inDECATUR

It's great to be "in Decatur" Georgia

inDECATUR© (copyrighted as shown) is about a little 4.2 square mile gem, with a population of about 18K, just six miles from the heart of metro Atlanta, a multi-county SMSA with over 5 Million people (9th largest in the US). Decatur is a bustling, Inside The Perimeter (I-285) community retaining a friendly, small town atmosphere. It is in demand as a place to live, work, shop, eat, drink. and play. This is the oldest active blog [started 8/6/07] and most prolific blog [averaging 6.9 posts/day] which actively covers it.

Comments are encouraged. Just don't type anything you wouldn't want your grandmother or a kid to read.

Use inDECATURga.US to get here. Dave Kell, the editor, can be reached at dav3kell@gmail.com.

More about inDECATUR and the City of Decatur in the continuation

DHS wins, and we all win, in Dearboorn Park Renewal

More than thirty DHS students participated in the Dearborn Park Renewal Day. Most of the students belonged to either the DHS Close Up Club or the DHS Bulldog 13 (made up of 9th grade students). 

The DHS Bulldog 13 team, led by Mr. Beau Dominguez, won $100. This will become part of the 9th grade donation to be given at the end of the year to a local charity. The DHS Close Up Club won $200 that will be used to help pay for a day trip to the Gettysburg battlefield during our week in Washington, D.C. 

The DHS Close Up Club dedicated their efforts in memory of Allan Calloway, a DHS and GA. Tech graduate who volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War. Mr. Calloway lost his life in that conflict. Through our work today, we honored his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all the veterans from the City of Decatur.

 
 

Wine flows in Decatur square

Pour it on! Share your experiences.

 

Tasting imported wines for the Decatur Arts Alliance

A good crowd showed up for the wine tasting at the Grange last evening.

Artie Macon served nine imported Banfi wines. The Grange furnished tasty tidbits. The cheese balls were delicious.

 

Things you should know about Pelosi's health care bill

Regardless of where you stand on the bill the Democrats will attempt to push through today (if they have the votes), here are some things you should know about i.

Call or e-mail your representatives today, telling them where you stand.

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

Beef bistro sandwich at Leon's

I had the beef bistro sandwich, an arugula salad, and a red wine at Leon's last evening:

 

The sandwich was tasty, but not filling, as I didn't eat all the bun. The salad was good. The wine was OK. Not a bad meal for twenty bucks.

I don't like the practice of adding on sales tax. I prefer that be embedded in the menu price, as is more common in these parts.

This is not as bad as another place a few blocks to the west which charges both sales tax and liquor license tax on top of the menu price, or the Joyce in Avondale which tacks on 10% and calls it sales tax.

Your opporuntity to see inside the mysterious Masonic Lodge

I was born here over 64 years ago and have yet to step inside this beautiful building. It's about time!

From Melissa Forgey

 

Crime stayed mostly on west side of Decatur in October

This map covers crimes reported from 10/6 through 11/1. The assault (A) in the lower right was in November. The burglary at 200 E. Ponce on 10/18 appears to be the only crime east of an imaginary N-S line draw through the intersection of Church and Ponce.

I'm not trying to make any point nor draw any conclusion from this. I don't know what to make of it. Maybe it's just coincidence. It's just an observation.

 

from CrimeReports.com

Report on "Peer Support and Recovery Respite Center" at 444 Sycamore Dr.

The City staff prepared and presented a preliminary report to the City Commission, as requested in the previous meeting, regarding the Peer Support and Recovery Respite Center (called the "Peer Support and Wellness Center" on its webpage) at 444 Sycamore Drive.

The report can now be downloaded in pdf format from this city webpage.

Key conclusions:

"Family personal care homes are allowed to operate in R-60 zoning districts."

"It does not appear that walk-in services as described in the contract are allowed in any residential zoning district."

The City staff has requested the parent organization provide additional information by 11/25/09, after which it will do further analysis and recommend specific courses of action in a future Commission meeting. [No action was taken Monday.]

The staff will review the Fair Housing act and feels "it is very likely we will need specialized legal advice..." to avoid violating a federal law.

To fully understand the report, you should download and read it.

If you're just learning about this, see an earlier post for more background and many spirited comments. 

Let's PLEASE see if we can discuss the issues directly, and not try to read the minds of others to determine the motivations behind what they say. Just so you know, I'll be moderating the comments to this post, and will strike any part of a comment attacks or tries to analyze the motivations of others.

In the continuation is the 8.5x11 pink sheet which was left in some (but not all) neighborhood mailboxes prior to the last DHNA meeting, to support a comment.

Terrific Thursdays begin tonight

This year, the pedicabs will be on hand to take shoppers/diners between merchants.

See the City's webpage for details.

 
 

This is not a paid ad.

Federal "Race to the Top" grants come with strings attached

By Greg Toppo, USA Today

It's relatively small by Washington standards, but the Obama administration's $4.35 billion carrot for schools is already leading states to adopt a handful of key reforms.

Tucked into the $110 billion federal stimulus slated for education, a comparatively tiny grant known as the Race to the Top requires that states that want the money must commit to closing historic achievement gaps and getting more kids into college – but they also must show that they're attending to a few nitty-gritty details that President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan believe are important, including:

•Tying teacher and principal pay – and school assignments – to student test scores.

•Adopting internationally benchmarked academic standards.

•Turning around their lowest-performing schools.

•Building long-term student tracking systems.

•Loosening legal caps on the number of charter schools that states allow each year.

Dearborn Park Renewal competition Saturday

Teams compete for prize money by uprooting invasive plants in one of our local community parks. Officials from DeKalb County and the City of Decatur will judge the quality and quantity of work done to each group’s designated work space.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 am to 12:30 pm* (Registration: 8 to 8:15 am)
Food and live entertainment follow the work session.

For more details and to sign up, visit the website.

DHS will re represented

Mr. Billingsley reports Decatur High School is planning on having two teams at Saturday's Dearborn Park Renewal Day, a DHS Close Up team and a FX (9th grade) team.  The CU team will use any prize money to provide scholarships for our Washington, D.C trip.  The FX team will donate any prize money to a local charity. 

In addition, the DHS Close Up Club is setting up another "Rake&Run" service project for November 14 from 9:00 until 4:00.  A team of students and adult chaperons will come to your Decatur area home, rake and bag leaves, mulch plants, and clean gutters.  This is a free service project but donations will be gladly accepted.  The CU Club is trying to raise funds to take a trip to Gettysburg while we are in Washington, D.C.  Our Close Up trip is scheduled for April.   Please send an email to cbillingsley@csdecatur.net if you are interested.

One of four Grady "super centers" will be in southeast DeKalb

By Greg Schneider, AJC

Grady Memorial Hospital officials have backed off from closing two of three neighborhood health centers that were slated for closure while embarking on a multimillion-dollar plan to create four new community health "super centers," officials said Wednesday.

In creating the new health centers, Grady CEO Michael Young said he wants to counter the reputation that neighborhood centers have as being "small, half-baked" clinics that hand out piecemeal care to the poor. He hopes the new centers will offer patients a wider array of services, draw more paying patients, and keep people from seeking everyday care in Grady's emergency room.In creating the new health centers, Grady CEO Michael Young ... hopes the new centers will offer patients a wider array of services, draw more paying patients, and keep people from seeking everyday care in Grady's emergency room.

The super centers will be located in north Fulton County, south Fulton County, southeast DeKalb County and the east side of Atlanta.

Can't wait for Saturday's wine tasting?

Get started earlier with a pre Wine Festival Wine Tasting at the (soon to be renamed) Grange.

Friday November 6 – Pre Wine Festival Wine Tasting – 7pm
Assortment of wines hand picked by local industry veteran Artie Macon
8 wines and some light apps- $15
proceeds to benefit Decatur Arts Alliance 

Call 404-270-9950 to rsvp

Facebook event page

Tips for this weekend's wine festival

By Jamie Gumbrecht, Inside Access

There’s the obvious stuff: it’s a fund-raiser for the Decatur Arts Alliance, and in its eighth year, it’ll feature more than 350 wines and food from local restaurants. Organizers recommend you use MARTA — just hop off at the Decatur station stop, and you’re there.

But for the real wine info, I direct you toward the Random Oenophile blog, where an experienced festivalgoer explains how to enjoy yourself without offending everyone around you. Her blog is fun to read regardless, but this offers the goods on which wines to leave for last and how to keep the taste lines moving, and the wisdom of a “two sip, three strike” rule.

Good to see RO get linked, and Carl in the photo.

Picked up my ticket for $31 and change at Decatur CD yesterday, but got a $40 ticket from Decatur's finest for parking in a delivery/pickup spot. Ouch!

Slideshow from Decatur voting and partying

 
 

Here's a 5-minute slideshow with random shots from the voting experience and several campaign parties. It was faster to make a video than to crop, resize, and label all the photos.

What do you think of Valarie's new do?  Check out the photo of her with her sister. Valarie won by only 26 votes, which shows how critical one's vote can be.

Included is a one-minute clip of 11-year-old Sydney Rhame (who will still be 11 until next July, her mother Julie told me) performing at Steinbeck's. I must have liked it, as I accidentally included it twice.

I accepted a few too many free drinks, but I prudently walked home.

Random shots from Decatur, GA voting and partying 11/3/09 from Dave Kell on Vimeo.