Free-For-All Friday 11/11/16

Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.

72 thoughts on “Free-For-All Friday 11/11/16”


  2. A follow-up to my post from last week about natural gas pricing.

    I called my current provider (Scana) and they were happy to match the offer I got from GNG, Only took a few minutes and saved me 14 cents per therm.

  4. There was an interesting AJC article yesterday… “Decatur to study East Lake MARTA station for future development”

    “An LCI Study would examine ways to develop a portion of the property, likely some style of mixed-use similar to the Avondale MARTA project scheduled to break ground later this year.”

    2. Yeah, I had no idea that the East Lake station was the second least utilized in the network. I’ll be interested to see what is proposed and where – the north side parking lot would seem to be more conducive to retail/commercial since it fronts Howard whereas the south side more residential?

      1. Opposite, actually–southside has our beloved Imperial, Avellinos, and Revolution. Plus there is easy (once you figure it out) ingress and egress to East Lake Drive. If development occurs, it’s a great opportunity to build a safe bike lane and link the area to the schools nearby.

    1. Not a huge fan either but at least the install on the light outside my yard was done in such a way that I’m not getting any bleed. From what I’ve seen in various online forums, that’s not been the case for a lot of folks.

      1. The one outside my house isn’t as bad as others on my street–It’s in front of a wooded area so I wonder if that was purposely shielded in some way. But the white light is eerie.

    2. Agree. Fortunately, the new lights are not too bright; but I hate the sort of anesthetic, sterile light they omit.

  8. Boy, the new Half-Price Books is a nice store. Definitely doesn’t looked like your typical grungy used book place. Of course, they don’t have the depth of Atlanta Vintage, but still very nice.

    2. The Gulag Archipelago for a buck! Sure looks good on the ol’ bookshelf. I’m sure I’ll get to it someday.

  10. Two things:
    First thing:
    When I was taking some pants to Stitch n’ Sew (to better accommodate my luscious glutes), I asked the proprietor if she knew why Mobeta was closed. She said that the word on the block is the the chef (the husband of the couple) is ill, possibly with cancer. This is sad. Not only does Mobeta make our family’s favorite wings, but we really like those people. If anyone has any info on how to help out, please post.

    Second Thing:
    Does anyone know which Decatur churches, organizations, business have designated themselves as “Safe Spaces,” where those who are in danger from the rise in violent bigotry/misogyny/etc. can go? This would be good information for me to give to folks I know who belong to those groups most in danger.

    Thank you.

    4. Thanks for the safe space answers, y’all. I’m going to make a map for folks who need it.

      No info on Mobeta, though. Sad.

  12. Disney now has to install an animatronic President Trump in its Hall of Presidents, and I heard a rumor that not only will animatronic President Trump call for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the show, but that during it, will also roam around and physically assault women in the audience. Anyone else heard this?

    1. I’m trying not to have to invoke the stated “local issues” focus of this thread, but I also would like FFAF could be a momentary respite from the dominant national story. Thanks.

      2. I’ll keep it local and even positive (from the perspective of most voters): love that the MARTA referendum passed easily and service will be significantly expanding in Atlanta.

        1. And Cobb and Gwinnett went blue! Gwinnett less of surprise given the rapidly changing demographics there, but Cobb? I grew up in Marietta and that development is hard to wrap my mind around. Next thing you know, MARTA will be running up 75.

  14. I’m so intrigued by this election and hoping to escape some of the ‘venom” out there (from both sides) by discussing here. I had assumed the “whitelash” is what carried Trump to the Presidency, but the white vote in this election was almost identical to the last (58% for Trump and 38% for Clinton vs. 59% for Romney and 39% for Obama). The difference seems to be in the African American vote (88% for Clinton and 8% for Trump vs. 93% for Obama and 6% for Romney) and Hispanic vote (65% Clinton and 29% Trump vs. 71% Obama and 27% Romney).

    Did Hispanics and African Americans push Trump to the White-house or am I oversimplifying?

    1. Yes, you are oversimplifying, whitesplaning and your numbers are inaccurate.
      Percentage wise the numbers were close to the same for African Americans and even higher for Hispanics.

      Whites in rural and exuburan areas voted in much larger numbers in the
      the battleground states and went for Trump overwhelmingly. Obama even did better amongst this group.
      Fairly certain you thought you meant no harm, but we get so tired of ya’ll always finding a way to pin it on Blacks.

      1. Not sure who the “y’all” are your referring to and I was definitely not trying to “pin” anything on anyone….the percentages just surprised me.

        I did read your point about turnout. Unfortunately, I could not find turnout broken down by state, but hispanics represented 11% of all voters this year, up from 10% in 2012 (the Pew Research article I found this in did qualify that this was an estimate that won’t be confirmed until 2017). 12% of the electorate was African-American this year, compared to 13% four years ago. White voters made up 70% of the electorate this year, down from 72% four years ago. The percentage don’t necessarily line up with your assertion, but maybe it was different in battle ground states.

        No agenda here or looking to place blame, just not what I expected as I’m trying to wrap my head around “what happened”

        1. It’s disheartening that your first thought would be to go for an easy, but unfounded target. Pundits are still puzzled by what happened and it leads to many different factors, which would appear to be obvious. But to immediately go after “the blacks” as “the” reason Hillary lost is so hurtful and doesn’t encourage meaningful dialogue.

          1. At this point I have to assume you’re trolling, so I will back away from the conversation with one point. If we (people who voted for Clinton/against Trump) write off the data to “whitesplaining” or “whitelash” or shifting demographics will fix this, we’ll be stuck with Trump for eight years….

            1. 43% of white women voted for Trump and there are plenty other stats and philosophical reasons OUR candidate didn’t win. That during this time of hurt, especially amongst African Americans, your careful, well-thought out analysis your conclusion was to put on the brothers.
              There are several that are saying that was not your intent, regardless, after this fractious election, our nerves are a bit frayed, and hurt was the result. I’m guessing a poll, and we know how accurate they can be, would show by a large margin voted the same way.BTW thanks for helping win a $100 bet that if I posted this no one would touch on the subject of what you said, but what I did.

          2. I think you’re reading a meaning that was not intended into this. My impression is that YIM is simply trying to unravel a stastical anomaly in the figures he/she has been looking into. I think the final question in the original post was an honest inquiry (arguably not the best phrasing) and not an attempt to establish blame.

      2. It would be nice if the DM comments could be free of racist terms like “whitesplaining.” Alas…

        1. Reading through this thread I can see that not a single person addressed the issue. Trump winning black turnout was probably last on the list. But not one of you not a single soul addressed that issue. Go ahead go back and find it. To bully and accuse me of trolling when none of you, again not a single soul addressed the main issue and we’re dismissive only goes to prove my point. Now I’ll ask again why out of all the reason Clinton lost would that be you’re go to.

          1. Needs to be cross-referenced by turnout and percentage of population, but of course a group voting 88-8 against the winning candidate did not send him to victory. Black turnout was higher than white turnout in both 2008 and 2012, but was lower in ’14. Would not surprise me if it was lower this time around.

          2. The more data I see on this election, plus the good analyses from political science friends who seem knowledgeable and to know the limitations of the data and predictions, the more I think this is a tipping point situation. One can’t point with confidence to any one overwhelming cause of the unexpected outcome. It’s more likely that multiple forces all aligned in the same direction, perhaps resulting in a multiplicative, not just additive, effect. If just one or two of those forces had been weaker, the cumulative effect could have been quite different. But at some point, a contributing factor, maybe even a small one, tipped the election over.

    2. I think it is interesting that inside the Metro Area of Atlanta most everyone voted for Hillary vs Trump but outside the Metro most everyone voted for Trump. The protesters are in Atlanta Metro Area protesting Trump when they should be in the outside of the Metro Area protesting in the City that voted Trump the most.

        1. I respect the right to protest peacefully without qualification. But the cynic in me wonders how many of these people voted not only in this election but in the previous two mid-term cycles (and I don’t even have to wonder about local elections). Protesting, sharing Facebook petitions, liking tweets—these are no substitute for voting or the even harder forms of political engagement. That said (and I think I’m kind of on the same side as the conservatives and libertarians on this), it shouldn’t matter this much who the president is.

          1. I’m with you. I’m the one who said “No vote, no complaining”. Complaining includes protesting. So I trust that protestors all dutifully voted. If not, I hope they have learned something. Many counties that went for Trump went for Obama in 2012. It probably wouldn’t have taken much to tip them the other way.

            1. Article in today’s AJC said the total Trump margin in the 3 upper midwest sates was less that the Hilary margin in DeKalb County. That’s why everyone should vote and every vote counts.

  16. First Leonard Cohen. Now Napoleon Solo. Will this week ever stop sucking? At least the new Tribe album dropped today.

  18. Would anybody know what’s going on with the restaurant under construction on the former site of Twisted Soul and Mar? I haven’t seen any activity there for months.
    Thanks

  20. I am sure that this is a regular question, but has anyone heard what is going on with the Your Dekalb Farmers Market expansion?

    1. i understand that he will do it in phases as his cash flow allows. He will not borrow money to do it.

      1. This is my understanding as well. I don’t think they even had building plans when they started the sitework. They knew it’d be a lot of earth moving regardless of what they built on top of it, so they went ahead and got things leveled off while saving and planning for future phases.

  22. Interesting to see a small for-sale sign pop up this week at the church at the corner of Adams and Ansley, Bethel Outreach Deliverance Ministries. I’m not quite certain the history of the church, but from what I have garnered searching online, it is seems connected to New Bethel Outreach Deliverance Ministries, located at Columbia Woods Dr outside city of decatur limits, and the History section of that church’s website indicates the founder, Jean Barber, moved to Dekalb county sometime in the 60s, but not quite certain if that was when this church was built…will be interesting to see what becomes of the church.

  24. The Pinewood is expanding!

    https://whatnowatlanta.com/rendering-the-pinewood-expanding-into-decatur-bikes-space/

  26. Any recommendations for a good spa in the area? Massage, sauna or steam room after? I’d prefer not going to Buckhead or an outlying suburb.

  28. Hello DM World.
    Glad to see many of my Decatur peeps at the Veteran’s Day memorial service at the Decatur Cemetery today at 11:00. Local Scouts worked mighty hard to place all flags properly. With the ground as hard as it is, that was quite an accomplishment. Good Job Scouts! Master Bagpiper Henry Franz played “God Bless America”. Indeed!
    Nice to see that in this challenging time, we can unite to honor our veterans. No Clinton supporters. No Trump supporters. Just Americans proud of our veterans.

    1. Thank you, Mr. B., for recognizing the Scouts. This is one of the highlights of our scouting season and we take pride in finding and recognizing all the veterans buried in Decatur Cemetery.

  30. I heard a rumor that Cafe Alsace is leaving to join with Petite Auberge at Violette Restaurant – to be Petite Violette. Any truth to this?

    1. Darn, I have loved lunch at Cafe Alsace. Not sure I’ll drive over to the triple-French location.

    2. Sacre bleu! This cannot be!

      I would hope just a rumor — I have heard nothing hinting at the like.

    3. I’ m the owner of cafe alsace and have no idea what you are talking about. No intention to leave my wonderful lication in wonderful downtown Decatur.

  34. So does the new Dairy Wuren have a drive thru window? Is it in the parking garage or something? If we have to park and walk in, do we have to pay?

    1. No drive through. Parking is just inside the garage. You have to use the pay-for-parking machine but it’s free for the first 30 minutes.

    2. Make that Dairy Queen. Thanks for figuring out what I was asking, and for the helpful answer. Now that the DQ on Lville Hwy is under renovation, the new one is the only place to go.

  36. Anyone know what’s up with the “art lab” that’s currently occupying the building on Oakview & 2nd Ave. that used to be the Oakview Grocery? What is it? Is it long-term? Temporary?

  38. I wondered why Taqueria was so empty tonight (compared to usual packed Fri nights)- everyone home commenting on DM.

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