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WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012 VOL. 15, NO. 5 FREE

FREEPRESS A PUBLICATION OF ACE III C OMMUNICATIONS

y Daniel [email protected]

Ona sunny Sat-urday morn-ing residentsand volun-

eers crowded into the WyldeCenters garden. It was EarthDay weekend and peoplebusied themselves weedinglants, and building garden

beds and picnic tables.The Wylde Center, for-

merly known as the OakhurstCommunity Garden Project,was getting ready for its big

Earth Day celebration the nextday. In addition to helping thecenter prepare for its celebra-ion, 40 volunteers from ICFnternational and the Decatur

Farm to School Initiative wereworking on projects for localelementary schools.

Were building gardenbeds for the 4/5 Academy,which doesnt have a gardenyet. Well be having a follow-up day to install them in thegarden at the school, and workwith some kids to put in thedirt and plant some things,

aid Katherine Falen, one ofhe founders of the DecaturFarm to School Initiative andan employee of ICF Interna-ional.

The Decatur Farm toSchool Initiative is an organi-zation led by parents, teach-ers, school administratorsand community members.The initiative works to con-nect schools with local farms,erve healthful meals inchool cafeterias and improvetudent nutrition. Decatur

Farm to School works hand-n-hand with City Schools of

Decatur (CSD).Falen said volunteers were

also building picnic tables forhe 4/5 Academy, a schoolerving all fourth and fifth

graders in the CSD system.Every year around Earth Day,Falen said, ICF has a corpo-ate volunteer day, and sincehe was one of the founders of

Decatur Farm to School Initia-ive, associates decided to vol-

unteer with her at the WyldeCenter.

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Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.

Forty volunteers filled the grounds of the Wylde Center (formerly Oakhurst Community Garden Project)April 21 to celebrate Earth Day. The volunteers, from the Decatur Farm to School Initiative and ICF Inter-national, built picnic tables and raised garden beds to donate to City Schools of Decaturs 4/5 Academy.Additionally, volunteers helped out around the Wylde Center weeding invasive plants and turning compost.Photos by Daniel BeauregardSee Farm on Page 13A

Volunteers come together to support sustainability, farm to school initiatives

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Page 2A The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012

Emory University to focus on renewing two communities

Accused rapist pleads not guilty, awaits trial

Individuals who are compleng a teacher preparaon program by August 1, 2012 and havepassed all GACE assessment tests

Individuals who hold dual/mulple teaching content cercaons (i.e. Middle Grades L/A andSocial Studies)

District-wide pre-screening interviews will only be oered to cered teachers who meet the aboverequirements.

Please bring copies of your resume, ocial transcripts, GACE scores, and/or a copy of yourprofessional cercate.

YOU MUST HAVE A COPY OF YOUR DOCUMENTS TO INTERVIEW.

The DeKalb County School District is seeking Highly Qualied CERTIFIED Teachers.This Cered Teacher Career Fair is open to those individuals who meet the following requirements

Individuals who hold a professional teaching cercate in specied content areas

DeKalb County School District2012 Cered Teacher Career Fair

Lithonia High School 2440 Phillips Road Lithonia, GA 30058May 5, 2012 9 a.m. 1 p.m.

If you aended a previous job fair in Spring, 2012 and received a pre-screening interview, you

do not need to aend this Cered Teacher Career Fair.

Early Childhood (P-5)Gied Endorsement

Early Childhood Middle Grades

Math (4-8)Science (4-8)

High School

Math (6-12)Science (6-12)Family & Con. Science (6-12)Tech. Ed. (6-12)

K-12

ArtESOLMusicSpanishSpecial Ed (w/content)

y Andrew [email protected]

Since 1975, DeKalb County has used federalunding for various neighborhood projects suchs constructing swimming pools, paving streets,

home renovation and constructing senior hous-

ng, and community and recreation centers.These are great uses of the funding from the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel-opment (HUD) to develop viable urban commu-nities, said ChrisMorris, DeKalbs human andommunity development director.

But the county needs to do something differ-ntly, she told community leaders April 19.

Why arent these neighborhoods revital-zed? Morris asked. Why dont we havetronger neighborhoods everywhere in DeKalb

County?When you drive through our neighborhoods,

do you see strong, sustainable neighborhoodsonsistently all over DeKalb County? Morrissked. I am hoping everyone realizes we needo do something a little differently in order to

have a greater impact with our neighborhoods.Morris introduced the DeKalb Sustainable

Neighborhoods Initiative (DSNI), a pilot pro-gram that will foster a collaborative, community-ased approach to improving the quality of life in

DeKalb neighborhoods.Morris said the initiative, once approved by the

Board of Commissioners, will be part of the ve-year plan, the county submits to HUD.

The countys department of human and commu-nity development and its partner, the Emory Uni-versity Ofce of University-Community Partner-hips, has identied seven candidate areas for theilot program: Clarkston, Columbia, Cross Keys,

Lithonia, McNair, Stone Mountain and Towers.These areas, based on county school district

clusters, were identied because of their eligibil-ity to use resources available through the countysHUD-funded programs, Morris said.

These communities will be narrowed down totwo areas that will participate in the pilot program.The nalists will be selected based on their abilityto leverage their community assets and collaboratewith businesses, agencies and organizations that

share an interest in the community to develop acomprehensive approach for improving their neigh-borhoods.

To vie for a spot in the pilot program, candidatecommunities must prepare a letter of intent.

Michael Rich,director of the Emory UniversityOfce of University-Community Partnerships, said

the letter is not a formal proposal, but a narrativedocument that describes the communitys com-mitment, its leadership team, top three pressingneighborhood issues and a proposed early actionproject that demonstrates the communitys ability towork together.

The letters of intent are due May 10 and the -nalists will be selected later that month.

Richsaid the current way that many commu-nities address community development is with amultiplicity of programs that are focused on asingle issue.

We see a problem, we convene a task force andwe create a program, Rich said. You have all thisparticularized fragmentation that makes it very dif-cult to pull the resources together to holisticallyaddress a problem.

The new paradigm of collective impact isrecognition that, if we are holistically going to ad-dress our communities and make them stronger,we need to work together, we need to have a com-mon vision, we need to draw on the strengths of theneighborhoods, Rich said.

This is not a study, Morris said. We want todevelop plans that we can actually work with. Wewant to be able to leverage all the funds that we canto make a difference.

We can always do projects and initiatives,Morris said. Were trying to have a greater im-pact.

by Andrew [email protected]

A Decatur man chargedwith raping three women andassaulting two others late lastyear waived arraignment incourt April 19. His attorney

will file mo-tions in thecase beforeApril 29.

GaryWendaleMincey, 35,of Decatur,was indictedby a grandjury in Feb-

ruary on three counts of rape,wo counts of aggravated as-

sault, four counts of armedrobbery, ve counts of falsemprisonment, two counts of

aggravated sexual battery andone count each of burglary,robbery and aggravated sod-omy.

Mincey allegedly stalkedhis victims at a Publix gro-cery store and at nightclubs,according to the county dis-rict attorneys office.

Gary Mincey pleaded notguilty and waived arraign-ment at todays hearing, saidDeKalb District Attorney

Robert James. My ofcewill diligently work to bringjustice for all the victimsinvolved in these heinouscrimes.

Mincey was arrested byDeKalb County Police De-partment officers on Dec. 1,2011, after detectives inves-tigating the crimes observeda car fitting the descriptionof the suspects vehicle nearFlakes Mill Road.

According to the indict-ment, Mincey allegedly as-saulted or raped five womenbetween Oct. 16 and Nov.29, robbing them of money,jewelry, keys, cell phones andother electronics.

Mincey allegedly used aknife, Taser or handgun ineach of the crimes.

According to a police de-partment statement, Minceyfollowed a woman fromthe Publix grocery store onFlakes Mill Road to her homenear Columbia Drive.

According to the investi-gation, as the victim unloadedher groceries from the car,Mincey entered her homethrough the garage and thensexually assaulted and robbedher of personal belongingsincluding a cellphone and

Mincey

laptop.Following the assault, he

fled in a dark SUV and thevictim contacted the police,

according to the police state-ment.

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Page 3A The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012

County to savemoney by turning

trash to gas to cashby Andrew [email protected] County bolstered its

claim of being the greenest urbancounty in America with the openingApril 16 of its $9 million renewablefuels facility at the countys landfill.

Were a little bit greener, saidDeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis.

The facility, which took less thanix months to construct, converts the

gases that build up during the agingprocess of a landfill into renewablenatural gas. Some of this gas will be

urned into compressed natural gasCNG) which will be used to fuel

CNG vehicles.For years weve been burning

most of this gas in generators andweve been sending the resultingelectricity over to Georgia Power,Ellis said.

Initially, the countys sanitationdepartment will convert 70 vehicleso run on renewable natural gasRNG) produced by the renewable

energy facility. The countys goal iso replace or convert the entire eet

of 306 sanitation vehicles to run onnatural gas.

There will be reduced emissionshere at Seminole and everywherehese vehicles are on the road, Ellisaid.

The yearly environmental im-pact to air quality will be the sameas taking 30,000 passenger cars offhe road, said BurkeBrennan, the

countys chief communications of-ficer.

The project is funded in part bya $7.8 million U.S. Department ofEnergy grant made to Clean CitiesAtlanta through the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Actfederal stimulus program.

There are already facilities in

our country that convert landfill gaso fuel and pump it into vehicles onite. There are also facilities that

provide landfill gas and pump it intonatural gas pipelines for consumer

use. In DeKalb County, were thefirstto do both, according to Ellis.

Ellis said that once the facilityis fully operational in six to eightweeks, DeKalb County would havethe capacity to process more landfillgas than any other county in Georgiaand the facility will help the countyto reduce the rising cost of fuelingcounty vehicles.

The county estimates that $3million will be saved over the nexteight years and the county will makemoney from the CNG it sells to thegeneral public, Ellis said.

Ted Photakis, a senior accountexecutive with Energy SystemsGroup, the company that designedand will operate the facility, saidthat since the landfill is permittedthrough 2091, there could be a 100-year supply of methane fuel.

As long as this plant is run-ningitll be running 24/7itlleither be saving the county moneyon fuel costs or itll be bringing inadditional revenue, Photakis said.

Renewable energy creates jobsand a green, sustainable infrastruc-ture, Ellis said. Renewable energyreduces our dependence on foreign

oil. Renewable energy is, in fact, theenergy of the future. There may be atime when we might run out of oil,but we are not going to be runningout of renewable energy.

Renewable energy is saferfor our environment, it is moreeconomical and, therefore, puttingmoney back into the pockets ofordinary, middle-class Americansand it is decreasing our dependenceon foreign oil, said Gwen KeyesFleming, regional administrator forthe U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgencys southeast region.

Don Francis, executive directorof Clean Cities Atlanta, said, Proj-

ects like this and attitudes like this inDeKalb County have turned the cor-ner, and we are on our way to energysecurity in the United States.

DeKalb leaders open a $9 million renewable fuels facility in south DeKalb that willconvert landll gas to renewable natural gas, which will be used to power countysanitation vehicle. Were a little bit greener, said DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis.Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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Our moral compass is as be-reft of direction in this country asa weathervane in a tornado. We arespinning out of control and a sadsymptom of our chaotic state of af-fairs is a police officer having to cuffakindergartner. We live in a worldwhere marriage and family valuesare dragged out as convenient cam-paign slogans by hypocrites on theirfourth and fifth marriages or the af-fair du jour. We get full of ourselvesand throw out husbands and wivesike yesterdays trash.

Assuming responsibility for ourchildren takes a back seat to power,prestige and position. We have takenparental authority from parents whoare afraid to spank their childrenest they be brought up on charges

or considered barbaric at the veryeast. Too many of our self-absorbedpoliticians care more about the nextelection and campaign contributionshan the public trust. There are too

many headlines about some of ourpriests and preachers pimping at thesign of the cross out of ego, lust andmaterial gain.

Tabloid media has inverted thepyramid forgetting about the basicenets of journalism need to know,

how many are affected relyingmainly on the headline grabbing,titillating gossip of who might liketo know. We have taken prayer anddiscipline out of our schools. Teach-ers cant teach for the DTs - disci-

plinary issues and tests. Our childrenlook like cartoon caricatures, thugsor models from the pages of softporn magazines. In short, our institu-tions are failing our children.

What prompts the precedingrant is the incident that happened inMilledgeville last week. Accordingto reports, a 6-year-old kindergartengirl threw a tantrum, tearing thingsoff the walls and tossing furniture.Apparently she knocked over a shelfcausing injury to the principal. Noword on what caused the tirade.

But when police arrived the girlwas in the principals office cry-

ing. When the officer tried to calmher, she reportedly resisted and wascuffed. Police say they tried to con-tact the girls mother but werentable to reach her so they took thechild to the police station where shewas charged with simple assault anddamage to property. Because of herage, she will not have to go to courtand will not be sentenced. She is sus-pended from school.

The huge unanswered questionis what caused the girls tirade. Fol-low the girl home to herfirstclass-room. What is taught in the home isreflected in how our children behavein public. They model what they see

and hear.Could this child be neglected,

albeit unintentionally? Could the

mother be the breadwinner workinga couple jobs to make ends meet andhaving to be away for long periodsof time? Any sign of a father extend-ing emotional or financial support?

Another scenario is that the little

girl might have been born addictedto drugs or alcohol and is suffer-ing from a chemical imbalance. Yetanother scenario is that the littlegirl may be physically or sexuallyabused. Does she feel socially ostra-cized? What is certain is that a little6-year-old girl is angry, hurt, con-fused and acting out.

No psychiatrist here. But ifyouve witnessed these children inthe classroom, on the streets, andeven in the church, as outrageousas it might seem, you will surmisethe officer probably had no choice.Child protection laws would not al-

low school personnel to physicallyrestrain the child for fear of beingsued for abuse. Zero tolerance lawsrequire police intervention. What todo? Out of control children are com-mon place in our schools, whateverthe reason.

A case in point: Several yearsago while retrieving my purse fromthe office after a visit to a DeKalbelementary school honors program,I came upon a school official try-ing to control an unruly first grader.The boy hit, kicked, spat on andcussed the teacher in language sovile it made this grownup blush.The teacher could only restrain the

boy by locking him in her arms asif she were holding an infant. Sheoffered that the 7-year-old had been

suspended numerous times and ifshe called his mother, the motherwould come and cuss out the boy forcausing her to leave her job and thenbash him upside the head, whichwould require the teacher to report

the mother to authorities for childabuse. Oye!

Dont tell anyone, but as aconcerned grandmother I thoughtI might be able to reason with theyoungster. After being hit with sev-eral expletives including the Fbomb, I calmly took his expensivesneakers off his feet and left thebuilding headed to my car. Of courseI only pretended to leave. Im toldthat in wide-eyed amazement, theboy settled down rather quickly andpeered out the window thinking thatcrazy lady had left with his shoes.The tactic worked, but teachers cant

do that and this visitor was certainlyon thin ice.The unintended consequence of

laws designed to protect our childrencause more harm than good espe-cially in a litigious society whereso many of us lack common sense.What happened in Milledgeville isa reality our teachers suffer throughdaily. We live in a world where thecomplex forces of family disintegra-tion, greed, racism (oops theres thatword) and selfishness rule. Sadly, itswhy a police officer cuffs a kinder-gartner.

Steen Miles, The Newslady, is a

retired journalist and former Geor-gia state senator. Contact Steen Mi-lies at [email protected].

The Newslady

Letter to the Editor

Cuff a kindergartner?

I am very disappointed in the lack of critical analysis in the story Looming Brookhaven could costDeKalb 300 jobs. Let me be very clear. No matter what the voters in Brookhaven decide, DeKalb willnot reduce its police force by 30 percent.

The financial impact of the incorporation of Brookhaven is significant to both those inside and out-ide the proposed city boundaries. People inside the city limits will pay more in property taxes or receive

fewer government services. Those drawn outside of the city limits will have to shoulder an additional$22 million financial burden without a say in the process. This is an inequitable process and should bechanged by the Georgia General Assembly.

While there are conflicting opinions on whether the Brookhaven referendum will pass, it is impor-ant that DeKalb County be prepared. To that end, I have requested that all managers who report to the

CEO cut their budget by 3 percent this year and 5 percent next year and freeze hiring in nearly all cir-cumstances, and I have asked all other county officials to join me in this contingency plan. Its an even,esponsible approach.

Printing unchallenged political rhetoric is irresponsible and reckless. Check the math. If Brookhavenncorporates, it would represent about 9 percent of our current population and 5 percent of our budget.

No one in their right mind would address those issues by cutting police by 30 percent. The Championdid their readers a disservice and should know better.

Burrell EllisDeKalb County CEO

Editors note:The figures presented in the referenced article are from an April 11 report of theDeKalb County Board of Commissions Finance, Audit & Budget Committee and are based on a studyconducted by the University of Georgias Carl Vinson Institute. The article states: Using the mid-range

$21.8 million estimate of reductions, the commissioners report stated the county would have to cut233 police positions. Nowhere does the article reference cutting the police force by 30 percent. Thecountys current budget proposal authorizes 1,226 full-time police positions. Thirty percent of thatnumber would be 368 positions, not 233. Again, these figures are from a Board of Commissionerscommittee report; they did not originate with The Champion.

The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012 Page 4AOpinion

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Let Us Know What You Think!

THE CHAMPION FREE PRESSencourages opinionsfrom its readers. Please write to us and express yourviews. Letters should be brief, typewritten and containthe writers name, address and telephone number forverification. All letters will be considered for publication.

Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347 ,Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send E-Mail to [email protected]

FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior

to publication date.

EDITORS NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contributingeditors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or publishers.The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement atany time. The Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Publisher: Dr. Earl D. Glenn

Managing Editor: Kathy Mitchell

News Editor: Robert Naddra

Production Manager: Kemesha Hunt

Graphic Designer: Travis Hudgons

The Champion Free Press is published each

Friday by ACE III Communications, Inc.,

114 New Street, Suite E, Decatur, GA. 30030

Phone (404) 373-7779.

www.championnewspaper.com

DISPLAY ADVERTISING (404) 373-7779 x 110

FREEPRESS

The nation that destroys itssoil destroys itself, PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945),in a letter on Feb. 26, 1937o the nations governors, urgingheir support of uniform soil con-

servation laws.

Youve seen ita huge mint-green mountain covered with an

endless tarp, not far north of Harts-field Jackson International Airport,as approached by any landing flightflying south. And the green moun-ain is covered with what looksike hundreds of mirrors laid out in

a grid, appearing somewhat like achilds memory card game. Thought also looks something like how

SpeakerNewt Gingrich prob-ably envisions powering his MoonColony, it is in fact a mountain ofrash.

The 48-acre Hickory RidgeLandfill opened in 1993. On hotsummer days through the early

part of the 2000 decade, you couldsmell the growth on the southside. In 2006, the landfill reachedcapacity and was closed to addi-

tional dumping, though the landfillwas far from outliving its useful-ness. Republic Services, a wastemanagement company that ownsHickory Ridge, partnered with Car-lisle Energy Services and used a$2 million grant from the GeorgiaEnvironmental Finance Authority(GEFA) to construct a solar panelfarm on the south-facing side ofHickory Ridge.

Ten acres of flexible solarlaminates, the thickness of twonickels and manufactured domes-tically, were attached to a geo-membrane covering the ridge. Themembrane covers a thick, toughliner that is like a monster tarp overthe landfill, securing the soil andtrash decaying and settling below.

The reflection on the solar panelscan be easily viewed from planesthousands of feet above. Thesepanels are specially designed not todistract or temporarily blind pilots.

This Hickory Ridge solarfarm has a peak capacity of onemegawatt of electricity, and overthe course of a year can provideenough home grown power thatis then sold to Georgia Power, for400 homes. Hickory Ridge is oneof Georgias largest producers ofsolar power, and the states firstlandfill solar farm. DeKalb Countyalready had another green energyleadership example at its SeminoleLandfill, owned and managed bythe county, with a methane gasconversion plant that also turns

trash into cash. Georgia Powerpartnered with the county to con-struct the methane gas conversionfacility that paid for itself in lessthan a decade. Beyond operatingexpenses, DeKalb County receivesroughly $1.1 million per year inrevenue from Georgia Power, buy-ing the methane biomass gas toburn as a fuel source for generatinggreen energy. This brown energysource was the start of GeorgiaPowers green energy program.

Acting as the catalyst, innova-tor and partial funder of the trash/cash mountain at Hickory Ridgewas GEFA, a little-known stateagency. Created by the GeorgiaGeneral Assembly in 1985, theagency provides grants and loans

to protect air, water and land re-sources, develop alternative andrenewable energy supplies and toensure an improved quality of lifefor today and future generations ofGeorgians. In its 27-year history,GEFA has doled out more than $3billion to fund more than 1,400projects across the state rangingfrom reservoirs to land conserva-tion to water and sewerage treat-ment plants.

GEFA is a lean and diversecenter of innovation and environ-mental stewardship. It leads withcarrots instead of sticks and actsas a catalyst, enabler and eco-nomic developer for dozens ofsmaller and rural communities bysimultaneously producing signifi-

cant short-term results as well aslong-term environmental renewaland conservation. Gov. NathanDeal has tasked GEFA with lead-ing the Governors Water SupplyProgram, to identify and mobilizethe necessary resources to assistlocal governments in developingnew sources of water. As Deal hailsfrom Hall County, and nearby LakeLanier, he understands and appre-ciates the need for expanding andmaintaining accessible and afford-able potable water supply.

There are 2,000-plus active-uselandfills across the United States,with thousands more alreadyclosed to accepting more waste,and several hundred of those ac-tive and inactive sites spread across

Georgia. They may not all reach upand greet a few hundred flights aday entering our capital city, but Ihave to believe that GEFA can helpmany more Georgia communitiesconvert their trash into mountainsof cash and green energy over time.

Bill Crane also serves as apolitical analyst and commentatorfor Channel 2s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5FM, as well as a columnist forTheChampion, ChampionFree PressandGeorgia Trend. Crane is aDeKalb native and business owner,living in Scottdale. You can reachhim or comment on a column [email protected].

One Mans Opinion

Look at that mountain of trash...er, uh, cash

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER

We sincerely appreciate the discussion surrounding this and any issue of interest to DeKalb County. The Champion was foundedin 1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse forallcommunity residents on all sides of an issue. We have no desire to makethe news only to report news and opinions to effect a more educated citizenry that will ultimately move our community forward.We are happy to present ideas for discussion; however, we make every effort to avoid printing information submitted to us that isknown to be false and/or assumptions penned as fact.


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Serious commentators are tellingus not to assume that the SupremeCourt is going to find Obamacareunconstitutional just because theconservative justices gave the gov-ernment lawyer a hard time whenthe case came before the court lastmonth.

Somehow that doesn't make mesleep better at night. This is thesame court that gave us the CitizensUnited decision, which opened thesluice gates of special-interest moneythat flooded a political system thatwas already awash in it. The rulingwas the court's worst decision sinceDred Scott in 1857, which ruled thatno Americans of African descent,whether enslaved or free, were U.S.citizens.

You think that the court is going tofind mandatory health insurance con-stitutional? Nah.

In the first place, you had fourvotes against the plan right out ofthe gate. Justices John Roberts,Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas,and Samuel Alito are old-fasionedconservatives. The only change theybelieve in is change that takes us backto the 18th century.

In the second place, the highcourt's lone swing judge, Justice An-thony Kennedy, was one of the morehostile questioners. You are chang-ing the relationship of the individualto the government, he told the gov-ernment's lawyer.

So forget about it, you healthcare fans, the vote is going to be 5-4against the Affordable Care Act.

The only real question is whetherthe justices will strike down the entireplan or just the compulsory mandate.That's the part that requires people tobuy insurance or pay a fine.

I say it doesn't make much differ-ence. The only way you can pay forthe other provisions of the bill pro-viding coverage regardless of pre-ex-isting conditions, extending coverageto the poor is by making everyonepay for it.

Without the mandate, the bill foruninsured people who show up at theemergency room after an auto acci-

dent or a heart attack, or with severediabetes or cancer, will be paid asit is now by the rest of us. Those

of us with insurance will continue topay higher insurance premiums andhospital bills than we should.

Apparently, that's the way a near-majority of American people wantit. According to polls, nearly half ofAmericans oppose the mandate.

Oddly enough, however, 85 per-cent favored requiring insurancecompanies to cover pre-existing con-ditions.

In other words, the American peo-ple want health care, they just don't

want to pay for it. There's a lot of thatgoing around.

Let's review. According to the Su-preme Court majority, we can't pre-vent anyone from carrying a gun intoa school, church, or Fourth of Julypicnic.

And we can't stop billionaires frombuying up our system of democracyby the board foot, shoveling unlim-ited amounts of money into SuperPACs, which then buy vicious adsaimed at their favorite candidate's op-ponent.

And now it looks like we can't pro-vide health care insurance to peoplein our society who need but can't af-ford it.

That apparently is the New Free-dom. Instead of those freedoms fromwant and fear that FDR articulated in1941, we've got the freedom to wantand fear. The Republican revolutionis complete.

There was a time when I thoughtthat this radical conservatism we'reseeing was a temporary fad. I thoughtit was something we'd grow out of,like a teenager with bad hair.

I mean, after all, the Republicanagenda is mainly about low taxes forthe rich, paid for by cutting servicesfor the not-rich. How can you win an

election with a platform like that ina country where the services for thepoor aren't that great in the first placeand the rich are getting richer all thetime?

But a lot of people seem to be buy-ing it. And even if it doesn't happenthis time, even if President BarackObama is re-elected, it won't be over.

The Grover Norquists and Kochbrothers of the world will still bethere with their bags of money anda Supreme Court willing to let themspend it.

OtherWords columnist Donald

Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.otherwords.org

The freedom to fearThe only change the Supreme Court'smajority believes in is change that takes

us back to the 18th century.

TOGETHERWERE

Hunger is closer than you think. Reach out to

your local food bank for ways to do your part.

Visit FeedingAerica.org today.

HGER

EE ORRETEVET,

TOO.1 6 AmERA

TRGGE WTH HGER.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012 Page 7ALocal News

Champion ofthe Week

Local country artist to perform at Community Heroes event

DeKalb commissioners want theirown public information officer

If you would like to nominate someone

to be considered as a future Champion of

the Week, please contactKathy Mitchell

at [email protected] or at

404-373-7779, ext. 104.

Eddie Lemon

Eddie Lemon recently

spent his off day planting

a vegetable garden for an

ailing elderly couple from

his church. Two days later

he fixed the brakes on their

van.

That willingness to

help others is something

Lemon, who turns 60 on

April 29, has had instilled

in him for as long as he can

remember.That spirit to help gets

stronger and stronger ev-

ery day, said Lemon, who

is a deacon at Greater Trav-

elers Rest Baptist Church

on Flat Shoals Parkway in

Decatur. God gives me

the strength to do what I

need to do. The more I do

for people, the more God

blesses me.

Lemon had already

planted several vegetables

in the garden and added

okra, sweet potatoes andwatermelon, he said.

In addition to the gar-

den and car repair, Lemon

has painted the couples

house and installed rails

on the bathtub so they are

able to get in and out of

the tub safely.

Lemon also is a mem-

ber of the Neighborhood

Watch program in his com-

munity off Gresham Road

in Decatur. Residents of

the area often see Lemon

walking the streets in his

neighborhood picking up

trash and keeping the sew-

er drains clear of debris.

Im nothing but a ser-

vant of God, Lemon said.

If youre obedient, God

will put you in a position

where you can keep doing

what youre doing to helpothers.

Lemon, who is pursuing

his masters degree, works

full-time at Harland Clarke

and volunteers with the

United Way through his

company. He has volun-

teered at least once a year

for the past three years

with Hosea Feed the Hun-

gry and has done several

other projects with United

Way.

Approximately two

years ago he led a group

of 10 workers on a United

Way cleanup of an area day

care center. Armed with his

chain saw, tiller and several

pieces of landscape timber,

Lemon helped paint the

center and build a flower

garden.

Upon completion of the

project, Lemon said he was

thanked by parents of chil-

dren at the center and he

was recognized by his fel-

low employees at Harland

Clarke.

I got three rounds ofapplause that day, Lemon

said. I felt like crying, and

it made me feel like I was

doing something worth-

while.

Were not here for our-

selves, he said. I just feel

like youve got to help oth-

ers whenever you can.

DeKalb County native Erica Nicole willperform at the 2012 CEOs CommunityHero awards ceremony April 29. The

event, sponsored in part by The ChampionNewspaper, will honor individuals andorganizations that have benetted thecommunity through volunteerism and publicservice.

Awards will be given in ve categoriesCommunity Champion, Youth Volunteer,Environmental Change, NeighborhoodEmpowerment and the Vanguard Award. Anndividual and a group will be honored in each

category.The Community Hero performance at

Callanwolde will be another homecoming forNicole. As a teenager, she was a member ofhe Young Singers of Callanwolde. Nicoles

recording ofSomebody Like Me, which wasused for the soundtrack of the movie Too Late

to Say Goodbye, was No. 1 for 19 weeks atClear Channel New Music On Demand. Shehas a self-titled album out and is working onand recording material for a new CD to bereleased later this year.


DeKalb Countys chief

executive ofcer, districtattorney, solicitor general,police department and sher-ffs ofce all have publicnformation ofcers. But nothe Board of Commissioners.

Commissioners want tobe able to give the transpar-ency that weve talked aboutfor a long time, said Com-missionerElaineBoyer.Ive served on the board for20 years and weve neverhad any committee meetingsaped or had the ability to

show the community whatwere doing and how were

doing and how were spend-ng their money.

At her request, Boyerschief of staff recently startedrecording, broadcasting andposting commissioners com-mittee meetings online. Inhese meetings, commission-

ers hear reports from variouscounty department heads andstaff members and have theopportunity to vet out theproposals of the county ad-ministration before voting onhe items during the boards

regular meetings.Lets face it; this is

where all the work is done,Boyer said.

The [countys] commu-nications ofce serves theCEO, but its something weneed to have as a separatebranch of government, tohave our own public informa-

tion ofcer, Boyer said.On April 24, the board

voted to set aside $75,000used to fund DeKalb County

TV (DCTV) to create theDeKalb County PublicInformation Ofce. But thedecision is not set in stone.

We didnt get anybodysattention until we decidedthat we were going to ex-trapolate funds, Boyer saidof her suggestion to encum-ber the funds until a decisionis made by July 1. What wetake out [of the budget] wecan put back, but, for the mo-ment, we would like to take itout. It would come out unlessfurther discussions are held.

The time-limited position

of commissioners publicinformation ofcer wouldbroadcast via the internet allthe public meetings of theBoard of Commissionersand its various committees,according to the resolution.The position would beginin July and be limited toone year unless the boardreafrms its permanentcreation by July 1, 2013.

Commissioners cameup with the idea of gettingtheir own public informationofcer after DeKalb CEOBurrell Ellis administrationdenied repeated requests tocover the boards Februarybudget process on DCTV.

The administration statedthat to produce the two-daynance committee meetingwould take 56 hours toprepare the footage for airing

and DCTVs entire four-person staff would be tied upfor two days.

CommissionerJeffRader

supported the measure,but said creating a publicinformation ofce within theBoard of Commissioners isproblematic.

Since each member ofthe Board of Commissionersis independently elected, it isdifcult for the commissionto be able to articulate spe-cically a unied position,Rader said.

CommissionerKathieGannon, the lone commis-sioner who voted against theresolution, said $75,000 is alarge sum to move from the

DCTV budget.Three out of four of our

cultural arts institutions get$75,000 a year as their grantfor operations from the coun-ty, Gannon said. I imaginethey would enjoy another$25,000 each if we had thiskind of money to give out.

Burke Brennan, thecounty administrations chiefcommunications ofcer, saida communications specialistfor the commissioners is agood idea, but if DCTV takesa $75,000 hit in funding,that would be detrimental tooperations.

We would love to helpidentify a different fundingsource that didnt have quitean impact on our operations,Brennan said.

Erica Nicole. Photo provided

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Clarkston EthicsCommittee investigatescomplaint against mayor

NOTICEOFPUBLICHEARINGThe Mayor and City Council of the City of Chamblee, Georgia will hold a public hearing on

Thursday, May 10, 2012 at the Chamblee Civic Center, 3540 Broad Street, Chamblee, GA30341 at 6:00 p.m. to receive public comments regarding the following zoning matters:

1. Appendix A, Zoning, Section1307.C, Signage. This text amendment will allowchangeable copy signs at places of worship, public buildings or at public or private schoolson properties zoned NR-1, NR-2, CR, VR, NC-1, NC-2 provided that such signs may belocated on arterial and collector roads (2012Z-001).

2. Chapter 93, Development Regulations, Section 93-1(b). The subject property is located at10 Gentrys Walk. The applicant is requesting a variance to the requirement that buildingsthree or more stories be constructed with concrete and steel framing (2012V-002).

3. Appendix A, Zoning, Section 504, Building additions, Section 803.D, Walls and Fences;Section 902.B1 and 902.C1, Sidewalks; Section 907.A1 and 907.4, Storefront streetsrequirements and fenestration; Section 908.D1, Site Design; Section 1205, Parking andlandscaping requirements; Section 1206, Minimum off-street loading requirements; andSection 1207.C, handicapped parking requirements. The subject property is located at5130 Peachtree Blvd. The applicant is requesting variances to provide site improvementsand a 13,200 square foot addition and 7,500 square foot renovation to the existing building(2012V-003).

4. Appendix A, Zoning, Section 1004, Space Dimensions, Section 506 Lot reductionprohibited. The subject property is located at 1889 Ham Drive. The applicant is requestinga variance to the 12,000 square foot minimum lot size required for NR-1 zoned districts toallow the platting of a 16,000 square foot lot into two 8,000 square foot lots (2012V-004).

5. Chapter 94, Appendix A, Zoning, Section 902, Sidewalks. The applicant is requesting avariance to the requirement of sidewalks with a landscape zone at 5558 Peachtree Blvd(2012V-001)

Champion advertising and graphics staffhonored by Georgia Press Association

The Champion Newspaperwas honoredwith 10 first-place awards and six second-

place awards at the annual Georgia Press

Association Advertising Awards banquetApril 13 at Sea Palms Resort and Confer-ence Center on St. Simons Island.

Recognized for excellence in sales,copywriting, layout and design were Ke-mesha Hunt, graphics manager; LouiseDyrenforth Acker, advertising accountexecutive; Travis Hudgons, webmaster anddesigner; and John Hewitt, chief operatingofficer.

First-place awards were given for:Advertising Campaign: The Champion

Newspaper-Did you miss the game?Service/institutional: City of Avondale

Estates-Discover the difference of AvondaleEstates

Special Section: Memories & Mile-stones: Celebrating 20 years of DeKalbCounty news

Full Color: ChampionNewspaper.compromotional ad

Spot Color: ArticDesigns, Inc.Apparel, Jewelry and Accessories:

Rosenfelds Jewelry, Ltd.

Online Banner Ad: ODE (Organizationof DeKalb Educators)Miscellaneous: DeKalb History Center-

Where every day is HistoricNon-traditional: Celebration of Com-

munity Champions

Second-place awards were:Newspaper Promotion Out of Print:

Community Champions exhibit at DeKalbHistory Center

Real Estate: Decatur Law OfficesFood: The Champion Newspaperrecipe

pagesMiscellaneous: DeKalb History Center:

2011 Annual Meeting and Silent AuctionOnline Banner Ad: DeKalb County

Community Development DepartmentFull Color: TheChampion Newspaper

Memories & Milestones promotional mate-rials

by Daniel [email protected]

Clarkston MayorEmman-uel Ransom was called in

front of thecitys ethicscommitteeearlier thismonth afterresidentscomplainedhe used hisinuenceas mayor tosettle a codeenforcement

dispute.Residents led the com-

plaint after a WSB-TV reportaired on Dec. 6, 2011, inwhich a reporter questionedRansom about an e-mail hesent to former Clarkston codeenforcement ofcerShellySheppard. The e-mail was inregard to reported code viola-ions at Talars International

Foods, located off MontrealRoad.

Based on evidence pre-sented at the hearing, the e-mail sent to Sheppard statedhat Ransom Consultants

Inc. had been retained byTalars International Food,

and requested an extension toallow the business to obtainand le the proper paperworko bring the building up to

code.At the hearing Ransom

said he had been asked by afriend to speak to the ownerof Talars Foods and help thebusiness become compliantwith the citys code ordinanc-es, which he did. Ransomalso stated that Ransom Con-sultants Inc., cited in the e-mail, was nothing more thana name he conducted personalbusiness underthere was

no business license led forRansom Consultants Inc. Hesaid he was operating in hiscapacity as a private citizen,not mayor.

I was trying to be a goodSamaritan to a business own-er, Ransom said. I wasntwisting armsI just senthem a letter stating that [the

owner] was going to comento compliance but he wasnt

aware of what he had to do,and [asked] the city to givehim the opportunity to gatherall the information he neededo go through the process.

City ManagerKeithBarker said Sheppard senthim an e-mail explaining the

earlier e-mail sent to her byRansom regarding code en-

forcement issues, and he toldher to treat the code viola-tions by Talars Foods likeany other code enforcementissue.

Since the ethics commit-tee is made up of residents itdoes not have subpoena pow-er. Neither Sheppard nor theowner of Talars Foods, Ab-dul Bin Khalifa, were pres-ent to be called as witnessesbecause Sheppard no longerworks for the city and Khalifahad a prior engagement.

Sonny Knox, one of theresidents who led the ethics

complaint against Ransom,asked Barker during thehearing whether the mayorschoice of words in the initiale-mail raised any red ags.

When you read that themayor was using terms likemy client, and RansomConsultants Inc. had beenretained by did this notraise any kind of red ag withyou? Knox asked.

Barker said, as city man-ager, it was his concern toensure his staff conductedthemselves professionallyand appropriately, which he

said was done in the matterregarding Talars Foods.

Barker was also asked ifSheppards departure fromthe citys code enforcementofce had anything to do withthe matter, to which he saidno.

She was in a part-timeposition and that particularposition I recruited people forand interviewed other candi-dates, as well as [Sheppard],and chose someone else,Barker said.

Clarkston has a largeimmigrant population and

Barker said immigrants whoown businesses or are tryingto start one sometimes cometo Ransom for help.

The problem was thathe used the word retainedwhich is an inference hewas being paid to do that,Barker said. The mayor saidit was an unfortunate choiceof words and no money ex-changed hands.

Barker said the ethicscommittee is reviewing itsndings and will decidewhether Ransom violated thecitys code of ethics.

Knox said he is waitingfor the ethics committees de-cision but said he and the res-

Ransom

See Ethics on Page 9A

From left, Kemesha Hunt, Louise Dyrenforth Acker, John Hewitt and Travis Hudgons.

8/2/2019 Free Press 4-27-12

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Page 9ALocal News

DeKalb CEO imposeshiring freeze, budget cuts

Pit bull may be removedfrom county ordinanceby Andrew [email protected]

Pit bulls may no longerbe mentioned in DeKalbCountys ordinance if aproposed text amendmentpasses the Board of Com-missioners next month.

MarianEisenberg, zon-

ing administrator, told com-missioners April 10 that theintent of the amendment is toremove pit bulls from thecountys denition of house-hold pets in the countysordinance.

There are many differ-ent breeds of dogs that canbe considered dangerousand pit bull is just a slangterm for four other breeds ofdogs, Eisenberg said.

Pit bull is a term thathas been used to describeAmerican Pit Bull Terriers,American Staffordshire Ter-riers, Staffordshire Bull Ter-riers and mixes that includeany of these breeds, accord-ing to the web site of ShelterAngels Pit Bull Rescue,which has rescued more than100 pit bulls from the countyshelter in the past couple ofyears.

The text does not spe-cifically state that you maynot own a pit bull; it sim-ply states that a pit bull bydefinition is not considereda household pet, Eisenbergsaid.

Subsequently, any cita-tions that have been writ-ten by code compliance oranimal services under thiscode section have been later

dismissed, she said.Because pit bull is not a

recognized breed, it is not abreed that has a legal defini-tion, said Burke Brennan,the countys chief commu-nications officer. There isnothing in the cold that pro-hibits owning a mixed breeddog.

Gary Cornell, thecountys interim director ofplanning and sustainability,said, From previous at-tempts to enforce the countyordinance, the courts havefound that there is no [such]breed.

The purpose of the zon-ing ordinance is not to reg-ulate certain breeds of dogs,Cornell said. The type ofdog is not something thatshould be in an ordinance.

The ordinance hascaused a lot of misunder-standing and disadvantagesto owners of dogs, Cornellsaid. It became more of anobstruction than anythinghelpful. It didnt mean any-thing.

DeKalbs ordinance saysthat pit bulls arent house-hold pets, said RebeccaNovakof Shelter AngelsPit Bull Rescue. Whatdoes this mean for DeKalbpit bull owners? Nothing.Pit bulls are notillegal inDeKalb.

The only restriction inplace is that animal control

cannot adopt pit bulls out,Novak said. If a qualiedperson comes in and is inter-ested in adopting a pit bullanimal control refers them

to a licensed rescue group,who is able to thoroughlyscreen them and do a homecheck, before allowing themto adopt.

DeKalbs Chief Com-munications OfficerBurkeBrennan said the rescueorganizations perform thehome checks as a matter of

course and we cant.The countys animal ser-vices division uses outsideagencies to adopt pit bullsbecause the process is laborintensive for a variety ofdogs that are potentially dan-gerous, Brennan said.

Because the ordinancerefers to an undefinablebreed, it has created theperception of something il-legal that is impossible [tomake] illegal.

The countys dangerousanimal ordinance will notbe affected by the pit bull

change, Brennan said.According to that ordi-

nance, an animal is deemeddangerous if it inflictssevere injury on a humanbeing without provocation,aggressively bites, attacks,or endangers the safety ofhumans or any other animalwithout provocation, orhas been trained, owned, orharbored for animal fight-ing.

The dangerous animalordinance does not specifyany type of animal, Brennan

said.The proposed text amend-ment is expected to be on theMay 8 agenda for the Boardof Commissioners.


A hiring freeze is now in

effect for all vacant county po-

itions except police recruits,according toan April 19memo fromDeKalb CEOBurrell El-lis to countydepartmentheads.

Ellis statedthat the movewas neces-sary because

the county currently faces anumber of issues that can havea substantial budgetary impacton both the 2012 and 2013 tax

fund budgets.Those is-sues includethe pos-sible incor-poration ofBrookhaven,the proposedexpansion ofChamblee andannexations by

Avondale Estates, Decatur andDoraville, according to Ellismemo.

As a result of the mag-nitude of theissues and their

potential impacton the countytax funds bud-gets, I believethat it is neces-sary to imple-ment a numberof actions at thistime to place the

county in a better situation toaddress the potential financialdevelopments, Ellis stated.

Ellis also directed thecounty to create a contin-gency reserve of 2 percentby cutting each departmentscurrent budget. The reserve

funds will remain in each de-partments budget, accordingo the memo.

Department heads havebeen directed to develop con-ingency plans to cut their

2012 budgets another 3 percent

and an additional 5 percentfor 2013, according to Ellismemo.

That contingency planningcould lead to a 2013 budget

cut of up to 10 percent, ac-cording to Richard Stogner,the countys chief operatingofficer.

Stogner told the Board ofCommissioners finance com-mittee April 17 that the bud-getary belt-tightening is part ofthe countys ongoing effortsto continue to impose financialdiscipline in regards to our ex-penditure rates.

So far through the firstquarter weve been doingpretty well in maintaining ourbudgetary balances, Stognersaid.

Ellis also asked the coun-tys elected officials that super-vise county staff to considerundertaking the same steps toconserve the countys financialreserves and to prepare for po-tential adverse impacts of theissues facing county govern-ment.

We must be in a positionto respond to the potential se-vere financial constrains thatmay develop over the next sixmonths, Ellis stated. It isonly prudent to develop appro-priate contingency plans overthe next several months.

Elliss financial contin-gency plan comes before therelease of the countys tax di-gest of property values in lateMay or early June. The 2012county budget of $559 millionassumes a 5 percent drop inproperty values.

County commissionershave asserted for months thatthe drop may be greater.

CommissionerElaine Boy-er wants Elliss administrationto look at the countys servicedelivery.

Lets say we loseBrookhaven, and weve lost

Dunwoody, weve lost prob-ably over 100,000 people thatwe do direct service for parks[and] police, Boyer said.Wouldnt we change how wedeliver services?

Ellis

togner

Boyer

dents who led the complaintwerent given a fair hearing.

We called two witnessesand neither of them werehere. We requested e-mails

and were told there was noway they could be deliveredbefore the hearingI did re-quest twice from the chair that

the hearing be delayed andthey were denied each time,Knox said.

Ransom, during a closingstatement at the end of thenearly three-hour-long hear-ing, admitted he mistakenlyused an unfortunate choice ofwords.

Ethics Continued From Page 8A

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Decatur holdsannual communitygarden tour in May


Decatur Garden Tour is now in its 24th yearand Sandy Rice, chairman of the tour and a boardmember at the Wylde Center, said it has become ayearly tradition.

The Wylde Center, formerly known as the

Oakhurst Community Garden Project, changedits name April 22, Earth Day. Rice said the namechange is a result of the centers expanded pro-gramming and community involvement over the

past years.Rice has been living in Decatur since 2000 and

involved in the garden tour for the past seven years.She said this year all of the proceeds will be do-nated to the Wylde Center.

The garden tour used to be associated with theDecatur Arts Festival but it separated from that fouror ve years ago and now its a fundraiser for the[Wylde Center], Rice said.

The theme for this years garden tour is Com-ing up Roses. and Rice said the name is due, in

part, to the inuence of the tours presenting spon-sor, architectural rm Simmons, Fouts and Fichtel.

Two of the rms partners, William Simmonsand Chris Fitchel, have a private garden namedRose Hill, which Rice said has more than 400 heir-loom roses. Rose Hill is one of the 13 gardens fea-tured on the tour.

The gardens this year are mostly what I wouldcall big, traditional Southern gardens with lots ofnative plants and water features like fountains, astream, a sh pond and a swimming pool, Ricesaid.

Rice, whose garden has been featured on thetour twice, said there are several stops on the tourthat participants may have seen last year such asthe Oakhurst Woodlands Garden on Scott Boule-vard. This year the tour will be nishing at the De-catur Cemetery, which Rice said isnt necessarily a

garden.Its more like a green space, Rice said. It has

just completed a renovation so well be inviting ourvisitors to stop by and see what the different im-

provements look like.The Decatur Garden Tour will take place May

5-6. Rice said the tour isnt just for garden enthu-siasts but for anyone who wants to see something

beautiful to look at.In our community, people take a lot of enjoy-

ment in creating a garden but I always like to stressthat you dont have to be a gardener to go on thegarden tourits pretty and its nice but it doesntmean you have to go home and do it yourself,Rice said.

Rice said many of the gardens featured on the

tour are created for therapeutic reasons in additionto trying to beautify the homeowners yards.For more information on the Decatur Garden

Tour visit www.decaturgardentour.com.

A small bird with a worm in its mouth perches upon a pvc hoop at the Wylde Center in Decatur.Photos by Daniel Beauregard

Butterflies abound and flowers are in full bloom at the Wylde Center, one of the stops of this yearsDecatur Garden Tour.

8/2/2019 Free Press 4-27-12

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Oxygen masks give pets second chance, hope to survivors

Send your comments and/or concerns regarding Comcasts current performance underthe current franchise agreement and/or the future cable-related needs and interests ofyour community to www.dekalbcountyga.gov.

DeKalb County Wants to Hear From YouRegarding the Proposed Franchise Agreement Renewal

with Comcast Cable Communications


DeKalb County Fire De-partment spokesmanNormanAugustin said rescuing a petrom a re-damaged home

an be just what a residentneeds to lift his other spiritfter a devastating experience.

Each rst respondervehicle used by the DeKalbCounty Fire Department isnow equipped with oxygenmasks not only for humans,ut for pets as well.

We have one on everypiece of apparatus we have,nd they were donated to us

by a pet safety company,Augustin said.

Although the masks arentyet a requirement, Augustinaid they come in handy be-

ause sometimes pets are leftehind during a re. He saidpet that has stayed in a burn-

ng building requires treat-ment for smoke inhalation.

Before we got themometimes we would use a

human mask, but these workmuch better, because themask is actually deeper so itan cover the entire nose and

mouth of the pet, Augustinaid. And, you can washhem and use them again.

On average, Augustin saidhe re department uses thepet oxygen masks 10 times a

year, and they are extremelyffective in helping petsecover from carbon monox-de inhalation. Several yearsgo, Augustin said reghters

were called to the scene ofhouse re, but by the time

hey got there the house wasompletely destroyed.

As ofcials searchedhrough the remains of the

house, Augustin said theyealized part of the roof hadallen and completely covereddog kennel. Because the

emnants of the roof coveredhe kennel, it protected the

dog inside from the heat, andre rescue members were ableo safely revive the animal us-ng one of the oxygen masks.

After all was said anddone, we found the dog, andthe homeowner] didnt carebout the house. She was just

happy she got her dog backafely, Augustin said.

Ines De Pablo is theounder of WagN Enterpris-s, a pet emergency manage-

ment company started in2007. The companys missions to help those in the servicendustry, rst responders and

pet owners to prepare and re-pond to emergencies involv-ng pets.

De Pablo said in 2008 her

company began the O2 FurLife Program, which providespet oxygen masks to rst re-sponders and others through-out the country, including themetro Atlanta area. The maskkits WagN Enterprises sells

come with three masks sizesthat can be used on dogs, cats,ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs,birds and more.

Its an enormous boost tosomeones spirit if youre ableto save a pet, De Pablo said.If the only thing you haveleft after a re is a cat or dog,especially for a family withchildren, you can see the hap-piness on their faces when areghter says, all your toyswere burned but your pet wassaved.

A rst responder gives a rescued pet oxygen through a special mask made for animals.

First

4/29

Last

5/12

The Northeast will see scattered showers and thunderstorms today, mostly clear to partly

cloudy skies with a few showers Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 75 in

Belleville, Ill. The Southeast will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with isolated

thunderstorms today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 89 in Ft. Myers, Fla. The Northwest

will see scattered showers today and Friday, mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with a few showers Saturday,

with the highest temperature of 82 in South Big Horn, Wyo. The Southwest will see scattered showers today,

mostly clear skies Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 98 in Artesia, N.M.

THURSDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 80 Low:61

Full

5/5

The Champion Weather April 26, 2012Seven Day Forecast

Local UV Index

WEDNESDAYMostly Sunny

High: 79 Low: 55

TUESDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 75 Low:54

MONDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 80 Low:59

SUNDAY

Isolated T-storms

High: 84 Low:61

SATURDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 82 Low:62

FRIDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 84 Low:60

In-Depth Local Forecast Today's Regional Map

Sunrise

6:53 a.m.

6:52 a.m.

6:51 a.m.

6:50 a.m.

6:49 a.m.

6:48 a.m.

6:47 a.m.

Sunset

8:17 p.m.

8:18 p.m.

8:19 p.m.

8:20 p.m.

8:21 p.m.

8:21 p.m.

8:22 p.m.

Moonset

12:16 a.m.

1:00 a.m.

1:41 a.m.

2:19 a.m.

2:55 a.m.

3:30 a.m.

4:05 a.m.

Moonrise

10:38 a.m.

11:33 a.m.

12:31 p.m.

1:31 p.m.

2:32 p.m.

3:36 p.m.

4:42 p.m.

New

5/20

www.WhatsOurWeather.com

Weather History

April 26, 1987 - Twenty two

cities in the central and western

U.S. reported new record high

temperatures for the date. The

afternoon high of 83 degrees at

Astoria, Ore. smashed theirprevious record by 13 degrees.

Weather Trivia

Tonight's Planets

How hot is lightning?

Answer: Estimates place the

temperature at around 54,000

degrees Fahrenheit.

?

Day

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

National Weather Summary This Week

Local Sun/Moon Chart This Week

StarWatch By Gary Becker - Round Three for the Moon

Today we will see partly cloudy skies with a slight

chance of showers and thunderstorms, high of 80,

humidity of 42%. West wind 10 to 15 mph. The

record high for today is 92 set in 1986. Expect

mostly cloudy skies tonight with a slight chance of

showers and thunderstorms, overnight low of 61.

April 27, 1988 - Mount

Washington, N.H. reported

seven feet of snow in 10 days,

pushing their snowfall total for

the month past the previous

record of 89.3 inches, which

was set in 1975.

During the past two months the moon has played among the planetsVenus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, strung across the evening sky like glistening pearls. Round three for

the moon is now upon us. On April 22, look just north of west for the thinnest of crescent moons positioned just three scant degrees above Jupiter. Your sunset horizon will

have to be free from obstructions, and binoculars will always prove handy to find the pair as early as possible. Locate the brightest spot on the horizon and scan to the left

of that position. If youre watching about 40 minutes after sundown, the pair should look stunning through binoculars with plenty of earthshine to illuminate the vast por-

tion of the moon not in direct sunlight. Earthshine is light from a nearly full Earth reflected back to us from the moon. It gives Luna a dusky appearance to the unaided eye, but through

binoculars, the darker seas and brighter highlands, including craters, are revealed from just the spotlight of a bright Earth shining onto the moons surface. If you miss the final embrace of

Jupiter and the moon on Sunday, do not fret. The moon is on the prowl, and its next target, Venus, the third brightest celestial object, is in plain sight. On April 23, Luna is 14 degrees below

the Goddess of Beauty, but the following two evenings as the waxing crescent moon brightens, the separation is only six degrees and 11 degrees respectively. The next planet on the moons

journey, Mars, will take five days to reach, and by that time, April 30, the bright gibbous moon will be passing below the Red Planet. Finally, Lunas trek across the heaven ends with a fat

waxing gibbous moon approaching Saturn on May 3. It will be nearly 15 degrees from the Ringed World. By the next day the moon has just passed Saturn and is on its way to its full phase

on May 5, having completed its third cycle of passing all four planets in the evening sky. www.astronomy.org

Rise Set

Mercury 5:54 a.m. 6:09 p.m.

Venus 8:58 a.m. 11:47 p.m.

Mars 3:10 p.m. 4:23 a.m.Jupiter 7:36 a.m. 9:13 p.m.

Saturn 7:10 p.m. 6:39 a.m.

Uranus 5:35 a.m. 5:48 p.m.

3 50 - 2 4 6 8 107 9 11+

UV Index

0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate,

6-7: High, 8-10: Very High

11+: Extreme Exposure

Atlanta

80/61

Decatur

80/61

Doraville

79/61

Dunwoody

78/60 Lilburn

79/61

Snellville

80/61

Lithonia

81/61

Morrow

81/61

Smyrna

79/61

Hampton

82/62

Union City

81/61

College Park

81/61

*Last Weeks Almanac

Date Hi Lo Normals Precip

Tuesday 81 58 73/51 0.56"

Wednesday 67 58 74/51 0.99"

Thursday 69 55 74/51 0.00"

Friday 69 59 74/51 0.00"

Saturday 76 59 74/52 0.03"

Sunday 71 50 74/52 0.00"

Monday 59 42 75/52 0.00"Rainfall . . . . . . .1.58" Average temp . .62.4

Normal rainfall . .0.77" Average normal 62.7

Departure . . . . .+0.81" Departure . . . . .-0.3*Data as reported from De Kalb-Peachtree Airport

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012 Page 12AHealth

After $1 billion, experts see progresson discovering autisms causesby Mike Stobbe

ATLANTA (AP) More than $1billion has been spent over the pastdecade searching for the causes ofautism. Research has focused on ev-erything from genetics to the age of

he father, the weight of the motherand how close a child lives to ahighway.

Now some in the eld say theyare seeing the beginning of a waveof scientic reports that shouldstrengthen some theories, jettisonothers and perhaps even bring newdrugs for autisman umbrella termfor a variety of disorders that delaychildren socially or intellectually.

I do think over the next threeo ve years well be able to paint a

much clearer picture of how genesand environmental factors combineo cause autism, said Geraldine

Dawson, a psychologist who ischief science ofcer for the advo-cacy group Autism Speaks.

The effort has been infused withnew urgency by a recent U.S. gov-ernment report that found autismdisorders are far more common thanwas previously understood, affect-ng one in 88 U.S. children. Better

diagnosis is largely responsible forhe new estimate, but health of-

cials said there may be more casesof autism, too.

If autisms causes remain a mys-ery, youre not going to be able to

stop this increase, said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a researcher at the Uni-versity of California, Davis, who iseading a closely watched study into

what causes autism disorders.A series of studies released

recently during National Autism

Awareness Month has offered tan-talizing new information about po-tential causes. Research publishedin the journal Nature widened theunderstanding of the genetic rootsof some cases and conrmed the el-evated risks for children with older

fathers. Another study, released on-line April 9 inPediatrics, suggestedmaternal obesity may play a role.

The causes of autism are be-lieved to be complicated, and notnecessarily the same for each child.Some liken autism to cancerasmall word for a wide range of ill-nesses. In many cases, autism canbe blamed on both genetic problemsthat load the gun and other factorsthat pull the trigger.

The U.S. government dramati-cally increased funding for researchof it in the last decade, and nowbudgets about $170 million a year

through the National Institutes ofHealth.More than a half-dozen founda-

tions and autism advocacy groupshave been adding to the pot, puttingannual research spending in recentyears at more than $300 million.About a third of that has been de-voted to nding autisms causes.

Most of the money for nding acause has been spent on genetics,which so far experts believe canaccount for roughly 20 percent ofcases.

The focus on genetics has beenbolstered by dramatic improve-ments in gene mapping as well asthe bioengineering of mice withautism symptoms. Dozens of riskgenes have been identied, and ahalf-dozen drug companies are saidto be working on developing new

treatments.Among the most promising is

an experimental drug developed bya Massachusetts company calledSeaside Therapeutics Inc., aimedat a problem area in the brains ofautistic children where neurons con-

nect and conduct signals through thenervous system.

Now it is being tried in a prelimi-nary study of about 150 childrenwith a range of other autism dis-orders, including Aspergers. Theresults are expected to be presentedat a scientic conference in the nextyear.

But even genetics enthusiastsacknowledge that genes are onlypart of the answer. Studies of identi-cal twins have shown that autismcan occur in one and not the other,meaning something outside a childsDNA is triggering the disorder.

Some cases may be entirely due toother causes, Dawson said.That broad other category

means environmental inu-encesnot necessarily chemicals,but a variety of outside factors thatinclude things like the age of the fa-ther at conception and illnesses andmedications the mother had whilepregnant.

For years, the best-known envi-ronmental theory involved child-hood vaccines, prompted by aawed 1998 British study that hasbeen thoroughly discredited. Doz-ens of later studies have found nolink between vaccines and autism.

But there are other possible can-didates. In all cases, these are asso-ciation studiesthey dont provecause and effect. They merely ndconnections between certain factors

and autism. Some study results ex-pected within a year: Hertz-Picciottos study of

1,600 children in California iscomparing autistic children,youngsters with otherdevelopmental disabilities,

and those who have no suchdiagnoses. Some results havebeen released already, includingthe recent finding that suggestsa link between autism and amothers obesity.

A U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC)study involves 2,700 familiesnationwide. The researchers areinterviewing parents and poringover medical records to look forcommon threads among autisticfamilies, as well as doinggenetics tests and checking hairsamples for mercury. Much

of the focus is on illnesses,medications, nutritionaldeficiencies or other problemsduring pregnancy.

A study by Pennsylvaniaresearchers involves 1,700families in various regionsof the country. Scientists aredoing brain imaging to look forchanges over time in the brainsof infants who have an olderautistic sibling.

A large Scandinavian study isexamining patient registries insix countries for prenatal riskfactors.

Said Coleen Boyle, a CDC ofcialoverseeing research into childrensdevelopmental disabilities: Wereat the infancy of just understandinghow these factors relate to autism.

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Advocacy group draws attention to Buford Highway project

As other general sup-port to the [Wylde Center]

weve been helping moveherbs and getting ready forhe plant sale thats goingo continue this weekend.

Were also helping them turncompost and rip out invasiverees, Falen said.

David Cotton, seniorvice president of ICF, said hehought a lot of people wouldbe at the garden volunteer-ng that weekend regardless

of whether they worked forCF, because Earth Day wasmportant.

A lot of people here

ive in the community buthere are a lot of people allover who are committed toustainable agriculture andupporting local, organic

gardening and local foodand promoting education for

kids, Cotton said. ICF is acontracting firm that does awide range of work in suchfields as health, educationand energy.

This work today is re-ally hands-on and lets us dosomething locally thats justat a different level of detailthan we usually do, Cottonsaid.

Misty Guard, an ICFemployee who helped orga-nize the volunteer effort, saidfarm to school initiativesare particularly important

because they teach commu-nities about where the foodspeople eat originate.

Its getting to the ideaof trying to have more local

agriculture and supportingmore farmers markets so

that we dont have as manyresources used in this coun-try for the production ofcrops, which are transportedlarge distances, Guard said.

Kimberly Baker, ajunior at Arabia MountainHigh School in the DeKalbCounty School District, satat a table with Decatur Farmto School T-shirts and pam-phlets. Baker said she wasvolunteering at The WyldeCenter for a school project.Above the sound of a buzzsaw which was cutting wood

to make picnic tables, Bakersaid she didnt know muchabout the Decatur Farm toSchool Initiative but thoughtputting healthier food in chil-

drens lunches was a goodidea.

Its important becausethe food that they give atschools is bad and some-times people get sick off it.I also think schools shouldstart replacing the milk thatcomes with school luncheswith juice, Baker said.

Falen said part of theDecatur Farm to School Ini-tiative is getting future gen-erations to eat healthfully byeducating children at an earlyage. She said recently stu-dents at each one of CSDsschools had a taste test day

where students ate the let-tuce that was grown in eachschools individual garden.

Previous harvests havebeen things like kaleId

never had kale, its not oneof those common things

you think aboutbut wevegot all kinds of kids run-ning around now demandingkale, Falen said.

As the volunteers fromICF completed the last gar-den bed and put the finishingtouches on a picnic table,Cotton said people need tostart getting more involved inwhere their food comes from.

Weve got to get thecommunity to broadly pro-mote the idea that industrialagriculture is ultimately go-ing to kill us and we have to

eat healthier, think healthier,and protect the earth andmake it more sustainable,Cotton said.

Photos by Daniel Beauregard

by Robert [email protected]

More than 200 people stood alongBuford Highway with signs lettingpassing motorists know how unsafepedestrians feel in the area.

Participants in the Buford High-way safety protest on April 12 heldigns that read No More Deaths on

Buford Hwy and Complete theStreet by Saving Lives.

The protest, organized by BufordHighway residents, was aimed atdrawing attention to how dangeroushe road is to pedestrians. In the pasthree months, two pedestrians were

killed and another seriously injuredn accidents on Buford Highway

between Druid Hills Road and Clair-mont Road.

From 2000 to 2009, accordingTransportation for America, 20 pedes-rians were hit and killed inside I-285

on Buford Highway. In 2009, 73 pe-destrians were hit and killed on road-ways in the 18-county metro Atlantaegion, according to a 2011 report the

Atlanta Regional Commission.It was a great turnout, and people

were doing what they ought to do,which was draw attention to a veryunsafe situation. said DeKalb CountyCommissioner Jeff Rader, who also

attended the rally.Members of the non-profit advo-

cacy group PEDS also attended therally. PEDS and their supporters wantthe Georgia Department of Transpor-tation (GDOT) to amend its plan toaddress the Buford Highway safetyissue. The GDOTs Buford HighwayPedestrian Improvement Project in-cludes buying right of way for a five-mile stretch of Buford Highway and

building sidewalks and raised medi-ans. The project also includes install-ing pedestrian beacons and lighting,and will extend from Lenox Road toAfton Lane.

According to PEDS CEO SallyFlocks, the cost of the right of way to

build the sidewalks is $180 million.As you know, all of these treat-

ments are proven effective at reduc-ing pedestrian crashes, said GDOTspokeswoman Jill Goldberg in astatement. We hope that the citizenswill understand that we are anxious toget these improvements in place. Weknow that they will enhance safety

but even improvements such as theseare not effective if pedestrians donot comply. We often see pedestri-ans crossing less than 50 feet from asignalized crossing. This type of non-compliance can result in tragedy.

Rader and PEDS officials, howev-

er, said the area will be better servedby narrowing the seven-lane road tofive lanes.

Yes, it needs to be narrowedunless someone can show us the needfor cars to travel fast is more impor-tant than safety issues, Rader said.Its cheaper to put in sidewalks in the[existing lanes] and it would make thesidewalks more usable because yourenot cutting them into hillsides.

The speed limit on Buford High-way is 45 mph, which is much too fastfor the area, advocates say. The pro-test was held along the road at the in-tersection of Briarwood Road, whichFlocks said is one of the more danger-ous intersections along the road.

There are a lot more people whodo walk in this area, Flocks said.The people here are from a culturewhere they are not car addicted. Mostof the people who live in this areadont have the luxury of making thechoice [to drive.].

The GDOTs plan, which willbegin this summer, is to improve a2.5-mile section of road in a projectthat should take approximately two-and-a-half years, Flocks said. Phase IIwill include another 2.5-mile sectionreaching Lenox Road with the sametime frame.

Thats five years; a lot of people

could be killed in that time frame,Flocks said. The final product willstill enable drivers to go much fasterthan is safe.

Flocks said PEDS is worried thatnot enough will be done to protect

pedestrians until the project starts, andthat the project wont do enough tomake the road safer in the first place.

We have received requests fromseveral citizens asking that we dosomething for pedestrian movementsin the interim until the project iscompleted, Goldberg said. We havereviewed the area in question, but theoptions for treatments are limited.

Unfortunately to enhance or addmid-block crossings will require avery complicated treatment due to thewidth of the road and with the volumeand speed of traffic, she said. Thesetypes of improvements are also veryexpensive and, even though we knowthat safety is much more importantthan money, funds are required tocomplete them money that we justdont have at this time. One pedes-trian hybrid beacon can cost as muchas $200,000.

Said Flocks, This comes acrossas the DOT is sacrificing the Latinocommunity, that their needs are lessimportant than the hypothetical needsof the drivers.

The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27 , 2012 Page 13ALocal News

Farm Continued From Page 1A

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012 Page 14AEducation

DCSD to propose calendar change for 2013-14 schoolyear, not next year

The DeKalb County School District Calendar Committeehas recommended to Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson thatthe district adopt a new balanced calendar for the 2013-14school year.

However, the district will not change the calendar fornext year, as was proposed earlier this month. The commit-tee recommended the district not make changes to the 2012-13 school year calendar, which the DeKalb County Board ofEducation approved in 2010.

An online survey seeking community and employee inputon the district calendar recorded more than 36,000 respons-es, which were incorporated into the committees recommen-dations.

Claire Anglin, kindergarten, left, and sister Abigail Anglin.

Dunwoody Elementary holds arts event

Parents, teachers and students celebrated the artistic achieve-ments of Dunwoody Elementary School students at its Eve-ning of the Arts event April 19.

The event featured visual, musical and literary arts cre-ated by the kindergarten through fth grade students at Dun-woody Elementary.

American academy elects Emorys English professor

Ronald Schuchard, the Goodrich C. White Professor ofEnglish at Emory University, has been named a 2012 Fellowof the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of thenations oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and acenter for independent policy research.

A 42-year veteran professor at Emory, Schuchard is a fac-ulty adviser to Emorys Manuscript, Archives and Rare BookLibrary, and has devoted much time to developing its archiveof 20th century Irish and English manuscript collections.

Agnes Scott ranks in top ve for composting in recyclingcompetition

Agnes Scott College ranked fth nationally for compost-ingaveraging almost 21 pounds per person composted oncampusin Recyclemania, a national college and universityrecycling competition.

Approximately 605 colleges and universities signed upfor the eight-week competition, which compared institutionsthroughout the country to determine which school recyclesthe largest portion of its waste.

For the Per Capita Classic, determined by total pounds ofrecyclables collected per person, Agnes Scott ranked secondin Georgia and 73rd in the country.

Recycling and composting are part of the colleges goal

to move closer to achieving zero waste. In 2010, the collegecompleted a long-term climate action plan, part of a commit-ment made with about 650 other colleges and universitiesacross the country that signed onto the American College &University Presidents Climate Commitment to reduce theirimpact on the environment.

DCSD recognizes students for obtainingmusic, academic scholarships

EDUCATION BRIEFS

y Daniel [email protected]

Don Roberts, instrumen-al music coordinator forhe DeKalb County School

District (DCSD), said eachear students enrolled inhe districts band programseceive just as many collegecholarships as do athletes.

Roberts said DeKalbmusic students graduatingn 2012 have acquired anstimated $17 million incholarships, and he hopes

y the end of the year thosenumbers will reach lastears $25 million in musiccholarships from schoolshroughout the country.

For the second consecu-ive year DCSD has heldcelebration to recognize

tudents awarded musiccholarships, and on April9 recognized 150 DeKalb

County students fromchools around the district.

We in DeKalb take a lotf pride in our music pro-ram and we have a great

radition of success, Rob-rts said. The band direc-ors were talking and said,We get as many scholar-hips as football and basket-all, and we wanted to dohe same thing they do with

national signing day andring the attention to thetudents in our programs.

Roberts said he rst be-an to realize the scale on

which the district was re-eiving music scholarships

when he was speaking withhe head of a recent scholar-hip fair who told him that

DeKalb was the highestrossing county in Georgiaor music scholarships.

Once we put the num-ers together collectively,

we were amazed, Robertssaid.

Many students who re-ceived scholarships wereoffered multiple scholar-ships, in some cases worthmore than $100,000, hesaid. Scholarship totals forChamblee Charter HighSchool are approximately$1.2 million. SouthwestDeKalb High School alsocomes in at approximately$1.2 million, with studentsreceiving offers from col-leges such as Tennessee

State University, Universityof Alabama and JacksonState University.

Roberts said he hasntheard of any other districtin the state, or nationwide,holding scholarship sign-ing days to recognize stu-dents achievements outsideof the sports arenas.

It educates the parentsand the students that thereare other options beyondathleticseven studentswho arent able to get aca-demic scholarships but are

hard workersit showsthem that band and music isan option, Roberts said.

Stephenson High Schoolheld a celebration to recog-nize its students academicscholarship achievementsApril 18.

Lolita Baker, a guidancecounselor at StephensonHigh School, said last yearthe school had 27 studentssign athletic scholarships.However, this year Bakersaid 64 students received ac-ademic scholarships, nearlydouble the number received

by students involved in ath-letics last year.

We have students whodont participate in sportsand feel like they havent

gotten the same recognitionfor their accomplishmentsthat students who playsports have, Baker said.

The idea for the aca-demic signing day wasdeveloped by PrincipalBrian Bowden and studentJamari Jordan. Baker saidat rst students were a littleshy about being recognizedfor their academic achieve-ments.

Their personalities aredifferent, which is why a lotof them came up in groups

to be recognized, Bakersaid. At the ceremony stu-dents came up to the micro-phone in groups and told at-tendees which colleges theywould be attending in thefall, on scholarships.

Baker said the schoolplans to continue recogniz-ing students for academicscholarships and Bowdensaid it will become a yearlyevent.

We attract a lot of stu-dents and parents becauseweve been recognized as

having athletes who are go-ing to go to the next levelstudents who have attendedStephenson are now in NBAand NFL, but we wantedpeople in the communityto know that isnt all thatshappening at Stephenson,Baker said.

Additionally, Baker saidmany students came upto her after the ceremonyand said they didnt realizehow many students at Ste-phenson obtained academicscholarships.

Some of the students

in the audience said theywould bring their grades upto be a part of it as well,Baker said.

Chamblee students Kevin Fan, from left, Corey Roberts and Mary Lou Ferguson practice in the stair-well before performing at DCSDs music scholarship ceremony. Photo by Daniel Beauregard

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, April 27, 2012 Page 15ABusiness

Perimeter Mall Macys to have Brazilian store within a store

Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, GA 30030

404-378-8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org

The Voice of Business in DeKalb CountyDeKalb Chamber of Commerce

Macys department store recentlyannounced the launch of O Mer-cado, the Market at Macys a cu-rated shop of Brazilian products andthe next installation of the retailersBrasil: A Magical Journey cam-paign, which will ofcially kick offMay 16 at selected retail stores, in-cluding the Macys in DunwoodysPerimeter Mall.

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