CrossRoadsNews, May 11, 2013

COMMUNITY

SCENE

Reconnecting old friends

Celebrating island culture

Alumni of DeKalb County’s all-black high school during segregation are planning a get-together in June. 5

Small fry will don elaborate costumes and dance to island music at the Atlanta Caribbean Children’s Carnival on May 18. 11

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May 11, 2013

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Volume 19, Number 2

Groups press for dual accreditation for DeKalb Schools

By Ken Watts ken@crossroadsnews.com

A growing number of DeKalb Schools parents and alumni have been trying for months to get an answer to a big question: Could the DeKalb School District get full accreditation from a separate agency while working with SACS to fix the problems that landed it on accreditation probation last year?

Several School Board members say “yes.”

The parents and the Southwest DeKalb Alumni Association want the district to allow every high school in the county to seek dual accreditation from the Georgia Accrediting

eration in June,” he said.

Orson believes an application for dual accreditation might actually strengthen the district’s case with SACS. “I think everything that scrutinizes our system demonstrates our willingness to be held accountable,” he said. “So if we have a second accreditation, it just shows we’re willing to put ourselves on the line to prove that we can meet other standards that are out there.”

Parents are worried that DeKalb’s probationary status will hurt their children’s chances of being accepted at out-of-state colleges. They say accreditation probation puts

“I think everything that scrutinizes our system demonstrates our willingness to be held accountable.

So if we have a second accreditation, it just shows we’re willing to put ourselves on the line to prove that we can meet other standards that are out there.”

Marshall Orson, District 2 board member

Commission should local school councils or high school communities choose to do so for their students.

In an April 24 post on Facebook, Jennifer Simmons, an SWD Alumni Association member, said GAC accredits schools throughout Georgia, many of which also are accredited by the Southern Association of

Colleges and Schools. She said AdvancED, SACS’ parent company, doesn’t prohibit dual accreditation.

District 2 board member Marshall Orson said May 8 that there is strong sentiment to approve dual accreditation.

“There is a proposal that a number of board members are working on for consid- Please see SCHOOLS, page 6

Piggly Wiggly’s picketers, supporters square off Store supporter Caron Clements blocks the sidewalk and DeKalb SCLC’s director Nathan Knight (behind her) with her large signs on Wednesday.

Manager says health violations have been fixed

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker and Ken Watts

The aging Piggly Wiggly supermarket on Candler Road has divided the community.

On one side, civil rights activists fighting for the community’s access to fresh food in a clean store in the wake of news reports about spoiled meat, moldy produce and a reddish liquid dripping down the walls behind the store’s lunch meat cooler.

On the other, loyal customers fighting to keep a grocery store nearby.

On May 8, both sides faced off on the sidewalks outside the store.

Supporters of Operation Lead and the SCLC were on their 12th day of walking the sidewalk outside the store with black-andwhite sandwich boards emblazoned with messages like “Bad Food Store Must Go,” “Don’t Shop Here,” “Piggly Wiggly Clean Up or Ship Out” and “Time Has Run Out,” when Caron Clements and friends came across the parking lot from the supermarket with signs four times the size of the ones carried by the demonstrators.

Her huge signs read “I Am a Customer,” “Sorry About the Lie” and “Store Never Had Bad Meat.”

Clements, who says she has been shopping at the store since she was a student at nearby Toney Valley Elementary, took her place in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking picketers who were walking back and forth quietly.

The air got real tense, real quick.

Before the war of words could escalate, older and calmer heads – state Rep. Tyrone Brooks and John Evans – stepped in.

“Don’t engage in any conversation with anyone,” Brooks advised. “It’s a setup. This is only a trick to run us from the public sidewalk. Everybody has the right to walk

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

on the sidewalk.”

In the wake of the TV reports on April 26, the store was cited by the Georgia Department of Agriculture for four violations and business has dropped off dramatically.

Clements said she has always shopped at the Decatur store and never had a problem.

“There are problems everywhere we go,” she said. “Instead of closing down our neighborhood store, give them a chance to rectify it.”

To combat the decline in business, store manager Ken Hong launched customer service days from May 5 to 23 and has been hosting free barbecues in the parking lot. On May 7, he hosted a gospel concert.

While Clements was facing off with the civil rights demonstrators, smoke was curling up from the grill and a line of adults and children, 12 deep, was waiting, paper plates in hand, for ribs, chicken and hot dogs to come off the grill.

Wu Lee, wearing a “Mr. Lee” name badge,

was circulating between the store and the small crowd congregated around the grill.

He said he started at the store on May 7 as the new manager, “I am here to work with the community, churches and schools,” he said.

Tequilla Jordan, who was helping out at the cookout, said she has been a customer at the store for more than 20 years.

“It’s not perfect but it’s our store,” she said. “If something is wrong, I bring it to their attention, and they fix it.”

Jordan looked across the parking lot at the picketers.

“They don’t live in this community,” she said. “We just really want them to just leave.”

Brooks, who lives in southwest Atlanta, said he had to join Operation Lead’s founder John Evans when he saw the Piggly Wiggly manager on television saying: “This is not Buckhead. This is a low-income community” as justification for his store being dirty.

“I was outraged,” Brooks said. “We’ve always demanded the best for our community.”

Wednesday was Brooks’ third day on the picket line.

“I am representing the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials,” he said.

Hong, who manages the store for his family, said business has declined 50 percent after the week of demonstrations outside his store.

“I bought 400 pounds of meat worth $20,000 a week ago that normally would sell quickly,” he said. “But now I’ve got an overstock that’s too big for my freezer because business has fallen off.”

Evans said the demonstrations will continue.

“There is a larger issue here,” Evans said Thursday. “The store can be cleaned up and that’s fine. But for years other ethnic groups Please see PROTESTS, page 4

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CrossRoadsNews

Community

May 11, 2013

“There has never been any experience like the Memorial Drive store. From the planning to the opening, it was a phenomenal experience.”

CHASE meeting May 16 to plan next move Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment is hosting a May 16 meeting to discuss the Georgia EPD’s approval of an air permit for Green Energy Partners’ proposed biomass facility in Lithonia.

The grass-roots group has been fighting the plant since it was proposed two years ago for a 20-acre site at 1744 and 1770 Rogers Lake Road just outside the city of Lithonia.

The meeting takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Antioch Baptist Church, 2152 Rock Chapel Road (Highway 124) in Lithonia.

Dr. Jewel Crawford, a CHASE co-chair, said residents should be concerned and should attend the meeting.

Jewel Crawford “If you are a resident of South DeKalb, you are a victim of environmental racism,” Crawford said Thursday. “It is a critical time to join in. You are needed to attend the meeting and contribute and raise money for our Legal Defense Fund.”

The citizens group, which has sued DeKalb County over its approval of the plant, said it is not giving up the fight.

The meeting will discuss options available to the group.

For more information or to donate, visit www .chase-dekalb.webs.com or mail donations to CHASE, P.O. Box 525, Lithonia, GA 30058.

Johnson revives consumer rights bill Fourth District Rep. Hank Johnson has reintroduced legislation to restore consumers’ right to seek justice through the courts.

Johnson said his Arbitration Fairness Act, H.R. 1844, introduced on May 7 would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in employment, consumer and civil rights cases and allow consumers and workers to choose arbitration after a dispute occurred.

“Forced arbitration clauses undermine our indelible constitutional right to take our disputes to court,” Johnson said. “They benefit powerful business interests at the expense Hank Johnson of American consumers and workers. These bills are designed to defend our rights and to re-empower consumers.”

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

He said mandatory arbitration can be a huge disadvantage to consumers, often limiting their ability to have any meaningful legal recourse when they are wronged.

“I’ve reintroduced the Arbitration Fairness Act to ensure that consumers maintain their right to their day in court when they are cheated,” Franken said.

Over the past four years, a narrow majority of the Supreme Court has undermined consumer rights, they said.

The court decided in Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds International that agreements requiring class arbitration are valid.

In 2011, it upheld forced arbitration agreements in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. The court held in a 5-4 decision that arbitration agreements may ban class actions even when this was expressly prohibited by state law.

The Arbitration Fairness Act proposes to: n Restore the original intent of the Federal Arbitration Act by clarifying the scope of its application. n Amend the FAA by adding a new chapter invalidating agreements that require the arbitration of employment, consumer or civil rights disputes made before the dispute arises. n Restore the rights of workers and consumers to seek justice in the courts. n Ensure transparency in civil litigation. n Protect the integrity of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, among others.

This year, it will address the issue in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, where it will decide whether arbitration agreements that ban class actions are valid even where doing so immunizes a business from antitrust liability.

Johnson says this series of holdings erodes rights of consumers and further immunizes corporations from accountability.

The Federal Arbitration Act was originally passed to ensure that the courts enforce commercial arbitration agreements between two companies, not between companies and consumers.

The Supreme Court’s expanded interpretation allows companies to insulate themselves from liability when they defraud a large number of customers of a relatively small amount of money, Johnson said.

Memorial Drive Walmart’s first manager leaves big shoes to fill

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

After five years at the Memorial Drive Walmart, store manager Henry Greene is gone.

Greene left the store last week to await his next Walmart assignment.

He said he leaves with many fond memories.

“There has never been any experience like the Memorial Drive store,” said Greene, who hired employees and opened the new store in 2008.

“From the planning to the opening, it was a phenomenal experience.”

When it opened, the 185,000-square-foot

supercenter, with its low-energy lighting fixtures and extensive use of skylights to provide natural lighting, was on the cutting edge of Walmart’s green innovations.

In January 2008, more than 12,000 people applied for the store’s 400 jobs, and its three-day opening in March 2008 was the largest in Geor- Henry Greene gia.

Over his years at the store, Greene supported a wide range of community groups, nonprofits, and schools and churches.

DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson said Greene, who leaves some big shoes to fill, will be sorely missed.

“He was community-minded and he understood the pulse of the community,” said Johnson, who represents the area where the store is located.

Johnson said he asked Walmart for a manager who could deliver and it named Greene.

“A lot of people were against the store coming there,” Johnson recalled. “Henry brought a lot of calm. He was able to bridge the gap.”

Johnson said he is hoping Greene’s successor will be as successful at the store.

Karen Brewer-Edwards, Walmart’s North Georgia regional manager, did not return calls to say when a new manager will be named for the store.

Before the Memorial Drive store, Greene, who has 16 years with the retail giant, said he had never stayed more than three years at a store.

“I was blessed to have worked in that community,” he said May 6. “I was the happiest manager.”

Greene said he is hoping his next assignment will be at one of the Neighborhood Markets that Walmart is opening up.

“I haven’t done the smaller format,” he said. “That’s an opportunity.”

May 11, 2013

Community

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CrossRoadsNews

“I don’t think I am going out on a limb to say that this project will enhance the quality of life in this area.”

DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis cuts the ribbon on the new $26.4 million Lithonia Industrial Boulevard Extension on May 8 with help from Georgia DOT and county officials.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Lithonia road extension opens with fanfare

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Georgia DOT and DeKalb leaders officially opened the new $26.4 million Lithonia Industrial Boulevard Extension on May 8.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the boulevard’s intersection with Rogers Lake Road included city, county and business officials.

Robert L. Brown, who represents the 4th Congressional District on the GDOT board, said that road extension is part of $37.8 million invested in the fast-growing Lithonia community. The project’s first phase was complete three years ago.

“This new roadway construction will enhance mobility and commercial development,” he said.

The project extended Lithonia Industrial Boulevard from Rogers Lake Road to State

Route 124/Rock Chapel Road.

It has four 12-foot lanes, a 20-foot concrete raised median, curb and gutter, and 5-foot sidewalks on both sides. A 330-foot bridge also was constructed over Swift Creek.

The improvements provide a safer roadway for truck traffic headed to landfills and factories in the area and provide better access between I-20 and Rock Chapel Road.

Brown called its completion “a successful collaboration” of citizens, businesses, and city, county, state and federal partners.

“I don’t think I am going out on a limb to say that this project will enhance the quality of life in this area,” Brown said. “New medians, new sidewalks and much-improved north-south connectivity in the area will enhance safety and travel in this area.”

Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson said that the road expansion helps create a gateway to her city and is a great example of what partnership can do.

She expressed the hope that GDOT will maintain the road in the way it looked on the day it opened.

DeKalb Commissioner Lee May, who represents District 5 where the road is located, was very happy to have the improvements in his district.

“It pleases my heart to have this day come together,” he said.

DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, who wielded the scissors for the ceremony, said that in local government, they deliver quality of life.

“And it starts with infrastructure,” he said. “We have put the project in the ground to sustain us.”

Weekend lane closures impact I-285, I-20 Motorists will have to contend with several lane closures on the interstates through south DeKalb County this week as Georgia DOT crews make up work after last weekend’s washout and heavy rains.

Contractors and maintenance crews plan to get as much work done as possible this weekend despite the chance of scattered thunderstorms on Saturday.

In South DeKalb, the work will likely cause delays on I-20 and I-285 and on DeKalb Industrial Parkway.

GDOT District Construction Engineer Shun Pringle said contractors are ready to go this weekend. “Motorists need to seek alternate routes,” he said.

Between May 10 and 13, two left lanes on I-20 eastbound will be closed for paving operations 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. between Columbia Drive and Panola Road.

On I-285 southbound, one right ramp lane will be closed through 5 a.m. on May 11 for construction of barrier wall #1B at I-20 westbound.

Glenwood Avenue eastbound and westbound continues to be closed between Flat Shoals Avenue and Moreland through Aug. 30 for the replacement of the curb and sidewalk. During this period, the road is closed 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On State Route 8 westbound at DeKalb Industrial Way, two center lanes are closed through May 17 for pipeline construction.

For a list of weekend construction in metro Atlanta and real-time statewide construction reports throughout the weekend, visit www.511ga.org or call 511.

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Forum 2346 Candler Rd. Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007 www.crossroadsnews.com editor@crossroadsnews.com

Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker Graphic Design Curtis Parker Staff Writers Jennifer Ffrench Parker Jessica Smith Ken Watts Copy Editor Brenda Yarbrough Advertising Sales Kathy E. Warner Circulation Manager Jami Ffrench-Parker CrossRoadsNews is published every Saturday by CrossRoads­News, Inc. We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings.

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May 11, 2013

Parents, students and teachers must wake up, push back, and opt out if we want better education.

Emphasis on test scores is crippling education

By Mari Ann Roberts, Ph.D.

While there are numerous systemic reasons for the massive education debt owed to students of color and low-income students in the U.S., what lies most heavily in my heart at this time are the reasons connected to high-stakes testing – present since the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2001.

The requirements of NCLB, exacerbated by the NCLB “aid & assistance” given through Race to the Top, have created a comfortable home for a monster – a testing industrial complex that is in the process of tearing public education asunder – starting with its roots – teachers and students.

The Testing Industrial Complex is a term I have created to describe a system in which the oppressive overuse of high-stakes standardized testing has resulted in various “educational reforms” which have virtually imprisoned students, teachers, and school curriculum.

These greed-induced “reforms,” primarily driven by business entities who have no connection to public education, have driven students and teachers away from k-12 schools in ever increasing numbers, thus, “standardizing” the school to prison pipeline through

“Why are your child’s class sizes getting bigger, school days getting shorter, school materials becoming less available all the while your state government spends millions of dollars on irrelevant testing?”

Mari Ann Roberts, Ph.D.

the oppressive machinations of the TIC (Advancement Project, 2010; Horn, 2003; Kohn, 2000; Fair Test, 2012, 2010).

Much of the history of the Testing Industrial Complex is submerged in the roots of neoliberal education policy. While we have long had some type of assessment in our public schools, and much of it has been standardized, never before in the history of the U.S. have we based so many key education policy decisions on test score outcomes.

It is the very high-stakes nature of the testing, the income that it generates, and its part in neoliberal policy-making, that has created a situation ripe for the emergence of an entity like the Testing Industrial Complex, a set of bureaucratic, political, economic, and racialized interests that encourage increased spending on standardized testing, regardless of actual need. A con-

fluence of special interests that has given neoliberal school reforms in the United States a seemingly unstoppable momentum – an entity that has almost destroyed public education as we know it.

The testing hasn’t helped. Despite billion-dollar profits for some testing companies, millions of dollars spent by states across the country for tests and test prep materials, and stringent testing requirements, student academic achievement, in large, is not increasing.

The natural question to follow is, “Then why are we still doing this to ourselves?”

In large, because one of the reasons are the ways in which neoliberal entities have managed to subsume the attack on public education in language that describes things we all want to see from public schools “accountability,” “standards,” and “outcomes.”

However, what they have failed

to mention is that their versions of these things have demonstrated little, if any, success.

Parents, wake up and start asking questions!

Why are your child’s class sizes getting bigger, school days getting shorter, school materials becoming less available all the while your state government spends millions of dollars on irrelevant testing that has only served to cause emotional stress for many students?!?

Parents, students, and teachers must wake up, push back, and opt out if we want a better education for low-income students and students of color.

Join the massive revolt against high-stakes testing that is sweeping the nation.

If you want a better education for your child, you need to know that research has shown that smaller class sizes, better teacher communication, and more peergenerated professional development are the things that help to improve your child’s academic outcomes – not more and more and more standardized tests.

Dr. Mari Ann Roberts lives in Stone Mountain. She is an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Clayton State University.

Store fights back with free barbecues and gospel concert PROTESTS,

from page

1

have been exploiting black communities by selling poor quality merchandise and not putting anything back into the neighborhoods.

It has to stop.”

Hong said the cookouts were intended as a gesture of friendship to the community.

On Thursday afternoon, the manager of the shopping plaza told Hong to shut it down.

The violations found at the store included “items stored too close to the floor” and “excessive buildup in the meat coolers.”

Hong said he has corrected the problems in the citations and identified that the “reddish dripping liquid” on the wall was “condensation mixed with rust on top of the old cooler.”

“We wiped it down, but the cooler’s old and there’s no way to fix it,” he said. “I’m just going to replace it.”

Hong said he has never sold unrefrigerated fresh meats as the customer alleged.

“Only country-cured meats are displayed without refrigeration here, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it is safe to do that,” he said.

During all its evening newscasts on Thursday, WSB apologized to the store for saying it had left raw meats unrefrigerated.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Adults and children line up for ribs, chicken and hot dogs in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly on Candler Road.

“The meat was cured meat,” said anchor Jovita Moore. “And we did not make that clear.”

Hong met with Piggly Wiggly corporate officials on May 6 about the complaints and the demonstrations. His family owns the store,

but Piggly Wiggly owns the brand and has a vested interest in settling the dispute.

“They know me,” he said. “They know I’m going to renovate and make things better.”

Brooks said demonstrators are

demanding quality and respect.

“You cannot sell us lower quality of merchandise,” he said. “Give us the top quality service like they do in any other community. We won’t tolerate this in southwest Atlanta, and we won’t tolerate it here.”

index to advertisers Circulation Audited By

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DeKalb Association of Realtors....................... 7 DeKalb Community Development Department.6 DeKalb County Office of CEO......................... 3 DeKalb Family Medicine................................15 DeKalb Tuskegee Alumni...............................15 Don’s Tree Experts.........................................15 Flat Shoals Foot & Ankle Center.....................9 Foundation Property Mgmt Inc.....................15 Johnny Harris CPA.........................................14 Kool Smiles P.C...............................................9 LawnMax, Inc.................................................15

Legal Notices.................................................13 Macy’s........................................................... 16 MARTA............................................................ 7 Mini Mall........................................................15 Quenon Smith...............................................14 Quincy Jones at the Fox................................. 11 Seafood On The Crest..................................1, 5 Smokerise Summer Day Camp......................12 Snap Fitness.................................................. 10 Soul Discount Fabrics.....................................15

Southern Christian Leadership Conference..... 8 The Benn Agency..........................................15 The Law Office of B.A. Thomas.....................14 The Samuel Group.........................................15 World-Class Classic Physiques...................... 10 Wright Vision Care........................................ 10 Best Buy Co. Inc......................................Inserts Holistic Health Management Inc.............Inserts Walgreens...............................................Inserts Walmart..................................................Inserts

5

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

Community

“Hamilton High was a lifeline. It was a lifesaver. We had people here that really loved us, that cared about us.”

Class of 1963 celebrates legacy of beloved Hamilton High Hamilton High was founded as the Avondale Colored Elementary and High School in 1924, one of nearly 5,000 schools built by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald.

Hamilton High alumni Robert Dennis (from left), Conny Moore, Elisha Lester, Gilbert Solomon and James Clark were among those attending a meeting to plan the class of 1963’s 50th reunion.

Hamilton High teachers worked with very few resources beyond their own talent and compassion.

By Ken Watts ken@crossroadsnews.com

Fifty years ago, black teens in DeKalb County had only one option for secondary education: Hamilton High in Scottdale.

Gilbert Solomon, an Army vet, remembers it as a safe haven in a segregated world – the only school in the county where African-American teens could get a secondary education when Jim Crow ruled DeKalb.

“Hamilton High was a lifeline,” he said last week. “It was a lifesaver. We had people here that really loved us, that cared about us.”

Solomon was trading stories with high school buddies he hadn’t seen in decades at an alumni luncheon on a rain-drenched Saturday. Two dozen members of the class of 1963, now in their late 60s, and their guests packed their old school building’s tiny cafeteria on May 4 for good food, fellowship and a trip back in time as they lead up to their 50th anniversary reunion in June.

For many, it was their first time back in the building since they graduated.

Solomon said their teachers wanted them to learn.

“They worked with us and taught us and showed us day in and day out,” he said. “They put up with our foolishness and still brought us to a point where we learned.”

Mary Lester, organizer of the alumni reception, had dreamed of such a moment.

“The driving force behind this 50th year celebration was my desire for us to come together as a class to ‘walk down memory lane,’” Lester said. “The need to reconnect with each other, to share with each other our experiences over the last 49 years held such a burning desire in my heart.”

RY ENTA S & M I L P T COM ESHMEN S K R C F A E R TE SN I L

The group will hold their Hamilton Reunion Picnic at noon on June 8 at Lelia Mason Park in Stone Mountain. On June 15, the 50th Anniversary Banquet takes place 6 to 11 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Decatur.

As Solomon reminisced, classmates Robert Dennis, Elisha Lester, Conny Moore and James Clark listened intently as their own memories came flooding back.

In the 1960s, black students were bused past all-white schools much closer to their homes in Stone Mountain, Tucker, Clarkston and Avondale to attend segregated classes at Hamilton. They all agree that Hamilton’s faculty was special.

Dennis said that one time he stopped coming to school.

“I had a teacher here who came out and found me and told me, ‘I want to see you in school Monday morning.’ And I was here!”

Dennis said he admires today’s teachers for the tough conditions they work under but remembers the faculty at Hamilton as extensions of his family.

“We came here and got a hot meal,” he said. “You could go downstairs and take a hot shower. We didn’t have those things in our homes.”

Elisha Lester, a retired U.S. Postal Service superintendent, said their teachers were preparing them for the challenges they knew they were going to face.

“They knew integration was coming and they wanted us to be ready,” he said.

The year they graduated from Hamilton High was a pivotal one in the civil rights movement. There was the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young black girls in Birmingham, Ala.; the violent police attacks on peaceful demonstra-

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Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

tors in that city; the March on Washington and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech; and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Through all the turmoil, the classrooms at Hamilton were islands of calm where kids learned academics and character lessons about work ethic and devotion to duty.

Clark said the memory of those lessons sustained him when he became a captain in the Army, serving two tours in Vietnam.

Moore earned a Bronze Star for his bravery in that war. Dennis and Solomon are also combat veterans with Purple Heart Medals for wounds sustained in Vietnam.

Hamilton High was founded as the Avondale Colored Elementary and High School in 1924. By the time school officials changed the name to Hamilton in 1955, it was educating nearly 400 students with Maude Hamilton as the high school’s first principal.

Alums say Hamilton High teachers had very few resources beyond their own talent and compassion. Mary Woods Collins remembers one teacher in particular.

“Miss Gussie B. Moore was very instrumental in me going on to further my education,” she said. “She stressed that whatever I did, be the best at it.”

Collins went to a two-year technical school for business training, then on to an administrative career in the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Diane Smith Dallas said the Hamilton High kids also learned self-respect.

“At that time my name was Diane Smith and a teacher named Mr. Goldston said, ‘Miss Smith, may I see you for a moment?’ ” she said, “That was the first time that I had ever heard an adult call me Miss Smith. I was just shocked that he was talking to me and I felt respected as a person.”

Collins, Dallas and classmates Louisteen Woods Johnson and Barbara Harris Clark were all bused from Sherman Town in Stone Mountain. They remember the Ku Klux Klan marching through their streets on the way to rallies in a field near their homes.

“That’s how we learned the names of the states by reading the car tags at their rallies,” Dallas said. “People might be interested to know that most of the Klansmen were from outside the state.”

The winds of change led to the demise of their beloved school.

Integration opened the doors of all-white schools to African-American students and DeKalb Schools shuttered Hamilton in 1969 as enrollment plummeted. Its legacy, however, lives on in the hearts of its graduates.

Barbara Clark said back then, when teachers taught, kids learned.

“I still remember some of the things that children should know today but don’t know,” she said. “Back then, you felt compelled to learn.”

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Community

May 11, 2013

“If you saw my 90-day plan, one of the aspects was that I would begin to identify my senior management team.”

Perrone out, Mike Bell in as DeKalb Schools chief financial officer

By Ken Watts

DeKalb interim School Superintendent Michael Thurmond says he didn’t ask for the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Michael Perrone, but he is happy to move forward.

“If you saw my 90-day plan, one of the aspects was that I would begin to Michael Perrone identify my senior management team,” Thurmond said Wednesday as he headed into the second School Board budget hearing. “You expect that when you get a new superintendent. Every senior per-

son recognizes that and I said to them that they’re really in an extended job interview and that’s the nature of the beast.”

Perrone stepped down from his position May 7, just days after announcing that instead of the anticipated deficit, the school district will have a $27 million surplus under its proposed $759 million budget for fiscal year 2014.

Thurmond said Perrone might have left because he saw the proverbial handwriting on the wall.

Perrone, who joined the district in March 2012, did not say why he left in his May 7 resignation letter.

He was quickly replaced in-house by Dr. Michael Bell, a school system auditor.

“One of the most important positions in any district is CFO and we’re delighted, thrilled really, to have Dr. Mike Bell step in as acting and soon-to-be official CFO for the DeKalb School District,” Thurmond said before going into the School Board’s May 8 Michael Bell meeting.

He later told the board that he will soon recommend that they officially hire Bell for the CFO position. Bell is a former DeKalb County financial director who took an early retirement buyout from the county in 2010.

“He is very experienced and has served as CFO for the city of Atlanta, DeKalb County government and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport,” Thurmond said. “He is one of the most respected fiscal managers in the nation.”

Thurmond said Bell is very familiar with the district’s books and should move easily into his new duties.

Perrone came to DeKalb from Duval County near Jacksonville, Fla., where his family still lives.

Thurmond said he did a really good job for the district.

“I had no problem with him,” he said, “but I was just ready to bring in some new faces and some new talent to help us get back on track.”

Several board members open to dual accreditation Input sought on agency. the issue as early as June 3 but cautioned vocational rehab “Parents have talked that the board has to avoid giving SACS the SCHOOLS,

from page

1

students at a competitive disadvantage.

Dr. Michael Erwin, the District 3 board member, said a separate accreditation might make a difference for some students.

“If that’s what the parents want to do, I have no problem empowering them to do that,” Erwin said. “And I don’t think it will affect the SACS accreditation at all. So I support it.”

Vice Chair Jim McMahan, who represents District 4, said the board has already done a lot of research on GAC. “We’ve got three or four board members who have done the due diligence and communicated with the executive director at the Georgia Accrediting Commission. So, yes it’s on our plate,” he said. “I will not speak for the entire board, but I’m open to it.”

McMahan said the board could take up

wrong impression.

“We want to make sure that SACS understands that we are 100 percent focused on their action items and not just going off on a tangent somewhere else,” he said.

Interim Superintendent Mike Thurmond, who has met with Parents for DeKalb Schools and the SWD Alumni Association on dual accreditation, is skeptical of the idea.

“It saps energy from the real fight – to win back full accreditation,” he said. “Besides, the GAC is only recognized here in Georgia and would not be of much help to high school seniors trying to gain admission to colleges and universities in other states.”

Simmons said that while GAC is not recognized nationally as a regional accrediting agency, it carries considerable weight with admissions departments as a state accrediting

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

DeKalb County 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan for

DeKalb 2014-2018 Consolidated for HUD HUDCounty Programs to include the 2014Plan Annual Action PlanAnnual Action Plan Programs to include the 2014 GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS FOR The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 2014 FUNDS On May 16, 2013 the DeKalb County Human and Community Development

Department will begin accepting applications from faith-based organizations, community organizations, municipalities, non-profit agencies and other entities interested in applying for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and HOME funds for the Year 2014. All applications or requests are subject to future HUD funding for these programs. CDBG and ESG applications and general information may be obtained beginning May 16, 2013 at the DeKalb County website; www.dekalbcountyga.us. For more information, please join us a the meetings or call (404) 286-3308.

___________________________________________________________ _______

Application/Information/Technical Assistance Workshop Date/Time Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Location Wesley Chapel Library 2861 Wesley Chapel Road Decatur, Georgia 30034

This meeting is very important given the funding reductions in the various programs!

to admissions specialists at Ivy League, toptier and other outof-state colleges and universities and have been assured that dual accreditation would Jennifer Simmons definitely help students if DeKalb loses SACS accreditation.”

The alumni association says the window of opportunity is closing.

“The timeline is critical,” Simmons said. “Unless the dual accreditation process begins now, it will not happen before December.”

McMahan said first things first.

“We’ll have a visit from SACS next week for a progress report on the required actions, then we’ll focus on GAC,” he said.

The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency is seeking public input from residents on its fiscal year 2014 state plan.

Metro residents can offer comments on May 13 from 10 a.m. to noon in the board room at the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, 2 Peachtree St. in Atlanta.

The federal Rehabilitative Services Administration requires an annual plan on how the Georgia agency will use federal and state funds to deliver services for eligible individuals with disabilities.

People unable to attend the hearing may e-mail comments to shepard.linda@pep pinc.org or valencia.thomas@gvra.ga.gov or mail them to Linda Shepard, Georgia State Rehabilitation Council, 8355 Cherokee Blvd., Suite 100, Douglasville, GA 30134.

ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE Condado de DeKalb 2014-2018 Plan Consolidado para ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE

ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE

Condado de DeKalb 2014-2018 Plan Consolidado para HUD IMPORTANTE ANUNCIO Condado deDeKalb DeKalb 2014-2018 Plande Consolidado para HUD Condado de 2014-2018 Plan Consolidado para ANUNCIO HUD Programas para incluir enIMPORTANTE Plan Acción Anual HUD Condado depara DeKalb 2014-2018 Plan Consolidado para Programas incluir en dedeAcción Anual 2014 Programas para incluir enPlan Plan Acción Anual 2014 Condado depara DeKalb 2014-2018 Plan para Programas incluir enHUD Plan deConsolidado Acción Anual 2014 HUD PROCESO DE SOLICITUD DEenSUBVENCION PARA Programas para2014 incluir Plan de Acción Anual PROCESO DE SOLICITUD SUBVENCION Programas para incluir enDEPlan de Acción Anual El Departamento de Vivienda y2014 Desarrollo Urbano de PARA los Estados PROCESO DE DE SUBVENCION PARA El Departamento deSOLICITUD Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados 2014 Unidos (HUD) 2014 FUNDS Unidos (HUD) 2014 PROCESO DE SOLICITUD DE FUNDS SUBVENCION El Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de losPARA Estados PROCESO DE DE SUBVENCION PARA ElMayo Departamento deSOLICITUD Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano los Estados Unidos (HUD) 2014 FUNDS El 16 de de 2013, el Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del de Condado de DeKalb El dea Mayo de 2013, el de Departamento de(HUD) Desarrollo Humano yUrbano Comunitariocomunitarias, del los Condado de DeKalb El16Departamento y Desarrollo de Estados comenzará aceptar solicitudes deVivienda organizaciones religiosas, organizaciones municipios, Unidos 2014 FUNDS comenzará a aceptar de organizaciones religiosas, organizaciones comunitarias, municipios, agencias sin fines de lucrosolicitudes u otras entidades interesadas en aplicar para Community Development Block Unidos (HUD) 2014 FUNDS El 16agencias de Mayosindefines 2013, Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb de ellucro u otras entidades interesadas en aplicar para Community Development Block

Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), y los fondos de HOME para el año 2014. Todas las comenzará a aceptar solicitudes organizaciones religiosas, organizaciones comunitarias, municipios, El 16 Mayo de 2013, el de Departamento de Desarrollo Humano ypara Comunitario de DeKalb Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), y losen fondos de HOME para el del añoCondado 2014.

Todas las solicitudes o de peticiones seran objeto de financiamiento HUD el futuro, estos programas. agencias sin de lucro uelsolicitudes otras entidades interesadas en aplicar Community Development Block comenzará adeaceptar organizaciones religiosas, organizaciones comunitarias, Elsolicitudes 16 de fines Mayo 2013, Departamento de Desarrollo Humano ypara Comunitario Condado de municipios, DeKalb o peticiones seran objeto dedefinanciamiento HUD en el futuro, para estosdel programas.

Grantcomenzará (CDBG), Solutions Grant (ESG), yinteresadas losreligiosas, fondosendeorganizaciones HOMEpara para el año 2014.

Todas las agenciasEmergency fines de lucro u otras entidades aplicar Community Development Block asin aceptar solicitudes de organizaciones comunitarias, municipios, Las aplicaciones CDBG y ESG y la información general se pueden obtener a partir 16 de Mayo 2013 en el solicitudes o peticiones seran de HUD yen el futuro, para estos programas.

Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grantinteresadas (ESG), los fondos de HOME para 2014.

Todas agencias sin finesCDBG de lucro u otras entidades en aplicarobtener para Community Block yobjeto ESG y lafinanciamiento información general se pueden partir 16elDevelopment deaño Mayo 2013 en ellas sitio Las webaplicaciones del Condado de DeKalb, www.dekalbcountyga.us.

Para obtener mása información, por favor, únase solicitudes o peticiones seran objeto de financiamiento en el para estos programas.

Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), y losHUD fondos defuturo, HOME para el año 2014.

Todasúnase las sitio web del Condado de DeKalb, www.dekalbcountyga.us.

Para obtener más información, por favor, a nuestras reuniones o llame al 404.286.3308.

Las aplicaciones CDBG y oESG información general HUD se pueden obtener a partir de Mayo 2013 en el solicitudes peticiones seran de financiamiento en el futuro, para estos 16 programas. a nuestrasoreuniones llameyobjeto alla404.286.3308. y ESG y la información general se pueden a partir 16 por de Mayo sitio webLas delaplicaciones Condado deCDBG DeKalb, www.dekalbcountyga.us.

Para obtener obtener más información, favor, 2013 únaseen el web del Condado DeKalb, www.dekalbcountyga.us.

Paraobtener obteneramás favor, Lassitio aplicaciones CDBG ESG y la información general se pueden partirinformación, 16 de Mayopor2013 enúnase el a nuestras reuniones o llameyalde 404.286.3308. nuestras reunionesdeo DeKalb, llame al www.dekalbcountyga.us.

404.286.3308. sitioaweb del Condado Para obtener más Técnica información, por favor, únase Aplicación/Información/Taller de Asistencia de Asistencia Técnica a nuestrasAplicación/Información/Taller reuniones o llame al 404.286.3308.

Aplicación/Información/Taller de Asistencia Técnica Fecha/Hora Localidad Fecha/Hora Localidad Aplicación/Información/Taller de Asistencia Técnica Jueves, 16 de May, 2013 Wesley Chapel Jueves, 16 de May, 2013 ChapelLibrary Library Aplicación/Información/Taller deWesley Asistencia Técnica

Fecha/Hora Localidad AMAM – 12:30 PMPM Chapel 10:30 2861 – 12:30 Wesley ChapelRoad Road 10:30 2861Wesley Fecha/Hora Localidad Georgia 30034 Decatur, Jueves, 16Fecha/Hora de May, 2013 Wesley Chapel Library Georgia 30034 Decatur, Localidad Jueves, 16 de May, 2013 Wesley Chapel Library 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM 2861 Wesley Chapel Road Jueves, 16importante de –May, 2013 Wesley Chapel Library AM 12:30 PM Wesley Road programas!

10:30 2861 de EstaEsta reunión es muy importante teniendo en en cuenta laslas reducciones fondos enen los reunión es muy teniendo cuenta reducciones de fondosChapel losdiferentes diferentes programas!

Georgia 30034 Decatur, ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Wesley Georgia Chapel Road 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM 2861Decatur, 30034 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Decatur, Georgia 30034

Esta reunión es muy importante teniendo en cuenta las reducciones de fondos en los diferentes programas!

Esta reunión es muy importante teniendo en cuenta lasPúblicas reducciones de fondos en los diferentes programas!

Audiencias Audiencias Públicas ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Esta reunión es muy importante teniendo en cuenta las reducciones de fondos en los diferentes programas!

El Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario deldel Condado El______________________________________________________________________________________________ Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario CondadodedeDeKalb DeKalbestá estállevando llevando aa cabo dos audienciaspúblicas. públicas. cabo dos audiencias Audiencias Públicas

Audiencias Públicas

Public Hearings The DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department is conducting two Public Hearings.

Date/Time Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 6:30 PM

Date/Time Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 6:30 PM

Community Needs Maloof Auditorium 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA The purpose of this public hearing is to solicit input from the public regarding community needs and priorities. We will discuss general information concerning the 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan including the 2014 Annual Action Plan, application submission process, and program updates.

Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan Maloof Auditorium 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA We will present the proposed 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan including the 2014 Annual Action Plan, proposed budget and solicit public questions and/or comments.

El Departamento de Desarrollo Humano yAudiencias Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb está está llevando a a Públicas El Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb llevando Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora cabo dos audiencias públicas. cabo dos audiencias públicas.

El Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb está llevando a PM Jueves, Mayo, 2013 a las 6:30 Jueves, Jueves,2222dedeAgosto, Agosto,2013 2013 aa las las 6:30 6:30 PM Jueves, 23 23 de de Mayo, 2013 a las 6:30 cabo dos audiencias públicas.

PM PM Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Budget/Annual Action Plan Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan Proposed Jueves, 23 de 23 Mayo, 2013 2013 a las a6:30 22 de22Agosto, 20132013 a las 6:306:30 PM PM Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Jueves, de Mayo, las 6:30Jueves, Jueves, de Agosto, a las

Needs Auditorium MaloofAuditorium Community Needs Jueves,Community 23 dePM Mayo, 2013 a las 6:30 Jueves, 22 Maloof de Agosto, 2013 a las 6:30 PM PM Auditorium CommerceDrive, Drive,Decatur, Decatur, GA GA Maloof 1300Commerce Auditorium Maloof 1300 Budget/Annual Action PlanPlan Proposed PM Budget/Annual Action Proposed Vamos a presentar el proyecto dePlan PlanConsolidado Consolidado Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA 1300 Vamos a presentar el proyecto de Drive, Decatur, GA 1300 Commerce Budget/Annual Action Plan Proposed NeedsNeeds Auditorium Maloof Community Auditorium Maloof 2014-2018 incluyendo 2014 AnualPlan Plande deacción, acción, El propósito de Community esta audiencia pública obtener 2014-2018 incluyendo lalaAuditorium 2014 Anual El propósito de esta audiencia pública es es obtener Needs Maloof Community Auditorium Commerce Drive, Decatur, GAdel Maloof 1300 Auditorium Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA Maloof 1300 presupuesto y solicitaremos preguntas y comentarios la opinión del publico sobre las necesidades y presupuesto y solicitaremos preguntas y comentarios la opinión del Commerce publico sobre las necesidades Vamos a presentar elDrive, proyecto de Plan Consolidado Auditorium Commerce Decatur, GA del Maloof 1300 a presentar el proyecto de Plan Consolidado Drive, Decatur, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA y GA 1300 público. prioridades de la comunidad.

Vamos a discutir la Vamos público. prioridades de la comunidad.

Vamos a discutir la 2014-2018 incluyendo la 2014 Plan de acción, Vamos aincluyendo presentar ellaproyecto de Anual Plan 2014-2018 2014 Anual PlanConsolidado de acción, El propósito de estasobre audiencia pública esGA obtener Commerce Drive, Decatur, 1300 El propósito de esta audiencia pública esConsolidado obtener información general el Plan

información general elsobre Plan Consolidado presupuesto y solicitaremos y comentarios 2014-2018 incluyendo la preguntas 2014preguntas Anualy Plan de acción, la del opinión publico las necesidades y solicitaremos comentarios del del El propósito de del estasobre audiencia pública es obtener la opinión publico sobre lasdenecesidades y 2014,ypresupuesto 2014-2018 incluido el Plan Acción Anual 2014-2018 incluidode el la Plan de Acción Anuala2014, público. preguntas y comentarios del comunidad.

Vamos discutir la opinión publico sobre las solicitudes, necesidades y la presupuesto y solicitaremos público. prioridades de ladel comunidad.

Vamos a discutir la el prioridades proceso de presentación de y las el proceso de de presentación de solicitudes, y las la público. información elConsolidado Plana Consolidado prioridades lageneral comunidad. discutir actualizaciones del Vamos programa. información general sobre elsobre Plan actualizaciones del programa.

2014-2018 incluido el de Acción Anual 2014, información el Plan Consolidado 2014-2018 incluidogeneral el Plansobre dePlan Acción Anual 2014, el proceso de presentación de solicitudes, y las 2014-2018 incluido el Plan Acción Anual 2014, el proceso de presentación dedesolicitudes, y las actualizaciones delsolicitudes, programa. y las el proceso de presentación de actualizaciones del programa. actualizaciones del programa.

7

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

Community

“We want you to target your spending. That means schools that have the largest class sizes and the lowest scores.”

Parents, teachers urge long-overdue raises for employees

By Ken Watts

Lance Hammonds, first vice president of the DeKalb NAACP, comments on the proposed 2014 budget at the School Board’s public hearing on May 8.

ken@crossroadsnews.com

For fiscal 2014, DeKalb parents and educators want raises for teachers and other employees who have not had a raise in years.

They lined up at the May 8 budget hearing to tell School Board members that some of the projected $27.2 million budget surplus for fiscal year 2014 should fund salary raises.

Daniel Sobczak, a Southwest DeKalb High teacher, said too many teachers are making what the state says the system has to pay them and not a penny more.

“Please take a look at the local supplemental payments to teachers and take care of them or you’re gonna scare off a lot of the experienced teachers,” he told the board.

The proposed $759 million budget released May 7 shows projected expenses of $731.8 million, leaving the district with a surplus of $27.2 million.

Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond said some of the extra money came from a state subsidy for a growing population of school“Please take a look at the local children who don’t speak supplemental payments to English that was always Michael Thurmond teachers and take care of them there and unrecorded and some of it the district had failed to color you’re gonna scare off a lot of lect. the experienced teachers.”

For example, he said the district gets fedDaniel Sobczak, eral money to feed children but failed to bill Southwest DeKalb High teacher the government for the cost of administering the grant.

Previous projections had showed a $15.1 Proposed budget million shortfall for FY 2014, which begins July 1.

The DeKalb School District projected When the surplus first surfaced at the FY 2014 budget is $759.1 million.

May 6 meeting, District 9 board member Numbers are in $ millions.

Thad Mayfield wanted to know whether the Among projected expenses: found money was “process error” or “human Superintendent ............................... $0.9 oversight.”

School Board .................................$12.8 “Both,” Thurmond said.

Communications . ........................... $0.9 The proposed budget shows that more Curriculum and Instruction ............$37.6 than $507.3 million, or 66.8 percent, is alFacilities ........................................ $88.1 located to schools. Charter schools get an Finance ........................................... $3.8 additional $27 million.

Human resources ........................... $5.1 Thurmond is mandating $18.5 million Strategic Mgmt & Accountability .... $0.7 cuts in legal fees, central office vacancies, and Charter schools . ............................$27.1 central office budget.

Schools ....................................... $507.3 The district also is proposing to spend Additional fixed cost ......................$14.7 $5.3 million to purchase, rebind and replenFY 2014 total projected expenses: ish textbooks and $3 million to increase

$750.4 million professional development and learning The superintendent has mandated opportunities for teachers and to lower the $18.5 million in cuts: total number of furlough days for all 10- and Legal fees ....................................... $6.0 11-month employees, principals, and central Central office vacancies.................... $5.3 office employees with salaries up to $80,000 Central office budget cuts ................$7.2 annually.

To boost employee morale and lower absenteeism among bus drivers, food ser- Attendance Program that will pay employees vice, custodians and clerical employees, the up to $150 if they have no absences.

The budget also earmarks $1.5 million district is proposing a $1 million Meritorious

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Free Homebuyer Education Workshop Steps to Homeownership Success

• Meet with the Experts to Help You Understand the Process of Buying a Home and Getting a Loan.

• Learn about Down Payment Assistance Programs.

• Get Tips to Increase Your CREDIT Score.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

10:30am-12:30pm (check in at 10am)

Location: Northlake Mall

Pre-Registration is required at www.DWHIP.org Contact Information:

DeKalb Association of REALTORS®

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Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

for technology enhancements to the district’s financial system.

The May 8 public hearing was the second of three scheduled before the School Board approves the budget by June 30.

The third and final budget hearing is set for 6 p.m. on May 15 at the school system’s administration building at 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd. in Stone Mountain.

Lance Hammonds, the DeKalb NAACP’s first vice president, called on the board to direct its spending to the areas of greatest need.

“We want you to target your spending,”

he said. “That means the schools that have the largest class sizes and the lowest scores.

That’s where more dollars should be spent to ensure quality education for all our children throughout the district.”

Barbara Goldberg, who lives in School Board District 4, pointed out that the school system spent $9 million on legal fees for fiscal 2013.

“That’s more than Cobb, Gwinnett and Fulton combined,” she said. “Looking ahead, I want the money that has been going to legal fees to go to teachers and instructional resources to put our district back on top.”

METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY

Notice of Public Hearings May 14 & 16, 2013 Notice is hereby given that the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will hold public hearings for the purpose of considering the

Proposed Fiscal Year 2014 Operating & Capital Budgets Tuesday, May 14 7741 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs, 30350

NORTH FULTON

Thursday, May 16 2424 Piedmont Rd., NE 30324

MARTA

SERVICE CENTER Community Exchange: 6-7 p.m.

HEARING: 7:00 p.m.

HEADQUARTERS BLDG. Community Exchange: 6-7 p.m.

HEARING: 7:00 p.m.

Riding MARTA: Bus route 87 from either the Dunwoody or North Springs rail stations.

Riding MARTA: Across the street from the Lindbergh Center Station.

also on Tuesday

also on Thursday

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, 30030

3201 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SW 30311

DECATUR

ATLANTA

MALOOF AUDITORIUM Community Exchange: 6-7 p.m.

HEARING: 7:00 p.m.

ADAMSVILLE RECREATION CENTER Community Exchange: 6-7 p.m.

HEARING: 7:00 p.m.

Riding MARTA: Walk one block west of Decatur Station.

Riding MARTA: Bus route 73 from H.E. Holmes Station.

Copies of the proposed budget will also be available at MARTA’s Office of External Affairs, 2424 Piedmont Road, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30324 during regular business hours, Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For formats (FREE of charge) in accordance with the ADA and Limited English Proficiency regulations contact (404) 8484037. For those patrons requiring further accommodations, information can be obtained by calling the Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 404 848-5665.

In addition, a sign language interpreter will be available at all hearings. If you cannot attend the hearings and want to provide comments you may: (1) leave a message at (404)

848-5299; (2) write to MARTA’s Office of External Affairs, 2424 Piedmont Road, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30324-3330; (3) complete an online Comment Card at www.itsmarta.com; (4) or fax your comments no later than May 28, 2013 to (404) 848-4179.

All citizens of the City of Atlanta and the counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and Gwinnett whose interests are affected by the subjects to be considered at these hearings are hereby notified and invited to appear at said times and places and present such evidence, comment or objection as their interests require.

Keith T. Parker, AICP, General Manager/CEO

8

Community

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

“Any time you increase visibility at a busy intersection, you promote safety for everyone involved.”

LED signs on Mountain Industrial Lighted street signs will soon mark the major intersections of Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Stone Mountain.

Installers are adding new street signs illuminated by light-emitting diodes to the recently upgraded intersection mast arms beginning this month as the Stone Mountain Community Improvement District continues to improve traffic safety in the corridor.

The LED signs will appear next to the existing traffic signals.

The Stone Mountain CID has secured the services of R.J. Haynie & Associates to place a total of 24 signs at 10 intersections.

Preliminary work is now under way.

The project is funded by a $500,000 grant from Georgia’s State Road and Tollway Authority.

CID President Emory Morsberger said

the energy-efficient LED signs will lead to safer driving throughout the corridor.

“They don’t use much electricity, but the signs are very bright,” Morsberger said. “Any time you increase visibility at a busy intersection, you promote safety for everyone involved.”

He said the uniform signage will provide a distinguishing feature for the CID area as a whole.

“This project will not only help people to know where they are headed, but it will also underscore that they are inside the Stone Mountain CID,” Morsberger said.

“These are positive, active indicators that you are driving in a distinctly different part of the county.”

For more information, visit www .stonemountaincid.com.

Nature lovers can learn about the South River’s flora and fauna from a certified naturalist.

More than 40 Zipcars near 13 stations are available for commuters, including near Candler Park, Decatur and East Lake stations, as MARTA expands its partnership with the car-sharing network.

MARTA adds more Zipcars Paddle the South River on May 18 South DeKalb residents can paddle the South River on May 18 and experience the beauty of nature close to home.

The excursion is sponsored by the South River Watershed Alliance and offers nature lovers the opportunity to learn about the waterway’s aquatic birds and other wildlife and its vegetation from a certified naturalist.

Last year more than 135 canoeists and kayakers paddled the South River.

The four-hour, 5.5-mile trip departs Panola Shoals at the intersection of Snapfinger Road (Ga. 155) and Panola Road at 9 a.m.

SRWA Director Jackie Echols said it’s a great way to have fun, meet new people, and make new friends.

For cost and other information, contact Jackie Echols at southriverwatershed alliance@gmail.com or 404-285-3756.

MARTA is expanding its partnership with Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing network, to attract more riders.

Two Zipcars – a Honda Civic and Ford Focus – are now available for commuters’ use at the Brookhaven rail station on Peachtree Road near the Kiss & Ride parking lot.

With the additions, MARTA now has more than 40 Zipcars located within close proximity to 13 stations – Arts Center, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Candler Park, Decatur, East Lake, Garnett, Inman Park, Five Points, Lindbergh Center, Midtown, North Avenue and Peachtree Center.

WHY I SUPPORT THE DEKALB COUNTY BIOMASS PLANT

By Charles Steele Jr., President Emeritus/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Obama has taken the courageous path in promoting a sustainable and independent energy future for our country. His policies to support the growth of renewable energy production in the form of wind, solar and biomass in our country is brave because, with change often comes misunderstanding and sometimes, deliberate misinformation, serving to impede progress. This is the case in DeKalb County, Georgia.

Biomass is a term that refers to renewable energy from living matter, including manure. There is so much biomass produced in nature, it only makes sense to convert it into energy. Biomass plants, existing for over a hundred years, use a variety of materials as fuel. The most common material is wood pellets. Modern biomass plants are operating in European cities as a major part of their energy mix. Such plants are now operating in the United States at some of the nation’s leading universities. The University of Vermont, Iowa, and Central Michigan all use biomass plants to provide steam, hot water and power for their campuses. The renewable energy complex at the University of Iowa was just honored by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the top twenty renewable facilities located in the United States. The Federal government is building a biomass plant at the famous Oak Ridge National Laboratories, which houses some of the nation’s leading scientists.

Charles Steele Jr.

One can use biomass feedstock to produce methane gas (for power generation) or convert it to ethanol for transportation fuels. Perhaps even more importantly, depending upon the process, organic soil amendments (fertilizers) can/are produced from biomass.

Brazil is emerging as an economic power largely because they converted their economy to a biomass- based energy (i.e., sugarcane "waste") after the first oil embargo in the 1970's. They no longer need to use their capital to buy fossil fuels from OPEC, Venezuela, or Trinidad.

These modern biomass plants and emissions control systems should not be confused with incinerators which is a common mistake. What these new plants represent are state-of-the-art technological investments, energy independence and economic progress.

That’s why I am alarmed to learn of opposition being voiced in the DeKalb/metro Atlanta community to the sizeable and significant investment proposed by a minority-owned company, Green Energy Partners-DeKalb, LLC. Rather, I applaud their enterprising efforts to produce environmental-friendly economic development. Biomass plants are no stranger to Georgia, operating for over a hundred years in Georgia’s pulp and paper industry.

The arguments for environmental injustice do not make sense, given that the some of the nation’s leading universities -- not located in minority areas -- have chosen to locate similar plants on their campuses. By comparison, the DeKalb County plant would be located within a historically heavy industrial area, nestled behind a closed landfill, next door to a trash transfer station and across the street from a privately owned landfill, rock quarry, and asphalt plant, with numerous trucking companies lying between the biomass plant and the city of Lithonia.

I believe the concerns regarding the use of fallen tree limbs for fuel in the proposed plant in the unincorporated Lithonia originates from misinformation. There is no evidence nor do reports that I could find that directly link biomass plants to health risks for the local population.

I do believe there are groups that oppose everything President Obama is now trying to do with renewable energy, to take attention away from economic investments that help build our local communities.

I support the development of renewable energy to include biomass. I am urging our communities to embrace and support the President’s renewable energy policy and the significant investment in jobs and growth that his policy creates, which cannot be exported.

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Zipcars are available to adults ages 21 years and older for hourly and daily reservations, starting from $8.50 per hour or $69 per day.

Keith Parker, the transit system’s general manager and CEO, said they are looking forward to continuing to grow the partnership.

“MARTA is committed to cost-effectively expanding customer amenities to make it even easier to use transit, and Zipcar offers us a great way to enhance mobility options for our patrons,” Parker said.

Nicole Mozeliak, Zipcar regional vice president, said the new Zipcar location at the Brookhaven MARTA station makes it even easier for MARTA riders and metro residents to choose cost-effective and convenient transportation options.

“We know a lot of our members use MARTA to commute into the city, and we hope this new Zipcar location will make life easier for members who use public transit but have the occasional need for a vehicle,” she said.

For more information or to sign up for Zipcar, visit www.zipcar.com/atlanta. To learn more about taking MARTA, visit www .itsmarta.com or call 404-848-5000.

DeKalb issues a rabies alert Anyone who has been bitten or scratched by a wild animal should seek medical attention immediately.

That’s the word from DeKalb County Animal Services and Enforcement in the wake of two raccoons testing positive for rabies.

The animals were captured in the North DeKalb communities of Harts Mill Court on April 26 and along Ragley Hall Road on April 30.

If household pets begin to exhibit unusual nervousness or aggressiveness, or if they have excessive drooling or foaming at the mouth, contact DeKalb Animal Services weekdays at 404-294-2996 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or after hours and weekends at 404-294-2519.

A preventive measure to reduce the exposure of household pets to potentially dangerous wildlife is to remove outdoor pet food.

This decreases the chances of household pets coming into contact with an animal carrying the rabies virus.

9

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

Wellness

“I know they loved the dogs. It’s a great way to keep them engaged and sneak that exercise in.”

Wagging Trails offers kids and dogs fun and exercise in park

By Jessica Smith

After chasing Labrador retriever puppy Tiny for 90 minutes at Panola Mountain State Park last week, 9-year-old Cierra Ames was out of breath and sweating bullets.

Still, when their walk ended, the McLendon third-grader began counting the days to her May 10 session with her new-found companion.

“I can’t wait to come back next week,” she said as the black dog planted sloppy, wet kisses on her cheek.

Cierra was one of seven kids ages 7 to 12 from the South DeKalb YMCA after-school program paired with four-legged friends from Wagging Trails, a new partnership of the state parks system, the Y and LifeLine Animal Project, for a mile-long trek around Panola Mountain.

She was in seventh heaven.

“The best part is getting to come outside,” said Cierra, “and I liked Tiny. I think she liked the walk, too.”

Wagging Trails pairs kids with shelter dogs every Friday afternoon for human and canine exercise.

Ted Nelson, a Wagging Trails spokesman, says everyone benefits.

“You need to walk, and so does your dog,” said Nelson, director of strategic partnerships and programs for Wellcom of Atlanta, creator of the Wagging Trails program.

He said the community dog walking project increases physical activity for children, educates the parents about the health benefits of walking, increases community awareness about dogs available for adoption, and increases shelter dog adoption rates.

“It’s good for both ends of the leash,” Nelson said.

Photos by Jessica Smith / CrossRoadsNews

Cierra Ames (above from left), counselor Deunta Harper and Morgan Myles along with Daryl Smith (at left) walk shelter dogs at Panola Mountain State Park.

Kids and animals who are active have reduced risks of obesity, which has more than doubled among children and tripled in adolescents over the past 30 years. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.

It names physical inactivity as the culprit

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for the startling rise in the obesity rate.

A 2010 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that children with dogs get more physical activity than peers without pets.

The study tracked 2,065 schoolchildren wearing activity monitors for seven days. It counted the steps they took and their average

daily activity. The kids with dogs recorded more overall movements, movements per minute, and steps compared with the nondog owners. They also averaged 10 extra minutes per day of physical activity than non-dog owners.

Wagging Trails participants get a pedometer, a journal to record their weekly walks with a dog, and a backpack.

Nelson said that exercise is essential in fighting childhood obesity.

“Walking with dogs is a great way to get it,” he said. “To the kids, it doesn’t feel like exercise. And getting out in nature has been shown to lower stress, so the health benefits children will get from this program are tremendous.”

No arguments from the kids.

Nine-year-old Elisha Sanders, who walked a shepherd mix named Meg, said it was tons of fun getting to run outside with the dog.

Cierra said her pooch got a good workout, too. “I think both me and Tiny were tired,” she said.

Deunta Harper, an after-school counselor at the Y since December 2011, said he thinks the program will benefit his kids.

“Since we left, they haven’t been able to stop talking about it,” he said. “I know they loved the dogs, and it’s a great way to keep them engaged and sneak that exercise in.”

Panola Mountain State Park is at 2600 Ga. 155 S.W. in Stockbridge. The South DeKalb Family YMCA is at 2565 Snapfinger Road in Decatur.

For more information, call 770-987-3500 or 770-389-7801. Or visit www.Georgia StateParks.org, www.ymcaatlanta.org /locations/facility/branches/sdy/sdy.shtml or www.lifelineanimal.org.

10

CrossRoadsNews

Wellness

Among women ages 15 to 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

Training targets domestic violence

Twala Meju is author of “The Lunchroom Protest.”

Lunchroom protests obesity Children’s book author Twala Meju will unveil her new book, “The Lunchroom Protest,” on May 18 at the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta.

Meju, who wrote the critically acclaimed “Mommy, Why Is My Skin So Dark?” takes an artistic approach to the unhealthy choices in daily food and lunchroom selections.

The free event takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. with exhibits covering health and

wellness, nutrition, and organic gardening.

There will be health screenings, interactive workshops, vendors, live performances, fitness routines, healthy cooking demos, celebrity autograph signings, and door prizes.

Fernbank Science Center is at 156 Heaton Park Drive. For more information, contact thaimani@yahoo.com or call 1-888810-7164.

5K walk aids women across globe Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions, the agency says. Based on country data available, up to 70 percent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime – the majority by husbands, intimate partners or someone they know.

Among women ages 15 to 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

Piedmont Park is at 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue in midtown Atlanta. For more information and to register, visit www .unwomen-usnc.org/georgiawalk.

U.N. Women’s ninth annual 5K Walk to End Violence Against Women takes place in Piedmont Park on May 18.

The Georgia Chapter walk, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Charles Allen Drive and 10th Street entrance at Piedmont Park, supports the U.N. Women’s focus on ending violence against women across the globe.

The 3.1-mile walk benefits gender equality and women empowerment programs. There will be a warm-up with a personal trainer, chair massages, face painting and blood pressure screenings.

Registration fee is $25; $15 for students; children are free.

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Activists, social workers, and mental health and law enforcement personnel can attend a May 17 training session on domestic violence in the Latino and African-American communities at Wellstar Development Center in Atlanta.

The 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m. session in the Pacific Auditorium is a collaboration of the Beverly Cunningham Outreach Program and Georgia Latinos Against Domestic Violence.

Participants include state and county agencies.

The training is free for professionals in domestic violence and law enforcement fields. The cost is $10 for students with valid ID and $15 for the general public. Registration is available at www.eventbrite.com /event/5593454172?ref=elink.

Through facilitated discussion and group participation, the training will highlight the

myths, barriers, similarities and differences of intimate partner violence in the Latino and black communities to enhance understanding and collaborations.

Topics are “Religion and Domestic Violence” and “Cultural Competency” presented by the Rev. Victoria Ferguson, founder of Kindred Moxie, and Belisa Urbina, executive director of Renovacion Conyugal, and “Organizational Collaboration” presented

by Shenna Johnson, community resource coordinator for the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Michelle Toledo Cainas, program director for GLADV. There also will be a panel discussion, “Men’s Work: The Role of Men in Ending Violence Against Women.”

Wellstar Development Center is at 2000 South Park Place S.E. For more information, visit http://gladv.org or call 404-771-2247.

Brownfields reclamation explored Property owners, developers and investors can learn about cleanup, remediation and redevelopment at the May 15-17 National Brownfields Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Thousands of environmental and economic development officials, finance and insurance providers, risk managers, planners, attorneys, civil engineers, and students are expected to attend the conference sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International City/County Management Association.

The EPA says addressing the nation’s brownfields – abandoned or underutilized properties stigmatized by past commercial or industrial uses – is an ongoing challenge for communities of every size. By focusing on redevelopment, properties are put back into productive use while helping to keep undeveloped lands in a natural state.

The conference’s Educational Program features more than 100 sessions on sus-

tainable remediation, smart growth, green jobs, creative financing and financial risk management, community and economic development, environmental assessment and cleanup, public health, and redevelopment.

More than 150 exhibitors will display the latest technologies and services. Mobile workshops and walking tours are included.

An Economic Redevelopment Forum will bring together property owners with developers, investors and financiers to talk about specific properties available for purchase, reuse and redevelopment. The fast-paced interactive forum is geared toward corporate asset managers, economic development officials and real estate professionals.

A variety of properties will be available, ranging from former manufacturing plants to vacant and abandoned commercial buildings and lots. Many may be eligible for local, state and federal redevelopment incentives.

For more information, visit www.epa .gov/brownfields/bfconf.htm.

Scene

11

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

A documentary camera placed inside the living room of hostess Ana captures the chaos inspired by the gatherings.

Youngsters will dress up in elaborate costumes and dance at the May 18 Atlanta Caribbean Children’s Carnival at Salem Park in Lithonia.

The event is free.

15 vie for ‘Senior of the Year’

“Senior of the Year” finalists include Janice Cash (above from left), Carleen Cumberbatch, Alma Goecker, Arlene Parker Goldson, Shirley Jones, Relda Mackins (below left) and Rose Miles.

Fifteen golden agers will vie for DeKalb “Senior of the Year” on May 18 at Saint Philip AME in Atlanta.

The event, hosted by DeKalb for Seniors Inc., the nonprofit fundraising arm of the Lou Walker Center, is in its second year. It takes place at noon in the church’s Family Life Center.

The finalists are Carrie Baldwin, Sandra Harris, James McCoy and Janice Cash of Decatur; Carrie Brisco, Relda “Bea” Mackins and Annie Thomas of Stone Mountain;

Carleen Cumberbatch, Arlene Parker Goldson, Rose Miles, Shirley Jones, Andrew Hicks and Samuel O. Williams of Lithonia; Alma Goecker of Atlanta; and Evelyn Kennedy of Chamblee.

Larry Tinsley, host of V-103/WAOK “Sunday Morning Praise,” will be master of ceremonies.

Saint Philip AME is at 240 Candler Road.

For tickets and more information, contact Donna Dees at silvergala2013@gmail.com or 678-982-9805.

The coming-of-age story follows a zookeeper’s son, Pi Patel, who survives a shipwreck by stowing away on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger.

Library to screen ‘Life of Pi’ The Oscar-winning film “Life of Pi” will be screened on May 14 at the Covington Library in Decatur as part of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, being observed this month at DeKalb libraries.

The coming-of-age story depicts Pi Patel, the son of a zookeeper who survives a shipwreck by stowing away on a lifeboat for 227 days with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Ang Lee of “Brokeback Mountain” fame won the Academy Award for best director for the 2012 film that stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall and Gerard Depardieu.

Through a series of flashbacks, an adult Pi

recounts his life story to a writer in Canada, where his family moved from Pondicherry, India, when he was 14. After a land dispute with his hometown government, Pi’s father packs up his family for the Americas and decides to sell his animals to various zoos around the world. The Patels are aboard a Japanese cargo ship when they are shipwrecked by a sudden storm, leaving Pi and the animals adrift in the Pacific.

There will be a discussion of the eponymous book by Yann Martel at 12:30 p.m., followed by the free screening at 2. The library is at 3500 Covington Highway. For more information, call 404-508-7180.

Funny goings-on in ‘Book Club Play’ “The Book Club Play,” a sidesplitting tale of friends whose relationships are shaken when their book club accepts a provocative new member, debuts May 15 at the Horizon Theatre with a special performance benefiting the DeKalb Library Foundation and Atlanta-Fulton Public Library.

Curtain call for the preview is at 8 p.m.

Playwright Karen Zacarias paints a hilarious picture as a documentary camera placed inside the living room of hostess Ana captures the chaos inspired by the gatherings.

Tickets are $30 and are available at www .dekalblibrary.org or www.afpls.org. Proceeds benefit the libraries’ book collections, literacy programs and technology programs.

The regular run is May 17-June 23. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 3 and 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays; and 5 p.m. on Sundays. Group discounts are available for book clubs.

The Horizon Theatre is at 1083 Austin Ave. in Atlanta. Visit www.horizontheatre.org or call 404-584-7450 for more information.

Seniors can groove at jamboree Dancing seniors can electric slide, step in unison, and shake it at the county’s first “Line Dancing Jamboree” on May 13 at the Porter Sanford Center.

The event, hosted by the Recreation, Parks & Cultural Affairs Department, kicks off at 10 a.m. in conjunction with the 24th

annual DeKalb Senior Olympic Games.

It is open to the public and admission is free.

The Porter Sanford III Performing Arts and Community Center is at 2181 Rainbow Drive in Decatur. For more information, call Jackie Swain at 404-687-2751.

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Kids carnival spotlights Caribbean Mini-masqueraders will don elaborate costumes and dance to island music at the Atlanta Caribbean Children’s Carnival on May 18 at Salem Park in Lithonia.

The noon-to-8 p.m. festival is one of the events celebrating the Atlanta Carnival Band Leaders Association’s 25th anniversary under way through May 25.

The highlight is the Parade of Bands.

There will be performances by youth acts such as Jabias the Kid, J Plus the Entertainer and the Femme Fatale Dance Crew; bounce houses; and games. It is free to attend.

Salem Park is at 5290 Salem Road.

For more information, visit www.atlanta carnival.org.

12

Youth

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

“We should be very proud of these four players from DeKalb County who made their start in Little League at Browns Mill Park in Lithonia.”

Wadsworth Magnet Middle a top scorer in new rating system Wadsworth Magnet Middle is the state’s Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index scores top middle school scorer in a new system for rating the quality in Georgia public DeKalb’s overall Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index score for schools. elementary schools is 71.2; middle, 73.5; and high school, 66.4.

The Decatur school scored 101.4 on the n Wadsworth Magnet Elementary also had the highest elementary score in DeKalb Georgia College and Career Ready PerforCounty and the third-highest score in the state with a 101.9. mance Index that measures elementary, middle and high schools on a 100-point n Robert Shaw Elementary scored the highest among Title I elementary schools with a scale.

93.2.

That was the highest middle school score n The Champion School ranked the highest among Title I middle schools with a 94.4. statewide. DeKalb County Schools received an overall score of 73.5. n At the high school level, DeKalb Early College Academy with a score of 95.2 led The Georgia Department of Education, among other Title I schools. which released the scores on May 7, said that n DeKalb School of the Arts with a score of 95.5 ranked eighth among the state’s high the average score for Georgia’s elementary schools, followed by DeKalb Early College Academy at ninth place. schools is 83.4; middle schools, 81.4; and high schools, 72.6.

Twenty-four elementary schools, 14 midThe College and Career Ready Perfor- that replaces the No Child Left Behind and dle schools, and 11 high schools in DeKalb mance Index is the new accountability system Adequate Yearly Progress measurement in County outperformed the state average.

Georgia.

Each school and district receives an overall score made up of three areas: Achievement (70 points), Progress (15 points) and Achievement Gap (15 points). A school can earn 10 bonus points for a possible score of 110.

Dr. Kathleen Howe, DeKalb Schools deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said they are pleased to see some outstanding achievements in many of the schools.

“These results help our district see where we must focus more efforts to make sure we provide our teachers and students with the additional supports and resources they need to succeed,” Howe said.

For a full list of scores, visit www.dekalb .k12.ga.us/www/documents/assessment -and-accountability/rankings.pdf.

Shiloh Middle robotics team wins Community Award for helping hand

By Jessica Smith

The 2013 Vex Robotics global Community Award division winner is a group of 15 students from Shiloh Middle School in Snellville.

The seventh- and eighth-grade students competed in the April 17-20 Vex Robotics World Championship in Anaheim, Calif., with a robot they designed, built and programmed.

They won the award from a field of 160 middle school robotics teams from around the world.

Dr. Sidney Rabsatt, Shiloh’s engineering coach, said the kids love engineering.

“The kids just eat it up,” he said. “You teach them a concept and they learn it, build it and take it to the next level.”

Teams from 230 Vex Robotics Competition tournaments vied between May 2012 and March 2013 in cities around the world.

Competitors were randomly paired against other schools to play the game “Sack Attack,” a contest that required them to develop strategies to outscore their opponents in timed games by picking up bean bag-like sacks and dropping them into various goals on a playing field.

Shiloh Middle School students competed in the April 17-20 Vex Robotics World Championship in Anaheim, Calif., and ranked 72nd. The team earned an award for its willingness to help others.

Rabsatt, a retired professor from Clark Atlanta University and former high school engineering teacher, works with Shiloh’s students twice a week. He said the club teaches skills in S.T.E.M. — science, technology, engineering and math.

“Robotics is one of the top engineering concepts being taught in colleges and we’re trying to get more minority students involved,” Rabsatt said.

Shiloh’s fledgling team is only 3 years old.

It qualified for the global competition after

winning the Excellence Award at the Vex Forsyth Middle School Qualifier at Lambert High School in Suwanee on Feb. 16.

At the World Championship, the students competed against 160 teams in the middle school division and left ranking 72nd. Although they didn’t come in first place, their willingness to help other teams whose robots malfunctioned snagged them the Community Award for their division.

Rabsatt said they were so elated.

“It was great for the students to be recognized not only for their smarts, but for their character,” he said.

Since the team’s launch in 2010, students have competed in the Lego League and in Vex Robotics for the past two years.

To raise money for all their competitions, they host bake sales. This year, their engineering skills caught the eye of tech giants Lockheed Martin and Cisco, who became their first corporate sponsors.

Rabsatt said he is confident that his students can make it to the World Championship next year.

“As a doctor, I fell, but I was standing on the shoulders of someone who was able to help me make it to where I am,” he said.

“That’s all I want for my students.”

Former Little Leaguers at Browns Mill Park to play baseball in college Four baseball players from DeKalb County who began in Little League at Browns Mill Park in Lithonia have signed to play in college.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Holmes of Stephenson High is headed to Clark Atlanta University, and Wesley Jones of Redan High will attend the University of Georgia. Brandon Baker of Redan High will play baseball at the University of Missouri, while Christian Griffith from Our Lady of Mercy High School will attend Morehouse College.

Dr. M. Christopher Griffith, who coaches Little League Baseball for the Browns Mill Park Yellow Jackets, says there has been a downturn in the interest of African-Americans in baseball over the past several years.

“We should be very proud of these four players from DeKalb County who made their start in Little League at Browns Mill Park in Lithonia,” Griffith said. “Each of these young men has signed to play baseball in college and have had to overcome many obstacles and worked hard to reach this day.”

The players were honored for outstanding seasons during their senior year at an April awards presentation by the Georgia Dugout Club.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Holmes, Wesley Jones, Brandon Baker, and Christian Griffith were honored for their outstanding seasons during their senior year by the Georgia Dugout Club.

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13

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

Finance

Good marketing, which includes market research, customer service, advertising, targeting, packaging, pricing, and e-marketing, is critical to success.

New chief to talk to chamber Seminar on new health care act curity Administration’s security DeKalb Police Chief Cedric Aldirector at Dallas-Fort Worth exander will discuss his vision for International Airport. Before public safety with the business comthat, he spent 15 years as a police munity on May 22 at the Courtyard officer in Miami-Dade County

by Marriott in downtown Decatur. and headed the Rochester, N.Y., More than 100 business exPolice Department after servecutives are expected for the 11:30 ing as deputy commissioner of a.m.-to-1:30 p.m. event that is part the New York State Division of of the DeKalb Chamber of ComCedric Alexander Criminal Justice Services. merce’s Executive Speaker Series Alexander has a doctorate from Wright Luncheon.

Alexander took the reins of the county’s State University and is a licensed clinical 946-member force on April 1 from interim psychologist.

The Courtyard by Marriott is at 130 Police Chief Lisa Gassner, who led the department after Chief William O’Brien retired Clairemont Ave. For ticket prices and more information, visit www.dekalbchamber. in November.

He was formerly the Transportation Se- org or call 404-378-8000.

Hone computer skills at library Job seekers can get help with their career and employment goals on May 13, 15 and 20 at DeKalb Public Library branches.

They can add to or sharpen their computer skills on May 13 at Covington Library where Microsoft Word 2007 Basics I and II will be offered from 2 to 4 p.m.

Participants will learn how to create, edit and save simple documents; cut and paste; and use other Word features. They can design a flier using a sample file.

Sign up for both sessions of the two-part class. Mouse and typing skills and some experience with Windows are required. The sessions are open to the first eight participants. Call or visit the branch to register.

Covington Library is at 3500 Covington Highway in Decatur. For more information, call 404-508-7180.

Open labs for job seekers Job hunters can get tips on conducting job searches; fill out online job applications; update their resume using Word 2007, Optimal Resume or Job & Career Accelerator; and improve work skills with online tutorials at libraries in Decatur, Lithonia and Stone Mountain.

Open labs are offered on a first-come, first-served basis; space is limited.

Sessions will be held 10 a.m.-noon on May 15 at Salem-Panola Library, 5137 Salem Road in Lithonia, 770-987-6900, and Hairston Crossing Library, 4911 Redan Road in Stone Mountain, 404-508-7170.

A May 20 session takes place 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library, 2861 Wesley Chapel Road in Decatur, 404-286-6980.

Small-business owners can attend a seminar on May 21 to learn how new requirements under the Affordable Care Act will affect their business, employees and families.

The Affordable Health Care Act Symposium is part of this year’s Georgia Small Business Week being observed May 20-24.

It takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Georgia State Student Center in downtown Atlanta.

The symposium will explore the new law and its requirements and opportunities for small businesses as several key provisions are

Loans tips for startup businesses Entrepreneurs looking for startup capital can get tips on preparing their loan application on May 22 at the first in a three-part series on financing for small businesses.

The Small Business Finance Forum kicks off at the Horizon Bank in Atlanta at 9:30 a.m. as part of the Georgia Small Business Week observance on May 20-24.

Entrepreneurs will find out how to maximize their chances of obtaining a loan.

5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION In the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

G-130 Annex Decatur, GA 30030-3356 5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION

Civil Action # ++ 13CV4799-7++ Shantika Flanagan Plaintiff Vs. Anthony T. Flanagan Defendant TO: Anthony T. Flanagan, Sr. 1106 Harmon Ave Hamilton, OH 45011

By Order of the Court service for service by publication dated May 1, 2013, you are hereby notified that on April 19, 2013, 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: Shantika Flanagan, 611 Windrush Ct, Stone Mountain, GA 30087. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of, May 1, 2013.

Witness the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 1st day of May, 2013.

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court 556 N. McDonough St.

In the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action # ++12CV12094 ++ Bobbie Ethridge Plaintiff Vs. Darnell Ethridge Defendant TO: Darnell Ethridge 2745 Autumn Lake Lane Decatur, GA 30034

By Order of the Court service for service by publication dated May 1, 2013, you are hereby notified that on April 29, 2013, 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: Bobbie Ethridge, 245 Livingston Lane, Covington, GA 30016.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of May 1, 2013.

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

This 2nd day of May, 2013.

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court 556 N. McDonough St. G-130 Annex Decatur, GA 30030-3356 5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

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

Civil Action# ++ 13CV4942-37 ++ Laquitta Smith Plaintiff Vs. Terrance Perkins Defendant To: Terrance Perkins

By Order of the Court service for service by publication dated May 1, 2013, You are hereby notified that on April 24, 2013, 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: Laquitta Smith, 2452 Bruce Street, Lithonia, GA 30058.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of May 1, 2013.

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

The other sessions, which will be announced later, focus on understanding what lenders are looking for in loan applications.

Small-business owners who have successfully obtained funding will share their experiences and give advice in the final session. Registration is required at 1.usa.gov/Ypdp72.

The Horizon Bank is on the seventh floor at 3 Corporate Square. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/ga.

Easy to grasp marketing basics Prospective and current entrepreneurs can learn the basics of marketing through free online courses offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Good marketing, which includes market research, customer service, advertising, targeting, packaging, pricing, and e-marketing, is critical to success and the SBA says that investing in a good marketing plan will gen-

This the 2nd day of May, 2013.

Legal Notices

about to go into effect.

The agenda includes an overview of the law and the new requirements for businesses of different sizes.

Industry professionals will lead a panel discussion on compliance and provide insight on the Insurance Marketplace and Share Responsibility provisions of the new law. Registration is required and can be completed at 1.usa.gov/1054CS1.

The Georgia State University Student Center is at 44 Courtland St. S.E. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/ga.

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court 556 N. McDonough Street G-130 Annex Decatur, GA 30030-3356

5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

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

Civil Action# ++ 13CV4341-7 ++ Kenrick E. Yearwood, Jr. Plaintiff Vs. Shukarla L. Boxely Defendant To:Shukarla L. Boxely

By Order of the Court service for service by publication dated May 6, 2013, You are hereby notified that on April 8, 2013, The above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for: Mod of Custody.

You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court, and to serve upon the plaintiff’s attorney whose name and address is: Kenrick E. Yearwood, Jr., 5202 Scarbrough Lane, Stone Mountain, GA 30088. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of May 6, 2013.

Witness the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court. This the 6th day of May, 2013.

5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

Notice of Petition to Change Name of Adult in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++ 13CV5130-3 ++ Sebrelia Tiscah Butler filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court

erate excellent returns.

The self-paced courses – Marketing 101: Guide to Winning Customers, Strategic Marketing: How to Win Customers in a Slowing Economy, and Marketing for Small Business – take 30 minutes to complete and are easy to use and understand.

Online registration is required. Visit www.sba.gov/sba-direct.

on April 18, 2013 to change the name from: Sebrelia Tiscah Butler to SahLeem Israel Butler.

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

Dated: April 18, 2013 Sebrelia Tiscah Butler Petitioner, Pro se

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court

5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION In the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action # ++ 13CV4982-7++ Nikita Lynette Wynn Plaintiff Vs. Christopher Anthony Wynn Defendant TO: Christopher Anthony Wynn 6134 Japonica Rd W Jacksonville, FL 32209

By Order of the Court service for service by publication dated May 1, 2013, you are hereby notified that on April 24, 2013, 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: Nikita Lynette Wynn, 4326 Ward Bluff Court, Ellenwood, GA 30294.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of May1, 2013.

Witness the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 1st day of May, 2013.

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court 556 N. McDonough St. G-130 Annex Decatur, GA 30030-3356

Call 404-284-1888 for advertising rates and information.

4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18

Notice of Petition to Change Name of Adult in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++ 13CV1561-8 ++ Vaughan Hogan filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court on January 16, 2013 to change the name from: Vaughan Hogan to Johnothan Moody.

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

Dated: January 16, 2013 Vaughan Hogan Petitioner, Pro se 1075 N Hairston Rd, #26G Stone Motunatin, GA 30083

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court

4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18

Notice of Petition to Change Name of Adult in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++ 13CV4932-3 ++ Cecil Smith filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court on March 18, 2013 to change the name from: Cecil Smith to Cecil Hambrick.

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

Dated: April 18, 2013 Cecil Hambrick Petitioner, Pro se 4871 Autumn Circle Stone Mountain, GA 30088

Debra DeBerry Clerk of Superior Court

14

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

education / training

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education / training

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ATTORNEYS

books

financial

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Authors Mr. Michael and Ms. C seek to uplift and inspire black Americans against negativity directed at them because of their race. The book illustrates the many accomplishments of black people, and enlightens everyone on many hidden secrets of our past that have been intentionally removed from history books and other documents.

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HELP WANTED!! Make $1000 a week mailing Brochures From Home! Genuine Opportunity.

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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.

This newspaper cannot be held responsible for any negative consequences that occur as a result of you doing business with any advertisers. Thank you.

15

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

MEDICAL

DeKalb Family Medicine Dr. Chandra Britt Armstrong welcomes

Marketplace BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Ladies! Be your own boss! My company is looking for sharp women who want to own their own business, be their own boss, have freedom and flexibility - all while earning a top income. You deserve more! Get started today!

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pingsherlock.com/98466.

COMMUNITY SALE STONE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE CITY WIDE YARD SALE. 922 Main St. Behind Gazebo. Sat. 5-18-13, 830am - 3pm. Setup begins 730am day of sale. Info call City Hall 770-498-8984.

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404-408-9125.

MARKETPLACE RATES Place your MarketPlace line ad here – up to 20 words for $25. Additional words are $3 per block of five words (maximum 45 words). Boxed Ads (with up to 3 lines bold headline): $35 plus cost of the classified ad. Send ad copy with check or credit card information and contact phone number (if different from ad) to MarketPlace, CrossRoadsNews, 2346 Candler Road, Decatur, GA 30032, or e-mail to marketplace@crossroadsnews.com. Our deadlines are at noon on the Friday one week prior to publication, unless otherwise noted.

financial

Office Space in South DeKalb Business Park. Call Beyond The Bell at (404) 431-9595. Across from Word Church on Wesley Chapel.

Loans for Churches, Restaurants, Day Care Centers, Multi Family Properties, Office Buildings and other commercial properties. Purchases or refinancing. All credit considered.

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home services

INSURANCE

ARTHUR’S CONTRACTING

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New CLIENTS Welcome Most Insurance Plans accepted For more information call CANDLER ROAD

STONECREST

1862 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 404-289-4556

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Specialists in Diabetes, Hypertension, High Cholesterol, Asthma, Kidney Disease, Allergies, COPD and other healthcare

DeKalb Tuskegee Alumni Club Meeting The Omega World Center, 1951 Snapfinger Parkway, Decatur Members & friends meet at 1 p.m. to plan our Regional Meeting in Raleigh, N.C. July 11-14, 2013.

• Dialysis • Chemotherapy • Oxygen therapy

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Call 404-284-1888 to find out how.

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Winner of the 2012 MillerCoors Messenger Award and 8 Awards for Journalistic Excellence

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16

CrossRoadsNews

May 11, 2013

shop 9am-1opm fri & 9am-11pm sat. hours may vary by store. visit macys.com and click on stores for local information.

remember, mother’s day is may 12

fri ’til 1pm or sat ’til 1pm;

Cannot be used on sPeCials or suPer buys

wow! $1o off

all sale & ClearanCe aPParel and seleCt Home items

1ooff!

$

your PurCHase of $25 or more. valid 5/10 ’til 1Pm or 5/11/13 ’til 1Pm. limit one Per Customer.

Excludes: Everyday Values (EDV), specials, super buys, athletic shoes for him, her & kids, furniture, mattresses, floor coverings, rugs, electrics/electronics, cosmetics/fragrances, gift cards, jewelry trunk shows, previous purchases, special orders, selected licensed depts., special purchases, services, macys.com. Cannot be combined with any savings pass/coupon, extra discount or credit offer except opening a new Macy’s account. Dollar savings are allocated as discounts off each eligible item, as shown on receipt. When you return an item, you forfeit the savings allocated to that item. This coupon has no cash value and may not be redeemed for cash, used to purchase gift cards or applied as payment or credit to your account. Purchase must be $25 or more, exclusive of tax and delivery fees.

one day sale saturday, may 11 open 9am-11pm preview day friday open 9am-1opm morning specials 9am-1pm both days including 15% off regular & sale prices look for the signs on select items storewide

fashion & home clearance

5o%-8o% off

orig.* prices

when you take an extra 4o% off already reduced prices free shipping at macys.com

with $99 online purchase. no promo code needed; exclusions apply.

one day sale prices in effect 5/10 & 5/11/2013. *intermediate price reductions may have been taken.

OPEN A MACY’S ACCOUNT FOR EXTRA 20% SAVINGS THE FIRST 2 DAYS, UP TO $100, WITH MORE REWARDS TO COME. Macy’s credit card is available subject to credit approval; new account savings valid the day your account is opened and the next day; excludes services, selected licensed departments, gift cards, restaurants, gourmet food & wine. The new account savings are limited to a total of $100; application must qualify for immediate approval to receive extra savings; employees not eligible.

N3040090F.indd 1

4/30/13 1:36 PM