Carl points out that Mayor Bill Floyd’s recent comments on his blog regarding the Governor’s scapegoat tactics dealing with cutting the Homestead Tax Relief Grant have made it into the AJC.  (I’m guessing he posted and submitted to the AJC at the same time, but the AJC is just getting around to it?)

With all the exposure its gotten, here, on Peach Pundit (thanks to Decaturguy) and at the AJC, I’ve gotta think that Sonny’s read it by now.  So, then why hasn’t he RSVPed to our open forum yet?!  I need closure!

And no “Will not attend due to political suicide” is not a checkbox option.

…according to an update from the city in the September Decatur Focus, which is now online.  Also, there are no longer plans to tear down the existing Dairy Queen and build it into the new plan.  Which means the existing building will remain (which I believe has actually been there since the 1960s).

Other things of note to development-obsessed me:

• Parker’s On Ponce has push back their opening to October, due to plumbing issues.
• Also many businesses on the Square are coordinating a valet parking service for patrons that will possibly start this fall.  I think I heard that valets will park cars in the courthouse deck…but I’m not entirely sure about that.

Andy over at Fresh Loaf is calling for a traffic light at one of Decatur’s most dangerous crosswalks…the one that crosses W. Howard at Adair St.  He even seems to have taken his life in his hands and taken a pic from the W. Howard sidewalk.

The Community Transportation Plan does address this area of W. Howard by turning the pretzel-of-an-intersection that is Atlanta Ave. into a straight connection between W. College and W. Howard.

Such a redesign will ultimately move the light currently at Atlanta Ave (near the Citgo) closer to Adair. But this plan is a few years down the road.

As someone who frequently turns right on to W. Howard from Adair in the morning, I can tell you it is pretty dangerous (though less dangerous than turning left onto Scott from Ponce Heights during rush hour!) to look left for traffic flying down Howard and at whomever is turning left onto Howard after crossing the tracks AND making sure there are no pedestrians crossing at the intersection.  (I believe after the JavaMonkey girls where hit on their scooter on W. Howard, Scott commented that the crossing guard at Adair had said to him that she now turned away from impending car accidents because she was sick of being a witness.)

So maybe a traffic light at Adair is a good temporary solution.  But I’m gonna guess there is some issue with traffic flow over the tracks and the light at Atlanta Ave that is currently preventing one.  So instead we get waving crossing guards and a cop.

Over at Decatur eLife, Andrea Berry has again put together another great video update on Decatur’s charter school process, interviewing potential parent and teacher candidates for the Leadership Boards at the recent candidate forums.

Berry reports in the video that parents will vote for their candidates this week and that election results will be posted online September 9th.

A lot of restaurants have come and gone around Decatur and Avondale Estates since the mid-1950s, but one went on to take over the entire South.

This morning the AJC has an excellent article/interview with the original owners of Waffle House, who recently revisited Waffle House #1, which sits on East College between Decatur and Avondale.  After posing as a Chinese Food restaurant for the past 20 years, the building has been restored by Waffle House into a company museum.

What a great local story.

UPDATE: More Museum photos HERE!