COMMUNITY
WELLNESS
YOUTH
A photo of high grass on Turner Hill Road drew quick reaction as crews mowed the grass on Tuesday. Before and after photos are on page 6.
Four fathers are teaching classes to help allay the fears about child care that new dads may have. 7
The Marching Panthers of Southwest DeKalb High School have received a repeat invitation to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade. 9
Fast action at Stonecrest
Copyright © 2010 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Prep work for future dads
September 4, 2010
Pasadena bound, again
Volume 16, Number 19
www.crossroadsnews.com
DeKalb DA leaving to be EPA’s Region 4 administrator By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
DeKalb District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming has been picked by President Barack Obama to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4, which encompasses Georgia and seven other Southern states and six tribal nations. Announcing the appointment Wednesday, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said she is looking forward to working closely with Keyes Fleming on the many urgent environmental issues facing the country, and especially along Region 4’s Gulf Coast. “Gwen is coming on at an exceptionally challenging time,” Jackson said. “She will certainly play an instrumental role in protecting the health and environment of all
those living in the region.” Keyes Fleming was set to vacate the District Attorney’s Office she has held for the past five years on Friday and will be sworn in on Tuesday. She said Wednesday that she is grateful to Obama and Jackson for the trust they have Gwen Keyes Fleming placed in her and for giving her the opportunity to serve. She said that she will not be leaving the area. “I will still be working with constituents in addressing their environmental concerns,” she said. The special election to replace Keyes
Special election to be on Nov. 2 ballot, page 2
trators nationwide who are responsible for managing the EPA’s regional activities under the direction of the EPA administrator. Regional administrators promote state and local environmental protection efforts and serve as a liaison to state and local government officials. They also work to ensure that the EPA’s efforts to address the environmental crises are rooted in three fundamental values – science-based policies and programs, adherence to the rule of law, and transparency. Keyes Fleming, who is the first AfricanAmerican, first woman and youngest person to hold the DeKalb DA’s Office, has more than 15 years of experience as both a pros-
Fleming will be on the Nov. 2 ballot and qualifying will be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Her successor would complete the three years left on her term before running for reelection in 2013. Keyes Fleming will be based in Atlanta and will work out of the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center on Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta. Region 4 includes Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee and six Native American nations. She will be one of 10 regional adminis- Please see KEYES FLEMING, page 2
Uncertain Future For Flat Rock Church in historic community may face foreclosure By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Flat Rock United Methodist Church – one of DeKalb’s oldest churches – is on the brink of losing the $1 million sanctuary it opened with great fanfare in 2004. The church, which was founded by exslaves, has anchored the historic Flat Rock Community in Lithonia since 1860. Its 156 members, who took the ceremonial march into the new 350-seat sanctuary at 4542 Evans Mill Road on April 4, 2004, included members of 18 families whose ancestors were among the founders of the church. Those families have lived continuously along Flat Rock, Crossvale and Evans Mill roads since the 1800s and their community predates the formation of DeKalb County in 1822. They are now facing the prospect of not only losing their sanctuary, but also the possible dissolution of the 150-year-old church. Vera Whitaker, who grew up in the community, has been a lifelong member of the church. She said Thursday that it hurts even to talk about the end of a way of life. “It’s the place I always go to,” she said, breaking down in tears. “It’s the place you felt welcome.” Whitaker remembers how great it felt to have room to move around in the new building after the cramped quarters of the old 120-seat church. “I was glad to have more space myself,” she said. “I was so happy. I love that church. I love the land it sits on. It’s a beautiful spot.” Church members and current pastor Troy Benton are in disagreement about whether SunTrust Bank, which holds the $750,000
Lifelong members of Flat Rock UMC Church, Johnny Waits and Vera Whitaker, outside their new sanctuary in 2004, just before its dedication. The church, built at a cost of $1 million, is on the brink of foreclosure. “We don’t have any money,” Whittaker says. “SunTrust wants us to go.”
mortgage note, is about to foreclose on the church. Members say the church is broke and that loan is about to reset with a balloon payment that they are unable to make. Benton, who arrived at the troubled church in June 2009 and attempted to merge it with the Isaiah United Methodist Church he initiated in Stone Mountain four years earlier, said Flat Rock UMC has never missed any of its $6,532.32 monthly loan payments, but that it will be unable to make its Sept. 21 payment.
“I have not received a letter or a phone call saying anybody is foreclosing on us,” he said Thursday. “We are having trouble making payment, but SunTrust is not forcing us to leave the building.” Whitaker, a member and past chairperson of the church’s board of trustees, said the church fell behind on its payment once before and that the bank wants it out of the building. “We don’t have any money,” she said. “SunTrust wants us to go. They want to
close it up.” Whitaker said the church has no savings and that the $175,000 it sold its old 2,000 square-foot church building for was used up to pay bills and salaries. “We don’t have anything,” she said. “It’s a shame. It’s heartbreaking.” Flat Rock UMC, like thousands of churches nationwide lured by easy credit and heady growth predictions, expanded during Please see FLAT ROCK, page 5