VOLUME 22 NUMBER 26
FREE
OCTOBER 1, 2016
Published Since April 1995 Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties • www.facebook.com/ocgnews
DeKalb County judge issues warrant for owner of Creekside Forest Apartments
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DeKalb County judge has issued a bench warrant for the owner of Creekside Forest Apartments, a Decatur complex cited with more than 200 code violations. Chester Meisel, owner of the apartment complex, failed to appear in a DeKalb County courtroom on Tuesday, Sept. 27, for a scheduled appearance. As a result, Magistrate Court Judge Matthew J. McDeKalb Code Enforcement officers issued more than 200 citations this year for deplorable conditions that included trash and unhealthy livCoyd issued a bench warrant ing conditions at Creekside Forest Apartments. The grass and shrubbery are overgrown in many areas, while some of the units are boarded up and others have broken windows. Photos by Glenn L. Morgan of $338,000. “This bench warrant is a tions in connection to the property Inspectors with DeKalb County is a step in the right direction. huge step in the right direction as off Ember Drive. On July 27, code Fire Rescue also made a visit to the “We want to continue making we work to rectify the Creekside enforcement officers found dozens community on Sept. 7. Officers said code enforcement and public safeApartment situation and others,” of violations including abandoned they discovered waste, nonworking ty a priority,” said Johnson. “We said Interim CEO Lee May. “We buildings, water leaks, bed buds, emergency signs and fire alarms and will also continue to collaborate are serious about holding those rodents and trash littering the comsprinklers in disrepair. and build strong partnerships as we accountable who habitually violate munity. Code enforcement issued DeKalb County Commissioner work to help these families improve our codes.” Meisel 228 citations. Larry Johnson said the court ruling their living conditions.” Meisel has more than 200 cita-
Atlanta Workforce Development Agency receives $1.1 million YouthBuild grant
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he Atlanta Workforce Development Agency (AWDA) has been awarded a $1.1 million grant by the U.S. Department of Labor to support the agency’s YouthBuild program, which has helped more than 120 at-risk youths since 2012. The community-based, alternative education program provides job training and educational opportunities for at-risk youths ages 16-24. Participants work on completing their high school or state equivalency degree; earn industry-recognized certifications within in-demand occupations; and gain construction skills training to build housing for low-income or homeless individuals and families in their communities. “The YouthBuild award allows
us to continue and expand the work we are doing to support our youth as they strive to improve their lives,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “This is a crucial investment in the future prosperity of our City and an acknowledgement of our success in supporting Atlanta’s kids and teens. ” The U.S. Department of Labor announced Sept. 29 that it awarded $80.3 million in YouthBuild grants to non-profit organizations in 35 states. The grants range from approximately $700,000 to $1.1 million each and will fund 77 YouthBuild programs. “Atlanta’s continued economic competitiveness needs innovative partnerships like YouthBuild that connect at-risk youth to job skills and career opportunities,” said In-
terim Executive Director Melissa Mullinax. “For Atlanta’s disconnected youth, this program helps us create on-ramps to success where they have been missing.” “YouthBuild Atlanta has been a place of hope for so many atrisk youth in the city of Atlanta,” said Rebecca Birkett, YouthBuild Atlanta, program director. “This program has opened doors for our students, exposing them to opportunities for their lives that they never knew existed. I have watched them become excited to learn, excited about their future, better parents to their children and more engaged in building their communities. This grant will allow us to continue serving the youth within the City of Atlanta who are in need of a program like YouthBuild.”
YouthBuild’s mission aligns with the goals of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, which seeks to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color, and ensure that all young people can realize their full potential. This is the third time that the City of Atlanta has received the grant since 2012.
Secretary of State to restore many voter applicants who were rejected
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esponding to a lawsuit filed in federal court this month, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said that he is changing a policy that prevented some residents from registering to vote. The Associated Press reported tens of thousands of Georgians’ applications were rejected because personal information on the application did not match either the driver’s license or Social security records. The policy had been in place since 2010. A letter filed on Sept. 21 by attorneys representing Kemp said the office has stopped preventing people from registering to vote
if their names don’t exactly match other government databases and won’t resume the practice without a court decision. The letter to U.S. District Court Senior Judge William O’Kelley, who is hearing the case, also said those who were rejected using that process in 2015 can cast regular ballots in November with appropriate identification. Under the policy, a mismatch triggered a letter notifying the applicant and gave the person 40 days to respond or their application was automatically cancelled. The lawsuit says, however, that records may not match for numerous reasons includ-
ing typos made by elections officials during the voter application process. The lawsuit, which challenges that Kemp’s office violated the Voting Rights Act, was filed Sept. 14 by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Georgia Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda. Meanwhile, the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 8 election is Oct. 11. Early voting starts Oct. 17 and ends Nov. 4.