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Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P 3 Business.................................. P 8 We Worship ............................. P 9 Health & Wellness. . . . . . . . . P 10 Classifieds............................. P 11
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Arabia High student lends a hand to Towers High ....page 3
AARP employment program opens new office ....page 8
SERVING DEKALB, FULTON, GWINNETT, HENRY AND ROCKDALE COUNTIES
VOLUME 19 NUMBER 44
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Elizabeth Baptist plants new congregation in Rockdale ....page 9
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FEBRUARY 1, 2014
FREE
Atlanta’s snowstorm tests survival skills, first responders By Joshua Smith and Valerie J. Morgan
S
imone Coleman, 15, spent 13 hours on an Atlanta Public Schools bus, stuck on I-285 in a snowstorm that turned Atlanta upside down. Coleman didn’t get home until 5:30 a.m. and oh what a relief it was for her and her schoolmates and their worried parents. “I just tried to sleep through the time and not think about it. Some of the boys peed in sports bottles at the back of the bus, and all the girls, well, we just held it,” said Coleman, a sophomore at Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs. “A girl started selling Oreos five for $10 and people were buying them because everybody was hungry.” “The bus driver called in an emergency because we weren’t getting anywhere,” Coleman said. See Snow, page 6
Cars stranded along North Deshong Road near the DeKalb-Gwinnett County line. The winding, icy road proved too much for drivers.
Thomas Brown opens campaign headquarters
Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News
Rockdale CEO hopes to bring a civic center to boost tourism, jobs
Jeffrey Mann set to take helm as DeKalb’s interim sheriff
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By Valerie J. Morgan
homas Brown says he’s moving into full swing with his bid for Congress. He’s hosting a grand opening for his campaign headquarters on Feb. 1, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 3728 Lawrenceville Highway in Tucker. DeKalb County will get a new interim sheriff in early March when Jeffrey Mann leaves his position as the Sheriff’s Office chief deputy to replace Brown, his long-time boss and mentor. The transition will mark the first time in 14 years the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office has had someone other than Brown at the helm. Brown, who has served as sheriff since 2001 and has been a public servant for 28 years, is resigning to run for the Fourth Congressional District seat now held by Hank Johnson, who was elected to Congress in 2007 and is in his fourth term in office. Johnson said he will seek re-election. Both candidates are Democrats. “We’re very excited about the grand opening. People will be able to pick up yard signs and sign up to volunteer. People are gearing up for a winning campaign,” said Brown.
Thomas Brown
Jeffrey Mann
“They are ready for a change in direction and I’m looking forward to being a strong voice in Washington who will not just be waiting for something to happen but making something happen.” Brown says he is looking forward to the qualifying period for the federal and state races scheduled March 3-7. As soon as Brown qualifies that week, Mann will be sworn in as interim sheriff until a special election is held on May 20. The winner of the special election will finish out Brown’s four-year term, which expires in 2016. DeKalb Elections Supervisor Maxine Daniels said holding the special election on May 20, when the primaries for federal and state offices also will be held, will save the county money. “We won’t have to bear the expense of having the special election on another day,” said Daniels. Mann says he is well prepared to lead the Sheriff’s Office. “For the last 12 years I have been working with Sheriff Brown to restore the professionalism of this See Brown, page 6
Photo by Joshua Smith/OCG News
Rockdale County CEO Richard Oden explains the blueprint for a 200,000-square-foot civic center.
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By Joshua Smith
ockdale County Chairman and CEO Richard Oden has big dreams of breaking ground on a 200,000-square-foot civic center and auditorium in Rockdale, bringing jobs and boosting tourism in east metro Atlanta by the end of 2016. Oden hopes the civic center will become a magnet for global trade shows, concerts and other cultural events by the end of 2016. Oden already has a concept rendition of what Rockdale could look like with a civic center, office complex, five-star hotels and restaurants. He says the civic center would benefit the entire East corridor of metro Atlanta. Now,
Oden is on a mission to get investors who will turn that concept into a reality. “This has been a conversation I have continually brought up since I was first elected,” said Oden, who was elected in 2008 and re-elected for another four-year term in 2012. “Last year, I was invited to Taiwan by their government. I showed them what I’ve been talking about here. I showed them the vision and the goal. I showed them the benefits of investing in us.” Last summer, Oden was one of nine people who took a 10-day economic development trip to Taiwan, where he promoted a potential partnership with the Taiwanese government and shared See Rockdale, page 6