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NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 • VOL. 9 — NO. 23
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► ‘Blue wave’ rocks Dunwoody as Democrats win state seats PAGE 2 ► Flight attendant recalls Vietnam R&R service PAGE 6
Mayor, council clash over EMS zone
Beloved park gets some city attention
BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
PHOTO BY DYANA BAGBY
Alexis Lee, left, and Giv Kasravi explore the fun playground equipment at Windwood Hollow Park on Lakeside Drive. The 11-acre park is considered a hidden gem by many residents who find its secluded area appealing, but missing one thing: restrooms. That’s about to change . Story and pictures, page 12.►
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The City Council is insisting its request to state health officials to create a separate EMS zone for the city remain on the table despite a behind-the-scenes agreement reached between the mayor and DeKalb County’s CEO intended to speed up ambulance response times in Dunwoody. Mayor Denis Shortal accused council members at their Nov. 5 meeting of making a “political move” that sows seeds of distrust between the city and the county by keeping the EMS zone request in play after the agreement was reached and then approved by the council. The agreement gives the city “everything it asked for,” such as improved technology on ambulances and requiring response times of nine minutes or less for 90 percent of life-threatening calls, Shortal explained. He added in an interview that he is now “neutral” on the city’s request for a separate EMS zone. He said the meeting last month of an ad hoc state subcommittee tasked with reviewing Dunwoody and DeKalb EMS serSee MAYOR on page 13
‘Create Dunwoody’ plan lays out ideas for arts, culture BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
The city’s new “Create Dunwoody” Arts and Culture Plan lays out several reasons that city government should be involved in supporting arts and culture organizations, including providing a better quality of life for residents while also boosting the local economy and attracting businesses. But some city leaders are hesitant to spend significant money implementing an See CREATE on page 22
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‘Blue wave’ rocks Dunwoody as Democrats win state seats BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
A “blue wave” hit North DeKalb and Dunwoody hard on Election Night as state legislative seats long held by Republicans were flipped blue with decisive Democrat victories. Changing demographics in the suburbs and backlash against President Trump are some reasons elected officials cite for the seismic shift in party power. Democrat Sally Harrell of Chamblee handed state Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) his first loss in more than 20 years by defeating him with close to 55 percent of the vote for the Senate District 40, according to unofficial results. The seat encompasses Dunwoody and includes some of Sandy Springs and Brookhaven. The district also includes a portion of Gwinnett County. Millar has held the seat since 2011 after serving 12 years in the state House. Harrell said SD 40 voters made their decision in her favor because they favor progressive issues such as expanding Medicaid, focusing on public schools, stopping gerrymandering that favors
Republicans and supporting transit. “Georgia state Senate District 40 voters have shown that they are tired of outdated, conservative government, and that they are ready for progress,” she said in a written statement. “I’m honored to serve this district, to demand action on these important issues, and to help rebuild trust in our state government.” Millar congratulated Harrell in a written statement and said he was a “casualty of the Blue Wave that struck North DeKalb, the Sandy Springs panhandle and Peachtree Corners.” He congratulated Democrats on the “outstanding job” they did to get voters to the polls. Millar said he noted several years ago that much of the suburbs will eventually be Democrat majority “and we are seeing that come true.” “This year I don’t know what else I could have done to overcome the anti-Trump/Washington attitude and changing demographics,” he said. In another major upset, Democrat Mike Wilensky, a first-time candidate,
[I was a] casualty of the Blue Wave that struck North DeKalb, the Sandy Springs panhandle and Peachtree Corners. ... This year I don’t know what else I could have done to overcome the antiTrump/Washington attitude and changing demographics. FRAN MILLAR STATE SENATOR
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won the House District 79 seat that includes all of Dunwoody by defeating Republican Ken Wright, the city’s founding mayor, with nearly 54 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. HD 79 became an open seat after state Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody) decided not to seek reelection. Taylor won the seat in 2011, succeeding Millar to the post. Wilensky said the 6th Congressional District race last year between Karen Handel and Jon Ossoff following the election of President Donald Trump mobilized Democrats in Dunwoody and the surrounding area to create organized efforts to put Democrats in office. While Handel eventually won the 6th Congressional District, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Dunwoody. Direct mailers from the Wilensky camp targeted state Republican’s support of “religious liberty” bills. Wilensky also spoke out on such issues as protecting the environment, women’s reproductive rights and LGBT equality, making a clear distinction between him and the traditional GOP values of the northern DeKalb suburbs. “This district had turned in 2016 and reflects the true current balance of House District 79,” he said in an interview while driving around the city and picking up his yard signs. “That motion didn’t stop, and my campaign got a ton of help. We knocked on 40,000 doors, some three to eight times. Many local groups were still motivated to bring more balance in the state legislature,” he said. Millar noted that Harrell and Wilensky’s victory as well as Democrat Matthew Wilson’s victory in House District 80 over incumbent Meagan Hanson means there will be no Republicans in the DeKalb House or Senate delegations at the General Assembly. Wright received public support from Dunwoody Mayor Denis Shortal and many City Council members and other longtime residents who tried to cast Wilensky as an outsider because he’s lived in the city for a few years. Wilensky countered he was raised nearby in Sandy Springs. “Ken is a great man who has done amazing things for the community,” Wilensky said. “But this is a state office and people voted on issues they believe in in going forward. “This is no longer about party,” Wilensky added. “We are all in this together.” DUN
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NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Community Briefs
Dunwoody High School graduate Maura Binkley was one of two people shot and killed Nov. 2 by a gunman at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla., according to city officials. Her funeral is set for Nov. 25 at St. James Methodist Church. Binkley, 21, was killed when a man came into the yoga studio and started shooting, according to media reports. The gun killed another person and injured four others before committing suicide, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Binkley was a student at Florida State University and attended Dunwoody schools. She wrote a “Standout Student” profile for Reporter Newspapers in 2013. White ribbons began appearing in Dunwoody at various locations after the shooting in memory of Binkley, including in her neighborhood at Dunwoody Station.
CO UN C I L QUES TION S WHAT M A K ES D U N WOODY V IL L AGE S PEC I A L
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The city’s Light Up Dunwoody event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 18, from 3 5:45 p.m. at the Cheek Spruill Farm House, 5455 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. The annual community event rings in the holiday season and includes a Holiday Village. The lighting of the tree and menorah happen at 5:45 p.m. Santa will be on the lawn of the Spruill Farm House with his sleigh, and live reindeer will be available for photo opportunities. Residents should bring their own cameras. Everyone is invited, and there is no cost to participate in the family-friendly event.
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Dunwoody City Council members are pondering what is the “it” that makes Dunwoody Village special as it considers an overhaul of the overlay district known for its Colonial-style architecture to allow for more modern development. “What is the ‘it’ that makes the Village special?” Councilmember Terry Nall asked at the Nov. 5 meeting. “We want to remove impediments but not destroy what makes it special.” Consultant Kevin Clark of Historic Concepts, which led a recent community meeting to seek ideas for the overlay and surveyed residents on the city’s website, said he was not sure.
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“If you refer back to the survey, what makes it unique is the passion and history behind it,” Clark said. He added, “It may not be that special, it may be convenient.” Proposed amendments to the Dunwoody Village Overlay are the first steps in a process to update the overlay. Next year, the council is expected to hire a consultant to conduct a more in-depth look at the code for more possible changes. The City Council earlier this year asked staff to look at potential changes to some of the mandates in the overlay, such as architectural style and parking requirements, in response to requests from residents and developers wanting to create an updated look. There is also a strong desire by many in the city to keep the overlay as it is because, they say, it sets Dunwoody apart from other cities with its unique appearance and character. Proposed changes include: removing the pre-1900 mid Atlantic American Colonial style of architecture specified in the code, to allow for some variation in style, while also acknowledging the existing precedent; allowing buildings to be up to three stories and requiring a special land use permit process for buildings taller than three stories; and prohibiting drive-thrus for all new buildings.
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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
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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
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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.
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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 | Community
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Beloved park gets some city attention BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
Just off Peeler Road and across from the DeKalb County Water Works basins is Windwood Hollow Park, a secluded 11-acre park with nature trails, a playground, PHOTOS BY DYANA BAGBY tennis courts and a pavilion. Woodwind Hollow Park is It’s easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. A simlocated off Peeler Road on ple sign stands at the park’s main entrance at 4865 Lakeside Drive. The 11-acre Lakeside Drive. But because the park is surroundpark includes a playground for children of all ages, natural ed by single-family homes, many people walk to the walking trails as well as park enclosed in a wooded area. tennis courts and a pavilion. “We discovered it by accident,” said Katherine Kasravi of Sandy Springs said on a recent sunny Sunday afternoon. She watched her son, Giv, climbing on the bright green playground equipment. “Now we come a couple times a month. It’s close to our house, it’s nice, clean and not many people know about it,” she said. “It’s also not as busy as Brook Run.” The city’s best-known park is Brook Run, a 110acre attraction on North Peachtree Road that’s getting more than $7 million in investments next year. The scene is much calmer at Windwood Hollow Park, but it’s getting some city attention, too. On a recent visit, a woman walking her dog emerged from a wooded nature trail paved with wet leaves. A few children shouted and laughed while being pushed on a swing set. And a family with helium balloons and several pizza boxes gathered at the pavilion for a birthday party. Kim Hood was pushing her daughter, Adeline, age 18 months, in a swing. Hood said she lives in the neighborhood and walks to the park nearly every day. “Honestly, I like it because no one is here,” she said. A.J. Lee of Dunwoody sat on a swing as his daughter, Alexis, gathered nuts and twigs with her new friend, Giv. Lee said he likes Windwood Hollow Park because it’s “not overrun” like Brook Run Park. “The only thing missing here are some bathrooms,” he said. Good news. The City Council approved last month a nearly $176,000 contract to build a restroom facility at the park between the tennis courts and the playground area. Construction is slated to begin this month and be completed in early January. The facility will include sidewalks and a water fountain. “Perfect,” Lee said.
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Community | 13
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Mayor, council clash over EMS zone Continued from page 1 vice led him to believe the city’s request would be denied. City Councilmember Terry Nall said the request for a new EMS zone keeps the city at the table as DeKalb EMS strategy for the future is hammered out. Each member of the council also pointed out that DeKalb has failed several times to force its contracted ambulance provider, American Medical Response, to respond to emergency calls in under nine minutes as outlined in their contract. “In Dunwoody, response times do matter,” Nall said. “The burden is on us to make sure they comply. They have failed in the past. “The request for a new EMS zone must remain part of our request … otherwise there is no penalty for non-compliance,” Nall added. Nall said in a written statement after the meeting he did not realize the mayor “was solo-negotiating an agreement that might interfere with or stop our request of the EMS Council for a Dunwoody ambulance zone. This was not a directive from City Council.” The clash between the mayor and council cast a different light on the united front they shared in May when they unanimously voted to declare an “EMS Emergency.” That declaration brought in the Region 3 EMS Council, the state governing body overseeing DeKalb’s EMS strategy, to hear Dunwoody’s concerns and review DeKalb’s services. The full council then appointed an ad hoc committee to review data and make recommendations. While Shortal urged the council to put its trust in the county with this most recent agreement and indicated support for pulling back on requesting a separate EMS zone, the entire council agreed that to drop the request now could mean having to start all over on requesting improved response times down the line. “I believe in trusting the county, but with verification,” Councilmember Jim Riticher said. “We want to spare the citizens from having to start all over,” added Councilmember Lynn Deutsch. Nall said the agreement, or memorandum of understanding, was a positive first step. But he amended the agenda to include a vote that the MOU be sent to the Region 3 EMS Council with the statement that its request for its own EMS zone remains in place until all MOU demands are met for at least one year. “For now, the MOU is merely words on paper,” Nall said. “Now that we have the momentum, we can keep being strategic in our actions.” The county’s contract with American Medical Response expires Dec. 31. The county is currently working with all cities and with a consultant to create a new request for proposal. That RFP is not likely to be completed until March before it can then be put out on the street for bids, according to county officials. The MOU demands must be met for at DUN
least one year after the new ambulance provider is selected, according to the city’s statement to the Region 3 EMS Council. The city’s MOU agreement and vote came just days before the Nov. 8 meeting of the Region 3 EMS Council to go over the status of DeKalb County’s improvements to its ambulance service. The ad hoc subcommittee and full council are slated to meet again in February. Shortal said in an interview he began talks with Thurmond after last month’s meeting of a state ad hoc committee. The subcommittee’s decision to give DeKalb County more time to address concerns seemed to indicate they would likely not recommend the city’s request for its own zone, Shortal said. “We [he and Thurmond] said this is not going anywhere, so let’s try to solve it if we can,” Shortal said. “I wanted to enhance EMS services for the citizens.” The negotiations were between the two of them and their staff members, he explained. The council was informed of the talks as the Oct. 31 agreement became closer to being reached. The City Council must vote to approve an MOU. As CEO, Thurmond does not require a vote from the Board of Commissioners to sign an MOU with another municipality, a spokesperson said. Requirements in the MOU between DeKalb and Dunwoody include: a response time of nine minutes or less on 90 percent of calls to life-threatening emergencies, and 15 minutes or less on 90 percent of calls for less serious emergencies; three posted ambulances at fire stations in the city and a roving fourth ambulance from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during weekdays serving Perimeter Center; technology upgrades to ambulances stationed in Dunwoody including GPS and traffic signal preemption devices that stops traffic to allow emergency vehicles the right-of-way; monthly reports on response times from DeKalb to the city; and all ambulances in the city to have advanced life support and a paramedic. Members of the ad hoc subcommittee said last month the contract between AMR and DeKalb County made five years ago sets up the ambulance service provider for failure. For example, it does not include tiered response times — different response times for different kinds of emergencies. The tiered response times in the MOU are expected to be included in the new RFP. Dunwoody’s location at the top end of the county and traffic congestion are also reasons for slow response times, according to DeKalb and AMR officials. AMR has also said that sometimes an ambulance is forced to wait an hour or more at a hospital emergency room until a patient is admitted, keeping it off the roads to answer other emergency calls. Dunwoody council members said these issues have been ongoing and no serious efforts by the county have been made over the years to change the contract despite their complaints. Nothing happened to seriously address the matter, they say, until they declared the EMS emergency.
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14 | Community
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DeKalb parents give input into school district strategic plan BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
The DeKalb County Schools district is in the process of creating its 2019-2024 strategic plan that would lay out a path to ensure success in academic success for the more than 100,000 students registered in the district. Plans are to have a completed plan presented to the Board of Education next spring. Community engagement sessions with parents and other community stakeholders were recently held in the districts of the seven school board members where input was gathered from parents, students, employees and others to be included in the plan. Early next year, the district will form a planning team made up of DeKalb Schools staff and community members to determine ways to meet and encourage academic success and set long and short-term goals such as graduation rates and teacher retention. In February, an action plan made up of school administrators will determine the paths and initiatives to be implemented to ensure those goals are met. “Continuous improvement is a never-ending process,” said Stan DeJarnett of the Georgia School Boards Association at an Oct. 30 community meeting at Dunwoody High School. DeKalb Schools hired the GSBA as its consultant to guide it through the strategic plan process. Creating tactical plans and setting goals within a strategic plan to be completed in sixweek intervals as well as a five-year time frame “gives a level of accountability to the schools, the students and the community,” DeJarnett said. Several break out groups were formed at the Oct. 30 meeting, with parents meeting in the library and students, community members and employees meeting in other classrooms. In the library, where approximately 20 parents gathered and then broke out into smaller groups, parents shared their ideas and concerns about topics ranging from overcrowding, strengths such as STEM schools and school choice, strong parental involvement, and praise for the district’s embrace of diversity of students and teachers. The touchiest subject raised by nearly all parents was the number of portable classrooms, or trailers, that clutter many DeKalb school campuses. Parents said there seems to be a lack of adequate planning when new schools are built to handle the number of students they will be serving once opened. “You can’t put trailers with brand new schools,” one parent said. “You need to adequately plan ahead.” Bob Fiscella of Dunwoody attended the Oct. 30 community meeting and said in an interview that DHS is “way too overcrowded.” A $17.7 million expansion at DHS that includes a two-story, 29-classroom addition is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2022. Fiscella said DHS does not have the acreage it needs to grow. When DeKalb Schools adds new classrooms to DHS, it is not adding space for extracurricular activities, he said. DHS teams are now forced to practice on dirt fields at Brook Run Park and in local church gyms, Fiscella said. DHS has a capacity for 1,503 students. Enrollment this year was about 1,982 and is expected to grow to 2,042 next year. By 2022, enrollment is expected to be 2,093 students. Earlier this year, a “portable quad classroom building” made up of four trailers was
DYANA BAGBY
Joy Mordica of DeKalb Schools wrote down ideas for the school system voiced by parents participating in an Oct. 30 community engagement session at Dunwoody High School.
placed at DHS to handle the school’s growing population. More trailers could be installed at the school in as few as two years. The addition of more trailers also means the cutting down of more trees. “We had this nice wooded campus, but now all the trees are being cut down,” Fiscella said. “The county needs to figure out a way [to alleviate overcrowding] that is a lot better than just adding onto the school.” A new Cross Keys High School is slated to be constructed at the former Briarcliff High School site on North Druid Hills Road and finished by 2022. The new 900-seat John Lewis Elementary School in Brookhaven now under construction is expected to open next year. The new 900-seat Austin Elementary School in Dunwoody also now under construction and set to open in early 2020. Redistricting will be part of the process of determining which students will be attending the new schools. Some parents said there was too much fear from other parents who worry their property values will drop if they are redistricted out of an area with a good school. “They fight over the value of their home and not for what is best for students,” one parent said. Parents also said they were concerned about federal funding cuts negatively affecting funding at the local level and DeKalb Schools losing students and teachers to private schools. Several parents said the school district should work more with corporations and businesses to build internship programs and possibly create curriculum around different industries. DeKalb Schools working with Third Rail Studios in Doraville to provide students education about the state’s significant entertainment industry was a popular proposal. The DHS meeting was in District 1, represented by Board of Education member Stan Jester of Dunwoody.
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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
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.
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16 | Art & Entertainment
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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.
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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 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 Schools superintendent announces resignation BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
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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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‘Create Dunwoody’ plan lays out ideas for arts, culture Continued from page 1 arts master plan because of the city’s already limited resources. Some also argue numerous other nearby cities, including Atlanta, already offer many events and cultural spaces and question why a small city like Dunwoody should do the same. The 65-page master plan is the first of its kind for Dunwoody and proposes specific ideas ranging from creating an arts advisory council and forming a public arts committee. Suggestions also include how to utilize existing facilities to ensure nonprofit groups like the Spruill Center for the Arts and Stage Door Players continue to thrive. The idea for an Arts and Culture Master Plan for Dunwoody goes back to 2015 when officials and residents were discussing ways to use public art to help the young city stand out. The “Everything Will Be OK” mural on the side of an old smokehouse is perhaps the most iconic image for the city and is often used in tourism and other advertisements by the Dunwoody Convention and Visitors Bureau. Last year, the city hosted several breakfast meetings to discuss “placemaking” and other ways to highlight the city. From those meetings the idea for an arts master plan to guide the city for the next 20 years was born. Assistant City Manager Jessica Guinn said last year that developing arts and culture master plans is newer to municipalities that are used to coming up with transportation and parks plans. But as cities continue to find ways to attract people and businesses, incorporating art and culture into the planning process is becoming more and more important, she said then. The master plan includes a section noting that Dunwoody’s 2017 annual report has a “Progress: By the Numbers” section boasting the number of lane miles paved, number of stormwater repairs, number of traffic signal repairs and even the number of faded stop and yield signs replaced. Other cities, like Decatur, Roswell and Sandy Springs, however, are measuring their successes on factors like being bicycle friendly, creating civic spaces, art galleries, restaurants and shops, Susan Silberberg of CivicMoxie told the council at its Oct. 8 meeting. “They’re really touting something different and looking beyond paving,” she said. The master plan recommends creating a nonprofit “Create Dunwoody Partnership” with government collaboration including up to $180,000 in funding. The
CITY OF DUNWOODY
An arts master plan recommends Dunwoody update how it measures success. Rather than highlighting paving and stormwater repairs, the plan notes how other cities measure success by their art galleries, restaurants and civic spaces.
I think we are making strides, particularly by commissioning this study to develop a plan to enhance the cultural and artistic environment of our city. CITY COUNCILMEMBER LYNN DEUTSCH
partnership would work to create fair representation for local arts organizations. The plan also recommends public art along park trails and in neighborhoods. Bob Kinsey, executive director of the Spruill Center for the Arts, said he hopes the master plan serves as a wake-up call to elected officials that arts and culture play a role in any city’s success. For example, he said, he was appointed last month to the first Brookhaven Arts Advisory Council tasked to identify and evaluate potential public, performing, visual and cultural art projects for the city. And the new $229 million City Springs Performing Arts Center in neighboring Sandy Springs is hard to miss, he said. “Dunwoody is being left behind because other cities are supporting arts and culture to improve the quality of life for
their cities,” he said. “Their eagerness to embrace arts is pretty inspiring.” Councilmember Terry Nall said the ideas presented are nice, but “when dollars are in short supply, you have to decide how investments are allocated.” Kinsey said he understands Dunwoody is fiscally conservative. But he argued that if the city wants to continue to attract major corporations to the city and to Perimeter Center, the arts must play a role. “It is important to them to have access to the arts,” he said. City Councilmember Lynn Deutsch said the master plan is the first step in trying to achieve the goal Kinsey and others seek. “I think we are making strides, particularly by commissioning this study to develop a plan to enhance the cultural and
artistic environment of our city,” she said. “I think in the next few years we will see lots of progress made with our nonprofit partners and perhaps new ones,” Deutsch added. The arts and culture master plan stressed the economic benefits to a city with a vibrant arts and culture scene where investments are made in areas such as public art, festivals, live music and trails and parks. In 2016, spending by residents and tourists on dining, parking and shopping at 683 events in metro Atlanta generated $285 million, according to CivicMoxie. But Dunwoody is part of metro Atlanta, where there are already numerous thriving arts scenes, including intown Atlanta. Dunwoody does not necessarily have to provide every kind of arts events and cultural programming to residents, Deutsch said. Kinsey agreed people living outside the Perimeter might venture intown a few times a year to catch shows at the Fox Theatre or attend a class or exhibit at the High Museum of Art. But, he said, he and many others he knows want the opportunity to participate in the same kind of professional quality events closer to home, if for no other reason than they do not want to sit in hours of traffic. DUN
Public Safety | 23
NOVEMBER 9 - 22, 2018 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Police Blotter / Dunwoody From Dunwoody Police reports dated Oct. 21 through Nov. 3. The following information was pulled from Dunwoody’s Police-2-Citizen website.
LARCENY/SHOPLIFTING/ THEFT 4900 block of Village Terrace Drive —
On Oct. 22, in the morning, a larceny at a building was reported. 100 block of Perimeter Center — On
Oct. 22, in the morning, a forced-entry burglary at a residence was reported. 4600 block of Peachtree Place Park-
way — On Oct. 22, in the afternoon, a larceny was reported. 4700 block of Ashford-Dunwoody
Road — On Oct. 22, in the evening, a shoplifting incident was reported. 1000 block of Crown Pointe Parkway
— On Oct. 22, in the evening, two people reported items missing from cars. 4600 block of North Peachtree Road
— On Oct. 23, in the afternoon, a larceny was reported. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 23, in the afternoon, a woman was arrested and accused of shoplifting. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 23, in the evening, a woman was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
1200 block of Crown Pointe Parkway
— On Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
Road — On Oct. 26, in the afternoon, a woman was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
Road — On Oct. 30, at night, a larceny incident was reported.
1900 block of Wellesley Trace — On
4600
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 26, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
way — On Oct. 30, at night, parts from a vehicle were stolen.
5300 block of Happy Hollow Road —
4500 block of Olde Perimeter Way —
On Oct. 25, in the evening, a car was reported stolen.
On Oct. 26, at night, items were reported missing from a car.
Boulevard — On Oct. 30, at night, a man was arrested and accused of theft by receiving stolen property.
3500 block of Briarleigh Chase — On
100 block of Drexel Point — On Oct.
5400 block of Redbark Place — On
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
26, a no-forced entry burglary at a residence was reported.
Oct. 30, at night, items were reported missing from a car.
5200 block of Brookelake Drive — On
4400 block of Chamblee-Dunwoody
5400 block of Redstone Terrace — On
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
Road — On Oct. 26, at night, items were reported missing from a car.
Oct. 30, at night, items were removed from a car.
5100 block of Lakesprings Court — On
1000 block of Crown Pointe Parkway
5400 block of Redbark Place — On
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
— On Oct. 26, at night, items were reported missing from a car. Another incident from the same location was reported the next morning.
4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 25, in the evening, a shoplifting incident was reported. 2100 block of Foxboro Lane — On Oct.
25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car. 2300 block of Riverglenn Court — On
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car. 2700 block of Fleur de Lis Way — On
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
6700 block of Peachtree-Industrial
2400 block of Riverglenn Circle — On
Boulevard — On Oct. 24, in the morning, a larceny incident was reported.
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car.
4700
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 24, in the afternoon, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
2500 block of Riverglenn Circle — On
4900 block of Winters Chapel Road —
On Oct. 25, at night, items were reported missing from a car.
On Oct. 24, in the afternoon, a motor vehicle theft was reported. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 24, in the evening, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
Oct. 25, in the evening, items were reported missing from a car. 5300 block of Happy Hollow Road —
2400 block of Kingsland Drive — On
Oct. 26, in the early morning, items were reported missing from a car. 2800 block of Fleur de Lis Way — On
4500 block of Village Springs Run —
Oct. 26, in the early morning, a stolen car was recovered.
On Oct. 24, in the evening, a forced entry burglary at a residence was reported.
2200 block of Peachtree Way — On
2600 block of Fleur de Lis Place — On
Oct. 26, in the early morning, a stolen car was recovered.
Oct. 25, in the morning, items were reported missing from a car.
5200 block of Fleur de Lis Court — On
blee-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 27, in the morning, a shoplifting incident was reported.
Oct. 30, at night, items were reported missing from a car. 5400 block of Redbark
Way — On Oct. 30, at night, two people reported items missing from their cars. 5800 block of Cham-
4500 block of Olde Perimeter Way —
blee-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 31, at midnight, at night, items were reported missing from a car.
On Oct. 27, in the afternoon, two people reported items missing from their cars.
100 block of Perimeter Center East —
4700
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 28, at night, two people were arrested and accused of shoplifting. 2300 block of Dunwoody Crossing —
On Oct. 29, in the morning, a car was reported stolen. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 29, in the afternoon, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting. 1100 block of Hammond Drive — On
Oct. 29, at night, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 30, in the afternoon, a woman was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
On Oct. 31, in the early morning, a strong arm robbery was reported. 4400
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 31, a forced-entry burglary at a non-residence was reported. 4700
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 31, in the afternoon, a man was arrested and accused of strong arm robbery. 5000 block of Winters Chapel Road —
On Oct. 31, in the afternoon, a theft was reported. 100 block of Perimeter Center Place —
On Oct. 31, at night, a woman was arrested and accused of shoplifting. 4600 block of Peachtree Place Park-
way — On Nov. 1, in the early morning, items were reported missing from a car.
4400
4700
4400
100 block of Perimeter Center West —
Oct. 26, in the morning, items were reported missing from a car.
On Oct. 25, in the morning, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting.
4700 block of Summerset Lane — On
4300
2400 block of Dunwoody Crossing —
Oct. 26, a forced entry burglary at a residence was reported.
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 30, in the evening, a shoplifting incident took place.
On Oct. 25, in the afternoon, a bicycle was reported stolen.
4500
4700
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6900 block of Peachtree Industrial
5500 block of Cham-
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Oct. 30, in the afternoon, a man and woman were arrested and accused of shoplifting.
block of Ashford-Dunwoody
4600 block of Peachtree Place Park-
block of Ashford-Dunwoody
block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Nov. 2, in the afternoon, a man was arrested and accused of shoplifting. block of Ashford-Dunwoody Road — On Nov. 3, in the afternoon, two women were arrested and accused of shoplifting.
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