Archived News

Doraville home intruders identified

Khaleaf Silvera and Alfred Wilson are facing charges of aggravated assault, armed robbery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and felony murder after a Doraville home invasion that left one person dead.

In the early-morning hours of May 8, three men broke into a home on the 3900 block of Doral Drive by climbing through a window, and then tied the hands of three of the four residents inside the home.

Doraville Police Sgt. Gene Callaway said one of the bound residents was able to grab a gun and shoot one of the intruders. The name of the suspect who was killed has not been released at this time.

Four DeKalb high schools ranked among best in Georgia

The U.S. News & World Report recently released its list of the best high schools in Georgia and four DeKalb school are among those named.

The list is compiled using data based on individual schools student-to-teacher ratio, college readiness or advanced placement test results, and math and English proficiency test results. According to the U.S. News & World Report website, it reviewed 21,776 public schools in the United States and included 77 Georgia schools.

Chamblee Charter High School is No. 8 among Georgia schools, with a national ranking of 406. Lakeside High School is No. 9 in Georgia with a national ranking of 517.

Cross Keys High School ranked 26th in the state with a national raking of 1,429, followed by Stephenson High School, which was ranked 35th in Georgia and 1,799th nationally.

Tow truck contractor pays thousands in pretrial agreement

DeKalb County Solicitor General Sherry Boston recently announced a tow truck company has agreed to pay DeKalb County $142,349 in restitution as the result of a nine-month investigation.

Boston said that Cymill Motors Inc., a towing business in the county, and owners Cynthia Oremi, Jarrett Thorpe and Millern Prince, have agreed to pay back the money.

After reviewing documents from Cymill, various public records and the company’s computer hard drives, it was determined that in the past two years Cymill had sold 336 vehicles at public auction without paying the county the profit from the sales. Criminal charges will be pursued if the defendants fail to make full restitution.

Development Authority awards $20,000 to Stone Mountain CID

The DeKalb County Development Authority recently voted to grant $20,000 to the Stone Mountain Community Improvement District (CID), which will help it reach its objective of creating 2,000 new jobs by the end of 2013.

The funds will match an $80,000 grant award to the Stone Mountain CID by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC).

Stone Mountain CID President Emory Morsberger said the CID’s economic development effort is focused on recreating the area as a destination for investment and redevelopment, and the grants would help it further that goal.

Rob Watts named interim president of GPC

University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby on May 9 named Rob Watts as interim president of Georgia Perimeter College.

Anthony Tricoli resigned as GPC president earlier this week and was reassigned to the university system central office.

Watts previously served as interim president of GPC from 2005-06 and begins his second stint on May 14.

Watts has had an extensive career in the University System. He was chief operating officer for the USG until earlier this year, a position he held since 2006. From 2002-05, Watts served as a senior policy adviser to the chancellor and the interim director of the Gwinnett University Center in Lawrenceville, Ga.

He first joined GPC (then known as DeKalb College) in 1986, and served for five years as director of institutional research and planning.