Creative Loafing’s red fox of journalism, Thomas Wheatley, profiles Decatur’s Mike Gerke of Easy Living Pedicabs in its latest issue.

Here’s a sample question…

Red Fox: What was it about Decatur in particular?

Gerke: One of our criteria was it had to be bike friendly, had to be year-round bike climate, and had to have the infrastructure that you could be car-free if you wanted to be. We choose to be car free, but does the city allow it? At the time, it looked like Atlanta had pretty decent mass transit, had buses and trains that allowed bikes. It wasn’t a bike friendly community as a Boulder, Colo., Davis, Calif., or Seattle. But it had everything else. So with our education background we thought it’d be nice to move in Atlanta and help them become more of a bike friendly city. And that’s our passion is to get people riding on bikes. A lot of times we use the pedicab to show people you can ride on Peachtree and Marietta. And if you don’t believe me, jump on the cab I’ll show you.

From the Georgia Voice (via Carl)…

Paris Decatur, the LGBT bar at 308 Ponce de Leon Ave., will shut its doors after a final show on March 27, owner Susan Bird announced today.

“It has been a great run, and I have learned a lot. I have had great support from my friends, and I have met so many interesting and wonderful people that I now feel privileged to call my friends,” Bird said in a press release.

Bird asked the club’s supporters to visit on March 20, 26 and 27 “to say goodbye and have one last drink with me.”

After months of brown-papered windows, Unconcerned Citizen (aka NFDecatur on Twitter) reports on his brand-new blog that Meldora Hair Salon is going into the old Victory Vintage space at the intersection of College Ave and South Candler.

Pic courtesy of Unconcerned Citizen

Looks like the plans of a Greek Diner in the old Atlanta Bread Company space are history…or we just never had it more than 50% right.

Carl reports on Twitter…

Spoke with future #DecaturGA eatery at 205 E PDL: same ownership as Marietta Diner, plans to be open 24/7.

Definitely diner fare.  Check out the menu of the Marietta Diner HERE.

According to Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne’s note in the March issue of the Decatur Focus, the film production company Pogo Pictures, is moving into the office space above Parker’s along Ponce de Leon Ave.

A check of their website shows they are moving from their current location on North Avenue in Atlanta and sport an impressive roster of current and former clients.  Clients include: Ford, Travelocity, Back of America, Chik-Fil-A, Abercrombie & Fitch, Heineken, U.S Virgin Islands, Goody’s, and many more.

The old gallery space above Parker’s is definitely one of the nicest, non-retail spaces in Decatur I’ve ever ventured into, so no big surprise it’s filled again!

Decatur and Avondale Estates’ College Avenue annexation bid hits the front page of the AJC this morning, with a big ‘ol article on all things PROPERTY.

The article features all the reoccurring arguments and views in our ongoing debate:  the effects of gentrification, the predicted value of property after annexation, the legal right of cities to annex without property owner consent, and arguments pro (Finders Keepers’ Bonnie Kallenberg) and con (property owner Joe Gargiulo).

April Hunt’s piece gives a very good overview of the situation, but honestly doesn’t feel very timely since the bill to annex the commercial parcels along the strip is currently without a needed 10th vote from the DeKalb delegation, which is the only way to usher it onto the House floor.  But I guess since it’s made its way out of the AJC’s Metro section and onto the front page, it might be an interesting read for Cobb County residents!

“Oh Dekalb cities, you so crazy!”

Following up from last month’s shopping event.  From the Decatur Minute…

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Decatur for Haiti night last month. We raised $4,500 for the cause with help from the following businesses: Cakes and Ale, Chick-Fil-A, Decatur Business Association, Decatur Downtown Development Authority, Fleet Feet, Hairwerks, The Iberian Pig, Little Shop of Stories, The Marlay, Mingei, Nectar, Palate Cafe and Bar, Peggy’s Boutique, Saba, and Yogurt Tap.

MarlaTiara reports and confirms to DM via Twitter that Hoopla: Fun Stuff for Kids, next to Taste on Church Street, will be closing at the end of March.

The store is having a 30% off sale this week.

I’m not sure whether the “temporary” part of the sign below is true or not, but the reopen track record of businesses that put up this vague sort of sign is pretty low.

Thanks to Billy for the report and the pic!

Decatur Commissioner and Bicycle South’s Fred Boykin writes in…

Agnes Scott has just started a Bike Agnes Scott program with Bicycle South and Fuji Bicycles. Their program is modeled on the Bike Emory program that Emory, Bicycle South and Fuji started as a pilot project in 2007.

Agnes Scott deserves some credit for setting this program up. The web page just went live today.

To learn more about Agnes Scott’s new bike lending program, “purple bikes”, and check out discounts on Fuji bikes for ASC folks, click HERE.

Photo courtesy of the Agnes Scott “Purple Bikes” website.