CrossRoadsNews, December 1, 2012

COMMUNITY

FINANCE

Trying harder in Lithonia

Ever pressing need

Shoppers and merchants alike found what they were looking for over the Black Friday weekend.

Reports indicate spending was up 12.8 percent. 3

Finding a rental car closer to home is a bit easier now that Avis Rent-A-Car has opened at the Sears Auto Center at Stonecrest. 6

One week into the 14th annual Tree of Love campaign, Commissioner Larry Johnson still has 400 children awaiting benefactors. 9

Black Friday bonanza

HOLIDAY

EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER

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December 1, 2012

Volume 18, Number 31

www.crossroadsnews.com

$49.6 million expansions for three South DeKalb high

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

structional classrooms, including computer, math and science labs, special education rooms, chorus and drama rooms, a band rooms to accommodate 300 students, and an amphitheater. It will cost $23 million to complete – $16 million for the construction, and $7 million to equip and furnish.

Officials staged a ceremonial ground breaking on Nov. 27 on the building that will face Wesley Chapel Road.

Renovation of the 500 hall, which will cost $4,2 million, will include installing new lights, re-roofing the building, and upgrading the HVAC. The ground breaking at Miller Grove

The DeKalb School System announced $49.6 million worth of expansions at Southwest DeKalb, Miller Grove, and Martin Luther King Jr. high schools this week and broke ground at two of the schools.

Southwest DeKalb High will get $27.2 million; Miller Grove $6.4 million and Martin Luther King. Jr. High School, $16 million.

Southwest DeKalb High’s portion will pay for a 83,816-square-foot Fine Arts building, and renovate the school’s 500 hall that has been awaiting work since 2004.

The new wing will house a 640-seat auditorium and a two-story block with 31 in- Please see SCHOOLS, page 12

School Board member Jay Cunningham shows Southwest DeKalb students Tyra Seals and Khemra Montague the expansion plans for their school on Nov. 27.

Family says goodbye to toddler, slain by sister Sister, 13, charged as adult in baby’s stabbing death

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Shelton Ray comforts his wife, Haneefa.

A home-going service was held on Nov. 27 for their 2-yearold daughter, Sasha, who was allegedly stabbed to death by her older sister on Nov. 19 in Decatur.

Tuesday’s dreary weather mirrored the anguish felt by Haneefa and Shelton Ray. While their youngest child, Sasha La­ Maya, 2, lay in a tiny white coffin at Kingdom Builders Covenant Church on Columbia Drive, Haneefa’s oldest daughter, Ty’Asia Jackson, 13, was locked away in a detention center awaiting a Dec. 6 court hearing in Sasha’s death.

Police and Shelton Ray say that Ty’Asia confessed to stabbing the 2-year-old seven times in the chest on Nov. 19 and hiding her body in the woods.

Police have charged her as an adult in the case.

During the Nov. 27 home-going service for the toddler, the family’s thoughts were of both children.

Ty’Asia, an eighth-grader at Cedar Grove Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews Middle School, was listed among Sasha’s sur12:56 p.m. viving siblings. A photo of her smiling and Ty’Asia Jackson, 13, an eighthHaneefa Ray, who holding Sasha in her arms was among those grader at Cedar works at a day care center, in the eight-page home-going program.

Grove Middle said she had to go to work Before the eulogy, Archbishop Walter School, is shown and asked her neighbor to Dixon said the family wanted mourners to with sister Sasha watch out for the kids. observe a moment of silence for Ty’Asia. earlier this year.

When the neighbor “Something went wrong,” he said. “Let saw Ty’Asia let a boy this not be the last time that you pray for into the townhouse, she Haneefa Ray her.” called Ray, who called her During a solo by Joy Carter, the griefdaughter to tell her to put the boy out. stricken mother began writhing in her seat.

What happened next is not known. The Family members rushed to surround and fan unsigned police report of the call says only: her with copies of the program. They ended “on 11/19/12 at approximately 1256 hours, I up leading her away from the sanctuary. responded to 3313 Waldrop Trl in reference When she had composed herself, Haneefa to a person down.”

Ray returned to take her seat next to her When Ray’s husband found the bleeding husband and Ty’Asia’s stepfather.

The Saturday before the funeral, Haneefa to say that her sister, whom she was baby- Sasha and her three other sisters – Sanai, 5; baby in the woods behind their townhouse, Ray said their world was turned upside down sitting, was missing. The teen, who was home Shanell, 4; and Sade, 3. on Nov. 19, when Ty’Asia called them at work for the Thanksgiving break, was baby-sitting DeKalb Police were called to the house at Please see FAMILY, page 2

2

CrossRoadsNews

Community

December 1, 2012

“Ty’Asia is our daughter. She is still our child. … We don’t want to see her behind bars for the rest of her life.”

Rays turn attention to teen’s defense after toddler’s funeral FAMILY,

Sasha LaMaya Ray of Decatur celebrated her second birthday on Nov. 6.

from page

1

he thought the puncture wounds were the work of a dog.

“I thought she wandered away from the house and a pit bull got her,” Shelton Ray said.

Haneefa Ray said it’s been the most difficult week of her life.

“My oldest child killed my baby,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “It’s pure hell. I have lost two kids.”

Since the incident, people have posted comments critical of Haneefa Ray on television news Web sites with stories about her daughters.

She is hurt by the comments.

“They don’t know me,” she said. “We are a loving family. I work hard to give my kids what they need and they didn’t need for anything.”

Her cousin Aisha Lundy said Haneefa Ray is a good mother.

“We want the world to know that this isn’t caused by any wrongdoing of hers,”

Lundy said. “She works every day to provide for her family. She is always there for her family. This is just tragic.”

Shelton Ray said Sasha died in his arms at the entrance to their Waldrop Hills subdivision in Aisha Lundy Decatur.

After waving down an emergency vehicle on Waldrop Road, the parents said they were kept in separate police cruisers and then taken to Children’s Healthcare at Egleston with their toddler. They were there for four hours, oblivious to the breaking TV news that their oldest daughter was responsible.

Haneefa Ray said it hasn’t sunk in yet that her baby – who expressed her love to her numerous times a day – is gone.

“Every day she said, ‘Mommy, I of you,’ ” Haneefa Ray said Sunday after picking out a flowing long white dress with silver sparkles for her baby’s home-going service. “That’s how she said love, ‘I of you, Mommy.’”

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Sasha, who celebrated her second birthday on Nov. 6, was one of five children for her mother and one of six for her father, who called her the smartest 2-year-old in the world.

“She was reading by the time she was 1,” he said. “She was speaking fluently.”

Her mother said Sasha knew her colors and that her vocabulary got really good in the last month of her life.

Because of gestational diabetes, Haneefa said Sasha was delivered by C-section a month early. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces.

Her parents discovered early that Sasha loved to climb – on everything, up and down the stairs, onto the speaker box in their living room, to the top shelf of the clothes closet.

“If it was there, she would climb it and sit on it,” her mother said.

After the Nov. 27 service, Sasha was cremated.

The Rays say Ty’Asia is a regular teenager and “a good girl.” They said she was an A-B student and a member of the Ladies With Distinction at her school.

“They just went to Spelman College on a field trip three weeks ago,” her mother said.

“She likes fashions. She likes Spanish.”

Haneefa Ray doesn’t believe Ty’Asia should be charged as an adult.

“She is just a child,” she said.

The parents say they have been forbidden to discuss the case with their daughter and have no idea what happened or why Ty’Asia would have harmed the little sister she loved and shared a room with.

Haneefa Ray said when they left to take Sasha to the hospital, they left Ty’Asia and her other sisters with a neighbor.

Later at DeKalb Police headquarters in Tucker, they found out that investigators had taken Ty’Asia from the neighbor’s house and had her in custody for four hours.

“They told us they had her in a room and that they didn’t talk to her and couldn’t do anything until we signed the paperwork to read her her rights,” Haneefa Ray said.

“Thirty minutes after we signed, they came out and said she confessed.”

She said they are baffled by what happened. “I want to get to the bottom of it,” she said. “If Ty’Asia did it, she didn’t do it alone.”

While talking with a visitor at their home on Nov. 25, Shelton Ray showed a video on his telephone taken the week before of Ty’Asia and Sasha racing each other on the street in front of their townhouse.

When the toddler got to the finish line, she shouted, “I did it.”

Since Sasha’s death, Haneefa Ray has not visited Ty’Asia at the detention center where she is being held, but the family was in court for her first appearance on Nov. 21.

After the funeral, she said they will turn their attention to defending Ty’Asia, who was 4 years old when her mother met her stepfather. He had two daughters, AJa and Starr, from a previous relationship and four girls – Sanai, Shanell, Sade and Sasha – with Haneefa.

“We are trying to get her a good lawyer,” Haneefa Ray said, adding that the public defender assigned to Ty’Asia refused to speak to them about their daughter’s case.

Lundy said that until the law says Ty’Asia is guilty, their family is supporting her 100 percent.

“We are trying to keep the family together,” Lundy said. “We are going to support them.”

Shelton Ray said that he is not claiming yet that they have lost Ty’Asia.

“Ty’Asia is our daughter,” he said. “She is still our child despite the fact that we are the victim. We don’t want to see her behind bars for the rest of her life.”

The family has established the Sasha Ray Memorial Fund to help with funeral expenses and to help hire a lawyer for Ty’Asia. Donations can be made to account no. 209 601 9209 at any Wells Fargo branch.

December 1, 2012

Community

3

CrossRoadsNews

“We had no issues. People were joking. There was no pushing or shoving. It was a good experience.”

Black Friday sales up 12.8 percent as deals lure bargain hunters

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker and Stormy Kage

Retailers opened on Thanksgiving Day and the shoppers came, many lining up on Thursday for deals that didn’t start for eight more hours. By Sunday, sales were up 12.8 percent to $59.1 billion over the $52.4 billion in sales retailers did in 2011.

At the Walmart on Memorial Drive, store manager Henry Greene said they had as many as 10 lines of people waiting for flatscreen televisions, iPads, laptops and other hot electronics.

Walmart’s first “Hot Deal” event started at 8 p.m. Thursday.

For the four shopping days, Nov. 22 to Nov. 25, the National Retail Federation said a record 226 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites, up from 212 million last year.

The federation said spending per shopper jumped 6 percent to $423. In 2011, the average shopper spent $365.34.

Ava Bartlett and cousin Veronica Rook said they had Thanksgiving dinner early so that they could go shopping. By 9:30 p.m., she and seven family members – aunt, uncle, sister and cousins – had piled into her SUV for the shopping spree. They were among a quarter of Black Friday weekend shoppers who hit the stores on Thanksgiving night.

First stop, Walmart on U.S. 78.

“We were motivated,” said Bartlett, who was visiting from Louisville, Ky. “We had to be in those stores.”

Also shopping with them was her aunt, Angela Pinkey from Stone Mountain.

Bartlett said the shopping was good.

“It’s been fun. We got everything we were looking for except one 32-inch television.”

By 4 a.m., the group headed home for a nap and was up at 6:30 a.m. Friday for Round 2. They got to the Mall at Stonecrest at 7:15

The Ebos of Conyers skipped shopping on Thanksgiving Day to spend time with family, but they ventured out for Black Friday sales at the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

a.m. Three hours later, she and Rook were perched on a planter waiting for Pinkey and the others to come out of a store.

“Shopping is a family tradition for us,” said Bartlett, who hosted the Atlanta family members in Kentucky last year.

Among them, they got a 24-inch television, Xbox games, a Kinect, and NFL games.

On Friday, they had two large bags.

“I spent $100 and $250 worth of stuff,” said Bartlett, peering into her bag. “We got some good deals.”

Just after 10 a.m., the Ebos of Conyers were pushing a shopping cart loaded with bags from Kohl’s at the Mall at Stonecrest.

They were among 86.3 million shoppers who went to stores on Black Friday.

Deena Kegler-Ebo, who was shopping with her twin daughters Adamaria and Adanne, said they skipped the Thanksgiving Day shopping to be with family but set out at 7 a.m. on Black Friday.

“The sales are pretty good,” she said. “We

bought a lot but we saved a lot.”

Kegler-Ebo said they bought mostly clothes and shoes because her daughters needed some new things.

“We are not finished yet so I don’t know how much I will spend. I will probably end up the same as last year or a little bit more.”

Greene, the Memorial Drive Walmart manager, said by 10 a.m. Friday, the store was cleaned out of all its Black Friday deals and sales were up 5 percent over last year, with one big difference.

“Seventy percent of people did their shopping on Thursday,” he said.

By midafternoon Friday, retailers said sales were up 24 percent nationally over the same time last year.

Evette Bryant of Decatur went to the Walmart on Highway 138 in Conyers so that she also would be close to the Belk store down the street.

She said she didn’t get the 40-inch Toshiba television she wanted at Walmart.

“They ran out. I am happy I got my boots from Belk, though. They were $20.”

Bryant said she didn’t like the staggered time – at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday – at Walmart. “If you found an item you wanted, it forced you to get in line and buy it right then before the time was up,” she said. “When the time passed, whatever you wanted wasn’t on sale anymore.”

At 2:20 a.m., Taneesha Thomas of Covington was in the checkout line at Kohl’s in Conyers that opened at midnight Thursday.

She said she loves the hunt for bargains.

“This is what Black Friday is all about. It’s fun. I bought a travel bag from Kohl’s that was normally $99.99, but I got it for $19.99.

I just came from Walmart and spent $80.

I’m waiting until 5 a.m. when J.C. Penney opens.”

Stephanie Robinson, who also was shopping in Conyers at 3 a.m., said she started her hunt for bargains at 8 p.m. Thursday. “I think this year there are better deals on electronics.

I bought a $179 laptop at Walmart.”

After waiting more than an hour to check out at Old Navy in Conyers, Deatrice Willis of Covington, who was shopping with her grandsons, was a little frustrated.

“It’s been chaotic,” she said in the wee hours Friday. “I think this Black Friday shopping is more for the younger generation.”

Taniqua Wright, manager of the Gresham Walmart, said Black Friday sales went well.

“The customers were excited to see the abundance of items. We had more than in the past.”

She said people started lining up at 3 p.m. and that those who wanted the 50-inch television that went on sale at 5 a.m. stayed in line all night. “We had no issues. People were joking. There was no pushing or shoving. It was a good experience.”

4

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The impending fiscal cliff is recessionary and without action will certainly inflate the unemployment rate.

Taxpayers may need a ‘fiscal cliff ’ protection plan

By Henry K. Mitchell, CFE, CPA

It all started with the principle of trickle-down economics, when Congress and President George W. Bush enacted a multitude of tax and spending cuts legislation to stimulate the economy.

Other tax laws were also enacted by Congress and the Obama administration to stimulate the economy.

Many of these laws are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31. If Congress and the White House fail to act appropriately, many of the tax laws in existence prior to Presidents Bush and Obama will sunset after causing the economy to go into a tailspin. The predicted aftermath is being described as “fiscal cliff.”

I prefer to call it a “fiscal hurricane” that could be like a Category 1 to 3. The size will depend on the wealth and personal income of

“I prefer to call it a ‘fiscal hurricane’ that could be like a Category 1 to 3. The size will depend on the wealth and personal income of states and communities.”

Henry K. Mitchell

states and communities.

What’s at stake? n To fight the recession, Congress and Obama rolled back employees’ portion of the Social Security payroll tax to 4.2 percent from 6.2 percent.

This provision will expire on Dec. 31 unless lawmakers and the White House take action to extend it. If the law is allowed to expire, a DeKalb resident with a median household income of $51,000 will be hit with a whopping cut in disposable income in the amount of

$1,020. n Unemployment benefits for many unemployed residents will evaporate at the end of the year, increasing the county’s poverty rate. n Taxes will go up with the 10 percent tax bracket disappearing at the end of the year, and all taxable income of the poor and the lowermiddle class will be taxed at the 15 percent marginal tax rate. n Also, the child tax credit for a dependent child under age 17, which is now $1,000 per child, will revert to $500 per child after year’s end.

Even though DeKalb County has a median household income of $51,000, more than 16.1 percent of its residents are living below the poverty level.

The impending fiscal cliff is recessionary and without action will certainly inflate the unemployment rate and further exacerbate the poverty rate.

Given the current national budget deficit of $1.2 trillion and national debt of about $16 trillion, Congress and the White House have little or no choice but to settle for a compromised resolution resulting in tax hikes and spending cuts.

That being said, DeKalb residents should take heed by beginning to consult with their tax advisers and financial planners to devise a fiscal cliff protection plan.

Henry Mitchell’s accounting and tax practice is based in Stone Mountain.

News is not always presented in best interest of all people There is always plenty of scuttlebutt, i.e. gossip, in the news about celebrities who “step outside” their marriages with other people after being married for many years.

When you think about it, it is nothing new to everyday people except they are not publicized beyond the “town gossip.” Most of the time you hear about men who seem to be the worst culprit. But women do it too.

Recently, we heard about Gen. David Petraeus’ affair with Paula Broadwell, his biographer. But let’s not forget about President Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, California [governor and] movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and his housekeeper, and so many others.

And let’s not forget that this behavior did not just start.

Research shows that as far back as when FDR was president, he

“However, good news reporting cannot always be characterized by good when the choices are made to publicize or squash news when certain groups of people are omitted.”

Miriam Knox Robinson

was in a relationship with Mrs. Roosevelt’s secretary while being in a wheelchair crippled with polio from the waist down. Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd president, was in office from 1933 to 1945. Now if he had a fling with his wife’s secretary, I really don’t know. I am just repeating “research gossip.”

There will always be people who do wrong things, no matter what position they hold. This is evidenced by ministers who allegedly molest boys who attend their church. It’s all coupled with “good/

Quick Read

bad news reporting.”

However, good news reporting cannot always be characterized by good when the choices are made to publicize or squash news when certain groups of people are omitted.

That being said, when Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky case was revealed to the public about his molestation of little white boys, it hit the airwaves like a raging storm until his conviction.

On the heels of the Sandusky case, it was revealed that in 19711991, Boston Red Sox manager

Don Fitzpatrick sexually molested a dozen little black boys and nothing was done.

As my father Nazareth (Nat) Knox used to say, it was swept under the rug.

Research shows in 2003, a million-dollar lawsuit was filed by seven men charging molestation by Fitzpatrick when they were young disadvantaged boys. Fitzpatrick finally accepted a plea with a 10-year suspension and 15 years of probation. He got no jail time.

This information probably would never have surfaced if not for the Sandusky case and Gary Tavares’ new book, “Predator on the Diamond,” which details the story.

It enlightened me that news is not always presented in the best interest of all people.

Miriam Knox Robinson lives in Decatur.

Family says goodbye to toddler Foreclosure prevention event as teen detained 1 at Salem Bible Church 6

Saint Philip hosting Joyful Noise concert to raise toys 9

Tuesday’s dreary weather mirrored the anguish felt by Haneefa and Shelton Ray. While their youngest child lay in a tiny coffin at Kingdom Builders Covenant Church, Haneefa’s oldest daughter was awaiting a Dec. 6 court hearing in Sasha’s death.

Home Safe Georgia will discuss foreclosure prevention for homeowners who are recently unemployed or underemployed on Dec. 8. Participants will get help with applying for loan modifications and mortgage assistance.

Choirs and the dance ministry of Saint Philip AME Church will perform on Dec. 9 to collect toys for disadvantaged children in the area.

Black Friday weekend sales up 12.8 percent 3

Holiday tree lightings in DeKalb

Retailers opened on Thanksgiving Day and the shoppers came, many lining up on Thursday for deals that didn’t start for eight more hours. .

Christmas trees will be aglow this weekend in Decatur and Lithonia and in Clarkston on Dec. 8.

Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline snuck into DeKalb County on Nov. 28, and very few people knew anything about it.

Callanwolde band’s pops concert

School chief gives State of System 13

New route selected for annual King Parade 5 The annual DeKalb NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. parade and rally will have a new route and location in January.

Circulation Audited By

December 1, 2012

8

9

Christmas carols and other favorites will be featured in the Dec. 2 Callanwolde Concert Band holiday pops concert at Decatur First United Methodist Church.

A-list actors in South DeKalb to shoot movie scene 10

DeKalb School Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson will give her annual State of the System address on Dec. 3 to business leaders and to the community.

index to advertisers Arthur’s Contracting.......................................15 Aviation Institute of Maintenance..................14 BJH Attorneys & Counselors at Law...............14 Centura College.............................................14 Commissioner Stan Watson............................9 Decatur Bible Chapel.....................................15 Decatur Business Association.......................... 8 DeKalb Co. Watershed Management..............6 DeKalb Co. School System.............................14

Destined Events..............................................15 Disney Live!....................................................12 Georgia Military College................................13 Hibachi Grill.................................................... 2 L’Couture Fashion Lounge.............................15 Macy’s............................................................. 7 Malcolm Cunningham Auto Gallery............. 16 Mechanixx Corporation..................................14

Office of Congressman Hank Johnson............ 5 PZI Jeans Inc................................................... 3 Quenon Smith...............................................14 Regency House Retirement Community........ 11 Savannah State University..............................13 Smiles for Less...............................................15 Solid Rock A.M.E Zion Church........................9 Teen Reach Inc..............................................15

The Davis Bozeman Law Firm, P.C.................14 The Law Office of B.A. Thomas.....................14 The Spa Ladies...............................................15 Wright Vision Care........................................ 10 Best Buy Co. Inc......................................Inserts Walmart..................................................Inserts Holistic Health Management Inc.............Inserts Walgreens...............................................Inserts

Community

There is a sense of fear among communities in central and north DeKalb that their commercial areas will be annexed into cities.

A city of DeKalb would be at a disadvantage

By Mary Swint

While it would be the county’s largest, the proposed city of DeKalb made up of unincorporated areas would lag far behind its 11 counterparts, a report from the Carl Vinson Institute shows.

In a Nov. 29 demographics presentation to the Georgia Senate Study Committee meeting on the Incorporation of a City of DeKalb, CVI’s demographer Matt Hauer showed that the median household income for the county as a whole is $51,349, while the median income for unincorporated DeKalb is $36,000.

Of the county’s 11 current cities, five – Avondale Estates, Decatur, Dunwoody, Brookhaven and Atlanta – are at or above the county level. Only Clarkston at $31,741 and Lithonia at $26,410 have less median income.

When a comparison of median home values, which are important to tax digests, is done, an even greater disparity surfaces.

Unincorporated DeKalb with a median home value of $158,000 leads only Clarkston with $148,400, Lithonia with $120,200, and Stone Mountain at $132,900.

Home values are about twice as high in Avondale Estates, which stands at $316,700.

In Decatur, it’s $348,100; Dunwoody is $382,800; and Brookhaven is $337,000.

Sen. Gail Davenport said South DeKalb residents have expressed concern that they are having to shoulder more of the cost of the county government with the expansion of new cities.

The CVI presentation also showed that unincorporated DeKalb is 21.5 percent white. The lowest percentages of white population are in Lithonia, which has 8.5 percent.

Clarkston is 13.1 percent white, and Stone

5

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

“We need a comprehensive plan for DeKalb. If you’re going to municipalize, do it all at once.”

Mary Margaret Oliver

Mountain is 15.2 percent.

Whites make up more than half of the population in six cities. Avondale Estates is 79.3 percent white; Decatur is 71.4 percent; Dunwoody is 64.1 percent; Pine Lake is 62.3 percent; Brookhaven, 55.8 percent; and Atlanta at 53.6 percent.

African-Americans account for 48 percent of the population of unincorporated DeKalb. They represent a higher portion of the population of Lithonia, which is 84.3 percent black. Stone Mountain is 74.4 percent African-American; and Clarkston, 57.9 percent. The lowest percentages of AfricanAmericans are in Chamblee, which has only 6.2 percent. Doraville is 8.8 percent AfricanAmerican; Brookhaven, 11.3 percent; Dunwoody, 12.3 percent; and Avondale Estates, 14.3 percent.

The CVI used American Community Survey figures from 2006 to 2010 and estimated the data for Brookhaven and the portion of Atlanta that lies in DeKalb.

Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who was one of 25 people in the audience at the study committee meeting, said there is a sense of fear among communities in central and north DeKalb that their commercial areas will be annexed into cities. She said this is prompting discussions of forming more cities.

“If they don’t do it now, they will lose it,”

Gannon said, adding that feasibility studies for new cities focus on economic factors, not on historic and cultural factors.

The relative wealth and racial makeup of the new cities, Dunwoody and Brookhaven, were factors in a federal lawsuit filed in October by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.

The suit sought to block the creation of Brookhaven and its election of city leaders, claiming dilution of black voting strength.

On Nov. 28, District Judge Charles Pannell refrained from ruling on the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and instead ordered the case closed pending a decision in a similar case the Black Caucus has appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Thursday, state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver said she plans to file a bill early next week that would set new requirements on any group that seeks to have a new city formed in a county where 25 percent of the population is already residing in cities.

That would include DeKalb.

A group pushing for a new city would have to prepare an economic study for the new city and for the rest of the county and other cities and submit a plan to the General Assembly for the incorporation of rest of the county.

“We need a comprehensive plan for DeKalb.” Oliver said. “If you’re going to municipalize, do it all at once.”

Oliver said she is still studying the proposal to create a city of DeKalb from all the county’s unincorporated areas.

The final meeting of the study committee is scheduled for Dec. 13. The location and time were unavailable at press time Thursday.

New route for NAACP’s King Day parade The annual DeKalb NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Rally will have a new route and location in January.

The parade, which is in its 11th year, takes place on the national King holiday, being observed on Jan, 21, 2013.

It is relocating from Stone Mountain to the newly designated Martin Luther King Parkway in M.L. King Jr. Lithonia.

Groups will march about three miles along the parkway to the Martin Luther King Jr. High School, where a rally will be held.

Sarah Copelin-Wood, parade coordinator, said groups that want to commemorate King’s birthday and ideals should register now.

Copelin-Wood, who is also the DeKalb District 3 School Board member, said participants are encouraged to carry banners celebrating King’s legacy.

Organizers are seeking volunteers, sponsors, participants and attendees for the 2013 parade and rally.

King, a Baptist pastor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is the most well-known leader of African-Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the 1960s. He was born Jan. 15, 1929. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. King was in Memphis to support sanitation workers who were protesting unequal wages and working conditions.

For more information, contact Sarah Copelin-Wood at schoolsandcommunity @yahoo.com or call 404-371-1490.

Congressman Hank Johnson Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District Proudly serving DeKalb, Rockdale, and Gwinnett Counties

To Sign Up For My Free District Newsletter Visit

www.hankjohnson.house.gov

Fighting Foreclosures Helping homeowners avoid foreclosures – Apply for the HomeSafe Georgia program and loan modifications

Saturday, Dec. 8 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Salem Bible Church Fellowship Hall 5460 Hillandale Drive Lithonia, 30058

MARTA: Bus 111 to Panola Road and Hillandale Drive

Held in conjunction with D&E, HomeSafe Georgia and DeKalb County.

To pre-qualify and register, visit D&E at depower.org or call 770-961-6900 or 1-877-790-1831 toll-free

For more information, visit hankjohnson.house.gov

6

CrossRoadsNews

Finance

December 1, 2012

“We are here to stay and we want to partner with other companies and with the community.”

Avis Lithonia finds home at Stonecrest

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

East metro residents can now rent cars from Avis close to home at the Mall at Stonecrest.

Khadine Smith-Gardner cut the ribbon on the rental car franchise with the help of Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson on Nov. 17.

The car rental agency is located inside the Sears Auto Center on the mall’s Ring Road.

Smith-Gardner said they are offering pickup and drop-off service.

“We want to make it easy for customers in this area to have access to a car rental agency,” she said.

Entrepreneurship is nothing new to Smith-Gardner. Before immigrating to the United States two years ago, she owned and operated a promotion products company in her native Jamaica, West Indies, for more than a decade. She is also a radio DJ. She has worked with Clarkston-based Future Movement Radio and hosted a Saturday morning show on De Flava Radio.com.

Smith-Gardner and her husband, O’Neil, also own A1365 Towing & Hauling, which is located on Highway 124.

Smith-Gardner said Avis was looking for

Owneroperator Khadine Smith-Gardner serves customers at her new Avis store in the Sears Auto Center at Stonecrest.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

a local owner-operator for the Stonecrest store that it opened in June.

She took over in September and has been working to let the community know that there is now an Avis store close by.

She has two employees and is offering a range of special rates and discounts to introduce the location to the community.

“We are here to stay and we want to partner with other companies and with the community,” said Smith-Gardner, who lives in Stone Mountain. “We want to build up the community.”

Avis Lithonia is at 8020 Mall Parkway.

For more information, call 770-4843362.

Foreclosure help for jobless and underemployed homeowners Fourth District congressman Hank Johnson will be helping homeowners apply for the HomseSafe Georgia Program and loan modifications on Dec. 8.

Johnson is co-hosting the event at Salem Bible College with HUD-approved counseling agency D&E and the Georgia ]Department of Community Affairs. The 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. event takes place in the church’s

Fellowship Hall at 5460 Hillandale Drive in Lithonia.

Participants will get help with applying for loan modifications and mortgage assistance.

Qualified homeowners must have suffered a hardship due to unemployment or underemployment. They must be able and willing to work and are

seeking new or better employment.

Applicants must have been current on their mortgage before becoming unemployment or underemployed and cannot be more than six months behind on the mortgage at the time of application.

For more information, visit homesafegeorgia.com. To pre-qualify and register, visit depower.org or call 770-961-6900.

Metro jobless rate dips to 8.2% Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate dipped to 8.2 percent in October on the strength of job gains.

The preliminary jobless rate declined one-tenth of a percentage point from 8.3 percent in September. The rate was 9.4 percent in October 2011.

The rate declined because of an increase of 19,500 new jobs in metro Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Labor reported on Nov. 22. There were 2,353,500 jobs in October, up eight-tenths of a percentage point, from 2,334,000 in September.

The growth included retail trade, up 5,900; professional, scientific and technical services, up 2,800; education and health care, up 2,600; accommodations and food services, up 2,200; local government, up 2,200; technology, 1,400; construction, 1,200; and financial services, 800. In one year’s time, jobs were up in metro Atlanta by 33,700, or 1.5 percent, from 2,319,800 in October 2011.

Metro Athens continued to have the lowest area jobless rate at 6.2 percent. Metro Dalton had the highest at 11.3 percent.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 8.7 percent in October, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 9 percent in September. The jobless rate was 9.7 percent in October a year ago.

Statewide, there were 3,971,700 jobs in October, up 36,000, or nine-tenths of a percentage point, from 3,935,700 in September.

Over the year, Georgia gained 68,000 jobs, or 1.7 percent, from 3,903,700 in October 2011.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, visit www.dol.state.ga.us.

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis reminds you of the Best Practices for Proper Disposal of

F.O.G.

(Fats, Oils, and Grease)

F.O.G. enters plumbing through garbage disposals, sinks and toilets. It coats the inside of plumbing pipes and also empties into DeKalb County’s sewer system. Here are three simple guidelines to help keep F.O.G. out of our pipes and sewers:

1.

3.

POUR

fats, oils or grease into a sealable container, allow it to cool and throw it in the trash. Do not pour down the drain or toilet.

2.

SCRAPE plates and cookware before washing.

Do not throw scraps of any kind down the drain. Instead, place them in waste containers or garbage bags.

WIPE excess grease from all plates, pots, pans, utensils, and surfaces with a paper towel before washing. Throw the greasy paper towels away.

Plumbing and sanitary sewer systems are simply not designed to handle the F.O.G. that accumulates in pipes. When it gets into the pipes and hardens, blockages occur and cause sewage to backup and overflow out of manholes or into homes. This is expensive for you, and for the County.

The damages caused by fats, oils and grease in the sewer system are costly to repair. Over time, they increase the costs of our water and sewer services.

F.O.G. directly impacts your wallet!

DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management 1580 Roadhaven Drive * Stone Mountain, GA * (770) 270-6243 dekalbwatershed.com

7

CrossRoadsNews

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8

CrossRoadsNews

Scene

December 1, 2012

“It is no secret that individuals and families continue to struggle for basic needs. I know that there are people in the community that care.”

Holiday tree lightings in DeKalb Christmas trees will be aglow this weekend in Decatur and Lithonia and in Clarkston on Dec. 8.

On Dec. 1, DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson will host the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center in Decatur at 6 p.m. The Lou Walker Senior Center Choir and the “Chocolettes” from “A Soulful Christmas” will perform.

“This event is a great way to get into the holiday spirit,” Johnson said. “I look forward to the community joining me for the holiday tree lighting.”

The Porter Sanford Center is at 3181 Rainbow Drive. For more information, call 404-371-2988.

Watson, cadets collect food Adults and students can donate canned and other nonperishable food items to a holiday food drive sponsored by DeKalb Commissioner Stan Watson.

Residents attending Watson’s Dec. 1 Community Cabinet are asked to bring canned food to the 9-to-11 a.m. meeting at Chapel Hill Middle School in Decatur.

Watson, who represents Super District 7, also is sponsoring the “Help Take a Bite Out of Hunger” campaign with DeKalb high school ROTC/JROTC cadets in his district.

The cadets are collecting canned food to be added to items brought to the Community Cabinet. All donated food will go to the nonprofit Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless.

Watson said he is proud that the cadets are partnering with him to collect food.

“It is no secret that individuals and families continue to struggle for basic needs,” he said. “I know that there are people in the community that care.”

Chapel Hill Middle School is at 3535 Dogwood Farms Road. For more information, call Kelly LaJoie at 404-371-3681 or 404-889-9257.

Caroling in Lithonia The city of Lithonia will host its Tree Lighting & Christmas on Main on Dec. 2.

Carolers will sing holiday favorites and there will be vendors and refreshments on Main Street starting at 6 p.m.

The tree will be lit at 6:30 p.m. in Kelly Park.

For more information, e-mail leah.rodriguez@ lithoniacity.org or call 770-482-8136.

Fireworks for Santa in Clarkston Fireworks will light the way for Santa’s arrival at Clarkston’s annual tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 8 at the Clarkston Woman’s Club.

Mayor Emanuel Ransom and the City Council are hosting the event, which begins at 6 p.m. There will be holiday music and light refreshments as well as gifts for children.

The Clarkston Woman’s Club is at 3913 Church St. For more information, call 404-296-6480.

‘Mountaintop’ imagines night before King assassination in Memphis “The Mountaintop,” a myth-based fictional story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night before his assassination, is showing at the Southwest Arts Center through Dec. 16.

The two-actor drama was created by 31-year-old American playwright, performer and journalist Katori Hall.

It debuted in London, where it won the 2010 Oliver Award for best new play, and played in Manhattan’s Bernard Jacobs Theatre with Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.

“Mountaintop” takes place on the stormy night of April 3, 1968, the day before King was shot and killed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.

It reveals a chance meeting between King, played by Danny Johnson, and a mysterious hotel maid, Camae, played by Demetria McKinney.

The potty-mouth Camae brings King a cup of coffee Danny Johnson and Demetria McKinney star in the two-actor drama and lures him into telling the truth about his past, his playing at the Southwest Arts Center in Atlanta through Dec. 16.

future, his legacy and the future of his people.

Johnson is known for the films “Don King Only in America,” “Frequency,” and “My Brother.” His Broadway credits include “Song of Jacob Zulu.”

McKinney is an award-winning actress and singer best known for her roles in the TBS sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.”

Hall, a Tennessee native who now resides in New York, said her mother inspired her to write the play.

When her mother was 15, King spoke at Mason Temple in Memphis and she wanted to see him but didn’t because she heard that someone was going to bomb the temple.

“Even a friend of hers overheard the mayor say that if Dr. King came back to town, he wasn’t going to live,” Hall told Roots Magazine. “This play comes out of my mother’s missed opportunity.”

The Southwest Arts Center is at 915 New Hope Road in southwest Atlanta. Tickets are available at 1-877-7258849 or at www.ticketalternative.com.

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9

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

Holiday

“One of them is wishing for sheets for her bed. We really would like to make sure they have a happy Christmas.”

More than 20,000 children have benefited from Saint Philip AME’s annual toy drive since its launch in 1984. This year’s concert takes place on Dec. 9.

Joyful Noise concert to raise toys

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Individuals, community groups, businesses and churches can pick a child’s name, fill the request and return with gifts on Dec. 15 for the Tree of Love program at the Gallery at South DeKalb.

Tree of Love seeks benefactors

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

At last week’s kickoff of Commissioner Larry Johnson’s 2012 Tree of Love, 100 children were adopted by benefactors.

Now, there are 400 more to go.

The search for holiday benefactors continues on Dec. 1 from noon to 2 p.m. when the campaign will be at the Memorial Drive Walmart.

The campaign is seeking more individuals, community groups, business owners and churches to pick a child and buy gifts for him or her from their wish list.

Margaret Britton, who coordinates the annual drive for Johnson, says the campaign, which is in its 14th year, always starts off slowly but that when people realize how great the need is, they always step up to the plate.

“We urgently need people to adopt the kids,” she said.

Britton said some of the kids being served this year are from families who lost their homes in fires in the Gresham Park area in October.

“We really would like to make sure they have a happy Christmas,” she said.

Four hundred of the children on this year’s Christmas gift list are in foster care with the Department of Family and Children Services.

The remaining 100 are from singleparent low-income homes throughout the community.

Britton said the kids want everything from clothes to toys and educational learning aids.

“One of them is wishing for sheets for her bed,” she said.

The children’s wish lists can be filled for as little as $25.

Last year, the Tree of Love campaign served 600 children.

Britton said every bit helps.

People who lack time to shop for a child can give gift cards, she said.

Wrapped gifts and gift cards must be returned to the Dec. 15 Tree of Love Christmas Program at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall.

For more information or to adopt a Tree of Love child, call 404-371-2988.

Since Johnson created the Tree of Love program in 1999, it has helped more than 7,000 disadvantaged children get Christmas presents.

Johnson, who represents District 3, said the holiday season is a great time for people to give back to the community and help someone in need.

“This is what Christmas is all about – helping and giving to others,” Johnson said.

Individuals and groups interested in showcasing their talents and participating in the Christmas program can call 404-9644936.

The Gallery at South DeKalb is at 2801 Candler Road in Decatur.

YOU ARE INVITED TO A FREE LIVE DRIVE THRU NATIVITY

December 14-15, 2012 • 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

On the Campus of Solid Rock AME Zion Church 4065 Snapfinger Road • Lithonia, Georgia 30038 • 770.981.3303

Dr. Roe Nall, Jr., Pastor

Choirs and the dance ministry of Saint Philip AME Church will perform on Dec. 9 to raise toys for disadvantaged children.

The church’s 28th annual Joyful Noise for Toys concert begins at 5 p.m. in the sanctuary. It is free to attend with a new, unwrapped toy.

The Sanctuary Choir, Choir No. 1, the Youth Choir, and the Holy Dance Ministry will be featured.

Last year, the event raised toys for 270 families.

Since its launch in 1984, the Joyful Noise for Toys concert has benefited more than 20,000 children.

Donors who can’t make the concert can drop off toys at the church at 240 Candler Road in Atlanta, at the intersection of Candler and Memorial Drive. For more information, call 404-371-0749.

Callanwolde band’s pops concert Christmas carols and other favorites will be featured in the Dec. 2 Callanwolde Concert Band holiday pops concert at Decatur First United Methodist Church.

In the free concert, which begins at 3 p.m., the church’s music director John Cowden and organist Mitch Weisiger will join the Callanwolde band’s music director and conductor Raymond Handfield for the performance, which will include surprise guest soloists.

Selections include “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Gustav Holst, “Three Chanukah

Themes” arranged by Eric Richard, “Fantasia on Greensleeves” arranged by Alfred Reed, and medleys of carols and other favorites.

The band’s trombone and woodwind choirs also will perform.

The band, a community organization for more than 40 years, is DeKalb County’s premier symphonic wind ensemble.

Admission is free and donations to support the band will be accepted.

Decatur First United Methodist Church is at 300 E. Ponce de Leon Ave. For more information, visit www.calcb.org.

10

People

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

The New Frontier Awards committee cited Abrams’ work in saving a full-day pre-k program that was a target for cuts.

A scene for “Last Vegas” was filmed in the former Lincoln Funeral Home building on Candler Road this week. Filming in metro Atlanta will wrap up on Dec. 18.

Jami Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Screen legends film ‘Last Vegas’ scene on Candler Road in black could be seen milling around the set.

The crew has been filming in metro Atlanta since Nov. 8 and Sandler said it will wrap up on Dec. 18.

She said about a third of the movie is being filmed here. Other scenes were shot in old Las Vegas and the ARIA Resort and Casino.

The Candler Road location was the only shoot in DeKalb County, said Sandler, who was unaware that she was in a different county, not in the city of Atlanta.

The movie is the first time the four legendary actors have appeared together on the big screen. Among them they have six Oscars and more than $16.6 billion in worldwide box office sales.

“Last Vegas,” a project of CBS Films and Good Universe, is directed by Jon Turteltaub, whose credits include “National Treasure” and “While You Were Sleeping.” It is produced by Laurence Mark of “Dreamgirls” fame and Amy Baer.

Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline snuck into DeKalb County on Nov. 28, and very few people knew.

The Oscar-winning film legends were filming a movie scene in the former Lincoln Funeral Home building on Candler Road.

“Last Vegas,” a comedy about four older friends who throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for the last remaining single member of the group, played by Douglas, is scheduled for release on Dec. 20, 2013.

De Niro compares it to “The Hangover” but “with guys who are older than Bradley Cooper’s buddies.” He said the movie is the story of senior citizens in Sin City.

Co-stars include Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen of “The Help,” Jerry Ferrara of “Think Like a Man,” and Romany Malco of “Weeds.”

Publicist Tammy Sandler was mum about the scene, but more than 150 extras dressed Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline star in “Last Vegas.”

Stacey Abrams, minority leader of Georgia’s House of Representatives, is one of this year’s winners of a public service award bearing President John F. Kennedy’s name.

Urban League honors NBA great nized.

Businessman and legendary “The Urban League of GreatNBA player Earvin “Magic” Johnson er Atlanta is an organization will be picking up “Business Chamthat I have always respected and pion of the Year” from the Urban admired for the work it does League of Greater Atlanta at its Dec. to empower communities and 1 Equal Opportunity Day Dinner support families to achieve ecoand Gala at the Atlanta Marriott nomic empowerment,” he said.

Marquis Hotel.

Other honorees include the The 51st annual event, which Earvin Johnson HJ Russell family, who will get begins at 7 p.m., recognizes corporations, organizations and individuals who the Family Heritage Champion Award; champion equal opportunities for African- Macy’s, which is receiving the Program Americans and others in underserved com- Partner Champion Award; Wells Fargo, the Supplier Diversity Champion Award munities.

Johnson oversees a number of enter- recipient; and Usher’s New Look Founprises, including ASPiRE, a television net- dation, which is getting the Community work that creates opportunities for new and Service Champion Award.

The Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel upcoming talents in the African-American community, and Bridgescape, an education Ballroom is located at 265 Peachtree Cencenter for out-of-school and at-risk youth. ter Ave. N.E. in Atlanta. For tickets and more information, call Dottie Johnson at Both are operating in Atlanta.

Johnson said he is thrilled to be recog- 404-659-6580.

Photo Courtesy of Georgia General Assembly

Stacey Abrams gets JFK award DeKalb Democrat Stacey Abrams has been honored with a JFK public service award.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of late President John F. Kennedy, presented the 2012 New Frontier Awards on Nov. 19 to Abrams at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston.

Veronika Scott, a Michigan humanitarian project founder, also was recognized.

Abrams, 38, is minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives. She is the first woman to lead either party in the General Assembly. Before her election in 2006, she served as Atlanta’s deputy city attorney.

Each year, the Kennedy Library Foundation, in collaboration with Harvard’s Institute of Politics, presents the New Frontier Awards to two outstanding young Americans whose public service exemplifies the spirit of President Kennedy.

Abrams represents House District 84, soon to be District 89. The district currently includes the communities of Candler Park, Columbia, Druid Hills, East Lake, Highland Park, Kelley Lake, Kirkwood, Lake Claire, Oakhurst, South DeKalb, Toney Valley and

Tilson. Beginning in January, District 89 will add East Atlanta in DeKalb.

The New Frontier Awards committee cited Abrams’ work in saving a full-day prekindergarten program that was a target for cuts.

Kennedy said Abrams has looked for common ground wherever she can find it.

Scott’s project provides jobs for female shelter residents. They make coats for the homeless that transform into sleeping bags.

Scott, now 23, was a student at College for Creative Studies in Detroit when she launched her project by working on a class assignment to “Design to fill a need.”

The ninth annual New Frontier Awards honor those younger than 40 who become role models for a new generation of public servants by showing qualities of civic-mindedness, pragmatism, vision, and tenacity in finding and addressing public challenges.

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy presidency, it’s inspiring that my father’s call to service is still being answered by people like the two young Americans we honor today,” Kennedy said.

December 1, 2012

Wellness

11

CrossRoadsNews

“This is very nice and it is right here, near where I live.”

State-of-the-art Breast Care Center at Hillandale Free HIV testing Women who need mammograms now have a state-ofthe-art digital facility at DeKalb Medical at Hillandale.

The renovated and expanded Comprehensive Breast Care Center, which opened in May, is located next door to the hospital’s emergency department.

It replaces the old facility that had been in operation since 1998 in the old minor emergency wing.

The Comprehensive Breast Care Center houses two mammograms, including high-tech Siemens Mammamat equipment that offers calming mood-altering color and soothing music designed to relax nervous patients.

The center also has two ultrasound machines for breast cancer screenings, and the DeKalb Medical Foundation is raising funds to purchase a Stereotactic Machine.

Nurse navigators are assigned to patients to walk them through every step of the process from diagnosis to treatment and recovery.

The facility is conveniently located to women in southwest DeKalb, Rockdale and Newton counties.

At a Face Your Fear of mammography and breast cancer event on Oct. 28, DeKalb Medical staff offered tours of the facility to women.

Carolyn Hughes of Lithonia loved the spa-like atmosphere of the facility and said she would stop driving to the hospital’s North Decatur location for her mammograms.

“This is very nice and it is right here, near where I live,” she said.

Valencia Edochie loved the ambiance of the center.

“They took some effort to make it a relaxing environment,” she said. “I like that.”

Doctors recommend that women over 40 years old have annual mammograms to screen for breast cancer.

Women who are diagnosed early have a better outcome.

In case of a positive diagnosis, DeKalb Medical at Hillandale has three breast surgeons – Drs. Rogsbert PhillipsReed, Yara Robertson and April Sneed – on staff.

Mammograms are available Monday through Saturdays and parking is free. The hospital said its 7 a.m.-to-2 p.m.

Saturday hours are extremely popular with patients.

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews The Breast Center is at 2801 DeKalb Medical Parkway in LeeAnn Malone demonstrates the center’s new mammography room, featuring Lithonia. To schedule a mammogram, call 404-501-2660. soft music, pastel backlighting that changes color, and peaceful skies overhead.

available during AIDS Day events Adults can get free HIV testing on Dec. 1 as part of local observances of World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is “Getting to Zero,” and the DeKalb Board of Health will provide free HIV testing at the Gallery at South DeKalb in Decatur from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information and counseling also will be offered.

The mall is at 2801 Candler Road. For more information, visit www.dekalbhealth .net or call 404-294-3700.

Young people ages 16 to 23 will discuss HIV/AIDS and its impact, discrimination, sexually transmitted diseases or STDs, and bullying at a summit at the nonprofit STAND Inc. beginning at noon.

Community activists and STAND staff will talk about the epidemic and the need to know their status. Free testing will be available for participants 16 and older.

Coordinator Raymond Duke said there will be entertainment as well as refreshments in addition to the rap sessions.

The summit is sponsored by the Stone Mountain-Lithonia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

STAND Inc. is at 3423 Covington Drive.

For more information, contact Duke at 404284-9878.

The DeKalb Board of Health says it is important to get tested and to know your status.

In Georgia, DeKalb County has the second highest rate of people living with HIV/ AIDS. Fulton County has the highest rate.

Between 2004 and 2007, a total of 1,821 newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases were reported in DeKalb, a 62 percent increase.

25 The Regency House

Help us Celebrate A staple in the Community since 1987

©2012 HARVEST MANAGEMENT SUB LLC 18045

Years

Join the Regency House as we celebrate our silver 25th Anniversary.

Saturday, December 8th from 3:00 – 5:00 pm

Refreshments and hor d’oeuvers will be available.

Welcome to Holiday. Welcome home.

The Regency House Independent Retirement Living

341 Winn Way, Decatur, GA 30030 404-296-1152 | theregencyhouse.net

12

CrossRoadsNews

Youth

December 1, 2012

“Today’s ground breaking is the result of six years of patience and persistence for us.”

Soiree aids kids fighting cancer Lithonia High band snares honors

holiday from Christmas Unique gifts and Lithonia High 2008 to Independence services will be availSchool’s Marching BullDay 2009 at the cancer able at a Dec. 8 Holiday dog Band earned seccenter.

Shopping Soiree that ond place in the recent Now 17, Dexter is will benefit the Aflac National High Stepping a senior honor student Cancer Center at ChilMarching Band comat Cedar Grove High in dren’s Healthcare of petition in Charlotte, Ellenwood. He is raisAtlanta.

N.C. ing money to purchase The noon-to-4 p.m.

Over the Nov. 10-11 Christmas gifts to give sale takes place at the competition, the band Holiday Inn Atlanta Tersa Alsobrook’s Holiday Shopping Soiree to fellow patients, ages took several trophies in 10 months to 17 years Capitol Conference benefits her son Dexter’s gift drive. the divisional competiCenter. It includes jewelry, purses, shoes, old, through the soiree and at his fundtion, including a thirdapparel for men and women, and electronics raising page at Click for Kids on www.choa. place finish by the flag The Marching Bulldogs earned second place at the National High as well as skin care, makeup, fragrances, art org. corps and second-place Stepping Marching Band competition in Charlotte, N.C. and home décor. finishes by the percusAlsobrook said they are seeking to raise Shoppers can indulge in a quick massage $1,000. Tickets are $7 cash at the door. Onsion, drum majors, music and general dogs competed in the Battle of the Bands in and mani-pedi, and there will be free food, line, buy one ticket for $5 and get one free. effect. The dance team, known as Golden Chattanooga, Tenn., and took first place in Elegance, placed first in the division, and the Gold Division and first place overall. At She said Dexter and one of his teachers 16522 door prizes and a Destined Holiday/Fall Fashion Show. the Mid-Atlantic Regional High Stepping the band placed first in marching. at Cedar Grove, Annette Ford, are conduct3.875” X 10” ta Ad Size: Proceeds from the event will provide gifts ing a toy drive as well. New, unwrapped toys The band took second place overall in Band Championship at Shiloh High School, spaper Ad for children battling cancer and blood dis- can be dropped Section: the Division 4 competition, assuring a slot the members took first place in all categooff at theENTERTAINMENT principal’s office orders at Aflac Cancer Center of Children’s between Dec. 3-14. The school is at 2360 ries (dance, flag team, marching, drum line, in the National Competition.

Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

On Nov. 11, the band snared a first- drum majors, music, visual effect and best River Road.

The soiree is presented by Destined place trophy for marching in the Na- overall).

For more information or to purchase Events, owned by Tersa Alsobrook, mother of tickets, visit www.devinedestinyent.com or They earned Superior in every area at the tional Competition, earning the Harold J. cancer survivor Dexter “DJ” Alsobrook Jr. Haughton Outstanding Marching Award, DeKalb County Band Festival in October. e-mail info@DestinedEvents.com. Holiday Alsobrook said Dexter, a three-year sur- Inn Atlanta Capitol Conference Center is at The band is under the direction of David and took second place overall. vivor of Burkitt’s lymphoma, spent every 450 Capitol Ave. S.W. Earlier in the year, the Marching Bull- High and Michael Lloyd.

band photo to come

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High School took place on Nov. 28. Martin Luther King Jr. High School’s ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 12.

Miller Grove is getting a two-story classroom building costing $6 million. The building will include a new drama room and renovation of a tech-sciencefood lab.

At ML King Jr. High, the $17 million in additions will build 31 new classrooms, a ninth-grade academy that includes drama and chorus rooms, and an IT lab-science room. The expan- A ground-breaking ceremony at Miller Grove High in Lithonia on Nov. 28 kicks off sions there also will create a new construction of a two-story classroom building costing $6 million. front for the school.

Design in Learning By Design magazine in October.

The expansions at the three schools are funded by the The project’s general contractor is H.J. Russell ConSpecial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). struction and the project management team include District 5 school board member Jay Cunningham, Decatur-based EGM, and URS, CERM and B&D. who represents all three schools, said the Southwest School Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Atkinson, said the DeKalb expansion was a long-time coming. project is being handled by people from South DeKalb, “I am loss for words,” he said during the ceremonial including the school district’s project manager, Robert ground breaking staged on the school’s front lawn on Mitchell, who lives near River Road and graduated Nov. 27. “You have to understand how far we have gone from Walker High School, which is now McNair High to get here.”

Schools.

Cunningham, came into office in 2006, at the height “We are putting our trust in you for quality construcof parents’ disaffection with an $18.4 million addition tion,” Atkinson said. “He is going to put that extra special and renovations at Southwest DeKalb, built 47 years love into it.” ago.

Mitchell, who is with EGM, said the Southwest The work, which began in July 2004, ran over time DeKalb High construction will be done in three phases, and over budget. When the money ran out in December and all of them will be completed for a July 2014 ribbon 2006, one wing – the 500 hall – was left untouched and cutting. dimly-lit.

Mitchell said the project’s first phase will include Cunningham said he had been on the hunt for funds the construction of the two-story fine arts building that to renovate the wing, and build an auditorium at the includes 640-seat auditorium, 35-classrooms, computer, school, where 40 percent of students participate in the mathematics, science lab, and special education classfine arts. rooms, and band, chorus and drama rooms.

“When opportunities presented themselves I made The 5200 building will be renovated during the secsure I was standing around,” he said. “It took bit longer ond phase and will include the installation of a new roof, to be here today to break ground, but we did it.” updating the plumbing and HVAC, and upgrading the Wyvern Budram, president of the school council, building’s lighting. called Tuesday’s groundbreaking “a great occasion” for In the final phase, the parking lot will be reconfinparents who had been advocating for the new facilities gured and resurfaced. and renovations.

Southwest DeKalb’s Tyra Seals and Khemra Mon“Today’s ground breaking is the result of six years of tague, who are juniors, will have graduated by the time patience and persistence for us,” he said. “The impact the construction is completed a but that did not dampen this facility will have on the faculty, students, parents their enthusiasm for the project. and community is immeasurable.”

“I hate that it won’t come in time for us, but it will The majority of the Southwest DeKalb High con- be nice for upcoming classes,” Tyra said. struction will be funded by SPLOST III, Cunningham After viewing drawings of the building displayed at said the $4.2 million to renovate the 500 hall is funded the ceremony, Khemra was a tad jealous.

by SPLOST 1V. “I wanted to be here when it opened,” she said.

The design for the fine arts building has already won The expansions of the Miller Grove and ML King Jr. design accolades. Marietta-based CDH Partners, Inc., high schools in Lithonia, are slated for completion in which designed the building, said it won “Outstanding September 2014.

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

Youth

13

“They play the top schools and every player who starts as a freshman has their degree in four years.”

GreenforestMcCalep hoops star Moses Johnson, Georgia’s second highest scorer, will play with the Lady Mocs of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

School chief to give State of System strategic plan and unveil new initiaDeKalb School Superintentives planned for 2013. dent Cheryl Atkinson will give Atkinson said the district has her annual State of the System made great progress but has much address on Dec. 3 to business work left to do to meet its 2017 leaders and to the community. goals.

She will speak to the DeKalb “We are presented with chalChamber of Commerce First lenges every day, but it does not Monday luncheon that takes stop us from teaching our students place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 Cheryl Atkinson that a few obstacles do not excuse p.m. at the Holiday Inn Atlanta Perimeter, 4836 Chamblee Dunwoody them from achieving ‘Victory in Every Classroom,’” she said.

Road in Atlanta.

The 6:30 p.m. address will be shown live At 6:30 p.m., Atkinson will speak at the school district’s Administrative and on the district’s television station, Channel Instructional Complex, 1701 Mountain 24, and will stream live at www.dekalb.k12 .ga.us.

Industrial Blvd. in Stone Mountain.

At both events, the district will release In both addresses, she will give updates on the district’s progress toward the goals its 2012 annual report, which also will be and initiatives outlined in the five-year available online.

Fundly catalog features Children’s

Greenforest star chooses UTC

By Stormy Kage

Moses said she wants to get a degree in medicine.

Greenforest-McCalep Christian “I love health, but I also love Academy’s Moses Johnson will be kids so I would like to be a pediatriplaying basketball at the University cian,” she said. of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Moses, who is the youngest of Moses, who is Georgia’s second seven children, says she also hopes highest scorer, signed a full basketto play ball overseas. ball scholarship to UTC on Nov. Her parents, Pastor Lynn and 14 and will join the Lady Mocs Alison Prather Henry Johnson, say they are proud next fall. to see their little girl moving forward to a new “I am very excited, overjoyed and over- chapter in her life. whelmed,” she said. “There are so many emo“She is going to do well,” her mother said. tions going on, but I am very happy.”

“I’ve seen her develop over the years and I Moses, who averaged 28 points and six just thank the Lord for keeping my child.” assists at the Decatur school for the past Even though she dedicated a lot of time three years, had full scholarship offers from to basketball and trains seven days a week, more than 30 colleges, including Mercer Moses managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA. and Georgia State. She said she chose UTC “You have to work really hard and don’t because that’s where she felt at home. rest because you can always be better.”

“They had a loving environment and the She grew up around boys and has been coaches were amazing,” she said. “I immedi- playing recreational basketball with her ately knew I wanted to go there.” brothers since age 11.

Alison Prather, who coached Moses at She was home schooled in elementary Greenforest-McCalep, said she was com- and middle school grades being joining the pletely satisfied with her choice because Greenforest Lady Eagles basketball team coaches there didn’t just focus on sports, but where she rose to captain. academics as well.

Briana Gardner, a junior and Lady Eagles “They play the top schools and every teammate, was first in line to congratulate player who starts as a freshman has their Moses on her signing. degree in four years,” Prather said. “I told “Moses was the first person to inspire Moses a degree is the most important thing. me,” Briana said. “She’s helped me a lot as a Just use basketball to pay for it.” friend and a teammate.”

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Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta patients can benefit from an online funding platform that allows supporters to raise small and large amounts for the hospital.

The national www.GiveMiracles. org campaign led by Fundly, the largest crowdfunding-for-good platform (http:// fundly.com), teamed with the 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals to raise everything from toys to hospital wings.

Crowdfunding, also known as crowd source capital, is a method of raising capital in small amounts from a large group of people using the Internet and social media.

Groups and individuals who want to give back to the community with their holiday gifts can purchase critically needed medical equipment and medical care for

patients at Children’s Healthcare.

Once donors choose their gift from the catalog – ranging from comfort toys for $30 to a $970 pediatric wheelchair or a $12 million neonatal intensive care wing – they will receive updates on how their gift is being utilized.

Individuals also can quickly and easily launch their own personalized crowdfunding campaign on the www.GiveMiracles.org platform to collectively purchase big-ticket, high-impact medical items for the hospital through small donations from friends and family.

This can be done via Fundly, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Fundly has enabled its customers to raise more than $300 million for their causes. For more information, visit http://fundly.com.

14

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

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Reader Notice As a service to you – our valued readers – we offer the following information: This newspaper will never knowingly accept any advertisement that is illegal or considered fraudulent. If you have questions or doubts about any ads on these pages, we advise that before responding or sending money ahead of time, you check with the Attorney General’s Consumer Fraud Line and/or the Better Business Bureau. They may have records or documented complaints that will serve to caution you about doing business with those advertisers. Also be advised that some phone numbers published in these ads may require an extra charge. In all cases of questionable value, such as promises or guaranteed income from work-at-home programs, money to loan, etc., if it sounds too good to be true –­ it may in fact be exactly that.

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CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

fashion

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16

CrossRoadsNews

December 1, 2012

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2009 Mercedes-Benz e-350

Family Fun, Smooth ride, looks Great

Sporty, This is A Must See

21,995

$

STK#A3077

25,995

$

STK#A3026

20,995

$

2011 Chevrolet Camaro r/S

Convertible, Black On Black, Nicely loaded, Only 11K Miles

STK#A3151

Prices plus tax, tag, and title. All offers with approved credit. Offers expire 12/1/2012.

26,995

$

2011 cHeVrolet caMaro Ready For Your Garage, STK#A3087................... $19,995 2007 audi Q7 Family Ready, DVD, Leather, Sunroof, STK#A3083 .................... $21,995 2009 cadillac cts This Is A Must See! STK#A3148 ................................... $21,995 2010 acura tl Luxury At It’s Best, STK#A3112 ............................................ $23,995 2009 VolVo Xc70 Safety First, Luxury Ready, STK#A3131 ........................... $23,995

2008 toyota 4runner ltd Navigation, Rear Entertainment & More! STK#A3130 $24,995 2007 Mercedes-Benz gl450 Navigation, Rear Entertainment, Road Ready, STK#A3147 $25,995 2011 Ford eXPlorer sel Leather, Sunroof, Navigation, Touch Screen, STK#A3156 $28,995

(7 70) 987-9000

A Division of Malcolm Cunningham Ford

YOUR FiRst, Last and OnLY stOP!

We NoW ReNt

678.502.2005

I-20, Exit Wesley Chapel To Snapfinger Woods Drive

Sales Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-8pm • Closed Sunday

w w w. M a l c o l m C u n n i n g h a m A u t o G a l l e r y . c o m

4C (10.5”) × 16” 36475-MCAQ (12-1) Crossroads FC (nb)

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