After a half-century as a rabbi, Stanley Davids isn’t done working for change. Page 4
RASHI’S DAY
ROLL CAMERAS
Hundreds help Chabad of North Fulton remember its rebbetzin with a new campus. Page 6
Missing the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival? Take your taste for cinema to Athens. Page 26
ALL NEW
50-YEAR ITCH
Atlanta CATCH IT IN APRIL
#ONLYZOOATL VOL. XC NO. 9
MARCH 13, 2015 | 22 ADAR 5775
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
Mind and Other Matters
Oliver Fights Fast-Moving LaVista Bill By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
A
The innovative stroke center at Grady Memorial Hospital joins a medical program for the children of homeless veterans, an educational program for hospitalized children, cystic fibrosis research and the opening of Berman Commons in our Health & Wellness section. Pages 16-23
WHAT A PARTY
The 500 people at SOJOURN’s Purim off Ponce take the fundraising seriously by not taking themselves seriously at all. Page 14
MUSICAL MEMORY
The closing event of the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival features classical pieces from and inspired by the Holocaust era. Page 25
Calendar
INSIDE
2 Health & Wellness 16
Candle Lighting
3 Business
24
Local News
4 Arts
25
Israel
9 Obituaries
28
Opinion
10 Crossword
29
Purim
14 Marketplace
30
bill to incorporate Toco Hills into the proposed city of LaVista Hills is approaching a deadline without the support of the state representative for the heavily Jewish neighborhood. H.B. 520 must pass the House and move to the Senate by March 13, or it will be dead until 2016. The bill, introduced March 2, cleared the House Governmental Affairs Committee in two days. But state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, whose 82nd District includes Toco Hills, objected to the bill, citing its conflicting borders with a proposal to annex part of Toco Hills and other areas of DeKalb County into the city of Atlanta. “Moving this fast with the conflicting borders generates more confusion,” Oliver said. “When our process is flawed, it doesn’t add to public trust.” While the cityhood proposal must clear the House by March 13, an annexation bill does not have to meet that crossover date. Such a bill had not been introduced when the Governmental Affairs Committee acted on the LaVista Hills bill. Still, Oliver said the committee action violated rules it adopted at the start of the session to halt cityhood and annexation proposals with border disputes. “I formally objected to LaVista Hills being eligible for a vote based on the committee rules, and the chair overruled my objection,” Oliver said. “LaVista Hills has every opportunity to attempt a resolution with the Atlanta annexation proponents and refuses to do so.” ■