Sandy Springs Crier - January 5, 2023

Webb family dairy farm was Sandy Springs staple

Vet knows best

Cold weather wreaks havoc on water lines, local roadways

By DELANEY TARR and ALEX POPP delaney@appenmedia.com alex@appenmedia.com

METRO ATLANTA — Georgia was hit with freezing temperatures on Christmas weekend, leaving residents scrambling to stay warm and protect their plumbing while fire departments and hardware stores were overwhelmed with high demand.

In Roswell, the Fire Department received hundreds of calls during the cold snap, nearly five times as many as usual. On Christmas day alone, the department responded to 142 calls.

Roswell Fire Public Information Officer Chad Miller said he was shocked to learn many residents didn’t know to turn off their main water line when dealing with possible frozen pipes. He also said some of people’s solutions to the freezing temperatures were even more dangerous.

Miller said a structure fire started after a resident tried to heat a frozen pipe outside over a direct flame, accidentally catching their house on fire. He cautioned people against heating frozen pipes with direct flame, and said the safer method is letting warm air circulate

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Riva Wolkow, veterinarian and owner of Village Animal Hospital in Dunwoody, stands in the hospital’s lobby Dec. 29. Wolkow opened Village Animal Hospital in April. She also owns Belle Isle Animal Hospital in Sandy Springs, which she opened in 2011.

770-442-3278

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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.

Brookhaven man arrested in hit and run

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody police reports said a 19-year-old Brookhaven man was arrested Dec. 19 after a hit and run wreck on Ashford Dunwoody Road.

PUBLIC SAFETY

SANDY SPRINGS POLICE REPORTS

Each week Appen Media requests police incident reports to inform residents about the safety of their community. Sandy Springs continues to withhold what it calls the “narrative reports” of open cases. It is the only city Appen Media covers that does this.

The sender of the texts said he was a hit man and sent a stock photo of a cowboy.

The text sender also sent photos of the resident’s social media. The resident blocked the number but reported the incident.

Four tractor trailers

stolen from parking lot

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Officers arrived at 211 Perimeter Center Parkway at about 7 a.m., responding to reports that a driver had wrecked with another vehicle in the turn lane and fled the scene.

The driver who fled the scene was later apprehended. He told police the wreck occurred because the other driver drove straight through a turn lane, and he didn’t stop because he couldn’t find a place to pull over. However, FLOCK traffic cameras showed a different version of events, reports said.

The victim reported that her vehicle was hit when the suspect crossed two lanes of traffic and collided with her. Footage corroborated the victim’s story, reports said.

The suspect was arrested for driving while unlicensed and hit and run and was transported to the DeKalb County Jail.

Unattended car burglarized at Dunwoody restaurant

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police reports said a vehicle parked at the Lazy Dog Restaurant in Dunwoody was burglarized and nearly stolen by unidentified thieves.

Police responded to the restaurant at 4532 Ashford Dunwoody Road

Without that information, The Crier is unable to report fully on crime in the city. The city’s position is in conflict with guidance from the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Department of Law, Georgia Press Association and other organizations.

The Crier continues to pursue avenues to make this information available to the public and to the taxpayers who fund their police department.

Dec. 19 at about 1 a.m. after a victim reported the rear window of her car had been shattered. Officers learned thieves entered the car through the rear driver’s side window.

Nothing had been stolen from the vehicle, but reports said the steering column had been heavily damaged by attempts to steal the vehicle. The vehicle had been rendered undrivable by the damage, reports said.

Officers dusted the vehicle’s windows for fingerprints but found nothing, the report said.

No security cameras were located in the area, and no suspects were identified at the time of the report.

Resident receives texts from supposed hit-man

ROSWELL, Ga. —A Roswell resident received texts to his phone Dec. 23 threatening to kill him if he did not pay the $1,000.

ROSWELL, Ga.— Four tractor trailers parked at the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store on Holcomb Bridge Road were reported missing on Dec. 29.

The truck driver said his lead truck was loaded with three other tractor trailers, all set to be delivered to New York. He said he often parks trucks in the lot without any issues.

Officers found signs advertising a towing service, but the phone number was disconnected. The company that owns the trucks was notified and will ping the locations of the trucks, so the Roswell police listed the trucks as stolen and left the scene.

Bowler, employee clash over lane-change request

ROSWELL, Ga.—Police responded to an assault call at Bowlero Roswell at Old Roswell Road on Dec. 26 after a customer reported an employee threatened to beat him up.

The customer said he had asked the employee to change lanes, but the employee denied the request. The customer then switched to a lane with another friend group and said the employee shut off the lane.

The employee said the customer raised his voice at him and the employee felt threatened. The employee told the customer that if he didn’t stop yelling, he would beat him up.

Police investigated and found the customer instigated the conflict. No arrest was made.

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HANS

Senators pitch more help for disabled Georgians

By JILL NOLIN Georgia Recorder

ATLANTA — A bipartisan Senate panel has proposed funding services for an additional 2,400 people with disabilities next year, putting the state on track to eliminate Georgia’s waitlist in three years.

And those state senators are also pushing for a wage increase for the workforce providing direct care for people with disabilities so they can live in their homes and communities.

The Senate study committee has proposed funding the jump in new waiver slots and the wage increase in the new state budget that would take effect next summer. The shortage of direct-support professionals has hamstrung recent efforts to serve more of the 7,000 people waiting for Medicaid services.

Increasing funding to provide services for 2,400 more people would cost about $66 million, according to one estimate. That would be a significant increase, and it would follow a year where lawmakers covered an additional 513 people.

“It’s critically needed,” said D’Arcy Robb, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities who also served on the study committee.

“As a state, we have under invested in this population for a long time. I think we’ve heard very clearly in the testimonies: people are breaking. And these are Georgians, these are folks with disabilities who can live lives and thrive and contribute. These are families.”

The committee drew a crowd at the series of meetings held across the state this year, with the attendees in Tifton spilling into an overflow room. More than 100 people also submitted written testimony.

In the longer term, the study committee has proposed creating a commission like the one established in 2019 to overhaul the state’s behavioral health system and that was the driving force behind last session’s parity bill.

Sen. Sally Harrell, an Atlanta Democrat who pushed for the examination of the

waitlist, and her Republican co-chair Sen. John Albers share the vision of creating a reform-minded commission this coming legislative session that will take a comprehensive look at Georgia’s system for caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and identify solutions. The new session starts next month.

“This is the beginning. This is the kickoff of a process of solving these issues, which are deep and complex,” Harrell said.

Kevin Tanner, who started and led the behavioral health reform commission, became the commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities on Friday.

‘A

crisis in the care economy’

The state agency responsible for Georgia’s safety net system for people with disabilities is in the middle of reviewing the pay of direct-support professionals.

But the lawmakers behind the Dec. 14 committee report said they are frustrated by preliminary findings that would justify raising the hourly rate in Georgia to about $15, up from about $10.

“I personally was disappointed in the amount they came up with which was like $15.18 an hour,” Harrell said.

“We certainly heard testimony that there were organizations that had done enough fundraising and had gone up to that and it didn’t make a difference.”

The rate study is being conducted at a time of steep inflation, which is compounding a long-standing workforce problem nationally. Even before inflation strained the pocketbooks of direct-support professionals, provider groups in Georgia were warning the workforce shortage had already reached crisis levels.

“I’m disappointed too,” Albers said. “But you know what, there’s too much other good things happening – this is advancing the ball – to walk away disappointed over one out of all the other issues.”

Albers committed to revisiting the wage issue later if inflation does not ease and if the proposed rate increase does not help

address the shortage.

The cost to the state to fund what the rate study ultimately recommends was not available Wednesday because the study is still ongoing. The state is seeking public comment on the study’s initial findings through Jan. 13.

Dom Kelly, president and CEO of a new advocacy group called New Disabled South that is focused on a 14-state region, said he had not seen the study’s results but struggled to see how a $15 hourly rate would help grow and preserve this important workforce.

“Overall, $15 an hour is not a livable wage for really anybody, especially today with inflation and even without inflation,” Kelly said Wednesday. “Fifteen dollars an hour is not a livable wage, and especially in a vital role like that where this is actually people’s lives that we’re dealing with.”

Kelly said there is an urgent need to shore up this workforce.

“There is a crisis in the care economy right now, and there aren’t enough people willing to do the work,” he said.

Robb with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities said her organization’s position is for lawmakers to raise the rate to $15 an hour at a minimum in the near term. It would still be a jump from the current rate, she said.

She said she’s encouraged by talk of forming a commission.

“I think what’s come out is that this problem is deeper and wider than was really realized before,” Robb said. “So, I think the commission is going to be really key going forward to keep these issues in the limelight and address this on an ongoing basis because ‘waivers and wages,’ to my mind, that’s the start.”

Managed care model

The panel also wants to task the new commission, if created this session, with exploring the prospect of delivering services for people with disabilities through managed care, which has prompted concerns.

If deemed a viable option, the panel recommends limiting the approach to a small number of people and only those who are newly enrolled in NOW and COMP waiver services.

Albers said after the meeting that he’s aware of the concerns that moving to the managed care model for these services might diminish the quality of care.

“The reality is we don’t know,” he said. “The fear of the unknown is a healthy fear. But we also should do our homework, we should study it and see if it could work, and if it could, how would we pilot that to make sure.”

This story comes to Appen Media through a reporting partnership with Georgia Recorder, a nonprofit newsroom that covers statewide issues.

JILL NOLIN/GEORGIA RECORDER Sen. Sally Harrell and Sen. John Albers (center) react Dec. 14 after their study committee passed recommendations for how to improve access to services for people with disabilities. Harrell, a Democrat, and Albers, a Republican, co-chaired the panel.

PALS

PERIMETER ADULT LEARNING & SERVICES

PALS is pleased to announced its Winer 2023 Program lineup. Classes will run on Mondays from January 9 –March 6 at the Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 1548 Mt Vernon Rd. Dunwoody, GA 30338. Registration is online at www.palsinline.info.

The class line up is as follows:

MONDAYS:

From 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Spies, Saboteurs and Rescuers During World War II

Dan O’Lone will present a fascinating look at double and even triple agents who played key roles in saving thousands of Allied lives during World War II. He will also continue with his unique take on those who rescued Jews during the War, including sewer cleaners, zookeepers, circus performers and German soldiers, as well as the man who stopped the trains to Auschwitz, a diplomat from a country that he had never been to.

From 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars

Tom McElhinny will continue his series on Native Americans, this time dealing with Andrew Jackson’s presidency and his Indian wars from his first battles with the Cherokee and Creek nations until the establishment of the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. The most infamous outcome of Jackson’s relentless exploits at Indian removal culminated with one of the greatest forced migrations in history-the Trail of Tears. It is a sobering reminder of a violent and dark episode in our nation’s history.

From 10:00 am - 1:45 pm

Mah Jongg

Bring your own Mah Jongg card and come play. There is no instructor for the session- just fun and self-evaluation.

From 10:00 am - 1:45 pm

Open

Bridge for Experienced Players

There is no instructor for this weekly session – just fun and self-evaluation.

From 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

A History of the Space Race

John Baumbusch will take us through the history of how we got to the Moon more than 50 years ago. He will discuss moon lore, the Cold War, Russians and the Right Stuff! Through this series, we will re-live the heady days of the Space Race from the 1950s to the 1970s.

From 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

The Economic Implications of Immigration

Shai Robkin will discuss how immigration is a misunderstood topic in America’s social discourse, with much of what we believe is based largely on myth. He will compare the experiences of immigrants from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to those of immigrants today, and how immigrants and their children compare educationally, professionally and economically with US born citizens and discuss the policy implications of what we find.

Alpharetta adopts plan to cultivate agriculture

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — After nearly a year of community meetings and planning, the Alpharetta City Council has approved a comprehensive plan to guide and encourage agricultural development in the city over the next five years.

The plan was unanimously approved at the city council’s Dec. 12 meeting, making Alpharetta the second Metro Atlanta community to adopt an agricultural plan through the Atlanta Regional Commission and Food Well Alliance.

City leaders and hundreds of residents held six meetings between March and April to generate ideas and create the plan, which includes four main priorities, supporting local growers, cultivating a sense of place,

sustainable stewardship and city initiatives and partnerships.

“The community worked hard, alongside Food Well Alliance, the ARC and city staff, to get to the point where we have an official plan in place for our agriculture program. We look forward to implementing the Plan and bringing the great ideas the community brought forth to life in our parks, streetscapes, and developments,” Director of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services Morgan Rodgers said. “We like to have fun in Alpharetta, and it’s fun to grow in ways that will benefit the community well into the future.”

The plan includes short, medium and long-term recommendations that are expected to be implemented over the next five years.

Recommendations include items like creating a Home Growers’ Cooperative,

expanding farmers market partnerships, creation of community garden space in parks, establishment of a community seed library and tool bank and supporting existing local farms.

With these initiatives, community stakeholders believe they can strengthen the relationships between local food producers, distributors and consumers, and increase access to healthy food in the local community.

“Residents made it clear over the past year that they are passionate about growing, sharing, and supporting local food,” Food Well Alliance Policy and Planning Manager Sarah Brown said. “This plan will integrate those priorities into to Alpharetta’s existing policies, programs and future development.”

Alpharetta has been awarded a $75,000 grant to kickstart the plan, Rodgers said.

Dunwoody to host 7th MLK Day of Service

DUNWOODY, Ga. —Dunwoody Parks and Recreation has partnered with the Dunwoody-Atlanta Jack and Jill for America Chapter for volunteer service projects in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The city will observe it’s seventh annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 16. The department began the “Souper Bowl of Caring” food drive on Dec. 1, which will continue until the MLK Day event. The city pledged to collect 55,000 pounds of food for the Community Assistance Center and Malachi’s Storehouse, a food pantry in Dunwoody.

Residents can volunteer for various projects, including tree and daffodil planting at Brook Run Park, blood donations through the BloodMobile at Brook Run Park, tree planting at Dunwoody Nature Center and painting and organizing at the Spruill Center for the Arts.

“We’re proud of our partnership with Jack and Jill, and we’re grateful for the volunteers who turn out every

On Jan. 16, Dunwoody will

can

year in the spirit of giving back, inspired by Dr. King,” Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said. “From helping the hungry to supporting our environment, the projects tied to this day of service really make a difference.”

Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

is a national community service organization formed by African American mothers in the 1930s focused on community service and leadership.

Residents interested in volunteering can register on the Dunwoody website.

DUNWOODY/ PROVIDED

host the seventh annual MLK Day of Service. Residents

volunteer in gardening projects, blood drives, food drives and cleanups.

Top podcasts in 2022

Cadillac Jack: My Second Act

Sept. 29 - Even the bathrooms are bigger in Texas.

Bring in the dancing hooves, it’s the 300th episode of Cadillac Jack: My Second Act.

Do you need another reason to believe how much smarter and more refined women are than men? We’ll give you one —urinal troughs. Caddy and Donna kick us off with a little potty talk and what it means when someone walks in on you. With or without the trough.

We’ve seen the future, and it’s Harry Styles. Harry is pioneering a new way of touring and we think it’ll change the game. Find out why, and why that means that us in the major metros will be the ones hitting the road.

Music is now our PRIMARY category in Apple Podcasts, so we basically spend the entire second half of the show talking tunes. Winona, setlists and, yes, more Harry Styles.

Then a bit of housekeeping. We find out what Door 14 is, where Crossfit Chris is and how to handle a lesson in Disney kindness. All that and more on Show 300.

June 9 - How to tie a knot at the end of a rope

Stretch your imagination for this fiery epi-

sode of the My Second Act podcast. Unfortunately for Cadillac Jack, it did NOT earn a triple E rating.

First we talk about The Top 10 Ways to Catch Your Spouse Cheating (and the best way to get away clean). Then on an entirely unrelated note, lets just say that Donna has a thing for badges. So much so that she’s hunting for an investigation at the Alpharetta police station- or is it City Hall? Then we move on to SNL, Kim Kardashian and the real definition of BDE.

And to fulfill our designation as a semi-music podcast we take a step back in time to November 2020, to hear about the wink and why Donna was the only one who caught it. Turns out Joanna Cotten gave the show a little more of a hint than anyone realized. Tune in and hear just exactly how she slipped in the names, and clues, for an Eric Church triple album.

The Georgia Politics Podcast

Dec.

19 – 2022 Year-in-Review

And that’s a wrap, folks! On The Georgia Politics Podcast today, the panel gets together one last time in 2022 to recount the year’s biggest story lines.

From Dobbs to midterms and Gov. Kemp and Sec. Raffesnperger, relive some of the biggest moments from 2022 and the lessons learned along the way. Is money out of control in politics? If people don’t think it is, we’re not sure when they’ll ever change their minds. The red wave didn’t happen, but was it really just a matter of bad expectations setting?

As you might imagine, there are some differing opinions on how important some of these story lines really were, or why they were important, but everyone agrees that we had plenty to talk about on The Georgia Politics Podcast and that will no doubt remain the same in 2023. Thanks everyone for another great year, and we look forward to returning to your podcast feeds in 2023 for Season 4 and our legislative preview.

Nov. 14 – Politics for Dummies – 7th Grade Civics

On The Georgia Politics Podcast today, we kick off a special series called “Politics for Dummies,” where we dive into common misconceptions or questions about how politics works in Georgia and across the country.

Craig welcomes in co-host Daelen Lowry to help kick off the series and is joined by friends of Daelen, Kenlee and Elizabeth. Together, they

present questions to Craig and Daelen about politics that they think will be useful to listeners to have answered. The goal is keep the series non-partisan, informational and useful to listeners.

Topics include the structure of Georgia’s state government, the difference between primary and general elections, how to find out if you are registered to vote and what candidates will appear on your ballot, and more generally how to become a more informed and involved citizen in our electoral process.

Like what you’re listening to? Leave us a review in the Apple Podcast store or wherever you listen to podcasts. It helps us spread the word about the show and makes it easier for other people to find it.

Cadillac Jack: My Second Act and The Georgia Politics Podcast are part of the Appen Podcast Network. Listen for free at appenmedia.com/podcasts or wherever you get your shows.

Newspaper Delivery Route Openings with Appen Media Group

We are looking for one person or couple interested in delivering weekly newspapers in South Forsyth, Alpharetta and the Johns Creek areas.

Requirements: Must have a perfect driving record and background check, reliable transportation, honest, hard-working and positive attitude.

For more information or to apply, email heidi@appenmedia.com and include a paragraph or two about who you are and any relevant background/experience. In the subject line of the email please put “Delivery Route Application.”

Podcasting was alive and well in 2022 at Appen Media. Here are some featured episodes from the past year.

Village Animal Hospital operator, staff treat pets as individuals, not numbers

DUNWOODY, Ga. — In April, Riva Wolkow took ownership of the veterinarian clinic in Dunwoody Plaza off Dunwoody Village Parkway. The old sign from when the space was corporately owned still hangs on the brick front, and another hides beneath the new Village Animal Hospital name.

The slightly wrinkled banner with large, purple bubbly letters is characteristic of the culture — down to earth and friendly — the kind of culture where humans can expect their beloved companion to be treated with compassion.

There’s a vast difference between corporate and independently owned vet practices, said Wolkow, wearing scrubs with a slicked back ponytail ready for the day ahead. Her focus is clients, patients and patient care.

SUPPORT LOCAL

“We can treat each client, each patient as individuals,” she said. “To me, I want them to be more like family as opposed to numbers.”

Wolkow splits her time between Village and Belle Isle Animal Hospital in Sandy Springs, which she opened

in 2011, to make herself present and to ensure that the culture of each practice is consistent with her values. A Dunwoody resident, Wolkow’s dream was opening a clinic in her city.

Owning a vet clinic means Wolkow can do what she thinks is best. She isn’t told how to practice medicine and what meds to use. Corporations have a bad habit of pushing products onto owners, she said.

“I’m only going to offer you what I would do for my own pet,” Wolkow said.

At its 8 a.m. opening, reception was already busy. Like a mother to her baby, a vet tech used highpitched speech to coddle a frightened pup on its way to the scale. The office manager, Linda Israel, sought feedback from Wolkow on patients before she stepped into her personal office space, which had a blue, padded dog mat on the floor, hair still clinging to it.

On Thursday, Dec. 29 Wolkow’s dogs weren’t around but they usually are, along with those of fellow veterinarian Ashlyn Roberts. Melanie

Lucero, who was absent that day, is Village’s third vet and Wolkow’s former classmate at the University of Georgia’s vet school. There’s also five vet techs on staff.

“The staff here is awesome,” Wolkow said. “Every one of us has stayed late to do an emergency surgery.”

The lobby of Village Animal Hospital is spacious with deep purple walls. The contemporary color palette is incorporated through its three, small exam rooms, which are decorated with animal portraits. Wolkow described a renovation on the horizon — to take away from the oversized lobby and create three new exam rooms, while combining two of the existing rooms for extra space.

“I like to sit on the floor,” Wolkow said. “I like to be able to talk to the owners and have the space.”

Sometimes stuck up on the table, sitting on the floor is less scary for her patients. Wolkow also has treats — anything to make animals more

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Village Animal Hospital’s banner covers an old sign from when the space was corporately owned. The vet clinic is in Dunwoody Plaza off Dunwoody Village Parkway.

comfortable.

No day looks the same at the Village Animal Hospital. That morning, Wolkow was surprised with a drop-off before her first scheduled appointment — a dog who had been vomiting the night before and had bloody diarrhea. Later in the day, she was to perform a biopsy of a mass in one dog’s mouth, “healthy” appointments in between.

“Sometimes you get a euthanasia thrown in,” Wolkow said.

A veterinarians’ days are an emotional rollercoaster. One moment, Wolkow could put a dog down for the deepest kind of sleep — something you do “for a pet” and not “to a pet” — and the next, she could be greeting a new puppy.

Every life stage is important, she said, and it’s important to be there for the clients and their pets.

RIVA WOLKOW Veternarian/Owner, Village Animal Hospital

“We don’t build a wall around our heart, you know, and especially those clients that you’ve had for years and years that you’ve seen as babies, and then they’re 16 years old,” Wolkow said. “I’ve been in long enough to kind of have that whole life stage at this point in my career.”

Growing up with animals, she decided to be a vet at 3 years old. Wolkow never wanted to do anything else.

“I grew up in a family of human doctors and had no desire to do that,” she said. “I’d tease my dad – ‘If I don’t

get into vet school, I’ll go to med school as my backup.’”

Now, she has two dogs — Gasper and Peter, who is on his way to be a guide dog. Gasper had the same training but is too terrified of stairs. Wolkow also has two snakes and two sugar gliders.

“[Animals] love unconditionally,” she said. “I would be lost without having dogs.”

As a veterinarian, a major issue Wolkow comes across is the lack of preventative care, especially with cats. Cats are underrepresented, she said. Oftentimes, the beginning stages of sickness in cats are too subtle to be detected. Cats get heartworms just like dogs do, Wolkow said, but for them, there’s no treatment — they’ll just die.

Clients should seek annual, if not bi-annual, exams, she said.

“If people would come in more often for preventative care, we’re going to catch things on bloodwork before they actually get sick,” Wolkow said.

Delivering Readers Award-Winning Newspapers

2022

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2nd – News Photograph

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1st – Orig. Editorial Photo Sports

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3rd – Food & Drink Single Ad Color

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3rd – Special Promotion/Section Stand-Alone Gloss

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Village Animal Hospital has three exam rooms, but owner Riva Wolkow plans to add more and make the existing ones larger.

Atlanta’s Real Estate trends for 2023

Brought

to you

by – Dan Griffin, Compass Realty

Atlanta has been one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. for the last several years. With its strong job market and reputation for being one of the country’s most livable cities, there’s a high demand for housing around the Atlanta metro area. This has led to a very hot real estate market and a steady rise in house prices. With migration to Atlanta expected to increase, it will continue to be a sellers’ market as there are more buyers than there are homes available.

Looking forward into 2023, The National Association of Realtors expects Atlanta to be the hottest real estate market in the new year, with house prices expected to keep going up. This means

that if you’re thinking about selling, now could be the perfect time to put your house on the market. As interest rates continue to rise, there may be fewer qualified buyers as the year goes on. For this reason, it may be a good idea to list your house early in the year for the best chance of selling at the highest price possible.

Although house prices have risen steadily, Atlanta is still considered one of the more affordable housing markets compared to other U.S. cities. If you’re looking to buy a home or investment property in 2023, you may want to do so before interest rates increase over the coming year. Atlanta home prices have doubled since 2012 and will continue to rise, so Atlanta real estate is sure to be a solid financial investment for many years to come.

GRIFFIN

Glass recycling opens at Ocee Park

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Residents have flocked to the glass recycling bin at Ocee Park, contributing to more than 20,000 pounds of collected glass since the site’s opening in early October.

This is no surprise to Johns Creek Assistant to the City Manager Olivia Ammons, who said many residents were frustrated because local waste haulers no longer accept glass curbside. Glass becomes a contaminant when it breaks inside of other materials, she said, which doesn’t make fiscal sense to haulers.

Off Buice Road, Johns Creek residents can get rid of their glass soda, beer, wine and liquor bottles, juice containers and drinking glasses. Glass can be any color, and labels can be attached. But residents should be sure to remove lids and rinse the glass before drop-off.

Items not accepted include CRT (TV) glass, light bulbs, porcelain, crystal, ceramics, candle glass, vases, Pyrex or other heat-resistant glass, windows doors or windshields, paper cardboard boxes and furniture glass.

Before October, Johns Creek resident Carole Madan, aka Momma Nature, had been taking her recyclables to other areas like Forsyth County. Ocee Park is the city’s first glass recycling site. Saving the natural world for 60 years, Madan takes three to four bags every week to Waste Management in addition to the glass she drops off once a month at Ocee.

“[Glass recycling in Johns Creek] raises the expectations that we will have access to good recycling,” Madan said. “Right now, there’s a lot of doubt with different waste management companies.”

While bin use is exclusive to Johns Creek residents, Ammons said the city may look the other way to deter others from tossing recyclable glass into the trash.

“We are always pro-saving the environment,” she said at the Nov. 28 Johns Creek City Council meeting.

Ammons wanted to make sure the city harnessed glass, a “low hanging fruit.” Glass can be recycled in perpetuity, without loss in quality or chemical structure, which makes it highly sustainable.

The Johns Creek City Council identified glass recycling as a secondary priority at its January 2021 retreat, allocating money toward the initiative in the Fiscal Year 2022

More than 20,000 pounds of glass has been collected since the

budget. Ammons brought the project to life, nailing down site logistics, with the help of Johns Creek Public Works Director Chris Haggard.

The effort is part of the city’s larger project to become a certified Green Community. Johns Creek recently received a New Leaf level certification from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Green Communities program, which takes a minimum of 25 points and is given to previously uncertified communities.

Going from zero to 175 points at the Bronze level is like “jumping over a canyon when you just learned how to walk,” Ammons said. The ARC created the Leaf level to get cities started with some momentum.

To apply for and achieve Bronze by May 2024, she said staff is primarily working on documenting existing city initiatives, like the city’s community garden, the farmer’s market and some city ordinances and policies.

The main hurdle Ammons faced implementing recycling is figuring out a way to make it easy and accessible for people.

“When you’re able to integrate it into your everyday routine into your practices, it’s a shift in mindset,” she said.

Many people are skeptical about

bin

early

are monthly and average 10,000 pounds.

recycling and where the materials go, Ammons said. The glass at Ocee Park is collected by Strategic Materials, the country’s largest glass recycler, and taken to its facility in College Park to be sorted and processed for reuse.

Ammons said she understands the apprehension because a lot of materials don’t get recycled because they aren’t recycled property or

because the infrastructure in the United States is “subpar at best” compared to Europe.

“Doing the best we can with what we have is paramount, right?” she asked. “Not only do we want people to recycle more, we want them to recycle properly because that will ensure that what you recycle is actually getting recycled and made into new material.”

CITY OF JOHNS CREEK/PROVIDED

recycling

opened in

October. Pick-ups

CAROLE MADAN/PROVIDED Johns Creek resident Carole Madan, aka Momma Nature, drops off glass recyclables. Ocee Park is the city’s first glass recycling site. Before October, Madan has been dropping glass off in other areas like Forsyth County.

BIRD WALK

What: Morgan Falls Overlook Park boasts several habitats, and thus a large variety of birds over the course of the year: mudflats (shorebirds, including Avocets in 2017), lake (winter ducks, nesting Bald Eagles), river, woodland, and field (sparrows). The walk will involve possibly wet grass, stairs, gently sloped pavement and unpaved trails. A scope and loaner binoculars will be available. The walk will begin at the overlook, past the playground. Register online.

When: Sunday, Jan. 15, 8 a.m.

Where: Morgan Fall Overlook Park & Dam, 200 Morgan Falls Road, Sandy Springs More info: sandyspringsga.gov

COMMUNITY:

BRING ONE FOR THE CHIPPER

What: Drop off your Christmas tree at the City of Milton’s main annual Christmas tree recycling event. During that time, you can drop off your tree on the Milton High School campus in the baseball field parking lot, which is closest to Freemanville Road. Casey Tree Experts is partnering with the city on this event and will chip all of the trees. When: Saturday, Jan. 7, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: Milton High School, 13025 Birmingham Hwy, Milton More info: miltonga.gov

JUST FOR FUN:

ENCHANTED WOODLAND TRAIL

What: The fairies and gnomes have been busy building whimsical houses along Chattahoochee Nature Center’s forested trails. Slow down as you search for houses made from tiny natural objects. Take notice of the beautiful and enchanting features of the winter woods. When: Up to Feb. 28, open daily

except for December 24-26 and January 1-3 Where: Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell Cost: $15 for adults More info: chattnaturecenter.org

TRIVIA NIGHT

What: Whether you’re the whiz of the group or the dunce, a trivia outing is about so much more than the questions themselves. Bring your friends and test your knowledge while you drink a pint at the King George Tavern. When: Thursday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m. Where: King George Tavern, 4511 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody More info: kinggeorgetavern.com

PARENTS NIGHT OUT

What: Enjoy a night out while your kids spend the evening doing fun science activities and experiments. Kids, ages 5-11, will journey through space and explore our planets and their moons, create an ice comet, make rockets and have a launching contest. Popcorn and drinks are included. Kids can bring dinner if they want. When: Saturday, Jan. 7, 6-9 p.m.

Where: Discover Science Center, 2500 Old Alabama Road, Suite 5, Roswell Cost: $30 More info: discoversciencecenter. com

LEARN AND LEAD: SANDY SPRINGS PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

What: Are you interested in knowing more about photography? You can learn the basic principles of correctly exposing a photograph by balancing shutter speed, aperture size and sensor sensitivity, and how each of these affect your photography by participating in the beginner session. You will also discover the modes and functions of a DSLR camera and how to use them. The instructor will attach a camera to a large display to demonstrate how a camera’s settings impact your photographs.

When: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 6-6:45 p.m. Club meeting will follow. Where: Lost Corner Preserve, 7300 Brandon Mill Rd NW, Sandy Springs More info: sandyspringsga.gov

FEATURE YOUR EVENT ONLINE AND IN PRINT!

It’s even easier now than ever to promote your event to hundreds of thousands of people, whether online, through our newsletters or in the Crier and Herald newspapers.

To promote your event, follow these easy steps: 1. Visit AppenMedia.com/Calendar; 2. Provide the details for your event including title, description, location and date; 3. Click the red button that reads “Create event” 4. That’s it! Submissions are free, though there are paid opportunities to promote your event in print and online.

APPEN MEDIA’S FIRST EVER

Shopping Spree Giveaway

Start the year off right with a chance to win a $1,000 Shopping Spree courtesy of Appen Media and the Crier Newspapers.

Each week, our newsroom will hide this shopping cart image in the newspaper. Once you find it, visit appenmedia.com/shoppingspree and enter 1) Your name

Your email 3) The page number you found the image That’s it!

The contest will run for 13 consecutive weeks, so submit an entry each week to maximize your chances of winning.

The winner will be randomly drawn, notified on Monday, April 3rd and announced in the April 13th Crier publications. HAPPY SHOPPING …and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Freeze:

and slowly defrost ice.

He said he hopes that people will take fire safety measures in the future to reduce a need for emergency fire responses, since the department is overwhelmed with seasonal calls.

Alpharetta, Roswell and other city officials took to social media Dec. 26, urging residents not to call the city’s emergency 911 center about burst pipes.

“Due to frigid and fluctuating temperatures over the weekend, water pipes have been bursting all around the city overwhelming the 911 system with calls for service,” Alpharetta officials said. “As we always strive to provide the highest level of service to our community, we encourage everyone who experiences a burst or leaking water pipe to first shut off the main water to their property and call a plumber, your landlord or property manager first and NOT to call 911.”

Local plumbers were also overwhelmed— one Sandy Springs plumber announced that “due to extreme weather conditions, we’re experiencing an unusually high volume of calls.”

The calls were largely responding

to water line breaks and leaks caused by frozen pipes. If the water inside of the running pipe freezes, the pressure can cause cracks and leaks in pipes, which can eventually lead to severe water damage.

It wasn’t just residential water lines affected by the cold.

Shoppers were evacuated from the Peachtree Dunwoody Road Home Depot store in Sandy Springs Dec. 26 after several pipes at the store’s entrance burst, spraying a deluge of water into the store and parking lot.

After customers were allowed back into the store about an hour later, an employee said the store had sold its entire stock of space heaters by Saturday, Dec. 24.

The Dunwoody Village Parkway Ace Hardware also saw an influx of customers. One employee said they “100 percent sold out of space heaters” and many customers bought ice melts for their frozen sidewalks.

Two Fulton County libraries are shut down until further notice due to water damage. The Milton Library and Ocee Library in Johns Creek experienced water damage to carpets, floors, and some shelves and books due to frozen pipes. There are emergency teams working on the libraries, but the Fulton County Library System does not have a reopening date.

Eat Local. Win Prizes.

Multiple water line breakages caused road closures in Johns Creek and Dunwoody.

On Dec. 25, part of Haynes Bridge Road in Johns Creek was closed due to a large water main break between Haynesbrook Layne and Alvin Road. The road reopened on Dec. 27 after repairs were completed.

Late into the night of Dec. 28, Dunwoody officials announced the DeKalb County Watershed Department sent out crews to fix an 8-inch water main break at 1224 Hammond Drive. After a night with little to no water pressure, repairs wrapped up early Dec. 29.

On open roads, drivers faced possible black ice, a thin coating of ice on the roads difficult to see. On Dec. 27 the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency reported black ice patches on less traveled roads.

Much of north Forsyth County was under a water boil advisory starting on Christmas Day, due to a frozen valve at a service pump station which caused a loss in water pressure for many homes north of Ga. 369.

Officials said the frozen valve was quickly found and fixed, and no break in the Forsyth County system was detected, but the boil advisory was kept in effect until Dec. 28.

Fulton County was not under a

water boil advisory, despite social media posts suggesting otherwise. The county put out multiple statements clarifying there was no advisory for the area.

At the same time, while parts of DeKalb County were under a boil water advisory, Dunwoody officials clarified the city was not.

Sawnee EMC reported Dec. 25 that its electrical system was “stressed to its fullest extent” due to power consumption and the freezing temperatures.

In Sandy Springs, the city announced some residents on Dec. 23 were likely waking up to power outages but did not say how many people were impacted. Statewide reports showed thousands of people were left without power.

Now at AppenMedia.com

A Confederate soldier depended on his Bowie knife

According to the Digital Library of Georgia, approximately 120,000 Georgians served in the Civil War. Casualties were very high. Between 11,000 and 25,000 Georgia soldiers died on the battlefield or in hospitals from disease and wounds.

BOB MEYERS Columnist bobmey@bellsouth.net

One of the soldiers who survived and went on to become a successful farmer and landowner was John Franklin Shirley (1841-1906). Here is his story based in part on a profile written by Fred Shirley (1935-2017), who was raised on a farm that encompassed today’s Windward neighborhood, located near John Shirley’s land. Many portraits of Confederate soldiers exist on the internet. Relatively few identify the subject. Thus, John is of some historical interest since he is identified in his portrait

The photo of John shows him holding a rather ferocious Bowie knife. Numerous similar poses appear on the internet, often daguerreotype or tintype images in small foldable cases. The cases used during the Civil War were made of gutta-percha, one of the first plastic materials. It was made from a mixture of resins from Malaysian trees. It was molded and often used for daguerreotype cases.

The Bowie knife was a popular fighting weapon prior to the Civil War. It was created by blacksmith James Black for James Bowie in 1830. Bowie was a celebrated knife fighter. The knives became so popular that cutlery factories in Sheffield, England, mass-produced them for export to the U.S. in the 1830s and later. Bowie was killed in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

John is holding a very long D-guard Bowie knife, notable for its hand guard shaped like a D. These knives chopped branches, split logs, sliced saplings, and even had their way with an occasional Yankee.

It was said the knife “must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet.”

Long knives were popular with Confederate soldiers in the early days of the Civil War but were cumbersome and fell out of favor. In fact, few casualties were the

It was the custom for Confederate soldiers to have their portrait taken and mounted in small frames for

keep. Here is a photo mounted in a Civil War era frame by Milton Historical Society

left side of the frame is velvet material.

result of hand-to-hand combat. These massive weapons were often made by local blacksmiths or by the soldiers themselves from old files or saw or scythe blades. In 1862, the State of Georgia purchased nearly 5,000 Bowie knives from fourteen different makers for distribution to Confederate soldiers.

I am intrigued by his uniform. Some regiments in Virginia had grey stripes, some in Mississippi were red, but there were no striped uniforms in Georgia that I am aware of. There was little uniformity among uniforms, especially in the South early in the war. Confederate soldiers sometimes wore their own clothes to battle, or took uniforms from captured or killed Union soldiers, leading to confusion on the battlefield. We will probably never know why his jacket has stripes.

John enlisted as a private in Co. 1, 3rd Regiment GA State Troops in October 1861, some six months after the war began. Mustered out in

April 1962, he then re-enlisted as a private in Co. G, 56th Regiment GA Infantry in May 1862 when it was first organized. Company G consisted of soldiers from Milton County.

John was born in South Carolina. He was married in 1865, at the end of the war, at age 24 to his second cousin Mary Catherine Shirley (18461915). They are buried in Union Hill Cemetery just over the Forsyth County line.

Fred Shirley’s profile identifies some of the battles in which John fought, including the siege of Vicksburg and the Battle of Atlanta.

During the siege of Vicksburg, John somehow became separated from his unit. Unable to go through enemy lines to return to his unit, he walked back to Georgia evading the enemy by staying off the beaten track until he reached friendly territory. When he arrived back home, he feared he would be considered a deserter and convinced his family to hide him in the Big Creek swamp.

When word arrived that Vicksburg had surrendered on July 4, 1863, John no longer felt he was a deserter because the Confederate soldiers were released if they signed certification that they would not bear arms against Union soldiers in the future.

Fred Shirley described John as “extremely ambitious as well as industrious. He had acquired over 500 acres within the first 10 years following the Civil War. Eventually, John amassed more than 1,000 acres. He built two sawmills, several homes including three tenant houses and a cotton gin. One of his houses became the headquarters of the Alpharetta Women’s Club at 112 Cumming Street.

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.

JIM FARRIS/PROVIDED

their families to

Board of Directors member Jim Farris. The

OPINION

Webb family dairy in Sandy Springs was well equipped

Clifford and Clara Sanders Webb, along with their 12 children, moved from Mayson Avenue in Atlanta to the intersection of Glenridge Road and Johnson Ferry Road in 1924. Mayson Avenue was where the Lindbergh Marta Station is today. The family traveled down Lindbergh Drive across Peachtree Road to Peachtree Battle Road, then north on Northside Drive toward Sandy Springs. The cattle the family owned followed behind. (Interview with Montez Webb Shackleford, 2008)

Their new home was on 24 acres. They called the farm C.S. Webb Dairy Farm, named for Clara Sanders Webb. They enlarged the small house that already sat on the property. Local Sandy Springs builder Arthur Mabry constructed the dairy buildings. There was a dairy barn, milk house, sleeping barn, engine room, smokehouse and boiler room. Fifteen stalls were built on either side of the dairy barn, and the barn doors were wide enough to allow milk trucks to park inside at night. (More of Sandy Springs Past Tense, 1982, Lois Coogle)

The C.S. Webb Dairy kept Aberdeen Angus and Holstein cows. As soon as each

The neighborhood of Aberdeen Forest at Glenridge Drive and Glenairy Drive gets its name from the C.S. Webb Dairy that once was on this land and the Aberdeen Angus cows they raised.

child reached the age of 10, they were expected to help with the milking. Each child had their own stool and bucket. The buckets were carried to the milk house where the milk was strained into large, sterilized cans, bottled in glass bottles with a stopper and stored in a large ice box. Ice was brought in from the Buckhead Icehouse in 100-pound blocks. Milk and other products such as buttermilk and chocolate milk were delivered by truck seven days a week to

Atlanta. The people of Sandy Springs and other neighboring communities did not need milk delivery because most families had their own cow. The Webb family wrote bills and collected at the end of each month.

The children attended Hammond Grammar School, which was located where Mount Vernon Towers is today at Mount Vernon Highway and Johnson Ferry Road meet. Daughter Montez Webb Shackleford recalled going to high school at North

Fulton High School on Delmont Drive, which is now The Atlanta International School. She rode a bus from Sandy Springs.

The family attended Sandy Springs Methodist Church. In the summer, they went to the Sandy Springs Methodist Camp Meeting, a week of outdoor church services held at the time when crops were laid by. This was when farmers waited to harvest their crops.

The Webb family only bought flour and sugar at stores. In addition to the dairy and vegetable garden, they had a fruit orchard. They raised chickens, turkeys, ducks and guineas and always had canned goods and meat stored in the smokehouse. They bought their necessities at Burdette’s Grocery in Sandy Springs, often bartering with eggs from their farm.

Glenairy Drive and Aberdeen Forest got their names from the Webb Dairy and cattle that once were on the land. When Clifford Webb’s health declined in 1938, the family sold the farm and moved to a home on Sandy Springs Circle. The old home that was part of the dairy farm burned in 1940.

Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media. She lives in Sandy Springs. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@ gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF

PROVIDED

NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHTS

Business: Regions Bank Avalon

Crossing Branch

Owners: Regions Financial Corporation

Description: Regions Bank combines advanced technology with personalized service at our modern Avalon Crossing branch in Alpharetta. Our local bankers are ready to listen to your needs and

assist with everything from basic transactions to in-depth conversations to assess your financial health.

Opened: December 2022 Address: 11790 Haynes Bridge Road Alpharetta, GA 30009 Phone: 770-543-7060 Website: www.regions.com

Business: North Main Street Market at Alpharetta

Owners: Kristina Conley & Joern Seigies

Description: The North Main Street Market at Alpharetta is a winter market running from NovemberMarch. Serving the Alpharetta &

surrounding communities by providing access to locally produced foods and artisan goods.

Opened: November 2022 Address: 735 N. Main Street, Alpharetta, Ga. 30009 Phone: (563) 723-1774

Business : Brown Bag Seafood

Owners : Donna Lee

Description: Bringing seafood to the masses - with a dash of creativity, a whole lot of love, a squeeze of lemon, and not an ounce of pretentiousness. Your food is coming in a brown bag, and we’re pretty sure there’s no better

way to enjoy it. Delicious. Friendly. Responsible.

Opened: June 2022

Address: 123 Perimeter Center W. Ashford Lane (Perimeter Center W. & Olde Perimeter) Atlanta, GA 30346

Phone: (678) 336-9522 Website: www.brownbagseafood.com

Business: Crossroads Yoga

Owner: Kim MacPherson

Description: Community-focused yoga studio with a variety of classes for all ages and stages in the heart of Milton.

Opened: August 2022

Address: 980 Birmingham Road, Milton 30004 Phone: 678-383-7646 Website: www.Crossroads.Yoga