FINANCE
WELLNESS
YOUTH
After community outcry, county officials rethink the decision to close the 47-year-old Scott-Candler Library on April 1. It will stay open until June. 3
Known by the ancient Incas as “the mother of all grains,” quinoa is high in fiber, glutenfree, and rich in magnesium, phosphorous and iron. 11
An orchestra comprising 80 fourth- and fifth-graders from four elementary schools will perform at the state Capitol on March 30. 13
Library to stay open longer
Copyright © 2011 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Packed with protein
March 26, 2011
Orchestral excellence
Volume 16, Number 48
www.crossroadsnews.com
Linda Carter resigns after 10 years as clerk of Superior Court By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
After serving 10 years as DeKalb’s second African-American clerk of Superior Court, Linda Carter resigned effective March 24. Carter, who would have been up for re-election for a fourth four-year term, tendered her resignation to Gov. Nathan Deal Thursday. She gave no reason for her sudden departure but named Debra DeBerry, her chief deputy for judicial and administration, as her
successor. To keep the job, DeBerry would have to run for election in 2012. While Carter’s resignation seemed sudden, sources close to her office said her departure was no surprise to her emLinda Carter ployees. Carter did not return telephone calls at press time, but friends say she had been hav-
ing health issues and felt it was time to go. The clerk of Superior Court manages all court and land records for DeKalb County. In 2000, Carter was a relative unknown in DeKalb politics when she challenged Jeanette Rozier, who was the first African-American to win election to the office in 1996. Rozier was a longtime South DeKalb resident and active NAACP worker with a long history of public service. Carter, a former criminal law clerk in Harris County, Texas, had relocated to South DeKalb just 12 years
earlier. She beat the pavements to introduce herself to voters and defeated Rozier in a runoff. Four years later in 2004, she faced six challengers, including Rozier, who was trying to make a comeback. In her third run for the office in 2008, Carter handily defeated her lone challenger, winning 86.1 percent of the vote. Since that re-election, she has kept a low profile and has rarely been seen at community meetings.
Gasification Plant on Hold Lithonia resident Gerald Sanders spoke against Green Energy Partners’ proposed biomass gasification plant at the March 22 zoning public hearing.
Commissioners defer action on permit for 60 days By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
The DeKalb Board of Commissioners pulled back this week on approving the county’s first biomass gasification plant. At its March 22 zoning public hearing, the four commissioners present at the meeting voted unanimously to defer their decision on Green Energy Partners’ Special Land Use Permit application until their May 24 meeting. Both Lee May and Stan Watson, in whose Commission 5 and 7 districts the proposed $60 million plant will sit, said they needed more time to gather information about any environmental or health effects that the plant will have on the community and its residents. District 6 Commissioner Kathy Gannon and District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader were also in attendance. May said he wants to bring in a third party to review the process and tell him what the hazards are. May said he has attended several community meetings and has heard the concerns of citizens. “You are concerned about what effect this will have on your health,” he said. “It’s a valid concern.” May said he is hoping to find someone or a group that both the developers and the residents can agree on to provide that opinion. “We need to take a closer look to answer all the questions,” he said. Watson said that he is going to talk to the Environmental Protection Division and others to get an understanding about the issues of health and environmental racism. “Deferral will give us a chance to do that,” Watson said before supporting the full-cycle 60-day deferral. It was standing room only for many at the hearing as opponents and supporters of the plant packed the Maloof Auditorium for the board’s first hearing into the application. Marietta-based Green Energy Partners is seeking to lift existing conditions on the
Photos by Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Plant opponents wore “Vote NO” tags on their black shirts while Green Energy supporters sported green shirts at the crowded hearing before the DeKalb Board of Commissioners.
property and get a SLUP to build the plant on the property that is zoned M-2 for heavy industrial use. The opponents, mostly residents of Lithonia, wore black with the word “NO” pinned to their shirts. Green Energy Partners’ supporters wore green shirts. Gerald Sanders, who lives a quarter mile
chips into electricity using a non-emission gasification technology. It plans to sell the electricity to Georgia Power Co. and says it will take 100,000 tons of wood chips to generate 10 megawatts of electricity to power 7,000 homes. Patrick Ejike, chief operating officer of Aku-Bata Group LLC, which is managing the county application process for Green Energy, said only indirect heating will be applied to the wood chips. “There is no combustion at the plant,” he said. “No flame comes into direct contact with the wood chips. There are no ashes.” Ejike told the commissioners they should vote for the project based on the science and the facts. “This is safe based on the codes of the county,” he said. Residents have been fighting the plant since it was first proposed last summer on the grounds that it will be harmful to their health and to the environment. They say enough is not known about the health effects of emissions from the gasification process that will be used. The project was first proposed for a 26-acre site in the city of Lithonia, but the
from the plant’s proposed site, told the commissioners that he did not recognize any of the people wearing the green shirts. “They must have bused them in,” he said. “I know they don’t stay in Lithonia.” Green Energy Partners has a 20-year contract with DeKalb County to collect and convert residential tree clippings and wood Please see BIOMASS, page 6