The Decatur Police Department provides this update on two Decatur robberies, which occurred in 2009…

1) On February 11, 2009, a robbery was committed in Oakhurst Park. On March 17, 2010, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of armed robbery and received a sentence of 20 years to serve 10 years.

2) On August 27, 2009, an attempted robbery was committed at Wachovia Bank. A suspect was identified in this case who had an arrest warrant out of another state. The suspect was arrested on February 19, 2010 in the Metropolitan Atlanta area and confessed to the attempted robbery of the Wachovia Bank in Decatur.

Here’s a link to the original post from the Oakhurst Park robbery if anyone needs reminding how pissed they were after that happened.

And here’s Wachovia.

Renewal Design Build announced yesterday that it had received a regional Whole House award from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for its “green” renovation of 601 Third Avenue in Oakhurst.

During its construction in 2007-2008, the Third Avenue renovation was a media darling, from its feature on Discovery’s Planet Green, which helped fund some of the renovation, to its inevitable AJC spread.  The only other Decatur residence with such extensive media exposure in recent years is another eco-friendly home, Wilton Avenue’s RainShine House.

Though at the time of 601’s completion I wondered how REALLY eco-friendly a house twice the size of the old could be, Renewal states that the remodel “doubl[ed] the home’s existing square footage while cutting its energy bills in half.”

Not too shabby.

Disclosure: Renewal is a Decatur Metro sponsor

Nancy sends along this press release about the 4th annual Chriskwanukkah Party at the Solarium in Oakhurst on December 17th…

Time to get your holiday groove on for a party with a purpose on December 17th. It’s the 4th Annual Chriskwanukkah Party, and a CD release event for “We Three Kings,” a jazzy, funky, and soulful collection of instrumental Christmas songs. The band is a virtuosic trio of music veterans: Charles Hedgepath, (guitarist,) Yonrico Scott (drums) and Ike Stubblefield (organ). Jazz guitarist extraordinaire, Grant Green, Jr., and other special guests will join them for an evening of holiday cheer and boogie. The event will be held in Decatur at the Solarium in Oakhurst and proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

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Angie sends in the details for this weekend’s Run For Justice in Oakhurst…

Atlanta, GA – Don’t miss one of the last great outdoor events before the holidays! The Atlanta Legal Aid Society will hold its 19th Run for Justice in Oakhurst on November 14th, 2009. The event will benefit the general operating fund of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Participants in the Run for Justice will enjoy a beautiful a 5-k course beginning and ending at One Step at A Time, 650 East Lake Drive, Decatur, GA 30030. Others can enjoy the crisp autumn day with the 5k walk, great for families and children. Jogging strollers, kids and pets are welcome! Awards will be presented to the top 5-k finishers and teams in a variety of categories, including pets, children and strollers. Families, corporate, church, school and community teams are urged to join us. All participants receive a colorful long-sleeve t-shirt. We also are recruiting race day volunteers to monitor the course and register participants.

The race and walk begin at 9:00 am. Register online at www.active.com or www.rungeorgia.com. This year the race will be presented by the Daily Report newspaper. We hope to bring out around 1,000 participants.

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Georgia’s new, massive tax breaks for film studios have turned the city of Atlanta into a movie set overnight!

Once free to live there lives in relative peace, residents are now reporting having to fight with big-glasses-wearing famous people over silm milk and Truvia at the local coffee shop and attempting to open doors in cardboard-cutout buildings.  (Disclosure: The previous sentence is untrue and should be viewed as creative-license gone horribly wrong) It’s madness not seen since the Villa Rica goldrush!

There have been THREE reports of filming around the city and its surrounding environs in recent days. First there was a report on Twitter recently about filming in Oakhurst this past week.  Then this morning the city’s Cheryl Burnette reports filming in the Economy parking lot at Arcadia and College.  And finally, Rob writes in about some pretty intense filming going on in Candler Park…

Have you heard any info on what is being filmed at the corner of Oakdale and Iverson (block north of Candler Pk Marta station)? For the past few days, dozens of trucks have been parked outside the house on the corner lot. And today, as I walked by on my way to the station, a cherry picker was hoisting lighting equipment. And this afternoon on my walk back through, the back yard was a-buzz with what appeared to be actors taking their marks. There are no signs anywhere about it though.

Do I know what any of this is?  Of course not.  If you do, please fill the rest of us in.

Bill at the Seen Gallery reports on future plans for his old space at Scottish Rite…

Well.. Well.. Well.. no surprise here. When we were told by PRI (Progressive Redevelopemnt Inc) in July that they were looking at taking the space that The Seen Gallery occupied in a new direction.. we can’t help but wonder if this is what they knew was on tap (pun intended).

Recently posted on www.palatewinebar.com:

McGowan’s Pub Coming Soon in 2009: new sister restaurant next door to Palate Café. Comfort food in a casual Oakhurst enclave meant to evoke the experience of a Sunday lunch or supper at home. Cozy and bright interior, accessible fare, 22 beers on draught, 100 beers in a bottle; neighborhood hangout and dining destination. Will be open 11am to 1am. Sign up for email updates on the Contact page for the latest news about McGowan’s Pub.

The AJC reports on the 1,500 DeKalb County residents without natural gas service this morning due to pressure drops at a regulator station down by Memorial and Candler Rd..

Amanda writes in and says many Oakhurst residents are among those affected…

Gas is still out in Oakhurst and likely will be for a while since they have to come back around and turn it back on at each house, and they want you to be home for that.

UPDATE: CSDMom reports that Oakhurst, Renfroe and College Heights schools are also operating as usual without gas this morning.

UPDATE II: Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne sends this update….

Tony Parker, Assistant City Manager for Emergency Management, reports that Atlanta Gas Light has 40 crew members working to turn off gas in all homes and businesses affected by the gas outage. Assuring that gas has been turned off at each location is an important safety measure to prevent buildings from filling with gas when gas service is restored. Atlanta Gas Light expects to have this work completed by noon today and can then make the repairs necessary to the piping system and restore gas service to the area.

Once gas service is restored, Atlanta Gas Light crews must go to each individual home and business to turn on individual service and make certain that pilot lights and other gas appliances are working properly. This service can only be performed by Atlanta Gas Light personnel and is done to assure the safety of all gas customers. Atlanta Gas light reports that repairs will be finished later this afternoon and that crews will be dispatched beginning around 4 p.m. to start turning on individual gas service. However, they believe it could take between 24 and 48 hours to visit each of the 1700 customers that have been impacted. For updates and additional information, you can visit the Atlanta Gas Light web page by following this link http://www.aglc.com/DecaturCandlerRdAreaOutage.aspx

Stephanie at the Oakhurst Community Garden recently sent in the full list of classes offered through June.

I guess this could be viewed as sort of a “sneak peak”, since classes detailed on the garden’s website currently only run through March.

The full list of class descriptions, dates and prices can be found after the jump.  (Note that the March Chicks in the City class is already full)

If you find something that takes your fancy, register online for a Spring class here. Read the rest of this entry »

Ripped straight from my good friends over at The Decatur Minute.

I’ll let the sign do the talkin’, if you let the wine do the walkin’.

Karen points to an announcement on the Oakhurst Message Board about a Haunted House in the parking lot of the now defunct Mulligan’s tonight.

Tonight is the night! Doors open around 6. Please remember to bring a
cash donation and/or a can food donation for entry. All donations
from tonight will go towards Seniors helping Seniors.

A lot of people in our community have worked hard to put this together
so please come out for a spooky night.

Special Thanks to Vision Properties, Coldwell Banker ( Melissa Stratton), Mojo Pizza, Universal Joint, Steinbeck’s, Snap Fitness, Taj Ma- Hound, Cooking for Monkeys (Pam Galenkamp), Oakhurst Realty, Matador Cantina, The Hop -N-Shop, My Favorite Mechanic, and Kavarna.

Plus all the volunteers that have been working all this week and the donations of materials from everyone in the neighborhood!