Originally when this 1969 desegregation case was brought against the state of Georgia , there were 81 school systems in the state that unlawfully regulated “a racially dual system of public education in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.”

By 1973, Decatur was one of only three school systems (Newton and Rome county were the others) left in the state that hadn’t made significant progress towards reaching unitary status. As a result, Decatur and the other two counties remained active parties on the suit, up until today.

Due in no small part to the city’s 2003 consolidation of schools, last week the court ruled that Decatur “has fully and satisfactorily complied with the Court’s desegregation orders.” It went on to conclude that the school system “has met the legal obligations for a declaration of unitary status.”

Read the complete U.S. District Court Order here.

GoDeKalb

I’ve been asking myself this question ever since the over-hyped, mixed-use, mega-city first opened to the public in 2005. At first I chalked it all up to on-going construction. “Once this place is finished, kids will play in the fountains, elderly couples will walk hand-in-hand along the wide sidewalks, and 20 somethings will sunbathe in the parks.”, I thought. But that hasn’t been the case. In the two plus years since its opened, Atlantic Station has continued to look as dead as its ever been. Which has led me to speculate that either no one lives here or the homes and apartments are inhabited by some sort of mole people straight out of the 1956 sci-fi movie.

Tell me you don’t have the same experience? Whenever I drive across the 17th street bridge into former brownfill country for an embarassingly frequent Banana Republic fix, all the residential areas are a wasteland. Sidewalks? Empty. Porches? Empty. Apartment balconies? Empty. Parks? Empty.

Maybe I just don’t know where to look. Maybe all the families hangout away from where all the chainstore junkies congregate. I wouldn’t blame them if they did. But I have a sneaking suspicion that’s not the case.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s way better than standing in line at the mall waiting to spend a mere 30 seconds on Santa’s lap!

This Thursday (Dec 20th), take the kids up to Decatur Square and roast marshmallows with Jolly Old Saint Nick over an open bonfire. Perhaps a couple of perfectly toasted marshmallows will convince Santa to put that Transformers Ultimate Bumblebee action figure under your tree.

From the Decatur Business Association homepage…

Holiday Bonfire & Marshmallow Roast
December 20, 2007 • 7-8 p.m.
Make plans to join the community and roast marshmallows around the popular 10′ x 10′ bonfire on the square. Enjoy special music and visit Santa in the Community Bandstand. Free. Sponsored by Decatur Business Association.

No chestnuts?