April Hunt

Local news reporter

April Hunt covers DeKalb County government and general assignment politics. She joined the AJC in 2008, after working eight years at the Orlando Sentinel in Florida.

Latest from April Hunt

Secret recordings key in Ellis case

The evidence against indicted DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis includes more than 1,450 audio files, and there are 37 potential witnesses in his public corruption case.District Attorney Robert James gave the evidence to Ellis’ defense team late Friday, according to court filings. The disclosure confirms secret recordings by and about ...

Clean-up for South River planned

Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Environmental Protection Division will join forces to conduct a cleanup along the South River on Oct. 18.Additional volunteers are needed for the event, which begins at 9 a.m. and will focus on the two miles between Panola Shoals to Panola Mountain ...

DeKalb lawmakers to host youth town hall

State lawmakers from DeKalb County will host a youth town hall on Oct. 22 to help young residents voice their concerns.The event runs from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Lou Walker Senior Center, 2538 Panola Road, near Lithonia. All county youth are encouraged to attend.

Grant will help buy vests for Brookhaven cops

Brookhaven has won a U.S. Department of Justice grant to help buy 55 bulletproof vests for its police force.The $14,260 award covers about half the cost of the gear, designed to protect officers on duty. According to the Justice Department, at least 33 officers’ lives nationwide were saved in 2012 ...

DeKalb holds class Thursday for code enforcement volunteers

DeKalb County will train resident volunteers to help identify and report code violations in a two-hour class that begins at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Maloof Auditorium in downtown Decatur.The Neighborhood Ambassador program will include information such as an overview of code violations and DeKalb’s illegal sign ordinance.Volunteers are needed ...

Tucker to fund cityhood study

Tucker Together has become the latest cityhood group to raise enough money to fund a study to determine whether it should become a new city in DeKalb County.Group director Michelle Penkava said the group reached its $30,000 goal in just one month and will soon hire the Andrew Young School ...

DeKalb asks community to help with code sweep

DeKalb County is asking community groups to help with its Sick of Signs code sweep on Oct. 19.The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon countywide, is designed to remove illegal signs from the roadways. Residents and businesses can pick up supplies to help with the effort between Oct. ...

DeKalb parks group meets Wednesday

The committee that helps DeKalb County decide how to spend its parks bond funds will meet Wednesday.The Parks Bond Advisory Committee and Initiative for a Green DeKalb Advisory Council meeting will include an update on recreation programs.The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gresham Recreation Center, 3113 Gresham Road, ...

DeKalb Police patrolling differently

New borders for DeKalb County Police began Oct. 1, which more officers working in the east and central areas of the county.The county closed its north precinct in Dunwoody this summer. The 28 officers who had patrolled that area – including the cities of Dunwoody and Brookhaven – have been ...

New Watershed director starts in DeKalb

In the midst of controversy of how the county’s water/sewer department handles contracts, a new Watershed director has started work.James Chansler, an engineer who served as chief operating officer of Jacksonville, Florida’s water/electric utility, was named to the post in July but did not begin work until the last week ...