A tipster sends in this letter sent out to a group of Decaturites from musician and frequent Eddie’s Attic performer, Caroline Herring…

Dear friends of mine in Decatur and Atlanta,

I am writing for advice, because i am about to embark on righting a wrong that exists in Decatur, and I wonder if you might counsel me on the best way to do so and whom I should contact in the process.

This involves sneaky and unfair practices at the Pay Park Lot at the Big Peach Running Company at 114 Trinity Place in Decatur, across the street from Chick Fil-a and next to the Courthouse. http://www.bigpeachrunningco.com/

About one month ago, my husband Joe parked in the Big Peach Running company parking lot. He was picking up food from a Thai restaurant around the corner. It was in the evening around 7:30pm. He was back to his car within about six minutes, and when he returned there was a boot on his tire. At that point Joe learned quickly from the very rude attendant in the parking lot (who Joe did not see when he parked) that Joe had parked in a pay lot and because he didn’t pay he would be charged $75.00 to get the boot off. Joe called the police to make sure this was legal, and they said it was a legal lot. Joe did park in front of a ‘Big Peach Running Co.” sign, and it did say violators would be towed, but it seemed like it was after hours. Quiet, empty. He did not see the pay machine, and that was because it was far off in the corner and hard to see at night, unlike the other pay lots in that area.

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From CSD…

REMINDER: Board of Education Special Meeting Tonight (2/9)

Tonight, from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m., the City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will hold a special meeting to address community questions and concerns in an informal setting. Due to the time constraints associated with this meeting, the number of individuals that the Board will be able to address may be limited. The meeting will take place at the Central Office at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030).

Does it have to be called a “meeting”?  Thus far these meetings have run more like an open forums than a what I would think of as a  “meeting”.

Perhaps MARTA should have gone with a numbering system for its rail transit.

The AJC reports that MARTA is in some hot water with the Asian community around Doraville because the agency labeled its Doraville train route the “Yellow Line”.

“Historically, it has had a derogatory intent,” said John Park, an attorney with the nonprofit Center for Pan Asian Community Services in Doraville, just down the hill from the Marta station. “It physically paints a very unattractive picture. I don’t consider myself ‘yellow.’”

Park and other Asian activists plan to meet Friday with MARTA CEO Beverly Scott. They hope MARTA will change the line’s name from yellow to gold…

“Anybody who rides MARTA knows that the line going up through that area is heavily Asian,” said Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. “These are always sensitive issues. Anticipation of concern and sensitivity, and the outreach, probably should have been done before.”

*In a related thought, Andisheh wonders if anyone is offended that NYC’s yellow line goes through Chinatown.

Leigh wrote in yesterday with an alert she was sending out to her building’s listserv about the impact of potential cutbacks of MARTA’s bus service in light of an $120 million deficit in its operating budget.

Of particular concern to Leigh is the future of MARTA’s #2 bus route.  Instead of operating from Avondale Station to North Avenue Station along Ponce de Leon Ave., the new #2 would only operate between Inman Park Station and North Avenue Station, leaving Decatur behind entirely.

However, that’s only one of MANY bus routes modified or eliminated by the proposed service cuts that run through, begin or end, inside the Decatur city limits.  You can access the full list of proposed changes here (Excel), but I’ve also compiled a condensed list of those that directly affect Decatur’s three MARTA stations, which you can peruse after the jump.

MARTA will next meet to discuss the proposed changes on Saturday, February 20th from 10a-12p or 3p-5p at MARTA Headquarters at  2424 Piedmont Road NE Atlanta, GA 30324 (across from the MARTA Lindbergh Train Station).

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Dave reports over on recently resurrected Decatur Heights blog…

Prior to last evening’s Zoning Board of Appeals, City Manager Peggy Merriss (in the absence of Planning Director Amanda Thompson) submitted a memo requesting the ZBA request the City Commission to authorize a legal review of the Peer Support and Recovery Respite Center at 444 Sycamore Drive by an outside attorney specializing in zoning and land use law.

The request was approved.

Anne writes in…

The students of Oakhurst Elementary are presently holding a change drive entitled “Change for Haiti” in which the funds collected will go towards UNICEF’S “School-in-a-Box” Program providing temporary schools for children in disaster zones. Each “School-in-a-Box”, which costs $232, contains enough school supplies for 80 children.

This idea grew from 2 of Oakhurst’s very own students who were wanting to do something for the children of Haiti following the devastating earthquake. The third graders are collecting and counting/rolling the change and using their knowledge of estimation, multiplication and money as they make real life connections all while raising money for a good cause. It also draws close a real world example of Empathy and Caring, one of the design principles of Expeditionary Learning. By last Friday, the end of the first week, Oakhurst had collected well over $1000!

“Change for Haiti” will continue until this Friday, February 12th.

Creative Loafing’s Omnivore reported this story a couple days back, but props go to self-proclaimed Tortillas-junkie Suzanne for pointing it out to me.

Part-time Morehouse professor Matt Hinton missed Tortillas burritos so much when they closed in 2003, that he’s recreated them and many of their other items from scratch.  And now he’s selling his Tortillas “cover band” creations to the public under the name West End Burritos!

If you ever went to Tortillas on Ponce before they closed, you know that they had the best burritos in Atlanta. Well, I have finally, after much trial and error, come VERY close (95%) to an exact replica of some of their most popular items, including both the red and green sauces. I will begin offering Tortillas style burritos and other sundries (see attached menu) next week which I will deliver to you!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: Each Monday [Update: Tuesdays to be added soon], I will make a delivery run from Downtown Decatur to West End. If you live within 2 miles or so of this route, you are eligible for delivery. I will deliver to your door or leave it on your stoop. Deliveries will occur from approx. 4-6:30, so every Monday can be Burrito night.

Hinton’s delivery zone extends from West End to Decatur (a map is shown on his order page).  The full West End Burritos menu can be found HERE, while you can read more about the venture on the West End Burritos Facebook page.

Could an American city embrace and support a “community bookcase”?

Apparently there are cities across Europe where bookshelves sit on sidewalks, jam-packed with novels and non-fiction, just waiting to enlighten those passing by.  Each one operates on an honor system.  You’re welcome to pick up a book or two at your leisure, just as long as you’re willing to replace it with a book of your own in the coming days.

Here in Amurica (misspelling intentional), we’ve taken to a different type of book exchange.  We’re all about the online book exchange variety, such as BookMooch.

Without the strong community oversight of many European cities – like this one in Germany – the idea of putting free books out on an American street seems absolutely ludicrous.  Erect a bookcase, stuffed with books out on a sidewalk and it’s easy to imagine that within hours all the good books would be gone (and not replaced) and the not so great ones would be defiled and strewn across the ground.  The bookcase itself would then be hauled off quicker than most residential curbside items.

Too bad.  Because ultimately, it’s sort of a huge waste of energy to ship a book across the country for a trade you could have made with a neighbor down the street.

So, back to my original question.  Could a city like Decatur, or any of it’s surrounding Georgia city brethren and sistren, EVER support something such as this?  Maybe with a few tweaks? Or will we forever be regulated to online, long-distance sharing, supported by a heavily subsidized mail system?

h/t: DCPLive

Bailey writes in…

The Booster club is having their spring fund raiser [Saturday] March 27th at the Church of the Epiphany. If anyone has any items that they would like to donate to our auction it would be very helpful.  It can be anything from a special cake you bake to donating a week at your mountain house.  Or if you would like to donate time,that would help also.

The money goes to student athletes of Decatur High and Renfroe. Please contact Bailey Pendergrast -sbpender@gmail.com

WSB has a new video report on the tornado siren vandalism, which took place at Winnona Park Elementary last week.

According to WSB, the graffiti in the parking lot reads “Siren is EMC boondoggle.  Who is responsible?”

Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker states there are currently no leads in the case.

h/t: InDecatur