 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!
BY ANY OTHER NAME
1. It’s a sheep. Down in the dumps. Gumbo vegetable.
2. Kitten’s plaything. It’s an Asian deer. Precious gem.
3. Gambler’s wish. It’s a venomous snake. Kick out.
4. Verdant. It’s a horse, of course. Tidings.
5. Kind of nerve. Sidekick in Juarez. It’s an alpaca or llama offspring
6. Like a maple leaf. It’s a fly or gnat. Small whirlpool.
7. Garden structure. Vow. It’s a marine food related to cod
By Any Other Name
1 It’s a sheep. Down in the dumps. Gumbo vegetable.
2. Kitten’s plaything. It’s an Asian deer. Precious gem
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!
3. Gambler’s wish. It’s a venomous snake. Kick out.
4. Verdant. It’s a horse, of course. Tidings
5. Kind of nerve. Sidekick in Juarez. It’s an alpaca or llama offspring.
6. Like a maple leaf. It’s a fly or gnat. Small whirlpool. 7. Garden structure. Vow. It’s a marine food fish related to cod.
to
the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and
must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
OPINION
A life-changer from a Sunday phone call
“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 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.
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 less-than-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 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.
Friends of Dunwoody Library gears up for book sale
The Friends of Dunwoody Library offers several sales a year. The most recent featured books for children and young adults, but now it’s time for the adults.
I enjoy popping in on the sale weekends and saying hello to the volunteers, though there’s also an ongoing sale in the lobby of the Dunwoody Library during regular library hours. Since I live in Fulton County and belong to E. Roswell Library, I rarely pop into the Dunwoody Library except to donate books. Donations are always welcome except right before and during the sales. When you purchase books at the sale, your dollars support a myriad of programs at the Dunwoody Library for children and adults. Children’s programs include Make & Take craft kits, Kids Yoga, Teen Hangouts and Lego Club. Crafts and educational presentations are available for adults. It takes a village to bring all this to the Dunwoody community. The FODL
Friends of Dunwoody Library Sale
Location: Dunwoody Library, 5339
Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Schedule:
• March 13 — Members only, 1-4 p.m.
• March 13 — Open to all 4- 8 p.m.
• March 14, 15 — Open to all 10 a.m.– 5 p.m.
• March 17— Bag day Bargain! $7 per bag 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
book committee sorts donated books into topics to make it easy for shoppers to find their favorites. Just before the sale, they alphabetize the books by author. I greatly appreciate this arrangement and have discovered to my dismay that not all library sales do this. The FODL group has spoiled me. I asked the FODL to suggest a volunteer to spotlight in this column, and they put me in touch with Sarah Mycek, who manages the children’s books. As you can imagine, she’s busiest
when one of those sales is upcoming, but her work with children’s books is never ending.
Two days a week, she sorts the incoming children’s book donations. For the two carts of children’s books that are part of the ongoing lobby sale, she created a colored dot system so she can easily rotate the books and keep the selection fresh.
Coming up with several Special Monthly Topics is another task that falls to Sarah. She tries to connect them to a popular pre-K theme or a subject studied in elementary school. Two of her favorites were Community Workers and Dinowoody — books about dinosaurs, of course.
My take is that Sarah is never at a loss for ideas. Implementing newer labels for the children’s sale is one she especially enjoyed. The labels include words and an image so younger children can find books independently.
Sarah has volunteered with the Dunwoody Friends for three years, and I was fascinated to learn that she began her volunteer career in 2010 at her hometown library in Needham, Mass. There, she helped her mother to sort children’s books and set up and work the sales.
Would you believe that she plans her trips back to Massachusetts based on the timing of the Needham Library book sales so that she can work those, too? Currently, she is on the board for both the Dunwoody and Needham Friends organizations.
“I love seeing kids get excited when they have a good book in their hand, especially one that I enjoyed as a kid,” she says. “And I love helping to get books into the hands of teachers for their classroom libraries.”
Her enthusiasm almost makes me want to donate my remaining childhood books to the FODL, but I’m not quite ready. My Dr. Seuss books and all the others will have to stay on my bookshelves for a bit longer. And come March 13, I’m sure to be adding more books to my adult collection.
Happy reading!
Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her Dickens & Christie cozy mysteries on Amazon or locally at The Enchanted Forest. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail. com and visit her website www.facebook. com/KathyManosPennAuthor/.
MIKE TASOS Columnist
THE INK PENN
KATHY MANOS PENN Columnist
Share the love with passalong plants
Passalong plants are those we acquire when another gardener shares a seed, a cutting or a plant. Sharing or passing along plants and seeds is one of the oldest traditions in gardening. My garden is special to me because of the contributions from friends and fellow gardeners, which includes many plants that are often not available in our large retail nurseries. My inspiration and wisdom come from generous people who share their plants: daylilies, mountain mint, salvia, bee balm and flowering almond.
Passalong plants are typically durable and easy to propagate, and they often come with experienced advice on how to continue their success. The added bonus is that when from friends and neighbors, they are free! The nature of passalong plants being easy to propagate makes it necessary for us to let our recipients know how the plants spread. Some plants will pass themselves along!
Timing
Passalong plants are easy to propagate by cuttings, division and seeds, and they can be propagated in fall or spring.
A good rule of thumb is to divide your perennials in the season opposite of when they bloom. For example, I divide my spring bloomers (Stokes aster, phlox, and bee balm) in the fall.
Cuttings
A cutting is a term for using a stem, leaf or root to reproduce a plant. Both herbaceous and woody plants can be propagated from cuttings.
During
I find stem cuttings the easiest to propagate. I choose a stem 3-5 inches long and remove all but three or four leaves. Plants can be rooted in water or soil. In soil, dipping the tip of the stem in rooting hormone can enhance propagation.
Division
Many perennials and bulbs eventually become overcrowded and thrive when divided. Mature plants can be separated by digging up a clump, pulling apart the smaller plants or by using a sharp spade or knife to cut the clump or tuber into smaller pieces. This is true of plants such as Stoke’s aster, bluestem grass, and irises.
On some plants, you will find babies around the base that can be replanted. I find this to be true for
Locally Owned and Operated
About the author
This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Julie Dangel, a lifelong researcher and educator and a North Fulton Master Gardener since 2015. She is a native Georgian and a resident of Sandy Springs for 40 years. As a member of the North Fulton Master Gardeners, she has served on the board and divides her time volunteering between the Teaching Museum/ Greenhouse and Lost Corner Preserve.
herbs and succulents as well.
Seeds
You can also save seeds as your plant matures or just let them ripen on the plant. These seeds will regerminate in the soil with favorable conditions.
My favorites, including cleome, four o’clocks and milkweed, are easy to propagate by seeds.
To grow your plants from seeds, plant them outside or fill a seed tray with moist soil. Plant your seeds with just enough soil to cover them (you want good seed to soil contact) and keep the soil moist but not too wet. Provide light to ensure that the seeds get the energy needed to grow.
Please see the list of resources for details on propagating your plants. If you are looking to purchase passalong plants, the North Fulton Master Gardeners will offer their favorite plants during the 2025 Garden Faire Plant Sale. Plan to attend Saturday, April 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Grove at Wills Park in Alpharetta. Master Gardeners will be available to provide gardening advice for your plants.
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 NFMG’s 2025 signature events: Garden Faire on April 12th and Garden Tour on June 7th. Learn more at www.nfmg.net.
Meyers:
Continued from Page 17
Aubry and Tera lived in a house built in 1895 by Aubrey’s grandfather Richard Perkins located in Roswell where Greenlawn Cemetery is today. The house is known as the Perkins House.
In 1976, Aubrey purchased some land from his sister Neal Moss’s husband Adel, a chicken farmer who owned approximately 20 acres on Francis Road in Milton. Aubrey bought the Perkins House and moved it to Francis Road because he wanted to retire in the country in the house where his mother had lived. He gave some of the property to his daughter Rebecca so she could build a house. Daughter Susan lives in the original Perkins House. Rhoda lives in Cumming.
The Perkins House had been vacant for several years when Aubrey acquired it in 1985. The kitchen, dining room and living room have heart pine walls and ceilings. The mantels, lighting fixtures and other valuables had been removed, so “Mom and Daddy lovingly restored the house. Daddy refinished all the doors. One replacement door had a hole in it, supposedly a bullet hole from the Civil War,” Susan says.
Rhoda says “family was the top priority” for her parents. She described “My Daddy” as pugnacious when she spoke at the 2017 posthumous induction of Aubrey into the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame.
Rhoda notes that Aubrey enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He burst an eardrum during training, became permanently deaf in one ear and was disqualified from further service.
According to Rebecca, her father was a perfect “girl-dad.” He wrote weekly letters to his daughters when they entered college. “He was in love with the dictionary,” says Rebecca, “and he wanted us to write the right way.”
Carl Jackson put it best: “Aubrey Morris was a common man who did uncommon things.”
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.
JULIE DANGEL Guest Columnist
JULIE DANGEL/ NORTH FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS TEACHING MUSEUM A stem cutting is ready for planting.
Film:
Continued from Page 7
the Portuguese language was no hurdle to understanding and enjoying the film’s characters, familial themes and lifeaffirming message.
The 103-minute narrative feature blends a young woman’s exploration of her identity and familial history with comedic missteps and chance revelations during an adventure to Israel.
Audiences meet the main character of the film, Jessica, a disillusioned antique shop employee who finds a locket that
Water:
Continued from Page 1
Sandy Springs purchases water from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, which it has done since before it incorporated in 2005.
Atlanta delivers services to Sandy Springs from its Hemphill Water Treatment Plan off 17th Street. The rest of North Fulton draws its water from the Tom Lowe Atlanta-Fulton County Water Treatment Plant in Johns Creek.
The North Fulton water distribution system serves around 285,000 with more than 1,200 miles of pipe.
Anna Skipper, a staff engineer in the county’s Public Works Department, said the average demand on the North Fulton water system last year was around 27 million gallons a day with a peak around 47. She also said the county stores more than its anticipated annual usage at the treatment plan and throughout the distribution system.
“Everything starts with population projections and looking at estimated development demands in coordination with the cities,” Skipper said. “We then develop level of service requirements … then we do a series of evaluations of capacity, our ability to maintain pressure, water loss, storage and interconnections.”
Most of the projected population growth is centered around major highways, including Holcomb Bridge Road (Ga. 140), Medlock Bridge Road (Ga. 141) and Ga. 400.
By 2050, the county is projecting peak demand could grow 34 percent to around 63 million gallons a day.
Skipper said her team uses the maximum water demand for a specific area of the system to determine when a capital project needs to be completed.
“If we look at how we’re doing today … we’re meeting minimum or better level of service requirements for the vast majority of our system,” she said. “We do have pockets of red here and there, where we’re not meeting it … on the whole, we’re doing pretty well today.”
There are a few areas where the county fails to meet its standard, typically during
leads her to seek out her grandparents living in Tel Aviv.
The film is drama, thriller and comedy all set in the backdrop of Israel. The country is almost a character in the story as Jessica and her companions search from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for her grandmother.
The Closing Night celebration was in the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center’s Byers Theatre, featuring a postfilm Q&A panel with the Brazilian cast and crew, including director Chris D’Amato, producer Júlio Uchoa and three main actors from the film.
Rodrigo Simas, who plays Jessica’s sidekick as she tracks down her
summer months and droughts. The county indicated that White Columns County Club and the surrounding neighborhood in Milton has its highest concentration of low water pressure in the North Fulton system.
Skipper said if the county opts not to do any capital improvements, its tanks will not be able to accommodate demand requirements and would drain to zero with maximum conditions.
Projects in the Capital Improvement Program are spread out over five phases, including 46 projects to complete the transmission main, smaller distribution pipes and storage capacity.
There are also major goals. One is to complete the transmission main, which serves as the treatment facility’s main artery for water transport, to more efficiently serve the northwest portion of the system. That area includes most of Milton and the western parts of Roswell and Alpharetta.
The transmission line zig-zags northwest from the Johns Creek treatment facility off Old Alabama Road across Ga. 400 to downtown Alpharetta and Ga. 9.
“We’ve installed previous sections of this transmission piecemeal,” Skipper said. “We’ve tried to be in coordination with transportation projects, but new projects, we’re going to do them standalone without coordination with transportation as necessary.”
grandparents, said his character Gabriel receives the help and companionship he needed as his character assists Jessica track down her family.
“It’s a pleasure to be here in Atlanta, this is the first time out of Brazil with the movie and it’s a great honor to make a Brazilian movie in Israel,” Simas said. “Watching and learning … with our elder characters, not just in the movie but life too, makes us look forward to life and appreciate it.”
Thati Lopez, speaking Portuguese to the audience, said she grew into her character and said Jessica’s transformation throughout the film attracted her to the role.
She said it’s the best way county engineers could ensure they meet the phased deadlines. For example, if a project is in the 2030 phase, it needs to be completed before Jan. 1, 2031.
Another goal, which county staff considers “low hanging fruit,” is to connect distribution lines where a larger pipe crosses or abuts a smaller one. Staff said the first phase of the projects was completed last year with more scheduled for the second phase, wrapping up in 2030.
The final major goal is to get storage and capacity levels to where they need to be by 2050 with six projects planned over the next 25 years.
Additional tanks are needed to supply the Johns Creek Town Center with plans for a $560 million mixed-use development, Medley, to surround City Hall and Creekside Park.
Skipper said storage will also be increased at other existing sites.
The county also identified projects related to pump stations, which can move
The atmosphere of the Byers Theatre did not change after the credits rolled. The audience, actors and crew laughed through the difficulties of translating in real-time.
Guests leaving the theater overwhelmingly said they loved the film with men and women in the audience split with affection for the leading couple.
An all-access streaming pass is available March 7-16 to Georgians who want to follow along from home with 21 feature films and 14 short films from the festival. Some are only available for exclusive in-theater presentation.
To learn more and stream, visit https://ajff.org.
water and ensure consistent flow. It recommends a booster pump for Alpharetta’s storage tank, in-line stations to address low pressure areas and a connection to Gwinnett County’s system for emergencies.
Skipper said Gwinnett can already receive water from Fulton in an emergency, but the county can’t send it back without the connection.
The Board of Commissioners approved the plan without amendments. North Fulton commissioners Bob Ellis, Bridget Thorne and Dana Barrett made no comments on the measure.
In other matters at the meeting, County Manager Dick Anderson, a Roswell resident, received recognition for his 10 years of service in the position, the longest in Fulton history.
“From dealing with public utilities, it’s really always three things … consistent investment … operational excellence [and] customer service,” Anderson said. “If one of those gets out of whack, the rate payer — customer — is not very happy.”
Notice of Intent has registered REGENERX MEDICAL SOLUTIONS, CORPORATION, and has been delivered to the County Clerk of the Superior & Magistrate Courts for filing in accordance with Georgia DBA registering law. The initial registered office of the corporation will be located at 10477 Holliwell Court, Johns Creek, GA 30097, and it is initial registered agent at such address is Gabrielle Gaydos.
CITY OF JOHNS CREEK PLANNING COMMISSION, PUBLIC HEARING:
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025, AT 7:00 P.M.
CITY OF JOHNS CREEK MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL, PUBLIC HEARING: MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2025, AT 7 :00 P.M.
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 11360 LAKEFIELD DRIVE, JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA 30097
The following Land Use Petition is scheduled for public hearings:
LAND USE PETITION:
RZ-24-0010
PETITIONER: Toll Bros. Inc.
LOCATION: 10505, 10555 and 10655 Embry Farm Road
CURRENT ZONING: AG-1 (Agricultural District)
PROPOSED ZONING: CUP (Community Unit Plan District)
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT:
Single-family detached residential subdivision with 200 lots at a density of 0.98 units per acre
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Software Engineer Consultant (Alpharetta, GA): Demonstrate subject matter expertise (SME) to dvlp cmplx code using both front and/or back end prgmng langs within mltpl pltfrms as needed in collaboration w/ biz & tech teams for internal & external client s/w solutions. Dsgn, create, deliver, & advise others on cmplx prgm specs for code dvlpmt & spprt on mltpl projects/issues w/ a wide understanding of the app / d/b to better align interactions & techs. Resumes to: Total System Services, LLC, Brian Simons, Associate Director, HR Risk and Compliance, one TSYS Way, Columbus, GA 31901. #SK930614
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