FINANCE
WELLNESS
YOUTH
DeKalb Police detectives are seeking help tracking down a man who robbed a Wachovia/ Wells Fargo Bank on Redan Road. 6
The $43 million transformation of Children’s at Hughes Spalding will be revealed during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 22. 7
The culturally focused Kilombo Academic and Cultural Institute will be featured on Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters’ “Stepping Out on Faith” program. 9
Robbery suspect sought
Copyright © 2010 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Book buys lead to firings, demotions By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
New digs unveiled
August 21, 2010
Cultural relevance
Volume 16, Number 17
www.crossroadsnews.com
Foreclosures still brisk in DeKalb By Carla Parker Y. Sanders-Butler
S. Carol Thedford
Two DeKalb School principals, including “sugar-free” principal Dr. Yvonne Butler, are being fired and Assistant Superintendent Ralph Simpson and a third principal have been demoted for selling books to the school system. Interim School Superintendent Ramona Tyson took the actions Aug. 11 after an intern al investigation found that school funds were Annette Roberts Ralph SImpson used to purchase almost $100,000 in books from the employees of the district. Please see PRINCIPALS, page 6
Morris, DeKalb County Community Develop- Chris Morris ment director, said we have not hit bottom yet. “I know there is an end, but I don’t think this is it,” she said Thursday. Morris said indicators nationally point to a wave of balloon and adjustable rate mortgages that will reset at higher rates late this year and early 2011 that will push more homeowners over the brink. “We don’t know how it will play out in
DeKalb homeowners continue to lose their homes at a fast clip. On Aug. 16, the county posted its secondhighest number of foreclosed properties in a single month when 2,031 families received foreclosure notices. In March, 2,046 homes were foreclosed, the highest number in a single month since the foreclosure crisis began sweeping the county. Since January, 12,588 homes have been foreclosed in DeKalb County. But as high as those numbers are, Chris Please see FORECLOSURE, page 6
Life Changed By Flames
Decatur family out of home, rides after vehicle fire By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Around town, Alvin Dollar is known as a fighter. He fights for his community and for children and adults who are mentally disabled. On Aug. 4, a little of the fight went out of him when a fire that started in the family’s parked 2002 Ford Expedition destroyed both of their vehicles and severely damaged the home they have lived in for 32 years. Dollar, who was out of town at the time, said a neighbor might have saved his wife’s life. Deloris Dollar had gone to bed when a neighbor saw flames rising from the vehicle parked in front of their two-car garage about 10 p.m. “He banged on the door and woke her up,” Dollar said. “I am so grateful my wife was able to get out safely.” The fire burned through one garage door and climbed into the bedroom over the garage of the split-level four-bedroom, twobathroom home on Oregon Trail where Dollar and his wife have lived for 32 years in the Columbia Valley subdivision in Decatur. It also spread to his 2000 Lincoln Navigator parked next to it, melting its front end and passenger door. Dollar said his neighbors tried to douse the fire with water before the firefighters got there and contained the blaze. He shudders to think of what the outcome could have been if the vehicle had been inside the garage when the fire erupted. Since the fire, Dollar said he has discovered that Ford Expeditions have been among a number of Ford trucks and SUVs that have been prone to unexplained fires and that there had been a recall of Expeditions between 1998 to 2000 as part of a massive auto
Alvin Dollar looks over family vehicles destroyed by a fire that started in their 2002 Ford Expedition on Aug. 4. The blaze also damaged their home.
Photos by Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
and trees. Even though he bought his Expedition brand-new, Dollar said Ford never told him about the risk of fire. “They never informed us,” he said. “We didn’t know.” Dollar said the fire started after the vehicle had been parked in the driveway for several hours. Wes Sherwood, Ford Motor Co.’s safety communications manager, said Thursday that he needed the vehicle identification number to determine if Dollar’s Expedition was involved in any recall. Dollar said the Expedition caught fire after it had been “I need that detail to determine parked in the driveway for several hours. if this vehicle is involved in a recall safety recall to replace faulty switches. and to see what steps were taken to notify the A quick search online found lots of customer,” he said. stories from Expedition owners from Geor“A lot of vehicles have been recalled but gia to California and Michigan to Florida not all models.” about their vehicles erupting in flames and Sherwood said that with the vehicle destroying the vehicles, nearby cars, houses identification number, Ford can conduct
an investigation with Dollar’s insurance company. On the day the car caught fire, Dollar said there was no indication it would blow up. He said his wife had used the car that day and it worked fine. Dollar said he talked to Ford Motor Co. by telephone on Aug. 16. “They had me on the phone a long time,” he said. “They took a lot of information and said their legal department will be in touch with me within 15 days.” Because his car note was fully paid, Dollar said he had dropped comprehensive coverage. He still has a loan on the Navigator, but his insurance company has totaled it for $7,500 and he owes $11,800 on the vehicle. “We are now out of transportation and out of our home,” he said. He has coverage for a rental car for 30 days. After that, nothing. He and his wife are living in an Avondale Please see DOLLAR, page 6