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WWW.CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012 VOL. 14, NO. 46 FREE

FREEPRESS A PUBLICATION OF ACE III C OMMUNICATIONS

by Andrew [email protected]

After being wrappedin a Torah and de-clared a king, Bish-

op Eddie Long of NewBirth Missionary BaptistChurch in Lithonia, apolo-gized for the ceremony thatmany Jewish leaders foundoffensive.

A Youtube video of thean. 31 event shows Long

being wrapped in a Torahand later lifted in a chairby four men who carry thebishop around the stagen front of a worshipping

congregation.He is now raised

up from a commoner toa kingship, said RabbiRalph Messer, who per-formed the ceremony.Hes raised from earthnto a heavenly realm.

He is a king, Messeraid. Gods blessed. Hes

a humble man. But in hims kingship. In him is roy-

alty.In an apology to the

ewish community, Longaid, The ceremony was

not my suggestion, nor wast my intent, to participaten any ritual that is offen-ive in any manner to theewish community or any

group.Furthermore, I sin-

cerely denounce any actionhat depicts me as a king,

for I am merely just a ser-vant of the Lord, Longaid. I apologize for any

action on my part that mayhave caused damage to theewish faith.

Long said he under-tands that the ceremony

caused harm to the Jewishcommunity, but believesMesser had good inten-ions.

Messers website sayshe is the president andfounder of Simchat TorahBeit Midrash, a congrega-ion and school based in

Colorado. He is describedas an internationally ac-claimed Bible teacher,conference speaker and

Bishop Long apologizes after being wrapped in Torah

Jews and people of faith take great strides to ensure

that the Torah is not touched....To wrap someone in a

Torah is to show disrespect. Rabbi Joseph Prass

Bishop Eddie Long, of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is wrapped in a Torah during a service at his church on Jan. 31. The cer-emony was performed by Rabbi Ralph Messer of Colorado who declared Long a king. Source: Youtube

Rabbi Joseph Prass, of Temple Emanu-El in Sandy Springs, demonstrates the care and respect given to a Torah. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

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

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Page 2A The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012

Brookhavensupporters push forvote on cityhood

Thanks to you, over 1.4 million Georgia high school seniors havehad something more to celebrate on graduation daythe chanceto go to college. Every time you play the Georgia Lottery, you helpfund the HOPE Scholarship Program that provides Georgia studentswith nancial assistance at any of Georgias colleges, universitiesor technical colleges. Thats awesome! And on top of that, youvehelped send over 1.1 million 4-year-olds to a Lot tery-funded Pre-KProgram and raise d more than $13 billion for education. Thats anA+ in our book.

With this many seniors going to college,a high-fve just wouldnt cut it.


It was neighbor againstneighbor on Jan. 31 whenDeKalb residents voicedheir views to state lawmak-

ers about a proposed city ofBrookhaven.

Theres no reason what-soever that we shouldnt beable to do what Dunwoodyhas done, said Rep. MikeJacobs, who authored HouseBill 636 that calls for a ref-erendum on Brookhavens

cityhood. It is a city ofoughly the same popula-ion. It is a city located in the

same county.Last year, the University

of Georgias Carl Vinsonnstitute released a study

showing that the proposed12-square mile city wouldbe nancially feasible. If itncorporates, Brookhaven

would have 49,000 residentsand would be the states 16thargest city.

Jacobs said residentssupporting the proposedBrookhaven feel they would

be better represented by acity government.

This is about your neigh-bors making decisions aboutyour local government ser-vices, Jacobs said. I amoday to put forward a billn this General Assembly to

give you the opportunity tovote whether or not you wanthat.

Rep. Elena Parent saidhe cityhood of Brookhavens a controversial topic, but

many of her constituentsfeel that this is being rushed

and they would just like it toslow down.Most of my constituents

hat are in the Brookhavenmap are not ready to voteon it this summer, Parentsaid. Ive got people whoare yes and Ive got peoplewho are no. Im talkingo you about the prevailing

sentiment which is lets justchill out a little bit.

Instead, Parent said thatmany of her constituentswant to know what problemswould be solved by incorpo-ation.

The vast majority dontseem to have a problem withhe services they currentlyeceive from DeKalb, Par-

ent said. They want to know

what the effect is going tobe on the rest of the county.They want to know if thecounty is going to have toraise taxes.

DeKalb County Com-missionerJeff Rader, whosponsored a resolution ask-ing for a comprehensivestudy of impact incorpora-tion on the unincorporatedareas, said more time isneeded before making a de-cision on Brookhaven.

Im not against new cit-ies, Rader said. Im not

against the existing cities.We need to look carefullyand make a good decision.We need to look before weleap.

CEO Burrell Ellis saidthe process of incorporationhas shortcomings that needto be addressed.

Weve looked at thefeasibility of cost on those49,000 citizens within these

proposed boundaries, butwe havent looked at the fullimpact of all of the decisionswere making on the 735,000citizens who live throughout

DeKalb County, Ellis said.Another problem with the

process is the estimate of thenances needed to run the

proposed city, said DeKalbresident Jim Eyre.

The two-year-old budgetsnapshot used for the pro-

posed city of Brookhavendoes not take into accountthe reality of todays sky-rocketing cost of publicworks, Eyre said. The fea-sibility study does not accu-rately reect the true costs tomaintain the older infrastruc-

ture in Brookhaven.The proposed budget ofBrookhaven would put thecity on perilous nancialfooting from day one, Eyresaid.

Supporting the movementfor a new city, DunwoodyMayorMike Davis said histhree-year-old city is verycomfortable in what we havedone.

We became a city pri-marily to represent our-selves, Davis said. DeKalbcounty commissioners repre-sent 140,000 people. [Dun-woodys] council people rep-resent 15,000. Your neighboris actually your representa-tive.

Many supporters asked

the committee members toallow the Brookhaven com-munity to vote.

Im just here to sayplease give us the right tovote, said Jeff Keller,

board member of Citizensfor North DeKalb, a group

pushing for Brookhavenscityhood. Let the political

process ride its course. Whenyou vote for HB 636, youresimply voting on voting.

Resident J. Max Davissaid, If you vote no, we

dont get a say. Voting noon this bill will deny us thatright.

Jacobs said if Brookhavenresidents vote to incorporate,they would not stop beingcitizens of DeKalb County.

At the end of the day,88 percent of our tax dol-lars will continue to go toDeKalb County governmentand the DeKalb Countygovernment will continue to

provide certain services,Jacobs said. Were not

breaking away from DeKalb

County. Were still a part ofDeKalb County, but werechoosing for our truly localservicesadministered at amore local level.

Rep. Alisha ThomasMorgan (D-Austell), amember of the governmentalaffairs committee, said shewished the decision to al-low residents of Brookhavento incorporate would gothrough the normal processof going through the delega-tion so that people who dontlive in DeKalb dont have tohear your business.

I dont live in DeKalbCounty but I feel I knowmore of your business thanany other county, Morgansaid.

Members of the governmental affairs committee of the Georgia House of Representatives hold a hear-

ing on the proposed incorporation of Brookhaven. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

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Page 3A The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012

by Daniel [email protected]

Two and a half years ago

Vinh Glover and his wifeMartha Brown movednto a house directly behind

Clarkstons Friendship For-est.

I remember walking be-hind the house and discover-ng these nature trails backhere that looked like they

hadnt been used in years,Brown said.

The trails Brown had dis-covered were, at one point,part of Friendship Park,which had become over-grown and had fallen into

disrepair. Soon, Brown andGlover began working torevitalize the area.

We started volunteer-ng but it was more like the

military coming in becausewe didnt have the supportof anyone else, Gloversaid. He said the early

cleanup projects consistedof him and a large group ofvolunteers invading theforest to spend hours clean-ing trash and other debris.

Glover then decided todocument one of those earlycleanup efforts with a videocamera.

We made a movie andshowed it at city hall andlet everyone know that wewould like to take care ofour own backyard, Gloversaid.

Clarkston City Manager

Keith Barker said overthe past years the city wassometimes at odds with resi-dents volunteer efforts atthe forest because they felt

like taking care of the forestwas the citys responsibility,not theirs.

Theres been a void

of leadership and youvegot the citizens like Vinhand other organizationswho have sought to ll thatvoid, Barker said.

Barker was hired lastyear, and Glover said sincethen hes seen the forest,and the neighborhood, gethealthy. Glover attributed itto the citys new willingnessto work together with resi-dents to revitalize the area.

I feel like our city coun-cil has denitely gottenmore progressive, Glover

said.Last month, theClarkston City Councilpassed a community gardenspolicy and ratied a memo-

randum of understanding toallow a community gardento be established at Friend-ship Forest and other loca-

tions throughout the city.Weve also received a

grant from the DeKalb De-partment of Health to hirea part-time employee tohelp us forward that effort,Barker said.

The city also receiveda $25,000 grant from theDeKalb County CommunityDevelopment Department toremove cement from an oldparking lot, basketball courtand tennis court from theforest grounds.

Additionally, were go-

ing to apply some of ourown funds and plant groundcover grass in those newlyexposed areas, as well astrees and wildowers,

Barker said. Lastly, theresa little stream down therebacked up with debris andwere probably going to use

storm water utility funds totrench that out.

Barker said having greenspace in Clarkston was atremendous advantage forthe city, and residents likeGlover and Brown helpedturn what was once an oldpark in disrepair into abeautiful forest and wildlifesanctuary.

You could look at thisas a potential headache,and it probably was at onetime. But, with the properattention and management it

could turn from a headacheinto a tremendous benetfor the community, Barkersaid.

Clarkston residents, officials workto revitalize green space

Local arborist Gretchen Musser instructs two employees how to properly prune a newly planted tree at Clarkstons Friendship Forest. Photo by Daniel Beauregard

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Theres an old Southern saw thatays, A hit dog will holler. Well the

yelps and howlsfrom some quarters ofhe county for my having the unmiti-

gated gall to question or criticize the ac-ions of our new school superintendenteverberated from Panola State Park to

Stone Mountain and over to PerimeterMall.

Interestingly enough, the over-whelming majority of those againsthe observations were from north and

central DeKalb while south and eastDeKalb were cheering. There will be noattempt to analyze that one. No one took

ssue with the facts of the piece, just theone and tenor and the feeling that thenew superintendent hadnt been givenime to prove herself.

One well-known education leadereven resorted to name calling, refer-ing to this writer as the Hatchet Lady

a play on the moniker News Lady.Theres no hatchet to wield, no ax togrind and certainly nothing personalagainst Dr. Atkinson. The concern is forour school children and the gnawing fearhat despite the protestations, it appears

we are headed down the same road whent comes to student achievement. I hopeam proven wrong when the final report

comes in and that our new superintendentwill make high marks. That is my sincerewish, but shes been off to a rocky start.

There have been a couple develop-ments since the progress report articlea couple weeks ago which was basedon personnel moves before the person-nel audit and suspension of the bandactivities. That was the past. Its timeto move on. Now, the superintendent

publicly states she is doing her ownmethodical assessment before makingchanges$175,000 for what?

Secondly, Dr. Atkinson is deliver-ing up a draft of her five-year strategic

plan, of which a final report was duethis month, according to the publishedtimetable on the school system website.We wont hold that against her since she

just got here in September and certainlyhas not had the time to create a strategic

plan appreciably different from whatwas offered up by her predecessors. Infact, the draft report, called Excellencein Education sounds remarkably likeher predecessors DeKalb Schools ofExcellence. Please do no insult the

publics intelligence by rehashing thesame old mish mash that has producedmuch of nothing to date.

I pray the ladies and gentlemenon the school board will scrutinize thereport for specifics of implementation,measurements and goal attainment be-fore it is approved as the guidepost forthe next five years. The public doesntneed to hear more of what we need to do

but more specifics about is being doneand what will be done to achieve thestated goals. In fairness, Dr. Atkinsonsguiding principles are encouraging. Nonew ground broken, but encouragingnonetheless. They are:

1. Students come first. Studentachievement is our business and must bethe central theme in all initiatives. Howabout willbe the central theme?

2. Every school must believe that par-ents are our partners. It is the schoolsystems responsibility to include andvalue parent and guardian input intotheir childrens education and school.How about administrators at each schoolwillinclude and value parent and guard-

ian input?

3. Leadership and accountability atall levels are key to success. Everyclassroom, every school and centraloffice department must have a strongleader. How about willhave a strong andcompetent leader?

4. We are not alone in this endeavor. Ittakes the entire community to ensure thesuccess of the district, and we must tapinto the knowledge, skills and supportthey can offer to assist in providing aquality education for all students.

5. Victory is in the classroom. Dailyteaching and learning is where the battlefor improvement in student achievementis fought.

Dr. Atkinson says herExcellencefor Education Plan 2017is the explicitand tactical strategy to improve theachievement of all students and improveinternal operations, reporting and ac-countability systems. She then drillsdown to say the same thing two addi-tional times with more and varied ver-

biage, i.e. TheExcellence for Educa-tion Plan 2017has also beendesignedto actualize and prioritize the leversnecessary to deliver a balanced score-card and an aligned management systemthat reiterates and executes our core val-ues and mission. This Excellence forEducation Plan 2017 will become thedistricts essential and critical guidingdocument for continuous improvement.

Blah, blah, blah.Questions that beg answers: How

will technology be used to track studentprogress and teacher performance? Whatare some best-practice teaching meth-ods that will be implemented to bolsterstudent achievement? What policies

and procedures will be implemented todemonstrate the value of parental andguardian input? What is the criterion fordistrict-level promotions and account-ability? What is the timetable for allschools to be technologically aligned,specically wireless connectivity andcomputers? What is the inventory pro-cess for all schools to have compatiblefacilities, resources and equipment?Who is responsible for the maintenanceand cleanliness of the schools and sup-

plying them with basic necessities suchas paper towels and toilet paper? Whatare the guidelines for hiring relatives?How are those guidelines enforced?Who enforces them? What safeguardsare recommended to prevent board in-terference in hiring and ring? What

protections are there for whistleblow-

ers? What thought has been given tothe impact on schools when new linesare drawn for seven districts instead ofnine?

A quote from the pre-eminent lateeducatorNarvie Harris is worth not-ing. You cannot teach what you donot know any more than you can come

back from a place you did not go. Thatshould be self-explanatory. Well watchand report.

Steen Miles, The Newslady, is aretired journalist and former Georgiastate senator. Contact Steen Milies [email protected].

The Newslady

Letters to the Editor

School superintendent progress report Part II

Dear Ms. Miles,

Thank you for writing about the schoolystem and our new superintendent. Usuallybelieve any attention is a positive for ourtudents and taxpayers but your editorialoncerns me.

You make accusations toward Dr.Atkinsons desire to bring in new blood;emporarily halt programs that may support

hazing; make employees sweat for their jobs,nd not personally address the media.

Really? With all that is going on in thechool system, this new superintendentafterust months on the job- inflames you to write.

Wow. I sincerely question your priorities whenone considers the state of the DeKalb CountySchool System.

Lets list whats on Dr. Atkinsons and thechool systems plate right now: DCSS has aast CEO and COO under indictment. We haven extended drawn-out lawsuit against the

giant of industry, Heery-Mitchell. A loss couldankrupt our system. We have another lawsuit

over cancelling teacher retirement. That lossould drop us to our knees. The board supportsegal bills much greater than other counties.

The Grand Jury wants further investigationof the system. We are on SACS probation.Past board minutes are often missing.Bookkeeping irregularities found in localschools and in the athletic department

demonstrate poor oversight and policyenforcement to blatant illegal activities.

We have too many central office employees.The personnel department is mistrusted asan instrument of cronyism and someone inthe finance department cut illegal checks.We have a SPLOST program that for all itsspending offers no cohesive vision of school

planning.

We have paid for numerous studiesconcerning demographic changes,employment classifications, etc. Many have

been dismissed with the wave of the hand

because the results did not sit well withboard leaders.

And concerning Dr. Atkinsons failing grade,remember when information concerning thefirst superintendent candidate was leaked.(Allegations were that it came from a school

board member.) It was a flawed process tosay the least ... but, remember, it was Dr.Walkers strong political acumen that helpedto bring Atkinson here.

So why not level blame at the board?From their track record I cant help but feelthey are the ones completely over their heads.

Most respectfully,Faye Andresen

Steen Miles article in your Jan.27, 2012 issue was not about the newsuperintendent job performance. In-stead it was about trying to protect thejobs of our central office and adminis-trative personnel. I presume she has alot of friends in high places.

If Steen Miles main interest isthe children, she would not havebeen concerned about these job cuts,but how eliminating these positionsmight save our school district. Dr.Cheryl Atkinson has stated time andtime again that, she needs to put theresources where there is the greatest

need to effect student achievement.She cannot allocate the resources withthe greatest need if we are three tofour hundred positions over budget.She cannot put the resources with thechildren if we are grossly overpayingpeople for what their responsibilitiesare. She cannot put the resources withchildren if positions that have beencreated are not needed. She cannotput the resources with the children ifpeople have been hired or promotedbased on something other than merit.

Additionally, teachers in DeKalbare not demoralized as she depictedin this article. Under Dr. Cheryl At-kinsons leadership, we finally feel wehave a voice in this school district. Dr.Atkinson took a lot of time during herfirst initial weeks on the job to hearour concerns from a variety of stake-holdersemployees, parents, interest-ed citizens, community and businessleaders. She set aside many hours

during her fireside chats to meetwith teachers, paraprofessionals, busdrivers, custodians, cafeteria workers,administrators and other support per-sonnel. Hundreds of staff voiced theirconcerns directly about what they feltneeded to be improved in this schooldistrict. Ms. Miles says Dr. Atkinsonneeded to take time to learn the cultureof the system. I think she got plentyof information from these firesidechats about the culture of DeKalb.

Teachers are confident that Dr.Atkinson has the educational back-ground and leadership experience to

bring about true student achievement.We have had enough of incompetentadministrators, hiring and promotionalpractices based on cronyism and nepo-tism. We are very pleased that she ismaking tremendous strides in turningthis system around. The practices Dr.Atkinson is tackling, like the bloatedcentral office, have been discussed fordecades. We had a job audit that wasconducted under Dr. Johnny Brownsadministration during the early partof 2002. This audit was never imple-mented under Dr. Crawford Lewistenure. We are encouraged that Dr.Atkinsons has the tenacity to tacklethis decade old problem, and finallyto begin the process of moving thisschool district forward!

Miriam MartinArea Representative

ODE,Organization of DeKalbEducators

Statement from the publiSherW scy c dscss sdg s d y ss s DK Cy. The Championws dd 1991 xssy vd dscs allcy sds sds ss.W v ds k ws y ws d s c dcd czy wy v cy wd. W y s ds dscss; wv, w k vy vd g sd s s kw s d/ sss d s c.

t C f pss, fdy, fy 10, 2012 pg 4aOpinion

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By the end of my second term, wewill have the first permanent baseon the moon and it will be Ameri-can, GOP Presidential candidateNewt Gingrich on Jan. 25, 2012on Floridas spacecoast.

Beyond the inherent arroganceand presumption in the statement

above, this was a flight of fancy,even for a candidate and formerU.S. House speaker known for hisangents and grandiose rhetoric.

This was a perfect example alsoof letting Newt be Newt. Andhe voters of Florida respondedoudly.

When Newt Gingrich is cas-igating the media elite or tak-ng the high road during debates

and stating that every candidateon this stage would make a betterpresident than Barack Obama,you can almost hear the GOP baseising to its feet to applaud. Posi-

ive Newt, high road Newt, think-er Newt and more often than not,he Newt Gingrich who performedo well in the bulk of the GOP de-

bates is also the Newt who helpedlead the Republican Revolution in1994 and win a Congressional ma-jority on the back of his proposedContract with America.

But those with longer politi-cal memories, or time spent on theHill during those years also re-call that Congressman Gingrichmight have been more effectiveas a grenade thrower and regimechange agent than he was at lead-ing. Many of the current membersof GOP Congressional leadership,including House SpeakerJohnBoehner, served then with Gin-grich on Capitol Hill. It is worthnoting that among members ofthe current Congress, 72 have en-dorsed Mitt Romney. Gingrich

has the nod of only 11 members,five of those from Georgia.Gingrichs primary strength

in the debates and among the TeaParty has been his lack of fear tosay what needs to be saidsuchas his frequent references to thefood stamp president. Whileothers see hidden racial referencesin that remark, Newt remains un-apologetic.

The morning prior to Newtspronouncement of a lunar colo-nycoming soonDefense Sec-retary Leon Panetta laid out theplan for standing down thousandsof U.S. military and cutting U.S.defense spending by more thanhalf a trillion dollars. Like it ornot, the bulk of pending majorbudget cuts, as triggered auto-

matically by Congress inability toreach a long term spending reduc-tion plan, come out of the hide ofnational defense. Just more thana year ago, NASA, under presi-dential directive, spent billionsmore retiring the last of our spaceshuttles, and we no longer have anoperating space station.

Yet during the two Florida de-bates, there was angry Newt, fum-ing, protesting and defending hismoment in the sun, then baskingin front of an adoring throngandas he often does, simply talkingand talking and talkinggoing offscript, off the reservation and inthis case, into outer space.

When President John F. Ken-nedy made having a man on the

moon a goal of his administrationduring his first inaugural address,the United States was already be-hind in the space race. Sputnikhad orbited the earth, and concernswere rapidly building, militarilyas well as globally, that the nextgreat Super Power would con-trol space. The Apollo program,though built by NASA and armedwith science, was an adjunct of theCold War. And though we mayone day return to peaceful spaceexploration, against the back-dropof current economic realities andgovernment spending, now is notthe time.

Floridas voting reinforces thatconclusion, from Cocoa Beach toCape Canaveral, up and down theFlorida Space Coast, the speakers

promise of another Space Renais-sance landed with the thud of anearthbound hunk of space junk nolonger able to maintain its orbit.The margins in those counties, allin Romneys favor were not evenclose. Timing can be everythingin building and maintaining mo-mentum during a presidential cam-paign. Newt has surged and rid-den the crest of a momentum wavetwice already during this presiden-tial campaignand he may do soyet again.

With shorter stops ahead incaucus states such as Nevada, thefocus and delegate battle largelyshifts to Super Tuesday on March6, and Gingrichs last best shotat a large delegate state is likely

Georgia. If things dont go as thespeaker plans, the historian in himmight well look back and recallthat his big wipeout began on theFlorida Space Coast when his egoand hubris took him flying a bittoo close to the sun, and thosewings of whimsy simply melted inall that hot air.

Bill Crane also serves as apolitical analyst and commenta-tor for Channel 2s Action News,WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now95.5 FM, as well as a columnistforThe Champion, ChampionFreePress andGeorgia Trend. Craneis a DeKalb native and businessowner, living in Scottdale. Youcan reach him or comment on acolumn at [email protected].

One Mans Opinion

Fly me to the moon!

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

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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.

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012 Page 6AOpinion

Profiting from thePentagonA two-war strategy is like a two-cargarageyou'll own two cars sooner or later.

School board appeals in hope to avoid anotherlengthy lawsuit

Just another case of teachers wanting benets they are not entitledto without regard to nancial conditions. The School Board really needsto ght this to shut down teachers who are not there to teach, but to getwhat they can get.

Trevorpostedthison2/5/12at10:25p.m.

Call me crazy, but wouldnt the most obvious way of avoiding a lawsuitbe to honor the agreement with teachers?

Generally one can avoid legal trouble by, you know, not doing thingsthat are not legal.

Nedpostedthison2/4/12at6:22p.m.

Commissioners want control of countysauditors

Hopefully this will bring us closer to abolishing the ofce of CEO inDeKalb County!

DeKalb County can no longer afford a King?

JerryMyerJacksonJrpostedthison2/2/12at1:05p.m.

Baby boomers reect on school during CivilRights Era

I congratulate each and every one of these people! I grew up and went

to school in Atlanta. I graduated from Druid Hills High School in 1964,sadly, the year before Integration. I applaud their parents for instillingthat strength of community, and them for continuing that legacy. Todaysparents could take a lesson from these distinguished people, as could allof Society.

MaryMorrispostedthison2/3/12at10:19p.m.

Protestors seek to stop proposed DecaturWalmart

Cmon people - save your outrage for something useful! SuburbanPlaza is currently a retail wasteland. Anything is going to be better thanwhats there. Furthermore, Walmart wouldnt want to put a store thereif they didnt think that people would shop there. People will only shopthere if it makes their lives better via lower prices or more convenienceor whatever versus their current options. Not everybody needs friendly,knowledgeable staff and locally-sourced handmade products - some ofus just want to buy cheap stuff at one store and move on with our lives.Right now we have to drive to Tucker to do it. How is that helping trafc?

AEOpostedthison2/1/12at4:25p.m.

The following comments are pulled straight from our website and arenot edited for content or grammar.

Washingtons talking about cuttinghe military budget. Whoopee.

Defense Secretary Leon Panettaecently revealed plans to cut hun-

dreds of billions of dollars from the

Pentagons budget in the next decade,with possibly more reductions on theway.

Were going to have fewer sol-diers, fewer warplanes and ships, andnot so many missiles. Well cut backa bit on nuclear weapons. If Congressbuys this plan, the Pentagons $530billion-a-year base budget, whichexcludes extras like the wars wereactually fighting, would shrink to amere $472 billion by 2013. Doublewhoopee.

Not everyone is happy with theplan. Critics say that so piddling aum as $472 billion would leave us

naked to our enemies. We wouldnteven be able to fight two wars at aime, they say.

To which Panetta replies, maybenot. But well be able to fight onemajor war and have enough strengtheft over to spoil a second enemys

malign intentions elsewhere. Half awhoopee.

Ive always been suspicious of thewo-war strategy. To me, its like hav-ng a two-car garage. You may noteally need two cars, but if you have

a two-car garage, chances are youllown two cars sooner or later. One-and-a-half wars are plenty. If we havemore enemies than that, let them takea number and form a line.

Theres also a contingent of criticswho complain that cutting troop lev-els might leave us unprepared to fighta grinding and long land war in Asia.

Oh darn, and thats what I wantedfor my birthday this year anotherprotracted land war in Asia. Now Imgoing to have to settle for diplomacy,anctions and boring stuff like that.

Buck up, folks. Even with thosecuts and more like them we will stillbe by far the most militarilypowerful country on earth by severalorders of magnitude. We just cantgo off and invade a country anytime

we had a hint of a suspicion that theymight be planning to do somethingbad to us.

Which is what we do. Were the

most war-prone people on earth. Overthe past 60 years weve invaded,bombed, or sought to subvert morecountries Korea, Vietnam, Leba-non, Cuba, Somalia, Ethiopia, Pan-ama, Iraq (twice), Iran, Afghanistan,Pakistan, Chile, Laos, Cambodia, theBalkans, Grenada, the DominicanRepublic, Haiti, Indonesia, Guyana,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Brazil, Greece and Libya, as well asGuatemala, Nicaragua, Angola and El

Salvador by proxy than our beancounters can count. Some of theseoperations transpired under a NATOor United Nations umbrella, but mostdidnt.

One of the chief targets of thebudget cutters is the new F-35 JointStrike Fighter, a stealth model thattheoretically eludes radar detectionand is presently budgeted at $400billion for 2,500 planes, or $160 mil-lion-a-pop. And if past history is anyindication, it wont work.

Which wont matter, because verylittle of this is about defense. Itsabout the money and political profit

to be gained from the building of evermore expensive weapons systems ofdubious utility.

A friend of mine, Nick Kotz, oncewrote a book on the development ofa similar weapons system, the B-1bomber.

Built in the 1980s, it cost $28billion (not chump change in thosedays) and hardly ever saw combat.It was designed for nuclear war, yousee, and we havent had one of thoseyet (unless you count Hiroshima andNagasaki, which no one does). A fewcan still fly, but theyre hideously ex-pensive to operate, so they dont.

Toward the end of his book Kotz

takes us through a B-1 assembly linein Palmdale, Calif. First we learnabout the forward fuselage, whichwas made in Ohio, then the middleand rear elements (Texas), the tailsection (Maryland) and the nose land-ing gear (California) with tires fromOhio. And so it went. Before theplane was fully assembled, more than70 manufacturing sites were account-ed for, each represented by a piousmember of Congress with a handout.

Thats what military spending isall about and why its so difficult tocut. Its called the military-industrialcomplex.

OtherWords columnist DonaldKaul lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.otherwords.org

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012 Page 7ALocal News

Champion ofthe Week

Dorothy Neason

If you would like to nominate someone to

be considered as a future Champion of the

Week, please contactKathy [email protected] or at

404-373-7779, ext. 104.

DA, solicitor warn commissionersabout effect of possible budget cuts

For me, its a Godthing, said DorothyNeason, about hervolunteer work atthe Scottdale SeniorCenter.

When I was a littlegirl, my mama taughtone thing that has stuckwith me: Only what youdo for Christ will last,said Neason, 58. If allI was concerned aboutwas trying to make

money, I wouldnt behere.Neason originally

worked for SeniorConnections at theScottdale center.

When the budgetcuts came, they couldno longer run thecenter, said Neason,who has been at thecenter for a year.Now, shes an AARPvolunteer managing thecenter and trying to geta job.

Volunteering at the

center 18 hours eachweek, Neason managesvarious programs andservices includingcomputer literacy, line

dancing, card-makingand other crafts for the19 member seniors ofthe Scottdale center.

Neason also makessure the seniors getexercise.

Its very hard to getyourself up out of thebed, stretch your legs,get in the chair and dochair aerobics at home,Neason said. Yourenot going to do it. But atthe center, participantsget encouragementfrom each other.

Neason, who willbe leaving the centerin November, said hergoal is to continue tomake positive changesfor the seniors.

I want do everythingI can to get programsstarted, the atmospheregoing, fix the placeup so that if Im gone,somebody else can do

it, Neason said.Neason and herhusband William havea son who is a graduateof Columbia TheologicalSeminary. The familyattends Word of FaithChurch in Austell.

A professionalartist, Neason has abachelors degree fromSpelman College infine arts with a minor ineducation. She enjoyspainting, drawing,sketching, costumemaking and writingstories.

Im a talented,young womanjustbroke, Neason said.


DeKalb District Attorney

Robert James told countyommissioners on Feb. 2 that

his proposed 2012 budget isunacceptable.

Frankly, Im strugglingo understand why it lookshe way it looks, James said.Its completely unacceptable

and its not workable.In 2011, the district attor-

neys ofce had a budget of$10.6 million, but spent $11.2million. James requested$12.8 million for 2012, butDeKalb CEO BurrellEllisproposed budget allocates$10.1 million for the district

attorney.Ellis has proposed a

$547.3 million budget, whichs 1.2 percent higher than last

years.We went over budget

not because I was having aparty, or throwing a ticker-ape parade or doing anything

qualitatively different than Ido every year protecting theitizens of DeKalb County,ames said. We went over

budget because we didnthave enough money.

How do I go over bud-get one year by hundreds ofhousands of dollarsand I

get less money in the recom-mendation the next year?ames said.

The effect of the proposedbudget decrease would be noadditional staff in recordersourt, no drug court attorney,

no part-time salaries and nobudget for needed furniture,James said.

He said the cuts would also

take away funds used to sup-plement the attorney salariesthat the county pay scale capsat approximately $90,000. Theproposed budget has $410,000less in salaries than spent in2011 and $1.9 million lessthan James asked for.

In a DAs ofce Im notprosecuting DUIs and shop-lifting and simple batteries,James said. Im going afterthe Mexican maa. Im go-ing after a drug gang in southDeKalb that has 16 members.Im going after a pill mill thatspans six different counties.

I cannot take someonethathas virtually no experiencehandling these types of cases,pay them $91,000 and expectfor them to do this.

James said his ofce hasreceived one million pages ofdiscovery related to a pendingindictment involving formerDeKalb school ofcials.

I have two attorneys

working that case, Jamessaid. But these two attor-neys are also working everypublic integrity case that I

have in this county, includ-ing grand jury investigationsof the countys watershedmanagement department andthe school CRCT cheatingscandal.

Ive got to pay them,James said. I cant pay them$90K. Theyd probably laughand go elsewhere.

DeKalb Solicitor GeneralSherry Boston, who just com-pleted her rst year on the job,said she ran her ofce just asshe ran private practice and asshe handles her home nances.

Dont spend what you

dont have and you have tosave money for a rainy day,Boston said. I am proud ofthe fact that we came in at 94percent of our budget in 2011.We ran a very frugal ofce in2011.

Bostons staff recycles pa-per clips, uses the backs of oldbusiness cards instead of Post-It notes, and uses duct tape to

See Budget on Page 11A

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Seniors concerned that Scottdale center may closey Andrew Cauthen

[email protected]

Every Tuesday, Wednesdayand Thursday, 68-year-old Betty

Swinson goes to the ScottdaleSenior Center.If she didnt, Swinson would

be sitting in the house lookingat the four walls.

Its my outlet, said Swin-on, who has been a member ofhe center since 2006, when she

moved to Georgia.Swinson and the 18 other se-

niors at the small center in theScottdale community are con-cerned that the center may noturvive the 2012 DeKalb County

budget process.If they close it up, we wouldnt

have anywhere to go, Swinson

aid. Thats just like kicking us tohe curb. How would they feel if it

were their mama or their daddy?We need our center open to keep

our minds together, Swinson said.Leave Scottdale alone. Let us behappy. Let us have our outlet.

The Scottdale center, which has been open since974, is the second oldest in DeKalb. Residents

ages 60 and older are eligible to become membersof one of the countys six senior centers.

In addition to Scottdale are the DeKalb/Atlanta,Lithonia, Lou Walker (also in Lithonia), NorthDeKalb and South DeKalb centers.

The maximum membership for the Scottdalecenter is 49, if the county allows the center to reach

hat number, said Dorothy Neason, an AARP vol-unteer who manages the center.At the center, the residents hear presentations

about medication and health issues, Neason said.

Theymake crafts, go on trips and grocery

shopping and they receive a nutritious meal.All of that helps add to the health of the se-

niors, Neason said. Its very important for themnot to be alone.

Older people need to be in a community set-ting, Neason said. They dont need to sit at homealone and do nothing. Thats when they deteriorateand get sick.

Neason said the seniors are very concerned

about what will happen if the center is closed.No one from DeKalb County management hastalked to the seniors about anything, Neason said.They shouldnt have to hear stuff from the wind.

Burke Brennan, the countys chief communica-

tions ofcer, said none of the senior centers arebeing closed under the proposed 2012 countybudget of DeKalb CEO BurrellEllis, which,at $547.3 million, is 1.2 percent higher than the2011 budget.

The administration is in the process of es-tablishing partnerships with volunteers andnon-prot organizations to manage the countyssenior centers to live with our budget realities,Brennan said.

Maintaining some of the countys programsdepends upon a rather large volunteer contin-gent, Brennan said.

At $353,000, the proposed budget for seniorcitizen centers is 53 percent of last years bud-get.

The decrease in budget doesnt mean any-thing is closing, Brennan said.

Clarkston resident Rachel Brotherson, 69,said if the Scottdale center is closed, it wouldbe terrible because I couldnt nd anything todo every day.

Brotherson, who has been attending since2008, worked for Senior Connections fortwo years and was transferred to work at theScottdale center, which used to be open vedays a week.

Then they cut it down to three, Brothersonsaid. If it were left up to the county, it would bedown to nothing. Because were a small center, theywant to kick us to the curb.

Brotherson said she goes to the center to havefun, to meet people and to go on trips. It makes myday.

The seniors are not asking for a new building,upgrades or enhanced programs.

Were not asking for anything, Brothersonsaid. Were alive and well and kicking. Just leave

us alone.Marjorie Daniels, 88, said it is a horriblethought to consider the closing of the center.

Id deteriorate, Daniels said. I wouldnt knowwhat to do with myself. What would I do?

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As deadline approaches, reapportionmentcommittees continue to seek inputy Kathy Mitchell

[email protected]

There were maps labeledDeKalb Proposed Com-

mission Districts availablen a table in the back of the

Maloof Auditorium before aDeKalb County Commissionnd school board reappor-ionment public hearing thevening of Jan. 31. Duringhe meeting Commissioner

Jeff Rader explained that thetaff-prepared maps had noteen voted on by the commis-ioners.

Later in the meeting Com-missionerLarry Johnson

rought in a larger, modiedersion of the map that he ex-lained had been discussed inown hall meetings, but alsoad not been accepted by theommission.

School board memberPaul Womackbrought amap, but emphasized that itwas his proposal and did notave the boards endorsement.

Another board member, Don-na Edler, expressed the hopehat the school board could

meet and agree to recommendreapportionment plan, butaid that had not happened.

Results of the 2010 cen-us, which became availablen spring of 2011, indicatedhat some districts had gainedopulation and others hadost population. As a result,he Georgia General Assem-

bly must adjust district mapsfor both the schools and thecounty commission. Whileevery district will not have thesame number of people in it,the goal is to have a varianceof no more than 2 percent.

The responsibility ulti-mately rests with the state, ex-plained District 58 Rep. Sim-one Bell, chairwoman of thereapportionment committees,but the committees of DeKalbrepresentatives are seekingas much input from affectedcommunities as possible.She said committee membersare especially interested in

receiving recommendationsfrom the DeKalb CountyBoard of Commissioners andthe DeKalb County SchoolBoard.

John Evans, representingthe DeKalb County chapter ofthe NAACP, said his organi-zation would like to submit aproposed map, but had not yetprepared one. When is thedeadline? he asked.

Bell said proposed mapsshould already be in thehands of the committee, butthe group of state legislatorswould still accept them to getas much community input as

possible before submitting areport to the delegation. Theschool board and the countycommission were meeting onthe issue at press time. Thedeadline for a reapportion-ment plan, she noted, is Feb.14. Although the legislaturehas given us a deadline ofFeb. 14 to have this decisioncompleted, we must be surethat the process remains open,fair and transparent to writethe best possible legislationfor DeKalb County, she said.

Once the General Assem-bly has approved a plan it hasto go the U.S. Justice Depart-

ment, which has 60 days toaccept or reject it. BecauseGeorgia is among the stateswith a history of voting rightsabuses, changes in politicaldistricts must be approved atthe federal level.

About 60 people, many ofthem elected ofcials, werein attendance. There werecomplaints that the meetingwasnt announced sooner sothat more people could learnabout it. Bell said the com-mittee was hoping to havemaps endorsed by the countycommissioners and by theschool board that the publiccould comment on. When that

didnt happened, she said,we just decided to go aheadand schedule a meeting. Imreally sorry about the shortnotice.

We will not draw a mapuntil weve heard from thepublic, Bell said, adding thatthe task is complicated bythe fact that a change in statelaw forces DeKalb County toreduce its school board fromnine to seven members.

A few unafliated resi-dents stepped up to the mi-crophone to comment. Mosturged the committee notto break up districts wherepeople already were workingwell together. Several wereconcerned about potentialchanges in the Chamblee-Brookhaven area where com-mission districts 1 and 2 meet.

DeKalb County Commissioners Larry Johnson, at microphone, and Jeff Rader, holding map, show amap with proposed districting changes that have been discussed at several town hall meetings.

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Suburban roasters emphasizeorganic approachby Daniel [email protected]

Country music and the smell

of roasting coffee wafted out of asmall warehouse into the Decaturair on a chilly Friday afternoon.Inside the warehouse, the wallswere stacked with burlap sacks,and Steve Franklin and Ian Lanzprepared to put another batch ofcoffee in the roaster.

In 2001, Franklin and his wifeHeddy Kuhl moved from Atlantato London shortly after becom-ing engaged. After sightseeing ata church or museum, they oftenwound up at a caf.

The cafs over there are moremulti-dimensional than the U.S.cafpeople bring their dogs andtheir families, and at all the cafstheres good coffee, Franklin said.

After a year, Franklin and Kuhlmoved back to Atlanta and startedJava Vino, a coffee and wine houselocated on North Highland. He saidthe idea for the business started inEurope, as he and his wife sat incafs taking notes on the back ofnapkins.

Kuhl, originally from Nicara-gua, is part of a family who hasbeen farming coffee since 1880.Franklin said since she is familiarwith coffee making opening a cafwas a perfect t. To start their ven-

ture, Franklin and Kuhl importedone container from Selva Negra,the farm Kuhls family owns. Eachcontainer consists of 275 bags, ap-proximately 37,500 pounds of cof-fee.

The couple then opened a roast-ing company, Beaneology. The rstyear Franklin and Kuhl were inbusiness they only sold around halfof the coffee, either to Java Vinocustomers or other small roast-ers such as themselves. However,since that rst slow year, theirbusiness has grown and this yearthey plan to buy ve containers.

Now weve got all of theseroasters throughout the southeastall the way to Nevada who areroasting it because its single-origin estate coffee, Franklinsaid. Single origin means the cof-fee comes from a single farm andisnt mixed from different farmsthroughout the country.

At their warehouse in Decatur,tucked behind a unassuming bun-galow style home, Franklin andLanz were trying to nish vacuum-packing an order of freshly roastedbeans to be delivered later in theday.

Weve been roasting since day

one, Franklin said. We roastedon Mondays at Java Vino and thatwas when wed roast all of the cof-fee for the week.

Lanz, who does most of the

roasting, has been working withFranklin for several years. Hestarted out in the coffee shop butwhen the roasters were moved to

the warehouse several years ago,he went with them. He now works40 to 50 hours a week.

Recently, Franklin hired a thirdperson to help ll orders and he isworking with Agnes Scott Collegeto develop an internship programto lessen the load for Lanz.

Its a little different every daybut I clean out the roasters andempty the chaff into the giganticcompost pile, which is starting toget a little big, Lanz said of hismorning routine at the warehouse.Then I vacuum out all of the air-ow ducts and then go through e-mails and gure out the orders.

Franklin said most of the or-ders for the coffee are lled on aweekly basis and then delivered onWednesday or Thursday, except thebeans for Whole Foods, which aredone on Friday. Recently, the FreshMarket also began carrying Beane-ology coffee beans.

Selva Negra, which translates toBlack Forest or Black Jungle,is named after the Schwarzwaldmountain range in Germany, andis approximately 5,000 feet abovesealevel. Franklin said the coffeefrom the farm maintains a numberof certications such as Organic,

Shade Grown, Rainforest Allianceand Smithsonian Institute BirdFriendly. Franklin explained theBird Friendly certication is oneof the hardest to get.

You have to get certied Or-ganic rst and have 70 percentshade cover and three to four dif-ferent layers of canopy and supportthe migration of the birds. We haveanywhere from 150-280 differ-ent bird species on the farm andpumas, anteaters, howler monkeysand sloths; its like a little naturepreserve, Franklin said.

Although the coffee farm only

produces 10 containers a year, arelatively small operation com-pared to most farms, Franklin saidthere are nearly 1,000 people wholive on the farm or in the surround-ing area.

We have a school on the farm,a medical facility and a kitchen.So, all that and the housing is paidfor, Franklin said.

The farm hires private teach-ers for the school on the farm, andFranklin said that if a student grad-uates from elementary school, thefarm pays for them to go to a pri-vate high school in the city; if theygraduate from high school the farm

pays for them to go to college.We have eight kids in universi-

ty right now. I mean, nobody doesthat, Franklin said.

an Lanz organizes bins of freshly roasted coffee at Beaneologys warehouse in

Decatur. Photos by Daniel Beauregard

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Budget Continued From Page 7A

DeKalb County

Department of Watershed Management

Public Advisory

Superior Avenue Sanitary Sewer

Improvements Project

This advisory is issued to inform the public of a receipt

of an application for a variance submitted pursuant to a

State environmental law. The public is invited to comment

during a 30 day period on the proposed activity. Since

the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has

no authority to zone property or determine land use, only

those comments addressing environmental issues related

to air, water, and land protection will be considered in the

application review process. Written comments should

be submitted to: Program Manager, Non Point Source

Program, Erosion and Sedimentation Control, 4220

International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, Georgia 30354.

Type of Permit Application: Variance to encroach within

the 25-foot State waters buffer.

Applicable Law: Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act

O.C.G.A. 12-7-1 et seq.

Applicable Rules: Erosion and Sedimentation Control

Chapter 391-3-7

Basis under which variance shall be considered {391-3-

7.05(2)(A-J)}: d

Description and Location of Proposed Activity: Applicant

proposes to impact 300 linear feet of buffer along a tributary

of South Fork Peachtree Creek to conduct sanitary sewer

improvements along Superior Avenue near the intersection

with North Decatur Road. Map of the project worksiteand location can be seen on the DeKalb County Watershed

Management website at http://dekalbwatershed.com.

February 19, 2012

Advisory Close Date

January 19, 2012

Advisory Issue Date

Printed on100%

post-consumerrecycled paper

hold together carts and boxesto prolong their usefulness.

And we are still usingsoftware that was released in1998 that is no longer beingsupported by the countys[information systems] depart-

ment, Boston said.We were very specicabout not spending moneywhen we didnt have themoney, Boston said. Whenyou talk to me about decreas-ing my funds it means that Iam letting people go.

Cutting her budget by 5percent, or $272,000, wouldcut the recently created pre-trial diversion program andfour staff positions, or thespecial victims unit and threepositions.

These reductions will

not only lessen our abilityto prosecute crimes, theywill also adversely affect theamount of revenue that wecan return to the county,Boston said.

A 10 percent cut would

eliminate all diversion pro-grams and the relatively newcommunity prosecutor posi-tion.

With these cuts, crimeprevention and interventiongo by the wayside and ourprosecution becomes reactiveand the bare minimum, Bos-ton said.

The nance committee ofthe Board of Commission-ers is holding meetings eachweek until commissionersvote to adopt a 2012 budgeton Feb. 28.

Man sentenced

n vehicularhomicide case

James Miles of Logan-ville pleaded guilty Feb.2 on vehicular homicidecharges and was sentencedo ve years, two of which

are to be served in a workelease program. DeKalb

State Court Judge JohnnyPanos also sentenced Mileso perform 240 hours of

community service, attendhree victim impact pan-

els and attend a defensive

driving course. The courtordered Miles license to beuspended for ve years as a

condition of his sentence.Miles pleaded guilty to

charges relating to an ac-cident in which the DodgeStratus he was driving strucka commuter van, causing ito crash on Stone Mountain

Freeway. Three SouthernCompany employees died inhe crash and six others werenjured. Miles also pleaded

guilty to reckless driving,following too closely, failureo maintain lane, and im-

proper lane change.

Mobeta Wings inDecatur reopens

After being shut downfor three months after a caran into its building, Mobeta

Wings has reopened.Steve and Insoon Lee,

who run Mobeta Wings inDecatur on East College Av-enue, reopened the decade-old business on Feb. 5.

We have been surprisedand are grateful for the sup-port the community hasgiven us all this time, saidKristie Lee, daughter of theowners.

The business was forcedo shut down on Oct. 13

after a woman accidentally

drove a Lexus sedan throughthe front door. No one wasinjured during the lunchtime accident.

Animal Servicesoffers petadoption special

DeKalb County AnimalServices will offer aValentines Day AdoptionSpecial, Feb. 14 17, 10a.m. 5 p.m. and Saturday,

Feb. 18, 10 a.m. 4 p.m. atthe DeKalb Animal Servicesand Enforcement Center,845 Camp Road in Decatur.

Adoptions are $60 andinclude spay/neuter services,vaccines, de-wormer, andHW or FIV/FeLV testing. Toview animals available foradoption, visit www.dekalb-countyanimalservices.com.

For additional informa-tion, contact DeKalb CountyAnimal Services at (404)294-3088.

News Briefs

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by Kathy [email protected]

Romantics who would like to ser-enade their sweethearts for ValentinesDay dont need a balcony, a guitar oreven a singing voice. For $50, StoneMountain Barbershop Chorus willsend a quartet to sing two love songsand present a personalized Valentinescard and an articial rose.

People love itusually, saidBill Banks, the chorus project chair-man, who admits that occasionally abashful recipient is a bit embarrassedby the attention. He said that eightquartets, many award winners, presentapproximately 100 singing Valentineson or near Feb. 14.

We never know exactly howmany well have since some are or-dered very close to the date, Bankssaid. He noted that the greetings insong, now a 20-year tradition, are de-ivered all over the metro Atlanta area.

Banks coordinates the engage-ments making quick adjustmentswhen necessary to be sure all the datesare kept. Using a big map and mul-icolored pushpins, he keeps track of

engagements for the day. If a groups delayed in trafc, I try to see if an-

other one can ll in. We dont wanto disappoint anyone, he said. He

said that quartets going to busy areas

where parking is a challenge have adriver who drops them off then comesaround and picks them up.

The quartets enjoy it as much ashe recipients, said Banks, who added

that the singing groups usually leavegiggling with glee. They dress in theirown spiffy outtsmost with at leasta splash of redthat suggest a turn-of-the-20th-century barbershop quartet.

Banks calls barbershop quartetsa uniquely American contribution tomusicmuch like the banjo. This

is one of our most enjoyable projectsbecause we get to deliver a uniqueI love you message to that specialsweetheart, he said.

While the serenade usually evokes

an image of a gentleman singing tohis lady love in some romantic setting,Banks said the reality varies greatly.We have serenaded both men andwomen in such spots as supermarkets,college and elementary school class-rooms, business ofces, retail shops,doctors ofces, living rooms and

residential driveways, he said, addingthat about of a third of those serenadedare men. He recalled a third gradeclass that had the barbershoppers singto their teacher.

The effect is most dramatic whenan audience is present to witness the

event, Banks said. Its great whenthe whole ofce comes out to join inthe fun.

The quartets come from amongStone Mountain Barbershop Chorus60 members, who regularly performthe a cappella four-part close harmonythat characterizes the classic barber-shop quartet. The group, which formedin 1980 with 22 members rehearsingat a Chamblee church, has grown to

be the largest group in the regionalDixie Chorus. Both a performingand competing chorus, the group hastwice won the annual regional com-

petition, most recently in 2010. TheStone Mountain Barbershop Chorusnow meets every Monday night atRehoboth Presbyterian Church in De-catur.

The Stone Mountain Chorus is anon-profit organization that donates a

portion of its Singing Valentine pro-ceeds to Families of Children UnderStress, a local charity. In addition togiving a spring and a fall concert eachyear, the chorusor groups fromwithin itperform at such eventsas the Stone Mountain Park Memo-rial Day Salute to the Troops and atChristmas visits to nursing homes.

Its website notes that throughoutits history the Stone Mountain Chap-

ter has proudly represented our com-munity as ambassador songsters andcheerful good citizens. We continueour dedication to keep the wholeworld singing!

Stone Mountain barbershop quartetsbring music and fun to Valentines Day

Jaynette Atkinson is surprised by a quartet made up of, from left, Mark Hyde, Bill Banks, Earl Volpert and Mike Walsh. Photos provided

Bill Banks uses a map and pushpins to keep track of where the Valentines Day quar-tets are scheduled to perform.

8/3/2019 Free Press 2-10-12

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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

Art exhibit offers rareglimpse into minds of Swisspsychologists patientsby Daniel [email protected]

Denise von Herrmannsaid the works in OglethorpeUniversitys most recent artexhibition are beautiful, comefrom an important traditionand have a lot to say about therole of psychology in societyoday.

Herrmann, vice presidentfor academic affairs and pro-vost of Oglethorpe Univer-sity, said The Sacred Round:Mandalas by the Patientsof Carl Jung exhibit was aperfect example of how theuniversitys art museum isstretching the boundaries.

This exhibition reallystarted in 1994 when I wento Zurich, Oglethorpe Uni-

versity Museum of Art Direc-orLloyd Nicksaid. There

was a debate within the Jung-an Institute on whether they

should be shown because theywere private works.

The works on display are40 different mandala paint-ng created by patients of the

Swiss psychoanalyst CarlJung on loan from the C.GJung Institute in Kusnacht,Switzerland. Mandalas,

meaning holy circles inSanskrit, were used duringJungs therapy sessions withhis patients to express bothhe conscious and subcon-

scious.This is the rst time

hese have ever been seenoutside of the Jung Instituteand were very grateful fort allowing us to show them.

The information on the wallss the analysis of ve Jung-an analysts describing what

youre looking at, Nick said.Although the idea might

seem abstract to some, Dr. Vi-cente de Moura an archivistat the C. G. Jung Institute anda Jungian analyst, said every-body can nd something torelate to within each mandalaf they look close enough.

Once you start to look athe paintings, what youre go-ng to see is the person behindhe paintings, de Moura said.

De Moura said the aver-age person on the street is sonvolved with what is going

on outside of them they dontpay attention to what is goingon inside themselves.

Each one of those behindhe paintings has the samessues that we have in us:

conicts, hope, imbalance andbalance. In America we are

extremely extrovertedev-erything is outsidebut whatJung was saying was that ev-

erything happening inside ofyou was just as important aswhats happening outside, deMoura said.

The exhibition runsthrough May 6, and duringthat time the museum willalso feature lectures and mu-sic in conjunction with theexhibit.

My hope is that if some-one comes here and seesthe exhibition there will bea click, and they will ask,What is going on inside ofme and why is that impor-tant? de Moura said.

Dr. Vicente de Moura, an archivist at the C. G. Jung Institute and a Jungian analyst, spoke at the open-ing of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Arts newest exhibition The Sacred Round: Mandalas bythe Patients of Carl Jung. The exhibition, running through May 6, features paintings by the patientsof the famous Swiss psychologist. Photo by Daniel Beauregard

Last

2/14

First

2/29

The Northeast will see mostly clear skies today, mostly clear to partly cloudy skies

with scattered snow Friday and Saturday, with the highest temperature of 50 in

Georgetown, Del. The Southeast will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with a

few showers today through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 81 in Marathon Key, Fla. The

Northwest will see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with isolated rain today through Saturday, with

the highest temperature of 65 in Medford, Ore. The Southwest will see mostly clear skies today

through Saturday, with the highest temperature of 79 in Fullerton, Calif.

THURSDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 55 Low: 36

New

2/21

The Champion Weather Feb. 9, 2012Seven Day Forecast

Local UV Index

WEDNESDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 58 Low: 37

TUESDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 59 Low: 35

MONDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 55 Low: 31

SUNDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 55 Low: 34

SATURDAY

Partly Cloudy

High: 53 Low: 32

FRIDAY

Mostly Sunny

High: 58 Low: 38

In-Depth Local Forecast Today's Regional Map

Sunrise

7:27 a.m.

7:27 a.m.

7:26 a.m.7:25 a.m.

7:24 a.m.

7:23 a.m.

7:22 a.m.

Sunset

6:16 p.m.

6:17 p.m.

6:18 p.m.6:18 p.m.

6:19 p.m.

6:20 p.m.

6:21 p.m.

Moonset

8:12 a.m.

8:47 a.m.

9:24 a.m.10:02 a.m.

10:45 a.m.

11:32 a.m.

12:25 p.m.

Moonrise

8:32 p.m.

9:38 p.m.

10:46 p.m.11:54 p.m.

No Rise

1:01 a.m.

2:06 a.m.

Full

3/8

www.WhatsOurWeather.com

Weather History

Feb. 9, 1933 - The temperature at

Moran, Wyo., located next to

Teton National Park, plunged to

63 degrees below zero to establish

a state record. The temperature atthe Riverside Ranger Station in

Montana hit 66 below zero to

establish a record for the nation

that stood until 1954.

Weather Trivia

Tonight's Planets

What is the term for

airflow around a high

pressure system?

Answer: Anticyclone.

?

Day

Thursday

Friday

SaturdaySunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

National Weather Summary This Week

Local Sun/Moon Chart This Week

StarWatch By Gary Becker - Moon, Planets Reveal More

Today we will see mostly sunny skies with a

high temperature of 55, humidity of 46%.

North wind 10 to 15 mph. The record high

temperature for today is 79 set in 1994.

Expect partly cloudy skies tonight with anovernight low of 36.

Feb. 10, 1978 - As much as eight

inches of rain drenched Southern

California, resulting in wide-

spread flooding and mudslides.

The heavy rainfall produced a

wall of water that ripped through

the mountain resort community

of Hidden Springs, drowning at

least 13 people.

Perhaps you have been noticing that dazzling bright star in the SW after sundown. Alas, it is the planet Venus. There is no brighter star in the heavens. Above Venus and

to the left is Jupiter, the ruler of the solar system, but not quite as bright. Saturn and Mars come along later in the evening, although Mars is rising about 8 p.m. Whats nice

about the planets, from Mercury to Saturn, and the moon, is that they are bright and can reveal other interesting celestial gems as they wander among the stars. On Monday,

February 6, a bright waxing gibbous moon is 5.5 degrees to the SSW of the Beehive, an old open cluster of stars in Cancer the Crab. Binoculars will be needed to view this

swarm of luminaries that have been around for some 600 million years and might well be related to another more famous open cluster, the Hyades, which is represented by the V of

Taurus the Bull minus its brightest star, Aldebaran. Likewise on Thursday the 9th, a full moon visits Mars. Moonrise is about 8 p.m., but give the moon and Mars a few hours to gain alti-tude, and the experience will be more productive. The moon will be about two fists held at arms length (thumb on top) above the horizon by 10 p.m. A bright warm-colored star will be

about one fists distance to the moons left, and that will be Mars. The sneakiest rendezvous this week, however, will also occur on Thursday evening right after it gets dark. Look at Venus

using binoculars in the WSW about 45 minutes to an hour after sundown. To Venus left and very close to the Goddess of Love, less than half a lunar diameter away, will be a much fainter

starlike object, also a planet. Youll be looking at Uranus. Any small to mid-sized telescope will also reveal the two objects in the same field of view. The day before and after are still good

views through binoculars, but with wider separations. Much success! www.astronomy.org

Rise Set

Mercury 7:42 a.m. 6:21 p.m.

Venus 9:24 a .m. 9:31 p.m.

Mars 8:31 p.m. 9:17 a.m.

Jupiter 10:53 a.m.12:04 a.m.

Saturn 11:33 p.m.10:53 a.m.

Uranus 9:27 a.m. 9:31 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

55/36

Decatur

55/36

Doraville

54/36

Dunwoody

53/35 Lilburn

54/36

Snellville

55/36

Lithonia

56/36

Morrow

56/36

Smyrna

54/36

Hampton

57/37

Union City

56/36

College Park

56/36

*Last Weeks Almanac

Date Hi Lo Normals Precip

Tuesday 67 32 53/34 0.00"

Wednesday 67 45 54/34 0.15"

Thursday 67 45 54/34 0.00"

Friday 60 41 54/34 0.00"

Saturday 69 49 54/35 0.10"

Sunday 69 51 54/35 0.00"

Monday 56 42 55/35 0.00"Rainfall . . . . . . .0.25" Average temp . .54.3

Normal rainfall . .1.18" Average normal 44.2

Departure . . . . .-0.93" Departure . . . .+10.1*Data as reported from De Kalb-Peachtree Airport

8/3/2019 Free Press 2-10-12

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012 Page 14AHealth

CDC:Diabetes amputationsfalling dramaticallyby Mike Stobbe

ATLANTA (AP) Footand leg amputations wereonce a fairly common fatefor diabetics, but new gov-ernment research shows adramatic decline in limbsost to the disease, probably

due to better treatments.The rate has fallen by

more than half since themid-1990s, according towhat is being called themost comprehensive studyof the trend.

For older diabetics,amputations dropped frommore than 11 to about fourper 1,000 people, the Cen-ers for Disease Control

and Prevention reportedrecently.

Other diabetes studieshave shown declines in lostoes, feet and legs, but not

as dramatic.What jumped out to

me was the scale of the im-provement, said Dr. JohnBuse, a University of NorthCarolina diabetes expert

who was not involved in thenew study.The study was released

Jan. 24 by the medical jour-nalDiabetes Care.

Diabetes is a disease inwhich sugar builds up in theblood. Roughly one in 10U.S. adults has it, and it ishe seventh leading cause of

death, the CDC says.Complications include

poor circulation and nervedamage in the lower limbs,resulting in numbness andslow healing of sores andnfections. Thats most

common in elderly patientsand those with diabetes forat least 10 years.

While diabetes has beengrowing more common inthe United Statesdrivenby obesity-related Type 2researchers have noted re-cent declines in some of theother most dreaded compli-cations, including blindnessand kidney failure.

Buse recalled seeingsuch problems constantlywhen he rst became direc-tor of UNCs Diabetes Care

Center in the mid-1990s.Pretty much every min-

ute of every day in the wait-ing room, there would besomebody missing a limb,or with a seeing eye dog orwhite cane, he said.

But he hasnt seen a pa-tient like that in his waitingroom for a few years, headded.

In the CDC study, the re-searchers checked nationalhospital discharge recordsfor 1988 through 2008,looking for patients ages

40 and older who had lost atoe, foot or leg to diabetes.They found that though

the number of people withthe disease more thantripled over those two de-cades, foot and leg amputa-tions fell after 1996.

The researchers alsolooked at people who didnot have diabetes, andfound the rates of amputa-tion were at.

Its not clear what hap-pened to start the dropamong diabetics, said NilkaRios Burrows, a CDC epi-

420-310495 2/9,2/16,2/23,3/1

NOTICE OF SALE UNDER POWERGeorgia, DeKalb CountyUnder and by virtue of the Power of Sale contained in a Security Deed given byKipchoge K. Thompson to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., As

Nominee For Ownit Mortgage Solutions, Inc., dated May 19, 2006, recorded in DeedBook 18806, Page 276, DeKalb County, Georgia records, as last transferred to U.S.Bank National Association, As Successor Trustee, To Bank Of America, National

Association As Successor By Merger To Lasalle Bank National Association, AsTrustee, For Ownit Mortgage Loan Trust, Ownit Mortgage Loan Asset BackedCertificates, Series 2006-5 by assignment recorded or to be recorded, DeKalb County,Georgia records conveying the after-described property to secure a Note in the original

principal amount of ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND SEVENHUNDRED FIFTY AND 00/100 DOLLARS ($126,750.00); with interest thereon asset forth therein, there will be sold at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash

before the courthouse door of DeKalb County, Georgia, within the legal hours of saleon the first Tuesday in March 2012 the following described property:

All that tract or parcel of land lying and being in Land Lot 11 of the 16th District,DeKalb County, Georgia, being Lot 9, Block D, Windsor Estates Subdivision, SectionIII, as per plat recorded in Plat Book 54, Page 32, DeKalb County, Georgia Records,which recorded plat is incorporated herein by this reference and made a part of thisdescription. said property being known as 3215 Sunnford Lane according to the

present system of numbering houses in DeKalb County, Georgia.The debt secured by said Security Deed has been and is hereby declared due

because of, among other possible events of default, failure to pay the indebtedness asand when due and in the manner provided in the Note and Security Deed. The debtremaining in default, this sale will be made for the purpose of paying the same and allexpenses of this sale, as provided in Security Deed and by law, including attorneysfees (notice of intent to collect attorneys fees having been given).

Said property will be sold subject to any outstanding ad valorem taxes (including

taxes which are a lien, but not yet due and payable), any matters which might bedisclosed by an accurate survey and inspection of the property, any assessments, liens,encumbrances, zoning ordinances, restrictions, covenants, and matters of recordsuperior to the Security Deed first set out above.

The entity that has full authority to negotiate, amend, and modify all terms of themortgage with the debtor is: Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, Attention: Home RetentionDepartment, 1661 Worthington Road, Suite 100, West Palm Beach, FL 33409, 877-596-8580. Please understand that the secured creditor is not required by law tonegotiate, amend, or modify the terms of the mortgage instrument.

To the best knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the parties in possession of theproperty are Kipchoge K. Thompson or a tenant or tenants and said property is morecommonly known as 3215 Sunnyford Lane, Lithonia, GA 30038 .

The sale will be conducted subject (1) to confirmation that the sale is not prohibitedunder the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and (2) to final confirmation and audit of the status ofthe loan with the holder of the security deed.

U.S. Bank National Association, as Successor Trustee, to Bank Of America,National Association As Successor By Merger To Lasalle Bank National Association,As Trustee, For Ownit Mortgage Loan Trust, Ownit Mortgage Loan Asset BackedCertificates, Series 2006-5As Attorney in Fact for Kipchoge K. ThompsonWeissman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco, PCAttn: Ocwen Team

One Alliance Center3500 Lenox RoadAtlanta, GA 30326

Our File# 011118 THISISANATTEMPTTOCOLLECTADEBT.ANYINFORMATIONOBTAINEDWILLBEUSEDFORTHATPURPOSE.

demiologist who co-authoredthe study.

But experts note that wasa decade in which studiesclearly demonstrated the val-ue of close monitoring andstepped-up patient education.

Its also when Medicare be-gan paying for blood sugarmonitoring and for protectiveshoes and other medical de-vices for elderly diabetics.

CDC ofcials saw in-creases in the proportion ofdiabetics who got annualfoot exams, and believe theenhanced care is the mainreason for the decline in am-putations.

But another element maybe that larger numbers ofdiabetics are being diagnosedearlier and with milder dis-ease, Burrows said.

8/3/2019 Free Press 2-10-12

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Spirit-filled minister who teacheshe Hebrew roots of the Christian

faith.Rabbi Joshua Heller, of Con-

gregation Bnai Torah in Atlanta,described the ceremony asa mis-

use and abuse of the Torah.When I saw the video online,was really disturbed, Helleraid. The way we are lifted byhe Torah is by reading it and fol-owing its teaching, not by using it

as a garment.There is nothing in the Jew-

sh tradition where we would wrapomeone in a Torah, Heller said.

There are cases in history whereews were burned alive wrappedn a Torah, but clearly that is not

anything someone would want toemulate.

Heller said Messer is a self-declared rabbi.

The title for him is somethingof a misnomer, Heller said. Hes not regarded as a rabbi by the

vast majority of the Jewish com-munity.

Heller said he was reallydisturbed, offended, put off, con-fused by the ceremony.

What is portrayed is not re-ally reective of Judaism or Chris-ianity, Heller said. It is outsidehe bounds of both.

Heller said it is possible thathe Torah used in Longs ceremo-

ny could be one of the thousandsof Torah scrolls that survived the

Holocaust.Even if it were a HolocaustTorah, it is upsetting to see it usedhat way, Heller said. I wouldnt

want to take the ritual objects of

another faith and use it in my wor-ship.

Rabbi Michael Bernstein, ofCongregation Gesher LTorah inAlpharetta, said Longs ceremonydoesnt represent anything of thereligion that I represent.

I dont think that it representsChristianity either, Bernsteinsaid.

People who understand theJewish traditions relate to theTorah and show a lot more respectthan to use it for a ceremony thatis self-aggrandizing, Bernstein

said. There isnt going to be any-one in the Jewish community that sees the Torah as a symbol ofcoronation.

The Torah was used as a prop

in a ceremony that doesnt haveconnection with anyones reli-gion, Bernstein said. I dont ndthat appropriate.

Rabbi StevenLebow, a re-formed rabbi in Cobb County, saidthat wrapping Bishop Long in aTorah scroll is a cynical attempt toshore up his failed ministry.

Bishop Long, by havinghimself declared king, has sunkto a new depth in the history ofreligious hypocrisy, Lebow said.The guy exhibits an incrediblesense of chutzpah. He is a legend

in his own mind.Messer could not be reached for

this story, but New Birth releaseda statement from Messer, who saidhis message was about restoration

and encouragement for Long.The presentation of the scroll of

Torah was simply a way of bring-ing honor to a man who had givenhis life to the Lord and had givenso much to his church, the Atlanta

metro area and throughout theworld, Messer said. It was not tomake Bishop Eddie L. Long a king.

Messer said lifting Long in thechair was a way to acknowledgeand honor him.

It is done all the time at Jewishweddings and bar mitzvahs, Messersaid.

Rabbi Joseph Prass, of TempleEmanu-El in Sandy Springs, said thelifting of the chair is never done dur-ing a worship service.

Messers ceremony was anawkward and odd blending of Jew-ish elements, and the incorporationof the Torah in the ceremony was an

inappropriate and made-up use,Prass said.

Jews and people of faith takegreat strides to ensure that the Torahis not touched, Prass said. Towrap someone in a Torah is to showdisrespect. To wrap it around BishopLong is just a careless and disre-spectful treatment of a scroll.

Rabbi Fred Greene, of TempleBeth Tikvah, said the video was noteasy to watch.

I nd it to be really sad andquite offensive to use a sacredtextto repair his image, Greenesaid. The whole act was disrespect-

ful.New Birth church memberswere sold a phony bill of goods byMesser, Greene said. The leader-ship should know better.

The covering for the Torah is never called a foreskin, as it was called during a ceremony at Bishop Eddie Longs church in Lithonia, said Rabbi Joseph Prass, of TempleEmanu-El in Sandy Springs. It is simply called a cover. Photo by Andrew Cauthen

Bishop Eddie Long, of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, holds a Torah as he iselevated in a chair during a church service. Source: Youtube

Long Continued From Page 1A

t C f pss, fdy, fy 10, 2012 pg 15aLocal News

8/3/2019 Free Press 2-10-12

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The Champion Free Press, Friday, February 10, 2012 Page 16AEducation

Avondale Elementary students get

hands on banking experienceby Daniel [email protected]

The teachers of one Avon-dale Elementary School class-room could barely be heardabove the jingle of coins andexcited chatter on Feb. 3.

That morning, studentscrowded into Dr. TanikaHenrys classroom to makea deposit at the Avondale El-ementary student-run bank, an

event held on the rst Fridayof every month.

The school recently begana partnership with CapitalCity Bank and Trust Corpdesigned to teach participantsthe basics of banking. Henrysaid each student who is in-terested in banking neededonly a dollar to open a savingsaccountif they didnt haveone, Capital City would pro-vide one for them.

Number one we want toteach them basic nancialliteracysaving their money,not withdrawing it every timethey want to buy something,Henry said.

Student-bank employees,acting as managers, helpedeach participating child llout their account paperwork.At the front of the room was amake-shift teller window withfour students working as bank

tellers.The children in the room

were loud, but above the dinas each student walked up tothe teller window, one couldstill make out a Good morn-ing, maam, how may I helpyou?

Were teaching them howto be employees, and how torun a business and be profes-sional as well. Not only arethey getting that experience

but the math skills play in, thereading skills play in and ev-erything else we teach them.Theyre getting that practicalhands-on experience, Henrysaid.

The students acting asmanagers handed each newcustomers information totwo young men who sat at acomputer in the corner of theclassroom, entering customerinformation into a database.

by Daniel [email protected]

City Schools of DecaturSuperintendent Phyllis Ed-wards said if House Bill 651passes, the school systemwould lose $350,000 in fund-ng it has been getting for thepast ve years.

In 2008, a bill was passed

hat allowed school systemsn Georgia to become char-er systems and receive state

funding of approximately$100 per student.

This bill strikes out allof the places where we hadreceived small amounts of ad-ditional funding in [becominga charter system], Edwardssaid.

Additionally, Edwards isconcerned about more thanthe loss of funding. Currently,there are 14 charter schoolsystems in Georgia but bigger

systems, such as the FultonCounty School System, areconsidering the move.

What were hearing isthat, Youre doing a good

job, but now other bigger sys-tems are coming into this andthe question is how to fundit, Edwards said.

If Fulton County was ap-proved as a charter system itcould cost the state upwardsof $10 million, said AndrewLewis, executive vice presi-dent of the Georgia CharterSchools Association, a non-

prot group that advocates forcharter school in Georgia.

Members of the GeneralAssembly are saying that thestate simply cannot afford to

provide that innovative fund-ing, Lewis said, Edwardssaid she has spoken with lo-cal legislators Jason Carter,Mary Margaret Oliver andothers, who have also ex-pressed concerns. A year fromnow, CSD would have to ap-ply for another ve-year char-ter and Edwards said if thebill passes, next year when

we meet we need to decidewhether we need to be a char-ter or not.

Clearly we want to con-tinue with the path that were

on right now but it costs mon-ey for the things that weredoing in terms of training andtechnology. Just like any sys-tem, if we lose that money, weneed to make some choicesand determine what our pathis going to be, Edwards said.

I think it sends a terriblemessage not just to those whohave been working on this

but also the number of sys-tems who are thinking aboutbecoming charters, Edwardssaid.

Decatur s

free press 2-10-12

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