Buckhead Reporter - February 2021

Page 1

reporternewspapers.net

FEBRUARY 2021 • VOL. 15 — NO. 2

Buckhead Reporter FOOD FOR THOUGHT

General Muir comes to City Springs

SUMMER CAMPS

1

Calling All Campers! P18 and 19

With crime on the rise, fears and reality merge

Jewish Film Festival makes its return

P7

AUTHOR Q&A

BY JOHN RUCH AND MAGGIE LEE

Meet the mothers of Civil Rights icons P17

Meanwhile, the Buckhead Exploratory Committee is getting some free advice from the existing Morgan County city of Buckhead. “Tell ’em to back off. We got the charter,” was the cheerful reply of Morgan County Commissioner Bill Kurtz, whose district includes the city, when told of the Atlanta

With crime on the rise, it seems just about everyone in the neighborhood has crimefighting ideas, from the kitchen-sink approach of the new “Buckhead Security Plan” developed by local organizations to a nonprofit’s call for separate cityhood. But discussion goes astray, says one criminologist, with some classic misperceptions, including crime fear that outpaces crime reality, and the notion that crime is a neighborhood-wide phenomenon rather than hyperlocal to specific blocks or buildings. And while many residents are demanding crimefighting action from officials -- including at a Jan. 4 City Hall protest -- statistics show that many of them are ignoring the Atlanta Police Department’s pleas to help stop the easily preventable crime of car break-ins, by far the most common offense and one that sucks resources away from other police work. “Put simply, there’s a disconnect between where crime is occurring and the demographics most likely to be victimized, and the areas and demographic who have the highest levels of fear,” says Joshua Hinkle, a Georgia State University criminologist who specializes in evidence-based policing and fear of crime. While the crime rate has risen in Buckhead, he said, “crime and risk of victimization there are still way lower than in, say, the south part

See CITYHOOD on page 23

See WITH on page 22

SPECIAL

WORTH KNOWING

Locals donate plasma for COVID battle

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival in pre-pandemic times drew 40,000 attendees to such major local venues as the Sandy Springs Performing Arts. This year, it has found a way to return with a combination of virtual screenings and a three-day drive-in event. Above is a scene from “Asia,” a 2020 Israeli drama about a single mother’s relationship with her ailing daughter that is among the many films in this year’s lineup. See story, p. 20.

Cityhood group seeks opinion poll funding as Morgan County’s Buckhead opposes

P12

BY JOHN RUCH

The Buckhead Reporter is mail delivered to homes on selected carrier routes in ZIPs 30305, 30327 and 30342 For information: delivery@reporternewspapers.net

Should Buckhead leave Atlanta for cityhood or annexation? The mysterious nonprofit group proposing the idea answered many questions — except about the identity of its own leaders — in a Jan. 20 virtual town hall where it asked for $10,000 to $15,000 in donations to conduct opinion polls.

POSTAL CUSTOMER

9

PRSRT STD ECRWSS US Postage PAID Monroe, GA Permit #15


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Buckhead Reporter - February 2021 by Rough Draft Atlanta: Atlanta Intown, Reporter Newspapers - Issuu