CrossRoadsNews, August 13, 2011

Page 1

FINANCE

WELLNESS

MINISTRY

Cake Café Atlanta owner Ardra Tippett says a sweet something can make life a bit more bearable, and her Candler Road shop is ready to fill the bill. 6

During National Farmers Market Week, consumers are encouraged to support these sources of fresh, nutritious and affordable local food. 7

A renowned exhibit marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible will close out its national tour at a Rockdale County library in 2013. 9

Cure for sweet tooth, more

Copyright © 2011 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

Farmers markets on the rise

August 13, 2011

History of a classic

Volume 17, Number 15

www.crossroadsnews.com

Overgrown weeds force walkers to use Lyons Road instead Even though there were sidewalks along portions of Lyons Road and Browns Mill Road in Lithonia, members of First Afrikan Presbyterian Church could not use them on Aug. 6 when they took an ancestral walk from the Lyons Plantation to the Flat Rock Archives. The reason: Much of the sidewalk was overrun by lush weeds and grass. In some instances, the weeds were tall enough to cover some of the small children on the walk that retraced the steps of former slaves who worked the plantation and lived in Flat Rock when they were freed. All across South DeKalb, sidewalks, curbs and many public rights of way are overrun with weeds and gook that have built up along the curbs because of years of neglect.

Walkers opt to use the street over a sidewalk overrun with weeds on Lyons Road in Lithonia. Years of neglect have left many South DeKalb sidewalks covered in bushes and ugly gook.

Andrew Baker, the county’s interim director of Planning and Development, provided the county code section that requires residents to maintain the public space directly in front of their property and homes. According to Code Section 18-38(d): “Owners and tenants of property or structures abutting a street, sidewalk, lane or parking area on which the property or structure abuts shall maintain the property or structure clean and free of garbage and trash; however, county maintenance responsibility for public rights of way shall not be diminished by this section.” DeKalb Code Enforcement has not been enforcing the codes. A task force of county residents has been pressuring the Board of Commissioners to pass tougher codes.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

DeKalb uniting to fight for I-20 Rail Project At a news conference Tuesday at Maloof Auditorium in Decatur, DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, flanked by County Commissioners Larry Johnson and Sharon Barnes Sutton, urges inclusion of the I-20 Rail Project on the Atlanta Regional Roundtable’s list of projects for a 2012 referendum.

Leaders vow to defeat referendum if it’s not restored By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

A coalition of DeKalb elected officials, community leaders and residents says it will vigorously oppose the 2012 referendum for a 1-cent transportation sales tax unless the proposed I-20 Rail Project is included on the list of projects to be funded. At an Aug. 9 news conference at the Maloof Auditorium and afterward at the Loudermilk Center in downtown Atlanta, members of the coalition sent a strong message to the Atlanta Regional Roundtable’s Executive Committee. That message is that DeKalb has been investing in public transit for 30 years with its 1-cent sales tax for MARTA, and it’s time to get a return on that investment. Advocates of the proposed 5.4-mile I-20 rail line, from the Indian Creek MARTA station to Wesley Chapel Road, say it will bring jobs to the region and will relieve traffic congestion by serving people in DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton and Walton counties. DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis said inclusion of the I-20 Rail Project is critical to getting the referendum passed in the region. “We must have that rail line going to south DeKalb County,” he said. “This was the No. 1-rated line by the MARTA board and we need to make sure that this area of the county and of the region is served.” Voters in DeKalb and nine other metro Atlanta counties will decide in July 2012 whether to approve a 1-cent sales tax to pay for $6.14 billion worth of new projects of regional importance. The tax would last for 10 years and raise an estimated $7.2 billion, of which $6.1 billion will be spent on the selected projects. The remaining $1.1 billion would be spent by the counties and cities where the tax

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

“We have had studies and everything else. It’s the improvements that is needed. So far nobody has heard our cry. Either you have I-20 corridor on your list or we are going to do everything in our power to kill it.” John Evans, President DeKalb NAACP

was raised on local transportation projects of their choice. By state law, the Executive Committee, comprising mayors and county commissioners, must settle on a recommended list of projects by Aug. 15. It tried to approve the list on Aug. 11, ahead of Monday’s deadline, but failed to reach agreement. The full Regional Roundtable will vote on the final list for the referendum on Oct. 15 as mandated by law. Ellis, who sits on the Regional Round-

how much of the $6.14 billion should be set aside for roadwork versus transit. DeKalb officials were hoping for a 60-40 distribution for transit and roads, but the committee favors a higher percentage for roads. Fulton County, which also has supported MARTA with a penny sales tax for the past 30 years, also has threatened to oppose the referendum unless other counties chip in for a new regional transit system. The I-20 rail extension, estimated to cost $522 million to build, would take about six years to complete. A $700 million Clifton Corridor transit line that would connect train stations at Decatur and Lindbergh made it onto the Executive Committee’s list of priorities. The DeKalb coalition wants both projects to be on the Executive Committee’s final

table, said that getting the I-20 Rail Project on the list makes good sense. “If we are going to address traffic congestion in the Atlanta region, we have got to start with transit and we’ve got to go to those areas where people live, where the greatest concentration of people are, and we’ve got to move people to the jobs centers,” he said. “And this is what we have here.” The stakes are high and the five-member Executive Committee, which includes Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd, has been wrestling with Please see RAIL, page 5


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