CrossRoadsNews, March 17, 2018

SCENE

YOUTH

Kids can practice their reading skills with dogs from Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program at the Wesley Chapel Library. 5

Kijana Rites of Passage, a two-year program of First African Presbyterian that teaches boys to be men, is taking applicants. 6

Really good listeners

Preparation for manhood

Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways

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

Copyright © 2018 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

March 17, 2018

Volume 23, Number 46

www.crossroadsnews.com

Millar challenging commissioners’ 60 percent pay raise

By Rosie Manins

Dunwoody Sen. Fran Millar is trying to stop the nearly 60-percent pay raise that DeKalb County commissioners voted themselves on Feb. 27.

The $24,107 increase, which becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2019, would raise the seven commissioners’ base part-time salary from $40,530 to $64,637 a year, a 59.4 percent increase that would make DeKalb’s commissioners among the highest paid in metro Atlanta.

By comparison, Cobb commissioners make $47,560, Gwinnett County, $45,000, and Fulton commissioners, $43,769.

“A more reasonable raise, of perhaps 10 percent, would probably have gone unnoticed and unchallenged.”

Fran Millar, Senator 40th District

Millar, who represents Senate District 40, has proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 430 that would delay implementation of the pay raise until 2021 – after all of the current commissioners’ terms expire.

compensation of, and provide a salary increase for various local government officials.

Millar said his amendment applies to all Georgia counties, and would prevent commissioners statewide from giving themselves salary hikes while they are in office.

“No one should be able to do that, and I think most people would agree with that,” said Millar, who presented his amendment to Faye Coffield, Lithonia resident members of the House Governmental Affairs “The vast majority of people don’t think Committee on March 14. elected officials should be able to vote themMillar called the size of the DeKalb selves a raise while in office,” Millar said on BOC raise “outrageous,” and said that until March 15.

Senate Bill 430 is seeking to modify the

“It’s a disgrace that you have the nerve to say you could not live off $40,000 but you expect Police and Fire to live off of it as their main source of income.”

Please see RAISE, page 2

DeKalb students join walkout for gun control Millions protest in wake of latest school shooting

Students at Arabia Mountain High School carried signs and observed 17 minutes of silence in their protest that began at 10 a.m., the time of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school.

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Hundreds of DeKalb County students joined more than a million students nationwide who walked out of classes March 14 to protest gun violence and call for controls on who can carry and purchase guns.

The student walkouts came a month after Nicholas Cruz gunned down 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and teachers and injured 14 others on Feb. 14 in Parkland, Fla. Students left classes at Arabia Mountain, Cedar Grove, Stephenson, Southwest De­Kalb, Lakeside and other DeKalb high schools for the 17-minute protest that began at 10 a.m., the time of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school.

At Arabia Mountain High in Lithonia, 10th-grader Kye Reid spent his 17 minutes of silence sitting on the ground with his legs folded and his hand clasped in prayers.

“I prayed for [the students who were killed] and their families,” he said afterwards.

“And I prayed for change because we go to school to learn and we shouldn’t have to learn in fear.”

The night before the walkout, Sean Spencer, also a 10th-grader, stayed up late creating a 17-shaped sign which he held throughout the protest.

“I wanted to honor all 17 lives lost,” he said. “We need to change legislation and make it harder to get guns. I also don’t think teachers should be given guns.”

On his “one” sign, Sean listed the

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

names of the 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and teachers who were killed.

Recent mass shootings On the “seven” sign, he wrote “NRA?” and asked pointed questions like, “What more Between April 20, 1999, and Feb. 14, 2018, 185 students and adults have do you need?” been murdered by youth and adults with guns. Some of the killers were sufMore than 200 Arabia fering from mental illnesses.

Kye Reid Mountain ninth- to 12th Fatalities Place Date graders congregated on the

17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Parkland, FL. Feb. 14,2018 school’s ball field during the

58 Route 91 Harvest Festival, Las Vegas, NV. Oct. 1 2017 walkout.

49 Pulse Night Club, Orlando, FL. June 12 2016 Friends Emioluwa Ad 9 Emanuel AME Church, Charleston, SC. June 17, 2015 enuga and Danielle Besay held

28 Sandy Hook Elem School, CT. Dec. 14, 2012 opposite sides of a lime green

12 Aurora Movie Theaters, CO. July 20, 2012 “Stop the Violence” sign

12 Columbine High School, Littleton, CO. April 20, 1999 they made.

“We can bear arms but not take lives,” Emioluwa Senior Imani McIntosh’s large blue sign “People are dying for what?” said.

James Peek, who is in the 11th grade, Danielle said she had called out U.S. representatives and senators.

“Isakson, Johnson, Perdue, what are you held a sign listing 11 mass shootings – Sandy to join the protest.

Hook Elementary, Columbine High School, “We need to stand up going to do,” she scrawled on her sign.

“A whole lot of people are dying and they and make a difference,” are not really doing anything,” Imani said. Please see WALKOUT, page 2 she said.

2

Community

CrossRoadsNews

March 17, 2018

“They wanted to make it clear that even though they don’t yet vote, they have a specific voice.”

Students say legislators should do more to address gun violence

WALKOUT,

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Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival, Aurora, Colorado Movie Theaters, Charleston Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Pulse Night Club in Orlando, and Parkland – which have taken 185 lives between April 1999 and Feb. 14, 2018.

“Enough is Enough. Stop,” the sign said.

James said that no 18-year-old should be able to buy an assault rifle.

“I believe in the 2nd Amendment,” he said, “but not an assault rifle.”

Aura Morgan, who helped James hold his sign, said it shouldn’t be so easy to get guns.

“It’s harder to get a driver’s license than a gun,” she said. “That’s really ridiculous.”

At the instruction of teacher Brittani Hill, they stood in silence for 17 minutes, a minute of silence for each Parkland victim.

Hill said the student group that organized the protest researched their legislators in the days leading up to the walkout.

“They wanted to make it clear that even though they don’t yet vote, they have a specific voice and that they don’t stand behind current gun regulations, want stricter gun controls and don’t support the arming of teachers,” she said.

Across town in Ellenwood, about 300 Cedar Grove High students marched around their campus with “Put Down The Guns,” ”Save our Students (S.O.S),” and “No Guns for Teachers” signs.

Tenth-grader Kahlis Long chanted “17 minutes is not enough” over a megaphone.

Afterwards she said counseling would help identify students with mental health issues, like Nicholas Cruz, and help prevent mass shootings in schools.

But she said counselors need to be younger.

“We need people we can relate to,” said Kahlis, who is 15 years old.

Kashawn Sharp, also a 10th-grader, said gun violence is not a race issue.

“We need more security,” she said. “This is a safety issue.”

Cedar Grove High principal Pamela Benford, who stood outside and watched the students march, said the gun issue is not a DeKalb issue or a Florida issue.

“This is an issue for the world,” she said, adding that it is the students’ duty to make a difference in the world.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Arabia Mountain High senior Imani McIntosh (left photo) called out representatives and senators with her sign, as students protested the failure of government to deal with mass shootings and easy access to assault rifles in the United States.

About 300 Cedar Grove High students marched around the school carrying signs with messages such as “Put Down The Guns,” ”Save our Students (S.O.S),” and “No Guns for Teachers.”

Tekia L. Parks / CrossRoadsNews

DeKalb Schools spokesman Andre Riley said the district has no estimate of how many of its 102,000 participated in the protest.

Riley said the DeKalb School District has received 59 threats, including some from students, since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting.

In general, he said that when the district learns of a threat against a school or persons, it works with local law enforcement to investigate the source.

“If we are able to determine the threat came from a student, that individual is held accountable via the Student Code of Conduct and Georgia law,” Riley said. “We also notify parents that a threat was made.”

While the students were protesting, Nicholas Cruz was in court Wednesday saying he

smhsupdates

Stone Mountain High School students made 17 cards with the names of those who were killed.

would plea guilty if the death penalty was off the table, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Stop School Violence Act that provides funding for training and other school safety initiatives, physical security

improvements and emergency notifications for schools. It does not address gun controls or age limits for the purchase of guns which the students are pushing for.

Tekia L. Parks contributed to this report.

Opposition to pay increase centers around size, process and need RAISE,

from page

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it voted 6-1 for the raise, he was unaware of the “loophole” in the law that allowed elected officials to vote themselves pay raises.

Nancy Jester, who represents Commission District 1, cast the lone dissenting vote to the raise.

Millar said commissioners knew what the job paid before they took it, and that the size of the raise immediately called attention to it.

“A more reasonable raise, of perhaps 10 percent, would probably have gone unnoticed and unchallenged,” he said.

In a legal notice before the Feb. 27 meeting, the BOC said the total impact of the pay increase would be an extra $229,660 a year.

Some citizens who spoke during the meeting’s public comments session told commissioners they felt blind-sided by the pay increase.

Clarkston resident Steven Benny said there should be no increasing of commissioners’ and CEO pay without the approval of DeKalb County voters during a November election.

“If you want a raise, earn it in the eyes of the stakeholders, the voters,” Benny told the board. “If you feel you’re not getting paid enough there are two options: find a new job or quit.”

In response to criticism, commission-

“We’ve got 200 vacancies on the police force but we don’t have any vacancies on the board of commissioners, so that should tell us something.”

Joe Arrington, Stone Mountain resident

ers, who last had a raise in 2014, have said that they are well within their legal right to approve the salary increases. They also approved a 3 percent pay increase for DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond, which takes his salary to $166,209 from $162,120.

Jeff Rader, District 2 commissioner and the BOC’s presiding officer, said the vote for the raise was proper.

“This action was taken in the way the General Assembly set us up to take action,” he said.

Rader and Commissioners Larry Johnson and Gregory Adams, who represent District 3 and 7 respectively, are up for re-election on May 22, and the pay increase had to be voted on before March 5 when the qualifying period opened for the 2018 elections.

The other commissioners – Jester (District 1), Steve Bradshaw (District 4), Mereda

Davis Johnson (District 5) and Kathie Gannon (District 6) – and Thurmond are up for election in 2020.

Millar said he expects his amendment to SB 430 to get widespread support since the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia has not raised any objection to it.

“If the House passes the bill, I believe the Senate will agree to that,” he said. “I would be surprised if it didn’t.”

Ed Williams, who is challenging Adams for the District 7 seat, is also fighting the pay increase. He filed a March 6 complaint with the DeKalb Board of Ethics alleging that in voting themselves a raise, commissioners violated their Code of Ethics.

Williams, who lives in Decatur, said they also violated the Open Records Act by not placing the salary increase on the meeting agenda.

“I’m opposed to the amount of the raise and the way they did it,” he said March 15.

Williams hopes the BOC will rescind its decision, under mounting opposition and pressure.

He said he is also considering filing a court injunction to stop the raise.

“I was hoping to avoid going through the court with an injunction, and that the government system would take care of it,” he said. “An injunction is on the table.”

Williams’ ethics complaint was co-signed

by Lithonia resident Faye Coffield, who was

also one of a handful of citizens who spoke against the pay raise at the Feb. 27 meeting.

Coffield, who was a candidate for the BOC in 2016, said commissioners should instead be raising the annual salary of police and fire officers to $50,000, to help fill the 200 existing vacancies in the county and provide an incentive for first responders to stay in the job.

“It’s a disgrace that you have the nerve to say you could not live off $40,000 but you expect Police and Fire to live off of it as their main source of income,” she told commissioners.

Not everyone was opposed to the commissioners’ pay increase.

Charles McCorkle of Decatur said commissioners have a big workload, which is evident to citizens who attend county meetings.

“I’m all for the raise,” he said. “I think you deserve it. But I’m also going to be looking for you to show that you earned it and are deserving of it.”

Stone Mountain resident Joe Arrington said he can understand why they want a bigger pay check.

“I’m not against ya’ll having an increase in pay,” he told them. “But I want you to put it down beside what a policeman makes.

We’ve got 200 vacancies on the police force but we don’t have any vacancies on the board of commissioners, so that should tell us something.”

CrossRoadsNews

March 17, 2018

Community

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When qualifying ended on March 9, incumbents for federal, state, and county offices attracted 19 challengers.

DeKalb incumbents facing lots of challengers in 2018 elections

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Fifteen DeKalb incumbents, including some who never or rarely get opposition, are facing challenges in the May 22 elections.

When qualifying ended on March 9, incumbents for federal, state, and county offices attracted 19 challengers for the May 22 primary and nonpartisan elections.

Fourth District Rep. Hank Johnson, who was unopposed in 2016, is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Juan Parks, a retired U.S. Marine who is a Marine Corps JROTC instructor at Newton High School in Covington. In November, the winner will face one of two Republicans: Joe Profit, a businessman, or Melanie Williams, a multifamily property manager.

Larry Johnson

Felton Wright

Hank Johnson

At the local level, Commissioners Larry Johnson and Gregory Adams are facing challengers.

Johnson, who is in his 16th year in office, is facing his first challenge since he was elected the District 3 commissioner in 2002. Johnson is being opposed by Felton Wright, a retired AT&T Communications worker and commu-

$1.2 billion county budget has surplus, pay raises, more police

By Rosie Manins

DeKalb County’s $1.2 billion budget for 2018 has pay raises for most employees, more police officers, and ends deficit spending with a $75 million surplus.

The budget, approved 6-1 by the DeKalb Board of Commissioners on Feb. 27, passed with no change in the county’s millage rate, which remains at 20.81, the same rate since 2015.

The budget includes: n A 3 percent increase in pay for all county employees whose salaries have not been adjusted since 2016. n A minimum wage of $14 per hour for all full-time and regular part-time employees. n $7.9 million to add 155 sworn police officers with expanded recruiting efforts. n Using DeKalb recreation centers, libraries and WorkSource DeKalb to help prevent juvenile delinquency by offering youth employment opportunities, afterschool programs and outreach to multilingual communities. n Improving customer service for residents using county services.

Commissioners modified CEO Michael Thurmond’s proposed budget to add $3.5 million in funding to up the employee salary increase to 3 percent from 2 percent, and for infant mortality programs; substance abuse efforts; programming in senior centers; five additional positions in the juvenile court; one position for magistrate court associated with blight efforts; increase pay for grand jurors; and to create wellness programs in parks and recreation.

Thurmond said the county’s fiscal house is now in order.

“We are solving problems that have festered for years, if not for decades,” he said.

“We have worked collaboratively with the Board of Commissioners to improve the quality of life in DeKalb.”

With the passage of the 2017 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), residential property owners will see lower taxes because 100 percent or $100 million of the annual penny tax will go toward reducing residential property taxes in the county and its 12 cities.

For example, the annual tax bill on a $250,000 house will be reduced by between $130 and $408, depending on where it is located.

In addition, $100 million in SPLOST funds will be allocated annually to repair and improve roads, bridges, libraries and senior citizen centers.

Jay Vinicki, the county’s deputy chief financial officer, said there were about 650 county employees making less than $14 an hour, who will get the boost in pay this year.

Before the budget’s approval, a handful of DeKalb citizens told commissioners they needed to do more in relation to public

“We have worked collaboratively with the Board of Commissioners to improve the quality of life in DeKalb.”

Michael Thurmond, DeKalb CEO

safety.

Lithonia resident Faye Coffield said police officers, firefighters and other first responders needed more money.

“We are at a crisis in this county with regard to crime and with regard to the ability of police to respond, and that’s based solely on the lack of police officers,” Coffield said.

Joe Arrington of Stone Mountain said the budget was “not high enough” and should include more for public safety. He said first responders deserve special consideration because they’re more at risk than other employees and they go through a greater background check than anybody, including commissioners.

“I’ve been here before and I’ve suggested that you raise those salaries to at least $50,000 a year,” he said. “Give them an incentive to stay ­– not to drive them away.”

District 1 Commissioner Nancy Jester, who cast the only vote against the budget, raised concerns about public safety too.

“We need to look drastically at why we’re having the problems recruiting folks to fill public safety positions,” she said. “I also hope that in the future we can look at a total compensation package that is different for police and fire.”

The county’s two previous annual budgets comprised a deficit, and Thurmond said he is proud of flipping that around with his $75 million “rainy day fund.”

District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson commended Thurmond for the “phenomenal feat” of delivering a surplus budget in his first year in the job, replacing a structural deficit.

“This is not an easy process,” Johnson said. “I see us moving in the right direction.”

District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who introduced a budget amendment increasing the number of positions in the Juvenile Court to relieve a case backlog, was also optimistic about how the county’s books were looking.

“This fiscally sound budget will significantly impact the programming at our recreation centers, libraries and senior centers, with additional funding for crime prevention programming specifically targeted towards youth in high-crime areas,” Davis Johnson said.

The full budget can be found on at www. dekalbcountyga.gov.

Juan Parks

Greg Adams

L. Cochran-Johnson John Tolbert

nity advocate.

Adams who won his Super District 7 seat in a December 2016 special election, is facing three challengers, Ed Williams, John Tolbert Jr. and Lorraine Cochran-Johnson.

All three opponents entered the race on March 9, the last day of qualifying.

Williams, who lives in Decatur, is a 20-year DeKalb County resident. He is a professor of education, community activist, entrepreneur, and founder and chairman of Concerned Citizens for Effective Government and Concerned Citizens Against Cityhood.

Tolbert, who was one of nine candi-

Ed Williams

dates in the 2016 special election won by Adams, is a regional manager for General Motors. He lives in Decatur and has been a county resident for 17 years.

Cochran-Johnson, an associate publisher and CEO, lives in Lithonia. She is a media professional with more than 15 years in publishing and marketing.

Adams, who is a bishop, was in office for eight months last year when the EEOC announced in August 2017, that it was investigating charges that he sexually harassed his former district director.

Please see RACES, page 5

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Forum 2346 Candler Rd. Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007

CrossRoadsNews

March 17, 2018

The foes of voting rights never gave up. They never stopped trying to turn back the clock.

Home-grown reactionaries pose greatest election threat An Alabama State Trooper swings his baton at the head of 25-yearold Sen. John Lewis on March 7, 1965.

www.crossroadsnews.com editor@crossroadsnews.com

Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker Staff Writers Jennifer Ffrench Parker Tekia L. Parks Editorial Intern Rosie Manins Front Office Manager Catherine Guy Multimedia Editor Sharif Williams

CrossRoadsNews is published every Saturday by CrossRoads­News, Inc. We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings.

The opinions expressed by writers and contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, nor those of any advertisers.

The concept, design and content of CrossRoads­News are copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.

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We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement.

SPIDER MARTIN

By Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

This past weekend, we once again gathered in Selma, Ala., to commemorate “Bloody Sunday,” the March 7, 1965, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that was savagely put down by police.

That march – and the march from Selma to Montgomery that followed under federal protection – helped galvanize public support for the Voting Rights Act that President Lyndon Johnson signed into law that year.

Now the right to vote is under systematic assault once more. In Shelby County v. Holder, five activist right-wing Supreme Court judges in 2013 ignored precedent and the will of the overwhelming majority of Congress to gut vital enforcement mechanisms in the Voting Rights Act. Shelby rolled back some of what was won in Selma. Immediately, right-wing legislators in states across the country rolled out legislation setting up new barriers to voting.

Before Selma, segregationists used a poll tax, literacy tests and often violent intimidation to keep African Americans from registering to vote. After Shelby, states used new tricks and traps: gerrymandered districts, photo ID requirements, purges of voting rolls,

reduced time for early voting, limiting the number of polling places, particularly in African-American neighborhoods, and more.

In 2010, those same activist right-wing judges had also overturned decades of precedent in Citizens United v. FEC, opening the gates for corporate money – often contributed in secret – to flood our politics. Much of that goes to negative ads designed to drive down the vote and drive up cynicism.

In the South before Selma – despite the 15th Amendment that prohibited states from infringing on the right to vote on account of “race, color or previous condition of servitude” — the campaign to lock African Americans out of the polling booth worked.

It took the Civil Rights Movement, marches and sit-ins, peaceful demonstrators suffering beatings, arrest and murders and many years to pass the Voting Rights Act and then to get it enforced.

The foes of voting rights never gave up. They never stopped trying to turn back the clock. Now,

their unrelenting campaign against voting rights is bearing fruit. In response, we need a new movement to protect and extend the right to vote. Strategic litigation is needed to counter the right’s legal maneuvers.

Legislators should replace the new restrictions on voting with legislation that makes voting easier, not harder: Automatic and sameday voter registration, extended periods for early voting, longer hours for polling booths to stay open for working people, an end to political gerrymandering, an end to felony disenfranchisement, curbs on big money in politics, and more.

We once more need reform to revive our democracy. That won’t happen without a modern day people’s movement as courageous and as relentless as that in Selma nearly half a century ago.

Much attention has been paid to Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election.

Surely it is bizarre that President Donald Trump’s State Department has spent not one cent of the millions appropriated for countering Russian cyber subversion of our election. Steps to protect a true vote and to expose and limit foreign intervention in our elections are vital.

But we should be clear: The greatest attack on the right to vote

Library of Congress

comes not from the Russians but from home-grown reactionaries who want to make it harder for African Americans, Latinos, the young and working people to vote, and easier for big money to influence our elections.

The democratic revival that accompanied the passage of the 15th Amendment after the Civil War was met with a fierce reaction that ended up imposing segregation – legalized apartheid – across the South.

The democratic revival that followed passage of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Movement has similarly been met with a fierce reaction that is undermining voting rights in states across the country.

Now the question is whether that reaction will spark a new movement to protect the right to vote.

Voter suppression matters.

The purge of voter rolls in Florida surely cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000. The new laws that helped suppress black votes in Wisconsin helped cost Hillary Clinton the presidency in 2016.

The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, but it is neither explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution nor guaranteed in practice.

It is once more under attack, and once more must be defended and extended.

DeKalb Schools should support students’ March for Our Lives A makeshift memorial is seen outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

GERALD HERBERT/AP

By John Evans

Circulation Audited By

Dear Dr. Michael Erwin and Dr. Stephen Green: In memory of the students who were killed and injured in the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., this is to ask the DeKalb School District to do the following: n Show some advocacy to all students and citizens in the DeKalb County School District. n Communicate to all parents and students that the School District supports their efforts to attend the “March for Our Lives” protest scheduled for Mar 24, 2018 in Washington, D.C.

n Make DeKalb s cho ol bus es available to transport students and parents to the March 24th protest; and n Hav e t h e John Evans DeKalb Board of Education to issue an official resolution in support of the Washington, D.C., protestors’ efforts to make a safe learning environment for every school in the United States.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images Thank you for the courtesy of a reply within five (5) business Tyra Heman, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, holds a sign days from the date of receipt of that reads, ‘Enough No Guns,’ on Feb. 19, 2018, in front of the school where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting on Feb. 14. this letter.

March 17, 2018

Scene

CrossRoadsNews

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The dogs from Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program will be at the library from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Kids practice reading to furry friends at Wesley Chapel Library Children read to Porkchop, an 8-year-old golden retriever.

Columbian

Make sugar scrub and take it home Laura Stoecker / Daily Herald

Sasha Mix, 8, reads to Bozeman, 5, at a reading program. This is Sasha’s first time reading to a dog.

Kids can practice their reading skills on K-9 helpers Barley and Rocky at the Wesley Chapel library on March 24.

The dogs from Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program will be at the library from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to listen intently.

New, early and experienced readers ages 5 to 12 years are welcome to enjoy the com-

pany of the furry friends.

Registration is not required, but the first eight readers to show up will have the pleasure.

The library is at 2861 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur, Ga. For more information call 404-2866980.

Food festival offers fun, festivities Food trucks, music, vendors and festive activities are on tap for Arabia Mountain High School’s fourth annual food festival and community day on March 24.

The festival, which takes place 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is free to attend and is hosted by the schools Parent Teacher Student Association.

Phyllis Douglas, the PTSA vice president, says it promotes unity within the community.

“Our goal is to bring together students, staff, parents, community leaders, and local

businesses to enjoy a day at Arabia Mountain High School,” she said.

Local entrepreneurs will sell unique jewelry, T-shirts and cosmetics, and chefs will promote their services with free samples.

Vending tables are $25. Proceeds benefit the PTSA scholarship fund.

The school is at 6610 Browns Mill Road in Lithonia.

For more information and to purchase a vendor table, e-mail vp_committees@ arabiaptsa.org.

Beauty enthusiasts can learn how to Participants will take home the scrub make their own sugar scrub March 23 at they make. the Stonecrest Library.

The library is at 3123 Klondike Road in The 30-minute session, which takes Lithonia. place from noon to 12:30 p.m., is open to For more information, call 770-482the first 12 participants.

3828.

Auditions open Wire craft class for May 15 senior to teach flowertalent showcase making, more Senior citizens who can sing, dance and recite poetry can sign up to show off their talents at DeKalb County Public Library’s eighth annual Senior Celebration and Talent Show on May 15.

The library is accepting applications through April 23 for the show which takes place at the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center in Decatur.

Contestants must be at least 55 years of age to participate.

For more information or to apply, email adultservices@dekalblibrary.org or call 404-508-7190, ext. 2257.

Creative people can make flowers from wire and learn about other crafty applications for the material at a March 19 Wire Craft class at the Stone Mountain-Sue Kellogg Library.

The 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. class is open to the first 10 participants.

No registration is required.

Funding is provided by the Friends of the Stone Mountain-Sue Kellogg Library.

The library is at 952 Leon St. in Stone Mountain.

For more information, call 770-4132020.

Incumbents used to running unopposed facing challengers this year RACES,

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For the DeKalb School Board District 2 race, incumbent Marshall Orson is facing a challenge from attorney Candice McKinley.

On the state level, Sens. Steve Henson, Tonya Anderson and Gail Davenport are facing challengers.Henson, who has represented District 41 since 2003, is being challenged by Sabrina McKenzie, who lists her occupation as “advocate.”

Henson, who has been a DeKalb County resident for more than 30 years, is a vocational administrator and teacher at the Henson Training Institute.

McKenzie, who is known as the “dancing preacher,” is an advocate for social justice and victims of domestic violence.

Anderson, who represents District 43, is being challenged by Joel Thibodeaux, an internal auditor and former state Senate staffer who chaired the Governor’s Commission on the city of Stonecrest. Anderson is a pastor,

and a former state representative and former mayor of Lithonia. She was elected to the Senate in 2016.

In Senate District 44, Davenport has two challengers: Keith Horton, a retiree, and Sandra Daniels, a court reporter.

Horton has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the military and state government including as deputy director of Georgia’s Division of Child Support Services and director of Child Support Services.

Davenport, a real estate professional, was elected to the Senate in 2007.

In Senate Districts 40 and 55, incumbents Fran Millar and Gloria Butler are unopposed respectively in their Republican and Democratic primaries but will face opposition in the general election in November. Butler will face businesswoman Annette Jackson and Millar, the winner of the Democratic primary. Salley Harrell, a social worker, and Tamara Jonson-Shealey, a senior advocate are seeking their party’s nomination.

In House District 80, Democrat Matthew

Wilson and Republican Meagan Hanson are unopposed for the May primaries but will face each other in November. Both candidates are attorneys.

In House District 81, incumbent Scott Holcomb, who is an attorney, is being challenged by Hamid Noori, a social worker. The winner of the primary will face Republican Ellen Diehl, an insurance sales woman, in the general election.

In House District 83, incumbent Howard Mosby is being opposed by Becky Evans, a longtime Druid Hills resident, former educator, project manager and community volunteer.

Mosby, who was elected to the House in 2002, is a certified public accountant, 22-year Grady Medical Center employee, and chairman of the DeKalb Delegation.

In House District 86, incumbent Michele Henson is facing community volunteer and advocate Joscelyn O’Neil for a second time.

Henson, a 33-year DeKalb resident, was elected to the House in 1990.

O’Neil, a 34-year DeKalb resident, ran against Henson in 2016. She is president of the Greater Towers Community Association.

In House District 87, incumbent Earnest “Coach” Williams is facing Viola Davis, a registered nurse and community activist.

Williams, a retired teacher, was elected to the House in 2003. Davis is co-founder of Stone Mountain-based Unhappy Taxpayer & Voter organization.

In House District 90, incumbent Pam Stephenson is being challenged by George Shealey, a builder, and Takosha Swan, a small-business owner.

In House District 94, incumbent Karen Bennett will face challenger Dean Heard, a healthcare consultant and entrepreneur.

On the DeKalb Superior Court bench, incumbent Judge Courtney Johnson is being challenged attorney Genet Hopewell, a former magistrate judge, and partner in the Decatur law firm Johnson, Hopewell and Coleman.

Please Don’t Litter

Our Streets and Highways

CrossRoadsNews

6

Youth

March 17, 2018

The STEAM Mentorship Program enhances students’ knowledge and skills in STEAM subjects.

MicroSoft STEAM program seeks high school juniors, seniors

The Microsoft program is in its fifth yea. It engages students from across metro Atlanta, offering them college survival tips, career pathway assessments, internships and more.

DeKalb high school juniors and seniors with a GPA of 3.0 and above and an interest in science and engineering can apply to be part of STEAM Mentorship 2018, a program of the Elaine Bryan Foundation and Microsoft.

The Microsoft STEAM Summer Mentorship Program, which is in its fifth year, engages students from across metro Atlanta. Students get college survival tips, career pathway assessments, entrepreneurial and real estate-based lessons and internships.

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Mentorship Program is an enrichment curriculum de-

veloped by programmer & IT expert Gregory Bryan and Dr. Elaine Grant-Bryan and sponsored by Microsoft. It enhances students’ knowledge and skills in STEAM subjects.

Participants learn coding/programming and get career assessments, entrepreneurship and internships.

Elaine Bryan, the foundation’s chair, said participants will learn how to identify their talents and gain technological skills directly from Microsoft.

Parents and students can find out more information about the program on March 24 from 1 to 3 p.m.

March 22 is the deadline to register, at

Participants in the mentoring program learn coding/programming and get career assessments, entrepreneurship and internships.

Center, 4651 Roswell Road, B101, in Sandy tinyurl.com/EBFsummer.

Bryan said that need-based scholarships Springs.

For more information, call 404-943are available for qualified students.

The program takes place at Grant-Bryan 0905.

Kijana Boys Rites of Passage accepting candidates for 2-year program Parents and guardians of teenage boys can get information about Kijana Rites of Passage, a program of First African Presbyterian Church that teaches boys to be men.

Kijana, which is based on practices adopted from various Afrikan cultural initiation rites, helps boys ages 13 to 17 to navigate the challenging coming-of-age years when they encounter identity, self-esteem and other adolescent-to-adulthood transition issues.

During the 24-month program, seasoned elders from the Lithonia church engage the boys with basic Afrikan and Christian principles as well as male-role responsibilities.

Topics include health, hygiene, sexuality, Afrikan history and the origin of academic disciplines such as mathematics, literature, Newburn Reynolds / Special and art.

The next program kicks off May 1.

Participants also go on field trips.

For more information and program Seasoned elders from First African Presbyterian Church engage participants with basic Afrikan and The group meets from 10 a.m. to 3:30 cost, contact Carlton “Baba CJ” Johnson Christian principles as well as male-role responsibilities. p.m. on first and third Saturdays. at 770-367-6098.

Mini camps registering for spring break

Some things you just can’t put off.

DeKalb Parks is registering students for 2018 spring break mini camps.

The April 2 to 6 camps children ages 5 to 15 take place weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the county’s nine recreation centers.

The cost is $10 per day.

Participants must provide their own breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

Register at www.dekalbcountyga.gov/ parks and click the “Register Online” button, or register in person at: n Browns Mill Recreation Center, 5101 Browns Mill Road, Lithonia, 30038. n Exchange Recreation Center, 2771 Columbia Drive, Decatur, 30034. n Gresham Recreation Center, 3113 Gresham

Road, Atlanta, 30316.

n Hamilton Recreation Center, 3263 Chapel

Street, Scottdale, 30079. n Lucious Sanders Recreation Center, 2484 Bruce Street, Lithonia, 30058. n Mason Mill Recreation Center, 1340-B McConnell Drive, Decatur, 30033. n Midway Recreation Center, 3181 Midway Road, Decatur, 30032. n N.H. Scott Recreation Center, 2230 Tilson Road, Decatur, 30032. n Tobie Grant Recreation Center, 644 Parkdale Drive, Scottdale, 30079.

For more information, contact LaShanda Davis at 404-371-3643 or lsdavis@dekalbcountyga.gov.

Teen lifeguards needed for summer Getting screened for colon cancer is one of them.

Take care of yourself. Schedule your colonoscopy today.

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month

Decatur 678.553.0226 Lithonia 770.817.0224 www.atlantagastro.com

AGA, LLC and its affiliates are participating providers for Medicare, Medicaid, and most healthcare plans offered in Georgia. We comply with applicable Federal civil rights laws and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. CHÚ Ý: Nếu bạn nói Tiếng Việt, có các dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí dành cho bạn.

Teens 16 years and older can apply to become a lifeguard at DeKalb pools over the summer swim season.

Applicants must have American Red Cross certification or certification from a nationally recognized aquatics training program and successfully pass a criminal background check.

DeKalb Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs is accepting applications through July. To view available positions or complete an application, visit www.dekalbcountyga. gov, click on “How Do I?” and select “Apply for Jobs.”

For more information, contact LaShanda Davis at 404-371-3643.

CrossRoadsNews

March 17, 2018

7

Legal Notices 03/03, 03/10, 03/17, 03/24

Notice of Petition in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: 18FM2058-2 Shantine Shopshire PLAINTIFF VS Darryl Green DEFENDANT NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO:

By ORDER of the Court service for service by publication dated Feb. 22, 2018. You are hereby notified that Feb. 12, 2018, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for divorce. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court, and to serve upon the Plaintiff’s attorney whose name and address is: Shantine

Shopshire, 5470 Forest Path Ct., Stone Mountain, GA 30088. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Feb. 22, 2018.

Witness the Honorable Asha F. Jackson, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 22nd day of Feb., 2018 03/03, 03/10, 03/17, 03/24

AMENDED Notice of Petition to CHANGE Name OF ADULT in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

name from: Jonia Antionette Bromell to Jenia Lalindus Cater.

Any interested party has the right to appear in this case and file objections within 30 days after the Petition was filed.

Dated: Feb. 27, 2018 03/03, 03/10, 03/17, 03/24

Notice of Petition to CHANGE Name OF ADULT in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: 17FM12320-10 Jonia Antionette Bromell filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court on Dec. 06, 2017 to change the

Civil Action Case Number: 18FM2367 Evelyn Brown Conyers filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court on Feb. 21, 2018 to change name from Eiiylene Brown to Evelyn Brown Conyers.

Any interested party has the right to appear in this case and file objections within 30 days after the Petition was filed.

Dated: Feb. 14, 2018

L. Johnson, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 06th day of Mar., 2018

Coates, 1402 David Cir., Decatur, GA 30032. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Mar. 01, 2018.

Witness the Honorable Clarence F. Seeliger, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 1st day of Mar., 2018

03/10, 03/17, 03/24, 03/31

Notice of Petition in the Superior Court

03/10, 03/17, 03/24, 03/31

of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Notice of Petition in the Superior Court

Civil Action Case Number: 18FM2097-3 Egbert Samuels PLAINTIFF VS Hyacinth Samuels DEFENDANT NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: Hyacinth Samuels 32 Mimosa Ave. Kingston, Jamaica

By ORDER of the Court service for service by publication dated Mar. 02, 2018. You are hereby notified that Feb. 07, 2018, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for divorce w/o minor children. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court, and to serve upon the Plaintiff’s attorney whose name and address is: Egbert Samuels, 4213 Wingfoot Ct., Decatur, GA 30035.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Mar. 06, 2018.

Witness the Honorable Clarence F. Seeliger, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 05th day of Mar., 2018

of DeKalb County State of Georgia

03/10, 03/17, 03/24, 03/31

Notice of Petition in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: 18FM1953-3 Lanisha D. Coates PLAINTIFF VS Alton Coates, Jr. DEFENDANT NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: Alton Coates, Jr. 3800 Flat Shoals Pkwy, Apt. 16D Decatur, GA 30034

By ORDER of the Court service for service by publication dated Mar. 01, 2018.

You are hereby notified that Feb. 05, 2018, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for divorce. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court, and to serve upon the Plaintiff’s attorney whose name and address is: Lanisha D.

Civil Action Case Number: 18FM2097-1 Egbert Samuels PLAINTIFF VS Hyacinth Samuels DEFENDANT NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: Hyacinth Samuels 32 Mimosa Ave. Kingston, Jamaica

By ORDER of the Court service for service by publication dated Mar. 02, 2018. You are hereby notified that Feb. 13, 2018, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for divorce w/o minor children. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court, and to serve upon the Plaintiff’s attorney whose name and address is: Egbert Samuels, 4213 Wingfoot Ct., Decatur, GA 30035.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Mar. 06, 2018.

Witness the Honorable Courtney

DeKalb County Sheriff Office

Jeffrey L. Mann, Sheriff • 4415 Memorial Drive • Decatur, GA 30032

Sex Offender

Sex Offender

Andrew Branch 838 Glynn Oak Dr. Clarkston, Ga 30021 Charge of Rape Convicted March 14, 1987

Darius White 528 Martindale Ct. Stone Mountain, Ga 30087 Charge of Pimping a Minor Under 18 Convicted June 14, 2017

Sex Offender

George Bradford 6588 Bralorne Ct. Stone Mountain, Ga 30087 Charge of Child Molestation Convicted Oct. 16, 2017

Sex Offender

Gordon Brown 1189 To Lani Dr. Stone Mountain, Ga 30083 Charge of Aggravated Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault Convicted Aug. 24, 1998

Sex Offender

Kamal Hodge 4826 Creekside Place Decatur, Ga 30035 Charge of Computer Pornography Convicted Apr. 14, 2014

Sex Offender

Kevin Montgomery 4196 Fontana Ct. Tucker, Ga 30084 Charge of Child Molestation 2 cts Convicted Sept. 17, 2015

Sex Offender

Tyrone Moffett 3501 N Hill Pkwy.

Atlanta, Ga 30341 Charge of Sexual Misconduct With Minor Convicted Apr. 29, 2005

The DeKalb Sex Offenders List is published by the DeKalb County Sheriff Office. For more information call the Sex Offender Unit at 404-298-8130.

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CrossRoadsNews

March 17, 2018