Inside
Education Guide Winter 2013 PAGES 13 - 28
Set to sell Chamber of Commerce ready for business COMMUNITY 3
She’s first
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JAN. 11 — JAN. 24, 2013 • VOL. 5 — NO. 1
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Hands held high
City hires first permanent employee COMMUNITY 4
Party on Synagogue celebrates 125th anniversary FAITH 6
Street feet Group brings warmth, love to homeless MAKING A DIFFERENCE 8
Warning shot Gun control discussion needed now COMMENTARY 11
Tightly wound Tennis center contract being challenged COMMUNITY 33
Unplain Jane Literary society reveres novelist Austen COMMUNITY 34
PHIL MOSIER
Jenny Morgan, member of the Skyland United Methodist Church and altar prayer team, soaks up the “Friday Night Fire Worship service,” on Jan. 4 in Brookhaven. The contemporary service, held the first Friday of each month, is an open gathering without an agenda or order, attracting people from all communities. Another photo on page 30.
Legislators gearing up for return to Gold Dome BY MELISSA WEINMAN
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Council delays vote on strip club regulations BY MELISSA WEINMAN
melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net
melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net
As state lawmakers head back to the Gold Dome in 2013, they have a lot to think about. Each year, the state budget looms as a daunting task, and this year is no different. Georgia is a balanced budget state, meaning that tough cuts must be made when revenues are down. “It’s going to be a difficult financial year for the state. The budget picture in particular looks bleak,” said Rep. Scott Holcomb, DDeKalb. The hospital bed tax, which collects funds for indigent care, expires this year, Holcomb said. “That is going to be a pretty intense debate about whether that tax gets extended or not extended. There’s some pretty extensive re-
Brookhaven City Council voted Jan. 8 to delay a controversial decision on adopting a new ordinance to regulate adult businesses. On Dec. 17, its first day of opeartions, the city adopted all of DeKalb County’s ordinances, including one regulating adult entertainment businesses. But council is looking to replace the county’s ordinance with one that has been adopted by other cities in the metro area, including Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, and most recently, Doraville. Attorney Scott Bergthold said the new ordinance is similar to the one already in place in DeKalb County. It would ban the sale of alcohol and prohibit contact between dancers and customers. But Bergthold said “there are a number of constitutional de-
SEE LEGISLATORS, PAGE 36
SEE CITY COUNCIL, PAGE 38