UPDATE II: Next Stop has now posted some exclusive pics of Leon’s interior and says the owners are planning on opening to the public in the next week or so. Since I believe the “soft opening” on Wednesday is probably by invitation only, I’m changing the post title back to the original, since it was kind of misleading.

UPDATE: Freakanomic gives us the answer in the comments section.

At first it was supposed to open in November 2008, but various things that I’m not privy to have pushed off the opening of the much-anticipated Leon’s Full Service up until now.

And I’m still unclear as to when exactly it will be opening.

Leon’s official website currently says “January 2009″ and not much else (unless you’re looking for an employment application). And isn’t today January 31st? Not much time left to get ‘er open this month! Does any BSP insider have the scoop?

Until someone clues us in, check out this Omnivore’s Atlanta article from earlier this month that details some of Leon’s planned offerings (scroll down to the fourth paragraph).

Luba at Mudfire Pottery sends along an announcement about the 2nd Annual Rail Arts District Art Studio Cruise next Saturday, February 7th.

With 12  studios between Decatur and Avondale along the four-stop route…

“Visitors will be able to create their own jewelry with casting processes or shop the elegant displays just in time for Valentine’s Day. Lumps of clay will magically transform on the potters wheel into elegant forms. Just down the tracks a tightly coordinated team of glass blowers will work in the high heat with liquid glass. Canvases will come to life with color and movement, and sparks will fly as raw metal is worked into whimsical sculptures. Magicians and improve actors will circulate amidst a temporary artists market.

At each stop of the cruise there will be music and conversation, food and drink, amusement and information, wonder and awe. Alongside the artists in action will be finished works for viewing and sale, with artwork in all media and many styles and price points. The makers will be on hand to answer questions and demonstrate their techniques.

According to the release, over 1,000 people attended last year’s event.  Click the map below for locations and times.

And for lots more examples of featured artwork and activities, jump over to the official Rail Arts District “Studio Cruise” webpage.

In response to another post, Rusty Diamond comments on the great turnout at Parker’s yesterday for the 5th Earl fundraiser.

David has some pics over at InDecatur to prove it.

Throw this tidbit into the mix, as we try to determine the direction of Decatur’s real estate market.

From an AJC article on the 27% drop in DeKalb home prices since last year…

[Real estate agent Tal] Kramer noted that there were pockets in metro Atlanta that fared much better than average, with one area – the Cobb County school district that includes highly sought-after Walton High School – even seeing a slight gain in price, of 4.4 percent. Some parts of DeKalb also were up for the year as well, such as the city of Decatur, which also has a highly regarded school system and had an increase in average price of 1.4 percent [vs. year-ago].

You may continue to call me overly optimistic, but when your county is down 27% overall and the city manages a slight increase in its real estate prices that’s not a bad sign.

With the impending renovation of the Decatur Recreation Center and a new athletic complex much closer to home, the DHS basketball team is arranging their final farewells to “The Rec”.

After 50 years of playing in “The Rec”, Decatur High School has scheduled their last basketball game in the Decatur Recreation Center for Friday, February 13, 2009 against Blessed Trinity.

Next season, all DHS basketball games will be played on campus in the new athletic complex.  To celebrate the final game, players and coaches of the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams who have played in “The Rec” over the years are invited to come to the game for a time to remember and reminisce.  There will be a reception in a hospitality room for all returning players.  There will also be a recognition ceremony for all former players and coaches in attendance between the girls’ and boys’ game. The girls’ game will start at 5:00pm and the boys’ game will start following the recognition ceremony.

If there are any former players or coaches who are interested in attending, please contact Brent Eickhoff at Decatur High School.  His email address is beickhoff@csdecatur.net and his phone number is 404-643-0669.  Please give your name and year of graduation.  There will be a sign-in table in the lobby of “The Rec” when you arrive.

This morning, the AJC has a nice profile of the local Decatur start-up blog aggregator, Regator.

Over on the Regator site, the top highest-rated posts on the site under Local Interest/United States currently are InDecatur and Next Stop references to the AJC profile.

DHS principal Lauri McKain-Fernandez forwards this note regarding next week’s DHS Career Awareness Week.

Our Career and Technology Department has spent a lot of time and energy educating our students about the careers and experiences that await them after high school. Next week, the department is hosting our annual Career Awareness Week. Many parents and community members will take part in the events, explaining their career and the training it took to accomplish success in their given field. Please see the events below. The community is welcome to participate, and is in fact, critical to the success of this experience. Please contact Mr. Duane Sprull at dsprull@csdecatur.org if you are able to participate.

At the very least, expect to see our students Monday afternoon scouring the city for businesses who are participating in a Scavenger Hunt. If you see teenagers who look lost, please offer your guidance!

I helped organized something like this in college.  While obviously nothing can replace the value of a good, well-rounded education, many students leave high school and college with little idea with what they want to do (unless they’re premed)…in large part because they don’t know what’s out there.  Events like this go a long way in helping to close that massive gap.

The five day schedule can be found after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

The AJC has sifted through the education portion of the federal stimulus package, which passed the House last night, and has broken out how much each Georgia school district would receive.

As it currently stands, here’s what City Schools of Decatur would get over the two year period…

2009

Title 1:  $224,200

Construction: $732,300

IDEA:  $275,300

2010

Title 1: $224,200

IDEA: $333,700

2009-2010 Total: $1,789,600

The AJC explains “Title 1″ and IDEA in their glossary as follows…

“Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A federal law saying schools must provide free programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Their disabilities range from physical impairments such as blindness to emotional or behavioral handicaps to specific learning problems that affect one’s ability to process information.

Title I: Federal funds that target schools and districts with a large number of students living in poverty.”

That $732,300 for construction would be just a splash in the bucket of the potential Renfroe addition/renovation, which the Superintendent recently estimated would cost between $10-12 million.  The 5th Avenue renovation was estimated between $5-6 million.

I guess we would be naive to think the county would take all these annexation attempts lying down.

As Cranky (“Vote Cranky!”) recently pointed out in a comment, the DeKalb County Commission recently voted on a resolution that expresses “support for restraints on annexations that are done not to provide new services to an under-serviced area, but simply to increase a municipal tax base and legislation to allow property owners to de-annex themselves from municipalities.”    The full three page resolution can be read here (pdf).

Assuming that the commission voted in favor of the resolution (still seeking confirmation of this), it will head to the DeKalb County Delegation to the Georgia General Assembly.

Obviously, this request is being made in reaction to all the recent annexation attempts being made by DeKalb cities.  Our mayor hasn’t been shy in saying that the main reason to consider annexation is increasing the commercial tax base.

But all this resolution seems to urge is adding a layer of red tape into the annexation process.  Instead of allowing the directly-affected constituents of a community to decide whether they want to accept the annexation of a city, the county seems to be urging that someone else should make the decision about whether an annexation attempt is valid.

But who will make this decision?  A judge?  How does a city prove that its not out to increase your tax base?  How bad do DeKalb County services have to be to be judged as “under-servicing” their constituents?

Welcome to the next chapter in the city/county battle for our property taxes!

The DeKalb History Center’s Leslie Borger writes in with details about their “Historic DeKalb County” book release party on February 12th from 6-8pm at the Old Courthouse (where else!?).

The evening will feature remarks from the author (Vivian Price) and artist, a Silent Auction, and book-signing.  Beer and wine will be provided by Parker’s on Ponce, while DeCuir Catering will provide hors d’oeuvres.

If you didn’t purchase an advance copy, the book will be available for purchase at the event.

All other details can be found HERE (pdf).