Community News

Atlanta

$11.5 million donated toward Grady upgrades

The Greater Grady Campaign has received an $11.5 million boost.

The donations —- from three Atlanta-based companies and an anonymous donor —- will help drive a five-year plan to modernize health care delivery at Grady, according to Grady Health System. The corporate donors are Georgia Power Co., $3 million; Cox Enterprises (which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), $2.5 million; and Georgia-Pacific, $1 million. The anonymous donor contributed $5 million.

The money will be used for improved equipment, information technology and facilities.

With the $11.5 million donations, the campaign has raised $265 million toward the overall $325 million goal, according to Grady. SHELIA M. POOLE

Security guard killed by gunshot to chest

A security guard was shot and killed early Monday behind a northeast Atlanta massage parlor. The shooting happened shortly after 1 a.m. outside the Gold Spa on Piedmont Road at I-85 when the victim, a security guard whose name has not been released, went out to investigate a suspicious person behind the business.

Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows told WSB that the guard died from a gunshot to the chest.

“At this point, we have not been able to determine if there was in fact an exchange of gunfire,” Meadows said. MIKE MORRIS

Motorcyclist dies in I-285 accident

A motorcyclist died early Monday when he wrecked his bike on I-285 in southeast Atlanta. The incident happened about 12:30 a.m. on I-285 westbound at Jonesboro Road.

Atlanta police spokesman Otis Redmond said the motorcyclist “struck a bridge abutment and was killed instantly.”

The identity of the man killed was not immediately available. He was not carrying identification when he wrecked, Redmond said. Authorities shut down the westbound lanes of I-285 until about 2 a.m., diverting traffic off the interstate at Moreland Avenue. MIKE MORRIS

Cobb

Acworth * Austell * Kennesaw * Mableton * Marietta * Powder Springs * Smyrna * Vinings

Bridge in battlefield to close for repairs

A bridge within Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park will close in mid-July for repairs.

The bridge at Old 41, which runs over CSX Railroad between Stilesboro and Greers Chapel roads, is expected to reopen in November.

For information, call the Cobb County Department of Transportation at 770-528-1600.

RALPH ELLIS

Building officials honor Marietta employee

The Building Officials Association of Georgia has named a city of Marietta employee the Building Official of the Year.

Hal Cosper, Marietta’s chief building official, was honored for promoting the building industry, the association and his community. BOAG, established in 1958, has more than 190 members representing local government building code officials.

RALPH ELLIS

DeKalb

Avondale Estates * Chamblee * Clarkston * Decatur * Doraville * Dunwoody * Lithonia * Pine Lake * Stone Mountain * Tucker

Avondale Publix still needs financing

The developer of a proposed Publix and condo complex in Avondale Estates is still seeking funding for the project.

Century Retail told city leaders they remain committed to the project, a makeover of the city’s downtown, as soon as they can secure financing.

The company has spent about $13 million so far on the project. It needs another $2 million in financing to complete the steel frame on East College Avenue and Maple Street, where Finders Keepers consignment shop is relocating as part of the project.

APRIL HUNT

DeKalb Medical gives nurse rare board post

The DeKalb Regional Health System has added a nurse to its hospital board, making it one of the few boards in the nation to include nurses in such a leadership role.

Susan Parry, a registered nurse and former vice president of patient care services, began her three-year term earlier this month. She is the first nurse on the board that helps govern DeKalb Medical Center and its patient care. APRIL HUNT

Fulton

Alpharetta * Chattahoochee Hills * College Park * East Point * Fairburn * Hapeville * Johns Creek * Milton * Palmetto * Roswell * Sandy Springs * Union City

East Point hosting fireworks celebration

The East Point Main Street Association is putting the final touches on the only Fourth of July fireworks show in the Tri-Cities area of south Fulton County.

The “Salute to the Red, White and Blue” runs 4-10 p.m. July 4 in the downtown commons area of East Point. Streets in the downtown area will be closed off for the event.

East Point and College Park are helping to sponsor the holiday party, which also features an artist market, daylong entertainment and free children’s activity area.

Local singer Tabitha King will take to the stage at 6 p.m. The 911 band follows at 8 p.m. A 25-minute fireworks show begins at 9:30 p.m. over the East Point Green.

Parking will be available on some city streets, though revelers are encouraged to take MARTA if possible. The commons area is two blocks from East Point’s MARTA station.

For more information, visit www.downtowneastpoint.com.

APRIL HUNT

Gwinnett

Berkeley Lake * Buford * Dacula * Duluth * Grayson * Lawrenceville * Lilburn * Norcross * Snellville * Sugar Hill * Suwanee

Weekend house fire under investigation

Gwinnett County firefighters still are trying to determine what caused a fire that destroyed a two-story house at 3986 Oak Glenn Drive in Duluth over the weekend. A neighbor called to report the residence was on fire about 11:50 p.m. Saturday, said Gwinnett fire Capt. Thomas Rutledge.

Firefighters arrived to find a heavy fire burning on the first and second floors into the attic. The blaze gutted the home before fire crews could bring it under control at 12:34 a.m. Sunday. No one was home and no injuries were reported. ANDRIA SIMMONS

Suwanee OKs measures for green certification

Suwanee is taking its green effort to the next level.

The Suwanee City Council recently adopted policies to help the city earn certification through the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Green Communities Program. Those policies include turning off city vehicles, lights and equipment when not in use, and providing bicycle racks at city-owned facilities.

Established in 2008, ARC’s program urges local governments to reduce their environmental footprint. Suwanee hopes to obtain certification by year’s end.

Roswell, Dunwoody and Norcross also are working toward certification. SHANE BLATT

Sugar Hill holds the line on property tax rate

For the eighth consecutive year, the Sugar Hill City Council voted to hold its tax rate steady.

Despite an anticipated tax revenue drop of 3 percent, the council voted to keep the city’s millage rate at 3.8 mills, the rate it was decreased to in 2001.

“We’ll just tighten our belts and do things a little better and a little smarter,” City Manager Bob Hail said. “I think holding the line is a good thing to do.” SHANE BLATT

Greater Atlanta

Cherokee * Clayton * Coweta * Douglas * Fayette * Forsyth * Henry * Paulding * Rockdale

Phone call can arrange van ride in Coweta

Coweta County’s Dial A Ride program will begin transporting residents Wednesday. The program provides transit services to business, commercial and activity centers in the county.

To schedule a trip, call 770-683-7433 at least 24 hours in advance. Trips are $3 per one way trip. Trips must be within Coweta County and between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The van will come to any Coweta address to pick up or drop off.

Coweta eventually will have five 13-passenger vans, two of which will be equipped with a wheelchair lift.

Three of the vans are on hand for the program’s kickoff, and two more will arrive in the next 60-90 days. The operation of the program is handled by Quality Trans Inc., a third-party contractor already operating in Coweta County.

State

Carriere, Primm named to arbitration body posts

The Georgia Supreme Court has appointed DeKalb County State Court Chief Judge Edward E. Carriere Jr. to a five-year term on the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution.

The court tapped Edith B. Primm, the chief of an Atlanta-based international dispute resolution agency, to lead the commission.

Primm, executive director of the nonprofit Justice Center of Atlanta, becomes chair of the commission two years after she was appointed to a five-year term on the agency.

Carriere has been a state judge since 1998 and a Decatur Municipal Court judge since 1986, and is a former president of the Council of State Court Judges.

The dispute resolution commission oversees mediation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution services offered through the courts. TY TAGAMI

Stimulus for MARTA pumps up state ranking

Georgia is well above average in the amount of mass transit it’s funding so far as opposed to roads with transportation stimulus dollars, a pro-transit organization has found. It wasn’t planned that way: It’s all because of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s emergency transfer of $25 million to MARTA.

The group that did the survey, Smart Growth America, only looked at road money that states and metro areas have the option of diverting to transit, said Jim Durrett, director of the Atlanta-based Livable Communities Coalition. The study didn’t look at the millions of dollars that the federal government sent directly to mass transit programs throughout the country, including MARTA.

For the money local leaders control, Georgia’s total for mass transit so far would be at zero without the ARC’s $25 million for MARTA, but the $25 million puts Georgia at 4.6 percent for transit out of the total road pot so far, the study said. The national average for transit was 0.9 percent.

MARTA plans to pay the ARC back with $25 million in transit-related projects, like sidewalks.

The state Department of Transportation controls the majority of the road dollars, but metropolitan planning organizations like ARC get a chunk. Georgia was also above average with sidewalk and bicycle projects.

ARIEL HART

CDC relieved Tamiflu resistance limited

For the first time, a case of swine flu has proven resistant to Tamiflu —- the leading pharmaceutical weapon against the new virus, international health officials said Monday. The resistance was seen in a patient in Denmark who has recovered.

“The goods news is they just found one,” said Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It appears the strain developed in a patient who was taking the drug to prevent illness, and it has not spread to others. That’s a much better scenario than if the patient had not been taking Tamiflu and picked up a drug-resistant strain already spreading through the public, said Bridges, associate director for science in the CDC’s influenza division.

ASSOCIATED PRESS