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WELLNESS
Former Southwest DeKalb High School standout Bobbie Kelsey is the new and sixth head basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin. 3
Lithonia’s former mayor, a lifelong resident, takes Commissioner Lee May to task over his assertion that residents should have known about the Rogers Lake Landfill before they moved in. 4
Just in time for Independence Day holiday travel, the new state law requiring restraints for all children 8 years and younger riding in automobiles takes effect. 8
Badgers welcome new chief
Copyright © 2011 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
We were here first
July 2, 2011
Tougher car seat rules
Volume 17, Number 9
www.crossroadsnews.com
Country celebrating 235 years with fireworks, festivities Happy Birthday, America! This July Fourth, the nation is celebrating its 235th birthday with the usual mix of red, white and blue parades; family cookouts; and fireworks. Even though the Stone Mountain Parade is not on this year, there are plenty of festivities to go around. Churches, downtowns, arts centers and theme parks are hosting concerts, entertainment and fireworks to stir the patriotic souls. The festivities kick off July 2 with Stone Mountain Park’s 44th annual Fantastic Fourth Celebration on the Memorial Lawn. The three-day event begins at 10 a.m. daily and culminates with fireworks at the end of its new 42-minute “Lasershow Spectacular”
choreographed to music and enhanced with digital projection that adds 3D-like effects without the glasses. The Pied Piper Parade in downtown Decatur begins at 6 p.m. with a musical concert at First Baptist Church of Decatur and culminates with fireworks at the Community Bandstand on the Decatur Square. The Callanwolde Arts Center also is hosting a fireworks show at 9 p.m. from the top of the DeKalb County parking deck. Its Concert Band will get things going at 7 p.m. At New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, 6400 Woodrow Road in Lithonia, there will be fireworks at the end of its July 2 Family and Friends Homecoming Celebration that kicks
off at 4 p.m. The free event will include a grill and bake-off, a hot dog-eating contest, an outdoor concert, games and more activities. In Conyers, the city is hosting its eighth annual Fabulous Fourth Festival at the Georgia International Horse Park, starting at 5 p.m. There will be children’s activities, military displays, arts, crafts, vendors and car shows, and a special performance by the Georgia State Defense Force Band and the Greater Atlanta Patriot Band. At dark, a large fireworks display will fill the sky. For those who want to travel a little farther, there is always the Lenox Square and Centennial Olympic Park fireworks displays that will be preceded by lots of From Stone Mountain to the Georgia Horse Park, spectacular fireworks will cap patriotic observances of the nation’s birthday. entertainment.
RBC to Become PNC in March The Wesley Chapel RBC Bank branch is among 66 Georgia branches acquired by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank in a $3.45 billion deal.
Purchase gives Pittsburgh bank entry into Atlanta By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
A new bank will be coming to town and to Wesley Chapel and Rockbridge roads with PNC Bank N.A.’s announcement last week that it is acquiring RBC-USA. The Pittsburgh-based bank is buying Royal Bank of Canada’s U.S. banking operations in a cash-and-stock deal estimated at $3.45 billion, or $112 million discount to tangible book value. The acquisition, which awaits the approval of federal regulators, is expected to be completed by March 2012. It will give PNC a strong foothold in the Southeast and a big entrance in metro Atlanta, where 63 of RBC’s 66 Georgia branches are located. In DeKalb, RBC has seven branches – one each in Decatur, Stone Mountain and Doraville and two each in Tucker and Dunwoody. Across the Southeast, RBC has 424 branches, and as of April 30, it had $19 billion in assets, $16 billion in loans, and $165 million in credit-card loans. The other branches are in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. In a statement, PNC Chairman/CEO James Rohr said the RBC acquisition represents an outstanding growth opportunity for PNC. “The addition of RBC Bank provides PNC a great opportunity to enter attractive Southeast markets in a way that will create value for our shareholders,” he said. Ashton Carter, manager of the RBC’s Wesley Chapel branch, confirmed that Rohr met with 500 of RBC’s Georgia staff on June 20 in Atlanta but referred all other questions to the PNC.
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Starting next March, DeKalb customers will have to become familiar with the PNC name.
RBC-USA, which has headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., acquired the Wesley Chapel location in 2002 when it bought Tucker Federal Bank. The branch has been on Wesley
Chapel Road for almost 30 years. Gordon M. Nixon, RBC’s president and chief executive officer, said that the bank remains fully committed to the U.S. market. “This transaction allows us to focus our U.S. efforts on continuing to grow our two largest U.S. businesses, RBC Wealth Management and RBC Capital Markets,” he said. PNC, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has assets of $259 billion and more than 2,500 branches. It has been steadily increasing its footprint through acquisitions. In 2008, it acquired Cleveland-based National City Bank and on June 13 it completed acquisition of 19 BankAtlantic branches in Tampa, Fla. When the RBC deal closes next March, RBC Bank’s branches will be converted to
PNC. The company says it will retain many of RBC’s employees at its branches and perhaps create new jobs. In a statement to employees, RBC said that its customers can expect a seamless transition as its employees are integrated into the PNC team. It said that nothing will change for customers. “Right now it’s business as usual,” it said. “Our clients will continue to benefit from our quality service and client commitment.” Both RBC and PNC’s directors have approved the acquisition, which must now gain the approval of federal regulators. With the RBC acquisition, PNC will grow to 2,870 branches, making it the fifth-largest U.S. bank. Please see BANK, page 6