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 FRIDAY, Feb. 13, 2015 • VOL. 17, NO. 42 • FREE

• A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS • Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.

F REE P RESS 

See Justice on page 12A

by Andrew [email protected]

K evin Davis, a cook atSawicki’s in downtownDecatur, would have been 45

on Feb. 4.Outside of the DeKalb County

Courthouse, a group sang a slow,somber rendition of “Happy Birth-day” to the man who was shot in thechest by a DeKalb County Police of-

ficer on Dec. 29.The shooting occurred after Kev-in Davis called 911 when his live-ingirlfriend was stabbed by a friendduring an argument in their homeon Pine Tree Circle. Kevin Davisdied at Grady Hospital on Dec. 31 asa result of the shooting.

“We’re praying for justice,” saidRev. Brady Radford of OakhurstPresbyterian Church, during theall-night protest during which activ-ists spent the night in tents in frontof the courthouse. “We’re prayingfor integrity. We’re praying for thesystem…to finally work. It’s OK if asystem works and finds somebodynot guilty, but the system has to atleast be put in process.”

The protestors were calling foran independent investigation bythe Georgia Bureau of Investiga-tion. Four days later, on Feb. 8, theDeKalb County Police Departmentannounced that it has made an offi-cial request to the GBI to investigatethe officer-involved shooting.

Attorney Mawuli Davis (no re-lation to the family) of the DavisBozeman Law Firm, who representsthe family of Kevin Davis, said thatafter interviewing the witnesses,including the girlfriend, the person

who stabbed her, and the next-doorneighbor, his firm “came to the con-clusion that there was somethingthat was awry and should be furtherinvestigated.”

Mawuli Davis said although it’spremature to characterize what hap-pened during the incident, “it doesappear to be a grave injustice thatoccurred. It was not Kevin Davis’intent when he provided aid to hisgirlfriend to be a threat to police at

all.”“Why would he call 911 and thentry to prevent the police from assist-ing his girlfriend by standing in theway with a handgun?” Mawuli Davissaid. “It makes no sense. It’s illogical,but that’s what the police narrative isright now and that’s what has to bechallenged.”

Witnesses said the officer did notannounce himself when he enteredthe house, Mawuli Davis said.

“That’s why the series of eventsplays out the way that it does be-cause there is no announcement,”Mawuli Davis said. “All [Kevin Da-

 vis] had to know was that the police,the help that they had called for, wasfinally there. Had they known that,he would have responded differently.

“But instead, the first thing hegets is the gunfire and his bleedingdog coming back to him,” Mawuli Davis said. “Who would not beafraid that his life is now in danger?That’s what precipitated this.”

Nelini Stamp of Rise Up Georgiasaid the protestors at the all-nightrally wanted “to celebrate the lifeof Kevin Davis but also to demand

 justice.”The support of the protestors is

much needed, said Delisa Davis, a

Activists demand#Justice4KevinDavis

Business ........................17A

Education .....................16A

Sports ......................17-20A

Opinion ...........................5A

Classified .......................15A

QUICK FINDER

LOcAL, 8A SpORtS, 18AOpINION, 5A

DEPUTIES ‘ENDEAVOR’TO SERVE WARRANTS

MORE THAN 90SIGN ON NATIONALSIGNING DAY 

PARADISE FOUND.

PARADISE LOST.

QUICKLY.

Protestors have successfully fought for an investigation by the Georgia Bureauof Investigations into the December 2014 shooting death of a Decatur man by aDeKalb County police ofcer. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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Page 2A The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015

LOCAL

No amount of time would be sufficient to recognize all of the

 trail bla zers who saw wha t no one else cou ld, did wha t no one

else dared and gave us all what we needed most. Georgia Power

is proud to honor the achievements of African-Americans

 th ro ugho ut Blac k His to ry Month and more im portan tl y bey ond.

THE CELEBRATION LASTS 28 DAYS;

THE CONTRIBUTION, A LIFETIME.

georgiapower.com

Connect With Us

by Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

The city of Doravillehired a new vendor to op-erate the city’s pool for the2015 season at its Feb. 2council meeting.

Parks and RecreationDirector Rip Robertsonuggested the city approve

Sears Pool ManagementConsultants to provide poolervices for an estimated

$28,300.“Their proposal is very

imilar to all the rest, buthey’re middle of the pack

when it comes to pricing,”aid Robertson.

Sears has provided poolmanagement services tocommunity pools, country

clubs, municipal pools andcondo associations since

997.Robertson said, “Their

eferences are very good andnot just with their custom-ers.I’ve talked to some suppli-

ers and trainers and they allpeak highly of Sears Pool

Management Consultants.”In addition to regular

pool maintenance, poolequipment repair and re-placement, resurfacing, til-ng, coping and deck work,

pool cover installation, poolurniture sales and repair,Sears has agreed to provideup to four lifeguards to su-pervise public swimming,wim lessons and other or-

ganized pool activities suchas water aerobics.

Councilwoman MariaAlexander said, “This isexciting that we are giv-ng someone else a chance.

We’ve heard some concernsabout lifeguard staffing–afety needs to be concern

number one.”The lifeguards provided

by Sears also will be respon-ible for the upkeep and

cleanliness of the pool, deckand bathhouse. Sears willprovide a supervisor as wellas a pool manager that willmeet with Doraville officialswice a month to report onhe facilities.

According to the com-pany’s reports Sears certifiesheir lifeguards through the

American Red Cross Life-guard Training program.

The training includescourses on preventing dis-

ease transmission and meetsOccupational Safety andHealth Administration re-quirements.

The Doraville pool willopen on Memorial Dayweekend through Labor Dayweekend.

Water aerobics start thefirst week of June and con-tinue until school returns tosession in DeKalb County.

The pool will be onlyopen on weekends in themonths of August and Sep-tember while the DeKalbCounty schools are in ses-sion.

Doraville hires Sears for pool services

Sears Pool Management Consultants team up to provide services for Doraville.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 3ALOCAL

Business association sees expanded

role for scholarship breakfast

See Police on page 10A

by Kathy Mitchell

The South DeKalb Business Asso-ciation (SDBA) has for seven years an-nually provided scholarships to aspiring

tudents at Georgia Piedmont TechnicalCollege. Starting last year, the scholar-hips have been presented as part of a

breakfast event that organizers say in-volves more than eggs and toast.

“We decided the best way to con-inue moving south DeKalb in the right

direction and undergird the work we doat the association is to help those whoare likely to be its future business lead-ers,” explained SDBA President MiltonKirby . “We want the event to be morehan a presentation program. We wantt to be a source of information and in-piration. That was the thinking behind

making the event a business forum aswell as a scholarship breakfast.”

“We asked ourselves how we canbest support small businesses—espe-cially female- and minority-ownedbusinesses,” added board memberAnna Henderson. “We asked what wecan do to help our young people behe business leaders of tomorrow. We

decided to put them in the room withpeople who have valuable informationor them.”

This year’s keynote speaker is Cas-ius Butts, regional administrator ofhe U.S. Small Business Administra-ion, an independent agency of theederal government created in 1953 to

assist those who want to start or build

ndependent businesses. Kirby notedhat the Small Business Administrationworks with the types of businesses thatare prevalent in south DeKalb.

“Fourth District CongressmanHank Johnson will be there as well,and we’re expecting him to bring sev-eral members of his staff, who will beon hand to advise on specific concernsbusiness owners may have,” Kirbyadded.

There will be representatives of thebusiness community, including Wil-ie A. Watkins, president and CEO

of Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home,

and Mitchell A. Martin, manager part-ner of Martin, Harps, & Syphoe Inc.and cofounder of Global Concessions.“We want future business leaders aswell as those now operating businesses

to hear some of the success stories righthere in our community,” Kirby said.This year the program also includes

seniors at Redan High School, withscholarships being awarded to studentswho have chosen a curriculum in busi-ness or entrepreneurship. The numberand amount of the scholarships willbe determined by the amount raised,according to Kirby. “We have severalcorporate sponsors who have helped usin the past, but the final numbers aren’tin for this year. We’re committed to givetwo to three scholarships at a mini-mum. Last year we gave four. We hopeto do more,” he said.

“In deciding to present the scholar-

ships as part of an event we also sawthe opportunity to raise the profile ofthe organization. We have been aroundmore than 36 years, and we have a fullcalendar of activities throughout theyear, yet many in south DeKalb don’tknow who we are or what we do,”explained LoyLene Jefferson-Shaw ,SDBA immediate past president. “Hold-ing an event with prominent speakersand guests is a way of increasing aware-ness of us.” Planners anticipate approxi-mately 200 attendees at this year’s event.

As part of the application processeach scholarship seeker is required towrite an essay. “This not only helps us

determine which applicants are mostlikely to make good use of the opportu-nity we’re helping to provide, it encour-ages young people who want to go intobusiness to think through in a detailedway what they want to accomplish andwhere they see themselves headed inthe future,” said board member LindaMayhand.

This year’s event will be on Friday,Feb. 20, 8:30 – 10 a.m. at St. PhilipAME Church, 240 Candler Road, SE,Atlanta. For more information, visitwww.sdba-inc.org.

Cedric Alexander, DeKalbCounty’s deputy chief opera-tions officer of public safety,called a Feb. 6 news conference“to clarify some incorrect infor-mation…that has been report-ed” about the police-involvedshooting death of a Decaturman.

According to Alexander,on Dec. 29, 2014, Officer Jo-seph Pitts was dispatched toan apartment on 100 Pine TreeCircle, at approximately 9 p.m.

“Upon Officer Pitts ar-riving to the scene, and as he

approached that apartment,he could hear screaming andyelling coming from inside” theapartment, Alexander said.

“Let’s keep in mind: hewas responding to a 911 call ofsomeone being stabbed,” Alex-ander said.

Hearing the screaming,Pitts, “according to witnessstatements, banged on the doorof that apartment…and an-nounced himself ‘DeKalb Po-

lice, DeKalb Police,’” Alexandersaid.

When there was no re-sponse, only “continual yellingand screaming from insidethat apartment,” Pitts, felt thatsomeone inside that apartmentmay be in danger, accordingto Alexander. When he slowlypushed the unlocked dooropen, “a large pit bull…chargedat officer Pitts,” Alexander said.Pitts retreated back into thehallway, followed by the “growl-ing and aggressive,” dog.

Pitts “fired multiple shots,

striking the dog…[which]retreated back into the apart-ment,” Alexander said.

Pitts still heard “yelling andscreaming coming from theinside,” Alexander said. As hewalked back to that apartment,Pitts was approached by KevinDavis and April Edwards, thestabbing victim.

Pitts ordered Davis, whowas carrying a firearm, to drophis weapon, Alexander said.

Police department describespolice-involved shooting

Cedric Alexander, DeKalb’s top law enforcement ofcial, said he supports anindependent investigation of a police-involved shooting death. See related storyon page 12A. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

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The Champion Free Press, Friday Feb. 13, 2015 Page 4AOPINION

A better name than ‘Greenhaven’ needed

This letter is in response tohe Feb. 6 article about the

“Proposed South DeKalb citynamed Greenhaven”, p14A.

by Ed Williams

Please select anothername or the city o SouthDeKalb. I know that therehas to be a better name thanGreenhaven.

he process o pickinghe name was not inclusive

and not very democratic.he name does not rep-

esent the creativity, inspi-ation or productivity thathe Concerned Citizens

Cityhood o South DeKalbCCCSD) claims that this

new city would oster.

he name Greenhavenor a new city is not a goodogo or any uture sportseams or marketing name. I

we are going to be the meccao the South, then the namehas to be on point.

he name Greenhavenounds like a church or rest

home or uneral home. Itounds like a country town.

he CCCSD might haveelected the name Green

Acres, just like the V showrom the ’60s and early ’70s.

here are a ew cities with

he word “green” in theirname: West Green, Ga.;Greenwood, S.C.; Green-wood, Miss.; and Greens-boro, N.C. I do not want toive in any o these cities.

his was an opportu-nity or the organization to

show and demonstrate somecreativity and talent andleadership, and it ailed. heCCCSD should have had anaming competition to se-lect the name.

he proposed new citywould have a lot o houses oworship so let’s call it “Heav-en Gate.” his cityhoodeort is like a story, and itgoes like this,

“Once upon a time, therewas a city called Green-haven. It was created roma lot o little communities inSouth DeKalb. here [werea] ew inancial institutions,a lot o ast ood restaurants,places o worship, and hairand nail shops. he peoplein the community did notcreate or grow anything. It

was to be a vibrant suburbcity that competed withthe city o Atlanta. It wouldhave its own mayor, andcity council. he citizenswould not have to pay anyadditional taxes or the keyto the new city. he ound-

ers promised its citizens thatthere would be economicdevelopment, and bettermunicipal services. he jobswould come rom the actthat the new city would haveto create a downtown, air-port, stadium, courthouse,

 jail, and police department,etc. he city would have itsown downtown and be a ha-

 ven or businesses and peo-ple to move, and we wouldlive happily ever ater.”

I have been searchingall over the country orevidence o the existenceo such a city, with similardemographics and I cannotind it.

It made me think o thequote “A rose by any other

name would smell as sweet”rom William Shakespeare’splay  Romeo and Juliet.

he reerence is otenused to imply that the nameso things do not aect whatthey really are. I do not likethe name Greenhaven.

CCCSD does not rep-resent the citizens and itdid not represent the citi-zens in picking the name.his group is pushing anidea without any study orconsensus rom the citi-zens. he eort led by the

CCCSD does not seem to besupported by the businesscommunity.

his group thinks thatit is making a gumbo soup.hey are proposing to justtake a lot o neighborhoodsand lump them together and

call it a city.he citizens should say

“No thanks.”South DeKalb does not

have the tax base and the in-dustries to support a city.

Our leaders should workon improving communitypolice, schools and bringingbusinesses into the commu-nity.

I think the citizens oDeKalb would be betterserved i the CCCSD wouldile a court case against thecounty and the other citiesin regards to the tax liabili-ties and pension obligationsthat are not being shared byall the property owners othe county.

How a new city such

as the city o Dunwoodyor Brookhaven can not beequally responsible or pen-sion and bonds that werealready obligated prior totheir cityhood makes nosense.

I do not believe thatthe name Greenhaven willtransorm the communityand provide sustainabilityand abundance. he namehas no history and no link toa vision o the uture.

It seems to me that sincethe leadership o DeKalb

county became Arican-American, some o thecitizens in the county havesought to gain local auton-omy rom the county. Mucho the county had beenstructured the same waysince 1822. Ater the DeKalb

County citizens elected theirst Black CEO, many localcommunities have soughtto become more locallycontrolled by creating citiesthat would control more oits services rom the county.he local control movementis a legacy o the changingdemographics o DeKalbCounty and similar storiesthroughout the metro arearegion o Atlanta.

It seems that shotguncities are appearing all overDeKalb County. Who willpay the county bills once allthe local communities be-come cities? Will the countyile bankruptcy and thennorth DeKalb merge withMilton. What is the master

plan? I would suggest thatthe state Legislature stop thiscityhood movement in thecounty. he county needsleadership on this issue. hecitizens should not remainsilent on this issue. hecityhood eorts I believeare a rojan horse. here isa hidden agenda, and thecitizens in the DeKalb, northand south will be grabbledup by the political realign-ment that is really going on.We need leadership rom thestate legislature. Where are

the community organiza-tions on this issue?I would like to be over-

 joyed by this cityhood eort,but I cannot at this time andmoment.

Ed Williams, Decatur 

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OPINIONThe Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 5A

L Us Know Wha You think!

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinions from its readers.Please write to us and express your views. Letters should be brief, type-written and contain the writer’s name, address and telephone numberfor verification. All letters will be considered for publication.

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F REE P RESS

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER

W sinrly aria h disussion surrounding his andany issu of inrs o DKalb couny. The Champion wasfoundd in 1991 xrssly o rovid a forum for disours

for all ommuniy rsidns on all sids of an issu. W havno dsir o mak h nws only o ror nws and oinionso ff a mor duad iiznry ha will ulimaly movour ommuniy forward. W ar hay o rsn idas fordisussion; howvr, w mak vry ffor o avoid rininginformaion submid o us ha is known o b fals and/orassumions nnd as fa. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION

Exercise the excise tax“Before the income tax

was imposed on us just 80ears ago, government had

no claim to our income.Only sales, excise and tariff

axes were allowed,” peren-nial candidate and conserva-ive Alan Keyes (1993), who

would later run for Presidenthree times and lose his raceor U.S. Senator of Illinois tohen State Senator Barack

Obama in 2004.

A regular weekday rushhour commute across metroAtlanta can be pretty chal-enging, but when you havehree horrific pedestrianatalities on I-285, and an artroject mistaken or a po-

ential bomb threat shuttingdown the downtown con-nector as well as a series omulti-vehicle pile-ups over

period o three weeks, theeal railties o our existingransportation network areeginning to show.

Most parties knowledge-ble o Georgia’s transporta-ion woes put the price tag replacing existing and

deteriorating inrastructurend making the improve-

ments and expansions tomprove congestion andraffic flow at roughly $1

illion per year in newpending. Tough we arell enjoying these lower gas

prices, our motor uel taxis a conglomeration o salesand excise taxes. Sales taxesare tied to each dollar withinthe gallon price, meaning

lower gas prices mean lowertax revenues. And in Geor-gia, currently only three oevery our cents collectedin gas sales taxes are beingbudgeted back toward trans-portation expenses.

Te Georgia Constitu-tion obligates all state excisetaxes collected on motoruels to be spent solely ontransportation and relatedexpenses. Excise taxes arefixed ees or duties chargedon the sale o specific mer-chandise, such as a gallon ogasoline, diesel uel or ciga-

rettes and alcohol (the latterofen being reerred to as sintaxes). Yet finding or creat-

ing an unspent billion is noeasy task.

So, though it may insome respects seem likea shell game to some, the

GOP House leadership hasproposed a healthy bump inthe gasoline excise tax, clos-er to the amounts chargedin our neighboring states oFlorida and North Carolina,while eliminating the statesales tax on gas. ExistingSPLOSs will be allowedto continue through theirrespective sunsets, and theMARA penny collectedin DeKalb, Fulton and nowClayton counties will remainuntouched.

Beore the ink dried on

this House proposal, manycities and counties were cry-ing oul on what they per-ceive as a tax shif. Toughboth local government enti-ties would be allowed to re-place lost sales tax proceedswith local excise taxes onuel, they are arguing boththe requirements to makethose hikes and the distribu-tion mechanisms or divvy-ing up the dollars collectedrom the excise ees.

Governor Nathan Deal is weighing in, avoring agreater exercise o the ex-

cise tax, but also holdingup a yellow caution light onHouse calls or $100 million

in additional bond unds ormass transit expense andanother bond package orbridges and major one-timeinrastructure needs. Deal

does not want to leave Geor-gia strapped with massivenew bonded debt as well asthe reserve cupboards bare,as he ound things uponhis arrival in the governor’smansion.

And though LieutenantGovernor Casey Cagle andthe State Senate have yet toweigh in on their versiono a transportation und-ing plan, they have alreadymade clear that doing noth-ing is not an option and thatGeorgia now has a responsi-

bility to begin partial und-ing and a series o longerconversations on its properrole in mass transit planningand construction.

So, not unlike head-ing into rush hour trafficknowing that some teethgrinding, horn blaring andgeneral rustration are head-ing your way...we can expectseveral weeks o similarback and orth under ourGold Dome, while we alsohave great hope that beorethings end in “sine die,” thisGeneral Assembly will bite

the bullet, take the lead andlay out a plan to und andbuild or Georgia’s uture

transportation needs, not just the BandAid-type solu-tions driven by the chal-lenged financial resourceso our Great Recession.

And expanding an alreadydedicated revenue source isa practical and achievablecommon sense solution,without the long odds o aconstitutional amendment.Exercise and expand thegasoline excise tax. I we cangive $3.50 a gallon to BPafer that massive oil spill,I don’t mind handing $2.50again to the state o Georgia,i it can help improve tra-fic flow and get me home intime or prime time.

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commen-tator for Channel 2’s ActionNews, WSB-AM News/Talk750 and now 95.5 FM, as wellas a columnist for  The Cham-pion, Champion Free Pressand  Georgia Trend. Crane isa DeKalb native and businessowner, living in Scottdale. Youcan reach him or commenton a column at bill.csicrane@ gmail.com. 

Bill Crane

[email protected]

Columnist

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Page 6A The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015

LOCAL

Storm Harvey  is afreshman at Agnes ScottCollege and one of threestudents in North Americaselected to receive up to$8,000 toward her educa-

tion from the CochlearAmericas Anders Tjellströmscholarship award.

Harvey was born threemonths prematurely, weigh-ing less than two and halfpounds, and without a leftear canal which caused her

to be deaf in her left ear.“This scholarship means

a lot to me, because honest-ly, there are very few perksto being hearing-impairedand it was awesome to beable to turn something thathas been a hindrance to meinto something to help meachieve my future goals,”Harvey said.

When Harvey turned6 years old, a tumor wasdiscovered in her right ear.she had to undergo surgeryto replace one and a halfof the three middle boneswith prosthesis. Harvey saidshe was left with moderatehearing loss in her right ear.

“When I was 9 yearsold, I received a Baha hear-

ing implant behind my leftear. For the first time, Iheard the sound of my ownfootsteps, birds singing, rainon the roof and understoodwhy people complain whena baby cries a lot in a restau-rant,” said Harvey.

She said the biggest ef-fect the hearing aid has hadis in her social life.

Throughout middleschool Harvey said kids bul-lied her.

“The other kids startedto notice that if they cameup behind me and pokedme I would jump in sur-prise, as I could not hearthem. It was one thing thedoctors did not expectwhen they were done doingthe best they could to fix myhearing,” Harvey said.

“When one kid callsyour name in front and dis-tracts you while another kidcreeps up behind you, onlyto grab your shoulders a fewseconds later, it rattles you

to the core.“It is the equivalent of

someone coming up behindyou in a dark alley in themiddle of the night andgrabbing you from behind;it makes you really para-noid.”

Harvey said it was atthe South Carolina Gov-ernor’s school for scienceand mathematics that shelearned her hearing impair-ment did not define whoshe is.

“I believed that if I livedaround my classmates al-most 24/7 they would, inessence, be forced to acceptme,” she said.

Harvey said that shemade 10 friends during thefirst week of school.

Now a freshman at Ag-nes Scott College, Harveysaid she has learned to ac-cept her hearing impair-ment and live her life with-out shame.

“Yes, it is a part of me

and a part I am more thanwilling to share with any-one. But my hearing impair-ment is not equal to who Iam. I am Storm, a first-yearstudent at Agnes Scott Col-lege, a horse and Disneymovie lover, a fanatic about

the color orange and, ofcourse, purple and I just sohappen to also be hearingimpaired,” Harvey said.

Harvey makes jewelrywhen she has free time,loves thrift shopping withher best friend on the week-ends and is involved withseveral clubs on campus.

She’s received numer-ous academic recognitions.Harvey won first place fora written and oral presenta-tion at the South CarolinaJunior Academy of Sciencebased on an eight-weekstudy at Dr. Mark Eckert’slab at the Medical Univer-sity of South Carolina.

She also won the ad- vanced placement (AP)

scholars with distinctionaward for the number ofAP classes she enrolled inas well as her scores on APexams.

If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthenat [email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.

 STORM HARVEY 

Chamblee official recognizedby Ashley [email protected]

Chamblee Mayor ProTem Dan Zanger wasrecently re-elected and onJan. 25 awarded a certicateof achievement by theGeorgia Municipal TrainingInstitute at the GeorgiaMunicipal Association

(GMA) annual mayors’ dayconference.“I am honored to be re-

elected by my peers on thecouncil to serve as mayor-pro-tem, honored to receivethis recognition from theUniversity of GeorgiaCarl Vinsion Instituite andthe Georgia MunicipalAssociation, and humbledto represent the citizens ofChamblee and serve on thecity council,” Zanger said.

He added, “I’m veryproud of this achievement

and proud to serve the cityof Chamblee. I am fortunateto be part of a council thatrecognizes and respects thevalue of municipal training

and continuing education.”The Georgia Municipal

Training Institute wasestablished as an effort ofGMA and the University

of Georgia’s Carl VinsonInstitute of Governmentto provide a nationallyrecognized series of training programs for elected cityofcials.

The Georgia GeneralAssembly passed legislationin 1990 that requires cityofcials elected after July1991 to complete training

on administration andoperations of municipalgovernment.

Because state lawmandates that city ofcialsattend and completetraining courses pertainingto their duties, each ofcialmust register and fullltheir required courses.Additional courses arealso offered pertaining tolocal government nance,economic development,ethics and other areas of personal and professional

development.Once a newly elected

ofcial takes ofce, he orshe must enroll in theirrequired courses within therst 12 months.

According to the GMAcourses are typically offeredin February or March ofeach year, depending on thenumber of newly elected

ofcials. If an electedofcial has served beforeand has been re-electedhe or she is still requiredto take the newly electedofcials institute again.

To receive a certicate ofachievement, a city ofcialmust complete a minimumof 72 hours of training,including at least 36 hoursfrom the required list. Thetraining program consistsof a series of more than 50courses.

Chamblee Mayor Pro Tem Dan Zanger recently received a certicate ofachievement by the Georgia Municipal Training Institute.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 7ALOCAL

AtlantaMusuem invites witches andwizards to new exhibit

 The Public is invited for a varietyof fairy tale and mythology themedactivities that explore how poisonshave shaped stories throughouthistory. In conjunction with Fern-bank Museum of Natural History’sThe Power of Poison exhibit, themuseum will host a witches andwizards day. The event will takeplace on Feb. 21, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.All activities planned will be in-cluded with the museum’s admis-sion and are free for members.

Carlos Museum arranges bookclub

African creation stories are asrich and diverse as the continenttself. Some have themes that will

be familiar to those steeped inGenesis, such as the Wapangwaconcept that the Word was the

motivating force behind creation,or the Malozi story reminiscent ofthe Tower of Babel. Others will benew and startling, like the Konostory in which Death is the originalforce in the world, existing beforeGod. Nathan Suhr-Sytsma, assis-tant professor of English at Emory,discusses The Origin of Life andDeath: African Creation Myths, fo-cusing on a selection of memorableWest African stories, the book’ssingular editor, Ulli Beier, and areworking of one of the stories byIrish poet Seamus Heaney .

The event will take place atthe Michael C. Carlos Museum onFeb. 16, 7:30 – 9 p.m. $20 for Car-os Museum members; $25 non-

members and includes the cost ofthe text. Registration is required by

calling (404) 727-6118.

ClarkstonBlack History Month assemblesyouth

Women Watch Afrika Inc,Clarkston Interfaith Group andthe Community Building Groupwill present its Black HistoryMonth youth assembly on Feb. 14.The event will take place at theClarkston Community Center at3701 College Avenue, 1 - 4 p.m.

This event is free, open to thepublic and wheelchair accessible.Individuals needing additionalaccommodations should contactGlory Kilanko at (404) 759-6419or [email protected].

DecaturSons of the Union Veterans ofthe Civil War forming new camp

The Sons of Union Veteransof the Civil War (SUVCW) is afraternal organization dedicated topreserving the history and legacyof veteran heroes who fought andworked to save the Union in theAmerican Civil War. Organized in1881 and chartered by Congress in1954, the group is the legal heir andsuccessor to the Grand Army of theRepublic.

The SUVCW is forming a newcamp, the General George ThomasCamp #5, in Decatur.

Hereditary membership isavailable to male descendants, 14years of age (6 to 14 for juniors),who meets requirements.

Associate membership is avail-able to men who do not have the

ancestry to qualify for hereditarymembership, but who demonstratea genuine interest in the Civil Warand can subscribe to the purposeand objects of the SUVCW. All as-sociate members have the same

 voting privileges as hereditarymembers and can hold all officesexcept national offices.

For further information aboutthe Gen. George Thomas Camp inDecatur or to join, call Bill Brown-ing at (404) 953-2525, or send anemail to [email protected].

City to hold cocktail eventThe inaugural “Decatur Stirs” willbe held Feb. 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,and March 1, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30

p.m. at the Marriott Courtyard

Hotel and Decatur ConferenceCenter. Attendees can shake andsip with local spirits in hands-on classes and exclusive tastingsduring the event, which showcasesspecialty spirits and handcraftedcocktails. The event offers the latesttrends and tips for mixing drinks,digging deeper into distilledbeverages, bitters, and more.Marriott Courtyard Hotel is locatedat 130 Clairemont Ave. Tickets canbe purchased at www.Freshtix.com.

Homeless ministry to holdfundraiser

Lady T’s Homeless Ministrywill hold its gala affair fundraiserSaturday, Feb. 21, 5 to 9 p.m. Theevent will be at Clairmont Presby-terian Church, Milligan Hall, 1994Clairmont Road, Decatur. It willinclude dinner, a DJ and a 50/50raffle. Tickets are $35 per person or$60 per couple. After 5 p.m. attireis requested. For more informationand tickets, contact Sylvia at (404)374-1035 or Lady T at (404) 316-0774.

Dunwoody Dunwoody provides series ofworkshops

The city of Dunwoody invitesresidents, property owners, busi-ness owners and all other membersof the Dunwoody community toshare their hopes, dreams and con-cerns for the future of Dunwoodyat the Setting Our Vision commu-nity goals workshop.

The event will take place at 6p.m. on Feb. 26 at the Kingswood

United Methodist Church.Community members are en-couraged to attend and come readyto share their ideas. The workshopwill be hands-on, focused on col-lecting input about the city’s future,specifically the overarching long-term vision and community goalsfor land use and other service areasprovided by the city.

Lithonia

Chamber of Commerce to host

panel discussionThe Greater Lithonia Chamber

of Commerce will have a paneldiscussion on the economic im-

pact of forming new cities in South

DeKalb Feb. 18 at This Is It. Electedofficials, community leaders andexperts in business developmenthave been invited to discuss jobcreation, sustainability and busi-ness growth. Members are free withannual membership and guests are$20 in advance and $25 at the door.This Is It is located at 2853 PanolaRoad in Lithonia. To register, visitwww.events.r20.constantcontact.com/register.

UGA students to seek input fromLithonia renters

Lithonia is partnering with stu-dents from the University of Geor-gia to seek input from renters abouthomeownership in Lithonia.

The students–who are enrolledin a housing and community devel-opment course in the Departmentof Financial Planning, Housing andConsumer Economics at UGA’sCollege of Family and ConsumerSciences and the Georgia Initiativefor Community Housing–will con-duct four focus group sessions withrenters about community needsand barriers to homeownership in

Lithonia.The input provided at thesesessions will help to identify needsand how best to strengthen thecommunity. The first 50 rentersfrom Lithonia who reserve a spotand attend a focus group sessionwill receive a $50 Walmart giftcard.

The sessions will be held Feb.16 and March 2 from 6-7 p.m.at Lithonia City Hall, 6920 MainStreet, and March 2, 2-3 p.m. atcity hall. Another session will beheld March 19, 5:30-6:30 p.m. atthe Terraces at Parkview, 6800 ParkDrive.

“We are excited about this op-portunity to gather input fromrenters to better understand how tostrengthen and build our commu-nity,” said Lithonia Mayor DeborahA. Jackson. “We encourage Litho-nia renters to actively engage inthis process as we seek to improveour community by gaining theirinput on these critical issues.”

Participants in the communityinput session must have a reser-

 vation to receive a gift card. Toreserve a spot at one of the com-munity input sessions, call or emailUGA faculty member Kim Skobba 

at (706) 542-4951 or [email protected].

AROUNDDEKALB

Suhr-Sytsma

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LOCAL

by Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

The Dunwoody Police De-partment presented its 2014achievement awards to eight of-ficers and employees who have

made an impact throughout theyear.

They were recognized forOfficer of the Year, Employeeof the Year, Marksman of theYear, Rising Star Award, TopCop, Officer of the Quarter andChief ’s Award.

Patrick Krieg , detectivesergeant of the criminal inves-tigation division for the Dun-woody police department, wasnamed Top Cop from the de-partment for the second year ina row. He said he doesn’t thinkhe will be lucky enough to get

it again.“It’s an honor to receive anaward like this from my agency.We worked very hard to hireextremely well rounded policeofficers during our inceptionand this makes yearly eventsand awards like this very com-petitive and challenging to ob-tain,” said Krieg.

Krieg has worked in law en-forcement since 2006, workingfor the Atlanta Police Depart-ment and the Dunwoody Police

Department, where Krieg hasfound himself a home.

“I enjoy the challenge ofcriminal investigations andwould like to continue to runthe criminal investigation divi-sion for some time. Much fur-

ther in the future I would liketo continue to ascend throughthe ranks and help develop ourdepartment,” he said.

He added, “The DunwoodyPolice Department is still a verynew agency, I hope to see itcontinue to grow and maintainthe high standards that havebeen set over the past six years.”

Krieg said he’s always want-ed to be a police.”

“This job is extremely un-predictable; you can go from0 to 100 back to 0 numeroustimes a day. This keeps us on

our toes and looking forward tothe next shift, 911 call or inves-tigation.”

He added, “No matter theamount of controversy that sur-rounds this profession I trulybelieve our work has purposeand honor. These two things in-spired me to pursue this careerand continue to inspire me todo it every day. In its simplestform there is nothing morerewarding in this line of workthan catching the bad guy.”

y Nigel Roberts

Columbia Theologi-

al Seminary in Decaturs mourning the death ofPresident Emeritus Ste-phen A. Hayner. The Rev.Dr. Hayner, 66, died Jan.

1, less than a year aftereing diagnosed with pan-reatic cancer.

He was widely knownnationally as a leader inampus ministry. In 1988,

Hayner accepted the callo serve as president ofnterVarsity Christian Fel-owship (U.S.A.), a nonde-

nominational ministry totudents on college cam-

puses nationwide. He ledhe organization duringturbulent period of its

ong history.“Steve brought pasto-

al care, healing and hopeo an InterVarsity com-

munity that had under-one much trauma in the980s,” recalled Alec Hill,he current InterVarsity

president. “When he left

in 2001, the fellowshipwas healthy, and the boardfully engaged. He is oneof the kindest and mostauthentic people I’ve everknown.”

In 2009, Hayner be-came Columbia’s ninthpresident. He went onmedical leave this pastsummer while undergoing

cancer treatment, and diedsurrounded by family andclose friends.

Dean of Faculty andExecutive Vice PresidentDeborah Flemister Mul-len said, “Steve was notonly my closest colleagueon the administrative staff,he was a beloved brotherin Christ and my friend.”She added that his “giftsof life” and God-inspiredcommitment to inclusive-ness have made the semi-nary a different place.

“That work is ongo-ing,” Mullen said. “We willcarry on as Steve wouldwant us to, gratefully and

 joyfully.”Hayner is survived by

his wife Sharol Hayner,three children and fivegrandchildren. A ser-

 vice to celebrate his lifeis scheduled for 2 p.m.on Feb. 23 at PeachtreePresbyterian Church inAtlanta.

A BETTER WAY FORWARD

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Construction work on I-285 haseen causing headaches for commuters.

 The Georgia Department of Trans-ortation (GDOT) is doing sign struc-

ure work on I-285, mostly on weekends.GDOT officials said workers are updat-ng the overhead exit signs and replacingoncrete slabs along the median wall.

The 19-mile project stretches fromhe Ashford-Dunwoody exit to the Glen-

wood Road exit. The project is expectedto be completed at the end of the year.If weather permits, work usually causesone lane to be closed from 9 p.m. on Fri-

days, until 5 a.m. on Mondays.GDOT encourages commuters to call511 or visit511ga.org before departingfor real-time information on work statusand traffic conditions.

Construction projectcausing delays on I-285

Columbia Theological Seminary’s

president dies after battle with cancer

Dunwoody PoliceDepartment receives awards

DovePatrick LenahanTedesco

Barrett Adkins Cheek Krieg

Hayner

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 9ALOCAL

by Andrew [email protected]

When deputies went to a houseon Safari Circle in Stone Mountainon Jan. 29 looking for a suspectwanted for first degree burglary, itwasn’t the first time.

The resident said deputies hadbeen by before and got the same an-wer: The suspect doesn’t live there.

“She said she’s been here since2008,” DeKalb County Sheriff ’sDeputy Travis Mitchell said at thehouse. “They have never got anymail … for this guy. She said thisperson has never lived here.”

“Unfortunately we get a lot ofbad addresses,” Wilson told thewoman. “People move around a lot.

t happens.”The woman, frustrated, said,He’s never been here to move [from

here].”The visit to the woman’s house

was part of Operation Safe DeKalb,during which deputies “endeavored”hundreds of warrants. “Endeavor” isa term deputies use to describe theprocess of trying to serve warrants.

During Operation Safe DeKalb,he DeKalb County Sheriff ’s Of-ice coordinated with 20 other law

enforcement agencies to serve war-ants across DeKalb for individuals

wanted on felony and misdemeanorcharges. More than 225 arrests, in-cluding several murder suspects,were made during the effort.

Many more endeavors wereunsuccessful. Some warrants leddeputies to vacant houses and oth-

ers to homes where residents saidthe suspect did not live there. Somesuspects were already incarceratedoutside of DeKalb County.

One problem, said Major L. J.Roscoe, the DeKalb County Sher-iff ’s Department’s field divisioncommander, is that while warrantsare put on a state system “to showthere’s a warrant, there’s no databasethat has a logging system…thattracks the warrant as it relates to en-deavors.”

In other words, when deputiesgo out to serve a warrant, they usu-ally have no way of knowing wheth-er the suspect actually lives at theaddress on the warrant, Roscoe said.

“Generally speaking, there are acouple of ways warrants are issued,”

Roscoe said. “One, the victim can[request a] warrant. In that case theproblem ends up being the victimuses the last-known address.

“Let’s say it’s a domestic case andthey were living together,” Roscoesaid. “Say the female is taking outthe warrant on the male. She doesn’treally know where he went. She’s go-ing to use her address because youhave to have an address to obtain awarrant.”

The person requesting the war-rant will use whatever address theyhave “versus not having anythingand then not being able to obtaina warrant. So they’re either goingto give their address—they knowhe doesn’t live there anymore—orthey’re going to give his mother’saddress, which is a potshot as towhether he’s going to go back there.

“That presents a problem,” Ros-coe said, “because we don’t knowthat when we’re given a warrant.We’re given a warrant with an ad-dress. Obviously if it’s a domesticcase and we see that the victim’s ad-dress matches the alleged offender’saddress, chances are they’re not go-ing to be there.”

Roscoe said that on probationwarrants, the probation agencieshave the offenders fill out a personaldata form.

“If the person is on probationfor an extended amount of time…and the probation office doesn’t everupdate that sheet, and [the suspect]doesn’t violate until their third yearin, we’re using a three-year old ad-dress,” Roscoe said. “We then have

to do the research to try to find amore current address.”When deputies went to Maxey

Hill Court looking for an 11-year-old wanted for second degree bur-glary at a school in July 2014, thehouse was vacant.

Warrants from police depart-ments have the last known addressof the suspect.

“They don’t do any research inadvance,” Roscoe said. “Most of thetime detectives are working with the

 victim, and they’re going to ask the victim what the last known addressis.”

During Operation Safe DeKalb,the resident of one house had a formthat had proof of incarceration ofher son.

After the form was presented,Brookhaven Police Officer John 

Ritch told the resident, “We’re goingto do everything in our power not tohave to come back out here again.”

Roscoe said, “Unfortunatelythe state of Georgia doesn’t have adatabase that communicates withall the local jails. We can go on theDepartment of Corrections websiteto see if somebody’s incarceratedin the prison system, but unless wehave a reason to believe they are inthe prison system, we don’t gener-ally screen every single warrant un-der the assumption they could be inprison.”

When a person is scheduled tobe released from jail or prison, thatinstitute generally runs “a systemscheck to see if [the suspect has] anyoutstanding warrants anywhere else

in the state,” Roscoe said.But if a suspect wanted inDeKalb is incarcerated in anothercounty, “there’s a high probability wehaven’t been notified,” Roscoe said.

Multiple endeavors by deputiesat a wrong address can occur “if ourdeputies go out to a house and theydon’t really believe that the person istelling the truth [about the suspectnot living there], of course, we’re go-ing to re-endeavor at that same loca-tion,” Roscoe said.

“If there are any signs at thehouse that the person may live thereor be temporarily staying there,we’re going to come back out untilwe definitely eliminate the possibil-ity of them being there,” she said.

Deputies ‘endeavor’ to serve warrants

DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies and ofcers from several local law enforcement agencies served hundreds of warrants during Operation Safe DeKalb in January. Pictured (bottom cen-er photo) are DeKalb Sheriff’s Investigator Kerry Wilson, Deputy Travis Mitchell, Brookhaven Police Ofcer John Ritch and Grizz, his K-9 partner. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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LOCAL

County plans to pickup trash once a week

OBITUARY   USA Brigadier General (Rered) Clarence BlackwelderIrwin, Jr., age 95, of Clarkesville, GA passed away on February8, 2015, aer a long and well lived life.

He was born May 8, 1919 in Durham, North Carolina, theonly child of Clarence Blackwelder Irwin, Sr and Georgia Ai-leen Taylor Irwin. His father worked for the railroads and theymoved oen, living in Gastonia, NC, Augusta, GA, Greenville,SC and nally Atlanta, GA. During his high school years he wasproud to achieve the Boy Scout Eagle rank. He graduated high

school at Richmond Academy in Augusta, GA and from TheCitadel in the famous and most decorated Class of 1941. Aerreceiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the USArmy, he was called to Acve Duty and was aboard ship in theSan Francisco Bay headed for the South Pacic when PearlHarbor was aacked and his ship was redirected to Hawaii

where he served in the 27th Infantry, 25th Division. During his 3 ½ years overseas he saw ac-on on Guadalcanal and parcipated in campaigns in the Northern Solomons, New GeorgiaIsland, and Luzon, Phillipines. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medalsfor outstanding service.

Aer being released from Acve Duty he seled in Atlanta, and joined the Druid Hills Pres -byterian Church, where he was a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts. He remained a memberthere for over 60 years and served several terms as deacon and elder in the church, and washonored to be chosen as an Elder Emeritus. He spent most of his civilian career with the J.MTull Metals Company starng as a salesman, then purchasing agent, and was later Inside SalesManager and Manager of Employee Relaons. He rered from J.M. Tull in 1981 aer 30 yearsof service.  Clarence proudly served over 30 years in the Georgia Army Naonal Guard and rered as a

Brigadier General. He served as President of the Naonal Guard Associaon of GA, and Presi-dent of the Purchasing Agents Associaon of GA.

He was a member of the Military Order of World Wars, the World War II Roundtable, theCitadel Club of Atlanta, The Palesne Lodge#486 and the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta. He was anacve member of the Druid Hills Golf Club for many years and was a Life Member with 70years of membership at the Atlanta Athlec Club.

In addion to his parents, Clarence was preceded in death by his beloved wife, aer 60 yearsof marriage, Florrie Yarbrough Bryan Irwin.  He is survived by their four daughters, Susan Irwin Grills (Dennis), Laura Irwin Rogers (Ter-ry), Dr. Nancy Irwin Weiss (Don) and Mary Irwin Spearman (Brad); grandchildren, MelissaJames (Derek), Courtney Evans (Joe), Leslie Bacon (Tripp), Nathan Rhodes, Lindsey Rhodes,and Taylor Spearman; three great grandsons and two great granddaughters; and his very dearfriend, Mary Ann Minyard.  In lieu of owers, memorial donaons may be made, in memory of Clarence Irwin, to: TheBoy Scouts of America, Troop 48, 416 Rhododendron Lane, Sautee, GA 30571; The USO, P.O.Box 20963, Atlanta, GA 30320; Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, 2250 LimestoneParkway, Suite 222, Gainesville, GA 30501.

Graveside services were held 11:00 am Wednesday, February 11, 2015, at Floral Hills Memo-

ry Gardens 3000 Lawrenceville Hwy, Tucker GA 30084, with Dr. Phil DeMore ociang and fullmilitary honors provided by the Georgia Naonal Guard. A celebraon followed at the AtlantaAthlec Club

An online guest register is available and may be viewed at www.mcgaheegrinandstewart.com. McGahee-Grin & Stewart Funeral Home of Cornelia was in charge

by Andrew [email protected]

Twice-a-week trashpick-up may soon be a thingof the past.

Interim DeKalb CountyCEO Lee May  wants theDeKalb County Board ofCommissioners to approvea plan of the county’s sani-tation division to switch toone-day-a-week solid wasteand recycling collection.The plan also includes uni-form, county-provided trashcontainers for residents.

“If the new initiativeis adopted by the board,it will ensure efficiency ofour operations and keepour neighborhoods cleanerand more attractive,” May

said in a statement. “Ourresidential sanitation rateshave remained constant forthe last eight years, and withthe launch of this initiative,we will continue that trend.We wish to remain fiscallyresponsible in the face ofrising operating costs and atthe same time provide ex-cellent customer service tocounty residents.”

May’s recommenda-tion follows an analysis ofcustomer feedback from athree-month pilot program

that concluded in July 2014.More than 28,000 residentsparticipated in the pilotprogram. According to thedata, more than 75 percentof customers in unincorpo-rated DeKalb and the fourcities support the initiative.

In the new initiative,residents will receive a stan-dardized, 65-gallon greencounty-provided trash con-tainer and all waste (solidwaste, recycling, and yardtrimmings) will be collected

on the same day. Residentialcustomers will not experi-ence a rate increase.

Ruby Bozeman Davis,of the Unhappy Taxpayerand Voter watchdog group,

said she is “totally against”once-a-week pick-up.“I think that if you’re

going to have our sanita-tion picked up once a week,you’re getting ready to firesome people who need a

 job,” she said during a recentcommission meeting.

“Those people workhard for us,” Davis said.“Dr. Martin Luther KingJr. fought for the sanitationworkers. And I think tryingto get rid of the sanitationworkers is like spitting onhis grave. I think that’s the

most horrible thing youcan do. What’s wrong withhaving our trash picked uptwice a week?”

In response, Commis-sioner Kathie Gannon said,“It is my understanding, andwe want the community tounderstand, that we are notfiring sanitation workers.None of us would supportthat.

“We’re going to move toa different cycle of pickup,”Gannon said. “We now havean age of technology. We

have more logistics. We canget these automated trucksthat require less people.And those kinds of thingswill be transitioned into. It’sgoing to take a while to dothis. And during that time,people will be leaving theforce.

“And perhaps we won’tbe replacing them. Someof them will have different

 jobs, but we are not firingsanitation workers,” Gannonsaid.

Police Continued From Page 3A“Mr. Davis did not ad-

here to [the] command andat some point during thatnteraction is when Officer

Pitts felt that his life was indanger and he felt threat-ened,” Alexander said. “Hefired his service weaponstriking Mr. Davis, whowent down.”

Davis was transportedo Grady Hospital, where

DeKalb County Sheriff ’sdeputies eventually took

custody of Davis, who wascharged with aggravated as-sault on a police officer.

“Our hearts and ourprayers go out to the Davis

family,” Alexander said.The police department

has finished its investiga-tion into the shooting andturned the case over to theDeKalb County District At-torney’s Office.

The police departmentalso has asked the GeorgiaBureau of Investigation tolook into the shooting.

“If there is any ques-tion regarding the integrityof our investigation…that

some people feel is unfair, Iwholeheartedly support…an outside independent in-

 vestigation,” Alexander said.

DeKalb County sanitation director Billy Malone describes proposed changes to the county’s sanitation service.Photo by Andrew Cauthen

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 11ALOCAL NEWS

WEEKPICTURESIn 

Photos brought to you by DCTV

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DeKalb History Center’s eightannual Black History Month Cel-ebration held Feb. 10 honoredOtis W. Brawley , M.D., F.A.C.P.,chief medical officer for theAmerican Cancer Society for hisachievements in cancer preven-

tion, research and education. Dr.Roderick Badger and Dr. CharlesR. Drew  were also honored post-humously.

 The event was emceed byformer Senator and journalistSteen Miles. Sponsors included

The Champion Newspaper , DeKalbConvention & Visitor’s Bureau, M.Cary & Daughters, city of Decatur,Decatur Downtown DevelopmentAuthority, DeKalb Medical, Jack-son Spalding and Zest Atlanta.

Honoring achievements in medicine

Photos by Travis Hudgons

 Dr. Otis Brawley with DeKalb Superior Court Clerk DebraDeBerry.

DeKalb History Center Executive Director Melissa Forgey and Steen Miles ankBrawley with his award.

Steen Miles emceed the event.

Dr. Otis Brawley with Champion co-publisher Dr. Earl D. Glenn.DeKalb Sheriff Jeff Mann congratulates Brawley.

Dr. Otis Brawley

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Justice Continued From Page 1A

The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 12ALOCAL NEWS

Club allows adults to discusschildren’s literatureby Kathy Mitchell

“Adults talk about chil-dren’s literature when onlyadults are present differentlyrom the way they talk aboutt when children are present,”

observed Laurel Snyder, oneof the founders of Kidliterate.hat thought was behind thereation of the book club for

adults interested in discuss-ng children’s literature.

“Some of us have children.Some of us work with chil-dren and all of us were chil-dren, so we’re interested inwhat’s available for childreno read,” Snyder said.

Member Corey Jones, amental health professional,aid she finds that many

adults with mental dis-abilities prefer reading bookswritten for children.

he first meeting of whatmembers describe as “a newkind of book club” was heldn September 2014. he

group, which meets at Cha-is Books and More in the

Candler Park area, reads onebook each month, alternat-ng between one written forhildren and one classified as

young adult fiction.“We look for books that

push the boundaries of what

kidlit is ‘supposed to do,’ andgive preference to stories thatome might call ‘edgy’ orcontroversial.’ We seek bookshat offer exposure to the

world our kids are growingup in, as well as imaginaryandscapes,” Snyder said,

adding that the group alsories for a mix of books by

male and female authors aswell as authors of variousthnic backgrounds.

“here’s nothing wrongwith children’s books thatare sold in the nationalhain bookstores,” Jones

ommented. “We just wantpeople to look at a widerange of books. It’s OK if

your child is reading a bookabout unicorns, but if theast two books she read were

also about unicorns, maybet’s time to look at some ofhe non-unicorn books outhere.”

“he national book sell-rs have a huge influence on

what children are reading.here’s no getting aroundhat. We just want to broadenhe range of what they’re tell-

ng us to read. When bookshat explore topics that aren’tusually in children’s booksare available, people will buyhem,” Snyder said, recalling

a book fair at which a bookabout a child who used ahearing aid sold out quickly.

 “People tend to shy awayfrom controversial top-ics when they’re writing orchoosing books for children,but children can handle a lotmore than you think theycan,” said Jennifer Burrell,another member of the club.

he book the group dis-cussed at its Jan. 27 meetingwas Inside Out & Back Again by Tanhha Lai, a novel in verse about Vietnam refu-gees.

“It gave me some interest-ing insights into the Vietnamwar,” Snyder said. “I was achild when the war goingon and I only knew it assomething my parents wereagainst. I really didn’t knowanything about the war.”

Children’s books that gobeyond colorful fantasies andstories of fairs and birthdayparties also provide a basisfor discussion of serious top-ics between parent and child,Snyder said. “If a child asksabout death or gay relation-ships or some other matterthat’s bound to surface intheir everyday experience,

the parent can say, ‘Do youremember that book we readabout that?’ and the bookprovides a starting point forthe child to express his or her

feelings and for the parentto explain things that mightotherwise not be easy to ex-

plain.”“I’ve never stopped read-ing children’s literature,”Burrell said. “I read otherbooks too, of course, but Ilove reading books I can dis-cuss with children who readthem as well.”

Te club’s structure isinformal. Tere are no offi-cers, dues or strictly enforcedrules. “You’re expected toread the book,” explainedSarah rowbridge, anotherfounding member, who’sa librarian. “But we aren’thardnosed if someone didn’tget to finish it; we know theyintended to.”

Meeting in person, Snydersaid, is important to mem-bers. “Tere are lots of blogsand online book clubs, butwhat’s said online is availableto everybody, including theauthors and publishers. Wewanted a space where peoplecould discuss books freelyand not be concerned aboutwhat those who have a stakein those books think aboutwhat we say,” she explained

Members chuckle recall-

ing an online request forminutes from their last meet-ing. “Like we take minutes,”rowbridge said.

sister of Kevin Davis.“I’m devastated,” Delisa

Davis said.“My brother called for

help because his girlfriendhad been stabbed,” she said.“The officer let himself intothe house. My brother didn’tknow it was an officer. All

he hears is gunshots becausethe dog—he has a pitbulldog—came to the door.”

Police said they knocked,but had they knocked, herbrother’s dog would havebarked, Delisa Davis said.

“The officer let himselfin and he subsequently shotand killed the dog,” saidDelisa Davis, who has hadto rely on witness accounts.“My brother, hearing thegunshots in the room, justcomes out of the [bedroom]with his firearm and he’sgunned down.”

Delisa Davis said that af-ter the shooting, the familywas not allowed to see herbrother until after he died.She said they were not al-

lowed to visit him becausehe was in police custody; hewas charged with aggravatedassault on a police officer.

In a statement, DeKalbCounty Sheriff Jeff Mann said, “It is also our practicenot to allow inmate visita-tion except in the most grave

situations, and then with theconfirmation of that condi-tion by the medical profes-sionals at the facility.

“Tragically, Mr. Davissuccumbed to his woundswhile being treated at GradyHospital. In the interest oftransparency, however, wewill review the circumstanc-es regarding his conditionand any visitation requests,”Mann stated.

In addition to a GBI in- vestigation, Delisa Davissaid the family wants to seethe officer held accountable,to see Kevin Davis’ namecleared, and DeKalb CountyPolice to be more transpar-ent in their findings.

Dozens of protestors rallied at the DeKalb County Courthouseseeking an independent investigation into a police-involved shoot-ing death. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

Kidliterate members, standing from right, Sarah Trowbridge andLaurel Snyder, and, seated from left, Corey Jones and JenniferBurrell, gather at Charis Books and More for their January meeting.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 13ALOCAL

Commissioners end stalemate over District 5 seatby Andrew [email protected]

The DeKalb CountyBoard of Commissionerstook a step toward endingthe stalemate over District 5representation.

The seat has been vacantsince July 2013, when LeeMay , the elected District 5commissioner, was appoint-ed interim DeKalb CountyCEO by Gov. Nathan Deal, following the indictmentand suspension of DeKalbCounty CEO Burrell Ellis.

Last year, May appointeda three-member panel toselect two recommenda-tions from 20 applicants fora temporary commissioner.In August, May nominatedLithonia resident George 

Turner Jr., president ofthe District 5 CommunityCouncil and former legisla-tive aide in District 43 of theGeorgia State Senate, for theseat.

After a stalemate amongcommissioners kept the seatopen, May asked Deal to ap-point a temporary commis-sioner. Deal refused, sayinghe only has the legal author-ty to do so when an official

has been indicted or if theres no quorum.

On Feb. 5 May releaseda statement asking commis-sioners to do what Commis-sioner Jeff Rader had beenpushing for.

“I am asking the Boardof Commissioners to denymy nomination of GeorgeTurner,” May stated. “Per theOrganizational Act, Section13-A, this paves the way formy second and final nomi-nation, which the Boardof Commissioners shouldmmediately deny. At that

point, the Board of Com-missioners can appoint theirchoice for District 5 autono-

mously.”May stated, “In light ofthe governor’s decision, wemust take decisive action

to ensure the residents ofDistrict 5 have voting repre-

sentation.Before the commission-ers’ Feb. 10 vote to rejectTurner’s nomination, Li-thonia resident Dr. Barbara Lee said that a group of

 voters were at the meetingto “make sure our voice andour votes are counted. Wehave been without repre-sentation for more than 18months. This is a violationof your own mission state-

ment. You promise in yourmission statement that all

stakeholders will have repre-sentation.“Until District 5’s seat is

filled, we demand and ex-pect [that]…no budget is tobe passed without our voteand our voice being a partof the budgetary process[and that] no presiding of-ficer should be elected,” Leesaid. “We will continue tomonitor your actions until aseat at the table…is there for

District 5.”After nearly three min-

utes of silence at the podiumduring the commissioners’meeting, DeKalb NAACPpresident John Evans said,“This is just one of the waysthat you can do nothing.I hope the commissionerswill….do something.”

May’s second nomineefor the District 5 seat isKathryn Rice, presidentof Building Quality Com-munities and chairwomanof Concerned Citizens forCityhood of South DeKalbInc., the group pushing forthe proposed south DeKalbcity of Greenhaven. If she isrejected by commissioners,that will make it possible forthe board to make its ownchoice of an interim District5 commissioner.

Rev. Dr. GeorgeMoore, former seniorpastor of Saint Philip Af-rican Methodist EpiscopalChurch, Atlanta, died Feb.8, at 4:22 a.m.

Moore, who pastoredSaint Philip AfricanMethodist EpiscopalChurch for 42 years,“was one of the largestcontributors to the Afri-can Methodist EpiscopalChurch worldwide,” ac-

cording to his obituary.”Moore retired from

Saint Philip AfricanMethodist Episco-pal Church in April2011. Under his leader-ship, the church member-ship grew from just over100 to more than 7,000members.

 In 1998, the churchbuilt an $8 million,47,000-square-footsanctuary with a seatingcapacity of more than2,500. Eight years later

in 2006, a $12 million70,000-square-foot Fam-ily Life Center was added

to the campus.

Over his ministry,Moore mentored morethan 30 men and womeninto the ministry.

The celebration oflife will be Saturday, Feb.14, at 10:45 a.m. at SaintPhilip African Method-ist Episcopal Church, 240Candler Road SE, Atlanta.Senior Pastor Rev. Wil-liam D. Watley  will offi-ciate. Interment will be atSouthview Cemetery.

Viewing will be Fri-day, Feb. 13, from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. at Gregory B.Levett and Sons FuneralHomes & Crematory Inc.,4347 Flat Shoals ParkwayDecatur. A wake servicewill be held on Friday,Feb. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m.,at Saint Philip AfricanMethodist EpiscopalChurch 240 Candler RoadSE, Atlanta.

In lieu of flowers,make a contributionin memory of Rev. Dr.

Moore to Saint PhilipAME Church.For more service in-

formation, text RevG to72727.

Longtime pastor of Saint

Philip A.M.E. Church dies

TAKE A GENIUSTO KNOW THAT WHEN YOU PLAY,

IT DOESN’T

GEORGIA’S KIDS WIN.

It’s elementary, actually. See, every time you play the Lottery,you’re helping our kids get one step closer to their dreams.For over 20 years the Georgia Lottery has contributed morethan $16 billion to education. On top of that, more than 1.7million HOPE scholars have gone to college and more than1.3 million four-year-olds have attended a Lottery-fundedPre-K Program. Add those numbers up and, well, let’s just saythat’s a hair-raising number of happy kids.

The District 5 seat may be lled in a few weeks. File photo.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 PAGE 14AEDUCATION

by Rebecca Rakoczy 

The Georgia PerimeterCollege (GPC) and GeorgiaState University Consolida-ion Implementation Com-

mittee met for the first timean. 30 at the University

System of Georgia’s (USG)Board of Regents office inAtlanta.

During the next 18months, the 42-membercommittee will craft themission statement, goals anddirection of the new insti-ution. The team—whichncludes GPC President Rob

Watts, Georgia State Presi-dent Dr. Mark Becker and20 representatives from eachnstitution—will be guided

by Shelley Nickel, USG vicechancellor for strategic plan-ning and implementation,and led by Becker, who willpreside over the consolidat-ed institution.

Becker spoke about theclose relationship that al-eady exists between the twonstitutions.

“Twenty percent ofGeorgia State’s undergradu-

ates come from GPC,” hesaid. “Our two institutionshave had a close academicrelationship going back de-cades.”

USG Chancellor HankHuckaby  encouraged thegroup to take advantage ofthe opportunity to make his-tory in public higher educa-tion. He also asked them tolook at “what is best for stu-dents—not necessarily what

is best for the institution.”Nickel shared experiencesfrom prior consolidationsand stressed the importanceof leadership, communica-tions, stakeholder engage-ment and transparency.

Watts noted that it israre in higher education tobe able to create somethingentirely new.

“This is a legacy mo-ment,” he said.

A prospectus, which will

include the mission state-ment, organizational struc-ture and operations plan forthe consolidated institution,must be presented by Sept.15 to the Southern Associa-tion of Colleges and Schools(SACS) for review at its De-cember 2015 meeting.

During the meeting,Nickel introduced Dr. EdRugg , the Board of Regents’SACS consultant who hasguided four other USG con-solidation efforts, the mostrecent of which was that ofSouthern Polytechnic StateUniversity and KennesawState University. Rugg willwork with the implementa-tion committee as it movesforward.

If SACS approves theunion, the Board of Regentshas 30 days to validate theaction and is expected toreview and approve the con-solidation plan during itsJanuary 2016 meeting. Theaim is for the two institu-tions to function as one en-tity by July 1, 2016, and forstudents to officially begin

attending the consolidated

institution in fall 2016.GPC members of theteam reflected on the oppor-tunities the consolidationpresents.

“It is striking how muchGPC and Georgia State havefor years had in commonwith students and faculty,”said Dr. Paul Hudson, whoteaches history at GeorgiaPerimeter. “As a GeorgiaState alumnus and a GPCprofessor, I look forward toour exciting goal of consoli-dating two distinguished in-stitutions of higher learningthat I love deeply.”

Debra Denzer, GPCFaculty Senate chair, wasreassured by the tone of thecommittee’s first meeting.

“I think an importanttakeaway was that the con-solidation team’s recom-mendations will be drivenby what is best for studentsand that the timeline doesnot preclude inclusive, deepand thoughtful conversationduring decision-making.”

Consolidation team’s work will focus on opportunities

GPC President Rob Watts, at left in this photo of a consolidation townhall meeting, serves on the Consolidation Implementation Committee,

which is being led by Georgia State President Dr. Mark Becker, right.Shelley Nickel, center, USG vice chancellor for strategic planning andimplementation, will help guide the team. (photo by Bill Roa)

by Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

To qualify for HOPE schol-

arships, students must attendchools accredited by the South-ern Association of Colleges andSchools or the Georgia Accredit-ng Commission (GAC).

On Jan. 24-26 Georgia Ac-crediting Commission Consul-ant Robert Boyd and his team

visited all 23 DeKalb Countyhigh schools and gave an exit re-port at the Feb. 2 Board of Edu-cation meeting.

“We found them to be verywell organized when we gotdown to checking the standardsand documentation. The docu-mentation was outstanding,”Boyd said.

Boyd added, “We evenchecked restrooms last week.We did not find a single dirty,filthy, restroom.”

Boyd and his team of consul-ants will send their reports to

the Georgia Accrediting Com-mission board meeting, sched-uled for the first weekend inMarch. Boyd said he anticipates

every high school in DCSD willbe approved for full accredita-tion.

The GAC is an indepen-dent agency that is governedby a board of elected educatorswho have an interest in educa-tion in Georgia. Membership ofthe governing board representsteachers, instructional super-

 visors, school administrators,regional educational serviceagency personnel, Georgia De-partment of Education person-nel and college personnel whoare responsible for the prepara-tion of teachers and other pro-fessional educators.

The agency aims to estab-lish standards for instructionof children in Georgia and toencourage schools to meet theestablished standards.

Accrediting consultantsapprove DeKalb schools

Georgia Accrediting Commission Consultant Robert Boyd reports on the quality of DeKalb CountySchools that he visited.

DeKalb County Board of Education members receive praise from and accrediting agency about theconditions of schools.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 15ALOCAL NEWS

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 16ABUSINESS

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce

404.378.8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org

Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030

Decatur Business Association marks 30th anniversary by Kathy Mitchell

In the mid-1980s agroup of business own-ers and service managersdiscussed how to revitalizeDecatur’s downtown, tap-ping into its potential as anattractive place to live, workand play.

“There was a merchants’association but its member-hip was small and it had no

active programs. It also wasopen only to retail businessowners. Many of the busi-nesses in downtown Decaturhen, as now, were service

and professional firms,” re-called Lyn Menne, now De-catur assistant city manager,heading community andeconomic development.

There also was the Deca-

ur Downtown DevelopmentAuthority, created by the citygovernment in 1982, but thebusiness community decid-ed another organization wasneeded. The Decatur Busi-ness Association (DBA) wasncorporated in 1985 as the

nonprofit membership part-ner of the authority, forminga public-private alliance to

strengthen Decatur’s com-mercial district.

In addition to beingopen to retail merchants, theDBA invited into its mem-bership attorneys, accoun-tants, real estate agencies,insurance companies andothers who had been previ-ously excluded.

“There also was an asso-ciate membership categoryestablished for residentswho weren’t business ownersbut wanted to be involvedin the city’s development,”Menne said. “The foundersof Decatur Business Associ-ation thought they would belucky to build the member-ship to 100. Now there arehundreds of members.

“City government, theDecatur Downtown De-

 velopment Authority andthe Decatur Business As-sociation are three legs ofthe same stool, working tosupport and promote down-town Decatur,” she observed.

DBA’s major accomplish-ments during its 30-yearexistence include providingstreet name signs with thecity’s logo for the downtown

district, raising $25,000 to-ward the community band-stand—the gazebo in thesquare where concerts areheld—and raising an addi-tional $25,000 to help fundthe 2006 MARTA Plaza re-development.

Among the DBA’s firstprojects was creating aspecial event, designed todevelop excitement aboutthe downtown area andbring residents together.“There wasn’t much moneyto promote Decatur and thethinking was that we shouldstart by promoting the cityto its own residents. Wewant those who live hereto feel a sense of ownershipand pride—a strong senseof community. If we aren’table to convince the people

who live in Decatur the cityis terrific, we wouldn’t havemuch chance of convinc-ing the rest of the world,”Menne said.

“We set out to create anevent that would be safe, funand unlike anything alreadyin the Atlanta area,” shenoted.

The result was the De-

catur Beach Party, whichMenne describes as Deca-tur’s “signature event.” Nowan annual festival in whichthe city brings in loads ofsand for a family eveningthat includes dancing, livemusic, food and drink ven-dors, games and opportuni-ties to play in the sand, theBeach Party continues togrow each year.

“The beach party is afundraiser that provides rev-enue for other events suchas concerts that are free tothe public, but primarilyit’s a friend raiser. We wantpeople to come to Decatur,have fun and want to comeback,” Menne said.

In addition to sup-porting the Concerts onthe Square and Blue Sky

Concerts, sponsored eachMay through September byDBA, funds from the beachparty also support the an-nual Easter egg hunt, thePied Piper Fourth of JulyParade, Breakfast with Santaand the Holiday Bonfire andMarshmallow Roast. Thebonfire and marshmallowroast is held in conjunction

with Terrific Thursdays, aNovember and Decemberpromotion designed to en-courage holiday shoppers tospend their dollars in down-town Decatur.

DBA is a volunteer-driv-en organization that Mennesaid is perfect for those whoare new to Decatur and wantto get involved in the com-munity. “We have a large,highly active volunteer net-work that’s a real source ofpride here in Decatur,” sheadded. “Through it, resi-dents and business ownersget to work together and re-ally get to know one another.Few communities have any-thing like it.”

Like other business as-sociations, DBA works tostrengthen the business

community, but its focusis on also on bolstering thecommunity as a whole,”Menne said. “I feel we’reunique among business as-sociations. We’re not intolobbying, we’re into relation-ship building.”

NOTICE 

OF 

PUBLIC 

HEARING 

Notice is hereby given by the City of  Doraville City Council that a Public Hearing on the 

following item will be held by the Doraville City Council in the Council Chamber located at 3725 

Park Avenue, Doraville, Georgia on the following date: 

City Council Meeting 

Monday, March 2, 2015 

6:30 p.m. 

Text Amendment to City of  Doraville Code Section 23‐911 M‐1 Light Manufacturing to delete 

the restriction on the manufacture, bottling, and canning of  alcoholic beverages. 

NOTICE 

OF 

PUBLIC 

HEARING 

Notice is hereby given by the City of  Doraville City Council that a Public Hearing on the following item will be held 

by the Doraville City Council in the Council Chamber located at 3725 Park Avenue, Doraville, Georgia on the 

following date: 

City 

Council 

Meeting 

Monday, March 2, 2015 

6:30 p.m. 

Application for the Special Area Plan under Article XX Livable Community Form Based Code for the site formerly 

known as the General Motors Doraville Assembly Plant as shown on the City of  Doraville Zoning Map as Special 

District 1 (SD1) and so identified on the Regulating Plan of  the Livable Community Form Based Code (LCC) Article XX. 

Said property being commonly referred to as 3900 Motors Industrial Way, City of  Doraville, Georgia. 

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 

Notice is hereby given by the City of  Doraville City Council that a Public Hearing on the following item 

will be held by the Doraville City Council in the Council Chamber located at 3725 Park Avenue, Doraville, 

Georgia on the following date: 

City Council Meeting 

Monday, March 2, 2015 

6:30 p.m. 

Application for a conditional use permit to conduct tax preparation and filing services at 5187 Buford 

Highway, Suite 68. 

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Feb. 18th 4-7pmCalaBar and Grill,

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 Page 17ASPORTS

D