Community News

ATLANTA

Hearing set today on school merger plan

Atlanta school leaders will hold three more public hearings this month on a proposal to close two elementary schools and merge two others at the end of the school year. Blalock and Williams elementary schools would close because nearby Bankhead Courts and Bowen Homes housing developments are shutting down. The district would merge Hope and Hill elementary schools because of declining enrollment and place all students at Hope.

Blalock Elementary scheduled hearings for today and Jan. 22 both at 6 p.m. at the school, 1445 Maynard Road.

Hill and Hope elementary schools already had one hearing and planned another Jan. 29 at 6 p.m., at B.E.S.T. Academy, 320 Irwin St.

The district already held two hearings at Williams Elementary.

—- Laura Diamond

City agency offers free income tax work

The Atlanta Workforce Development Agency is offering free income tax preparation for individuals or couples who earn less than $39,000.

The offer is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, at the agency’s headquarters, 818 Pollard Blvd.

Residents must bring photo identification and Social Security cards for everyone on the return. They must also have W-2’s, 1099 forms and all other forms reflecting earned income, plus the name of their child care provider, bank account and routing numbers on any official document.

For more information, go to www.atlantaworkforce.org.

—- Eric Stirgus

CLAYTON COUNTY

Ice rink comes Friday to Clayton State

Clayton State University’s new ballroom will turn into an ice rink Friday.

But instead of flooding and freezing the ballroom, a new plastic ice rink will be temporarily installed in the Morrow university’s student activities center, said Lakiesa Cantey, the university’s assistant director of campus life.

“It’s a heavy duty plastic that resembles ice. You actually use real ice skates,” Cantey said.

Ice skating will be held from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday in the ballroom and is open to the public. It is free for students and $2 for everyone else. The university will also have free skate rentals.

—- Megan Matteucci

COBB COUNTY

School board selects chairman, vice chair

John Abraham is the new chairman of the Cobb County school board. Fellow board members selected Abraham at Wednesday’s work session.

Abraham, whose post includes Kell and North Cobb high schools, began his first term on the board in January 2007.

School board newcomer Lynnda Crowder-Eagle was chosen as vice chairwoman. Crowder-Eagle, a former teacher and principal, represents northwest Cobb schools. She was elected to the school board in November, taking over the post held by Lindsey Tippins, who did not seek re-election.

—- Alexis Stevens

Rockbridge Road to close for months

Cobb DOT is closing Rockbridge Road to through-traffic between Bells Ferry Road and Cedarbrook Drive for nearly five months beginning today.

The closure is necessary for the replacement of a bridge across Noonday Creek. Rockbridge Road will reopen to through-traffic June 4.

Drivers heading south on Bells Ferry Road will detour past Rockbridge Road to Cottonwood Drive, turn left and continue to Cedarbrook Drive, make a left and continue to Rockbridge Road.

Westbound drivers heading to Bells Ferry from Rockbridge will turn left on Cedarbrook Drive, then right on Cottonwood Drive.

—- Kent A. Miles

Superintendent sets construction priority

Ninth-grade centers at South Cobb and North Cobb high schools and a new facility for East Side Elementary are the school district’s top three construction priorities, Superintendent Fred Sanderson told the school board Wednesday.

A new five-year special sales tax began Jan. 1, and board members want to get started on projects affecting the most students.

The board voted 6-1 to solicit bids, but didn’t rule out the possibility of creating a department to manage future construction projects in-house. Previously, the Smyrna-based Facility Group handled construction management for the district, but that company recently sold its k-12 education wing.

Some board members believe managing the projects in-house would be cheaper. Sanderson estimated that creating a department could delay projects by a year.

—- Alexis Stevens

Also …

> Donations: A “Totes 2 Tots” drive to provide foster children with new or nearly new backpacks and kid-sized suitcases will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday. Georgia Cancer Specialists, a private medical oncology/hematology practice, is sponsoring the seventh annual drive at 1700 Hospital South Drive, Austell and 340 Kennestone Hospital Blvd., Suite 100, Marietta. The Cobb medical offices are among 25 collection sites in the state. Last year, the group distributed close to 12,700 bags.

Tucker McQueen

DEKALB COUNTY

Expanded middle school draws protest

More than a dozen parents at this week’s Decatur city school board meeting expressed concerns for a plan that could move fourth- and fifth-graders to the city’s lone middle school.

Parents worry about having the younger students on the same campus as older students, and said the campus itself would grow too big. The board could vote on the plan in March, but board members said they have not formed an opinion and were open to suggestions.

The move would help the system weather an expected increase in students, particularly in elementary grades. According to system officials, the number of students in kindergarten through eighth grade is expected to grow over the next four years from 1,897 to 2,388.

Fourth- and fifth-graders now attend classes in Glennwood Academy. If the plan proceeds, Glennwood would teach kindergarten through third grade.

—- Kristina Torres

Boyken to give reports on Dunwoody projects

Boyken International, which is helping Dunwoody start operations as Georgia’s newest city, must now give a monthly update on its work.

The first report, which will cover the bulk of the firm’s $575,000 contract, will be given at the Jan. 26 City Council meeting and cover all costs and work from October to Dec. 31. In that time, the firm helped the city find a temporary City Hall in Sandy Springs, advertised for core positions such as city clerk and finance director and handled bids from companies wanting contracts to run city functions such as public works and community development.

The firm is working to help the city find a permanent City Hall and is overseeing a central policy and procedure book for Dunwoody, said city manager Warren Hutmacher. Hutmacher said he expects the firm to bill only for about $400,000 of its contract, since much of the work has been done.

Boyken must deliver reports during the first meeting of every month, beginning in February, for the previous month’s expenses. The City Council has until the 15th of each month to cancel its contract with Boyken.

—- April Hunt

Search continues for teen missing a month

Police are asking the public for help in their search for a missing DeKalb County teenager.

According to DeKalb County police detectives, 13-year-old Andrea Lois Key was last seen Dec. 10 at home. She had been “communicating online with an unknown male,” they said. She was last seen wearing a red shirt and dark blue jeans.

Police described Key as a black female, with black hair and brown eyes. She is 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. Anyone with information about Key should contact the police at 770-724-7710.

—- Kristina Torres

FULTON COUNTY

Sandy Springs weighs changes to sign law

The city of Sandy Springs is considering several revisions to its sign ordinance, some of which could include new rules for apartment complexes that want to advertise vacancies. City staff initially recommended apartments be allowed to install temporary signs if they had vacancy rates of 10 percent or less.

In a work session Monday, several council members disagreed. “They don’t need signs if they’re 90 percent occupied,” said Councilman Rusty Paul.

The ordinance changes will be considered by the council at a later date.

—- Mary MacDonald

Centennial High mag wins national award

The literary and art magazine at Fulton County’s Centennial High School has received a Gold Medalist rating from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for its 2007-2008 issue.

The Gold Medalist rating is the highest given out by the Columbia University-based organization, which annually critiques and rates student publications across the United States.

Centennial’s magazine, Avalon, is designed and produced by students. The award-winning issue was published last April.

—- Nancy Badertscher

GWINNETT COUNTY

Chiropractor gets 3 years in fraud case

A Norcross chiropractor is headed to federal prison after he admitted defrauding insurers out of $1.2 million, authorities said.

Stephen Catterton, 39, was sentenced Wednesday to 3 years and 1 month in a penitentiary for health care fraud and illegally possessing testosterone with the intent to distribute.

In 1998, Catterton opened two clinics, Catterton Chiropractic and Citadel Healthcare Group. By 2006, the FBI determined that he had overbilled various healthcare programs.

In some instances, Catterton billed for advanced procedures when his patients only received massages, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said in a statement. As part of a plea agreement, Catterton was ordered to pay full restitution to the companies he defrauded.

—- Bill Rankin

Lilburn department outgrows City Hall

One Lilburn city department, squeezed “like sardines” in City Hall, is moving out.

The Planning and Economic Development Department has outgrown its office of less than 400 square feet in the Calvin Fitchett Municipal Complex, Director Doug Stacks said.

“I’m sharing an office with two code enforcement officers,” he said.

The four-member department will occupy its new home at 98 First Ave. beginning in mid-February. The city purchased the 2,000-square-foot house for $120,000 and is in the process of renovating it, Stacks said.

This year, the city is expected to build a new City Hall that would be double the size of the 16,000-square-foot municipal headquarters. The planning department would move into that building when it’s complete.

—- Shane Blatt

Commission chair to give State of County

Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister will deliver the annual State of the County address at a luncheon today at Gwinnett Center in Duluth.

The chairman will provide an overview of the county’s efforts in economic development, revitalization, public safety and transportation at the event.

Tickets for the luncheon are sold out.

—- Patrick Fox

VFW honors deputy for court security

Gwinnett sheriff’s Deputy Barbara Sharpton has been named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5255 for her discovery of a gun inside a briefcase at a courthouse screening station on Sept. 10.

According to Sheriff’s Department spokesperson, Sharpton was working at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center when she discovered that a Hoschton man had a gun inside his briefcase. He did not have a license for the gun and he was arrested.

“Because of Deputy Sharpton’s attentiveness and professionalism in handling this incident, she helped curtail a potentially dangerous situation that could have jeopardized every person in the courthouse,” said Maj. Carl White, who supervises courthouse security.

—- Andria Simmons

Teacher of year earns national art award

Gwinnett County School’s Teacher of the Year Aimee Burgamy has received a national award for her work with art students. Burgamy was honored with the 2009 Outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor Award. The art club award was presented by the National Art Education Association . Burgamy, a former college professor, is a fine arts teacher at Trickum Middle School. She joined the faculty in 2005, and was named Gwinnett County’s top teacher in November.

—- D. Aileen Dodd

GREATER ATLANTA

Henry County leader speaks on jobs future

Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis, the new chairwoman of the Henry County Board of Commissioners, told anxious local Henry County business leaders Wednesday afternoon that Henry must bring in more businesses and white-collar jobs.

In her first State of the County address, she challenged county leaders to remain positive .

“In order to overcome obstacles, we must view them as opportunities,” she said.

“This economic crisis is forcing us to do some new things.”

Mathis proposed economic incentives —- perhaps in the form of tax breaks —- to lure more businesses and white-collar jobs to the sprawling Southside county.

She also suggested the construction of a 130-mile fiber-optic cable system infrastructure, at an initial cost to the county of as much as $10 million. Those costs, she said, could quickly be recouped by what the county saves by severing ties with other carriers.

Also, Mathis announced plans for a 1,000-space parking lot for the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority buses on Jodeco Road. Construction is to begin this summer.

—- John Hollis