MARCH 16 - 29, 2018 • VOL. 12 — NO. 6
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Buckhead Reporter
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► Community survey: Should teachers be armed? PAGE 12 ► Battling hunger, one backpack at a time PAGE 21
March 24-25 | See pages 16-18
Communities of Faith
Conservation group scores win in saving endangered amphibians
BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
EVELYN ANDREWS
Coping with a Crisis: Opioid addiction in the suburbs EXCLUSIVE SERIES
After eight O.D.s and a prison scare, a Dunwoody resident helps others on the road to getting clean
C
hris Zollman’s road to recovery started with a swift act of mercy, continued through a treatment program in Sandy Springs, and ended with him quitting drugs. Now the Dunwoody resident devotes his life to helping others walk down the same path — a path that for many is often muddied by shady operators, controversial treatments, and pricey therapies. Six years ago, Zollman was consuming $100 worth of opioids a day and sold
even more to support his habit. He’d survived eight overdoses — the last time, paramedics found him passed out behind the wheel of his car near Bobby Dodd Stadium. The streak would soon be broken: His drug charges carried a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison. “I was either going to get clean or kill myself,” Zollman thought. But a Fulton County judge offered Zollman probation as a first-time offender. “You’re very lucky to be alive,” the judge said. It came with a condition: finish treat-
Pages 24-25
Northside Drive bridge plan brings safety, traffic concerns
Mark Mandica, founder of the Buckhead-based Amphibian Foundation, holds a crested gecko, one of the reptiles and amphibians housed and shown off by the group. The conservation group says it has scored its first captive breeding success. Read story page 30.►
BY MAX BLAU
reporternewspapers.net
ment. He was sent up to a rehab center in north Georgia. That was followed by a stay at LifeLine Atlanta, a sober living residence founded by Trey Miller, a Sandy Springs resident who was also in active recovery. Zollman stayed there for six months as he strung together drug-free days earning minimum wage at a local Jimmy John’s. For two more years, Zollman worked at LifeLine, helping out with the new clients. Inspired by LifeLine’s mission, he started thinking about starting his own facility. See AFTER on page 26
Sandy Springs prepares to join hundreds of local governments in suing the opioid industry. See story, page 27 ►
Residents expressed safety concerns about the design for a new Northside Drive bridge over Peachtree Creek and are worried an I-75 detour won’t work and drivers will instead clog local roads. Over 200 people attended a Georgia Department of Transportation open house on the detours needed to replace the bridge held March 13 at Northside United Methodist Church. GDOT plans to close Northside Drive just north of Atlanta Memorial Park in 2020 to replace the aging bridge. The plan would also add a new, separate pedestrian bridge to have somewhere to locate water and sewer pipes, but it would be on the side used less by pedestrians, residents said. The plan calls for removing an existing barrier between the bridge sidewalk and road on the side used most by pedestrians, which could make crossing the bridge less safe, residents See NORTHSIDE on page 20
Neighborhoods fear possible East Paces Ferry interchange BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
Livable Buckhead has received funding to study a controversial idea to build a new Ga. 400 interchange at East Paces Ferry Road. The interchange could have major effects on the adjacent Peachtree Park and Pine Hills neighborhoods. One neighborhood group is already threatening to sue, while another major adjacent property owner, Lenox Square mall, says the interchange could help traffic and access. See NEIGHBORHOODS on page 32