Photo Courtesy of AsianCajuns

AsianCajuns reports that Vivid Boutique opened last Friday in a posting about holiday shopping in Decatur (Victory Vintage Home, Heliotrope and Dresscodes are also mentioned).

Here’s the blurb…

Located between Starbuck’s and The Brickstore, Vivid Boutique was opened last Friday by the owner and jewelry maker of the former Jewel Couture Boutique. It’s probably the most feminine store in Decatur and has beautiful jewelry, home accents and fun gift items. The best part is that everything in the store is reasonably priced or cheaper. I have a feeling I’ll be buying a lot of Christmas presents this year at Vivid.

Just in time for Terrific Thursdays!

Photo Courtesy of The Emory Wheel

The Emory Wheel leads with a eye-popping proposal being considered by Emory administration officials to consolidate the university’s medical school onto one campus by moving all medical facilities from Clifton Road to the Clairmont campus.

The proposal, which would need to be approved by the University’s Board of Trustees in the spring, is a significant departure from the original master plan for campus remodeling, which did not include any changes to Clairmont. Emory’s administration is placing portions of its master plan on hold for three months to evaluate the idea, which was disclosed to the Wheel on Friday.

University officials say the switch might be the best option for Emory and its Strategic Plan, which calls for the expansion of Emory’s health care arm. Doing so on the crowded stretch of buildings on Clifton Road would end up being costlier than relocating to Clairmont, officials say, notably because Emory would need to build an underground parking deck at Clifton at a cost of about $50,000 a space.

But more importantly, according to Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Mandl, the change could bring about higher patient satisfaction and a more cohesive undergraduate experience.

This initial explanation seems to have its merits, though a transfer of this magnitude is obviously a major undertaking. North Decatur traffic is terrible, due partially to the comings and goings of hospital workers throughout the day. Anyone commuting from Decatur to I-85 has to be concerned about the impact this would have on the Clairmont commute.

UPDATE: A Wheel staff editorial supports the plan.

…just like in San Francisco.

Either that or allow us to put these plastic bags in our city recycling bins.

My problem is that I can’t ever remember to throw the little polyethylene monsters in my trunk and schlep them over to Publix, so they pile up in my basement until the day when I do remember. Then I am forced to cram months of the forgotten miscreants into the one little plastic bag recycling can in front of the store. It’s not a pretty sight, trust me.

I know, I know…I need to use reusable cloth bags, but that again requires cognitive thought before I leave the house and obviously I’m already having trouble with that!

InDecatur morns the loss of Decatur High Stadium, with a full report from last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting where commissioners approved a new master plan for the high school complex.

Green space seems to be a key concern of the DHS master plan, with the biggest change being the replacement of the current parking lot behind the stadium with plans for a quad in the long term. See InDecatur’s post for many more details of the meeting including a bizarre altercation between the mayor and a resident identified as “Paul”, who “implied he knew why he was not being given the respect the Commission usually offered others, and would make that public.” Uh…OK.

David goes on to accept some of the blame for the stadium’s demise, along with other DHS alums. “We, the alumni of DHS and friends of history, have to take some blame here. Had we started a SAVE OUR STADIUM campaign back in late summer, when we first learned of the plan, and had we developed and presented alternative plans, this travesty might have been prevented.”

I, for one, like the new plan’s inclusion of more green space and the new auditorium, but do believe the stadium might have been saved through remodeling and incorporated into the new plan rather easily. Especially if the new men’s and women’s locker rooms, which was a main justification for a new stadium, will be housed in the new auditorium anyway [according to inDecatur].

The Decatur Stadium issue is a perfect example of the struggle preservationists are currently having with themselves over their own philosophy. For 50 years, preservationists have waved the flag of mixed-use development, maintaining green space and retaining character, because these were the qualities of the downtowns and neighborhoods that were under attack by urban renewal.

Today, the argument has been turned on its head.

Read the rest of this entry »

This story has spread like wildfire all over the country. Megachurch Pastor, Earl Paulk, sleeps with brother’s wife and fathers child. Uhh…34 years ago. That is just too juicy for a concerned nation to ignore! So AP articles can be found in papers throughout the country (here it is in the Chicago Tribute) while the CNN.com homepage links to the WSB article.

Lucky for CITY of Decatur residents, the story is tagged with a “Decatur, GA” location label because the Cathedral at Chapel Hill has a Decatur mailing address, even though its south of I-20 on Flat Shoals Road.

“OK,” you’re saying, “stop trying to tie the story to Decatur residents and get to the sordid details!” OK fine. Apparently the 80 year-ago archbishop of the church was quite the wild stallion in his day, using the “word of God” to convince women to sleep with him. Sex scandals have plagued the church for years. But the Pastor didn’t stop at just seducing impressionable church employees (one of whom is currently suing him after having a four year affair) but was so bold as to also sleep with his brother’s wife! That twisted affair gave birth to the church’s current Senior Pastor, D.E. Paulk.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

You really can’t make this stuff up…maybe the telenovela writers can, but you sure can’t.

I think I need another shower. (But I’ll have to forego it since I should be conserving water)

UPDATE: The AJC has a disturbing time line of Paulk’s indescresions over the years.