WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM • FRIDAY,
OCT. 5
, 2012 • VOL. 15, NO. 28 •FREE
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Avondale Estates shopboasts a bit of the bizarre
by Daniel Beauregarddaniel@dekalbchamp.comFor
Merrick Mixson
, one man’s trashis another one’s treasure, no matter how old,strange or weird it is.Mixson, owner of The Odd’s End curiosityshop in Avondale Estates, has had an obsessionwith the macabre since an early age—he attri- butes it to his mother and the time she and hisfather took him to see a horror movie when hewas 4 years old.“The first movie I saw was
2,000 Maniacs
in the back of my old man’s convertible—mymom was a horror nut and she got me into it. Isaw it at the drive-in back in Charleston, whereI’m from,” Mixson said.When he was younger, his mother soldadvertising for five newspapers and knew theowner of the only movie theater in town wellenough to strike up a deal with him.“She understood my love for horror moviesand told the guy, ‘Look my son is a horror buff and he loves the posters,’ and from then onthe guy gave me all the horror movie posters,”Mixson said.Mixson’s shop, lined with cases of oldmedical tools and taxidermied animals, islikely to give some people chills, which he saidis one of his favorite parts of the job. Whenhe got older Mixson toured with his hardcore punk rock band for several years before set-tling down. Once he did settle down, Mixsonsaid he began collecting as much as he could.Eventually, Mixson opened a shop andoperated in the East Atlanta Village for ap- proximately a year and a half before moving itto its current location in a Victorian house inAvondale Estates, located off College Avenue.“When I told my wife, ‘I’m going to openup a shop and take all my stuff and put it in it,’she said, ‘Thank God.’ She said she was sick of living in the Addams house,” Mixson said.Mixson said his wife, who he’s been withfor 24 years and married to for eight, collectsthings as well.“She collects stuff but just not as much asI do, and with a different leaning. I’ve still gotstrange paintings and stuff around the houseand I’ve got my collection in the den, which isstuff I get from here,” Mixson said.According to Mixson, the house where the
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Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
See Odd on Page 13ASee Tricoli on Page 13A
Audit:
Inaccurate budget data provided toformer GPC president
This article is the second of a series looking into the riseand fall of former Georgia Perimeter College president Anthony Tricoli.
by Andrew Cauthenandrew@dekalbchamp.com
F
ormer Georgia Perime-ter College (GPC) Pres-ident
Anthony
Tricoli
was not given “timely and
reliable nancial informa-
tion” during the years that led
to an “unprecedented scal
shortfall” at the institution.That’s part of the conclu-sion of an audit by the Uni-versity System of Georgia(USG), released Sept. 17.“The internal reports produced by the budget direc-tor did not suggest that any
signicant budget issues ex-
isted,” the audit stated.On May 7,
USG Chancellor
Henry
Huckaby
an-nounced via email to GPC employees that a $16 million budget shortfall had been discovered at the college andthat “in light of the need for a fresh approach,” Tricoli’ssix years at the helm of the college had ended.
GPC’s former scal leadership team relied on inaccu-
rate spreadsheets that did not correspond to the college’sgeneral ledger, according to the audit. Additionally, “itappears that members of GPC’s cabinet, to include theformer president, and both the president’s council and thestrategic budget committee, were provided incompleteand inaccurate budget presentations” made at variousgroup meetings by
Ron
Carruth
, former executive
vice president of nancial and administrative affairs andchief business ofcer (CBO), and former budget director
Mark
Gerspacher
.Tricoli told
The Champion
he was never informed“that we were spending down our reserves or that our budget was going in the red.”“In fact, the information…presented to me was verymisleading,” Tricoli said. “The information…never showed us dipping into our reserves and never showedus headed to the red or never showed us headed toward a budget problem.”However, the audit concluded that Tricoli “did not
perform the necessary nancial due diligence associated
with his responsibilities as institution head.”
Responsibility “rests with the president”
While responsibility for GPC’s management “restswith the president,” the audit states that the president
must rely on the college’s chief business ofcer and theCBO’s staff in the execution of his duciary duty.
At GPC, the budget director reported to the assistant
vice president for nancial and administrative affairs,
Merrick Mixson, owner of The Odd's End, opened the shop several years ago to store all of his collectiblesbecause he began to run out of room at his house. The shop recently moved to Avondale Estates from theEast Atlanta Village. Photo by Daniel BeauregardTricoli
The Champion Free Press, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 Page 2A
Local News
Commissioners authorizeDA to handle codeenforcement cases
Kirkwood community hostsanother successful wine stroll
by Andrew Cauthenandrew@dekalbchamp.comDeKalb residents plagued by code enforcement viola-tors have a new advocate: theDeKalb County District At-
torney’s Ofce.
“We will be the advocatefor the county,” said DeKalbCounty District Attorney
Robert
James
, after a voteof approval by the county’sBoard of Commissioners.“Heretofore, the county hasnot had an advocate on a reg-ular basis in Recorder’s Courtadvocating for the citizens of this county.”The commissioners’ voteauthorizes the District Attor-
ney’s Ofce to represent the
county in prosecuting codeenforcement cases in Record-er’s Court.“Most citizens will never deal with a murder, with anaggravated assault, with arape, with an armed rob- bery. However, if you live ina community, what’s mostimportant to you right now isyour quality of life,” Jamessaid.“Did you buy a $350,000house with your life savingsand your neighbor has 4-footgrass or a car parked on thefront lawn? And even if it’snot that expensive, even if it’sa $150,000 house, that’s a lotto you,” he said. “You wantto make sure you propertyvalue is preserved [and] your quality of life is preserved.“If the county doesn’t stepin and do something aboutit, you’re losing because of our inaction. So, we plan toact,” James said. “The countyneeds someone safeguardingthe quality of life and publicsafety in their neighborhoods,not just with state law butalso with county ordinances.”
The DA’s Ofce will be in
a position to address problemareas in an attempt to keepneighborhoods from spiralingdownward, he said.“I believe in the brokenwindows theory,” James said.“It starts with abandonedhomes, with blighted com-munities and all of a suddenyou have an area that was anice, safe middle class com-munity that turns into an areawhere you have quality of life crimes—your pimping,your pandering, your prosti-tution. It grows from that tovery serious crimes.”James said that’s whathappened on MemorialDrive.“It started out being a blighted area with busi-nesses leaving, numerouscode infractions,” James said.“There wasn’t an aggressiveapproach back then imme-diately and all of a sudden itattracted a different element. Now you have an area that’scrime central in DeKalb— certain parts of MemorialDrive.“I believe you can stopit before it starts when youaddress quality of violationsand that’s code enforcement,”he said.James told commissionersthat the new initiative wouldnot cost the county any addi-tional money.“We’re not asking for anymoney,” James said. “Theonly way we would ask for more money is if it gets to the point that it’s overwhelming.It’s a journey that we’ve notembarked on yet.”
James said his ofce has
an idea of the expected work-load and has put personnel in place to handle that amount.“If three or four yearsfrom now, all of a sudden, itgoes up, and we’ve got hun-dreds and hundreds and hun-dreds of cases, I can envisiona scenario where we may”need more resources, Jamessaid.Assistant district attorneys
have been handling trafc
court cases at Recorder’sCourt since early 2011 after the Board of Commissionersappointed the district attorney
as the ofcial prosecutor for
the court.James said the transitionto working code enforcementcases will not be immediate, but may take approximately amonth.“The biggest hurdle is thetraining, making sure that thelawyer we have over there…is familiar with the codes thesame way he or she is famil-iar with state law. As soon aswe can accomplish that, wecan get started,” James said.
James said his ofce’s
work in code enforcementcases is “only half of theequation.” It will be a cooper-ative effort with the county’s
code compliance ofcers who
are on the front lines of codeenforcement, he said.
by Kathy Mitchellkathy@dekalbchamp.comHundreds of folks fromKirkwood and nearby com-munities made their waythrough the streets of Kirk-wood for three hours the eve-ning of Sept. 28 to mingle,acquaint themselves with awide variety of shops, res-taurants and other businessesand to sample wines from allover the world.The event was the sixthannual Kirkwood WineStroll, a fundraiser that alsois an opportunity for peopleto sneak a peek at businessesthat are making the newlyrevitalized community a pop-ular place to shop and dine.Established in the late19th century, Kirkwood takesits name from two prominentlocal family names—Kirk- patrick and Dunwoody. Thehistoric community actuallyis part of east Atlanta that islocated entirely in DeKalbCounty. Approximately 10years ago, a revitalization ef-fort was started that includeda $1.5 million streetscape project, zoning changes andother initiatives to encouragecommercial development.The Kirkwood BusinessOwners Association, foundedin 2008 to promote growth,
stability and protability of
the Kirkwood business dis-trict, is now the presentingsponsor of the wine stroll.The fundraiser supports suchcommunity efforts as install-ing signage and maintaininglandscaping as well as fund-ing community events and providing scholarships, ac-cording to
Emily Wimbush
, president of the KirkwoodBusiness Owner’s Associa-tion.The event has been a sell-out each year and has grownfrom approximately 250
ticketholders the rst year to
an estimated 700 this year.For $25—$30 the day of theevent—participants receive asmall glass, a wristband anda booklet with a listing andmap of pouring stations. At businesses, including a drycleaner, a carwash, a paint
store and a real estate ofce,
they can sample wines fromChile, Italy, Spain, Argen-tina, Greece, South Africa,California and other places.This year, 21 Kirkwood busi-nesses participated.The booklet gives a brief description of each hosting business and lists the winesit will be pouring. Busi-nesses that don’t operate outof a retail space serve fromtents. Wimbush, who ownsAugusta Designs, which sells jewelry and other items, ex- plained that businesses thatdon’t have alcohol licensescan nonetheless serve wine atthe event because the associ-ation secures a special permitfrom the city of Atlanta.The permit has strict rulesabout alcohol consumption.For example, the wine canonly be served in one-ouncetastings and glasses must becompletely empty as tasterswalk through the streets.Wimbush said that with21 pouring stations servingone ounce of two wines, ared and a white, a persontasting every wine beingoffered could consume theequivalent of more than a bottle and a half of wine.“We’ve never had a prob-lem, but we urge people to be responsible. The pouringstations also serve snacksand the hospitality hosts havefood and non-alcoholic bev-erages available,” she said.“They also are happy to calla taxi for anyone who needsone.“Not everybody whocomes to the Kirkwood WineStroll drinks,” Wimbush said.“Some just come to social-ize.”She said the association isconsidering expanding morefor future wine strolls with perhaps more vendors fromoutside the community andlive music and other enter-tainment.
Kirkwood Business Owners Association PresidentEmily Wimbush said the Kirkwood Wine Stroll drawsbigger crowds every year. Photos by Kathy Mitchell
Page 3A The Champion Free Press, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012
Eighth annual SkaterAiddraws some 250 participants
neWs Briefs
SkaterAid, an event featur-ing skateboarding, art andmusic, is a celebration of thelife of Ian Wochatz, a Decatur teen and skateboarder who diedon July 4, 2005. Started by De-catur resident Patrice Eastham,a friend to the Wochatz family,SkaterAid also is a fundraiser tohelp families affected by braintumors.Wochatz “was a big skate-boarding kid around Decatur,”Eastham said. “We thought askateboarding festival wouldbe a great way” to honor him.Much of the funds raised by thefestival come from the sale onart of old skateboard decks.
Proceeds from the first
festival went to the Wochatzfamily. In 2006, the funds wentto the RET Foundation in honor of RET Thomas. Since 2007 theBrain Tumor Foundation for Children, which pays families’bills while their children arein the hospital, has been therecipient of the monies raised.Approximately 250 competi-tors participated in this year’sSkaterAid festival, held Sept. 30at East Decatur Station in Deca-tur. Photos by Nicole Davis
Stone Mountain mansentence to life for sex
trafcking ring
The operator of an Atlan-
ta sex trafcking ring who
committed violent sexualacts against his victims wassentenced to life in prisonSept. 19.
Soloman ManassehMustafa
, 38, of StoneMountain, was convicted onJuly 18, after an eight-day
jury trial of sex trafcking,
kidnapping, transportingwomen across state linesfor prostitution, documentservitude and enticement of a minor for sexual activity.His co-defendant,
KalandraAnnette Wallace
, 25, of Jonesboro, pleaded guiltyon Oct. 11, 2011, and was
sentenced to ve years in
federal prison.Mustafa bound his vic-tim’s with duct tape, took
their identication and com-
mitted other atrocities inorder to hold them captive,according to the Federal Bu-reau of Investigation.“This defendant brutallyassaulted young womenand forced them into acts of prostitution in three states,”said U.S. Attorney
Sally
Quillian
Yates
. “Many of the victims were beaten,raped, handcuffed andforced to snort cocaine bythe defendant and his co-conspirator.Mustafa’s “sentencedemonstrates that sex traf-
ckers will pay a heavy
price for victimizing youngwomen,” Yates said.
Ricky
Maxwell
, actingspecial agent in charge of
the FBI Atlanta Field Ofce,
said, the sentence “removesa violent predator from thestreets and prevents himfrom harming and exploitingothers.”According to the indict-ment and evidence presentedduring trial, Mustafa and co-defendant Wallace recruitedand enticed young womenvia advertisements on Inter-net sites such as Craigslist.com and Backpage.com,luring them into prostitutionin the Atlanta metropolitanarea.Once Mustafa and Wal-lace began working withthe women, however, they physically assaulted manyof the victims, preventedthem from leaving hotels or apartments, and forced themto engage in commercial sexacts.
Solicitor to holddomestic violencesymposium
In observance of Domes-tic Violence Month
,
DeKalbCounty Solicitor General
Sherry
Boston
will host“Building Bridges, MakingConnections: Coordinatinga Community Response toDomestic Violence.”The community sym- posium will feature theBeverly Cunningham Out-reach Program (BCOP) is aspecially invited community partner for the event.Attendees of the sympo-sium will receive informa-tion about how law enforce-ment and social serviceagencies can work together to respond to domesticviolence in DeKalb County.BCOP will be available toanswer questions and pro-vide materials on domesticviolence prevention andcounseling.The symposium takes place Oct. 12, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Manuel Maloof Auditorium, located at 1300Commerce Drive, Decatur.This event is free to the public, with a complimenta-ry breakfast served at 8 a.m.
County jail lobby no
longer open 24/7
The lobby of theDeKalb County Jail is nolonger open 24 hours a dayafter a scheduling changeSept. 29, according toan announcement by theDeKalb County Sheriff’s
Ofce.
According to the newschedule, the jail will close between midnight and 7a.m. daily. This change willnot affect the inmate release process; however bondsfrom bonding companiesand the public will not beaccepted during these hours.Visitors will no longer beallowed to wait on releasedinmates in the lobby after midnight.“This change comesin an effort to maintain
scal responsibility by
cutting operating hoursthereby reducing theneed for overtime,” theannouncement stated.
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