NBA star explores life through art and stories

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — Retired NBA All Star Joe Barry Carroll knows events like his Feb. 23 artist talk at Mimosa Hall are set up as lectures, but he hopes his art spurs conversations that run both ways.

The athlete-turned-artist sat down with a small crowd as part of an exhibit of his art in the historic home.

East Roswell Park set for upgrades

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Alpharetta officials adopt road safety improvement plan

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The Alpharetta City Council unanimously approved a funding request of $199,778 to implement a local roads safety action plan to increase pedestrian and driver safety.

The project, approved at the Feb. 27 council meeting, will be carried out by Alta Planning and Design, and its implementation makes the city eligible for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All discretionary grant program.

In a November 2022 budget analysis, Alta Principal Alia Awwad said the action plan is expected to be completed by summer 2023.

The exhibit, “My View from Seven Feet,” will be on display until March 28 for appointment viewings and public events.

At the talk, Carroll reflected on his childhood and 10-year career in the NBA through a series of paintings displayed around Mimosa Hall. He began painting eight years ago as an attempt to have a “deeper understanding of what artists do.”

Carroll said he has always been

Hills joins team addressing Oxbo

► PAGE 4 interested in art. When he traveled as a professional athlete, Carroll scheduled time to go to galleries and museums. As he started painting, though, Carroll was drawn to what he created.

Now, the self-taught artists has more than 100 paintings and four published books. When not painting, Carroll is a wealth adviser to

See LIFE, Page 25

Press Club event

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The council also unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and Faithful Guardian, a training center for first responders based in Temple.

The partnership includes a 12week advanced emergency medical technician training program conducted by Faithful Guardian for six Alpharetta Fire Department candidates, followed by a 14-week fire school.

The collaboration officially launched March 1, and it ends March 1, 2025.

Councilmembers fielded two

See SAFETY, Page 25

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Diners find vehicles burglarized in lots

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta police said vehicles at two Alpharetta restaurants were burglarized by unidentified thieves Feb. 12.

Officers were called to Rena’s Italian Fishery and Grill on South Main Street and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on Haynes Bridge Road at about 10 p.m. when three vehicles in the restaurant’s parking lots were found with broken windows after their owners finished dining.

Reports said nearly $9,000 in computer equipment, electronics and clothing were stolen from the vehicles and all of the burglarized vehicles had their windows broken.

From Rena’s, officers were able to view security camera footage which showed the thefts. A suspect could be seen breaking a vehicle window before fleeing the scene in a charcoal Toyota Camry.

Later in the evening, police were told a victim’s laptop had pinged at an address in northeast Atlanta.

At the time of the report, no suspect had been identified in the incident.

Police respond to report of armed threat at store

ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell Police responded to the Walmart on Mansell Road Feb. 18 after a man said someone pulled a firearm on him and fled the scene.

The man told police he parked toward the back of the Walmart to get oil, where there was a white Silverado car with a “tag applied for” paper and no license plate.

The driver of the car approached him and told him to move his truck, and the man replied “I’m getting oil.”

The man told police the driver went back to his car, got a firearm and chambered a round before saying “I got something for you” and pointing the gun at him. The driver then went back to the truck and drove off.

Video captured by the man’s car camera and the Walmart cameras showed a clear image of the driver, as well as a passenger inside the car. Neither video showed the driver pointing the handgun at the man.

The driver’s car did not have a license, and officers could not track the driver through any purchases at the Walmart. The case remains open.

Credit cards stolen at Avalon restaurant

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A patron of the Barleygarden restaurant at Avalon in Alpharetta had several credit cards stolen from her purse while eating at the restaurant Feb. 10, police said.

Alpharetta police said the woman was dining at about 11:30 a.m. with her purse on the back of her chair and was unaware of the theft until her husband called to tell her that multiple charges had been attempted on her account in the Atlanta area.

The woman said her wallet was still in her purse, but it had clearly been rifled through.

Thieves attempted to make a $15,000 purchase at The Real Real store in Buckhead and an $8,500 purchase at the Apple Store in Lenox Mall. Both transactions were declined, and the woman’s cards were immediately canceled, the report said.

From the Apple Store, police were givena description of the suspect, but at the time of the report, the suspect was not identified.

Police arrest woman for aggravated assault

ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell Police responded to a stabbing call at the Studio

6 Hotel on Old Dogwood Road Feb. 22 after an altercation between two women reportedly led to one suffering a cut to her face.

An officer met with a couple staying at the hotel, a woman and her boyfriend. The girlfriend said she had heard someone knock on the door, and when her boyfriend opened it, a woman tried to force her way in. The boyfriend moved the woman back to her vehicle, but he said she kept arguing.

While the boyfriend went to the front desk, the female visitor headed back to the room where the girlfriend allegedly grabbed a knife and cut her in the face.

The officer tried to speak to the woman who was stabbed and found her sitting in her car with gauze wrapped around her face. She asked to speak to a different officer.

The couple said the woman has been harassing the boyfriend since they started working at McDonald’s together. The boyfriend said she came over to “start trouble.”

The girlfriend was arrested for aggravated assault and the injured woman was taken to North Fulton Hospital for medical treatment.

Catalytic converter stolen from truck at apartment

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta police are searching for thieves responsible for stealing the catalytic converter from a vehicle at a local apartment complex.

Police reports said officers responded to the apartment complex on Elite Lane after a resident reported that his truck’s catalytic converter had been cut from the vehicle’s exhaust pipe at some point overnight on Feb. 17.

The victim said he parked his truck in the apartment complex’s front lot at about 4 p.m. on Feb. 17 and discovered the theft at 7 a.m. the next morning after the vehicle made a loud noise when it was started. No other damage was reported, the report said.

No suspect has been identified in the theft.