NOV. 24 - DEC. 14, 2017 • VOL. 8 — NO. 24
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► I-285 transit meeting is latest cross-city planning effort PAGE 4 ► Cross Keys students join immigrant book project PAGE 7
Visions of sugar plums ...
Trails vs. tourist sites: Officials debate spending BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
Santa Claus hears from brothers Blake and Nathan Debold, ages 6 and 4, during Light Up Dunwoody on Nov. 19 at the Cheek-Spruill Farmhouse in Dunwoody Village. The annual kickoff to the holiday season, presented by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust, included a lighting of a tree and a menorah.
EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATOR Teaching English with an artsy eye Page 6
PHIL MOSIER
OUT & ABOUT There’s something about sipping coffee and eating a cinnamon roll that brings back so many memories. It’s the little things! 22-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
How important are family traditions in your holiday celebrations? See COMMENTARY, Page 8
Get into the Holidays 14 Ways to Celebrate the Season
Page 16
The mayor and City Council are expected to approve raising the city’s hotel/motel tax from 5 percent to 8 percent next month, creating a revenue stream they say will fund long-awaited park and trails projects in the busy Perimeter Center with scant green space. But how much of the new money — an estimated $850,000 a year to the city and another $850,000 to the Dunwoody Convention and Visitors Bureau — will go to existing destination spots in the city, such as the Dunwoody Nature Center and the Donaldson-Bannister Farm, is a sticking point for some. Economic Development Director Michael Starling in a memo to the mayor and council said 15 percent of the new revenue would be set aside in a “Tourism Facility fund” that would go toward funding projects at the Nature Center and DonaldsonBannister Farm. See TRAILS on page 14
Knitter spins political yarns with sweaters BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
Jill Vogin wears her heart on her sleeve. And on her political sweaters. A prolific knitter who has made herself known in Dunwoody and metro Atlanta progressive circles with her colorful and political handmade sweaters, Vogin said living in an oftentimes warm and muggy environment means adapting her unique designs. They range from an American flag heart on her back to John Lennon lyrics. “I live in Atlanta, so I prefer cotton, sleeveless sweaters,” she said from her home knitting studio, where boxes of yarn are piled See KNITTER on page 15