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Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
See Atkinson on Page 17ASee Chef on Page 17A
by Kathy Mitchellkathy@dekalbchamp.com Often youngsters complain of thefood at summer camp, but campersat special sessions on Emory Univer-sity’s campus this summer will havelittle right to gripe since they will be preparing the food themselves.In a new summer camp optionthis year, youngsters ages 5 through17 not only will have the opportu-nity to pick up some cooking skills, but will be taught about nutrition,the origins of the foods they eat andthe science and mathematics be-hind food preparation. Chef TechAcademy’s summer camp focusingon the culinary arts will operate inassociation with the Emory Univer-sity Summer Camp Programs and isoffered through the Office of EmoryConferences.“For a multitude of reasons, thisis the most exciting venture I’veever been involved with in my ca-reer,” said
Sidney Corum,
founder and CEO of Chef Tech Academy.“My goal is to spark the children’sunderstanding of how much of a rolethe critical elements—math, science,technology and communicationskills—play in their development aschefs and leaders in our communi-ties.”Beginning June 4, Chef TechAcademy will offer four weeklysessions for children in three agegroups: 5-10, 11-14, and 15-17.Campers may attend one, two, threeor all four sessions.At Chef Tech Academy children
will be working with chefs certied
by the National Restaurant Associa-tion’s ServSafe program for a thor-ough and professional introductionto the culinary arts. Each day camp-ers will prepare dishes ranging fromsalads to entrees and desserts. Theywill be taught about food safety,kitchen skills and food science.Corum said every meal the stu-dents eat at camp they will preparethemselves. “That’s the fun part,” hesaid. “Then we will deconstruct the
meal mathematically and scienti-cally. We’ll talk about how we gure
how many ounces of a food we needto prepare a certain number of serv-ings, for example.”In addition to the lessons on theEmory campus, campers will taketrips to local culinary arts schools,working farms such as Serenbe, andfood distribution sites such as theDeKalb Farmers Market and Geor-gia Farmers Market. They will ex- perience sustainable farming, com-
Summer camp goes culinary
Atkinson’sformer districtstill struggling
by Robert Naddrarobert@dekalbchamp.com
T
he former school dis-trict of DeKalb CountySchools superintendent
Cheryl Atkinson
is op-erating under awarning by thestate of Ohio anda $12 million
decit.
The LorainCity SchoolBoard in Ohiovoted March 29to approve a planto cut 182 positions within thedistrict—51 teachers in grades1-12; 10.5 kindergarten teachingspots; 21 non-classroom teach-ers because of cuts in grants; and100 support staff and administra-tive jobs.The Ohio Department of Education has placed the district
under scal caution, according to
Ohio DOE spokesman
Patrick Galloway
. There are three scal
categories in which a district can
be placed and scal caution is the
least serious, Galloway said.“It requires them to work
closely with our nancial spe-cialists and to address a ve-year
forecast that creates responsiblespending,” Galloway said.Lorain interim superintendent
Ed Branham
and school board president
Timothy Williams
didnot return phone calls requestingcomments for this article.The Lorain district has been
under scal caution since June
23, 2007, but some districts have been in the category for 10 years,Galloway said. Atkinson beganher tenure in Lorain in 2007.DeKalb County School Dis-trict spokesman
Walter Woods
defended Atkinson’s tenure inOhio in a statement.“The DeKalb County SchoolDistrict is looking forward, not backward. Our focus is on en-hancing student performancein DeKalb, not in other schooldistricts,” according to the state-ment.“In her three years in Lorain,Dr. Atkinson instituted a num-
Atkinson
Chef Sidney Corum says the focus at his culinary camp will be on preparing healthful meals.Rhea Rajkumar Smith and her husband visit Corum at an exhibit at the Mall at Stone-crest to discuss enrolling their children in Chef Tech Academy.
Page 2A The Champion Free Press, Friday, May 4, 2012
by Daniel Beauregarddaniel@dekalbchamp.comConvicted murderer andformer DeKalb County Sher-riff’s deputy
Derrick Yancey
was in court April 24 as hisattorney petitioned a judge toallow a new trial.
Yancey, 52, led a motion
for a new trial, accusing hisdefense attorneys of failinghim by not suppressing bloodspatter evidence presentedduring his 2010 trial.Appellate Attorney
Ashleigh Merchant
arguedYancey’s defense counsel wasineffective by failing to callan independent blood spat-ter expert to dispute evidence presented by the prosecutor’switness, blood spatter expert
CecilHutchins
.During the motion for a new trial,Merchant tried to present new evi-dence by another blood spatter ex- pert who planned to testify Hutchinsthat could have only obtained the in-formation for his testimony by beingillegally present in Yancey’s house.DeKalb Assistant District Attor-ney
Leonora Grant
testied that for
Merchant to call a new witness she
had to rst prove that Yancey’s de
-fense attorneys had committed an er-ror by not calling an expert to refuteHutchins’ claims—that it was not part of a planned defense strategy.“According to post-convictioncouncil and Mr. Yancey, these attor-neys should have made sure in someway or another that Mr. Hutchins’testimony was indeed not based…onthis illegal evidence but solely basedon pictures,” Grant said.During the pretrial hearing, publicdefenders
Ruth McMullin
and
Le-titia Delan
, who defended Yancey,
were called to testify and questioned by Merchant and Grant. Both testi-
ed they were working with an in
-dependent blood spatter expert at thetime of the trial who told them if hewas called as a witness he would doYancey’s case more harm than good.McMullin and Delan said the deci-sion not to call an expert to refuteHutchins’ testimony was a strategicone.Judge
Linda Hunter
, who triedthe case in 2010, said she held a pre-trial suppression hearing aboutHutchins’ evidence and it wasdetermined he could only pres-ent expert testimony based on pictures rather than what he hadseen inside the home.“I did have a pre-trial hear-ing and the appropriate time, perhaps, to have presented thatwitness would have been at thesuppression hearing …It’s justnot relevant to the fact that I didnot exclude their blood spatter experts’ testimony,” Hunter toldMerchant.“A motion for a new trial doesnot necessarily mean that youcan bring in new evidence of everything you wish you couldhave presented at the trial of thecase.”Yancey was convicted of fa-tally shooting his wife
Linda
andday-laborer
Marcial Cax-Puluc
in2008 in the basement of their homein Stone Mountain. Blood spat-ter evidence played a major role inthe case because Yancey originallysaid he hired Cax-Puluc to work onhis home and that the day-laborer robbed and shot his wife, and he shotCax-Puluc in self-defense.When police determined Yanceywasn’t telling the truth, he was ar-rested. As he was awaiting trial on bond, Yancey cut off his ankle moni-
tor and ed to Belize, where he was
arrested six months later.Hunter is expected to make aruling on the motion for a new trialwithin the next several weeks.
DCSD ovesforward wthdstrct wdereorganzaton
by Daniel Beauregarddaniel@dekalbchamp.com
T
he DeKalb County Boardof Education approved new
job classications and an
aligned salary structure for the DeKalb County School District(DCSD) at its monthly board policymeeting April 18.The move is part of Superinten-dent
Cheryl Atkinson
’s ongoing re-
organization of positions in the dis
-
trict. Under the reorganization more
than 380 job titles were consolidated
into 17 job classications, each with
an aligned salary structure that isuniform across all departments andcomparable with similar school dis-tricts.Earlier in the year the districthired Management Advisory GroupInc. (MAG) to perform a personnelaudit of every position within the
district. MAG presented its ndings
to the board in January and called
for a unied salary schedule for all
employees, as well as pay adjust-ments for certain positions. Addi-
tionally, the management rm rec
-ommended a complete restructuring
of central ofce departments.
DeKalb School DIstrict spokes-man
Walter Woods
said the reor-
ganization is, in part, a response toMAGs ndings but the district will
not implement all of its suggestions.Woods said although 380 job titleswere being condensed into 17, itdidn’t mean those not included inthe 17 positions would lose their jobs.“Many employees will be af-fected but not necessarily leavingthe district,” Woods said.
All reclassications were based
on a 239-day schedule in an effort toshow an internal relationship among positions, a press release said. Thesalary for the full range of the clas-
sications will only be earned if the
employee works a full calendar year of 239 days. Therefore, if the em- ployee’s work calendar is fewer than239 days, the salary for the positionwill be based on the actual number of days worked.
The new job classications and
salary structure are expected tosave the school district more than
$300,000 and make it more efcient.This district-wide reclassicationis the rst such effort for the DeKalb
County School District in more than10 years.
Forer deputy convcted of urdern court for new tral hearng
Derrick Yancey, a former DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy, was in court April 24 to petition Judge Linda Hunter for a new trial.Photos by Daniel Beauregard
Page 3A The Champion Free Press, Friday, May 4, 2012
Opn hous to nfo countyabout B Soon poga fo youth
N O T I C E
* * * * *Pursuant to the requirements of Part 303, Subpart A of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’sRules and Regulations (12 C.F.R. § 303.7), notice is hereby given that Community & SouthernBank
,
Atlanta, Cobb County, Georgia, has filed an application for approval to establish a branchoffice. The proposed branch office will be located at Town Brookhaven, 104 Town Boulevard, SuiteA-110, Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia 30319.Any person wishing to comment on and/or protest the application filed with the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation may do so by filing written notice with the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation, 10 Tenth Street, NE, Suite 800, Atlanta, Georgia 30309-3906, by the 15th day followingthe date of this publication. The nonconfidential portions of the application are on file at the AtlantaFDIC office and are available for public inspection during regular business hours. Photocopies of thenonconfidential portion of the application file will be made available upon request.
Mother, son pleadguilty to animal crueltycharges
A Decatur mother andson pleaded guilty April 27
in State Court to ve counts
of animal cruelty, accordingto DeKalb County solicitor general spokeswoman
EmilyGest
.The pleas came after their
fox terrier, Blaze, was found
severely emaciated with a
grapefruit-size tumor on her
stomach and another tumor in her mouth. The dog alsosuffered from periodontaldisease, Gest said.
Shirley McClain
, 58,was sentenced to 20 days in jail and was allowed to servemany of those days on week-ends.
Michael McClain
, 38,was sentenced to 45 days in jail with daily release to goto work. Both must perform200 hours of community ser-vice at the DeKalb CountySanitation Dept. and must pay $6,500 in restitution tothe American Fox Terrier
Rescue Inc., the organiza
-tion that rescued the animal
and paid for Blaze’s medical
treatment.In August 2011, a mainte-nance worker repairing a leak in the family’s apartment
discovered Blaze locked in
a bathroom, which was 83degrees. After her rescue,
Blaze endured three surger
-ies to remove the tumors, andinfected teeth and gums. The14-year-old dog survived her ordeal and has been adopted.
When she was rescued, Blaze
weighed about 10 pounds.She now weighs 18 pounds,which is a normal weight for her breed.
Cyclist dies after beinghit by pickup
A cyclist was killed after being struck by a pickuptruck on North Decatur Roadearly April 30.The cyclist,
Paul Taylor
of Atlanta, was struck just before 6:30 a.m. at 220 NorthDecatur Road, according to a press release by the Decatur Police Department.Taylor was taken toDeKalb Medical Center where he was pronounceddead.The road was closed untilapproximately 10 a.m.
DeKalb County menindicted for pimping,exploiting youth
A DeKalb County grand jury on April 26 indicted twoDeKalb County men on 18counts of pimping and ex- ploiting children.
John William Anderson
and
Darryl Bearnard Curry
are accused of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, pimping, sexual exploita-tion, false imprisonment,cruelty to children, aggra-vated assault, contributing tothe delinquency of a minor,obstruction of an officer andconspiracy to commit falsestatements.“These are very seriousand disturbing charges,” saidDeKalb County District At-torney
Robert
James
. “Our office is committed to pro-tecting the people of DeKalband prosecuting those who prey upon our youth.”The charges stems fromalleged incidents from Sep-tember to October 2011.
Off-duty police ofcer
charged with DUI afterhitting Greyhound bus
An off-duty police of
-cer was allegedly drunk anddriving the wrong way onI-85 when he crashed into aGreyhound bus at approxi-mately 5 a.m. April 26, ac-cording to police.
The driver was identied
as
Christopher Niezurawski
of the Atlanta Police Depart-ment.DeKalb County Policespokeswoman
Mekka Par-ish
said ofcers received a
report of a wrong-way driver traveling north in the south- bound lanes of I-85. Parishsaid an off-duty DeKalb
police ofcer spotted the
vehicle stopped facing thewrong way on the interstate between Northcrest Road andPleasantdale Road.
“Before ofcers could
get to the area, a Greyhound bus loaded with passengersstruck the wrong-way ve-hicle,” Parish said.Parish said no injurieswere reported on the bus.
Niezurawski had visible head
injuries and was transportedto Grady Hospital.
Niezurawski faces charges
of DUI, reckless driving andoperating a vehicle the wrongway
Crime BrieFS
Be Someone Inc. CreativeDirector
Orrin “Check-mate” Hudson
every year opens the doors of his orga-
nization to the public so that
those in the community canget a closer look at his pro-gram for youth. This year,the 10th annual “Be Some-one Day,” will be dedicatedto
Trayvon Martin
, theSanford, Fla., teenager killedearlier this year by a self-described community watchvolunteer.According to Hudson,“This incident and the mul-tiple homicides with young people against each other” prompted him to use this dayto “bring much needed atten-tion to these issues affectingyoung African-Americanmales. We need to focus onthe root causes and seeds of our community challenges.”Founded in 2001, Be
Someone is a non-prot
crime prevention programaimed at the youth of Ameri-
ca. The organization teaches
self-esteem, responsibilityand analytical thinking skillsto at-risk youth through nu-merous tools, including thegame of chess. Be Someonealso offers inspirational pro-grams for corporations and parents, designed to foster teamwork and encourage participation in the lives of children.Hudson, a former Ala- bama State Trooper,
said
that his organization is dedi
-cated to teaching life lessons primarily to young AfricanAmericans, “many of whomare at risk of violence in their lives or making poor choicesthat will not allow them toreach their full potential,” hesaid. Hudson explains thatBe Someone “is all about bridging the gap betweenignorance and knowledge.We teach ‘think it out, don’tshoot it out!’” Hudson usesthe game of chess to teachthat every move a personmakes has a consequenceand that it’s crucial to think before acting. Noting that he himself was an at-risk young personwho saw his life turn around because of a teacher whotaught him to play chess,Hudson said, “It’s payback time now.”
Hudson tells of a 17-year-old he said “could very wellhave been me several yearsago.”
Aaron Porter
was introuble and in the court sys-tem when a judge gave hima second chance by to gethis life together. ThroughBe Someone, the young man“found his second chance be-hind a chess board,” accord-ing to Hudson. “He beganto clearly see something that before was not in his thought process—the underlying principle of understandingevery choice carries with it aconsequence.”Porter’s mother,
Debora
,
said, “I’m amazed at the turn
around in my son after learn-ing a game I would havenever thought to offer him.Orrin cares for every childwho is fortunate enoughto sit down at his trainingtables.” Hudson said theyouth has not only turned hislife around but has becomean accomplished chess play-er and thinker.The open house will beat Be Someone’s recentlyacquired training center inStone Mountain. “This wasa dream come true,” Hud-son said of the facility. The2,000-square-foot facilitycontains two administrative
ofces and training space to
support up to 50 students.He said the number of young people he and his team canreach more than doubledovernight. “I want the com-munity to see what we areoffering. We aren’t playinggames here, we are savingyoung lives!”In addition to offering in-formation for the communitythe event also will includewhat Hudson said will be ex-citing “entertainment with amessage.”
Lil Jimmy
, whocalls himself the “The NewMillennium Fat Albert,” willaddress bullying and vio-lence through his program“You’re a Bully.” Magicfrom
Joe M. Turner
withTurner Magic Entertainmentand music by gospel record-ing artist
Arthur Reed
and
James Lawrence
, “ThePiano Man.”The Be Someone openhouse will be Saturday, May5, 1 – 4 p.m.
The center islocated at 949 StephensonRoad, Stone Mountain.For more information, visitwww.besomeone.org.
Hudson
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