COBB
Mediator will be called on road widening issue
The Marietta City Counci on Wednesdayl decided to hire a mediator to resolve a 12-year, road-widening issue between the city and Roswell Street Baptist Church.
The church did not agree to the city’s $365,000 offer for property the church owns and Marietta wants to widen Roswell Street from Victory Drive to Cobb Parkway to four lanes.
City attorney Doug Haynie and the church’s attorney Fred Bentley agreed to call a mediator within 10 days.
Tucker McQueen for the AJC
Town Center at Cobb gets ‘Kids Fit’
Town Center at Cobb will host “It’s Kids Fit” 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the upper level of the J.C. Penney wing. A special Kid’s Tae-Bo class will be led by Tae-Bo creator Billy Blanks.
The event will showcase many local fitness programs with schools offering free mini classes and demonstrations, prize giveaways, fitness trivia and samples of healthy snacks.
In between workouts, children will enjoy playing interactive games from XBOX and GameStop, and surprises from NFL Play60. Information: tinyurl.com/b3hu826.
Kenneth Musisi
Hand-made fabrics sought by museum
The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art invites the community to donate hand-made fabrics to be included in an installation on the front of the museum. The deadline for entries is June 1 and the big installation will be revealed July 6.
The museum will accept several pieces such as granny squares, scarves, doilies, afghans, practice pieces and more. All ages are encouraged to get creative and participate. Donations can be dropped off at the museum or sent by mail to 30 Atlanta Street, Marietta, GA 30060.
Free workshops for kids will be 6 p.m. Feb. 7, 2013. Make reservations by calling 770-528-1444 ext.16. Information: www.mariettacobbartmuseum.org.
Kenneth Musisi
Marietta school honored for academics
The Marietta Sixth Grade Academy, was recently named an Effective Middle School Program by the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals. The award recognizes schools with academic success based on state and federal standards.
“The professionalism and dedication to educational excellence of the administration, teachers and support staff at MSGA continues to prepare our students for the next level of academic achievement for life success,” Marietta superintendent Emily Lembeck said in a statement.
Daarel Burnette II
Quilt shop moves into historic building
Kiwiquilts has moved into the space formerly occupied by the Country Store of Seven Springs at 4455 Marietta St. in Historic Downtown Powder Springs.
The quilt shop’s new home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Butner-Mctyre General Store and also is the home of the Southern Quilt Trail - now in five counties.
Information: southernquilttrail.com, tracey@kiwiquilts.com or 770-243-3749.
Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC
GWINNETT
House fire displaces Buford residents
A fire displaced six residents and caused heavy damage to a house Thursday morning in the 3100 block of Seneca Farm Lane in Buford.
The car apparently started in the garage around 10:13 a.m. and spread to the second floor and attic before Gwinnett County firefighters could bring it under control at 10:54 a.m. Three children and three adults were displaced. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the blaze is undetermined.
Andria Simmons
Digital marketing firm expands in Buford
An expansion by digital marketing and design firm Red Clay Interactive will bring 25 new jobs to Buford, plus another 25 over the next three years, the company announced this week. Founded in 2000, the company serves clients across metro Atlanta and around the country, creating social media campaigns and programming mobile applications.
David Wickert
Craft fair Saturday in Norcross
Gwinnett County will host a holiday craft market from 10 a.m. to 3 pm. Saturday at Pinckneyville Park Community Recreation Center, 4650 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Norcross.
The free event will feature a children’s craft room, pictures with Santa and vendors selling jewelry, pottery and other items. Information: 770-417-2200.
David Wickert
Operation Appreciation hosts fundraiser
Operation Appreciation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Georgia Guard, will host a Remembering Hannah One-Mile Fun Run and Walk-a-thon 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Rhodes Jordan Park, Lawrenceville.
Event registration will be 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Family activities and entertainment will be featured. Tickets: $35 Fun Run or Walk-a-thon; $50 for both; and $10 Cornhole single game.
Proceeds benefit Mark Rinehart, a Georgia Army National Guard soldier and South Gwinnett school teacher. Rinehart’s wife Hannah was a three-time cancer survivor who died Sept. 5 from a rare bacterial infection.
Information: tinyurl.com/bu3btyo.
Kenneth Musisi
Ballet opening doors to new facility
The Gwinnett Ballet Theatre invites the public to celebrate the opening of its new state-of-the-art studio, 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at 1800 Macleod Ave., Lawrenceville.
A ribbon-cutting begins at 5 p.m. followed by food and fundraising. The event is free, but registration is required.
Information: 770-237-0046.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Events join America Recycles Day
Saturday marks the 15th America Recycles Day. Participate at one of two Gwinnett events: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Recycling Bank of Gwinnett, 4300 Satellite Blvd., Duluth, or 9 a.m. to noon at Coolray Field, 2500 Buford Dr., Lawrenceville.
Information: americarecyclesday.org/join-event.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
NORTHSIDE
Woodstock economic development head leaving
Woodstock’s economic development chief is leaving after 7 years. Billy Peppers will become a special assistant with the Community Development and Finance Division of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs on Dec. 3.
Peppers says he’ll focus on downtown development and finance, searching out “best practices” and different ways to market the agency’s services in those areas to local communities.
Peppers has been with the city since September of 2005.
Mark Woolsey for the AJC
Man who shot wife fires defense attorney
Michael Parson, the man accused of shooting his wife eight times outside of the couple’s Sandy Springs apartment told a judge Wednesday he had fired one attorney and hired another.
Parson, 42, allegedly shot his wife, Adina Parson, on April 20 just steps away from the front door of the apartment where the two lived. Adina Parson, 40, an attorney with the state’s Department of Public Health, was critically injured, but survived and continues to recover. Court documents revealed that despite being married, Michael Parson was leading a double life that included being engaged to another woman.
Those allegations came as a shock to those closest to the couple, including Michael Parson’s mother, who has said the couple seemed happily married.
Alexis Stevens
Farmers’ Market hosts “Bring It Home” event
The Forsyth Farmers’ Market hosts this year’s last “Bring It Home” Fall Field Day event Saturday featuring a market scavenger hunt, sack races, and freeze tag.
The Forsyth Farmers’ Market takes place 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the South End of Forsyth Park.
Information: www.forsythfarmersmarket.com.
Kenneth Musisi
Recycling Center hosts Shred Event
The Roswell Recycling Center will host a Shred Fest event 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Fire, Transportation and Public Works Building, 1810 Hembree Road.
There is a limit of five boxes or 200 pounds per vehicle.
Information: 770-442-8822 or www.keeproswellbeautiful.org.
Kenneth Musisi
Milton High School hosts Holiday Bazaar
Milton High School will host the fourth annual Holiday Bazaar 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the school cafeteria at 13025 Birmingham Highway, Milton.
The event will feature more than 60 local vendors, raffles, and unique gifts.
Proceeds benefit the Parent Teacher Student Association Scholarship Fund.
Information: Jane Stuetelberg at jstuetelberg@yahoo.com or Jennifer Zielinksi at jla5@att.net.
Kenneth Musisi
Storytelling session Saturday in Woodstock
A group of Woodstock natives will share stories of the city’s past, with a focus on the historic train depot as it turns 100 1 p.m. Saturday at the Woodstock Visitors Center, 8588 Main St.
Mark Woolsey for the AJC
ATLANTA
Principal’s son pleads guilty to stealing pay
Eugene B. Wimby Jr., the son of a former Atlanta school principal, was sentenced this week to three years in prison after pleading guilty to collecting his father’s retirement pay after the elderly man died.
Prosecutors said he stole $53,525.95 in payments the Teachers’ Retirement System of Georgia had sent to a checking account belonging to his late father, Eugene B. Wimby Sr., former principal of East Atlanta High School.
The elder Wimby died in September 2008. He had been receiving retirement paychecks since 1982 and had given his son control over his checking account.
The judge commuted Eugene B. Wimby Jr.’s three-year sentence to the 120 days he had already served and ordered the balance to be served on probation. Wimby also was ordered to pay $49,829.13 restitution to TRS.
Christopher Seward
APS meets on alleged ethics violation
The Ethics Commission of the Atlanta Board of Education will convene 9 a.m., Friday, Nov. 16, in the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Conference Room of Atlanta Public Schools headquarters at 130 Trinity Ave., Atlanta, to decide whether to investigate an alleged ethics violation by a board member.
APS has not revealed the name of the board member who may be investigated. The Commission may enter into closed session to begin an investigation if needed.
Jeffry Scott
Fundraiser for at-risk youth set for Saturday
The Community Council of Metropolitan Atlanta, a nonprofit organization, will present the Soulful Interludes Cabaret 8 p.m. Saturday at the Ivy (Kappa Omega) Foundation Center, 3850 Stone Road SW, Atlanta. The reception and refreshments will be 7:30 p.m.
The evening will feature live entertainment and a silent auction. Proceeds will benefit programs for at-risk youth and inner city males.
Tickets: $30 per person. Purchase online at tinyurl.com/alzyrkc.
Information: 404-935-5859.
Kenneth Musisi
DEKALB
DeKalb schools audit back under wraps
An audit of the DeKalb County schools that Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson withheld from the public and then released online is back under seal. The Nov. 8 KPMG draft audit appeared on the school system website Wednesday, but by Thursday it had been quietly removed. When asked why, district spokesman Jeff Dickerson said, “KPMG lawyers demanded it.”
School lawyers had advised Atkinson that the document was “privileged” from disclosure under Georgia law, but the Georgia First Amendment Foundation disagreed, saying open records law trumped such privacy claims. Atkinson temporarily posted the document online after media reports about the contents of a leaked copy.
Ty Tagami
Decatur approves funding for renovation
The Decatur school system will pay the entire $5.9 million, the cost for its portion of the Beacon Hill renovation, under the city’s financing program. The school system had considered using $2.9 of SPLOST proceeds for the project, but the school board decided this week to save the SPLOST money to fund some of the system’s other projects. Superintendent Phyllis Edwards estimates it’ll take 25 to 30 years to pay off the debt. Renovation of the old Beacon Hill site begins in January, with the system’s new central office scheduled to be finished by May, 2014.
Bill Banks for the AJC
DeKalb hosts local Adoption Day event
The county will participate in National Adoption Day today, with a ceremony finalizing adoptions in Superior Court.
Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams will oversee the adoption ceremonies at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 5D of the county’s courthouse on North McDonough Street in Decatur. A celebration will follow in the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Dr. Information: 404-687-3873.
April Hunt
Brookhaven leader honored byYMCA
The Metropolitan Atlanta YMCA has named a Brookhaven leader its volunteer of the year.
Kim Gokce, founder of the Cross Keys Foundation, was honored for his work to bring YMCA-managed soccer and educational programs to the area of Cross Keys High School.
April Hunt
Synagogue conducting “food stamp challenge”
Members of Congregation Beth Shalom are taking part in the national Food Stamp Challenge that encourages people to live on $1.50 per meal or $31.50 for a week’s food. The event, which runs through Nov. 17, is designed to draw attention to the 15 percent of Americans living below the poverty line.
Information: 770-399-5300 or office@bshalom.net.
April Hunt
Oral art of storytelling coming to Decatur
The Southern Order of Storytellers hosts a Tellabration 8 p.m. Saturday at the Friends School of Atlanta, 862 S. Columbia Dr. National teller Andy Offutt Irwin and Georgia storytellers Betty Ann Wylie and Alice Henry are featured.
Tickets: $15, can be purchased online. Parking is free.
Information: 404-626-4453 or www.SouthernOrderOf Storytellers.org.
Veronica Fields Johnson
SOUTHSIDE
Henry NSP to showcase 100th house
Renovations are complete on the 100th home purchased under Henry County’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The public is invited to tour the house, 109 Sycamore Walk, Stockbridge on Dec. 8 and learn about other NSP properties. Asset managers and mortgage lenders will also be on hand to pre-qualify applicants.
Henry County received over $6 million in federal and state funding since starting the NSP in 2009. The program has purchased 126 homes and sold 110. Information: www.henrycountynsp.org.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Legal costs top $200K in harassment case
Sexual harassment allegations made against Fulton County Attorney David Ware have already cost taxpayers more than $200,000, documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request show. County commissioners said they are convinced the charges are bogus, and they agreed to Ware’s recommendation to hire the law firm Greenberg Traurig to represent him.
Three women — a former staff attorney, a former paralegal and Ware’s former executive assistant — filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta last week. Legal bills going back to May show Greenberg Traurig has billed at an average rate of about $313 per hour. The county has paid almost $206,000, and the firm has billed for nearly $35,000 more, the documents show.
Johnny Edwards
Holder joins Piedmont Henry
Virgil Holder is the new senior director of human resources for Piedmont Henry Hospital’s Business Partner Office. He has held several key leadership roles in Piedmont Healthcare since joining that organization in 2008 and previously spent 25 years at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Information: piedmonthenry.org.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Fayette extends superintendent search
Fayette County Public Schools is extending the deadline for applications to be the next superintendent. The Board of Education voted Monday to make Jan. 31 the cutoff for submissions, since the official brochure announcing the position is just now being finalized for circulation. Dr. Jeff Bearden’s departure is effective Dec. 31.
Jill Howard Church for the AJC
Peachtree City police to host toy drive
The Peachtree City Police Department hosts its Light Up the Night toy drive on Nov. 26 in the Peachtree City Walmart parking lot. Future dates are Nov 27 and 28, Dec 4-6, and Dec 10-12. All donation times are 5 to 9 p.m. Volunteers will accept unwrapped, new toys, and cash donations. Donations also may be made at the Peachtree City Police Department, 350 South Hwy 74, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Information: Captain Stan Pye, spye@peachtree-city.org or 770-487-8866.
Tammy Joyner
Hapeville museum seeks stories
The Hapeville Depot Museum seeks Hapeville High School yearbooks as well as stories about living in Hapeville now and in the past.
Information: Charlotte Rentz at historichapeville@comcast.net.
John Thompson for the AJC
