Up until now, I’ve really tried to avoid posting about the horrific Meredith Emerson murder case. National and local media outlets are doing a pretty good job of reporting on every little detail in the case. But after reading about the results of her autopsy, I felt inclined to say something, if for nothing else but to start a discussion where others could express their concern/horror/sadness.

I guess I consider myself as a pretty avid day hiker. I was brought up walking the trails around New England and have spent a good many weekends hiking the trails in the North Georgia Mountains since moving here in 2001. Many of these trails helped me cope with the chaos of the city before I was really conditioned to the normal rush of urban life. So, like many thousands of hikers nationwide, this story really bothers me deep down.

Additionally, I’ve been to Vogel State Park, the scene of this horrific murder, and walked the trails with both my wife and dog. Its a beautiful, tranquil state park with great trails and amenities that will now eternally be the setting for a horrific murder and every hiker’s worst nightmare.

This adds to my general unease.

Ultimately, its fruitless to rail against the actions of the guilty suspect in this case, Gary Michael Hilton, as everything that was done to Emerson is beyond sane comprehension and explanation. All I can say is that I am continually shocked by the horrors that human beings are capable of. Movies give us the false sense that all of the deranged living is only played out on the screen, but to have it come even this close to my life (which admittedly isn’t that close), I feel an indescribable chill and fleeting lack of faith in humanity.

I know that people like Gary Michael Hilton are the exception to the rule, but random acts of violence are the ones that really make you feel helpless in an unpredictable world. Domestic violence is much more prevalent than stories like Meredith’s, but most people can feel safe that these sorts of front page stories will never happen to them.  They at least have some control over the circumstances that escalate in those cases.  Not so with this story.  All you have to be is a hiker that’s ever been alone in the woods and you feel vulnerable.  For a while it will be hard not to look over your shoulder while hiking as this story runs its course.

What can we do but be aware? But not paranoid. Feel sorrow, but not give up hope?

Easier said than done, I know.

All the support in the world should be given to the Emerson family. It goes without saying that no one deserves this.

DeKalb County schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis recently announced at a school board meeting that he will make his position known to the public by the end of the month on whether to sell 31 acres of land at the intersection of Briarcliff and North Druid to the Sembler company. Sembler wants to purchase the land and use it in conjunction with 70 other acres already purchased to create an 100-acre “mini-city” bigger than its current driving nightmare at Edgewood.

The school board has been mulling the issue for over a year. And even after they finish letting this issue percolate, they still have to decide whether to allow TAD money to be taken from school taxes.

The next two school board meetings occur on Jan. 14th and 18th.

No word on whether the distraction of this schools/Sembler development extravaganza has improved DeKalb student test scores.

In the words of Helen Lovejoy, “Won’t somebody please think of the children?!”