COMMUNITY
FINANCE
WELLNESS
When Bertha Ferguson turned 101 on Oct. 10, family and friends thought she was worthy of not one but two birthday parties. 2
Hundreds turned out to see “Miss Tina” Knowles (right) – mother of Beyoncé Knowles – when she unveiled her clothing line at Wal-Mart. 6
The 19th annual Candlelight Vigil in downtown Decatur will remember survivors and women and men who have lost their lives to domestic violence. 7
Cause for celebration
Copyright © 2010 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Mom’s scores a hit of her own
October 16, 2010
Domestic violence vigil
Volume 16, Number 25
www.crossroadsnews.com
Only two School Board incumbents land endorsements By Carla Parker
DeKalb School Board incumbents on the Nov. 2 ballots are not faring well with two groups. This week, eduKALB, an organization of business and community leaders, and the Organization of DeKalb Educators (ODE), the county’s large teachers union, endorsed only two of the five incumbents. Both groups picked the same two board members – District 9 board member Dr. Eugene “Gene” Walker and District 1 board member Jim Redovian. The groups chose not to District 3’s Sarah Copelin Woods, District 5’s Jay Cunningham and District 7’s Zepora Roberts. Instead, they gave the nod to challengers Corey Wilson in District 3, Dr. Kirk A. Nooks in District 5, and Donna Edler in District 7. At an Oct. 12 press conference announcing its endorsements, eduKALB board member Allyson Gevertz said its slate was picked after extensive interviews with 14 of the 15
From left, candidates Corey Wilson, Donna Edler, Dr. Eugene Walker, Jim Redovian, and Dr. Kirk Nooks earned the endorsements of eduKalb and the Organization of DeKalb Educators this week.
candidates seeking the five seats. Robert LeeHolt, who is also running for in District 3, did not participate in the interviews. “We are thrilled that we have highly qualified and wonderful people here,” Gevertz
said. “Our mission was to find the highest qualified candidates to fill the school board seats and we feel like we accomplished that with this slate of candidates.” These endorsements are a first for the
nonprofit eduKALB, which launched in May to pick qualified candidates for the school board. In a history-making move, ODE announced endorsements for first time in 20 years. ODE president David Schutten said in a statement that it’s “a step we have taken cautiously and with some hesitation.” “However, in light of the problems and challenges the DeKalb County School System has faced over the past year, we believe it is important to make our voices heard,” he said. Schutten said that a team of ODE members interviewed 12 of 15 candidates and each candidate was asked to fill out a questionnaire with 10 questions. Nicole Duff, the group’s first vice president, said that they focused on issues important to employees and students. “The interviews also gave us an opportunity to get to know the candidates and educate them on issues important to our members,” she said.
Clean up making South DeKalb attractive again South DeKalb Striders Running Club members Edward Driver and Andrew Walker pitch in to pick up trash on Flat Shoals Parkway on Oct. 9. The Great DeKalb CleanUp moves to Memorial Drive this weekend.
By Carla Parker
After a weekend of cleanup, Flat Shoal Parkway is beginning to look like a road again. County crews, community service workers and volunteers mowed the median between Clifton Springs and Snapfinger roads in Decatur and picked up trash last weekend. This weekend, Oct. 16 and 17, they will turn their attention to Memorial Drive from Candler Road to Goldsmith Drive. The efforts are part of the Great DeKalb Clean Up launched by DeKalb County to spruce up unkempt areas of unincorporated DeKalb and help stabilize property values countywide. The long-standing neglect of south DeKalb County was highlighted in a Sept. 25 CrossRoadsNews article and photo essay. Since then, county crews have mowed miles of medians and cut overgrown weeds and kudzu. The cleanup fever even got to the South DeKalb Striders Running Club. Instead of club members’ usual Saturday run, on Oct. 9 they stopped to pick up trash at the intersection of Panthersville Road and Flat Shoals Parkway. Members said they were unaware of the county’s clean-up efforts two miles down the road. Edward Driver of Decatur said club members just got tired of seeing the trash along their run route. “We decided to dedicate a Saturday to clean up instead of running,” he said. DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson said Thursday that this is the kind of publicprivate partnership that is going to take to clean up the place. He said the Code Enforcement department and Keep DeKalb Beautiful
Carla Parker / CrossRoadsNews
have roles but it’s going to take a community partnership. “The government can’t do it alone,” he said. “Residents have to do their part as well.” On the Oct. 9 clean up, people sentenced to community service by the courts and volunteers picked up trash while county workers mowed waist high grass in the median and along the sidewalks on Flat Shoals Parkway. They also documented and removed illegally posted signs in the right-of-ways.
On Oct. 30 and 31, the effort will move to Covington Highway from South Hairston to Klondike roads. Johnson said he was unaware of any plan being put in place for routine regular clean up of South DeKalb. He said that the county doesn’t own street sweepers because they cost $700,000 each. “And we couldn’t get one,” he said. “So as not to tear them up we would need three or four.” In the meantime, Johnson said we have
to think outside the box. “I had suggested planting fruit trees in the medians but I got shot down,” he said. “If we had fruit trees there, we would keep them clean.” Johnson is hoping that residents who are not keeping up the sidewalk in front of their homes will now start to do so. “If it needs to be done, just do it,” he said. “We all have to work together.” To join upcoming clean ups, visit www. onedekalb.com or call 404-371-2881.