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Stone Mountain CID seeks economic development ideas

The Stone Mountain Community Improvement District (CID) is seeking public input on a plan to create 2,000 jobs in the business park by the end of 2013. “Our goal is to fill…empty buildings in our area to create those jobs,” said Emory Morsberge...

Burglars ransack disabled man’s home

Burglars wrecked the home of Floyd Thompson, an 87-year-old disabled Stone Mountain man, causing thousands of dollars in damage. They urinated on his clothes and wiped feces on walls while he was out of town. “They were mean,” said daughter Judy Parker. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
When 87-year-old, scooter-bound Floyd Thompson returned to his Stone Mountain home July 22 after a trip out of town, he could not open his front door. Burglars had ransacked the home on Sheppard Way in unincorporated Stone Mountain where Thompson and...

Browns Mill recreation center gets $500,000 upgrade

Hundreds of children are enjoying a half-million-dollar renovation to the Browns Mill Recreation Center in south DeKalb. Among the upgrades, the center’s tile gym floor has been replaced. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
The Browns Mill recreation center, originally built in the 1980s, has gotten a half-million dollar upgrade. The building has a new gym floor, bleachers, paint job, tile flooring, front doors and entry way, and renovated restrooms. An electric partit...

A penny saved: Transportation tax fails

DeKalb residents and others in the metro Atlanta area voted to save their pennies instead of paying a one-cent sales tax for transportation. At stake in the vote was $6.14 billion of regional transportation projects selected by the Atlanta Regional R...

Commissioner says he was not drunk driving

Internal investigators at the DeKalb County Police Department are seeking to determine whether a county commissioner was given preferential treatment. A police report from a July 12 incident alleges that DeKalb Commissioner Stan Watson “appeared in...

Superior Court clerk candidates face off in forum

by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com With less than a week before the July 31 primary, candidates for the DeKalb County clerk of Superior Court met in a forum. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and The Champion, featured three of...

Brookhaven cityhood, county CEO on July 31 ballot

The cityhood of Brookhaven, a one-cent sales tax for transportation projects, and the next CEO of DeKalb County are on the line as voters go to the polls July 31. As of July 19, approximately 6,710 people had participated in early voting, according t...

South River attracts curious canoers

River enthusiasts and curious first-time canoers took a trip down south DeKalb’s South River as part of a project by the South River Watershed Alliance to increase awareness of the waterway. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
Twenty-five people donned life jackets and boarded 11 canoes and two kayaks for a six-mile, four-hour trip on the South River July 21. Winding through south DeKalb from the Panola Shoals trailhead near Snapfinger Road to Panola Mountain State Park, t...

Counting pennies: Metro Atlanta to vote on transportation tax

I-85 North at I-285 would get $26.5 million in interchange improvements if metro Atlanta voters decide to approve a 1-percent sales tax July 31. The proposed tax is expected to generate $8.5 billion to be divided among predetermined projects in the 10-county region, including MARTA upgrades on Buford Highway. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
Nine months of forums, ad campaigns and rallies will come to an end next week as voters in metro Atlanta decided on a 1 percent sales tax for transportation. “Every single day in metro Atlanta 38 percent of individuals cross a county line,” said ...

Picketers protest Walmart again

Disappointed with a recent meeting with the developer of Suburban Plaza, protestors take their anti-Walmart message to the streets. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
Flash flooding in Decatur July 13 did not stop a group from protesting a proposed Suburban Plaza Walmart. Carrying handmade picket signs, members of Good Growth DeKalb, which is opposed to the Walmart development, gathered at the usually busy interse...