Friday, December 27, 2019

DeKalb County King Day parade to begin in Stonecrest

DeKalb County's 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, organized by the county's NAACP branch, will begin at Browns Mill Recreation Center in Stonecrest at noon on Monday, January 20, 2020. The parade will end at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.

The Grand Marshall of the parade will be Barbara Cross, a survivor of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where her father was the church pastor.

The theme of the parade will be "Remembering the Dream, Honoring the Dreamer." Registration to participate will end on January 3.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

New cities would cost DeKalb County millions annually, Vinson study says

Incorporation of Greenhaven, Vista Grove or all of unincorporated DeKalb County north of U.S. Highway 78 would require higher county taxes or reduced DeKalb County services, according to an analysis presented to a county panel on Wednesday.

The $84,000 study, prepared by the University of Georgia's Vinson Institute of Government, was funded by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners in February 2018 -- almost two years ago. Its work is guided by a "DeKalb Holistic Review Steering Committee" that includes county officials, state legislators, and officials from Brookhaven, Decatur and Stonecrest.

The presentation made to a county steering committee offered no specific policy recommendations regarding proposed new cities in DeKalb County.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Ex-DeKalb Sheriff loses Georgia law enforcement certification

Former DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann has dropped his appeal over the revocation more than two years ago of his Georgia law enforcement certification, allowing a state board to finalize the action against him.

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council suspended Mann's license on Sept. 27, 2017 after he pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction and prohibited conduct that stemmed from his May 6, 2017 arrest for publicly exposing himself to an Atlanta police officer and then leading the officer on a foot chase late at night in Piedmont Park.

Monday, December 2, 2019

TV report nudges City of Stone Mountain on sign replacement

A Stone Mountain resident says he has been waiting for more than two months for replacement of a speed-limit sign in the city that was damaged when a driver lost control, knocking down the sign and the resident's curbside mailbox.

According to the City of Stone Mountain's web site, maintenance of traffic signs is coordinated through the city's Public Works Department. Bern Sawyer told WGCL-TV (CBS46) he was told by city officials that DeKalb County would replace the sign.

CBS46 reporter Melissa Stern says she contacted the city but got no response. A few hours after she interviewed Sawyer, he texted her saying: "The piece of the metal pole is gone. Yay! Half the job is done..."

Sawyer says he is still waiting for the 25mph speed-limit sign on Sheppard Rd. to be replaced. "It's dangerous, kids walk by here on their way to school," Sawyer says.


DeKalb County water main leak floods couple's basement - report

WSB-TV reports today another instance of flooding from a DeKalb County water main break. The station showed video of knee-deep water in a couple's basement, damaging furniture and appliances.

When the woman called DeKalb County's watershed to ask for the water to be shut off, she was told "there was only one crew and they were on a job and wouldn't be able to come at the moment and would get to her when they could," WSB-TV reported.

A contracted cleaning crew was eventually dispatched to the couple's home. County officials said they had difficulties finding the break in the six-inch water pipe.

Despite being under a court-ordered consent agreement since 2010, DeKalb County in 2019 has surpassed its record for the number of sewage spills in one year.