GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE

Trees Atlanta recently got some help planting trees from freshman students at The Walker School. The students were taking part in a “Character Cornerstone Day” as part of the school’s unique Ninth Grade Experience program. The program is designed to prepare students for success in high school and beyond.

The James M. Cox Foundation has announced a $2.8 million grant to the Atlanta Speech School to expand access to the Cox Campus and provide more learning materials. The campus provides free, online access to professional development for teachers of children from birth to eight years of age.

Chris Carlos, son of the late Michael C. Carlos, for whom the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University is named, has committed $3 million to name the museum’s education center. It will be named the Thalia N. Carlos Education Center, in memory of Carlos’ mother, who was also a longtime supporter of the museum.

Alvetta Peterman Thomas has left Atlanta Technical College to become president of Southern Crescent Technical College effective Dec. 1. As Atlanta Technical College’s president since 2008, Dr. Thomas oversaw the expansion of student services, corporate partnerships, global initiatives, program offerings, facilities improvements and financial support of the college.

Public Safety Briefs

Legislation introduced by Atlanta City Councilmember Felicia Moore will see 14 additional security cameras installed in District 9. The council approved $181,359.72 being used from Moore’s carry forward account to have the Atlanta Police Foundation install, maintain and operate the new cameras. This is the second round of cameras Moore has funded with the first round being approved by council in May of this year. The police foundation started installing pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras and license plate readers (LPRs) throughout the city with plans of having as many as 12,000 devices at various locations as part of their Operation Shield program.

A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) will be in Atlanta Dec. 5-8 to examine all aspects of the Atlanta Police Department policy and procedures, management, operations and support services. As a part of the assessment, agency personnel and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. The session will be conducted in the City Council Chambers located in City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave. If you cannot attend, call (478) 550-0512 on Dec. 6 between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. to leave your comments. Written comments can be sent to Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc. (CALEA), 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, VA 20155.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department has received a $230,000 federal grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The grant will enable AFRD to continue to provide car seats, installation services and training to low-income families in the city. The AFRD car seat program has been in effect since 1997 and has received GOHS grants every year. To date, the department has provided more than 80,000 car seats to families across the city, illustrating the continued need for this life-saving service in the community.