freepress 05-16-14

by Daniel [email protected]

Imagine having to walk a round-trip of six miles a day just to gather enough water to drink and maybe wash your clothes occasionally. For Majok Marier, this was just another part of life in South Sudan.

Marier now lives in DeKalb County and works for Decatur-

based plumbing company M. Cary and Daughters and recently finished a book about his experiences as one of South Sudan’s “Lost Boys.” The Seed of South Sudan: Memoir of a “Lost Boy” Refugee, co-written with Estelle Ford-Williamson, details Marier’s years as a refugee fleeing from civil war in Sudan.

A member of the Agar Dinka tribe, Marier was 7 years old when

war came to his village, causing him and thousands of others South Sudanese to flee South Sudan. For years, Marier traveled thousands of miles, trying to avoid the civil war. In 2001, Majok and 3,800 others like him emigrated to the United States. Hundreds settled in Texas, Georgia, California, Virginia and other states.

“It was the time of the war when I left that village,” Marier said.

“When we went into the camp, it was really a bad time for us because there was no food, there [were] a lot of diseases and it was really dangerous for us—an attack could happen at any time.”

Marier said he began writing the book in 2005 because he thought it was important that people knew about his story and others like him

by Lauren [email protected]

A 9-month-old boy is dead and three women critically injured after a May 10 home invasion that may have been an act of possible retaliatory violence, according to Cedric Alexander, the county’s deputy chief operating officer for public safety.

After two to three men broke through the back door of a home on To Lani Farm Road in Stone Mountain around 11 p.m. May 10, three women in the home fled to an upstairs bathroom with the baby, where they tried to lock themselves in. The men allegedly kicked through the door and fired several shots, Alexander said.

The 9-month-old died of multiple gunshot wounds after being rushed to a local hospital. The women, ages 36, 23 and 21, are in critical, but not life-threatening condition, Alexander said.

The 21-year-old woman is believed to be the child’s mother.

The shootings may be related to another incident in the same area, one week prior, according to police. On May 3, 29-year-old

Business ........................17AClassifi ed .......................20AEducation .............. 18-19ASports ...................... 21-23A

QUiCK Finder

LOCAL, 3A

liFeline tOUts aniMal shelter iMprOVeMents

LOCAL, 12A EDUCATION, 19A

tUCKer residents haVe their day

sChOOl BOard apprOVes $450K sUMMer reading prOgraM

Left, a woman in Majok Marier’s village prepare water pitchers to carry. Center, Marier stands with Estelle Ford-Williamson, who helped him tell his story of fl eeing South Sudan. Right, Villagers surround one of the wells in the village. Photos provided

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We’re Social FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014 • VOL. 17, NO. 8 • 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.FREEPRESS

‘Lost Boy’ refugee writes memoir to benefi t South Sudan

Baby killed, three women shot in home invasion

See Refugees on page 15A

See Killings on page 15A A makeshift memorial has been started on the steps of a house where a 9-month-old boy was shot to death. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 2aloCal news

Students compete in local chess tournaments

Sheriff Mann is endorsed by Former DeKalb Sheriff Tom Brown, Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, DeKalb Clerk of Superior Court Debra DeBerry, DeKalb District Attorney Robert James, DeKalb Tax Commissioner Claudia Lawson, DeKalb Solicitor General Sherry Boston, DeKalb Commissioners Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader, Avondale Estates Mayor Jim Rieger, Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis, Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson, Decatur Mayor Jim Baskett, Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman, Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis, Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson, Stone Mountain Mayor Pat Wheeler, Clarkston Vice-Mayor Ahmed Hassan, and Brookhaven District 1 Councilwoman Rebecca Chase Williams.

VOTE MAY 20TH VOTE MAY 20TH VOTE MAY 20TH VOTE MAY 20TH VOTE MAY 20TH VOTE MAY 20TH ON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTSON ALL BALLOTS

www.mann4sheriff.com

• DeKalb County Chief Deputy Sheriff, 10 years • Graduate, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor • Veteran, U.S. Air Force

Jeff Mann Uniquely Qualified To Be Our Sheriff


At Nick’s Barbershop in Stone Mountain, you’ll see something unex-pected on Saturdays.

Amid the buzzing clippers and chatting customers, you’ll see focus, dedication, learning and fun.

Since 2012, certified chess instruc-tor Beau Hardeman has been teach-ing a group of first grade through 12th grade young men, for two hours each Saturday as part of a joint partner-

ship between Nick’s Barbershop and the Unconditional Love for Children Foundation. Hardeman has been coaching chess for more than 20 years.

Vance Harper, owner of Nick’s Barbershop, has a long history of pro-viding safe spaces for young men and women in the community to work and learn responsibility. Now, they are learning chess, too.

The students recently competed in both 2014 National Junior High (K-9) Championship April 24 in Atlanta and their instructor’s own 19th Annual

Beau Hardeman Invitational Chess Tournament on May 3 in Gresham Park. Hardeman said he always en-courages his students to compete.

“My approach is that if children are studying chess, they should be playing in tournaments,” he said. “My tourna-ment is rated. If you play once, you get a rating. Even if they never perform elsewhere, they get an opportunity to perform in mine.”

Seven boys from the barbershop group participated in the tourna-ments. One was Leon “T.J.” Guthrie,

a Champion Middle School student. “It has always fascinated me,”

Guthrie said. “I love playing against other people. It thrills me.”

Guthrie joined the chess club at his elementary school in third grade. Now 14, he meets with the other students at the barbershop to improve his game.

“I’ve come a long way in my strat-egy learning from Mr. Beau,” he said.

Guthrie competed in both the National Junior High and Beau Har-deman tournaments. His record was

See Chess on page 9A

Leon “T.J.” Guthrie concentrates as he competes against an opponent. Photos provided

Pictured some of the students who competed in the National Junior High Championship and the Beau Hardeman Invitational Chess Tournament. From left back row, Essig Kemp, Barry Gray; middle row, Collin Laster, Leon “T.J.” Guthrie, Treveon Cheeley, Richard Slaton, Jr.; front row, Jacari Ford, Bryce Cowins.

Jacari Ford smiles and shows off his medal.

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 3a

Crime Briefs

Lifeline touts improvements at county animal shelterby Daniel [email protected]

In the nine months since LifeLine Animal Project has taken over DeKalb County’s animal shelter operations, Executive Director Rebecca Guinn said there have been many changes, including a 39 percent drop in euthana-sia rates.

“What that translates to, and why we’re getting ap-plause from everyone here, is because it’s saving lives,” Guinn told DeKalb County commissioners at a recent meeting.

After numerous calls from residents and animal advocates for years, DeKalb County commissioners agreed last year to outsource the shelter’s operations to LifeLine in hopes of improv-ing conditions. A new shel-ter, located adjacent to the DeKalb Peachtree Airport, is slated to be completed in 2015.

LifeLine took over the shelter in July 2013, and since then Guinn said it has improved services across the board by improving adop-tion rates and decreasing euthanasia rates through outreach and spay/neuter programs.

Improvements also have been made to the shelter in-cluding a newly remodeled animal intake area that al-lows staff to take pictures of animals upon their arrival,

improved housing areas for dogs, a newly updated pet inventory system and animal licensing improve-ments.

Additionally, Guinn said LifeLine also has increased the shelter’s reclaim rate by 37 percent.

“That is something that’s really hard to do so we’re proud of getting the reclaim rate up for people who have lost their pets in DeKalb County and are able to actu-ally come to the shelter and reclaim their pets,” Guinn said.

Each year DeKalb Coun-ty Animal Services provides sheltering for approximately 7,000 animals. Guinn said it partners with the county’s animal control officers and outreach groups to ensure as many animals as possible leave the shelter alive.

“Once they’re in we feel like we’re taking better care of them, but our goal is to get them out alive,” Guinn said. “We’ve done a number of things to increase adop-tions, and we do have offsite events and monthly promo-tions.”

In the past nine months DeKalb County Animal Services has been able to provide free spay/neuter initiatives to more than 1,165 DeKalb County pets through various partner-ships and grants. Addition-ally, Guinn said it has pro-vided 1,067 low-cost spay/

neuters to pets. DeKalb County is also a

no-kill community for cats, Guinn said, which means that every feral cat picked up by DeKalb County Ani-mal Control is brought into the shelter, spayed or neu-tered, and then released as part of the county’s Feral Freedom program.

“Ninety percent of the cats that enter the sheltering program leave the shelter alive and that is a remark-able achievement,” Guinn said.

Several times a year Life-Line and DeKalb County Animal Services host educa-tional outreach events and offer free vaccinations, spay and neuter vouchers and leashes and dog food. These events, Guinn said, are held at places such as Wade Walker or Flat Shoals parks.

Guinn said data collected by LifeLine has shown that when they hold such events, 75 percent of attendees don’t have their pets altered but said they would if they had the resources to spay/neuter them.

“One of our goals is to get as many animals as we can out of the shelter alive, but we also have to prevent them from coming into the shelter,” Guinn said. “We’re going into communities that traditionally don’t have much access to veterinarian care.”

The shelter also received updated, stainless steel dog kennels.

The intake area at the DeKalb County animal shelter recently received a facelift and a paint job. Photos provided

One Man’s OpiniOn

letter tO editOr

The Denson Dynasty?

A school where parents’ voices can be heard

“Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak, you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind,” Queen Elizabeth I, (1533-1603).

Whether considering U.S. Senate candidate Michele Nunn, or former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clin-ton and her daughter Chelsea as the shape of things to come, or simply noting that what was once an almost exclusively male domain, the multi-generation political dynasty...now has gender lines regularly being crossed. And one of the more visible examples of a female political dynasty in the making is right here in Georgia, and named Denson.

When you hear the phrase ‘politi-cal dynasty’ in Georgia, one conjures images of the Talmadge, Russell, Ray, or Kidd families (with pre-domi-nantly male elected heirs). Nationally, names like Kennedy, Bush, Dailey, Long and Roosevelt are but a few of the better known political power houses, with the women in these families generally playing a less visible and supporting role.

Not so with the dynamic Den-son clan of Athens, Georgia. Athens

Mayor Nancy Denson, a dynamic 74-year old, has been a public ser-vant and leader in Athens/Clarke County, for more than 34 years. Born in Memphis, Tenn., the third of seven children, Nancy later relocated with her husband Bob Denson to Athens, Georgia in 1966 to begin raising her own family.

Among Denson’s proudest accom-plishments during a quarter century of service as tax commissioner, is that she never put a family out in the street, due to foreclosure or auction for failure to pay property tax. Den-son worked with hundreds of individ-uals and struggling families, through payment plans to keep them in their homes, and whenever possible to keep those properties on the tax rolls.

And while a full-time public ser-vant, Denson was also raising her family of four, one son and three daughters. Son Bobby Denson fol-lowed his military service into busi-ness, and is now an executive with Siemens, middle twin Kathleen is a self-employed artist working in Geor-gia’s fast growing film industry and daughters Diane and Margaret fol-lowed their mother’s path into public life and service.

When Nancy Denson found many of those families she encountered as tax commissioner struggling to put food on their tables...she did what she thought was the most sensible thing

she could do. She started the first of Athens two community food banks in her garage. That was twenty years ago...and to this day she chairs the fi-nance committee of the Athens Emer-gency Food Bank, and as a board member of the Northeast Georgia Food Bank.

And, at a time when most seniors are retiring, relaxing or perhaps spending their hours with their eight grandchildren, Nancy Denson keeps a schedule and pace that would tire a young UGA college student. Her days begin just after dawn, and typically end with a return home closer to 9 or 10 p.m.

Oldest daughter Diane Schlecher, is now city manager of Tybee Island, on Georgia’s coast and just a few miles from Savannah. Diane has played a significant role in Tybee’s renaissance and repositioning as both a retire-ment community and a vacation des-tination for families as well as special events including its annual Beach Bum Parade.

The other half of the Denson twins, Margaret Kaiser, serves as state representative for District 59, comprising East Atlanta, Grant Park, Inman Park, Little Five Points, Poncey-Highlands, Reynoldstown, East Point, South Atlanta and the old Greenbriar Mall area. Kaiser has served for more than seven years, winning the seat in a minority-major-

ity district, by ousting a well-known incumbent. Kaiser and her husband are entrepreneurs, managing three successful restaurants in the area and raising their two sons. Kaiser, like her mother a lifelong Democrat, is well-regarded on both sides of the aisle, and frequently rumored as a future candidate for mayor of the city of At-lanta.

Meanwhile, back in Athens, Nancy Denson has helped lead Athens/Clarke to having the lowest unem-ployment level in the state, a handful of Georgia’s largest economic devel-opment wins in more than a decade and the ongoing re-development of the West Broad Street corridor lead-ing into downtown Athens.

Though it does appear, at least at this point, that the bulk of female political dynasties are forming on the D-side of the aisle, even that trend shouldn’t last too long. What are those twin Bush girls up to these days?

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Champion, Cham-pion Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native and business owner, living in Scottdale. You can reach him or comment on a column at [email protected].

Bill Crane

Columnist

the ChaMpiOn Free press, Friday, May 16, 2014 page 4aOpiniOn

It’s National Charter Schools Week (May 5-9), and I can’t help but revisit the last three years that my children have attended a charter public school. When I first signed them up at Ivy Preparatory Academy school three years ago, I had no idea exactly what that journey would involve. Three years ago, I was just looking for a better option than my neighborhood school.

Specifically, I was unhappy with the bureaucracy of a giant school system. Great schools have good discipline policies, empowered teachers and involved parents. I wanted a school that would listen to what my child needed and one that was empowered to make changes when necessary.

While I’ve met many great teachers in my county school system, most weren’t able to do their jobs properly due to problems with administrative bloat, a volatile school board and the dysfunction of a school system that is just too big.

Three years ago, I made the choice to enroll my son and daughter

into single gender charter schools. Sure, there have been challenges. Transportation, for example. Our school has no bus service. Our choices are parent drop-off and pick-up, private transportation services or MARTA. I was able to meet some of the parents from the school that live in my area. Another parent with three students at our school lives about one mile away from me. We teamed up, and one of us drops off all five kids and the other picks up. We made it work.

Another challenge has been funding. As a state charter school we receive substantially less funding per student than the typical public school. We also pay over $700,000 in rent for our building, which is not a line item for district schools. That means our school does not have textbooks or a large library like most schools. It’s also made it harder to pay teachers a competitive salary.

Although we’ve had challenges, our school community has met them head on and the rewards have been great. We’ve solicited and received public and private

sector donations of computers, books and even a playground and outdoor classroom. Our charter gives us the flexibility and the initiative to form creative alliances with art centers, local colleges and volunteer groups.

Unlike the parent resource center in our old school, our charter school’s parent resource center is a thriving central hub where parents volunteer their services. Teachers can request help from the parents, and parents receive volunteer credit for almost any activity that brings them through the doors. This keeps them involved and invested in their child’s education.

Our school atmosphere is friendly and the dress code and single gender classes eliminate much of the peer pressure middle school children often deal with. Children feel safe in their school and fights are unheard of. A group of parents, teachers and administrators worked together to formulate a school bullying protocol that is fair to children but also allows them to resolve minor conflicts on their own.

Finally, one of the best things about our school is the amount of local control. The school’s governing board is made up of professionals who are united in the desire to provide our children with an excellent education that prepares them to enter the college of their choice. Our board meets at school in the evening when parents are able to attend. School administrators have offices in different areas of the school where they can interact with students and offer support to teachers. Teachers are given flexibility to teach “their way” but are held accountable for results.

Yes, my charter school gave me the choice to move from a system where one superintendent and nine board members make decisions for about 100,000 children in 137 schools and centers, to a system where one executive director and nine board members make decisions for about 1,000 children in 3 schools. Our system is one in which the voice of a parent can still be heard.

Rae Harkness Decatur

OpiniOnthe ChaMpiOn Free press, Friday, May 16, 2014 page 5a

Make your political voice count: Vote!Gene Walkerk

Columnist

Let Us Know What You Think!THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinions from its readers. Please write to us and express your views. Letters should be brief, typewritten and contain the writer’s name, address and telephone number for veri� cation. All letters will be considered for publica-tion.Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send email to [email protected] FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779 Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior to publication date.

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FREEPRESS

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHERWe sincerely appreciate the discussion surrounding this and any issue of interest to DeKalb County. The Champion was founded in 1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse for all community residents on all sides of an issue. We have no desire to make the news only to report news and opinions to effect a more educated citizenry that will ultimately move our community forward. We are happy to present ideas for discussion; however, we make every effort to avoid printing information submitted to us that is known to be false and/or assumptions penned as fact.

Georgia is one of the 11 states that hold open primaries, which al-low any registered voter to vote in the primary regardless of political affiliation. This means that a Demo-crat could vote in the Republican primary or vice versa and an unaffil-iated voter can choose either major party primary. Proponents of this system appreciate being able to cross party lines, while opponents argue the open primary dilutes a party’s ability to nominate its own candi-date without interference from non-members. No matter one’s position, the importance of primary elections cannot be overstated.

DeKalb County voters will head to the polls in the May primary to determine who will be competing, if there’s no runoff, in the general elec-tion and to finalize choices in the special election for sheriff and the nonpartisan election of school board members.

According to the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Di-rector Maxine Daniel, since this is a non-presidential year, she expects only 30 to 35 percent of the 450,000 registered voters to turn out. In any election with low turnouts, the odds of a single vote deciding the out-come will significantly increase. The more votes—the more powerful the message; every vote counts!

The important point here is that voting is the essential way to take part in the democratic process. It is the key vehicle most democracies have of allowing citizens to have their say and express their power—be you Democrat, Republican or Independent—and whether you are pro-government or anti-govern-ment.

I am a proud, liberal Democrat who supports fair-minded politi-cians and good government.

Contrary to what many conser-vative Republicans believe, my solid Democratic partisan identification is not based on some sentimental gratitude but on sound pragmatic political considerations.

On issues affecting what is best for the nation and social concerns, the Democratic party has consis-tently been more liberal and com-passionate than the Republican party. Specifically, the Democrats advocate for the middle class, the poor, the weak, and liberty and jus-tice for all. Indeed, these are noble and compassionate values which I support as is evidenced by my fi-nancial contributions to democratic candidates in the primary. Whether my candidates win or lose, I shall continue supporting the Democratic ticket in the general election.

I’m pro-government based on the conviction that our contributions to government, in the form of taxes, go to fund a wide variety of programs and services to help address numer-ous social and economic ills and protect the health and safety of the citizenry.

In contrast, the Republican party

is waging the most intense anti-gov-ernment campaign since the Civil War. The aim of this well-organized political campaign at the national, state and local levels is to slash taxes, secure more profits for the greedy “one-percenters,” radically reduce social spending and undermine regulatory programs. Amazingly, these policies are advanced under the guise of working for the middle class.

In his book, What’s the Matter With Kansas?, Thomas Frank offers the clearest, most compelling ac-count of how the Republicans per-verted their fundamental interests and initiated a vigorously intense anti-government movement he labeled as the “species of derange-ment.”

He describes the Republican movement thusly, the leaders “may talk Christ, but they walk corporate. Values may ‘matter most’ to vot-ers, but they always take a backseat to the needs of money once the elections are won. This is a basic earmark of the phenomenon, abso-lutely consistent across its decades-long history.”

One of the most illuminating pieces in the book is what he quoted Christopher Lasch as saying about Ronald Reagan—the greatest cul-tural warrior of the movement. He writes, “Reagan made himself the champion of ‘traditional values’, but there is no evidence he regarded their restoration as a high priority. What he really cared about was the revival of the unregulated capital-ism of the twenties: the repeal of the New Deal.” Clearly, the hypocrisy,

contradictions and factual informa-tion are not recognized or appreci-ated by many Republicans.

The choices in the May primary are clear, either support the work of President Obama’s administration in trying to make government work for the people by supporting the cre-ation of jobs, affordable healthcare, better public education, infrastruc-ture improvements, equal pay for women, and challenging voter sup-pression.

On the other hand, you could choose to support the anti-govern-ment Republican group who claim to be champions for the middle class, while opposing the minimum wage, reducing social spending, pro-moting voter suppression, fighting against affordable healthcare, and undermining regulatory programs. Without a doubt, if you choose not to vote at all, you are supporting the latter!

[email protected]


CommuniTy


A partnership between Panola Moun-tain State Park and a teacher at DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts will result in more than 100 acres of park land being used for the preservation and keeping of honeybees.

Rozalyn Todd, a gifted/discovery teach-er at DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts (DESA), has been keeping bees for the last 10 years. Almost that whole time, she has been working on a proposal to use land at a state park for apical education.

“People really don’t know about bees and their role as pollinators,” she said. “Even 10 years ago, I noticed how bees were disappearing.”

Honeybee numbers are dropping at an alarming rate of up to 30 percent of colo-nies each year, through a combination of parasitic mites, pesticides and habitat loss, according to a 2013 report by NPR. It is es-timated that up to 35 percent of worldwide crops depend on pollinators to produce food.

Todd decided to do something about the declining bees and threw herself into hobby beekeeping. Over the years she has gone through certification classes at the Young Harris College - University of Georgia Bee-keeping Institute and started the Beekeep-ing Club at DESA. She is also the first Black woman certified as a honey judge in the state of Georgia.

She approached Shawn Baltzell, park manager of Panola Mountain State Park with a proposal to set up a beehive on a few acres of land. He agreed and offered use of an area that has more than 100 acres, in-cluding a small lake near Panola Mountain. Honeybees can cover more than 2,500 acres in their search for forage, their pollen and nectar food source.

“Near that area are some abandoned buildings, wildflowers, that sort of thing, that are perfect for bees,” Baltzell said. “It

was an easy partnership.”The 100 acres are located near where

guided hikes up the mountain start. And, with no pesticides used near the park, any honey produced will be organic.

“Nobody is allowed back there except with a guided hike,” Baltzell said. “It’s gated off, so the bees will be undisturbed.”

This summer, Todd said she would continue to work on hive boxes as well as surveying the Panola Mountain area for strategic areas to situate the hives. She said she also planned to contact other schools in the county encouraging them to start bee-keeping clubs and participate in the Panola Mountain partnership. She also has set her sights beyond the mountain, even as she currently focuses her efforts there.

“My mission and goal is to have bee-hives in all the state parks in Georgia,” Todd said.

If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew

Cauthen at [email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.

Tanya mayField

Championof theWeek

A celebration of the honey bee is planned at Panola Mountain State Park on Sept. 25.

Teacher partners with Panola Mountain State Park for honey bee preservation

David Shipp, a local beekeeper for DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts’ Beekeeping Club, demonstrates a bee box at Panola Mountain State Park. Photo provided

Volunteering with the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center, now the Day League, has enriched the life of Tanya Mayfield.

The 42-year-old from Stone Mountain began vol-unteering with the center three years ago as a crisis hotline volunteer.

“I have a personal at-tachment to this cause, and I want to be a part of a sup-port system for survivors,” she said. “Day League is an active resource offering support services, education and prevention work to the community.”

Mayfield would not elaborate on her personal attachment to the cause of helping those who have been sexually assaulted, but she acknowledged that volunteering with the cen-ter has given her more “re-spect for the strength those surviving and living with the remnants of sexual as-sault possess.

“There is nothing to prepare you for a call to the hospital to meet with a survivor after a sexual as-sault. You are never quite sure what you will see,” she said. “However, it is encouraging to know that with the resources pro-vided through Day League [that] there is light out of darkness.”

The hotline is a 24-hour crisis operation. Accord-ing to the center’s website, there are various of call types that come into the crisis line, including vic-tims calling immediately post-rape, family or friends of the victim needing support and information

or community members wanting general informa-tion.

Along with being a cri-sis hotline volunteer, May-field said she plans to do additional volunteer duties for the center’s events this year. She also volunteers with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, where she has volunteered for more than five years.

“I love working with young people in any capac-ity,” she said.

Although Mayfield has been a longtime believer in helping and serving oth-ers, her battle with breast cancer strengthened her beliefs further.

“Coming from a strong family belief in service to others, the breast cancer journey only increased my desire to do more with gratefulness,” said May-field, who has been in re-mission for 18 months.

Mayfield said volunteer-ing is important because she believes people are not on Earth for themselves.

“It is our love and ser-vice to our fellow man that contributes to an enriched life and everlasting hope that transcends time,” she said.


CommuniTy

AROUND DEKALBAtlanta local farm to hold indigo scarf-dying event

The Oakleaf Mennonite Farm, located at 1088 Bouldercrest Drive in Atlanta, will host a seminar on natural indigo dyeing May 24, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

The seminar will teach attendees how a leafy, green plant can become a dye that, through oxidation, trans-forms from green to blue. Attendees will be able to dye two scarfs during the class to keep.

Additionally, those who attend the seminar will learn about the history of indigo and dyeing tech-niques.

For more information visit www.thehomesteadatl.com.

Avondale EstatesCity accepting applications for fall arts and music festival

The Avondale Arts Alliance is now accepting applications for the 2014 AutumnFest Arts and Music Festival.

AutumnFest is a celebration of the arts for all ages that attracts art mavens to historic Avondale Estates every fall. The Oct. 4-5 festival fea-tures artists and craftsmen selling original paintings, folk art, metal sculptures, ceramics, photography, glass jewelry, textiles and more.

This year, AutumnFest is using Zapplication for the artist market and vendors. Go to www.avondale-arts.org to find the application link. For food vendor information, email [email protected].

BrookhavenCity to host 5k race

The 2014 Brookhaven Bolt 5K will take place May 17. All proceeds will be donated to Ashford Park El-ementary School. Race packets can be picked up May 16 from 4-8 p.m. at Big Peach Running Company at Town Brookhaven, 705 Town Blvd, Ste. 340. The race starts at 8 a.m. for runners and 8:05 a.m. for stroller and walkers. For more information, visit www.brookhavenbolt.com.

CountywidedeKalb animal shelter off ers may adoption special

DeKalb County Animal Services is offering special adoption rates on adult dogs and cats until the end of May. Dogs can be adopted for $20 and cats for $10. All animals will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped for this special rate. There will be regular screening cri-teria to ensure the animals are going to good homes. To view the animals up for adoption, visit www.dekalb-animalservices.com.

Decatureast decatur station to hold third annual party

The Decatur Arts Alliance and East Decatur Station are partner-ing to host the third annual “Big Pop Up” event, taking place June 12, from 6-9 p.m. at East Decatur Sta-tion off New Street.

The event will feature local arts and crafts, music, food and craft beer. Attendees also will be able to receive a discounted price to tour Three Taverns brewery.

For more information contact [email protected] or call (404) 377-5188.

sports centers to off er summer breakfast, lunch

Sport Center Academy, located at 5330 Snapfinger Woods Dr., Decatur, and CheerTyme Allstars of GA., located at 2575 Park Cen-tral Blvd., Decatur, will be offering free breakfast and lunch to DeKalb County children ages 5-18 through the U.S.D.A. summer food service program.

Breakfast will be served from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., lunch will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. June 2 through Aug. 8.

For more information call (770) 593-3149.

Dunwoodypolice department to host free cyber safety class

The Dunwoody Police Depart-ment will host a free cyber safety class May 20 at 6 p.m. The class will educate parents on the potential

dangers of the cyber world and how to protect children from inappropri-ate content. The class will be held at Dunwoody Court, 41 Perimeter Center East, suite 103 in Dunwoody. To register, visit www.cybersafety1.eventbrite.com.

Lithonianew birth church to host bilingual conference

“The Kingdom and The Power of

One Conference,” organized jointly by Bishop Eddie L. Long and Apos-tle Raul Avila, will open with a call for unity between Latin America and North America.

The four-day unity event will be held May 15-18 at New Birth Mis-sionary Baptist Church, 6400 Wood-row Road, Lithonia. The conference is expected to draw approximately 2,500 attendees from as far away as Venezuela, Chile, other Latin na-tions and throughout the United States.

Conference organizers hope the event “will bond Christians in Latin America with Christians in Ameri-ca, to mobilize and effect the culture of the world,” according to an an-nouncement.

In addition to Long and Avila, keynote speakers include Bishop Renny Mclean, Pastor Paula White, Apostle Marcelino Sojo, Prophet Rony Chavez, and Pastor Raul Da-vid Avila.

The conference will include Spanish translators who will trans-late live during each service.

More details can be found at www.KingdomConference2014.com.

Stone Mountainlibrary to host “read to rover”

Children ages 5 to 8 can practice their reading skills with trained therapy dogs during “Read to Rov-er.” The event will be held May 24 at Stone Mountain-Sue Kellogg library. The 12‒1 p.m. event is open to the first 10 participants. The library is located at 952 Leon St. in Stone Mountain. For more information, call (770) 413-2020.

Citywide yard sale scheduled

The city of Stone Mountain will hold its citywide yard sale on Sat-urday, May 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the First Baptist Church

lawn in the center of town. Set up begins at 7:30 a.m. on

the day of the sale; tables will not be provided. A limited number of 10 feet-by-10 feet spaces under the pavilion are available at $20 each on a first come, first served basis. Also, 10 feet-by-10 feet lawn spaces can be rented for $10 each.

For more information, contact Susan Coletti at (404) 444-5607 or city hall at (770) 498-8984. The event will have no food vendors. There will be no refunds and no rain date.

stonecrest library celebrates Frederick douglass

The Stonecrest Library, located at 3123 Klondike Road in Lithonia, will hold a celebration of the life of Frederick Douglass on May 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The event, called “The Liberated Life and Turbulent Times of Fred-erick Douglass,” will celebrate his contributions to America’s triumph over slavery and inhumanity, a press release states.

Former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Mike “Stinger” Glenn will share exhibit items from his private collection including rare books, newspapers and other documents. The program also will include a special performance about Doug-lass’ life.

Additionally, the event will fea-ture Nettie Washington Douglass, the great, great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, as speaker. She is also the chairwoman of the Fred-erick Douglass Family Foundation.

For more information call the Stonecrest Library at (770) 482-3828.

Tuckerlibrary to kick off vacation read-ing program

Big Thinkers Science will kick off the summer with a science and reading program for students at Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library. The kick-off for 2014 Vacation Read-ing Program will be held May 29, 3-4:30 p.m. Students will also take pictures with DeKalb County Public Library’s mascot, Dog in the Woods. To sign up for the program, call the library at (770) 270-8234.


restaurant health inspectionsEstablishment Name: Popeye’s #10354Address: 2578 Candler RoadCurrent Score/Grade: 97/AInspection Date: 05/07/2014 Observations and Corrective Actions

Establishment Name: Food King RestaurantAddress: 832 Hambrick Road, Suite CCurrent Score/Grade: 86/BInspection Date: 05/07/2014Observations and Corrective Actions

Observed cakes for sale on front counter prepared at home. Informed PIC all foods for sale must be prepared in facility or come from an approved source. COS- PIC removed cakes. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.Observed curry chicken cooling on counter in main kitchen area. Chicken temperature failed to decrease to 70F within 2-hour time frame. (81-84F) Advised PIC to place chicken in freezer for rapid chilling. COS- PIC placed chicken in freezer. Corrected on-Site. Repeat Violation.Thermometer in drink cooler (main kitchen area) reading inaccurately at 18F. Advised PIC to replace thermometer. New Violation.Inspection report from 10/3/13 posted in facility. Informed PIC most current inspection report must be posted for consumers to see. New Violation.

Establishment Name: Atlanta North Indian CateringAddress: 1369 Clairmont RoadCurrent Score/Grade: 90/AInspection Date: 05/08/2014Observations and Corrective Actions

Cold-held potentially hazardous foods not maintained below 41F; no time controls/documentation in place.Butter and yogurt in reach in cooler not maintained at 41F or below.PIC advised that proper cold hold temperature shall not exceed 41F.COS-PIC discarded yogurt. PIC placed butter in walk in cooler to rapidly cool to 41F or below. PIC stated yogurt had not been used at all that day and was inside of cooler the entire day. Butter had been used that day and thus still had time to cool. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.Floor in kitchen is missing tiles in several locations. Cove base missing on wall under dishmachine and near oven.PIC advised to make necessary repairs as soon as possible. New Violation.

Establishment Name: O’ Charley’s #227Address: 2039 Crescent Centre BoulevardCurrent Score/Grade: 77/CInspection Date: 05/08/2014 Observations and Corrective Actions

Hand sink used for activity other than hand washing. Upon arrival, observed handsink not easily accessible with spray bottle stored inside handsink. Spray bottle removed. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.Equipment food-contact surfaces not clean to sight and touch. Observed meat slicer unclean with food debris encrusted on food contact portion. Instructed PIC to have employee break down meat slicer and to clean thoroughly. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.Cold-held potentially hazardous foods not maintained below 41F; no time controls/documentation in place. Items brought from walk in cooler to prep top cooler with no additional food prep process not maintained at 41F and below. PIC advised that proper cold hold temperature shall not exceed 41F. Corrected on-Site. Repeat Violation.Potentially hazardous foods not properly cooled by effective methods. Observed several tightly enclosed bulk packages of cooked pasta noodles; cooked chicken pot pie cooling at room temperature. Informed PIC that items can be cooled by approved methods such as shallow pans, ice water bath, adding ice as an ingredient, etc. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.Employee personal items stored with facility items for customers. PIC removed employee belongings. Corrected on-Site. New Violation.

Establishment Name: Mojo PizzaAddress: 657 East Lake DriveCurrent Score/Grade: 82/BInspection Date: 05/08/2014

Local parent recognized for extraordinary motherhoodby Lauren [email protected]

All mothers are extraor-dinary. But one local mom has made motherhood her mission.

LaTasha Clark is the mother of 15 children–four biological, seven adopted and four fostered.

While she is new to the area, having recently moved here from Alabama, she was recognized May 22 with the Extraordinary Mom Award at the Medtech College At-lanta-DeKalb campus, where she attends school.

“We have a lot of students who are moms, and we want-ed to recognize that,” said Ben Simms, campus presi-dent. “Each mom will be get-ting an orange rose, but we wanted to find someone who went above and beyond.”

A committee includ-ing Simms and the heads of departments formed to honor all mothers and to determine who would be get-ting the Extraordinary Mom Award. Over two weeks, students nominated peers and according to Simms, an overwhelming number of students selected Clark.

Her seven adopted chil-dren came from the Alabama foster care system, where they were sent after drug abuse and alcohol problems came to light in their biologi-cal families.

Living with Clark in her home are her youngest son, and his girlfriend. The three attend Medtech College together, while Clark also works full-time as a home health aide.

The award was presented in the middle of class to a

surprised Clark, who held back tears until after the short ceremony.

“I am just grateful for the kids that are in my family and in my life,” Clark said. “Coming back to school, I was like ‘If this will help them get back to school to better themselves, then I just have to start all over again.’”

A retired registered nurse, Clark is now in the billing and coding track at Medtech. She said her children needed that extra push to go back to school, so she did it with them.

Her first calling for her large family came when she recognized a friend of her children’s at the courthouse where she formerly worked.

“My kids’ friends always had to come to my house and play,” Clark said, “They never went to anyone else’s house because of the condi-tions. I let all the kids come to my house.”

The routine was to come home from school, do home-work, then play. If you did your work, there were re-wards, like the annual family trip to Disney World, she said.

One of the friends who hung around the house was in and out of foster care, though Clark didn’t know his situation. While working as a fill-in for the local judge’s secretary, Clark saw the child come in to court.

“The judge said, ‘You know him?’ and I said ‘Yeah I know him, he’s at my house every day,’” Clark said. “The judge said, ‘I’m going to take a short recess,’ and he came back and talked to me and said, ‘If I get you settled, will you please take him, because

we have nowhere else to put him.’”

Clark said neighbors claimed the child was go-ing to be the one who didn’t make it. But he thrived with his new family, serving with the army for four years and earning an E-4 rank. He is now married with two chil-dren and returned from Af-ghanistan in January.

“The one that everyone thought would fail came back and got his siblings motivated,” Clark said. “We even got his mom in a drug treatment program, and she’s back in school herself.”

Clark has also seen her share of struggles. One son died in a car accident, and this past Thanksgiving, her oldest son was found mur-dered. But she said she was at peace with the loss, and that his time had come.

“Their memories are still here, and the other children are still growing from those memories,” she said. “God gives us all purpose and times to be here and time to leave.”

In 2013, Clark was resus-citated by paramedics when her heart stopped due to diabetic complications. She didn’t find out who saved her life until she went to pay the medical bill.

“I thank God for him, because I know God has a purpose that I’m still here,” Clark said.

“All kids need a mother figure in their life,” Clark said. Our kids are the future, we have to teach them and steer them up so they can be better parents to their chil-dren.”

LaTasha Clark, a mother of 15 children, was awarded the Extraordinary Mom award at the Medtech Atlanta-DeKalb campus. Campus President Ben Simms, left, presented the award in front of her class. Photo by Lauren Ramsdell


Stone Mountain business owners hold first association meeting

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THE DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, DOES HEREBY ANNOUNCE THAT THE MILLAGE RATE WILL BE SET AT A MEETINGTO BE HELD AT THE MANUEL J. MALOOF CENTER AUDITORIUM, 1300 COMMERCE DRIVE, DECATUR, GEORGIA 30030 ON JULY 8, 2014 10:00 A.M. AND PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF O.C.G.A. 48-5-32 DOES HEREBY PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING PRESENTATIONOF THE CURRENT YEAR'S TAX DIGEST AND PROPOSED MILLAGE RATES ALONG WITH THE HISTORY OF THE TAX DIGEST AND LEVY OFTHE PAST FIVE YEARS.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014Real & Personal 25,085,229,475 24,175,241,772 21,399,133,588 19,654,747,022 19,774,183,012 20,886,898,092Motor Vehicle 1,485,616,310 1,582,186,152 1,317,170,660 1,362,176,640 1,468,928,740 1,231,387,800Mobile Homes 739,929 656,584 510,171 440,056 396,572 355,333Timber - 100% 91,018 0 0 0 0 0Heavy Duty Equipment 165,651 65,347 82,712 77,829 34,308 57,864Gross Digest 26,571,842,383 25,758,149,855 22,716,897,131 21,017,441,547 21,243,542,632 22,118,699,089Less M&O Exemptions 2,081,757,110 2,030,793,744 1,919,082,084 2,090,546,482 1,976,001,226 2,431,813,199Net M&O Digest 24,490,085,273 23,727,356,111 20,797,815,047 18,926,895,065 19,267,541,406 19,686,885,890Gross M&O Millage (1) 8.96 8.96 10.31 11.37 11.51 10.86Net Tax Levy (2) 219,431,164 212,597,111 214,425,473 215,198,797 221,769,402 213,799,581Net Tax Increase ($) (3,064,303) (6,834,053) 1,828,362 773,324 6,570,605 (7,969,821)Net Tax Increase (%) -1.38% -3.11% 0.86% 0.36% 3.05% -3.59%

(1) Countywide taxes only; no Special Services, Fire and Police Services or bonds in accordance with OCGA 48-5-32/32.1.(2) Net tax levies for 2009-2014 are prior to the Homestead Option Sales Tax Exemption and the GA Homeowners Tax Relief Grant.

CURRENT 2014 TAX DIGEST AND FIVE YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY

by Carla [email protected]

Ideas on how to make the Stone Mountain busi-ness community better were floating around May 8 during the inaugural meeting of the Stone Mountain Business As-sociation.

More than 20 business owners from the Stone Mountain business district met with Downtown Devel-opment Authority Executive Director Mechel McKinley to discuss how businesses in Stone Mountain can thrive and have more people stop and shop. McKinley said she was thrilled with the turnout.

“I think we have a lot of businesses that are really in-terested in bettering our com-munity,” McKinley said. “I’m thrilled to see the commit-ment from them, and I hope that we can make some great things happen here in Stone Mountain.”

McKinley, who is in her first year with the Stone Mountain Downtown De-velopment Authority, said there have been variations of a business organization but

never an official business as-sociation.

“I feel like it’s an impor-tant communication tool with our business and property owners,” she said. “I think it’s important for them to know what the Downtown Devel-opment Authority is doing, how we’re going to support them and again, it’s a two-way conversation.”

Some of the topics dis-cussed were building a bet-ter relationship with Stone Mountain Park and Georgia Military College. Some of the business owners said students

from the school usually go outside the city to eat and shop instead of spending money at the local businesses.

McKinley suggested that the business owners give dis-count cards to students.

“We have to teach students how to shop and eat locally,” McKinley said during the meeting. “Teach them about being a part of the commu-nity.”

The business owners also discussed what they could do to communities outside the city. Residents in unin-corporated Stone Mountain

are unaware of what is going on in the city. Some business owners, including Sharon Whitehead, property man-ager of Southern Oaks apart-ment homes, suggested the city should do more market-ing through social media, Youtube.com and blogging.

“Getting that information out to the public is very im-portant,” Whitehead said.

Consistent business hours was also brought up in the meeting. One person com-

plained that some of the businesses are not open dur-ing their scheduled business hours, leaving customers frustrated.

Some days, only one busi-ness on Main Street may be open, according to one par-ticipant at the meeting.

“I think businesses should have consistent business hours because people come in this community not just to shop at one location but to shop at multiple locations,” Whitehead said. “If they’re coming in finding that only one location is open then they’re going to go some-where else.”

McKinley said she hopes the meeting will lead to a brighter future for the Stone Mountain business commu-nity.

“I like the sense of com-munity I was feeling with business owners recommend-ing to visitors other busi-nesses to eat and shop at,” McKinley said. “I think that’s important. We have to be our own best supporters.”

three wins, four losses at the National, and three wins, two losses at the Beau Hardeman tournament. He also placed second in the unrated division with Hardeman.

Tanisha Saunders, the mother of student Collin Laster, said that chess has already given him tangible benefits.

“Collin is starting to do a lot more critical thinking and planning ahead,” she said. “I think it’s a great program especially to teach the kids those skills.”

Laster also competed at both events, winning one round at the National tourna-ment.

“At the national, you had to really focus and concen-trate,” he said, “But at the other one, you just have to try hard and do your best.”

Hardeman said he doesn’t know what draws children to chess, specifically, but that the competitive nature and the fact that, for these kids, there is a group helping them to succeed that they don’t want to disappoint, may be a part of it.

“There’s this whole idea of

having this competition with the opposing party that pulls children,” he said. “It’s not ugly and bloody and you have rules and honor–these are life-building skills.

“Plus, in a team sport they

don’t have to blame them-selves, you have none of that in chess. It’s mano-a-mano and you see the tears. They learn to deal with disappoint-ment and they learn early.”

ChessContinued From Page 2A

The Stone Mountain Business Association held its inaugural meeting at Stone Mountain Bakery May 8. Photo by Carla Parker


Accused wife killer gets new trial DeKalb native arrested in Paine College shooting

ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE Condado de DeKalb 2014-2018 Plan Consolidado para HUD Programas para incluir en Plan de Acción Anual 2015

PROCESO DE SOLICITUD DE SUBVENCION PARA El Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados Unidos

(HUD) 2015 FUNDS

El 5 de Junio de 2014, el Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb comenzará a aceptar solicitudes de organizaciones religiosas, organizaciones comunitarias, municipios, agencias sin fines de lucro u otras entidades interesadas en aplicar para Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), y los fondos de HOME para el año 2015. Todas las solicitudes o peticiones seran objeto de financiamiento HUD en el futuro, para estos programas. Las aplicaciones CDBG y ESG y la información general se pueden obtener a partir 5 de Junio 2014 en el sitio web del Condado de DeKalb, www.dekalbcountyga.us. Para obtener más información, por favor, únase a nuestras reuniones o llame al (404)286-3308.

Aplicación/Información/Taller de Asistencia Técnica

Fecha/Hora Localidad Jueves, 5 de Junio, 2014

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Wesley Chapel Library 2861 Wesley Chapel Road

Decatur, Georgia 30034 Esta reunión es muy importante teniendo en cuenta las reducciones de fondos en los diferentes programas!

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Audiencias Públicas El Departamento de Desarrollo Humano y Comunitario del Condado de DeKalb está llevando a cabo

dos audiencias públicas.

Fecha/Hora Fecha/Hora Jueves, 12 de Junio, 2014 a las 6:30 PM

Community Needs Maloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA El propósito de esta audiencia pública es obtener

la opinión del publico sobre las necesidades y prioridades de la comunidad. Vamos a discutir la información general sobre el Plan Consolidado

2014-2018 incluido el Plan de Acción Anual 2015, el proceso de presentación de solicitudes, y las

actualizaciones del programa.

Jueves, 18 de Septiembre, 2014 a las 6:30 PM

Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan Maloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA Vamos a presentar el proyecto de Plan Consolidado 2014-2018 incluyendo la 2015 Anual Plan de acción,

presupuesto y solicitaremos preguntas y comentarios del público.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

DeKalb County 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan for HUD Programs to include the 2015 Annual Action Plan

GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS FOR

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 2015 FUNDS

On June 5, 2014 the DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department will begin accepting applications from faith-based organizations, community organizations, municipalities, non-profit agencies and other entities interested in applying for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and HOME funds for the Year 2015. All applications or requests are subject to future HUD funding for these programs. CDBG and ESG applications and general information may be obtained beginning June 5, 2014 at the DeKalb County website; www.dekalbcountyga.us. For more information, please join us at the meetings or call (404) 286-3308. __________________________________________________________________

Application/Information/Technical Assistance Workshop

Date/Time Location Thursday, June 5, 2014

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Wesley Chapel Library 2861 Wesley Chapel Road

Decatur, Georgia 30034

This meeting is very important given the funding reductions in the various programs!

Public Hearings The DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department

is conducting two Public Hearings.

Date/Time Date/Time Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 6:30 PM

Community Needs Maloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA The purpose of this public hearing is to solicit

input from the public regarding community needs and priorities. We will discuss general

information concerning the 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan including the 2015 Annual Action Plan, application submission process,

and program updates.

Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 6:30 PM

Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan Maloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA We will present the proposed 2014-2018

Consolidated Plan including the 2015 Annual Action Plan, proposed budget and solicit

public questions and/or comments.

ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE


Jury selection began May 12 for the new trial of a man previously convicted of murdering his wife in 2011.

Dennis Allaben was found guilty and convicted of killing his wife, Maureen, in their Doraville home in 2010. He is charged with malice murder and felony murder.

After strangling his wife, Alla-ben drove his two young children to Virginia with his wife’s body in the bed of his truck. After dropping off his children with relatives, Alla-ben drove back to Georgia with his wife’s body, which was rolled up in carpet and covered in duct tape.

Allaben later turned himself into police. His wife was the set decora-tor for BET’s The Mo’Nique Show.

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously reversed Allaben’s conviction because of a technical-ity. The jury that convicted him of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault with the intent to murder also found him guilty of reckless conduct for the same crime.

According to the court’s opin-ion, the verdicts are “mutually ex-

clusive” because reckless conduct requires the jury to find that a defendant acted with criminal neg-ligence and did not intend to injure or kill a victim, while the other charges require the jury to find that he did intend to kill the victim.

“Because we conclude that the guilty verdict on reckless conduct was mutually exclusive of the re-maining verdicts, we reverse Alla-ben’s conviction for malice murder, set aside all the guilty verdicts, and remand the case for further pro-ceedings,” said Supreme Court Jus-tice Carol W. Hunstein.

During the trial, Allaben admit-ted to killing his wife but said it was an accident and he only wanted to “put her to sleep, tie her up, and then confront her about what he believed was her adulteration of his food.”

Although the Supreme Court’s opinion said the “evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Allaben was guilty of the crimes,” it agreed the verdicts on malice murder, felony murder, ag-gravated assault and simple battery were mutually exclusive because of the verdict on reckless conduct.


A Cedar Grove High School gradu-ate has been arrested in connection with a shooting at Paine Col-lege in Augusta.

Xavier Deanthony Cooper, 20, is ac-cused of shooting 21-year-old JaJuan Baker in the head at a dormitory May 5, ac-cording to Richmond County police. At a May 7 press conference, Rich-mond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree said the shooting was the result of a drug deal gone wrong.

Roundtree said Baker had sold drugs to Cooper a couple of days prior and something about the transaction went wrong and an-gered Cooper.

“That transaction was a bad transaction … there is bad blood between he and the victim,” Roundtree said.

Cooper confronted Baker in

Haygood-Holsey Hall and shot him in the left side of the head, according to authorities. Baker is

expected to survive.Both the victim

and the suspect have criminal records, ac-cording to authorities. Baker was charged in 2012 with a firearms violation, and Cooper has been charged with various crimes includ-ing simple battery and criminal damage to property.

Cooper was charged in the May 5 shooting with aggra-vated assault, possession of a fire-arm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm in a school building, according to the sheriff ’s office.

The day before the shoot-ing, another student was injured by reported gunfire on Paine’s campus. According to police, the investigation is ongoing for both shootings and a $4,000 reward is being offered for information leading to arrests and convictions in connection with the shootings.

Cooper


2,000 security cameras

youYou’re never alone when you’re onMARTA. Every station is under ourwatchful eye. We could use your eyes, too. If you see something that’s not right, call us. We’ll take it from there.

SeeSaysomething

something

If you

Use MARTA’s See & Say App.

Txt MPD: (404) 334-5355or

Call (404) 848-4911 if you see something out of the ordinary.


It has been a year of fifths for Dunwoody, one of DeKalb’s newest cities. The fifth annual Dunwoody Art Festival ran May 10-11 during a weekend of intermittent drizzle and low-level clouds.

The festival, always hosted on Mother’s Day weekend, was nonethe-less a celebration of all things quirky and colorful.

“I personally think the Mother’s Day thing makes it great and gives the family something to do,” said Frances Schube, president and founder of Splash Festivals, the event’s producer. “Instead of going out to brunch or lunch and looking at each other afterward like, ‘What do we do?’ This gives families an op-portunity to shop and eat and hang out with each other.”

Schube started the festival in Dunwoody after the first city manag-er, Warren Hutmacher, transferred his leadership from Norcoss. Schube had been hosting the Norcross Art Fest since 2003 and was asked to start a new festival in Dunwoody.

“What makes us different is we are invite-only,” Schube said. “We look for very whimsical, very fun art. Someone once gave me the best in-

sult: they said that our shows are ‘too happy.’”

Artists are selected from all over the country, including many local artisans. One artist, Shari Grenzow Mauer, made the 13-hour, 870-mile drive from Kiel, Wisc. Mauer has been doing art and craft fairs for more than 20 years.

Schube found and invited Mauer first in 2012, and although she was unable to return last year, this year she made the trip.

“I think this is one of the coolest shows on my schedule,” Mauer said. “It’s unusual because it’s all whimsy.”

Despite the gray skies, the festival attracted hundreds, according to Schube.

“In 2012, we had a beautiful Sat-urday and awesome sales,” Mauer said. “In order for me to drive nearly 1,000 miles it has to be financially viable.”

Mauer said this year sales had also been good.

“[On] Saturday, the husbands and fathers are shopping for the wives and mothers, and [on] Sunday, the wives and mothers are shopping for themselves,” Schube said.

The next Splash Festivals event is the 11th Annual Norcross Art Fest the weekend of Oct. 10 and 11.

Dunwoody Arts Festival celebrates fi ve years of whimsy

A wooden dinosaur ter-rorizes the good people of downtown Dunwoody.

Crowds brave the shifting weather to attend the art festival. Photos by Lauren Ramsdell

Nate Cline makes tiny, handmade clay sculptures and terrariums as a part of his business, Gypsy Raku.

Left, Shari Grenzow Mauer travelled from Kiel, Wisc., to display her whimsical wares at the festival. “I think this is one of the coolest shows on my schedule,” she said.


Tucker Day

First held in 1956, Tucker Day is an annual event during which Tucker celebrates the history of the community. The family-friendly event was host to a day of food, arts and crafts, while a variety of musical acts performed for the crowd. Photos by Travis Hudgons


WEEK PICTURESIn

Searching for Our Sons and Daughters:

For a programming guide, visit www.yourdekalb.com/dctvNow showing on DCTV!

Finding DeKalb County’s Missing Stories of our missing residents offer profound

insights and hope for a positive reunion.

Searching for Our Sons and Daughters:

DCTV – Your Emmy® Award-winning news source of DeKalb County news. Available on Comcast Cable Channel 23.

Photos brought to you by DCTV

Meko, a dachshund schnauzer, was one of the dogs from Angels Among Us Pet Rescue that was up for adoption at a recent Brookhaven event. Photo by Carla Parker

Hand-crafted butterfl ies decorate the front lawn of St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Stone Mountain. Photo by Travis Hudgons

According to signage, the former Publix on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain will be the new home of a Nam Dae Mun Farmers Market. Photo by Travis Hudgons

A number of elderly residents attended the May 13 Board of Commissioners meeting to celebrate Elderly Awareness month and voice their support or concerns over a new partnership between the county and South DeKalb YMCA. Photo by Daniel Beauregard


Former GPC president files suit against University System of Georgia

Georgia State’s Indian Creek Lodge receives LEED certificationby Carla [email protected]

Georgia State University, owner of the Indian Creek Lodge in Stone Mountain, was awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the lodge last month.

The lodge–a student, fac-ulty and staff building used for group meetings and re-treats–is the university’s first project to receive a LEED certification.

“We are thrilled to be the first LEED certified facility on campus and appreciate the university administra-tion’s commitment to a more sustainable campus,” Scott Levin, director of rec-reational services, said in a statement.

The lodge is located at 900 Indian Creek Drive within the 15.5-acre Indian Creek recreational area. The university purchased the

land in 1938. The original lodge was demolished Feb. 11, 2013, for the construc-tion of a new $1 million facility.

The new building is complemented with a team-building ropes course with high and low elements, pic-nic facilities, a large open event lawn, swimming pool, sand volleyball court and a children’s playground.

The university added high efficiency water fix-tures to the building, which reduce water use by 35 percent. Over 77 percent of the LEED project bound-ary was preserved for open space and the university purchased renewable energy certificates, which offset 100 percent of the building’s electricity usage for two years.

Other features of the building include environ-mentally friendly paints and coatings, parking for low-

emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, and bicycle storage and changing facilities for bicycle commuters.

“The university’s com-mitment to use renewable resources and make con-scious decisions in building designs will contribute to the positive impact Georgia State makes in the city of At-lanta,” said Allen Wilbanks, assistant director in charge of facilities for recreational services.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED certification includes several categories for high performance facilities in-cluding sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. A project can receive multiple levels of certification de-pending on the number of points achieved.


Anthony Tricoli, the former president of Georgia Perimeter College (GPC), has filed a lawsuit against the school and the Universi-ty System of Georgia (USG) for allegedly conspiring to cover up a budget shortfall in 2012.

According to the law-suit, which accuses officials from the college and the USG of violating the Rack-eteer Influenced and Cor-rupt Organizations Act, the defendants tampered with evidence, made false state-ments to state agencies and influenced witnesses.

Tricoli said that USG of-ficials fraudulently breached his contract, forced him to resign from his position as president at GPC and falsi-fied reports relating to the budget shortfall.

A list of the defendants includes GPC interim presi-dent Rob Watts; former GPC Chief Budget Officer Ron Carruth; GPC Human Resources Director Jim Rasmus; USG Chancellor Henry Huckaby and each member of the Board of Re-gents at the time the budget shortfall occurred.

In an exclusive interview with The Champion, Tricoli said he did everything in his power to resolve the issue without litigation.

“I did everything I could to remedy my losses by at-tempting to get another job in my profession,” Tricoli said. “I [contacted] Chancel-lor Huckaby several times to see if we could meet and come to an agreement. However, the last time I reached out, I was told not to communicate with the chancellor any further because he would not be responding to any of my requests or invitations to discuss this matter.”

Tricoli said he has been unable to secure another job in higher education because

of being falsely accused and intentionally smeared when he left GPC. He also said several of the defendants in the lawsuit have interfered with his search for a new position.

“I have applied for ap-proximately 120 positions in the higher education arena, and I have not been able to secure a position in any of those searches. The fallout has been tremendous and devastating both profession-ally and personally,” Tricoli said.

Additionally, Tricoli said that the actual amount of the budget deficit has only been proven to amount to $16 million, not $25 million.

An internal audit re-leased by the USG in 2012 states that: “it cannot be de-termined where the budget was overspent because it was not allocated correctly and contained errors and omis-sions.” Officials for the USG still contend the budget shortfall was $25 million.

Stephen Humphreys, an attorney representing Tri-coli, said that three budget presentations provided by then-GPC budget director Mark Gerspacher for 2010, 2011 and 2012, contain information that was not representative of GPC’s fi-nancial condition.

“We also noted the exis-tence of email discussions among staff within GPC’s Office of Financial and Ad-ministrative Affairs starting in January 2012 that refer-ence declines in auxiliary fund balances and the use of auxiliary reserves for non-auxiliary expenditures over the past several fiscal years,” Humphreys said. “There was no evidence that these emails were shared outside of the Office of Financial and Administrative Affairs until several months after-wards.”

Tricoli’s suit contends that a pattern of misleading information and false re-ports set him up to take the

fall for the loss of millions, much of which went unac-counted for. He said that while he was president and Watts acted as his supervi-sor, he requested to replace then budget officer Carruth several times but was told by Watts “Carruth was the best man for the job.”

The suit also alleges a series of secret budget meetings—Tricoli was not invited—that were held at an off-campus location so as not to attract suspicion.

According to the suit, $6.8 million of the deficit was caused by GPC Human Resources Director Rasmus, who allegedly misallocated employee fringe benefits.

Officials from the Board of Regents and USG were contacted for this article but stated they could not com-ment on pending litigation. A trial date has not yet been

set.

Tricoli

who were forced to leave their villages during the war. The civil war raged for more than two decades and millions of people died, leaving approximately 80 percent of South Sudanese people displaced.

“He had information and reflections on his experiences during the flight and the internment…and he had the experiences in the camp,” Ford-Williamson said. “It was a bit jumbled as to what took place when and I didn’t have any background so we had to go back to square one.”

Ford-Williamson said they pieced together a timetable of places and events, through research.

“Even though they’re [in their 30s], they identify as ‘lost boys,’” Ford-Williamson said. “Videographers actually saw them on their journey and they thought they were like the lost boys in Peter Pan.”

Marier and thousands of others were sent out of South Sudan, in hopes that they could make it safely to somewhere and have opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have had, Ford-Williamson said, hence the title of the book, The Seed of South Sudan.

“We have to do something because when the war ends, we are the people who can pick up the legacy of our people who were not able to get the freedom,” Marier said. “So if you have the education you can help the county right now. They don’t have the infrastructure or medical treatment, and they really need a lot of help.”

Although Marier works a full-time job as a plumber’s apprentice, his employers allow him to travel home whenever he needs to visit his family. Marier can leave for three months to return to South Sudan and return without worrying his job will be gone.

“At least when I come back here I have a job that is secure so I can go back to work and support my family,” Marier said.

Marier and Ford-Williamson said the majority of the proceeds of the book will go toward building wells in South Sudan. They are also starting a nonprofit corporation to further aid the South Sudanese people.

Michael Phillips was killed by multiple gunshot wounds during a party at the Mountain Lake Apartment Homes, 1401 N. Hairston Rd., Stone Mountain, according to Alexander.

One person, Kemontae Cullins, 18, has been arrested in connection with the May 3 crime. Brothers Oslushla Smith, 19, and Cutrez Johnson, 16, are also suspects in that killing.

Smith and Johnson either lived at or had connections to the home on To Lani Farm Road, police said.

“We believe these men [Smith, Johnson, and Cullins] are also responsible for the death of Alexis Malone,” Alexander said.

Alexander said police were looking to interview Malone, 19, as a potential witness to the May 3 shooting, but Malone was found dead on Agape Way around 6 p.m. on May 10.

After a few days at large, U.S. marshals attempted to arrest Smith and Johnson at the Travel Inn Lodge off Forrest Hills Drive. The men then barricaded themselves, one of their girlfriends, and a 5-year-old child in a hotel room for several hours the evening of May 12, said Mekka Parish, DeKalb County Police public information officer.

Just before midnight, officers stormed the room and arrested the men, Parish said. The child was released to family members unharmed. One of the suspects was injured and transported to the hospital, where he is in stable condition.

Alexander said an arrest warrant was also issued for Kayla Dixon, 20, in connection with the death of Malone. Dixon, formerly a person of interest in the death of Phillips, turned herself in May 13.

Though the suspects of the home invasion are currently unknown, police believe it was in retaliation for the death of Malone, Alexander said.

“[Smith and Johnson] are not the men responsible for the home invasion,” Parish said. Mekka Parish, DeKalb County public information officer, “But, we believe [those involved with the home invasion] were looking for them at the house.”

Timeline:May 3, around 8 p.m.: 29-year-old Michael Phillips is killed at a party at the Mountain Lake Apartment Homes in Stone Mountain.May 10, approximately 6 p.m.: Police receive anonymous call reporting the body of Alexis Malone, 19, found on Agape Way in DeKalb. Malone may have been a witness to the May 3 incident.May 10, approximately 11 p.m.: Armed men enter a home on To Lani Farm Road in Stone Mountain. Three women inside the home fled to an upstairs bathroom with a 9-month-old boy. The men pursued the women, shooting them as they tried to barricade themselves. The child was killed.May 11, early morning: Kemontae Cullins, 18, was arrested in connection to the May 3 shooting.May 12, evening: After a standoff at a south Atlanta hotel, suspects Oslushla Smith, 19, and Cutrez Johnson, 16, are arrested in connection with the killings of Phillips and Malone.May 13: Kayla Dixon turns herself in and is arrested.

SmithJohnsonDixon

Armed men allegedly broke into this DeKalb County home and killed a baby and injured three women. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

CRIME SPREE MAP

Refugees Continued From Page 1A

Killings Continued From Page 1A

the ChaMpiOn Free press, Friday, May 16, 2014 page 15alOCal neWs

Printed on 100% post-consumerrecycled paper

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 16alocal news


Through road medi-ans and embankments, around 22 volunteers picked through trash, weeds, dirt and mud on May 10 to keep a tiny rivulet outside the city of Dunwoody’s offices free of debris. The stream, so small it is barely a trickle in places, nonetheless is a tributary of the Chattahoochee River, the water supply for Atlanta and its suburbs.

The city of Dunwoody attempts to do at least one stream cleanup per year–last year it was North Fork Nan-cy Creek. But this one was even closer to home.

“It’s a lot different than other stream cleanups we’ve done in the past, because those are usually in a more natural area away from de-velopment,” said Drew Cu-tright, development director for the city of Dunwoody. “But this stream runs right through Perimeter Center East.”

Students from Arla Bernstein’s honors public speaking class at Georgia Perimeter College contacted Cutright and City Planner/Director of Sustainability Rebecca Keefer about doing a service project to benefit the city.

“Their mission was to come up with the volun-teers for the cleanup,” Ber-

nstein said. “The students researched water quality issues, conducted a 100-per-son survey on volunteerism and organized marketing and outreach for the event.”

Bernstein stressed that this experience was much like an internship and en-couraged students to put the work in their portfolios or on resumes.

“I had my concerns in the very beginning, that it was distracting us from the speech process that we were going through and some of the other work we were do-ing in the class,” said Karen Davis, one of Bernstein’s students. “But, it turns out, it was a good lesson learned for working within teams and … delegation, as well as learning how to work with a partner like the city of Dun-woody.”

Donning orange gloves and toting huge black trash bags, students and other volunteers circumnavigated Perimeter Center East bag-ging bottles, chip bags and even a garden hose. A group working in a sunken copse managed to find three shop-ping carts, pry them out and return them to their owners.

“I think we had a really good turnout,” said Cutright. “I saw some people I haven’t seen at events before, and we were able to reach these new faces with the help of the students.”

Georgia Perimeter College students clean Dunwoody stream

Jane Jones, a student at Georgia Perimeter College who helped plan and market the cleanup, hauls a garden hose out of the median at Perimeter Center East.

Tony Young stands in the stream to recover litter.

Karen Davis, one of the students who spearheaded the stream cleanup, collects trash from an embankment.

Arla Bernstein, professor of communications at Georgia Perimeter College, uses service learning to get her students out of the classroom and doing real world work. Susan Bloom, one of Bernstein’s students, walks

through the stream to collect garbage. Photos by Lauren Ramsdell

From left, Jane Jones, Wayne Bernstein, Tony Torbert, Karen Davis, Arla Bernstein and Deepti Krishnan were a handful of volunteers who came to assist the city of Dunwoody in the cleanup.

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 17abusiness

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce

404.378.8000 www.DeKalbChamber.orgTwo Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030

Couple finds sweet success selling cake-decorating suppliesby Kathy [email protected]

A cake can be made to look like a

cartoon character, a dress, a carnival carousel—nearly anything—with some skill, a little imagination and the right equipment. That’s where Cake Art in Tucker comes in.

With aisles of pans, tools, tints, toppings, flavorings, cookie cutters and more, Cake Art has, according to owner John Parker, possibly the most extensive product line of any store in the Southeast. The 7,200-square-foot store has “con-servatively 10,000 items—possibly as many as 15,000,” according to Parker. “And, we’re constantly add-ing more. You would probably have to go to New York to find a selection this large.”

When John Parker and his wife Teresa bought the store in 2002, it already had been a fixture in DeKalb County for approximately 25 years. In 2007, they moved it from Me-morial Drive in Stone Mountain to its current Lawrenceville Highway

location, nearly doubling the floor space.

“It’s great to have a successful business doing something you really enjoy,” said Teresa, adding that she has always liked baking and decorat-ing and once worked in a grocery store’s bakery department. “When customers come in with an idea of what they’d like to do but aren’t sure how to proceed, I can usually point them in the right direction.”

Teresa said in their early days as retailers, the couple had small children so she spent less time in the store, but now she enjoys work-ing directly with customers. “There are about 25 or 30 customers that I know by name. I even recognize their voices on the phone before they identify themselves.”

Celebrating such occasions as birthdays, weddings and holidays with decorated cakes has been a pop-ular practice since the 19th century, but in recent years professionals and hobbyists have let their imaginations soar, Teresa said. “Even wedding cakes, which used to have a tradi-

tional look with tiers and white frost-ing, are being custom designed to whatever strikes the couple’s fancy. Some couples now serve tiers of cupcakes instead of a cake.”

Cake Art offers classes in cake decorating as well as candy making and decorating cupcakes and petit fours. Teresa, who’s certified by Wilton, a cake equipment company that has operated a decorating school since 1946, teaches many of the classes.

Classes fill quickly with students booking them weeks, even months, in advance, according to John. He said the candy-making classes are popular, adding they are shorter and less expensive. In a single session, students can learn from watching a demonstration to make some fun candy designs, he said. The store stocks candy molds for a wide vari-ety of holidays and occasions.

“People like candy making be-cause it’s easy, they get great results and they know the candy is fresh,” John commented.

Customers include professional

bakers as well as those who decorate for fun, according to the Parkers. Many come from local restaurants and from nearby Cordon Bleu Culi-nary School. Teresa estimates that 25 to 30 percent of Cake Art’s custom-ers are professional bakers.

Cake Art is busy year-round, ac-cording to John. “There’s always a holiday coming up, and people enjoy making cakes not just for major holi-days like Christmas and Easter but also for St. Patrick’s Day, the Super Bowl, Memorial Day—any occa-sion. Halloween is really big. Wed-ding season starts in April and goes into the summer, and, of course, there are birthdays throughout the year.”

Business has boomed in recent years with Cake Art’s updated web-site that allows customers to order online, according to John. “Over the years, we have had customers drive from cities outside the metropolitan Atlanta area and from other states. Now they can order online and have the products shipped to them,” he said.

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 18aeduCaTion

by Andrew [email protected]

Without the $5,000 scholarship he received May 6 from Emory Uni-versity, 17-year-old Tony Chang of Clarkston High School may have had to take out loans or dip into savings to continues his education.

“With education being so com-petitive and so difficult and with financing so hard to maintain and achieve, the scholarship really means a lot to me since I’m from an area where we’re pretty humble,” said Tony, who is planning to major in pre-med at Emory University. “There’s not a lot of upper middle class around here. Scholarships are very hard to find and very appreci-ated.

“It’s really great to see that the community is reaching out to chil-dren,” Tony said.

Tony was one of 24 students who received $65,000 in scholarships

during the second annual DeKalb County Education Scholarship Fund Awards Ceremony at the Por-ter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center. The students, who have been accepted to postsec-ondary institutions, received up to $5,000 in scholarships.

The event was sponsored by DeKalb County, in partnership with the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, the DeKalb County School District and City Schools of Decatur.

Scholarship sponsors included Wells Fargo, Gas South, Georgia Power, Mercer University, Selig En-terprises, Kroger, Georgia Pacific Foundation, Silverman Construc-tion Program Management, Kaiser Permanente, Piper Jaffray, Emory University, Oglethorpe Power Cor-poration and Publix Supermarket Charities.

“This award is a great example of public-private partnerships that benefit DeKalb’s youth,” said interim

DeKalb County CEO Lee May. “Students will have the opportunity to advance their education and fu-ture goals.

“Today is just one of the cul-minations of your hard work and dedication,” May told the seniors. “You are making decisions that will lead you to greatness or even to fail-ure sometimes. You recipients have made some very, very difficult deci-sions in your life. You have decided to work hard, do the right thing. You made the decision to apply for this scholarship.”

A selection committee formed by the DeKalb Chamber reviewed more than 90 applications. In addi-tion to Tony, scholarship recipients included: Abhijith Bathini, Cham-blee Charter High; Alexis Davis, Decatur High; Ashley Lauterbach, DeKalb School of the Arts; Azziza Robinson, DeKalb Early College Academy; Brianna Thompson, Arabia Mountain High; Brittanny

Thomas-Pearson, Stone Mountain High; Brittany Sears, Arabia Moun-tain High; Elahn Little, Clarkston High; Isabella Stork, DeKalb School of the Arts; Jade Zachery, Arabia Mountain High; Jazlyn Gri-er, Miller Grove High; Jorge San-doval, Clarkston High; Kim An Ta, Clarkston High; Krista Williams, Arabia Mountain High; Monique Boyd, Arabia Mountain High; Naud Bahdurai, DeKalb Early Col-lege Academy; Nicholas Collins, Stone Mountain High; Nicholas Rawls, McNair High; Saundra Lat-imer, Southwest DeKalb High; Thi Thong, Stone Mountain High; Tung Son Do, Druid Hills High; Victoria Bailey, Arabia Mountain High; and Vy Huynh, Stone Mountain High.

DeKalb County School District Superintendent Michael Thurmond said, “We are so very proud of you and just delighted with your accom-plishment. I know only great things await you.”

County, Chamber of Commerce dole out $65,000 in scholarships

Thurmond, Ross, Stone Mountain High senior Vy Huynh, John Gehring of Publix, and May.From left, DeKalb County School Superintendent Michael Thurmond, 2014 Education Scholarship Fund Chairwoman JaKathryn Ross, Chamblee Charter High senior Abhijith Bathini and interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May.

More than 20 students from DeKalb County School District and City Schools of Decatur received scholarships made possible by a collaboration by DeKalb County and the Chamber of Commerce. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

Stop bullying now stand up • speak out

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 19aeduCaTion

School board approves $450,000 summer reading programby Andrew [email protected]

Clifford the Big Red Dog showed up at the May 5 DeKalb school board meeting to sup-port a $450,000 summer reading program.

Clifford attended the school board meeting “to put a little pressure on all you, to approve this item,” said Morcease J. Beasley, executive director of curriculum, instruction, profes-sional learning and the district’s office of fed-eral programs, to school board members.

The Big Red Dog was joined by dozens of elementary school students from several DeKalb schools.

In an effort to eliminate summer learn-ing loss, the DeKalb County School District is planning a Title I K-5 Summer Reading Program. The program, which will include reading, math, science, and social studies in-structional opportunities, will be available for approximately 2,500 students at eight sites: Midway, Fairington, Smokerise, Cedar Grove, Dresden, Toney, Stoneview and Dunaire el-ementary schools.

The program is scheduled for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in June, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“They will get a good dose of reading from certified teachers—math, science and social studies—and they will have a lot of fun doing it,” Beasley said.

“This is the right kind of program we should be doing,” said school board member Marshall Orson.

The cost of the program will be up to $450,000 and the funds will “support the summer reading program, but not only the summer reading program, it also provides ac-cess to all of our K-5 students and all of our Title I students to online resources…for the entire year,” Beasley said.

School Superintendent Michael Thur-mond is authorized to spend another $100,000 or more to expand the program to more students.

School board member Joyce Morley said she is impressed that the program will include professional learning opportunities for teach-ers.

“So it’s a holistic approach, not just having a reading program over the summer,” Morley said. “I’m very pleased that this is taking place. We don’t have enough things going on so that there can be a continuation of learning from the time school ends to the time school starts back up again.”

Morley said the program is a crucial addi-tion to each of the selected schools.

“These schools are in need of programs for the summer,” Morley said. “They’re in need of enhancement. They’re in need of continuity and continuation over the summer. I’m very, very pleased to see that this is taking place.”

The reading program is in addition to vari-ous other summer programs being offered this year, Beasley said.

“Our kids are going to be very busy this summer,” he said.

“The lives that can be touched are not to be taken lightly,” said school board member Karen Carter.

Students and DeKalb County school board members gather for a photo before school board members approve a summer reading program. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

From left, students read new books and, right, school board Chairman Melvin Johnson and Superintendent Michael Thurmond meet Clifford, the Big Red Dog.

Students receive bags of books from school board member Jim McMahan, left, and Thurmond.


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The Marist and St. Pius boys’ track teams defended their state titles May 10 at the 2014 Georgia High School Association Boys State Track Meet in Jefferson.

Marist won the Class AAAA state title with a slim 67-66 victory over Carrollton High School. Redan finished third with 45 points.

Three gold medals led to Marist’s victory. Junior Ken-neth Brinson won gold in the discus throw with a throw of 179-04. Senior David Gilstrap finished first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.04 and senior Daniel Navarro won gold in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:23.08. Navarro also won silver in the 1,600-meter run.

Junior Chris McBride led Redan with a gold medal in the long jump (24-01.00), a silver in the triple jump (48-00.75) and a fourth-place finish in the 300 meter hurdles (39.63).

Senior Donald Daley contributed to Redan’s total with a silver in the discus (165-10.00) and a bronze in the shot put (54-06.25).

Chamblee tied for 20th behind a silver medal by Will West in the pole vault (12-06.00).

Class AAAThe St. Pius Golden Lions blew away the competition,

outscoring Cedar Grove 97-58 to win its second consecu-tive Class AAA state title.

The Golden Lions were led by Daniel Haugh, who won gold medals in the discus throw (194-07) and shot put (59-10.00). Austin Sprague also won two gold medals; one in the 1,600-meter run (4:18.24) and the 3,200-meter run (9:17.30). Andrew Anastasiades won silver in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:21.58.

Fred Dorsey also won a gold medal in the long jump with a jump of 23-08.50.

Cedar Grove’s 4x400 meter relay team gold medal led the Saints to a second place finish in the state meet. It was the team’s third gold medal in the event in four years.

Chance Baines (high jump) and Darius Freeman (200-meter dash) won silver medals for Cedar Grove and the 4x100 meter relay won a bronze medal with a time of 42.20.

Cross Keys’ Samuel McDade won bronze in the long jump (22-10.00) and the 400-meter dash (49.29) to lead the Indians to a 13th-place finish with 16 points.

Class AAAAAThe Stephenson Jaguars fell short of winning the Class

AAAAA state title with 46 points, 12 points shy of Mt. Zion, which won the title with 58 points.

The Jaguars were led by sophomore Denzel Harper, who won gold in the long jump (23-00.00) and silver in the 300-meter hurdles (38.80). Senior Cameron Glenn won bronze in the 300-meter hurdle with a time of 38.85.

The Lakeside Vikings finished in the Top 10 with 27 points to take sixth overall in the team standings. Senior William Johnson led the Vikings with a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash (10.50).

Arabia Mountain tied for 14th overall with 14 points. Senior Jonathan Jones led the Rams with a gold medal run in the 400-meter dash (48.11).

Marist, St. Pius repeat as track and fi eld champions

Senior Jonathan Jones led Arabia Mountain with a gold medal run in the 400-meter dash.

Cedar Grove’s Darius Freeman, left, fi nished second in the 200-meter dash.

Stephenson sophomore Denzel Harper, right, fi nished second in the 300-meter hurdles. He won a gold medal in the long jump.

Marist won its second consecutive Class AAAA state title with a one-point victory over runner-up Carrollton High School.

Marist, St. Pius repeat as track and fi eld champions


Newly formed Decatur Nighthawks baseball club off to successful startby Carla [email protected]

Just nine months after forming, the Decatur Night-hawks youth baseball travel team has a couple of tourna-ment wins under their belts and is getting better as the season goes.

The Decatur Nighthawks are a youth baseball team affiliated with United States Specialty Sports Association and currently play at the 9 and under AA level. The team formed in August 2013 out of the Medlock Park rec-reation league. Nighthawks manager Mike Reid said he and other coaches created the travel baseball team to take baseball to the next level for the players.

“We wanted the boys to have a richer baseball experi-ence,” Reid said.

The Nighthawks won their first tournament Sept. 22, 2013, at the Battle Royal Tournament, defeating the Sandy Plains Wildcats 9-7 to claim the tournament championship trophy. Their second tournament win came on April 27 in the Tough Out NIT tournament in Gainesville. The Nighthawks defeated the Mountain View Bears 15-8 in the champion-ship game.

Reid said it felt “very satis-fying” to win the Tough Out tournament.

“We put in a lot of work and to win the tournament validates that work,” he said.

The Nighthawks recently won the consolation bracket in the Champs Wear Rings NIT tournament, beating the Georgia Xtreme 16-9 in the final game.

Reid said the team had a

successful fall season and is doing well during the spring season. The team currently has a 9-4 record, according to USSSA.com.

“We started out well and we’re continuing to do well,” Reid said. “We’re getting stronger.”

The season ends for the Nighthawks at the end of June, and they take July off before preparing for the fall season. Reid said the team has high expectations for next season, including mov-ing up to the 10 and under level and continuing to get better as a team.

“I think teams at this point, when they see they’re playing the Decatur Night-hawks I think teams recog-nize that we’re a successful team,” he said.”

M.L. King hires new football coachby Carla [email protected]

Nicolas Kashama has been hired as the new head coach for the Martin Luther King Jr. High football

team.Kashama will replace Cor-

tez Allen, who resigned last month after one season with the Lions. Allen left for Wood-land High School in Henry County to be the defensive coordinator for head coach Steve Davenport. Allen said his move to Woodland was a family decision.

“It’s a good opportunity for me and my family to be closer to my home [in Stockbridge],” Allen said. “It’s just a better fit

for me.”Kashama returns to M.L. King after spending a

year at Georgia Prep Sports Academy with former M.L. King head coach Michael Carson. Kashama was the defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2012 under Carson and Rober Freeman.

Kashama, 36, will be M.L. King’s fourth head coach in four seasons. Kashama said he felt like he needed to come back to the program to help rebuild it.

“When I was there, I felt we accomplished a lot,” Kashama said. “It’s a lot of unfinished business as far as the coaching staff that was there with me.”

Kashama, a native of Congo and one of seven children, played high school football in Toronto. He played college football at the University of Connecti-cut, then signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns. He later played four seasons in the Canadian Football League.

After suffering an injury, he got into coaching. He began his coaching career at Avondale High School in 2007 under Carson and moved to M.L. King with Carson in 2010. Kashama said he met with the players May 6 and told them the primary goal of the coaching staff is to get to the Georgia Dome to play for a state title.

“We’re aiming high and getting the kids to be-lieve it because we have all the tools available for us,” Kashama said. “That one ingredient we’re missing is discipline. [Discipline] needs to be implemented con-sistently and that’s something that I bring to the table.”

Kashama said he could see that the players were eager to see what changes will be made within the program.

“They’re excited that the [old] staff is coming back to MLK because they understand what we did and the experience that we bring,” he said. “They’re excited.”

Kashama said the team will play a similar style of-fense and defense as they did under Carson, but will be more up-tempo.

“We’ll have more of a spread offense where we’ll utilize all of our receivers,” he said. “It’s going to be more balance with passing and running the ball. We’ll have a high attack defense as well.”

M.L. King, which was region champion in 2012, finished fourth in the region last season with a 6-3 record. With the Lions having a tradition of winning region championship, Kashama said it is important for the program to get back to the top of the region and go all the way to a state championship.

“We have enough talent to perform and dominate any team, but we have to take it game by game,” he said.

The Decatur Nighthawks travel baseball team was champion of the Tough Out National Invitational Tournament.

Kashama


Decatur Bulldogs

Baseball, tennis, volleyball athletes sign scholarshipsby Carla [email protected]

Southwest DeKalb High School’s athletic department celebrated four of its athletes May 7 as they signed athletic scholarships to their respec-tive schools.

Ayauna Ellis signed a volleyball scholarship to Fort Valley State Uni-versity; Kaylin Roman signed a ten-nis scholarship to Johnson C. Smith University;

and Jason Davis signed a base-ball scholarship to Morehouse Col-lege while his teammate Kelvin Wimbish signed with Albany State.

Ellis, who received a scholar-ship worth $7,000 per year, said she would not have gotten this far with-

out God and her parents. “I’m very grateful, and I would

like to thank everyone for their sup-port,” Ellis said.

The 5-foot-9 middle blocker finished last season with 49 blocks, averaging 2.0 blocks per game. El-lis said Fort Valley will be getting a hard worker and dedicated player.

“I’m looking forward to making a new record at Fort Valley State University,” she said.

Roman received a $12,000 per year athletic scholarship and an academic scholarship worth $8,000. She chose Johnson C. Smith over Savannah State University, Stillman College and Benedict College.

Roman finished her senior sea-son as the No. 7 ranked singles

player in DeKalb with a 6-1 record in No. 1 singles and a 1-0 record in No. 2 singles.

Wimbish, who selected Albany State over Tuskegee University and Vorhees College, is heading to Albany State on a $3,000 per year scholarship. The pitcher, who also plays shortstop and second base, was selected for the All-DeKalb first team this season. He finished his senior year with a .365 batting aver-age and 31 RBIs.

Davis, who has a 3.88 GPA, re-ceived an Oprah Winfrey Scholar-ship worth $36,000 per year.

“It feels great to sign with More-house,” he said. “I don’t have the burden of my parents having to pay for college.”

Davis chose Morehouse over Savannah State, Paine College and Brevard College.

Davis, a pitcher and outfielder, was selected for the All-County Defensive Team this season. He fin-ished his senior season with a .456 batting average, 10 RBIs and 1 home run.

Davis said he looking forward to helping Morehouse succeed in baseball.

“I get to start something great at Morehouse,” Davis said. “I have sev-eral friends going there as well, and we have a chance to do something great and start something at More-house and put them on the map for baseball.”

Kelvin Wimbish signs his letter of intent to play baseball at Albany State while his teammate Jason Davis (left) signs his letter of intent to Morehouse.

From left to right, baseball player Kelvin Wimbish signed with Albany State, Ayauna Ellis received a volleyball scholarship to Fort Valley State, Kaylin Roman received a tennis scholarship to Johnson C. Smith and Jason Davis is heading to Morehouse to play baseball.

The Champion Free press, Friday, may 16, 2014 page 24alocal news

freepress 05-16-14

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