06-08-18 Brookhaven

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JUNE 8 - 21, 2018 • VOL. 10 — NO. 12

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Brookhaven Reporter

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► Mountain fun: Wine, music, Cabbage Patch Kids and more

SPECIAL SECTION | P18-27

A mother and son struggle to stay on Buford Highway

BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net Myrtle Goodman grew up in Blakely, a small town of slightly more than 5,000 people in the southwest corner of Georgia near the Alabama border. Her father managed a local furniture store and her mother stayed home to care for her and her seven brothers and sisters. She married a man from Columbus, Ga., where her son, Walter, was born. When her son was 3, she divorced her husband, becoming a single mom at the onset of the 1980s. Since 2000, the two have lived on Buford Highway, watching the area rapidly change around them. Now they fear they will be forced out. Myrtle is on disability. Walter, now 41, is currently unemployed. Her current income is $1,206 a month. She pays $1,015 in rent, including utilities. She’s been told her rent will go up next month to $1,200 a month, not including utilities. “I’ve been asking since April for them to let me continue paying what I’m paying now,” she said seated at the dining room taSee A MOTHER on page 16

DYANA BAGBY

Myrtle Goodman, 73, and her son, Walter, 41, have lived in their apartment on Buford Highway for 18 years. Threats of rising rents have them worried they will be pushed out of their home.

EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATOR The life lessons of art Page 28

I’m not sure there will be new or different policies, but there will be more diverse conversations around all policy discussions. A 54-YEAR-OLD WOMAN, COMMENTING ON THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN ON THE BALLOT

See Commentary, page 12

OUT & ABOUT Juneteenth returns to the Atlanta History Center Page 10

New Bike Alliance pushes for pedal-powered improvements BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net

Two years ago, the city approved a bicycle, pedestrian and trail plan that promised to eventually provide safe ways for people to get around the city without getting into a car. With that plan in mind, local bicycle advocates have organized to create the Brookhaven Bike Alliance, an organizaSee NEW on page 30


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