NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 • VOL. 12 — NO. 23
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ELECTION ROUNDUP ►
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► Flight attendant recalls Vietnam R&R service PAGE 6
Old agreement puts new twist on Holy Spirit expansion BYLINE name@reporternewspapers.net Text
BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
JOHN RUCH
Resident Larry Lord, standing at right, questions officials while Holy Spirit attorney Carl Westmoreland, standing at left, looks on during the Oct. 30 community meeting.
EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATOR Middle School Teacher of the Year Page 18
ROBIN’S NEST It shows that we are a cosmopolitan city where players and [the] NFL want to be. It makes us look good. 54-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
Is the Super Bowl good for Atlanta? See COMMENTARY, page 10
A 15-year-old, apparently longforgotten agreement to cap enrollment has thrown a curveball to the major expansion plan by Holy Spirit Catholic Church and Preparatory School. Holy Spirit representatives say they’re unsure whether the See OLD on page 22
Zero Mile Post moves to Atlanta History Center BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
‘Wrong Way Robin’ tries to find direction in life See COMMENTARY, page 11
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The Zero Mile Post, a historic stone railroad marker of the city’s center since the 1850s, has been moved to the Atlanta History Center from its long-inaccessible downtown site. The marker will join the famous locomotive the “Texas” in its longawaited exhibit debut on Nov. 17. Whether the Zero Mile Post will remain at the History Center permanently or return to its downtown spot is still an open question, according to the GeorSee ZERO on page 14
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Nov. 6 election roundup BY JOHN RUCH AND EVELYN ANDREWS
D EM OC R ATS F L IP TWO BUC K H EAD SEATS
Democrat Betsy Holland has ousted Republican incumbent Beth Beskin in the local House District 54 seat by a razor-thin margin, according to unofficial results. And the open House District 40 seat that was previously held by a Republican has been won by a Democrat. Other incumbents, like Democratic Sen. Jen Jordan and Republican Rep. Deb Silcox, held onto their seats in the Nov. 6 election. Holland won 51.64 percent of the vote, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. “I’m humbled and honored by the results of the election, and I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues at the Capitol to build a better Georgia for future generations,” Holland said in an email. “This was a true grassroots campaign that brought together diverse people in our community, and I embrace the opportunity to represent everyone’s voices in our district.” Beskin won the seat in 2014. Holland is the director of culture and engagement at Turner Broadcasting System. Buckhead’s House District 40 is flipping to Democratic, with Erick Allen set to replace retiring Republican incumbent Rich Golick after defeating opponent Matt Bentley with 54.35 percent of the vote.
STATE HO US E DI S T R I C T 5 2
Republican incumbent Rep. Deborah Silcox held onto her seat, defeating Democratic challenger Shea Roberts. Silcox was first elected to the seat in 2016, replacing longtime Republican Rep. Joe Wilkinson, who retired.
S TAT E S ENAT E DI S TR I C T 6
Democratic incumbent Jen Jordan beat Republican challenger Leah Aldridge with 57.97 percent of the vote. It was a partial rematch of last year’s special election, where Jordan’s win switched the seat from a longtime Republican base to Democratic, and Aldridge was among five Republicans who were winnowed out before a runoff.
PR O P ER T Y TA X R EL IEF M EA S UR ES
Voters overwhelming approved a property tax exemption for the Atlanta Public Schools portion of the tax bill. This legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat who represents part of Buckhead, exempts residents from paying taxes to the school district on $50,000 of their property value, but the first $10,000 would remain taxable. The current exemption is $30,000. Atlanta Public Schools, which supported its passage, estimates it would cost the school district up to $25 million per year. It expires in 2021. Voters statewide approved a city of Atlanta homestead exemption. This legislation, sponsored by Rep. Beth Beskin (R-Buckhead), creates a new homestead exemption that caps annual property tax increases at 2.6 percent for the city of Atlanta portion of the tax bill. Although it only applies to residents in the city of Atlanta, the measure was voted on statewide and Atlanta was not named in the ballot text. Both pieces of legislation were drafted after Fulton County residents saw sharp increases in property assessments last year.
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Atlanta voters overwhelmingly approved a measure that will allow alcohol sales in restaurants on Sundays starting at 11 a.m. rather than the current 12:30 p.m. The question received over 70 percent of votes for support, according to unofficial vote counts. The Brunch Bill legislation was sponsored by state Rep. Meagan Hanson (R-Brookhaven/Sandy Springs).
11TH CO NG R ES S I O NA L DI S TR I C T
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, the Republican incumbent in the 11th Congressional District, will retain his seat after defeating Democratic challenger Flynn Broady Jr. with about 63 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. The district includes part of Buckhead.
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NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Community Briefs SHO OTI N G K I L LS ON E, I NJ UR ES A N O TH ER AT APA R T M EN T C OMP LEX
A shooting killed one victim and injured another in the early morning hours of Nov. 1 outside an apartment complex, police said. The suspect shot the two victims outside the Allure at Brookwood complex, located at 40 Peachtree Valley Road, at 2:21 a.m., the Atlanta Police Department said in a written statement. One victim was dead at the scene when police arrived. The other was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said. The initial investigation indicates the suspect requested access through the apartment’s gate from the victims, then began shooting, striking both victims, according to police. Homicide detectives are leading the ongoing investigation, APD said.
B U C K H EA D C ID SETS P U BL I C M EETI NG F OR P IED M O N T/ R OSWEL L / HA BER S H A M STUDY The Buckhead Community Improvement District has set an open house on its Piedmont/Roswell/Habersham roads study for Nov. 14. The CID is partnering with city of Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Transportation on this scoping study, which is expected to include an assessment of the existing conditions and propose feasible transportation solutions and improvements, the meeting announcement said. The need for improvements came out of the 2008 Piedmont Area Transportation Study, which recommended that the intersection be redesigned to improve traffic flow, but initial concepts were ruled too costly, according to the CID. The study is being led by consultant Kimley-Horn and is expected to wrap up in late 2019, according to the CID. The meeting will be held Nov. 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Peachtree Presbyterian Church’s Kellett Chapel, 3434 Roswell Road. The event is an open house and attendees can drop in anytime during the meeting.
M A C Y ’ S PI N K P IG R I D E R ET UR NS TO L EN O X S QUA R E MA L L
The Macy’s Pink Pig train ride, an Atlanta holiday tradition for children dating back 65 years, returned to the department store’s Lenox Square mall location on Nov. 3 and runs through Jan. 6. The holiday ride began in 1953 as a pigshaped monorail ride, dubbed “Priscilla,” that ran inside the now-shuttered Rich’s department store downtown. A second pig vehicle named Percival was later added. The ride eventually moved to a holiday festival elsewhere and stopped altogether in BH
the mid-1990s. The original Priscilla is now in the collection of the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead. In 2003, Macy’s Lenox Square revived the Pink Pig as a train, also named Priscilla, that runs on the ground under a huge tent decorated in a 1950s holiday style. Part of the ride’s ticket price is donated to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, whose hospitals include Scottish Rite in Sandy Springs and a new complex being built in Brookhaven. Macy’s says its ride has donated more than $850,000 to CHOA so far. Tickets are $3 for a single ride; $5.50 for two rides; and $7.50 for three rides. Lenox Square mall is located at 3393 Peachtree Road N.E. in Buckhead.
BERN I E M AR CU S TR EATED I N P IED M O NT HO SPITAL P ROGRA M HIS G IFT FU ND ED
Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist, received an advanced heart procedure this month at Buckhead’s Piedmont Hospital that his donation helped fund. Less than 24 hours later, he was able to tour the construction site of a new center he funded, the hospital said. The procedure was made possible by the Marcus Heart Valve Center established by The Marcus Foundation’s $20 million
donation in 2012 that “brought cutting-edge care to metro Atlanta,” the hospital said. Marcus underwent the procedure, which replaced a damaged heart valve with an artificial one, Oct. 16, the hospital said. The operation was first performed in the U.S. four or five years ago, and, before the center, he would have needed SPECIAL Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist, open heart surgery, acright, tours the construction of a new Piedmont Hospital cording to the hospital. tower that will be the site of a new heart center he funded. “It is an amazing story,” said Charlie Brown, CEO of Piedmont’s Physician Enterprise, in the release. The new Marcus Heart and Vascular “Who knew that when Bernie made his gift Center, a separate program from the center to help Piedmont Atlanta and Piedmont that treated Marcus, will be housed, among Heart to develop the Vascular Center that other services, in the new Piedmont Atlanhe would one day need its services?” ta Tower, which is part of the hospital’s exThe procedure produced results that alpansion and is planned to open in 2020, aclowed Marcus to be able to walk 24 hours cording to the release. later and tour the construction of a hos“I just wish my body could have waited pital tower that will be the location of the three more years,” Marcus said, according new Marcus Heart and Vascular Center, to the release. “It would have been wonderwhich The Marcus Foundation donated ful to have my procedure here, but we did $75 million to in 2016, according to a press OK anyway,” he said of the new center. release.
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The first local representative elected to the new “ATL” transit agency board is a vanpooling pioneer and former Georgia Tech professor who is suing Uber and Lyft for alleged patent infringement — and hoping a settlement can help make a new public utility to connect everything from toll lanes to MARTA in one cellphone app. “The objective would be to make a public utility based in Atlanta where you could bring all these things together,” said Steve Dickerson, who was elected by officials on Oct. 24 to the ATL’s District 3 seat. “There’s a big advantage to having practically everybody in the same system.” Dickerson won election over some notable competition: Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts, and Sally Riker, an engineer who is also president of the Mount ParanNorthside Citizens Association in Buckhead and Sandy Springs. Rusty Paul, the mayor of Sandy Springs, also was a contender, but withdrew before the vote; he is also one of the officials involved in electing the board member. The ATL, or the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, is a new authority for 10 transit systems in 13 counties. It will have a regional governance board with 16 members serving four-year terms, who must be in place by Dec. 1. As the District 3 board member, Dickerson will represent Dunwoody and large sections of Buckhead and Sandy Springs, as well as part of Cobb County. Three other local districts are expected to hold elections — conducted privately by a group of officials — later this month, with the nominees, if any, currently unknown, according to an ATL spokesperson. They include District 1, which includes northern Sandy Springs; District 2, which includes the Sandy Springs panhandle; and District 5, which includes Brookhaven and part of Buckhead. Dickerson was nominated by state Rep. Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs). “I think that he won because I truly do believe he has the most experience,” she said, also citing his perspective and availability. “He’s retired. He’s completely unbiased.” Silcox has long known Dickerson as the father of her childhood friend in Sandy Springs. It was only recently that she learned about his transportation expertise and realized he could be a good ATL board member, she said.
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
A universal transportation app
Dickerson said he earned a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the relatively young age of 25. Besides his former Georgia Tech professorship, he worked for NASA and had a stint at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he reviewed university research proposals. Dickerson’s academic expertise is in automation, but his interest is in transportation, and his ideas tend to combine the two fields. His claim to transit fame is that he started the first “community-based” vanpool system in the U.S. in 1975 — the Peachtree City Commuter Bus, which later became part of the state’s still-operating shuttle system. Dickerson said he actually piloted the vanpooling idea in Sandy Springs in 1973, using a van with such attractive amenities as bucket seats and a mobile phone. According to the Association for Commuter Transportation, a Massachusetts-based advocacy group, 1973 is the same year that corporaterun vanpools were pioneered, partly as a response to the era’s oil embargo crisis. Dickerson said the vanpooling experience got him interested in ways to automate the process of commuters finding a ride easily. In 2001, he filed a patent for a technology that would allow people to register for a ride in real time based on their location, with a payment system built in. The patent was held through Georgia Tech, but he recently got the rights to it himself. Dickerson says his invention is the STEVE DICKERSON same basic idea used by today’s “ridesharATL’S DISTRICT 3 SEAT ing” companies. So in July, he sued Uber and Lyft for patent infringement. He doesn’t aim to put those companies out of business, he said. Instead, he hopes to add their resources to his idea for a “comprehensive transportation service that is supported by a cellphone app.” In fact, he’s already started a Sandy Springs-based company, RideApp, envisioned as a kind of universal transportation app. The company has no active product and is promoted as a precursor to a public utility. Dickerson said his idea is that, with a single app, a person could do everything from ordering and driving a rideshare car, to paying toll-lane fees and public transit fares, to reserving parking spaces. As for existing transit services such as MARTA, Dickerson said he’s less focused on their mode of travel than on making it easy and comfortable to boost ridership. “I don’t have any objection to rail, but I think we should work on greatly expanding the patronage of the transit system,” he said, adding that rail in particular needs a look at cost-effectiveness before expansion. Variable rates depending on the distance traveled, instead of today’s flat fee, would be one way to boost MARTA ridership, he said, as would a payment system that is the same across all transit agencies. “And be careful to make the vehicles very comfortable to ride in,” he said. How does Dickerson travel the area himself? He said that when he worked at Georgia Tech, he usually drove to the campus. And these days, he sometimes uses Uber.
I don’t have any objection to rail, but I think we should work on greatly expanding the patronage of the transit system.
Community | 5
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Flight attendant recalls Vietnam War R&R service BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
In 1968, international jet travel was still a glamorous adventure, and Joan Policastro signed on as a Pan American World Airways flight attendant to get her taste of it. She soon got adventure in a risky, historic form — four years of flying “rest and recuperation” flights with U.S. troops in and out of the Vietnam War, sometimes with bombs going off outside the base. “I liked it. I liked them,” said Policastro on a recent afternoon as she sat at her kitchen counter in Sandy Springs, reminiscing over a photo of her serving young soldiers on one of those wartime R&R flights. Today, she’s preparing to retire exactly 50 years into a career that took her around the world, meeting celebrities and partying at embassies. Those early Vietnam flights remain especially memorable. Policastro says that seeing how young the draftees were — and reading the words of fear and longing they sometimes left behind for her in notes — eventually turned her private opinion against the war. “Everybody on the airplane was a baby,” she says. “I was 22. They looked 12.” But with her adventurous spirit, her own safety was never a concern—not in the war, not during the “take me to Cuba!” skyjacking craze of the 1970s, not in the post-Sept. 11 terrorism era. “I never worried about that,” she said. “It’s the luck of the draw.” Bruce Cusmano, Policastro’s neighbor and friend, served in Vietnam and took four such R&R flights, which Pan Am exclusively operated. He remembers the passenger jets made big targets that the North Vietnamese tried to shoot down when they got a chance, and admires Policastro’s willingness to serve aboard them. “She did something I think was really extraordinary as a young woman, flying into a war zone,” he says. Cusmano will never know whether his future neighbor was among the attendants on his flights, but he remembers well how much that civilian service meant to him and his fellows during the war. “The girls were super to us,” he said. “They were just so kind, because they knew we were starving to see American girls.” For Policastro, the life of international adventure began more or less on a whim. A New York native, she graduated from the University of Miami and wanted to attend law school, but money was an issue. Billboards and radio ads from Pan Am lured her into considering the job of a flight attendant, or “stewardess,” as they were called in the era, a term that Policastro still prefers. “It just brings back the older days when [the job] was glamorous and it was
real. … It brings up the Pan Am elegance and sophistication,” she said. Pan Am was a pioneer of international flights and jumbo-jet travel, especially across the Pacific, and one of the world’s most famous companies. In the 1960s, it had high standards for flight attendants, Policastro says — a four-year degree and the ability to speak at least one language besides English were requirements. She signed up, figuring she’d try it for a year. She ended up getting an unusually plum posting in San Francisco. Her first flight: a trip to Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia, with a five-day layover offering sightseeing. She was hooked. The posting also came with the assignment of those wartime R&R flights, tak-
ing troops from Vietnam to such locales as Hawaii, Tokyo and Sydney, and back again. She worked such flights from 1968 to 1972, when she transferred to the New York City hub. Pan Am offered the chartered flights to the U.S. military at cost plus $1, she said. In return, all crew got Department of Defense ID cards giving them an honorary lieutenant’s rank — possibly ensuring better treatment if they were shot down and captured. “Back in those days, when you had any connection with the U.S. military, you felt safe,” she said. The risks were real, as Policastro saw on one midnight landing at Cam Rahn Bay, where she says they could see and
hear “bombs in the distance,” directed at the base. An officer came on board and told the troops, “When you get 50 feet off the airplane, hit the ground.” For the troops on the flights, Pan Am tried to offer meals with a taste of home: steak, potatoes, ice cream, milk. In return, Policastro said, troops sometimes left notes behind for her. On one flight, a young solider handed her a note that said not to read it until he left; it offered thanks. “At the end of the letter, he said, ‘I know I’m not coming home alive,’” she recalled. She shared another note that she has kept all these years, folded in thirds and written on Pan Am stationery. Signed
PHOTOS BY JOHN RUCH
Above, Joan Policastro holds a note of thanks written to her by one of the troops she served on a Vietnam War R&R flight. Left, Policastro works one of the Vietnam War R&R flights in the only photo she has from that period. Opposite page, Policastro poses with rock icon Chuck Berry on a Pan Am flight in the 1980s.
Community | 7
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
without a last name by one “Rick,” it offers his apologies for staring at her, wishes her well and offers hopes their paths might cross again. “I must say you look better than anything I’ve seen in 15 months in the Nam,” he wrote. Those types of notes, and seeing young draftees “scared to death,” led her to change her initial belief about Vietnam that she describes as, “Well, if the government is in this war, it must be OK.” “It was an eye-opening experience to me. … It changed my attitude, and I was totally against the war,” she said, though she never actively protested it. The flights brought lighter moments as well. Policastro recalls her naïve instinct to intervene when two large Marines grabbed one of her passengers out of his seat — they were MPs and he was headed to the brig in Da Nang — and a time she and four other attendants were stranded on a Saigon airbase in a barracks with walls coated in “gooey slime.” Policastro continued to fly with Pan Am until the company’s dissolution in 1991. She then joined Delta, where she planned to retire in mid-November with a final flight to Rome. Along the way, she considered becoming a pilot herself after her former husband, a Marines fighter pilot, taught her to fly, but the career change didn’t work out. But it is her time at Pan Am she looks back on the most fondly, as a special company in a special time. She is active in World Wings International, a philanthropic organization of former Pan Am flight attendants. “It was an adventure every single day,” she said. “Working for Pan Am was caviar and Champagne.” Being a Pan Am flight attendant meant invitations to U.S. embassy parties, an easy welcome onto any U.S. mili-
tary base, and plenty of celebrity encounters. One “really cute” passenger she served was the Dalai Lama, who ended up unsatisfied with airplane food: he ordered a medium-rare steak, but got a vegetarian meal on a mistaken assumption about his religious diet. “The Dalai Lama says to me, ‘Joan, I think this order is wrong.’” Another famous passenger was rock ’n’ roll icon Chuck Berry, of whom Policastro was a big fan. She got a snapshot with him that she still has in a silver frame. “He never said a word on the flight. He smiled like a fiend and followed me around like a little puppy dog,” she recalls. She says Pan Am was special as an international company that worked hard to learn local customs in countries it served and hired flight attendants from around the world. “We had just an openness to the world. … We accepted people’s cultures and differences,” she said. Something else special about Pan Am was its relationship with the U.S. government and reputation for taking on relatively risky charters like those R&R flights. Policastro said Pan Am was often called upon to evacuate civilians from war zones. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon, Pan Am jets participated in some of the dramatic rescue flights from the city, including “Operation Babylift,” where hundreds of orphaned South Vietnamese children were flown to the U.S. Policastro was out of Vietnam service by then, but said without a blink that she would have volunteered immediately for those flights. “Nothing,” she says, “was ever too scary for us.”
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AJC editor talks newspaper future, City Hall scandal at Buckhead event
Kevin Riley, the editor of Atlanta Journal-Constitution, speaks at an Oct. 22 Buckhead Rotary event.
BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
The editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke about the changing newspaper industry, President Donald Trump’s media attacks and recent City Hall investigations at an Oct. 22 Buckhead Rotary event. The print business model is changing, Kevin Riley said at the luncheon at Maggiano’s Little Italy. Advertisers used to bring in 80 percent of newspaper revenue, with subscribers contributing the rest. Now, that must flip, bringing more accountability to the newspaper industry in terms of responding to and satisfying customers on pricing and value, he said. “That is a big challenge,” he said. The future of the AJC, which is headquartered in Dunwoody at the owner Cox Enterprises’ headquarters, was put into question in July when a surprise Cox announcement advertised the sale of WSB-TV. Cox had previously considered moving the AJC to WSB’s Midtown headquarters, but the announcement ended that plan. The AJC’s operation is located at 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, which is part of a 42-acre site planned for the High Street mixed-use redevelopment and may be part of Atlanta’s short-listed bid for Amazon’s second headquarters. Riley said he does not know if the AJC will stay or relocate when the lease ends in 2021. The AJC moved from downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody in 2010. Despite the declining newspaper industry, the AJC’s audience is “bigger than
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it’s ever been,” through a combination of print, social media and website readers, Riley said. “You’ve likely heard something different,” he said. Riley said internal research shows readers trust the AJC more than they trust national media, which has seen a barrage of attacks from Trump, among others. “Our own research tells us that people in this market trust the AJC,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, people get angry with us, but they don’t distrust us.” One event attendee asked, referring to Trump, said, “There’s a man that lives in a white house that talks mainstream media as if you all are hardened criminals. How do you defend yourself?” Riley said he “wouldn’t waste my energy and time arguing” with Trump, and that the AJC tries to focus on how federal decisions affect Georgians. He said Trump’s reaction to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist, was concerning, calling it “particularly disturbing.”
City Hall scandal The AJC has reported several stories in recent months about the City Hall bribery scandal, former Mayor Kasim Reed’s city credit card spending and Open Records Act violations. “We are right now in the throes of the City Hall scandal … which is much deeper and problematic than we realized,” Riley said. In response to a question about why the AJC did not start reporting on the scandals until near the end of Reed’s tenure as mayor, Riley said he accepted the criticism and said he also wished it could have been published sooner. “It became clear that there was a concerted effort to undermine our ability to get public records and the things that we needed to report a story like that,” he said. The AJC and WSB-TV recently reached a legal agreement with the city over Open Records Act violations. The city will work with the media outlets to draft a new policy, the AJC reported. Riley discussed other major investigative projects, including one covering prison doctors who did not properly take care of inmates with cancer. He initially doubted the story, but it led to one of the bigger projects, he said. “I’m not proud of this … but when we were working on this story, I said, ‘Do our readers care that much about women are in prison? They are criminals,’ ” he said. He said the newsroom shouted him down and he “got a good talking-to by the reporters.” The AJC did the story, and it led to an investigative series about malpractice and doctors who commit sexual assault but are able to keep to their jobs with little difficulty, he said.
Attracting younger generations Riley said, in response to an audience question, that attracting younger readers is difficult because many don’t have a practice of reading the newspaper every morning and frequently checking the news. Younger people tend to think they’ll hear about news if it is important, he said. The AJC uses digital tools, like text alerts, and are working with ways to reach more young readers, he said. “It’s a challenge because that is a person who doesn’t have quite the ritual we depend on,” he said. In a response to a question about recruiting new investigative journalists, he said he believes there are plenty of young people interested. He pointed to a story largely reported by interns that showed the Atlanta BeltLine park and trail system was not meeting its affordability goals for housing developed alongside it. “We can offer the thrill of a byline on the front page on a Sunday,” he said.
|9
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
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10 | Commentary
Reporter Newspapers
Our mission is to provide our readers with fresh and engaging information about life in their communities. Published by Springs Publishing LLC 6065 Roswell Road, Suite 225 Sandy Springs, GA 30328 Phone: 404-917-2200 • Fax: 404-917-2201 Brookhaven Reporter | Buckhead Reporter Dunwoody Reporter | Sandy Springs Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net Atlanta INtown www.AtlantaINtownPaper.com Atlanta Senior Life www.AtlantaSeniorLife.com
C O NTA C T US Founder & Publisher Steve Levene stevelevene@reporternewspapers.net Editorial Managing Editor John Ruch johnruch@reporternewspapers.net INtown Editor: Collin Kelley Editor-at-Large Joe Earle Staff Writers Dyana Bagby, Evelyn Andrews Copy Editor: Donna Williams Lewis Creative and Production Creative Director Rico Figliolini rico@reporternewspapers.net Advertising Director of Sales Development Amy Arno amyarno@reporternewspapers.net Sales Executives Melissa Kidd, Jeff Kremer, Janet Porter, Jim Speakman Office Manager Deborah Davis deborahdavis@reporternewspapers.net Contributors Robin Conte, Phil Mosier, Steve Rose, Dark Rush
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Community Survey / Is the Super Bowl good for Atlanta? When it comes to the Super Bowl, count many locals as superfans of bringing the game to Atlanta. And more than a few believe the Falcons can still win it. More than two-thirds of the 200 respondents to Reporter Newspapers’ most recent 1Q survey welcomed the Super Bowl LIII to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in February, saying that it mattered to them that the game would be played in Atlanta. “It is great for the community,” a 24-year-old Buckhead woman commented. “Hosting the Super Bowl is an honor for our city and helps the local economy greatly!” The survey was conducted by 1Q.com via cellphones to residents in Reporter Newspapers communities. The results are not scientific. Many respondents to the survey argued the game will be good for the local economy. “Nationally televised events, such as the Super Bowl, bring active commerce and people to our great city,” a 32-year-old Brookhaven woman said. “It gives local business time to shine and enlivens the citizens of Atlanta. Although ATL is among other great cities in our country, it’s a melting pot area with lots of history that contributes to the legacy of football.” Others said the game, scheduled for Feb. 3, 2019, will give Atlanta a chance to show itself off to the world. Hosting the Super Bowl “shows Atlanta is a first-class city,” a 54-yearold Sandy Springs man said. “Our city will be on the main stage,” a 30-year-old Atlanta woman commented. “We have an opportunity to elevate exposure of our progress, growth, etc. It will also be a great revenue generator.” Not everyone agreed, of course. Some respondents worried the crowds attracted to the game would worsen traffic, that the economic boost the fans would bring would not be equally shared throughout the community, or that the money the game would attract would go to the wrong things. “It matters because it means a lot of money was spent on something Atlanta didn’t need!” a 54-year-old woman commented. “Whether public or private partnership funds, the city needs investments into the decaying infrastructure more than it needed another stadium. … I don’t care that the Super Bowl game will be in Atlanta. The momentary distraction from the miserable state of the city of Atlanta, my hometown, will be little consolation when the fanfare dies down.” Others just didn’t care about the game. “I don’t watch football,” a 38-year-old Atlanta woman noted. But most did. And now that the NFL regular season is about half over, which team did they expect to see playing in Atlanta for the national title? The Atlanta Falcons, of course. Despite the team’s slow start, about 28 percent of the survey’s respondents backed the hometown Falcons, the largest showing of support for any single team. If the Falcons make it, they would be the first Super Bowl team ever to play for the championship in their home stadium. The second largest group, 23 percent of the respondents, cheered the Los Angeles Rams, who were undefeated when the survey was conducted. About 19 percent backed perennial winners the New England Patriots, while the Falcons rival New Orleans Saints drew about 13 percent and the Kansas City Chiefs attracted 8 percent. About 11 percent predicted it would be some other team. Whoever ends up playing under the bright lights of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, many of the respondents to the survey seem ready and eager for the big game to come to town. “I’m an Uber driver, so I’m happy about it,” a 41-year-old Atlanta man noted. “Should be lots of business.”
Which team do you think will win this season’s Super Bowl?
10.5%
27.5%
23%
8%
12.5% 18.5%
Atlanta Falcons New Orleans Saints New England Patriots Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Rams Other
BE COUNTED IN OUR NEXT READER SURVEY 1Q is an Atlanta-based startup that has developed a technology which sends questions and surveys to a cellphone via app or text message from businesses and organizations across the country. Respondents are paid 50 cents per answer, through PayPal, for sharing their opinions. Payments may also be donated directly to charity. Sign up to be included in our local community polls at 1Q.com/reporter or by texting REPORTER to 86312.
Here’s what some other respondents to the survey had to say when asked whether it mattered to them that Super Bowl LIII will be held in Atlanta Atlanta is a fantastic sports city, so it’s only fitting that it hosts the biggest sporting event in the U.S.! – 45-year-old Sandy Springs woman
will bring a lot of excitement and tourism. – 25-year-old Brookhaven woman
to be. It makes us look good. – 54-year-old Sandy Springs woman
This will boost the economy for many! – 59-year-old Brookhaven woman
Nope! I suppose it’s a nice feather in our cap, but it’s unclear about the economic benefit for the city. It’s a large drain on resources and infrastructure — so what do we gain? – 37-year-old Brookhaven woman
It’s exciting to have Atlanta used as a hub for major sports events. – 28-year-old Brookhaven woman
I love it! It brings a sense of pride to the city. – 32-year-old Brookhaven woman
No, because I don’t live in an area where there will be a lot of traffic and I think it
It matters. It shows that we are a cosmopolitan city where players and [the] NFL want
Have something to say?
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Commentary | 11
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Wrong Way Robin I’m what you could call “directionally challenged.” You might think that this is my glib way of telling you that I am very short (which I am), but you would be wrong. Rather, I am divulging my complete and utter inability to find my way anywhere. Seriously. Anywhere. Given the choice between any two directions — north or south, east or west, forward or backward — I will inevitably pick the wrong one. This is true even if the choice is “up or down.” To further complicate matters, I walk very quickly. So when on foot, I get lost twice as fast. I even got lost in the ladies’ room once. I had to follow a woman out. (In my defense, it was a pretty large bathroom.) Yes, my sense of direction is astoundingly bad, but my husband uses this trait to his advantage. If he’s not sure of which way to turn, he will ask my opinion and then promptly go in the opposite direction. There are people in the world like me; I know that because I am related to them. I sympathize with them, and I learn from them because they have developed creative mnemonic devices for remembering directions. One such aide-mémoire I learned from my father when I was a young girl traveling home with my siblings from a famRobin Conte lives with ily vacation. My brother, sister, and I were fighting over who her husband in an empwould get to sleep on the floorboards while intermittently askty nest in Dunwoody. To ing our parents when we would finally be home again, when contact her or to buy her my father informed us that it would not be long, as he was new column collection, now exiting “east … towards the ocean.” We stopped poking “The Best of the Nest,” each other and peered out the windows in quizzical silence, see robinconte.com. pondering the wisdom of those words. Then my brother replied, “Or you could go west … towards the other ocean.” Odd as it may seem, I’ve been using “east towards the ocean and west towards the other ocean” as navigational cues ever since. I used to figure that one of the bonuses of having children is that once they hit elementary school age, they could read a map for me. As it turned out, two of them can. I think a genetics study could be done here because the offspring who have dark hair like me are also as directionally inept as I am. My daughter and I have bonded over our navigational ineptitude. Put the two of us in a car together and we could circle the perimeter indefinitely. We used to go on road trips together, in the days before Siri, and the biggest challenge we had was breaching the Atlanta city limits. Our trips would typically begin with one of us driving and the other frantically dialing my husband and hollering into the phone, “We have to take 285! Quick! East or West? East or West!” My daughter (who is by now thoroughly embarrassed but who will hate me even more for telling you this) has what I think is a pretty clever orientation cue for our city. She uses the road signs as a guide to help her remember which way to turn onto 400 by pronouncing the abbreviations for north and south as “no” and “so.” We live in the OTP burbs, north of the ATL, so to head north on 400 is “No” Atlanta, whereas going South on 400 is traveling “So” Atlanta. Get it? I use it all the time. Nowadays, of course, I can use the handy navigation system. The problem with that is that I don’t believe it; my uncanny sense of direction always tells me that it’s wrong. As time passed, however, even my dark-haired offspring developed navigational abilities, and they have left me in isolated idiocy. The only thing left for me to console myself with is that I can still find my way around the keyboard.
Robin’s Nest
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Jewish communities everywhere experienced grief and shock at the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue, in which 11 Jewish lives were tragically taken in an act of hatred and violence. Here in our own Dunwoody community, as we struggled to comprehend this tragedy, we were immensely touched by the outpouring of support from our neighbors and friends. Emails, phone calls and floral tributes, all with warm and loving messages, truly uplifted our spirits in this dark time, and served to remind us of the good that surrounds us, even when evil rears its head. At a memorial service held at the synagogue Oct. 31, several of our neighbors were in attendance, and their presence was comforting and inspiring. Congregation Ariel thanks all of the community of Dunwoody and beyond for these tremendous expressions of solidarity and support. Debbie Kalwerisky Executive Director, Congregation Ariel Dunwoody
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12 | Faith
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Local synagogues remember victims of Pittsburgh mass murder
DARK RUSH
Top, among those joining in the Or Hadash candle-lighting was an attendee in a Pittsburgh Steelers ballcap. The team’s logo, which incorporates the trademark of the U.S. steel industry, has been combined with a Jewish Star of David in a widely circulated symbol of resisting hate in the wake of the Tree of Life attack.
PHIL MOSIER
Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura lights a candle with Rabbi Mendy Gurary at the Chabad Israeli Center memorial service.
BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
At least 10 memorials and vigils were held in Reporter Newspapers communities as a response to the anti-Semitic massacre of 11 people Oct. 27 during a service at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pa. Buckhead’s Ahavath Achim Synagogue had 11 candles burning in memory of those killed, said spokesperson Anne Cohen. The synagogue also partnered in a memorial service and vigil hosted by Congregation Shearith Israel in the Morningside-Lenox Park area. In a written statement, Ahavath Achim Rabbis Neil Sandler and Laurence Rosenthal
expressed grief and anger, and noted that while hate crimes are on the rise, most people are not hateful. They also spoke in support of HIAS, a refugee assistance organization that was specifically criticized by the Tree of Life murder suspect in social media posts. “In the Talmud, our Rabbis tell us that ‘One who destroys a single life, it is as though one has destroyed an entire world.’ Today, their words sear with burning truth,” the rabbis wrote. Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst and Police Chief Gary Yandura were among those joining in a “Pray for Pittsburgh” memorial Oct. 30 at Chabad Israeli Center Atlanta and Congregation Beit Reuven on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. At the Brookhaven service, candles were lit for those killed in Pittsburgh, and Ernst unveiled a plaque that added their names to a “Memorial Board.” Edna Jones, a resident of the neighborhood since 1960, was among the attendees. “I am a Christian, but I felt compelled to be here this evening to support the Jewish community,” she said. “Stronger Than Hate” was the theme of an Oct. 29 memorial service held at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs. Rabbis Dr. Analia Bortz and Mario Karpuj led a packed house of attendees in prayer, a candle-lighting and thoughts on the meaning of a holy community.
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NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Faith | 13
PHOTOS BY PHIL MOSIER
Top left, Candles representing those killed in the Pittsburgh shooting at the Chabad Israeli Center. Top right, Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst, left, unveils a marker bearing the names of those killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting during the Chabad Israeli Center Atlanta service. Joining him is Rabbi Gurary.
PHOTOS BY DARK RUSH
Bottom photos, Memorial candles are lit during the Tree of Life memorial service at Congregation Or Hadash.
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14 | Community
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Zero Mile Post moves to Atlanta History Center Continued from page 1
email. “…If the Georgia Building Authority had made any effort to engage the gia Building Authority, which owns the community for input, any number of betmarker. Meanwhile, the agency is doter solutions could have been imagined. ing a swap with the History Center, loanThe fact that the Atlanta History Center ing the original marker in exchange for a insisted on keeping the agreement secret replica that will be installed in the downuntil the deed was done illustrates that town spot, which is being reconfigured they knew there would be significant for public accessibility. criticism.” “Some different things are in play, so The Zero Mile Post was a mile markwe’ll see if it makes more sense for it to er for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, remain at the History Center,” said Buildthe line that the city of Atlanta developed ing Authority spokesperson Morgan around. Specifically, it marked the start Smith-Williams. But under the current of the line, and was used to mark the five-year loan agreement, she said, the city’s geographical center. The marker center “will do a great job of connecting was moved a few times, but had been on [the Zero Mile Post] to the larger story” of its downtown spot since the 1850s, SmithAtlanta’s railroad past. Williams said. The Zero Mile Post move cements the It stood for so long that development History Center’s status as a repository happened around it. Eventually it was for key artifacts left homeless by Atlanshrouded by parking decks around 90 ta’s redevelopment. The gigantic “BatCentral Avenue and the street’s bridge. In tle of Atlanta” cyclothe 1990s, the state rama painting was constructed a buildmoved from Grant ing around it as Park to the center part of its long-gone last year, and will go New Georgia Railon display in a cusroad, a tourist-trip tom circular buildtrain. The building starting on Feb. ing later became a 22. The “Texas,” an Georgia State Pa1856 locomotive, trol precinct and came from Grant then was vacant for Park, too. And remany years. That cently the center acleft the Zero Mile quired the Civil WarPost virtually inacscarred Solomon cessible, with the Luckie lamppost, general public only which long stood in being able to see it Underground Atlanthrough a window. ta downtown. The opportuni“These are the ty for a move has three great Atlancome as the state ta icons, period,” plans to demolsaid Sheffield Hale, ish the building by the History Center’s year’s end. Moving president and CEO, the Zero Mile Post in a press release. ensured its safety “The Zero Mile Post, and preservation. the Solomon Luckie The state and the SHEFFIELD HALE Lamppost and ‘Tex- HISTORY CENTER’S PRESIDENT History Center cut as’ locomotive pres- AND CEO a deal earlier this ent a triad of iconic year and dug up artifacts indicative the marker last month under the signed of the founding of Atlanta and its expanagreement, which swore the state to sesion during the Civil War and beyond. crecy until after the marker was moved. At the Atlanta History Center, they will At the History Center, the marker will prompt a rich discussion for generations be on view in a public gallery — and in to come about the many facets of our cola way it has never been seen since the lective history.” 1850s. While standing about 42 inches Not everyone is happy with the move. above ground, the post is actually 7-feetJeff Morrison, an architect who occasion5-inches long, with its bulk buried seally leads history tours in downtown, curely in the earth at its downtown spot. complained about the move’s secrecy For the move, the History Center had it and said that the marker did not need excavated, and decided to display it laid to be relocated to be saved, noting it suron its side at full length rather than revived the Civil War, among other massive burying it. changes. The marker will be displayed along“The Atlanta History Center has done side the “Texas,” which is also an artifact more to damage the milepost than even from the Western & Atlantic. General Sherman,” Morrison said in an “Positioning the Zero Mile Post be-
Positioning the Zero Mile Post beside the recently restored Texas locomotive, one of the two remaining Western & Atlantic locomotives that would have passed by that very mile post scores of times during its service, offers valuable interpretive possibilities.
ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER
A publicity photo of how the Zero Mile Post, removed from the ground and laid on its side, will be displayed at the Atlanta History Center starting Nov. 17.
side the recently restored Texas locomotive, one of the two remaining Western & Atlantic locomotives that would have passed by that very mile post scores of times during its service, offers valuable interpretive possibilities,” said Hale in the press release. “Railroads built and created Atlanta, and these two objects tell Atlanta’s origin story like no others.” Meanwhile, back at the original Central Avenue spot, the replica Zero Mile Post will be set up around January. With the old building gone, it will be far more accessible, with sidewalks added to make it so. The replica marker — which the
History Center will deliver once the site is ready — will be given some kind of protective cover and an official Georgia Historical Society explanatory sign, said Smith-Williams. The five-year lease agreement appears to be done at no cost to the History Center, according to a copy of the contract provided by the Building Authority. The deal can be renewed as well as canceled. The big question, said Smith-Williams, is whether there is “adequate funding” to return the marker to its original location and with suitable protection. BH
Community | 15
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Former local priests named in new Catholic Church sexual abuse list BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
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Four former priests who served at local churches in the 1960s through 1990s have been named in a document listing sexual abuse allegations that was released by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Nov. 6. One of the priests has already been the subject of a lawsuit over abuse that allegedly took place in Stone Mountain. Cases of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and people in other church positions have been widespread across the globe and have led to many allegations. The new Atlanta list shows priests were “credibly” accused at many metro area churches, including Buckhead’s Cathedral of Christ the King, which is the archdiocese’s mother church, Brookhaven’s Our Lady of the Assumption and Dunwoody’s All Saints Catholic Church. The list does not detail where the allegations occurred, but only shows the churches in which each priest served. Jacob Bollmer, who served at Cathedral of Christ the King from 1968 to 1969, was accused and removed from ministry in 1987, according to the list. Jorge Cristancho was laicized, or removed of his priesthood, after allegations in 2003. Cristancho served at Christ the King in from 1988 to 1992. He took a leave of absence from 1987 to 1988, the list said. John Douglas Edwards served at Christ the King in 1961 and Our Lady of the Assumption from 1963 to 1965. Edwards took two leaves of absence, one from 1973 to 1974 and another from 1986 to 1987. Edwards appears to not have been punished by the church and the list only noted him as having died in 1997. Stanley Dominic Idziak served at Dunwoody’s All Saints Catholic Church from 1978 to 1981 before being removed from ministry in 1987 and later laicized in 1992, according to the list. He died in 2017 amid a victim’s lawsuit made possible under a Georgia law that extended the statute of limitations. The victim was able to receive some compensation from Idziak’s estate. The list was released to comply with a Catholic charter on the protection of children and at the recommendation of a Catholic review board, a letter accompanying the document said. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory apologized to victims and families in the letter. “Along with the publication of this information, I also renew my apology for the damage that young lives have suffered and the profound sorrow and anger that our families have endured,” Gregory said. The list will be updated if new credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor are determined, the letter said. To read the full list or for more information, visit georgiabulletin.org.
WRITTEN BY COLIN ESCOTT &
FLOYD MUTRUX
DECEMBER 14, 2018 - JANUARY 12, 2019 At the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University
4484 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30319
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory announced the list of sexual abuse allegations. BH
SPECIAL
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16 | Art & Entertainment
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BROOKHAVEN
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BUCKHEAD
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DUNWOODY
•
SANDY SPRINGS
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS HOLIDAY ARTISTS MARKET
Tuesday, Nov. 13 to Sunday, Dec. 23. Mondays to Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays noon to 5 p.m. The Spruill Center for the Arts hosts its 25th annual Holiday Artists Market, featuring more than 100 local artists with a wide variety of artisan gifts and home decor. Special events scheduled throughout the six-week shopping event include Cookies & Cocoa on Saturday, Dec.1 from noon to 2 p.m., a Handmade Gift Bazaar on Saturday, Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a Last Minute Shoppers Sale on Sunday, Dec. 23, from noon to 5 p.m. Free. Spruill Gallery, 4681 Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Info: spruillarts. org/holidayartistsmarket.
THANKSGIVING TURKEY CRAFT
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2-3 p.m. Kids ages 5 to 12 can make Thanksgiving turkeys from toilet paper rolls and use them to decorate the Thanksgiving dinner table. Free. Dunwoody Library, 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Info: 770-512-4640.
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Sunday, Nov. 18, 3-6 p.m. The Atlanta Cajun Zydeco Association celebrates the beginning of the holiday season with a Dance Party and Potluck. Dance to Cajun waltz, two-step, jitterbug and Zydeco tunes played by a DJ. Bring a potluck dish or dessert or non-alcoholic beverage to share. $10; $5 students. Garden Hills Community Center, 337 Pinetree Drive N.E., Buckhead. Info: aczadance.org.
TURBO TURKEY WORKOUT
Thursday, Nov. 22, 8:30-10 a.m. Get ready for your Thanksgiving feast with a turbo-charged circuit class workout on Thanksgiving morning. It’s “guaranteed” to help combat your holiday splurging. Free. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Info: atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4025.
PERFORMANCES “OTHER DESERT CITIES”
Thursday, Nov. 15 to Saturday, Nov. 17, 8-10 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 18, 2-4:30 p.m. Oglethorpe University in conjunction with the university’s Rehearsal Room C (RRC) club presents Jon Robin Baitz’s “Other Desert Cities.” The play is produced and performed by students and directed by Kevin Dew, a student and Brookhaven resident. Set on a Christmas Eve, the play revolves around the story of a daughter coming home for Christmas after having written a memoir that reveals secrets about her family’s past. Free. Conant Performing Arts Center, 4484 Peachtree Road, Brookhaven. Info: jmiller2@oglethorpe.edu.
NORTH ATLANTA VOICES Dr. Eva Arkin, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, Dr. Laura Cummings, Dr. Nadine Becker & Dr. Jennifer Lyman
Call for an appointment: 404-257-0170 960 Johnson Ferry Road NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30342
Friday, Nov, 16, 7:30-8:30 p.m. North Atlanta Voices, a community chorus in Sandy Springs, presents its inaugural concert, “Songs of Harvest,” led by the choir’s Artistic Director Lucas Tarrant. Music includes “The Seal Lullaby,” by Eric Whitacre; “Jabberwocky,” by Sam Pottle; “Neighbor’s Chorus,” by Jacques Offenbach; “The White Moon,” by Eugene Butler; and “Sure on this Shining Night,” by Samuel Barber. $10. Highpoint Episcopal Community Church, 4945 High Point Road, Sandy Springs. Info: northatlantavoices.org.
Art & Entertainment | 17
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
LOCOMOTION: RAILROADS AND THE MAKING OF ATLANTA Saturday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
It’s opening day for the “Locomotion” exhibition at The Atlanta History Center, which features the restored steam locomotive “Texas.” The engine was built in 1856 for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which had established its terminus in 1837 at the site that became Atlanta. The Texas is one of only two surviving Western & Atlantic locomotives and is famous for its part in the story of the Great Locomotive Chase. It was restored to what it would have looked like in 1886, the year of its last major upgrade. Located in the Rollins Gallery, the exhibit interprets the major role railroads played in transforming Atlanta into the transportation hub and commercial center it is today. See “Meet the Past” performances featuring stories from Pullman porter James Stewart, Southern Railway chairman W. Graham Claytor Jr., and pioneering woman switch tender and brakeman Gertie Stewart. Included in cost of general admission; free to members. 130 West Paces Ferry Road N.W., Buckhead. Admission info: atlantahistorycenter.com.
COMMUNITY EVENTS GIVE FOOD FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Ongoing Help provide families with food for the holidays. Give to the Community Assistance Center online for GA Gives Day through Nov. 27. CAC provides food to about 500 families a month and receives about 1,200 visits a month to its food pantry. $25 provides Thanksgiving dinner for a couple. $50 provides Thanksgiving dinner for a family. $100 provides a family with food for a month. The organization also welcomes grocery store gift cards that can be dropped off at the CAC. Publix and Kroger store cards are preferred, in denominations of $10, $20 and $30. 1130 Hightower Trail, Sandy Springs. Info: ourcac.org.
BOOK FESTIVAL OF THE MJCCA
Ongoing through Sunday, Nov. 18 The 27th edition of this Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta event continues with headlining authors including Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”; Kenny Leon, Tony Awardwinning artistic director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company; Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Jon Meacham; and Michael Coles, co-founder of the Great American Cookie Company and former CEO of Caribou Coffee. MJCCA-Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Schedule and ticket info: atlantajcc.org/bookfestival or 678812-4005.
FREE DOCUMENT-SHREDDING
Saturday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Keep North Fulton Beautiful will hold a document-shredding event at the Morgan Falls Athletic Fields. 10-box limit per vehicle. Free; $5 suggested donation. All proceeds benefit the nonprofit Keep North Fulton Beautiful. 450 Morgan Falls Place, Sandy Springs. Info: keepnorthfultonbeautiful.org.
IMMIGRANT STORIES
Saturday, Nov. 17, 3:30-5 p.m. Current and former DeKalb County high school students who contributed to the book “Green Card Youth Voices” will speak at the Brookhaven Library. Free. 1242 North Druid Hills Road N.E., Brookhaven. Info: 404-848-7141.
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18 | Education
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Dan Lloyd, Sutton Middle School “Knowing I am helping to build knowledgeable, well-read, empathetic, and tolerant citizens is not my job. It is my mission,” says teacher Dan Lloyd, who represents Sutton Middle School as this year’s Atlanta Public Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year. “Being named APS Middle School Teacher of the Year is the crowning achievement of my long career in public education,” Lloyd said. “I am honored and humbled my commitment to building children is recognized. There are so many deserving teachers across the district.” Lloyd has been teaching at the public middle school in Buckhead for 11 years after spending most of his 25-year career at a high school in Clayton County and a few years in New York City. “Whether teaching in Georgia or New York, I have learned one important thing about children — they need love and parameters,” Lloyd said. “Students want to know their voice matters and that they are valued as humans.” Principal Gail Johnson said she believes Lloyd was chosen because “he represents all that is outstanding in our public school
teachers.” “Dan’s work represents dedication to the craft of great instruction, relentlessness in assuring all of his students are successful, care in understanding that relationships with adolescents are key in connecting them to learning, and pride in
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Q: What keeps you going year after year? A: My students need me. Many carry bur-
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Q: What are you most proud of in your career?
A: Though every day I am proud of my ef-
forts to build articulate, literate, tolerant children who will one day become successful adults, there are a few moments that stand out. I have had a student win the National Do the Write Thing Writing Challenge, not once, but twice! Last year a student of mine won first in state in the Young Georgia Authors Competition. In 2017, ev-
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Education | 19
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Education Briefs DU N WO ODY EXP RESSES CO NC ER N A BOUT DEK A LB G R A D UATI O N DATES
Some Dunwoody residents have expressed concern about the late dates for DeKalb high school graduation. Due to scheduling conflicts at the Georgia World Congress Center, DeKalb graduation has been pushed back to around a week after school ends in May 2019 for most schools in Brookhaven and Dunwoody. Graduation for some other DeKalb schools has been pushed into June, according to a district press release. “There was some slippage on DeKalb’s part,” resident Jeff Rosen said at the Dunwoody Homeowner’s Association’s Nov. 4 meeting. Rosen some parents are unhappy and planning to speak to the Board of Education. Dunwoody High’s graduation is set for May 29, nearly a week after school ends on May 23 and following Memorial Day weekend. Cross Key High in Brookhaven will have its graduation May 24, and Chamblee Charter High’s, which serves Brookhaven, is set for May 31. The district has a five-year contract with the conference center that began with the 2017 graduation. Moving the graduations to the downtown venue was spurred after groups challenged the district’s use of churches for the ceremonies. The district also previously used government buildings and arenas, according to Board Member Stan Jester.
DEK A L B A PPR OVES C R OS S K EY S CO NSTR UC TI ON C ON TRA C T
The DeKalb Board of Education approved a construction management contract for the new Cross Keys High School at its Nov. 6 meeting. The $90,000 contract was awarded to Evergreen Construction. A full budget for the construction will be presented to the board in the summer of 2019, according to the agenda document. The new high school is planned to be built at the former Briarcliff High School site on North Druid Hills Road despite opposition from some groups and residents who say the new location would be inaccessible for many on Buford Highway due to the traffic. The contract was on the board’s consent agenda and not discussed at the meeting.
TWO R I D GEV IEW MIDDLE STU DEN T S AWA R D ED $ 10K S C H OL A R S H I P S
Two students from Ridgeview Middle School in Sandy Springs have been awarded $10,000 scholarships intended to ensure they graduate high school and attend college. Nyla Joy Price and Ashley Raymun-
do Emilio were awarded the scholarships, which require signing contracts to maintain a certain grade point average and remain crime, drug and behavior-issue free, as well as meet with a volunteer mentor until they graduate from high school, the school district announced Oct. 30. When the students graduate from high school, they will receive a total of $10,000 in scholarships — $2,500 each year for up to four years — to be used at an eligible college, the press release said. The scholarships are funded by the REACH, Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen, program that launched in 2012. The statewide program is a needsbased scholarship designed to promote academic success and expand access to higher education, especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college, the release said.
GA LLO WAY THEATER P R O G R AM W INS STATEWID E AWAR D
The Galloway School’s theater program won a statewide award from the Georgia High School Association Nov. 3, the school announced. The students won the state One Act Play
Galloway theater students hold their trophy after winning the state One Act Play Competition Nov. 3.
Competition with their performance of “Twelfth Night,” the school said.
FU LTO N SCHO O LS EX PA ND CR ISIS TEXT LINE TO R IVERWO O D
The Fulton County School District has expanded its crisis text line program to Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs. The program, “Text 4 Help,” allows students to anonymously provide tips about safety concerns or get mental health help from a licensed clinician 24 hours a day,
SPECIAL
seven days a week, a press release said. “Many texting programs are designed for students to report safety concerns, but this initiative links them with a licensed mental health expert who can help them work through all types of issues — academics, relationships, substance abuse and more,” Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis said in the press release. The district hopes to eventually expand the program to all 19 high schools in the district, as well as introduce the initiative to students in middle school, the release said.
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20 | Education
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Fulton County School System Superintendent Jeff Rose is resigning, citing personal reasons, the school district announced Oct. 25. Rose led prominent capital projects in Sandy compassionate care to keep you and your family happy and healthy at Springs that were at times controversial, including the new Riverwood and North Springs high schools. all stages of life. We accept most insurance plans and offer same-day Rose’s final day with the school district will be Dec. 20, the beginning of winter break, the appointments for sick visits. press release said. “I am extremely proud of what has been accomplished over the past two years. It has been Our Services Include: an honor to serve FCS,” Rose said in the release. • Physical exams & wellness care for men, women & children Dr. Cindy Loe, who was FCS’s superintendent in 20082011, will serve in the interim role, the district announced • Care for chronic illness, including diabetes, hormone and thyroid disorders Nov. 6. • Immunizations The Fulton County Board of Education accepted Rose’s decision to resign and not seek a contract extension at an • Acute illness treatment for colds, fevers, flu & more Oct. 25 special called meeting, the release said. “The Board thanks Dr. Rose for his service to Fulton County, and for providing this time to develop a transition plan,” said Board President Linda Bryant in the release. “We look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition.” Loe will not be a candidate for the permanent superintendent, FCS said in a press release, and will work with the SPECIAL Board of Education in the search. Her start date has yet to Charles Fulton County Mithun Diana Shetal be decided. Superintendent Jeff Rose. Taylor, M.D. Daniel, D.O. Denman, M.D. Patel, M.D. “I am honored to work with the Fulton County School Family Medicine Family Medicine Endocrinology Family Medicine Board once again to support the continued high performance of the district and to address existing challenge areas,” said Loe in the press release. “I look forward to connecting with district leaders, parents and school staff as we work togethCall 770-395-1130 for an appointment! er to lead our students in reaching their full potential.” 960 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE, Suite 300, Atlanta, Georgia 30342 Loe’s tenure oversaw closing an over $100 million budget gap, which required major budPNFM.com get cuts at local schools in 2010. Rose joined Fulton County Schools as superintendent in June 2016, accepting a three-year contract with a $295,000 annual salary. He was in the third year of the contract, which was extended in June to October 2019, the release said. He had previously served as superintendent in Beaverton, Oregon, according to the release. The city of Sandy Springs had a fraught relationship with the school district at times with frustration over building a new North Springs High and other issues. “I believe the school board will work hard to find quality replacement to keep the momentum going in support of our school system,” Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said in a written statement. Rose has overseen the reconstruction of Riverwood International Charter School, which had its budget increased by $5 milPre-K – Grade 12 Open House lion in September, prompting concern and calls for stronger audits from school board Sunday, December 2, 1-3 p.m. members. Rose’s tenure also saw the fight to build a Register at gallowayschool.org new North Springs Charter High School instead of only a renovation. Rebuilding eventually became the official recommendation from Rose in a major victory for community advocates. It’s unclear if Rose’s resignation could have any effect on the plan. In another controversial move, the school district in July yanked the enrollment for out-of-district North Springs students before later backing off the plan after finding the school had special permission to enroll some students. Irene Schweiger, the executive director of the Sandy Springs Education Force, said At Galloway, students (age 3-grade 12) are inspired to be the group appreciated Rose’s “enthusiasm fearless learners, to embrace challenges, and to discover and support” for the organization, which more about themselves and the world around them. aids math and science, literacy, after school and mentoring programs in the city’s public schools. and endocrinology services, our experienced physicians offer attentive,
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Classifieds | 21
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
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22 | Community
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Old agreement puts new twist on Holy Spirit expansion Continued from page 1 old agreement has legal teeth, but hope to cut a new deal with neighbors concerned about traffic, tree loss and the demolition of a 150-year-old house. “I am hopeful we are able to bring something forward that actually solves problems and that some people, who currently say they are opposed to our plan, might actually see merit in it once all of the facts are known,” said Kyle Pietrantonio, Holy Spirit Prep’s head of school, in an email. Holy Spirit’s plan would build out its Buckhead campus at Northside Drive and Mount Paran Road — consisting of the church and Upper School — onto an adjacent, 13-acre wooded property in Sandy Springs. The biggest element of the plan is building a new home for the Lower School, currently located elsewhere in Sandy Springs. At a packed community meeting held Oct. 30 at the Upper School library, several residents said the plan violates a 2003 neighborhood agreement that allowed the Buckhead campus to be built. Mount Paran resident Larry Lord said he worked on the agreement and that it capped enrollment on the Buckhead site “or any adjacent property. That’s a real critical piece in this whole situation.” That claim appeared to take Holy Spirit officials by surprise, as they said they either never heard of the agreement or did not remember that part of it. Carl Westmoreland, Holy Spirit’s zoning attorney, later said the claim was “a little bit out of the blue” and that he first saw the agreement when the Reporter, which obtained a copy from the city of Atlanta, sent it to him. The agreement is a list of conditions that the city of Atlanta attached to its approval of a special use permit that allowed the Upper School, then called the Donnellan School, to be built. It has several detailed provisions relating to the school’s
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size, location of buildings, parking and general operations. It also limits the school to grades 6 through 12 with a total enrollment of 320 students, in strong language. “There shall be no further expansion of the student population on this or any other contiguous site,” the condition reads in part. “The Donnellan School specifically agrees to cap the total student population at 320 students and to prohibit any future expansion of the student body, ever, on this site, or any contiguous property.” The new Lower School would bring 400 or more additional students to the site for an expected enrollment “under 750,” according to Holy Spirit. The conditions also say that the school will not seek any changes to the provisions without the prior written approval of the president of the “Northside/Chastain/Mt. Paran Neighborhood Preservation Association.” Westmoreland said it’s unclear whether those conditions have any real effect on Holy Spirit’s plans, which involve expanding into another city. “I’m not exactly sure how to interpret that,” he said, because in general, a city can’t enforce its zoning ordinances in a different jurisdiction. Another issue is whether the agreement also existed as a separate, signed deal between the church and the neighbors, as some residents claimed, which they could file suit over today. Westmoreland said he has seen no evidence of that separate agreement existing. But Westmoreland said his advice to Holy Spirit is not to focus on the past conditions, and instead meet with neighbors and “work out a new agreement going forward.” Pietrantonio, the head of school, echoed Westmoreland’s approach, saying in an email it’s a “long process” and that the results of traffic studies have yet to come in. “Of course, there are questions about the effect of those conditions within the
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12,000 square feet in size; would serve as a home for retired priests The construction phasing remains unclear and dependent on fundraising. However, officials said that the parking garage is the most pressing need for the church and they would like to see it built in one or two years. The Lower School relocation is also high on the list, dependent on a successful sale of the Long Island campus.
Traffic management
JOHN RUCH
Kyle Pietrantonio, head of school at Holy Spirit Prep, presents the plan during the Oct. 30 community meeting.
special use permit on the other parcel, which is church property and now part of the city of Sandy Springs,” Pietrantonio said in an email. But he added that Holy Spirit “began this project one step at a time and I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
The plan
Holy Spirit says its expansion is a 20year master plan, not something that would happen all at once. It is collecting public comments about the plan at campusplan@holyspiritprep.org and maintaining a question-and-answer page on its website at holyspiritprep.org. Holy Spirit Prep was founded in 1996 at what is still its Lower School campus on Sandy Springs’ Long Island Drive. Holy Spirit wants to sell its Long Island campus and build a new Lower School complex on the site adjacent to the Buckhead campus. Several facilities to serve the church, including a rectory, are also planned. No changes are proposed to the existing Buckhead campus. The following is the proposed new construction by type of use, according to Holy Spirit officials and plans filed with the city:
SHARED USE
■ A parking deck, three stories tall with 250 spaces ■ A roughly 15-space surface parking area with a roundabout, as well as a new driveway opening onto Mount Paran Road
LOWER SCHOOL USE ■ A private school classroom building, two stories and 50,000 square feet ■ A school recreation center, two stories and 50,000 square feet ■ A sports field
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Traffic management is a major discussion point. Holy Spirit officials claim the new driveway would have more than enough capacity for the relocated Lower School’s carpool traffic of about 110 vehicles a day. But larger questions about traffic flow could not be answered as the traffic study is still underway, with results expected in early November, in advance of the next community meeting. Pietrantonio told the crowd at the meeting that “traffic is top of mind for all of us … We want to try to come up with a plan that actually helps traffic on Mount Paran.” He said Holy Spirit would be willing to bring in police officers to direct traffic or other new measures if needed. In the current concept, residents questioned placing the new driveway on Mount Paran Road and the lack of sidewalks or crosswalks, among other factors. He tried to reassure the crowd by saying a traffic study had been underway for months. But neighbors only recently found out about the plan. Several attendees said with the expansion possibly headed to the Sandy Springs Planning Commission as soon as January, they want more time to mull over the major neighborhood change. The ability of Buckhead residents to influence a Sandy Springs project was also a concern.
Natural and historic resources
Tree loss was strongly opposed by a couple of residents. Holy Spirit said in a fact sheet that it would save and replant as many trees as possible, and keep a 60-footwide buffer of woodland between the street and the new buildings. A plan to purchase parts of backyards along Jett Road appears related to maintaining buffer land. One resident asked why the Lower School was not added to the Upper School in the form of additions to existing buildings instead of developing the woodland. Pietrantonio said that height limits in Atlanta’s zoning code prevented that. Another loss would be a historic house at 844 Mount Paran. According to Fulton County property records, it dates to 1869, which would make it one of the oldest buildings left in Sandy Springs. Dillon suggested the house is about to fall down by itself, or at least has an interior in disrepair. The scale of construction was another concern for some residents. The Holy Spirit site is a former quarry, and residents say that previous construction has required blasting of rock for long periods.
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Public Safety | 23
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Public safety tips: Avoiding the ‘Grandma Scam’ So, let’s set the scene. You’re just about to hop into bed to watch “Seinfeld” reruns when the phone rings. “Grandma, it’s Robby. Grandma, I’m in trouble and I don’t want Mom and Dad to find out. I got into a wreck and messed up the car, this other lady’s car and, well, I’m also charged with drinking and driving.” “Are you hurt?” “No, but I’m in trouble.” So, it begins. The “Grandma” scam begins with a desperate plea from the grandchild for help, but with the promise that Mom and Dad won’t find out. This scam is popular, in part due to the emotional connection between grandparent and grandchildren. Here’s an example. I have the grandkids for the weekend. My STEVE ROSE Steve Rose is a retired daughter calls, via Facetime, to check on the kids. We’re fine. “I Fulton County and San- hate sugar, so don’t let the kids have anything with sugar in it.” dy Springs Police capAs she’s talking to the kids, I’m careful to position the phone tain and author of the book “Why Do My Mys- as not to show the Dairy Queen sign next to our table where the tic Journeys Always Lead kids are hitting the banana splits with much vigor. to the Waffle House?” Grandparents do that. We cut our grandkids slack. We love them. It’s because of this love for our children’s children that we can be vulnerable to rationalizing situations that would normally send up a red flare of caution. Every scam has a tipping point triggering an internal signal alerting one to tread carefully. Unfortunately, that emotional connection to our family, especially grandchildren, can easily override common sense if you don’t take a step back, take some time and think. If your neighbor made the same call, chances are you’d begin thinking about it with a dash of common sense, but since it’s your grandson, your emotions overflow and you put on blinders.
By the way, how did they get Robby’s name correct? It isn’t hard. Facebook, Instagram and a dozen other social media sites provide enough public information that a scammer can look up family members. The scammer might have inside information, but how they get that name isn’t as important as how they deliver the hook. The hook is where you decide to go along. Robby tells you his lawyer or other adult person is on the line with him and can “fix” this problem with some funds sent quickly wired via Western Union or by a pre-paid debit card. Remember when I said there was a tipping point? This is it. Any request for a prepaid card or wired money should immediately set you into motion on what you should do. What should you do next? Simple. Do not assume and begin asking questions. The fastest way to defeat a scam is to, by default, be skeptical, and then begin asking questions. Tell Robby that before you can send money, he needs to verify his birth date, home address, and just for laughs, insert a trick question like: “What is your girlfriend Joan’s last name?” Or, tell him that this problem is too big to keep a secret and it’s time for him to put on his big-boy pants and call Mom and Dad. Many times, the scam involves Robby being out of the country on vacation, in Cancun, for instance. The adult person on the line is a Mexican official who represents the fact that Robby might be headed to Mexican jail if the money isn’t sent immediately. This is another big tipping point. The last time you checked, Robby was in high school or college, and now he’s in Cancun? Call and verify. Listen, we all want to be that cool grandparent, but don’t let your love for your grandkids blanket your common sense. If you receive a call resembling this scenario, remember the two responses that will save your hard-earned money. Ask questions and verify everything.
Police Blotter / Buckhead The following information, involving events that took place in Buckhead Oct. 18 through Nov. 1, was provided to the Buckhead Reporter by the Zone 2 precinct of the Atlanta Police Department from its open data records.
— Oct. 28
2100 block of Monroe Drive — Oct. 29
500 block of Main Street — Oct. 30
2100 block of Monroe Drive — Oct. 29
2100 block of Lenox Road — Oct. 31
R O B B E RY
HOMICIDE
B U R G L A RYN O N-R E S I D E N C E
100 block of Peachtree Valley Road —
Nov. 1
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
2100 block of Monroe Drive — Oct. 22 1500 block of Piedmont Avenue — Oct.
2400 block of Camellia Lane — Oct. 20
23
2200 block of Cheshire Bridge Road —
1000 block of Lindbergh Drive — Oct.
Oct. 25
24
1000 block of Garden View Drive —
1000 block of Lindbergh Drive — Oct.
Oct. 25
25
1300 block of Northside Drive — Oct.
700 block of Morosgo Drive — Oct. 26
26 2100 block of Lenox Road — Oct. 27 200 block of Deering Road — Oct. 27
2900 block of Piedmont Road — Oct. 18
2500 block of Piedmont Road — Oct. 29
1800 block of Howell Mill Road — Oct.
20
1800 block of Peachtree Street — Nov. 1
100 block of Peachtree Valley Road —
LARCENY
Oct. 21
Between Oct. 18 and Oct. 31 there were
2900 block of Piedmont Road — Oct. 23
107 larcenies from vehicles reported across Zone 2 and 67 reported cases of larceny and shoplifting.
700 block of Morosgo Drive — Oct. 23
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900 block of Chattahoochee Avenue —
Oct. 26 1900 block of Peachtree Road — Oct. 27
400 block of Armour Drive — Oct. 20
2100 block of Monroe Drive — Oct. 27
200 block of Pharr Road — Oct. 23
2100 block of Marietta Boulevard —
600 block of East Paces Ferry Road —
Oct. 27
Oct. 24
2100 block of Monroe Drive — Oct. 29
2600 block of Lenox Road — Oct. 24
700 block of Cosmopolitan Drive —
700 block of Lindbergh Drive — Oct. 26 700 block of Sidney Marcus Boulevard
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700 block of Park Avenue — Oct. 19
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