Free Press 4-20-12

Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker
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WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 VOL. 15, NO. 4 FREE
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Family tradition
HYIS SHE HAPPY ?

by Robert Naddra robert@dekalbchamp.com
Thomas Medlock, 87, seated, and his family attended the 50th anniversary of Medlock Park on April 13. Photos by Robert Naddra
Medlock Park and baseball help bond Decatur community
WHYIS SHE WHYIS SHE SO SO HAPPY ? HAPPY ?
our generations of Medlocks sat a picnic table celebrating the evolution of the park that bears their name. Hundreds of residents joined the Medlocks on April 13 at Medlock Park in Decatur to recognize the 50th anniversary of the park and of the Druid Hills Youth Sports association, which began in 1962 as Briarcliff Community Sports. The event, which also served as the opening ceremony for the associations youth baseball season, brought out past presidents, players and coaches as well as more than a dozen members of the Medlock family. What you have done
ews updates online from the The Champion.
to honor my great-grandfa- ily that provided nearby we had, said Phil Murff, they felt so tied in to Brither is tremendous, Wade Mason Mill Park and the who served as president of arcliff Community Sports. Medlock told the crowd. family of his second wife, BCS in 1988-89. My circle of friends I have It honors us greatly by in- Susan Kittredge, provided Luis Planas, who betoday are friends I met at viting us to this event. the land for Kittredge Park. gan his association with the ballpark 30 years ago. Wade Medlock is the Medlock Park was built BCS as a coach in 1982, The importance of nephew of 87-year-old in February 1960 and was became its president from those who helped build Decatur resident Thomas originally used for base1984-85. the program into what Medlock, the only living ball, football and softball. Back then there were it is now is noticeable grandson of William There is no longer a youth a lot of well-known famiaround Medlock Park. Jim Parks Buck Medlock, football league in the park, lies who participated, McAulliffe, who was assowho purchased in 1882 the but baseball and softball Planas said. The Maloofs ciation president in 1993, land that is now the park. still thrive. and the McDevitts all remembers the effect the This was Peachtree Briarcliff Community started here. There was umpires had on the league. Creek bottomland. It used Sports formed in 1962, and a tremendous amount of One of the baseball to be all orchards and farm- Druid Hills Youth Sports pride among all the famields is named for Jim land, Wade Medlock said. formed in 1990 when BCS lies who belonged to the Big Pop Cobb, a former Much of the area merged with North Decatur organization. umpire who attended the around the park has ties Youth Sports. Planas said he particuceremony. There also is a to the Medlock family. Ron Blomberg, who larly remembers the cama- memorial for former umWillivee Drive, which played at BCS in the raderie between the presipire Hank Burdette. runs adjacent to the park, 1960s, is the groups most dents of the association. They worked very is named for Bucks rst famous alumnus. BlomMany of the past hard at helping the kids, daughterBecause she gets her news updates online from the The Champion. Because she gets her news updates online from the They William Vilenah, berg went on to play for presidents offered to come McAuliffe said. The Champion. Because she gets the New York online from The Champion. known as Miss Willie. her news updatesYankees. theout and help any way they took time to teach them And I Also, Bucks rst wife He came to a couple of could, Planas said. you can too! Follow us.and they about baseball was a member of the famthe opening day events that thought it was special that were friends to the kids. www.facebook.com/championnewspaper
WHYIS SHE SO HAPPY ?
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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012
Grand jury considering Andrea Sneidermans role in husbands killing

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com Nearly a month after a jury found Hemy Neuman guilty but mentally ill in the November 2010 killing of Russell Rusty Sneiderman, a grand jury has subpoenaed the video testimony of Sneidermans widow. Andrea Sneiderman allegedly had an affair with Neuman while the two worked at GE Energy. Neuman was sentenced to life without parole for the Dunwoody killing. The question of Andrea Sneidermans possible role in her husbands death is the 1,000-pound pink gorilla in the corner, said DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James during a news conference following the March 15 sentencing. Its something that we have under review right now, James told reporters. Stay tuned. Steve Sneiderman, Rustys brother, said that his family suspected that Andrea Sneiderman had a part in his Bernstein said one of the charges prosecutors may be considering is perjury. Perjury requires that you knowingly and willingly make a false statement that is material to the issue or point in question, Bernstein said. Sometimes people can say something false in court, but its not material to the case. There could be some falsehoods that [Sneiderman] said that are perjury that may not be prosecutable. The other magic thing that you really dont know is if someone else steps forward who has information because of the trial, Bernstein said. That could take it in a whole other direction. Bernstein said it is possible that prosecutors will not have enough evidence to bring charges against Sneiderman. They may not have enough now or they may not ever have enough, or a witness may pop up out of nowhere with some information or a tape, Bernstein said. Its one big mystery were all waiting to see.
Andrea Sneiderman
brothers death. Andrea is covered in Rustys blood and there are not enough rabbis in the world to wash away those stains, Steve Sneiderman said last month. In a post-trial news conference, Doug Peters, one of Neumans attorneys, said, The entire truth in this case has not been presented. Mr. Neuman was ill and manipulated by Andrea
Sneiderman, Peters said. We are very hopeful that all of the evidence regarding her responsibility for the death of Rusty Sneiderman will also be presented in court on another day at another time. Atlanta attorney BJ Bernstein said the grand jury subpoena means prosecutors are obviously looking at whether theres anything to be done. And theyre clearly going slow enough to figure out
whats there, Bernstein said. Prosecutors could use court transcripts but the trial was lengthy and transcripts take a while to produce, Bernstein said. The video is just a quicker way of getting exactly what [Andrea Sneiderman] said, Bernstein said. More than just the words, her manner of testifying gave an impression that [prosecutors] would want to capture by having that film.
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Board of Commissioners committees get airtime on a dime, for now

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com When the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners could not get additional airtime earlier this year on DCTV, the countys television network, one commissioner took matters into her own hands. And BOCTV, an online site with streaming and ondemand video of commissioners committee meetings, was born. Commissioner Elaine Boyer said BOCTV resulted from one of those harebrained ideas I got. I thought it would be a great idea to tape our committee meetings, she said. I want the public to see us working and asking the hard questions. I think it would be very useful for the community to see these decisions, Boyer said. They dont really hear that were asking these questions and that were really trying to press for [answers]. Boyer said the recordings provide additional transparency for residents who are unable to go to a committee meeting during the workday. People get very frustrated with us because they cant come during the day, Boyer said. And we cant really have meetings at night like this because of the staff. Now, residents can view online various Board of Commissioners committee meetings where the real work is done, said Commissioner Lee May. Residents can hear the real questions and the answers, whether they are good or bad answers, Lee said. Viola Davis, of the group, Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter, said, There is nothing more transparent than televising these committee meetings. If I had to choose between going to the Board of Commissioners meeting and the committee meetings, I would go to the committee meeting, because that is where the decision is made, Davis told commissioners
Bob Lundsten, chief of staff for Commissioner Elaine Boyer, records and uploads Board of Commissioners committee meetings for BOCTV, the boards way of increasing its transparency. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
during a committee meeting. The idea for BOCTV came after DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis administration denied repeated requests to cover the boards February budget process. The administration stated that producing a 13-hour, two-day finance committee meeting would take 56 hours to prepare the footage for airing and DCTVs entire four-person fulltime staff would be tied up for two days. This would adversely affect the stations ongoing operations and duties, stated Diamond Lewis, director of the CEOs Office of Cable Operations, in a January memo. Commissioners complained at the time that Ellis State of the County address was airing 60 times a week on DCTV. Weve been given all these parameters and limitations by DCTV, Boyer said. BOCTV is located at www.dekalbboc.com, where the agendas for the various committee meetings are available with the embedded videos. Each agenda item
has a time reference to make the site more user-friendly, said Bob Lundsten, Boyers chief of staff. At $375paid out of Boyers budgetfor equipment and $10 for a domain name, the cost for BOCTV is minimal, Lundsten said. We did this on the cheap, said Lundsten, who records the videos and maintains the blog site. Its not a website. Theres no webmaster. Its a blog site. Since the site is free, there are some commercials on it. You can pay $500 a month to get rid of all the commercials, Lundsten said. Were not doing that. The 15-second Toyota commercial is worth it. Lundsten said BOCTV is not intended to replace DCTV or to give individual commissioners airtime. This isnt about face time and mugging for the TV, Lundsten said. This is a committee meeting. There are no close-ups. Theres no commentary. Simply, its out there. Its about accuracy of information, said Com-
missioner Sharon Barnes Sutton. People can see [for] themselves what was reported, what was done, the information that is actually brought and the level of cooperation that we get from the administration. Some commissioners have big plans for BOCTV. The boards county operations and police services committee approved Boyers plan to move $75,000 from DCTV to the budget of the Board of Commissioners. May said commissioners have two options for expanding BOCTV. One idea is to hire a staff person to record and broadcast all of the boards committee meetings and provide more social networking to put out more of the work that were doing, May said. The other idea is to hire a college or university with a mass communications program. May said commissioners could also use the funding to hire someone who can help us with media and getting our message out. Commissioner Kathie
Gannon, during a committee meeting on April 10, said she supports the idea of televising the committee meetings, but has a problem with the proposed $75,000 price tag. I just dont know that we need to take taxpayer dollars$75,000to hire someone when DCTV can film them and put them on-demand so that people can watch them and look at them anytime. Gannon said the county needs to focus on developing a policy for DCTV. There are a myriad of events and topics that should beavailable on DCTV, Gannon said. Animal control issues, voter registration procedures and volunteering opportunities are some of the topics that could be covered on DCTV, Gannon said. Nobody is talking about that. Were just talking about how to increase our time on DCTV. We really need to talk about DCTVwhat theyre doing, what theyre not doing, what they could be doing, Gannon said.
Hoods in the hood

ears of police in our neighborhoods. We have to report suspicious activity. We have to form neighborhood watches. Case in point, a new neighborhood watch is being formed in the 30058 ZIP code in Lithonia. The organizer doesnt mind her name being used because she is fed up and fighting back against the hoods in her neighborhood. You see, Brenda Mitchells home has been invaded twice. She is an early senior who lives alone and doesnt plan to leave her home of 10 years. Last month thugs threw a huge cinder block through her sliding glass door with her inside! She managed to dial 911 before a clay pot was hurled at her knocking her glasses off and injuring the arm she threw up instinctively for protection. As she ran to the back door, a young thug in a hoodie grabbed her purse and ran out the front door he had smashed in. Brenda thanks God her injuries were minor. While still shaken and frightened another emotion has kicked inanger. She is organizing a neighborhood watch to help prevent her nightmare from happening again to her or to one of her neighbors. Thats what has to happen. Turn the anger and fear into resolve. We have to help police police our neighborhoods and our businesses. Speaking of businesses, we are fortunate in DeKalb that Solicitor General Sherry Boston is initiating a Business Watch program similar to the Neighborhood Watch. She has teamed with Police Chief William OBrien and Commissioner Larry Johnson in holding a series of meetings with business owners to discuss their public safety concerns and show them how to form a Business Watch Program. The first meeting was held in the Candler Road corridor this week. Another is planned for August in the Wesley Chapel corridor and in December for the Moreland corridor. In her first year in office last year, Boston hired the countys first full-time community prosecutor. That individual works with neighborhood residents, community organizations, service providers, the faith community and police to identify public safety problems and promote solutions so that we can enjoy a better quality of life. The solicitor generals Community Prosecution Program is not designed to be a quick fix but to provide long-term solutions to quality of life issues including graffiti, vandalism, trespassing, disorderly conduct, drug solicitation, prostitution and aggressive panhandling. It is a partnership between the community, police and prosecutorswhich is laudable. We should educate and cooperate, then prosecute, fine and jail if necessary. Hoods in the hood, beware! Steen Miles, The Newslady, is a retired journalist and former Georgia state senator. Contact Steen Milies at Steen@dekalbchamp.com.
Opinion The Newslady
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If we in DeKalb County want high-end businesses and restaurants to locate here, we must first do something about crime and how we look. Thanks to a dedicated and determined Code Enforcement Task Force, the CEO, the commission and Recorders Court, we are beginning to see movement on improving our curbside appeal. Now to crime. Our hardworking police officers are doing their best to combat crime in our neighborhoods. But in order to make our communities safe, it is going to take that same dedicated and determined citizen involvement to make it happen. Weve got to be the eyes and
Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Would you support reducing the school year by one full week? I hope not! Unfortunately, all three calendar proposals on the DeKalb County School District website include an early release day each Wednesday, thereby reducing instruction by 38 hours thats approximately six days worth of school! I cannot find any research to indicate that reducing instructional time to provide teachers with one additional hour of weekly planning time improves student achievement. Unfortunately, according to statistics published by the U.S. Department of Education, our elementary school day is 22 minutes shorter than the national average. If this proposal is adopted, our children will get 34 minutes less instruction per day than the national average. Taking children out of the classroom will not improve student achievement! Please join me in urging the Board of Education to protect class time as a non-negotiable priority. Carl Nicpon
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Really? Mr. President?

The Harvard Law Review to be a bit more familiar with the enumerated powers in the Constitution separating our three branches of government. In the presidential election of 1800, Federalist candidate and incumbent President John Adams lost to his longtime friend and rival, Democratic-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson. Yes, you read that second party name correctly. Just one day prior to the end of his term and Jeffersons swearing in on March 4, 1801, President Adams attempted to pack and stack the young U.S. Judiciary with 16 Federalist Circuit judges and 42 Federalist justices of the peace, all offices created by the Judiciary Act of 1801. The following day, still prior to Jefferson being sworn in, the still Federalist controlled Senate affirmed those appointments. However to actually go into effect, the commissions had to be delivered by hand to the appointed. That duty fell to John Marshall, newly appointed chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, then still serving as actingsecretary of state at President Adams personal request. Though delivery of these appointments was considered routine, and Marshall ably delivered the majority, he was unable to fully complete his task prior to the end of Adams term in office. He assumed that the remaining appointments would be delivered by incoming secretary of state, Democratic-Republican James Madison. President Jefferson instead ordered Madison not to deliver the remaining appointments. In Jeffersons view, if the undelivered commissions were not delivered in a timely fashion...the appointments became null and void. The new Democratically controlled Congress then reversed the Judiciary Act of 1801, with its own new Judiciary Act of 1802, un-creating many of those same judicial posts. Among those who had never received his commission was William Marbury, a Federalist, Maryland financier and strong supporter of Adams, who appealed for his legally appointed commission directly to the Supreme Court. Justice Marshall and the Supreme Court later ruled that Marbury was entitled to his legally appointed commission, but also that the Supreme Court had no authority to compel Secretary of State Madison to deliver it. The precedent established, since referred to as Judicial Review, gave the Supreme Court, and by extension later State Supreme Courts, the authority to review and determine the constitutionality of conflicts in law. Marshall also cited the oath made by Supreme Court justices to uphold the Constitution in his decision, Marbury vs. Madison in 1803. During his State of the Union Address in 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton (coincidence?) asked the Republican-controlled Congress to give him the line-item veto to strengthen the hand of the executive branch in the budgeting process to weed out waste and Congressional pork-barrel spending. The line-item veto had been a GOP platform plank since the Reagan years, and was a power already held by 43 governors. The GOP Congress gave Clinton the authority, and Clinton exercised it 82 times in 11 Congressional spending bills. Then in 1998, New York City and its Republican Mayor Rudolph Guiliani challenged the constitutionality of the line-item veto, as related to the powers enumerated in the Constitutions Presentment Clause for the executive, legislative and judicial branches. In a 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court on June 25, 1998, in Clinton vs. City of New York, the justices ruled that the line-item veto was in fact not constitutional, and out it went. Meantime I will offer my copy of Constitutional Law for Dummies to the White House lending library, and end my column this week by asking where are the Democratic-Republicans when we really need them? Mr. Jefferson? Mr. Madison? Anyone? Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Champion, Champion 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 billcrane@earthlink.net.
Opinion One Mans Opinion
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I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress, recently said President Barack Obama regarding Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010. The 2,700-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), passed the U.S. House on March 21, 2010 by a vote of 219-212 (with 34 Democrats and all 178 Republicans in opposition). On Christmas Eve, 2009, by a vote of 60-39 the Senate passed its version. The president signed the bill into law two days after the House vote on March 23, 2010. President Obama is not the first occupant of the White House to have a memory tinged by rose-colored glasses, but its hard to imagine defining a seven-vote margin in a body of 435 as a strong majority. And one might expect a president who previously served as president of
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Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send E-Mail to Kathy@dekalbchamp.com FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779 Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior to publication date. EDITORS NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contributing editors do not necessarily reect the opinions of the editor or publishers. The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time. The Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.
Publisher: Dr. Earl D. Glenn Managing Editor: Kathy Mitchell News Editor: Robert Naddra Production Manager: Kemesha Hunt Graphic Designer: Travis Hudgons The Champion Free Press is published each Friday by ACE III Communications, Inc., 114 New Street, Suite E, Decatur, GA. 30030 Phone (404) 373-7779.
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We 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.
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Opinion
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Breathing while Black

Strip searches are now legal after arrests for violating leash laws or riding a bicycle without an audible bell.
to do with his race. Well never know what actually happened that February night in Sanford, Fla. We have the version of the shooter, George Zimmerman, who was finally jailed more than six weeks after the bullets went off. But Martin is, welldead. I must say, Zimmermans story seems far-fetched. He asks us to believe that his sense of duty as a selfappointed Neighborhood Watch guard prompted him to follow Martin and confront him, despite a warning from a 911 dispatcher not to. Then, he says, Martin jumped him as he was walking away, causing him to fear for his life. So he shot the kid. In self-defense. That sounds like a dog-ate-myhomework alibi if I ever heard one. Martin was a tall, skinny 17-year-old. Zimmermans a 28-year-old man on the stocky side. I dont know how it was in your neighborhood growing up, but in mine, tall skinny kids didnt go around committing unprovoked assaults on older, heavier guys. It just didnt happen. Following the Feb. 26 shooting, the Sanford police released Zimmerman on the grounds that he was protected by Floridas Stand Your Ground law, which allows people who feel threatened to shoot their assailants. Thats where racism really begins to rear its unlovely head. Had the young Black man been armed and, feeling threatened, turned and shot this hulking White stranger following him, do you imagine that the police would have let him go? In Florida? If you think that, give my regards to the Tooth Fairy the next time you see her. With or without Zimmermans potentially racist motive, this kill-at-will statute is a monumentally stupid law. It raises every altercation every bar fight, every fender bender to the level of a potentially lethal encounter. Whatever happened to the good old days when you could have a fist fight with someone without one of you ending up dead? Remind me not to go to Florida the next time it gets cold up north. And while youre at it, remind me to get the bell on my bicycle fixed. OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. otherwords.org
The radical conservative majority of the Supreme Court delivered yet another bizarre opinion the other week. It ruled that police and jail officials can strip search anyone arrested for anything, no matter how minor the violation or how upstanding the suspect. In doing so it agreed with the rulings of lower courts that have found strip searches legal after arrests for violating leash laws, driving without a license, falling behind in child support payments, failing to use a turn signal, or (my favorite) riding a bicycle without an audible bell. Are these guys nuts? The case that triggered the ruling involved a man who was a passenger in a car stopped for speeding. A background check revealed an unpaid fine on his record, so the cops took him to jail and forced him to take off his clothes, bend over and the rest of it. He spent the better part of the following week in jail, where he was strip-searched again, before police discovered that their information was wrong, that hed long since paid the fine. That was fine with the Four Horsemen (John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas) and their faithful companion Anthony Kennedy. Apparently, you cant be too careful. That seems to be the paranoid Rights mantra. Oh, by the way, did I mention that Albert Florence, the guy arrested a finance manager for a New Jersey car dealership was Black? The Court didnt seem to mention it either. It acted as though it hadnt mattered. Ive got news for them. Being Black in this society always matters. Always. Ive been driving for some 60 years and Ive never been pulled over by police in a random check. It happens to Black men all the time, particularly to those who commit the crime of driving a nice car. To be Black in our society excites the presumption of guilt. Some people are still arguing over whether the shooting of Black teenager Trayvon Martin had something
The following comments are pulled straight from our website and are not edited for content or grammar.
Decatur High student spends week living as Muslim woman

Any effort at promoting understanding should be appreciated, and everyone who was involved in this project and its reporting deserves commendation, despite the little mistakes here and there. Whos to say we wouldnt make bigger mistakes were we to adopt a totally foreign culture or report on its dress-code without having sufficient experience to back us up? Plus the fact that we Muslims have varying notions in different parts of the world on what a hijab constitutes, forgetting that the Quran calls womens head-covers khumur (from khimar), and not hijab at all. May we always grow in understanding and acceptance. Randa Hamwi Duwaji posted this on 4/15/12 at 7:11 p.m. Salaam Aminah, I think thats a little harsh. Shes just a high school student and there is A LOT of research that goes into every little detail of Islam. For her age and for what she was hoping to accomplish, I think she did her best and it may not be perfect. Its worth the effort since she represented Islam in a positive way. So what if there were mistakes? Those can always be corrected, its the fact that she chose to touch on a subject that is so denigrated in society today. I saw props to her and A for effort. Atiya posted this on 4/13/12 at 8:49 p.m. Interesting...definitely applaud the effort but seriously feel sad for her that she was fed SO much misinformation! WHO was she talking to? Cats do NOT cause one to have to wash anything it touches. My cats lay close to me all the time when I pray - TOTALLY false. Also, we do eat MEAT... just not PORK. SO false. Making an error in prayer...not a problem. You correct yourself and if noticed b4 prayer ends, you simply make an extra prostration at the end. And one HUGE misconception...Islam and culture: 2 totally DIFF things. Islam is a religion of a billion people +...Culture in each Arab speaking country will be totally diff and Cecilia will learn that in Morocco. Aminah (convert) posted this on 4/13/12 at 2:43 p.m. What a horrible article. There are so many factual errors and presumptions made on the part of the subject and the author! Please avoid publishing such garbage in the future. Nick posted this on 4/13/12 at 2:16 p.m. I realized that I cant learn the language if I dont know the culture. Is she aware that Arabic language/culture and Islam are 2 exclusive things? You dont have to be a Muslim to speak or be Arabic. The millions of Arabic Christians and Jews speak Arabic just fine. Frank Grimes posted this on 4/13/12 at 11:23 a.m.
Local News
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Occupy Atlanta activist arrested in south DeKalb

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp. com An activist with Occupy Atlanta was arrested outside a south DeKalb home the group is trying to save from foreclosure. According to a DeKalb County Police incident report, Michael Olszewski, 22, of Norcross, was charged with obstructing a street when an officer turned on to the street. The incident report states that police were patrolling the neighborhood due to past burglaries in the area. Olszewskis arrest occurred outside the home of 62-year-old Christine Frazer, where several Occupy Atlanta activists have been camping since early March. Leila Abadir of Occupy Atlanta said a marshal arrived at Frazers home at approximately 7:20 a.m. The marshal asked for a person named Carter. When Occupy Atlanta members told him there was no one at the home with that name, the marshal went to the end of the cul-de-sac for five minutes, then left, Abadir said. According to the incident report, Olszewski blocked a police car, refused to identify himself and stated that it was his right to stand here. While the officer was waiting for backup, Olszewski told the officer that he was a member of an organization that wont let police officers on this street, the incident report stated. At first, Olszewski stood in the street blocking the passage of the police car, Abadir said. When the police asked him to move, he did, moving back to the [homeowners] property. After several police cars arrived, they got him and arrested him, Abadir said. They said they werent there for us and they knew nothing about the eviction, Abadir said. I think they were clearly trying to threaten us. The activists have been expecting a showdown with police since a writ of possession notice was signed March 7 giving marshals the authority to remove the occupants from the home. The Occupy Atlanta group has helped Frazer file a lawsuit against Investors One Corporation, the company that claims to own the loan and is attempting to evict the family from the home. Frazers attorney is challenging the assignment of the mortgage to Investors One after the mortgage changed companies three times in six months. We tried to give [the officers] an affidavit about the lawsuit, Frazer said. They said they were not there for an eviction. They said they were there for a general check. Olszewski was released on a $100 bond.
Raymond Duke
Champion of the Week

for 18 months, Duke took a job with Fulton County. I went out to track down people who had come in for HIV/AIDS and STD testing but had not come back in to get their test results, Duke said. For the past seven years, Duke has been working for STAND Inc., a nonprot organization in DeKalb that helps those coping with complex social issues and diseases. I initially was hired to be a linkage to care coordinator because we were working with people who were diagnosed with HIV. Then, I became one of their prevention specialists for the HIV department, Duke said. After several years Duke was promoted to manage STAND Inc.s prevention services department. Currently he oversees its six prevention programs that include HIV testing, counseling and referral services, and programs to prevent and reduce the onset of substance abuse and transmission of HIV and hepatitis within minority populations. Duke said hes most proud of his work for STAND INC., and the opportunity to test people for HIV/AIDS or STDs, and help them get back on the right track. You dont pat yourself on your back for it but you say to yourself, I remember that individual and Im glad theyre still around. You dont arrogantly take credit for it but you realize you played a role in an important decision in somebody elses life, Duke said.
Raymond Duke, 50, said he began volunteering when he was younger to distance himself from the drama surrounding his family. That was an outlet for me and I actually started to volunteer at the University Hospital of Cleveland at a young age. I encourage people today to volunteer, Duke said. Duke, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, has been living in Atlanta for 14 years. In his spare time he serves as an associate minister at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta and volunteers as a preacher at Philips Tower, an assisted-living community for seniors in Decatur. I facilitate their Sunday services, Duke said. He also works with disenfranchised youth at Towers High School and serves on the Human Rights Campaigns Religion, Faith and Diversity Committee. Dukes desire to help others goes beyond volunteeringhe has made it his career. Originally, Duke moved to Atlanta to serve as property manager for The Edgewood, an organization that provides housing for individuals who are HIV positive, in addition to having addiction problems or mental disabilities. After working at The Edgewood
If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Kathy Mitchell at kathy@DeKalbchamp.com or at 404-373-7779, ext. 104.
Local News
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Residents express concern over proposed DCSD calendar changes

by Daniel Beauregard daniel@dekalbchamp.com calendar but thought the changes should have been proposed for the 2013-14 The DeKalb County school year. School District (DCSD) I also think that that the recently proposed changes calendars are not different to the 2012-13 school calen- enough. All three of them dar that some residents say have an early release day on could affect the entire comWednesday and it doesnt munity. really give parents a choice In March Superintendent in the matter. Also, the proCheryl Atkinson tasked a posed calendar that most committee of stakeholders resembles the one voted on with looking at a balanced by the district doesnt have calendar for the school a spring break that syncs up district to build [in] more with the other systems in the instructional days for the metro area, Hatfield said. students, DeKalb Schools Woods said the earlyspokesman Walter Woods release days will provide said. teachers with an extra hour DCSD posted three calof professional development endar options and a survey training. on its website asking stakeWere trying to build holders to provide input that into their week because and vote on which calendar due to furlough days, we they favored. The survey have less of an opportunity closed April 12, and parent to pull them out for trainJennifer Hateld said that ing, Woods said. wasnt enough time for the Christine Humphreys district to propose such dras- is the director for St. Bedes tic changes to a calendar that Episcopal Day School, a day has already been approved. care in Atlanta where HatParents have planned field works. St. Bedes is in their summers accordingly the Northlake/Tucker area of theyve put their children DeKalb and Humphreys said in camps and scheduled nearly 70 percent of the chiltripsbecause the calendar dren who attend the school was published, Hatfield have siblings in DCSD. said. Now here we are four When we have our regmonths before school starts istration in January we make back and theyre presenting our calendar for the upcomall of these changes. ing year and try very hard to Each calendar proposed follow the [DCSD] calendar. has different start and end Theres a whole commudates for studentsone cal- nity structure that revolves endar has the school year around the calendar for the starting 12 days earlier than [DCSD] school system and the approved calendar. Anpeople need time and notice other calendar changes the to adjust to these things, dates when students have Humphreys said. spring break. Additionally, Humphreys Hatfield, who has two said there are a lot of singlechildren attending Evansdale parent families, including Elementary School, said she herself, who have already is aware Atkinson is pushing scheduled trips for their chilfor a more balanced school dren to visit family members. My sons father lives in Seattle, and as it stands right now, the nonrefundable plane ticket for him has him due back on Aug. 12, Humphreys said. Two of the proposed calendar options have school starting Aug. 1, and Aug. 6, rather than the Aug. 13 date of the approved calendar. Humphreys said she thinks Atkinson has done a lot of good things for the school district since her appointment, such as taking a closer look at central office positions, but the proposed calendar changes arent among them. Even the early release days, I understand that, but shes got to realize thats going to cost parents to pay for child caregood will and common courtesy dictate you need to give people more notice than this, Humphrey said. SunDee Jones, a French teacher at Chamblee Charter High School, said she thinks the early-release days are a good idea if they will allow teachers time for planning and development. However, Jones said, she and other teachers at Chamblee werent notified of the proposed early release days until they received the proposed calendars in the mail. They never mentioned there was going to be a calendar change and a vote, but people need to realize that we have a new superintendent and shes going to make some last-minute changes to try and make the district better. I think thats what shes trying to do, Jones said. Woods said the district received more than 30,000 responses to the online survey and the committee is reviewing its findings. He said it will present them to Atkinson to bring before the board of education at its May 7 business meeting. If Atkinsons recommendation is to change the 2012-13 calendar, the board will then have vote to amend the calendar and Woods said residents would have another chance for input.
The Mayor and City Council of the City of Chamblee, Georgia will hold a public hearing on Thursday, May 10, 2012 at the Chamblee Civic Center, 3540 Broad Street, Chamblee, GA 30341 at 6:00 p.m. to receive public comments regarding the following zoning matters: 1. Appendix A, Zoning, Section1307.C, Signage. This text amendment will allow changeable copy signs at places of worship, public buildings or at public or private schools on properties zoned NR-1, NR-2, CR, VR, NC-1, NC-2 provided that such signs may be located on arterial and collector roads (2012Z-001). 2. Chapter 93, Development Regulations, Section 93-1(b). The subject property is located at 10 Gentrys Walk. The applicant is requesting a variance to the requirement that buildings three or more stories be constructed with concrete and steel framing (2012V-002). 3. Appendix A, Zoning, Section 504, Building additions, Section 803.D, Walls and Fences; Section 902.B1 and 902.C1, Sidewalks; Section 907.A1 and 907.4, Storefront streets requirements and fenestration; Section 908.D1, Site Design; Section 1205, Parking and landscaping requirements; Section 1206, Minimum off-street loading requirements; and Section 1207.C, handicapped parking requirements. The subject property is located at 5130 Peachtree Blvd. The applicant is requesting variances to provide site improvements and a 13,200 square foot addition and 7,500 square foot renovation to the existing building (2012V-003).
NOTICEOFPUBLICHEARING
4. Appendix A, Zoning, Section 1004, Space Dimensions, Section 506 Lot reduction
prohibited. The subject property is located at 1889 Ham Drive. The applicant is requesting a variance to the 12,000 square foot minimum lot size required for NR-1 zoned districts to allow the platting of a 16,000 square foot lot into two 8,000 square foot lots (2012V-004).
5. Chapter 94, Appendix A, Zoning, Section 902, Sidewalks. The applicant is requesting a variance to the requirement of sidewalks with a landscape zone at 5558 Peachtree Blvd (2012V-001)
Local News
Page 9A
Students working to save history in Lithonia cemetery

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com On a chilly morning in Lithonia, 35 high schools students combed an old cemetery looking for war veterans by recording the names on tombstones, many faded and broken. Because this is an old cemetery and a lot of people dont visit here anymore, its not as well remembered, said Mya Goodbee, 15, one of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) students from Arabia Mountain High School. The students were part of a project to identify the veterans buried in the cemetery in time for a citywide Veterans Day celebration in November. Jaliyah Holmes, 16, said the students were volunteering to give honor and thanks to the people that risked their lives for their country. The project also gives students some real-time history about what they learn in the classroom and about their communities and ancestors, said Raymond Stafford, a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant. Its a remarkable opportunity for them, Stafford said. The cemetery, called the Lithonia Colored Cemetery or Lithonia Cemetery One, dates back to the 1800s, and has been the subject of a 10-year effort by several residents to clear overgrowth from the 6.7 acre lot. As Stafford looked over the graves, many covered in weeds, he said, There can be no excuse for this rich history being overlooked. It reminds me of [an] opportunity that was created for me, Stafford said. A lot of the opportunities that were afforded me were a result of what a lot of these [deceased] young men and young ladies
Arabia Mountain High School students in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps spend a day cataloguing tombstones at a Lithonia cemetery. The students are helping to identify veterans buried in the cemetery in time for a citywide Veterans Day celebration in November. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
had to go through in order for me to have an opportunity. Stafford said the plan is for the students, including some from Lithonia and Miller Grove high schools, to catalog every grave in the cemetery to assist the city of Lithonia in identifying veterans and their contributions. Eugene Davenport, 17, said he hopes Lithonia area residents will be inspired to help clean up the cemetery. The veterans have done their part and they cant get a clean burial place for them to rest for eternity, Davenport said. It feels like theyre being disrespected in a way. Davenport said the project is a really good way for us to[show] our respect for the dead and the past. Its a great opportunity for us to learn about our history and the people of Lithonia. The war veterans should be remembered, said 15-year-old Elijah Brown. We get to live this fun life and they died at an early age. They died so we could live here. Barbara Lester, a former Lithonia City Council member and one of several residents working to restore the cemetery, said she is overjoyed with the work of the JROTC students. They seem to be interested in what theyre doing, Lester said. This is the beginning of a wonderful experience for these children. We often say from the cradle to the grave, Lester said. Well, this is from the grave to the cradle. This is letting them know [that] this is what happens when people are no longer with us. This is a history lesson about their own people, said Lester, who wants the cemetery to be listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Local News
positions would be cut from the countys unincorporated fund, which pays the salaries for recorders court, planning department, business license workers and DCTV. During the meeting, commissioners called on the administration of DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis to develop aplan to deal with the possible incorporation. Its seems it has not been taken as a major issue for the administration, said Commissioner Elaine Boyer. The discussion needs to begin and its unfortunate that they have not begun. We see it looming, Boyer said. Whether or not [Brookhaven] passes is not the issue. Its why are we not planning for it? Joel Gottlieb, the countys finance director, said county department heads have been meeting every week on this issue. We have been aware of it, Gottlieb told the commissioners. We are working on it and have been working on it for quite some time. The CEO plans to provide you with more details shortly. Brookhaven is just one part of the overall plan that we are making, Gottlieb said. In March, the Georgia General Assembly approved the annexations by Avondale Estates and Decatur of islandssmall unincorporated areas surrounded by cities. Those annexations will have a small impact on the county budget, but possible annexations by Doraville and Chamblee, which will go to voters, are also in the mix, Gottlieb said. Boyer said she is frustrated by what she believes is the administrations lack of
Page 10A
Looming Brookhaven could cost DeKalb 300 jobs

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com boards finance committee on April 11. We learned a lot with The possible incorporation what happened with Dunof Brookhaven could cost woody and what we should more than 300 DeKalb Coun- have learned the most is that ty employees their jobs. we have to plan for the worstDeKalb County, already case scenario in our budget, trying to determine the efMay said. fect annexations in Avondale Of the countys $559 milEstates, Chamblee, Decatur lion current budget, only and Doraville may have on its three funds, accounting for bottom line, would lose be26.2 percent of the budget, tween $15 million and $28.5 would be affected by incormillion in revenue. poration. Thats according to a Were not talking about DeKalb Board of Commisthe entire DeKalb budget besioners analysis of a report ing affected, May said. by the University of GeorUsing the mid-range gias Carl Vinson Institute. $21.8 million estimate of It is actually past time to reductions, the commissionbegin to deal with the some ers report stated the county of the concerns we have would have to cut 233 police been having regarding the positions. possible incorporation of The report also suggests Brookhaven, said DeKalb another 74 parks, roads and Commissioner Lee May dur- transportation workers would ing a special meeting of the lose their jobs. Twenty-two planning. We dont even have a skeleton outline, Boyer said. Thats unacceptable for a government this size that we dont have an outline or a plan. Theres nothing for me to look at, read, study, examine, Boyer said. There should have been a plan once the legislaturepassed the Brookhaven legislation. May said the commissioners finance committee will keep the proposed Brookhaven incorporation on the agenda of every meeting until it is resolved. Were asking for the administration to come forward with a strategic plan and how they plan to handle the potential of incorporation, May said. We need to know the direction, at least, and not receive the information at the eleventh hour.
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Local News
the individuals in the past with an offer of cooperation and has reached out again this week. To move the process forward, we respectfully suggest that the arrested individuals put their attorney in touch with Emorys, as Emorys offer still stands. Sikes said Emory officials did send the seven students an offer over the summer but they decided not to agree to it because they felt it would take away some of their civil rights, such as the right to peacefully assemble. What it basically states is that Emory may be willing to speak with the solicitor if the students sign away some of our legal rights, including our legal right to sue, Sikes said. It also asked us to admit that we were the ones who caused all of the issues on Emorys campus. Emory officials would not comment further on the universitys offer of cooperation to the students. Soltis, who is a student at Emorys Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts studying human rights, said the fact the university is going forward with prosecution is
Page 11A
Students face year in jail for protesting on Emory quad in 2011

by Daniel Beauregard daniel@dekalbchamp.com Seven college students each could face up to a year in jail for what they say was nothing more than a peaceful protest on Emory Universitys quad against the universitys treatment of employees. Emory graduate students Roger Sikes, Laura Emiko Soltis, Andrea Nicholls, and Joseph Diaz, were arrested April 25, 2011, along with two Georgia State University students and one from Georgia Tech. We were on our own quad at our own campus, Sikes said at a recent press conference. We were here simply to create a dialogue about some of the labor conditions here and because Emory disagreed with our political stance and message, they decided to clamp down and throw us in jail. Approximately 30 students had set up and occupied tents. Emory police gave the students five minutes to vacate the premises, and then the seven students remaining were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. Sikes said he and his fellow students were protesting against a twotiered labor system on Emorys campus, under which they say contracted employees were treated less fairly than those directly employed by the university. According to Sikes, employees for Sodexo, the universitys food service provider, arent offered MARTA passes by the university as direct employees are, and faced anti-union intimidation by Sodexo. Sodexo came in and held captive-audience meetings and forced the workers to sit through anti-union meetings where workers felt they would be fired or disciplined if they chose to exercise their right to form a union, Sikes said. The seven students, who were scheduled for arraignment April 12, filed pleas of not guilty. The case originally fell to the DeKalb County Solicitors Office but officials there referred the case to the attorney general. It was later assigned to the Gwinnett County Solicitors Office. From time to time prosecutors refer matters to the attorney general out of an abundance of caution, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest or the appearance of partiality. We did that in this case, said Emily Gest, spokeswoman for the DeKalb County solicitor generals office. Emory University released a statement regarding the case: Emorys counsel has spoken with the counsel for atrocious. Were urging [Emory University] President James Wagner to communicate to the prosecutor to drop the charges and focus on the other issues which we were raising awareness about on April 25, 2011, to begin with, Soltis said. Sikes said hes worried about spending time in jail but is willing to go if the case comes to that point. If I need to go to jail to get Emory to look at the working conditions on their campus I would do that, Sikes said.
DeKalb County Wants to Hear From You Regarding the Proposed Franchise Agreement Renewal with Comcast Cable Communications
Send your comments and/or concerns regarding Comcasts current performance under the current franchise agreement and/or the future cable-related needs and interests of your community to www.dekalbcountyga.gov.
The Champion Weather

Seven Day Forecast THURSDAY
Mostly Sunny High: 73 Low: 57
April 19, 2012

Today's Regional Map Weather History
April 19, 1988 - Severe thunderstorms over the southeastern United States spawned a strong tornado which destroyed 17 homes and severely damaged 30 houses near Madison, Fla., killing four people and injuring 18 others. April 20, 1989 - The temperature at Las Animas, Colo. soared to 100 degrees to establish a state record for April. Twenty-two cities in the central and southwestern United States reported record high temperatures for the date. Dunwoody 71/56 Lilburn Smyrna Doraville 72/57 72/57 72/57 Snellville Decatur 73/57 Atlanta 73/57 73/57 Lithonia College Park 74/57 74/57 Morrow 74/57 Union City 74/57 Hampton 75/58
In-Depth Local Forecast

Today we will see mostly sunny skies with a high temperature of 73, humidity of 53%. East wind 10 to 15 mph. The record high temperature for today is 88 set in 1941. Expect partly cloudy skies tonight with an overnight low of 57. The record low for tonight is 30 set in 1983.
FRIDAY
Isolated T-storms High: 77 Low: 58
*Last Weeks Almanac

Date Hi Lo Normals Precip Tuesday 78 49 72/49 0.00" Wednesday 66 46 72/49 0.00" Thursday 65 39 72/49 0.00" Friday 73 42 72/50 0.00" Saturday 76 49 73/50 0.00" Sunday 81 54 73/50 0.00" Monday 75 59 73/50 0.02" Rainfall . . . . . . .0.02" Average temp . .60.9 Normal rainfall . .0.83" Average normal 61.0 Departure . . . . .-0.81" Departure . . . . .-0.1
*Data as reported from De Kalb-Peachtree Airport
SATURDAY
Scat'd T-storms High: 77 Low: 59
SUNDAY
Scat'd T-storms High: 76 Low: 56
MONDAY
Partly Cloudy High: 73 Low: 58
TUESDAY
Isolated T-storms High: 78 Low: 59 New 4/21
Local Sun/Moon Chart This Week

Day Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Sunrise 7:01 a.m. 7:00 a.m. 6:59 a.m. 6:57 a.m. 6:56 a.m. 6:55 a.m. 6:54 a.m. Sunset 8:12 p.m. 8:13 p.m. 8:14 p.m. 8:14 p.m. 8:15 p.m. 8:16 p.m. 8:17 p.m. Moonrise 5:52 a.m. 6:23 a.m. 6:56 a.m. 7:33 a.m. 8:13 a.m. 8:57 a.m. 9:46 a.m. Moonset 7:01 p.m. 7:56 p.m. 8:51 p.m. 9:45 p.m. 10:38 p.m. 11:28 p.m. Next Day Full 5/5
Tonight's Planets
Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Rise Set 5:59 a.m. 5:58 p.m. 9:07 a.m. 11:52 p.m. 3:34 p.m. 4:49 a.m. 7:59 a.m. 9:33 p.m. 7:40 p.m. 7:08 a.m. 6:01 a.m. 6:14 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Partly Cloudy High: 75 Low: 54 First 4/29
Last 5/12
Local UV Index
National Weather Summary This Week

The Northeast will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with a few showers today, scattered showers and thunderstorms Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 78 in Lawrenceville, Ill. The Southeast will see mostly clear skies today, isolated thunderstorms Friday, scattered showers and thunderstorms Saturday, with the highest temperature of 87 in Marathon Key, Fla. The Northwest will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with a few showers today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 70 in Medford, Ore. The Southwest will see mostly clear skies today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 97 in Gila Bend, Ariz.
Weather Trivia
What does the SaffirSimpson Scale try to measure?
0 - 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+
UV Index 0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate, 6-7: High, 8-10: Very High 11+: Extreme Exposure
Answer: Hurricane characteristics, such as peak winds and damage potential.
www.WhatsOurWeather.com
StarWatch By Gary Becker - Clear Skies, Good Observing

During the past two weeks, eastern Pennsylvania has experienced a wave of crisp, dry, nearly cloudless days that have succumbed to nearly flawless nights. It has not been that way for New York State nor for areas south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but PA has been doing just fine. Thats given me plenty of time to set up my favorite telescope and mine the heavens for some of the better clusters and nebulae that can be seen from a suburban environment. And of course, the planets are still bountiful in the early evening hours. Jupiter is positioned very low in the west during dusk, to be lost in the suns glare by the end of next week. Venus in the west still dominates, but it is looking like a fat crescent through my telescope, which means that it is beginning to head back towards conjunction with the sun. By late dusk, pinkish Mars is nearly due south about twothirds of the way up in the sky. The bright star to its right is Regulus of Leo the Lion. The sleeper of this story has been Saturn which has hung low in the southeast during the early evening hours, rendered invisible by the trees in my backyard. It has been rapidly gaining altitude during the past month. By late dusk, Saturn can be seen one third of the way up from the SE horizon, to the left of Virgos blue supergiant, Spica. To confirm this, simply follow the arc of the Big Dippers handle, now high in the NE after sundown. It will lead you past warm-toned Arcturus of Bootes the Bear Driver, then on to spike Spica. Meteor season also commences at the very beginning of next week. Lyrid meteors will be flying during the morning hours of Sunday, April 22. Dress for winter, and make sure you have a sleeping bag or bedroll for extra comfort. Face east after midnight and look for Vega just to the south of east, about three fists held at arms length above the horizon. Meteor rates will be about 10 events per hour from the suburbs. Good observing! www.astronomy.org
Health
Page 12A
Ellis, experts kick off childhood obesity roundtables

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis recently joined Kathy Kuzava, president of the Georgia Food Industry Association; Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) Board Chair Dr. James R. Gavin; and CBS Atlanta News Anchor Stephany Fisher at Emory University to discuss childhood obesity and access to healthy, affordable food. PHA, which works with honorary chair first lady Michelle Obama and the private sector to end the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation, and Family Circle magazine, which offers moms of tweens and teens practical advice on appealing weeknight meal ideas, hosted the eventthe first in a series of roundtable discussions about the childhood obesity crisis. Access to jobs and a living wage are key to being able to afford nutritious foods and having time and leisure to devote to physical and mental health, Ellis said. Residents must have access to grocery stores, cooperative vegetable markets, parks with trails, and strong partnerships with public safety officials to ensure a healthier lifestyle. Moderated by Linda Fears, editor in chief of Family Circle magazine, the panel discussion focused on the link between childhood obesity rates and access to healthy, affordable food choices. In Georgia, approximately 40 percent of children are either obese or overweight, and according to the USDA, approximately 6.5 million children in the United States live in low-income areas that lack stores likely to sell healthy and affordable foods. Studies also show when there is an increase in access to better, more affordable food choices, individuals will be more likely to have healthier diets and be at a lower risk for obesity.
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To learn more, visit www.dekalbmedicalhillandale.org
Page 13A Local News UKs Sky Sports films gold medalist Edwin Moses with Oglethorpe track athletes The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20 , 2012 With film cameras rolling and twotime Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses offering tips, the Oglethorpe University mens and womens track and field teams experienced a rather unusual practice the afternoon of April 12. Thats because Sky Sports, the largest sports broadcaster in the United Kingdom, was in Atlanta to capture some pre-Olympic coverage for the upcoming 2012 London Games, and Oglethorpe loaned its track and athletes to the project. Moses, who first gained fame at the 1976 Montreal Games when he won gold by setting a world record in the 400 meter hurdles, lives nearby in the Brookhaven area and suggested Oglethorpe to Sky Sports as the locale for the filming. Sky Sports has tabbed Moses to be an in-studio analyst for the upcoming London Games and wanted to capture footage of him in the city that hosted the 1996 Olympic Games. After shooting footage of the Oglethorpe entrance and academic quadrangle, the Sky Sports crew descended on the track where members of the Stormy Petrel mens and womens track teams greeted Moses. Moses addressed the team about the finer points of his career in track and field before giving Oglethorpe 400 meter hurdler Katy Galli some one-on-one instruction on how to best clear hurdles and excel at the event. The Sky Sports team then filmed Galli, who wore a camera affixed to her head, as she ran the 400 meter hurdles while Moses made commentary on specific portions of the race. It was an honor to have a track athlete of the caliber of Edwin Moses on our campus giving our kids who love the same sport some great advice, said Oglethorpe mens and womens track and field head coach Jan Spiro. The folks from Sky Sports could not have been nicer and seeing our student-athletes interact with Moses was a real treat.
Education
Page 14A
New charter school slated to open in south DeKalb

by Daniel Beauregard daniel@dekalbchamp.com Lillian Ryan, a board member at the DeKalb Preparatory Academy, said it is a tremendous gift that the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is allowing DeKalb Prep to use the old Glen Haven Elementary building. Glen Haven, closed last year under then-Interim Superintendent Ramona Tysons redistricting plan, is located off Austin Drive in Decatur. Recently, the DeKalb County School Board approved DeKalb Preps five-year charter and negotiated a lease agreement that allows the school to use the decommissioned Glen Haven facility rent-free. There are six other [volunteer] board members and many of them live in DeKalb and Decatur, and theyve been trying to get a charter school in this area for around three years, Ryan said. The new school will be run by the education management company Mosaica, which manages 90 schools in the United States and abroad, and serves approximately 14,000 students. Ryan said Mosaica works directly with the board and has developed a curriculum based on logic and critical thinking. Its not like when I went to school and we had to memorize everything. For example, the emphasis isnt put on memorizing the date Columbus sailed to the Americas, but rather the unhigh expectations for your children, Eidelman told parents. He also said parents with a student enrolled at DeKalb Prep would be expected to volunteer a certain number of hours each year. Keisha Owens, who has a son in kindergarten and lives a mile away from where DeKalb Prep will be located, said she is excited that a charter school is opening in her neighborhood. Owens said it is important that parents have the option to send their child to a charter school to get a better education. DeKalb Prep will have the opportunity to make their own decision and its less red tape since they wont be directly influenced by the DeKalb Board of Education, Owens said. DeKalb Preps enrollment goal is approximately 430 students and it plans to open its doors at the beginning of next school year. Since Glen Haven has only been closed for a little more than a year, the building just needed a few minor renovations, Ryan said. Were hoping to get a grant from the federal government for basically a startup fund. I think there has been some slight vandalism; people have stolen the copper out of the air conditioning units, Ryan said. We also want to provide iPads and laptops for each child, so they dont have to carry too many books back and forth to class.
An old DeKalb County school bus sits parked in front of the Glen Haven Elementary building, which DCSD officials are allowing DeKalb Preparatory Academy to use as its facility for the coming school year. Photo by Daniel Beauregard
derstanding of why he would leave Europe and come here in the first place, Ryan said. Additionally, Ryan said DeKalb Prep has a sevenand-a-half-hour school day and an extended school calendar of 192 days, compared with the typical 180-day calendar used by most public school systems. Over the entire term its almost an extra year of school for K-12, so youve almost got to come out better, Ryan said. DeKalb Prep Board Chairwoman Laura Crawley said the school is working closely with DeKalb County and is, in a way, grateful that the school had a three-and-a-half-year struggle trying to get its charter
approved. We were turned down three times but when you think about it, starting a school thats going to serve children and families really shouldnt be easy; it should be a challenge, Crawley said. Crawley said she got involved with the creation of DeKalb Prep because she thinks one of the best ways to improve public education is to provide alternatives to those students and parents who might not fit in a traditional school setting. Every school isnt right for every kid and you dont need to have exactly the same model to serve every community, Crawley said. DeKalb Prep will serve
grades kindergarten through fourth grade, adding a grade each year until it reaches eighth grade. Crawley said one of the advantages of the school is that it has its own board to serve parents and students, unlike a larger school system whose board oversees dozens, or in some cases, hundreds of schools. Mosaica founder Gene Eidelman, started the company with his wife Dawn in 1997. Eidelman said he is committed to having the best school in the area and told parents at a recent community meeting they should expect the same. I want you to know this is going to be a very tough schoolbe prepared because were going to have very
EDUCATION BRIEF
Lakeside High to hold open house

The renovation and expansion of Lakeside High School is nearly complete and the Lakeside Foundation is sponsoring an open house for community members, faculty, parents and students. The event is April 29, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., Lakeside High is located at 3801 Briarcliff Road. It will feature guided tours of the high schools new fine arts building, new classrooms and other renovated areas, and performances by Lakeside music students. Commemorative bricks, which will be used to build a patio between the old gymnasium and the new fine arts building, will also be available for purchase. For more information contact Margaret Jones at (770) 934-2170 or mmjpr1@gmail.com.
The Voice of Business in DeKalb County

Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030
An artists rendering of Lakeside High Schools new fine arts building, which will be completed over the next few weeks.
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce

404-378-8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org
Business
Page 15A
Cake Caf owner make desserts her grandmothers way

by Kathy Mitchell kathy@dekalbchamp.com The bright gold painted converted residence on Candler Road that houses Cake Caf almost looks like a confection itself. Inside a busy staff churns out the types of made-from-scratch goodies that make Southerners eager to get to the dining table, including lemon pound cake and red velvet cake. Despite the name, Cake Caf doesnt limit its offerings to cakes. There are also brownies, cookies, pies, banana bread, cobblers, ice cream and popcornmore than 100 flavors of popcorn. In addition to flavors one might expect such as cheddar, kettle and garlic parmesan, there are hot chocolate, blue raspberry, green apple and other popcorn flavors to stagger the imagination. Owner Ardra Tippett said she tried, or at least considered, careers in journalism, law, sales, education, accounting and more before going back to what she really loves, making dessertsa skill she learned in her grandmothers St. Louis kitchen. I was her tortured intern, she recalled with a laugh. She had me doing all those little uninteresting chores like peeling potatoes and cutting up apples, then she got all the praise for the finished dessert. But Tippett said what she leaned as her grandmothers sous chef was priceless. She added that her high school home economics teacher helped her perfect her cookie-making skills. Tippett now trains her baking staff to do things her grandmothers way. Somecan women between the ages of 25 and 55. They plan lots of birthday parties, anniversary parties and other events. They understand how critical a good dessert is to the success of an event and they appreciate things like caramel frosting made the right way. Im in a good spot to reach those customers. However, I want everyone to enjoy my desserts, she said, adding that she is considering opening a Dunwoody store. The other reason for choosing the south DeKalb location, Tippett said, is the encouragement and support that she received from local officials and business people. The property owner was willing to work with me while I got established and Commissioner Larry Johnson was very helpful. Even Congressman Hank Johnson helped find some federal money to help me out, she said. Here I get to combine all the things I love. I get to use my journalism skills when writing my newsletter and blogging about the business; I get to use my business skills as a human resources manager. I get to use my customer service skills; I even see the place as a bit of a ministry, she said. At the heart of it all, Tippett said, is a love for dessert. Dessert is the closer and its always good to close strong, she said.
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Cake Caf offers more than 100 varieties of popcorn, including unlikely flavors such as hot chocolate and green apple.
Cake is available by the slice as well as whole.
Ardra Tippett says all her desserts are made fresh and from scratch. Photos by Kathy Mitchell
body told me I should start using canned sweet potatoes in my pies, that nobody starts with raw potatoes anymore. I said, My grandmother would turn over in her grave. All her desserts are made fresh and from scratch, she said. Although Tippett said she is very proud of the products at Cake Caf, she added that she knows high-quality food is not enough to keep people coming back. When a customer walks through that door, we dont just take an order. We take time with the customer and get to know what he or she needs. The person planning an event
might mention my husband doesnt really like cake or the children dont eat chocolate, then I can suggest adding a pie or cookies to the menu, she said. Cake Caf regularly offers approximately 30 kinds of cake, about a third of them pound cake varieties. Caramel is a big favorite, Tippett said, but the key lime velvet cake runs a close second. And when a customer doesnt find what he or she wants on the menu, Tippett said she tries to find a way to please them. I had a customer say she really needed a mocha rum cake. I told her we really
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dont do that. She explained that her mother used to make mocha rum cakes and since she passed away her father really missed them. She said, I have the recipe. Tippett said she agreed to try making the cake. It was not only a hit with the customer but they sold the others that came from that batch. We never just make a single cake, she explained. Tippett said that Candler Road just outside the Decatur city limits is an ideal location for her. My strongest customer base is African-AmeriforQualifyingDeKalbCounty
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AROUND DEKALB
Community goes motor-less for Sunday Ride Sunday Ride 2012 encourages residents of all ages to used musclepowered transportation through the community. The event is set for April 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The objective of the Sunday Ride is to create a safe, welcoming environment for people of all ages, abilities and physical tness levels. Any activity that replaces motor vehicleswalking, jogging, biking, riding scooters and skatingis encouraged at the free event. Combining active transportation and community fellowship, Sunday Ride is a great opportunity for exercising, enjoying the city, and supporting local businesses and vendors. Bicycle South Bike Shop in Decatur will be actively involved, providing maintenance, helmet tting and other related services. A bicycle rodeo is planned for elementary riders as well as a rst bicycle experience for our youngest riders.
AVONDALE
Seniors invited to Spring Fling The Regency House, an independent senior retirement community, has announced that it is hosting a weekend of free Spring Fling events April 20-22 for area seniors. The weekend includes movie night featuring Saving Private Ryan with refreshments on Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m., a Bingo Bonanza on April 21 at 3 p.m., and an Earth Day celebration with live entertainment on April 22 at 3:30 p.m. The Regency House is located at 341 Winn Way in Decatur. For more information, call (404) 2961152. Touch-a-Truck event set The annual Touch-a-Truck event, sponsored by Decatur Active Living, will be April 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Calloway Building parking lot. The event gives children of all ages an opportunity to touch, explore and see their favorite trucks or equipment on wheels. The city of Decatur and DeKalb County dump trucks, fire trucks, tractors, police cars, motorcycles and other types of vehicles will be on display. New this year, attendees are encouraged to ride bicycles to the event as Decatur Police will be on hand to register bicycles. In the event bicycles are lost or stolen, registration will aid in its safe return. The Calloway Building is located at 120 West Trinity Place. In case of inclement weather, the event will be cancelled. Check www.beactivedecatur.com for updates. For more information, contact Cheryl Burnette (678) 553-6541 or cheryl.burnette@ decaturga.com.
a presentation in the Morris & Rae Frank Theatre. For more information, contact Rabbi Brian Glusman, brian. glusman@atlantajcc.org.
Job bus coming to library
LITHONIA
Bluegrass festival to support community radio
CLARKSTON
DeKalb Countys Mobile Career Center, also known as the jobs bus, will be stationed at two locations in Lithonia in April. On April 23, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., the jobs bus will be at Stonecrest Library, located at 3123 Klondike Road in Lithonia. The bus will be at the Lithonia Square, 5840 Main Street, on April 30, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The mobile center is designed to help residents find employment by providing job search assistance, adult workshops and training, resume writing, and interviewing tips. Businesses are also able to use the mobile unit for recruiting, preemployment screenings, interviewing and training. Church to hold block party Higher Level Worship Church in Lithonia is holding a free community block party on May 5, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The event will feature outdoor games, inflatable games, three-onthree basketball, live music, free food and prizes. The church is located at 7302 Conyers St., in Lithonia. For more information, call (770) 482-7160 or visit www.higherleveloworship.org. Yard sale to benefit academy Millers Preparatory Academy for Boys will hold a yard sale Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. -3 p.m. The academy is located at 1833 Stone Mountain Lithonia Road, Lithonia, behind Redan United Methodist Church. For more information, call (404) 288-6795.
food parent grill off, kid veggie planting and pot decorating station, as well as physical activities designed to be fun for both adults and children. More than 200 parents and children are expected to attend as part of the Healthy Nutrition Practices Program. For more information, visit http:// bcdi-atl.org/ and http://www.pcaction. org. Womens club looks forward to busy year Gloria Stevens, president of the General Federation of Womens Clubs Stone Mountain Womans Club, recently announced that the organization has elected officers and has a number of activities already under way as it begins its new fiscal year. The group will sponsor a dessert booth at the Yellow Daisy Festival in September and a Christmas Home Tour on Dec. 8. Members will volunteer in the schools as test proctors, in media centers and in support of Read Across America. They will continue to help refugees and domestic violence victims, participate in Relay for Life, support ART Station and the Tour of Southern Ghosts, Ronald McDonald House, Stone Mountains Sue Kellogg Library, Villa International, Operation Christmas Child, Tallulah Falls School, and join with the GFWC Lilburn Womans Club in support of a rematch for Jawbones vs. Sawbones, a fundraiser for Side by Side Brain Injury Clubhouse. For membership information, women may contact Barbara Luton at barluton@aol.com.
The WRFGs 36th annual Peachblossom Bluegrass Festival will be Saturday, April 21, Clarkston Community Center, 3701 College Ave., Clarkston. There will be indoor seating; and food and craft vendors. The event will feature the Mosier Brothers Band, Dejablue Grass Band, Steel String Session, Cedar Hill, Johnny Roquemore & The Apostles of Bluegrass, Whoa Nelly, Hicks With Picks, Counterpoint Waller, Grassville, The Cherokee Cutups and Buttermilk Revival. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and there will be music from 11:15 a.m. to 9 p.m. General admission tickets are $12 in advance at WRFG and $15 at the door, $10 for seniors & WRFG members and $6 for students 6 years old and younger. Children younger than 6 are admitted free of charge. Proceeds support WRFG 89.3 FM Atlanta Community Radio. For more information, call (404) 523-3471 or visit www.wrfg.org.
Holocaust remembrance events announced A community Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) Commemoration will be held at Marcus Jewish Community Center Atlanta (MJCCA) at Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, Sunday, April 22, 4 - 5 p.m. Free and open to the community, the event is sponsored by the Atlanta Rabbinical Association and the MJCCA. It will be held rain or shine. The ceremony will feature remarks from Caroline Stoessinger, author of A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice HerzSommer, the worlds oldest living Holocaust survivor. The ceremony will also include the lighting of the torches and a special musical presentation featuring Cantor Daniel Gale from Temple Beth-El, Birmingham, Ala. The program will take place in the Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden. At 2 p.m, Stoessinger will give
DUNWOODY
TUCKER
Northlake group holds annual shred day The Northlake Community Alliance Inc., Resurgens Bank, and Eagle Secure Shredding will host the fourth Community Shred Day on Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m.-noon. The free event will take place in the Resurgens Bank parking lot at 2300 Henderson Mill Road. Old tax records, canceled checks and any kind of sensitive paper document can be shredded. Tax-exempt donations will support the work of the Northlake Community Alliance Inc. There will be a limit of five copier paper-sized boxes or equivalent bags, etc. Arrangements can be made for large shred jobs by contacting Ian Taylor at Eagle Secure Shredding (770) 619-5300. For more information, go to www.nlake.org or www.resurgensbank.com.
STONE MOUNTAIN
Parents of preschoolers to hold grill off Parents of preschoolers will grill off for healthy families as part of the Healthy Practices Program. On Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Black Child Development Institute and The Partnership for Community Action Inc. Head Start/Early Head Start Program will host a Parent/ Kid Healthy Families event at Wade Walker Park, 5584 Rockbridge Road, Stone Mountain. This event includes a healthful
Health fair announced
DECATUR
The Iota Eta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. is hosting a free health fair on Saturday, April 21,at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall, 10 a.m. 2 p.m. For more information, contact Dr. Bola Tilghman at (404) 983-1651 or stilghman58@hotmail. com.
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Sports
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DeKalb High School Sports Highlights

BASEBALL
Chamblee: Patrick Gaulden improved his record to 8-1 with wins over Tucker (12-0 on April 9) and Mays (13-0 on April 13). He struck out six against Tucker and three in the Mays game. Against Tucker, Linden Weng had two hits and four RBIs while Somto Egbuna had two hits and three RBIs. Against Mays, Gaulden went 3 for 3 with three RBIs while Kyle Kimbrel had three hits and four RBIs. The Bulldogs also defeated Druid Hills 10-8 and won by forfeit over Douglass. Drew Henry was the winning pitcher against Druid Hills as the Bulldogs rallied from a 6-1 deficit with four runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh. Malik Jones had a two-run pinch-hit triple to drive in the winning runs. Dunwoody: The Wildcats defeated Carver Atlanta 15-0 and Lithonia 12-1 in games April 9 and 11 before losing to Southwest DeKalb 5-4 on April 13 for a 9-2 Region 6-AAAA record. Jerric Johnson had two hits, two RBIs and three stolen bases against Carver. Will Hudgins hit a home run. In the win over Lithonia, James Cunningham had two hits and three RBIs. He also was the winning pitcher and allowed one hit with four strikeouts in four innings. Jared Martin had two hits against Dunwoody while Ryan Gaines allowed only one earned run in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Southwest DeKalb: The Panthers moved into fifth place in Region 6-AAAA after defeating Lithonia 12-1 on April 9, Lakeside 5-4 on April 10 and Dunwoody 5-4 on April 13. The Panthers also lost to Redan 3-1 on April 11. Kevin Wimbish was the winning pitcher in the 12-inning win over Lakeside in a game that was continued from before spring break. Kenton Edwards had the game-winning hit against Lakeside. Wimbish also was the winning pitcher against Dunwoody and drove in the winning runs on a two-RBI single in the seventh inning. Marcus Hodge and Jason Davis each had two hits in that game. Against Lithonia, Kenyatta Welch was the winning pitcher and had two doubles, three stolen bases and three RBIs. Marist: The War Eagles (1010, 8-3 in Region 6-AAAA) won by forfeit over Douglass on April 9 and beat Tucker 10-0 on April 13, but lost to Miller Grove 5-4 in nine innings on April 11. Marist had a seasonhigh 11 hits against Tucker and scored all its run in the final three innings, including five in the fifth. Devin Kalil had three hits while Anthony Sherlag and Marchant Young each had two. Redan: The Raiders went 4-0 in games April 9-13, beating Lakeside 12-10, Southwest DeKalb 3-1 and Carver Atlanta 13-1. The Raiders also won by forfeit over Douglass to improve to 9-2 in Region 6-AAAA and a county best 16-5 overall. Miller Grove: The Wolverines (14-5, 8-3 in Region 6-AAAA) beat Mays (1-7), Marist (5-4) and Douglass (forfeit) in games April 9-13. Columbia: William Belcher and Trent Nash each had two hits as the Eagles defeated Cedar Grove 11-2 on April 13. Demetrius Jones allowed no earned runs in five innings to earn the win.
Six Columbia players sign scholarships

Six Columbia players signed basketball scholarships on April 13. Damian Goodwin became the fourth boys player from this years team to accept a scholarship when he signed with Southern University. Five Columbia girls players also signedEbony Johnson (Alabama A&M), Victoria Gonzalez (Howard), Zuri Frost (Tennessee Tech), Kadeejah Vaughn (Benedict) and Jasmine Clemmons (North Carolina Central, academic). The five are part of a senior class that went 98-23 over four years with two state Class AAA championships and three consecutive Final Four appearances. Columbia advanced to the Elite Eight when the group were freshmen, giving the girls program its first state playoff victory.
BOYS SOCCER
St. Pius: The Golden Lions (13-1) ended the regular season with a 5-2 win over Berkmar on April 10. Drew Morgan scored two goals while Thomas Glenn, Calvin Jackson and Edmundo Robinson each added one goal. St. Pius also defeated Columbia 1-0 on April 13 in the first round of the Region 5-AAA tournament. The Golden Lions faced Druid Hills on April 17 in the semifinals.
Miller Grove player, coach part of all-star game

Miller Grove senior Tony Parker and Wolverines coach Sharman White were part of the East-West Jordan Brand AllAmerican Game on April 14 in Charlotte, N.C. Parker, who led the Wolverines to their fourth straight state title, was the only Georgia player selected. Parker, who played for the East team, finished his high school career with 1,723 points and 1,349 rebounds. He also helped Miller Grove become the third team in Georgia high school history to win four consecutive state titles and the first in Class AAAA to accomplish the feat. White, who has coached seven seasons at Miller Grove, was a member of the East coaching staff.
GIRLS SOCCER
St. Pius: Amanda Vocelka scored three goals to pace the Golden Lions (13-1-1) to a 10-0 win over Stone Mountain in the first round of the Region 5-AAA tournament. The Golden Lions faced Grady on April 17 in the semifinals.
Shooting stars: Top seniors clash in all-star basketball classic

by Mark Brock Many of the top seniors from DeKalb County will come together one final time in the third annual DeKalb County Basketball All-Star Classic on Tuesday, April 24 at Miller Grove High School. The girls game is set for a 6 p.m. start with the boys to follow at 8 p.m. Columbia girls coach Chantay Frost will coach one of the girls teams and Miller Grove girls coach Renee Breedlove will be on the opposing sideline. Frosts squad includes her daughter Zuri Frost (11.2 points, 5.2 steals and 3.4 assists). Zuri joined the 1,000-point club (1,211 career points) this season while helping lead the Lady Eagles to the Class AAA state championship over undefeated and defending state champion Washington County. She is joined by Columbia teammates Ebony Johnson, Kadeeja Vaughn and Victoria Gonzalez. Also on the team is the countys leading rebounder Tenisha Wallace (16.3 rebounds) of Martin Luther King Jr. and her teammate Amber Mendez, who averaged 14.1 points per game along with 3.1 steals and 3.4 assists. Class AAAA state runner-up Southwest DeKalb is represented by guard Nekia Sockwell (10.1 points per game) and Jasmine Coleman (7.7 points, 6.6 rebounds). Stephensons Joylyn Stroud (10.2 points, 8.0 rebounds) helps solidify the post for Frosts All-Stars. Breedloves All-Stars includes three players in the 1,000 career point clubChamblees Lucy Mason (1,444) and Breana McDonald (1,498), and Stone Mountains Chara Reeves (1,179). Mason led the county with 19.4 points per game followed by McDonald with 18.3 and Reeves tied for third with 16. McDonald also averaged 10.7 rebounds per game along with 3.3 steals and 3.5 assists, while Mason contributed four steals and 4.7 assists per game for the Lady Bulldogs, who finished 27-3 on the season. Class AAAA state champion Miller Grove has its lone senior Tabitha Fudge (8.7 points, 7.3 rebounds) on the team. Miller Groves Sharman White and Southwest DeKalbs Dwayne McKinney will be the boys all-star coaches. White led the Wolverines to their fourth straight Class AAAA state championship in March while Southwest was the runner-up. The two leading scorers for the McKinney All-Stars are Aquavious Young of Cedar Grove (20.8 points per game) and 1,000-point club member Derek Harper of Stephenson, who averaged 19.1 points per game and totaled 1,289 career points. They are joined by a pair of forwards from Class AAA state champion ColumbiaJarmal Reid (11.3 points) and Chris Horton (10.3 rebounds, 6.1 blocks). Also on McKinneys team are Southwests Kadarius Turner and Justin Hollimon, who both played key roles for the Panthers in the tournament. Whites All-Stars are led by a contingent of players from Miller Grove and Martin Luther King Jr. Brandon Morris (10.9 points, 8.1 rebounds), Christian Houston (8.1 points, 5.2 assists, 3.1 steals) and Justin Colvin (9.6 points, 4.0 assists) were all starters on the Wolverines state championship team. The Lions all-stars include Tivius Guthrie (13 points, 6.5 assists) Johnny Garvin (10.5 points, 8.0 rebounds) and DeAires Tate (10.7 points, 8.0 rebounds). NOTE: Some of the top seniors are unavailable due to Georgia High School Association rules that limit players to participation in two allstar games.
Down the stretch
Sports
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State baseball playoff spots up for grabs in final week of season

the state playoffs. St. Pius currently is in second place behind Woodward Academy and Arabia Mountain, which beat St. Pius earlier in the season, is tied for fifth. The Rams had a five-game winning streak snapped April 13 in a 12-0 loss to Woodward but should make the top six. With the redrawn schedule in 6-AAAA, even sixthplace Southwest and eighthplace Lakeside have a shot at the top four. Southwest played April 18 at Marist, then faces Lakeside, Mays and Miller Grove to close out the regular season. If we can close it out like we played the last three or four games, Ill be totally happy, Southwest coach Tyrus Taylor said. Weve played a lot of onerun games, so weve had a chance in just about every game weve played. Dunwoody, Redan and Chamblee have the best chances to finish among the top two and earn the right to host a first-round playoff series. Its been a little more balanced and competitive this year, Dunwoody coach Chan English said. Its more competitive and exciting. You cant take anybody for granted. One loss can really mess you up as far as seeding goes. Pitching has been the strength of the top three teams in Region 6-AAAA this season. Chamblees Patrick Gaulden won two games April 9-13 and raised his record to a county-best 8-1. James Cunningham and Logan Elliot have been strong for Dunwoody, and Wesley Jones has kept Redan in the hunt. Were very deep pitching-wise and I think our pitching can hold people down, English said. That will be a big part of how we finish the year and how we do at state.
Marists Devin Kalil attempts to turn a double play April 13 during Marists 10-0 win over Tucker in a Region 6-AAAA game. Photo by David Sibley
by Robert Naddra robert@dekalbchamp.com Without the presence of a dominant team in Region 6-AAAA, coaches are finding the battle for the four state playoffs to be more fun this season. Marist, the two-time defending Class AAAA state champion, lost 15 seniors from last years team and is in fifth place in the region.
Dunwoody, Redan and Chamblee are all 9-2. Miller Grove and Marist have three region losses and Southwest DeKalb is in sixth place with four region losses. The final two weeks of the season consist of a redrawn schedule that will help determine the four state playoff teams in the region. The regular season ends April 25. Within the top seven
or eight teams, anybody can beat anybody, Chamblee coach Brian Ely said. Its interesting and exciting. No one team is dominating like Marist has been the past couple of years. Last weeks games provided a good example of the balance in the region. Southwest DeKalb, which had beaten Marist earlier in the season, beat Dunwoody 5-4 on April 13, and beat Lakeside 5-4 in 12 innings on April 10. Region 5-AAA has a similar format to determine its playoff participants. The top two teams play each other to determine the region champion, and both automatically qualify for the state playoffs. The thirdthrough sixth-place teams play two games to determine the other two spots. St. Pius and Arabia Mountain have the best chances among schools in DeKalb County to make
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Local News
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Public invited to comment on Sheriffs Office during law enforcement reaccreditation process
The DeKalb County Sheriffs Office (DKSO) will undergo an on-site review for reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA) April 22 - 25. The public is invited to provide comments regarding the Sheriffs Office services during a public information session Monday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. The session will be held at the Decatur branch of the DeKalb County Public Library, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. The CALEA assessment team will also accept comments by telephone at (404) 298-8146 on Monday, April 23, 1 - 3 p.m. Written comments should be mailed to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, VA 20155. Public comments at the information session and by telephone will be limited to 10 minutes per speaker or caller and must address compliance with CALEA standards by the agencys Field, Court, and Administrative Services divisions. Citizens may obtain a copy of the tutes a stringent peer review. undergo a reassessment once accreditation. standards at the Sheriffs Accredited agencies must every three years to maintain Office or by contacting accreditation manager Melissa Manrow at (404) 298-8183. (9 a.m. to Noon) Included in the Sheriffs Office are Field Division employees, including uniformed deputy sheriffs, plain clothes deputy sheriffs/investigators as well as those in the Fugitive Unit, the Domestic Violence Unit, the Sex Offender Registry Unit, the Warrant Learn everything you need to Unit and the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) know to plan the perfect Family Team. Reunion. DeKalb Convention & The Court Services Division provides security for the Visitors Bureaus Reunion DeKalb County Courthouse Specialist will share tips on how complex. This division also monitors the activities of to plan and organize your family bonding companies serving gathering. DeKalb County. The Administrative Services Division provides such areas of support as human Courtyard Marriott Atlanta Decatur Downtown / Emory resources, fiscal affairs, supply, information systems and 130 Clairemont Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 mail processing. Call 770-492-5050 ext. 1181 The DeKalb County Sheriffs Office achieved Pre-registration is required CALEA accreditation in July 2000 and was reaccredited in 2003, 2006 and 2009. A CALEA examination consti-
FREE Family Reunion Planning Workshop
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Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker

and Stone Mountain.

WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 VOL. 15, NO. 4 FREE

A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS

HYIS SHE HAPPY ?

Medlock Park and baseball help bond Decatur community

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Grand jury considering Andrea Sneidermans role in husbands killing

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Breathing while Black

Decatur High student spends week living as Muslim woman

The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012

Occupy Atlanta activist arrested in south DeKalb

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012

Residents express concern over proposed DCSD calendar changes

The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012

Students working to save history in Lithonia cemetery

The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012

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April 19, 2012

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 20, 2012

New charter school slated to open in south DeKalb