From a comment by “none” in the original post on the subject…

“The condition of the two is better. The two girls were Leah Helfen and Amy Sarrell. Leah is having surgery to fix up a compound fracture and Amy was still in intensive care on Tuesday, but should get moved into a room with Leah in the next few days.
Leah had just the fracture while Amy had a compound fracture in her leg as well as two broken Vertebrae (but not her spinal column, thank goodness!).
There will be multiple fundraisers to help cover the costs that the two will be facing, although the other drivers insurance should cover most things.
If you would like to donate, there is a fund set up at Decatur first bank, just ask for the Amy and Leah fund.
Also, there is a collection at the Java Monkey where Amy works.
Thank you for all your well wishes!”

I’m so glad to hear that neither sustained injuries that they cannot eventually heal from.  Here’s to a speedy recovery!

The State Board of Education should vote tomorrow on whether to grant charter status to the Decatur, Marietta and Gainesville school systems.

The AJC has a full recap, but basically it boils down to a debate over leadership. The State Board wants parents and staff to have near-absolute control, while the cities applications look to retain some power with the school board.

After the issue was surprisingly tabled last month, each of the cities sent in “clarification letters” to the state board, but did not alter their applications.

Decatur’s 7 page letter can be read here. [h/t: inDecatur]

I got a couple of comments yesterday that pointed to a “blue jean bandits” arrest up in Dawsonville, after another van full of geniuses attempted to rob the Saks Off-5th at N. Georgia Premium Outlets.

The AJC gave details about the arrest this morning…

In Tuesday’s attempted robbery, a private security guard at the North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville noticed a silver van backed up to Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th at about 5:30 a.m. The same store was hit a few weeks ago by smash-and-grab burglars who stole several thousand dollars’ worth of blue jeans, Dawson sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Wooten said.

He said the suspects apparently saw the guard and left, then were pursued by two Dawson Sheriff’s deputies into Forsyth County.

Those deputies used a “stop stick” —- a strip with small spikes designed to puncture tires —- to force the van off the road.

After crashing the van, which had been reported stolen in Atlanta, the suspects ran on foot, sparking a manhunt by deputies on the ground and in the air, as well as with K-9 units.

But lest we get too confused by the generic cute name given to these criminals by the press (using the “think of a word that starts with ‘B’ and then add the word “bandits” to the end” formula – i.e. ‘the barbie bandits’), these aren’t the guys that robbed Kaleidescope last week. All over metro Atlanta, DIFFERENT groups of young men are robbing unsuspecting boutiques and selling the goods…somewhere.

And that’s the real crux of this crime spree. No single arrest is going to make this problem go away. Authorities are going to need to determine who or what is fueling this sudden criminal interest in fashion. Someone is making it really easy to unload this stuff, and THAT’S who APD/Decatur PD/Dawsonville PD ultimately need to shut down. Maybe these new arrests will provide info to help solve that mystery.

Then maybe, just maybe, boutique owners this city-over will begin to sleep a bit easier at night.

I hope so. There’s a whole “men preying on women” component here that just makes my stomach turn.