MINISTRY
SCENE
A rare peek
‘Dazzling and richly expressive’
The chapel and grounds of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Covington will be open for tours once a month through October. 4
Acclaimed soprano Maria Clark will join the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra for a free concert June 20 at First Baptist Church of Decatur. 6
Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER
Copyright © 2017 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
June 17, 2017
Volume 23, Number 7
www.crossroadsnews.com
Mann suspended for 40 days; Stringer named interim sheriff By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
“criminal charges, alleged misconduct in office, or alleged incapacity,” and a month and DeKalb Sheriff Jeffrey a day after he was charged with indecency for Mann has been suspended allegedly exposing himself and simulating a for 40 days and Capt. Ruth sex act in front of an Atlanta Police officer in Stringer, a 27-year veteran Piedmont Park “in an area known for sexual of the DeKalb Sheriff ’s acts after dark.” Office, has been named to Deal appointed a panel comprising Atassume his duties. torney General Chris Carr, Newton County Gov. Nathan Deal orSheriff Ezell Brown and Peach County Sheriff dered Mann’s suspension Terry Deese, who is president of the Georgia Jeffrey Mann with pay effective June 13 Sheriffs Association, to investiage Mann. The and directed the Chief Judge of DeKalb Su- panel reviewed the incident report, received perior Court to appoint his replacement. statements from the arresting officer, and The June 12 executive order suspend- solicited and received statements from Mann ing Mann comes after an investigation into and his attorney.
DeKalb Superior Court Chief Judge Courtney Johnson appointed Stringer to be interim sheriff on June 13 and she began her duties immediately. Stringer said she is pleased to be able to serve. “With the support of my more than 800 dedicated colleagues at the sheriff ’s office, I will continue our commitment to the safety and security of Ruth Stringer the communities we serve and to performing at a level of excellence in all that we do,” said Stringer, who began her career with the DeKalb Sheriff ’s Office on
June 9, 1990, as a detention officer. Over her career she was promoted to increasing positions of responsibility in various divisions, achieving the rank of Deputy Sheriff Captain in the Training, Background and Recruitment Division in 2010. In September 2009, Stringer received the DeKalb Sheriff ’s Medal of Valor and was named Officer of the Year by the DeKalb Bar Association for saving a young girl from being assaulted in Stone Mountain Park while she was off duty. Mann, who suspended himself for a week for “conduct unbecoming,” is facing trial for the misdeamour charges. He is expected back at his post on July 25.
City of Lithonia losing its only remaining bank Mayor seeking replacement to fill void for residents By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Come June 30, the city of Lithonia will be without a bank when Citizens Trust Bank closes its branch there. The Atlanta-based bank is shuttering the branch at 3065 Stone Mountain Lithonia Street as part of a consolidation move. It will be the first time in 107 years that the city of Lithonia will be without bank. The branch, which started life as the People Bank on Main Street in 1910, was acquired by CTB in December 2008. At that time it had deposits of $51.5 million. Black-owned Citizens Trust Bank is also closing its downtown branch at 75 Piedmont Road, which served as its corporate headquarters for decades. It relocated corporate headquarters to Peachtree Road a year ago. In letters to city of Lithonia customers, CTB urged them to continue banking at its Panola Road branch. Diedra St. Julien, CTB’s spokesperson, said the closure is part of branch optimization. “We have a center in close proximity where we can consolidate services,” she said. “Our Panola Road branch is less than four miles away. Banking relationships can continue at any of our branches but that one is the closest.” With the closure of the city of Lithonia branch, CTB will have two branches left in DeKalb, on Panola Road in city of Stonecrest, and on Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain, down from five DeKalb County branches in 2008. Back then it was also at the interection of South Hairston and Wesley Chapel roads in Decatur, and on the upper level of the Mall at Stonecrest. Through the first quarter of 2017, CTB had 10 branches in metro Atlanta, and in Columbus, Ga., and in Birmingham and Eutaw, Ala., and about $401.9 million in total
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
This Citizens Trust Bank building at 3065 Stone Mountain Lithonia St. opened as Peoples Bank in 1965. A bank has been in the city for 107 years.
assets, and total deposits of $346.4 million. At its founding in 1921, it was the first bank to serve African Americans in metro Atlanta. Today, it is one of the largest African-American-owned financial institutions in the country. Lithonia Mayor DeboDeborah Jackson rah Jackson said the handwriting was on the wall when the local CTB branch lost its full-time manager in 2013. She said that many of the Peoples Bank
customers left when CTB acquired the branch, which has been on Stone Mountain Street since 1965. The city maintains its bank accounts with the branch and Jackson said its location in the downtown area was convenient for residents. Since customers, including the city, were notified of the impending closure, Jackson said she met with a vice president of the bank to see if she could change their minds. “We were hoping they would reconsider,” she said June 14. “They said it was a hard decision, a business decision and they needed
to close it.” The city is now on the hunt for another bank. “We have put preliminary feelers out,” Jackson said. The city is already a select employer of Peach State Federal Credit Union, which also has a branch on Panola Road. “We are hoping it might come to the city because of that relationship,” she said. “As a select employer, our employees can do direct deposit there. We are looking at putting together a proposal to see if it will locate here.”