Community News

ATLANTA

Morris Brown College water bill due today

It’s the $64,000 question —- will Morris Brown College be able to pay its past-due water bill today?

Last month the financially troubled college raised $150,000 for a partial payment on its $214,000 bill. Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management agreed to wait until today for the rest.

Bunnie Jackson Ransom, a spokeswoman for the college, said Wednesday, “phones are ringing, people are negotiating, and we hope to be able to make the payment.”

Water service was temporarily discontinued in December, and a campus building recently was sold at a foreclosure auction.

—- Gayle White

Hotel complaints lead to two ‘escort’ arrests

Police arrested two women last week in an undercover sting prompted by complaints that patrons at a hotel in Buckhead were being solicited for illegal sex acts.

Caprice Evan, 19, of DeKalb County and Brandi Moody, 18, of Atlanta were arrested March 11 on charges of escorting without a permit, a misdemeanor, according to an Atlanta police report.

Patrons had complained that they were being solicited as they came to and from the hotel in the 3300 block of Peachtree Road.

An undercover Atlanta police officer contacted the two women through the Web site Craigslist.com, the report said. They agreed to meet at the W Hotel. At the meeting, the women asked the officer for $300 in cash for an hourlong session, the report said. Once the money was exchanged, the women began to take off their clothes and dance, the report said. Uniformed officers came into the room and arrested them.

—- Tim Eberly

Police: Revenge likely motive in man’s killing

Police suspect revenge as a possible motive in the slaying of a man in northwest Atlanta late Tuesday.

Atlanta police dispatchers said the shooting happened just after 10 p.m. in the 400 block of James P. Brawley Drive.

Ricky McCray, 23, of Conley, in Clayton County, was standing on a street corner at James P. Brawley and Neal Street when he was shot, police said.

No arrests had been made by Wednesday afternoon.

—- Mike Morris

Also …

> NAACP meeting: Atlanta’s branch has a kickoff general membership meeting, 6-7:30 p.m. March 26 at VICARS Community Center, 850 Cascade Road. Details: 404-755-4101.

—- John Hollis

COBB COUNTY

Newborn found at hospital entrance

People already are calling about how to adopt a newborn abandoned Tuesday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.

The baby girl is in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A member of the hospital staff found the infant about 4 a.m. in a wheelchair near the emergency room entrance. Police said the medical staff found the baby to be in good health and had estimated her to be three hours old.

Police are trying to locate the mother. Under Georgia’s safe haven law, mothers can leave newborns up to 7 days old with employees of hospitals and other medical facilities and will not face prosecution. The law requires the mother to supply proof of identity and a name and address.

Anyone with information about the child’s parents is asked to call Marietta police at 770-794-2363.

—- Kent A. Miles

Smyrna man sought in molestation, exposure

Smyrna police are seeking a parolee accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl and exposing himself to woman at a car wash.

Daniel Dewayne Buckner, 27, was released from prison in January 2008 after serving time for forgery, terroristic threats and acts and drug possession, said Smyrna police Detective Cleveland McDuffie.

On Feb. 21, police say, he approached the teen as she waited in a car for relatives outside an adult video store on South Cobb Drive. He allegedly groped her and stimulated himself. He was captured on the store’s surveillance video.

Then on March 5, Buckner is suspected of exposing himself to a 47-year-old woman at a carwash off South Cobb Drive. Police say he drove up behind the woman’s car at 4:30 p.m., made a comment about her body, then exposed himself. The victim got his license plate number, which led police to a home in Smyrna where Buckner lives with his mother, McDuffie said. When police arrived to arrest him, he was not there.

Anyone with information is asked to call Smyrna police at 678-631-5166 or 770-434-9481.

—- Rhonda Cook

Marietta school board votes for salary freeze

Marietta Schools Superintendent Emily Lembeck said she doesn’t want to require teachers to take two days without pay.

But the contracts for the next school year make it clear it could happen if budget woes continue. School administrators could face up to five furlough days.

The board voted 7-0 Tuesday night to approve a salary freeze as a cost-saving measure. The district previously announced it would eliminate 58 full-time positions, including 38 teachers next school year.

The district, like others in metro Atlanta, plans to increase class sizes, meaning fewer teachers will be needed. The district also plans to eliminate 39 certified part-time employees as part of a plan to cut more than $3.2 million in personnel costs.

—- Alexis Stevens

Subcontractor sued in construction accident

One of the subcontractors in last year’s collapse of a skywalk under construction at Atlanta Botanical Garden is being sued in Cobb County State Court over a 2007 workplace accident.

Smyrna-based Pioneer Concrete Pumping Service Inc. is the defendant in a suit filed March 5 by Juan Manuel Cuevas. Mark’s Foundation Inc., an Alpharetta firm that Cuevas has worked for, also is suing Pioneer.

According to the lawsuits, Cuevas was at a work site in Woodstock on March 9, 2007. A worker for Pioneer was operating the concrete pouring tube when it malfunctioned, knocking Cuevas off a wall and injuring him, according to court papers.

The lawsuits seek unspecified damages. Mark’s Foundation is seeking to recover from Pioneer what it paid Cuevas in workers’ compensation benefits.

Pioneer Concrete was one of three subcontractors hired to build Canopy Walk, an elevated walkway at the botanical garden. Work crews were pouring concrete for the walkway on Dec. 19 when it collapsed, dropping workers to the ground. One man died and 18 were injured.

—- Kent A. Miles

Also …

> Coffee talk: Marietta schools Superintendent Emily Lembeck will host “Coffee Talk” at 7 tonight at the Marietta Sixth Grade Academy, 340 Aviation Road S.E. The informal discussion is open to the community.

—- Alexis Stevens

DEKALB COUNTY

Consultant, attorney elected in Lithonia

An advertising consultant and an attorney have been elected to round out the City Council in Lithonia.

With only 12 percent of registered voters turning out in Tuesday’s special election, Al T. Franklin, 32, and Deborah Jackson, 56, were the two top vote-getters from a field of four, according to unofficial results from the DeKalb County Office of Voter Registration and Elections.

Franklin captured 70 votes, or 31 percent of those cast. Jackson, an attorney, beat out construction worker Ric Dodd by just one vote, 58-57. Tax examiner Tabitha Wingo came in fourth with 34 votes.

Franklin and Jackson will fill the unexpired seats of Tonya Peterson and Linda Pruett, both of which expire on Dec. 31. Peterson gave up her seat to run successfully as mayor, while Pruett resigned in late December.

—- April Hunt

Also …

> Centenarian: Sunday will be “Alexandra Borowsky Day” in Dunwoody, in honor of the first centenarian in Georgia’s newest city. Borowsky was born on March 22, 1909, in the Ukraine and worked as a missionary before settling in Dunwoody.

—- April Hunt

FULTON COUNTY

Sheriff sends assault claim to U.S. attorney

Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson has referred allegations that a detention officer stuck a handcuffed inmate to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias for investigation.

The detention officer, Denita Shaw, has been reassigned to a section of the jail where she is not in contact with inmates, pending the outcome of an internal-affairs investigation, Deputy Tracy Flanagan, spokeswoman for the sheriff, said Wednesday.

Flanagan declined to describe the extent of the inmate’s injuries.

—- Steve Visser

GWINNETT COUNTY

Improvement districts to detail tax requests

Representatives from three community improvement districts will draw up detailed plans for projects before asking the Gwinnett County Commission to sign off on tax allocation districts.

County planning director Glenn Stephens said the three CIDs will work with his office to present commissioners with specifics about the goals they hope to achieve with tax funds if the TADs are approved.

The county had tabled the CIDs request to form TADs last December, stating that the plans appeared too big. The commission will be able to review proposed projects before granting the CIDs request to form the taxing district, Stephens said.

—- Patrick Fox

Duluth seeks public aid to balance budget

Duluth, whose revenues have plummeted amid the economic downtown, is turning to residents for help by forming a citizens budget committee.

City Administrator Phil McLemore, in a letter posted on the city’s Web site and sent to various groups, said the city seeks volunteers to review the city’s finances and recommend ways to balance the budget.

The city, with an operations budget of $18 million, faces a revenue shortfall of $2 million this year, with projections of a $4 million shortfall for 2010, McLemore said.

The first meeting is scheduled 7 tonight at City Hall.

—- Shane Blatt

Also …

> Suwanee Day: The 2009 Suwanee Day festival is accepting exhibitor applications at www.suwaneeday.com. The festival, which drew 30,000 last year, seeks craftspeople, artists and food vendors for the Sept. 19 event. Deadline is June 1.

—- Shane Blatt

GREATER ATLANTA

Orlando pilot makes crash landing in lake

A Florida man crash-landed his airplane in Lake Arrowhead in Cherokee County on Wednesday afternoon and barely got his feet wet, authorities said.

The pilot, identified as 39-year-old Alan Ray Jordan of Orlando, was heading from Calhoun to Lawrenceville when his single-engine plane started having trouble at 12:53 p.m., said Sgt. Jay Baker, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

A fisherman, Adrian Stanfill, 26, of Auburn, Ala., dropped his line and sped over to the plane, in time to reach Jordan as he walked out onto the wing of the Diamond DA 40, Baker said. The plane then sank 70 feet to the bottom of the lake. FAA investigators were sent to the scene.

—- Nancy Badertscher

Moody’s: Riverdale finances strong

Moody’s Investors Service signed off on Riverdale’s new City Hall project and said the city’s finances are strong.

Moody’s issued Riverdale, Clayton County’s second-largest city, an A2 bond rating for the city’s finances and an A3 for the city’s $20.9 million bond project, the city announced this week. Standard & Poor’s also issued Riverdale an AA-.

“This is our first independent bond rating. It means we are very credit-worthy,” City Manager Iris Jessie said Wednesday.

According to a Moody’s report, the ratings are based on the city’s diverse and built-out tax base, sound financial position and manageable debt burden.

The $20.9 million bond issue is for the first phase of the Town Center. The project, which also includes a community center and amphitheater, is slated to open in spring 2010 on Church Street.

—- Megan Matteucci

Clayton Commission approves fifth judge

The Clayton County Commission has unanimously approved adding a fifth State Court judge.

The request now goes to the General Assembly, which is expected to approve the request. If approved the judge could start in Clayton July 1, court administrator Yolanda Lewis said.

Clayton’s four State Court judges say justice is slow in Clayton because of a backlog of court cases. A study conducted by the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts shows the Clayton County State Court’s four judges handle the work of 9.47 judges.

The judge and his staff, including prosecutors, clerks and sheriff’s deputies, are expected to cost about $697,900. However, the additional judge is estimated to bring in $764,994 in fines for the county and will pay for itself, according to Chief State Court Judge Harold Benefield.

—- Megan Matteucci