MyATLtv has a statement from the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers on the destruction of Trackside.

“I was very sad to learn about the fire at Trackside. Eddie Owen (of Eddie’s Attic) was running Trackside when he asked me and Amy to come play there, many years ago. We considered Trackside part of our home base and had many wonderful nights playing there, crammed up in the corner, with our other Atlanta musician friends, having a blast. More recently, Trackside had been a place to just stop in for a beer and a couple games of pool or darts and hang out with the locals, listening to the jukebox, or watching sports on the television. I feel like I have lost an old friend just as, I am sure, many others do as well.”

Emily sure is right.   On this site alone, in addition to 49 heartfelt comments,  the original DM Trackside/5th Earl fire post has thus far received an astonishing 7,500 hits, with an incredible 4,397 people viewing it on the very first day.  Also, over 700 people have clicked over to Facebook to view pics of the damage.  Incredible.

Hopefully, this obvious widespread concern by residents across Atlanta provides some comfort to the owners and employees of these two well-loved Decatur spots as they attempt to pick up the pieces and determine next steps.

This is pure genius.

Preston Craig (of the former Decatur Social Club) points us to a post on his kissatlanta blog that tells the story of an album created by rapper “ytcracker”, which was created by taking all the ridiculous wav files that used to play in the background on different pages of the DeKalb County Police website, and setting them to smart, hilarious lyrics.  The really amazing thing is that yt did it all in 10 hours, according to Craig.

Since the release of the online album, DeKalb PD has recently removed all of the audio from its website.  ytcracker responds…

DEPRESSING NEWS: since we have released the album and it has become a sensation overnight because of how awesome and famous we are, the ORIGINAL DCPD sites NO LONGER are hosting the banging beats that they once were. you can look in the left navbar of every page on the dekalbpolice.com website and they still have the music on/off text and the flash code for the player is still in the html source, but everything that was in their /music/ directory has been deleted. we are working on mirroring the site to restore it to it’s full glory.

You can listen to the entire profanity-free album over on Craig’s kissatlanta blog.  Or better yet, download the whole thing for free here.

And Craig is right when he says that track 4 “executive_command” is the best of the bunch.

Leigh sends in the details about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta‘s winter fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 21st at the Solarium in Oakhurst.  100% of proceeds go to fund programming for DeKalb County clubs.

Please join us for Winter Wonderland – A cocktail party with wine tastings and wine raffle to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta – DeKalb County.

when – Saturday, February 21, 2009 – 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

where – The Solarium 321 West Hill Street Decatur, Georgia 30030

tickets – $75, in advance

wine raffle tickets for sale at the event

rsvp required

Purchase Tickets Online by February 13th, 770-714-5051, zseals@bgcma.org

She also gives us a little background on the Boys & Girls Clubs in the Decatur area.  Read it after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

The Champion Newspaper posted this video of the Trackside/5th Earl fire on YouTube…

How they got someone out there with a video camera at 5am is beyond me.  Someone must live close.

Looks about as nasty a fire as you’d expect from what now remains.

Also, to read the Champion’s full story and see the only pics I’ve seen thus far of the burned interior click over to their article on the fire.

h/t: InDecatur

Wordsmiths’ Publicity/Marketing Director, Russ Marshalek, who has been with the bookstore since the store opened, is being let go at the beginning of March.

In a letter to associates, colleagues and friends he writes of his future plans.  You can read the full letter after the jump.

Best of luck to you Russ!  Thanks for all the great events you’ve brought to our fair city over the past couple years!

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Elrod sends in info for the Trackside Employee Fund that he’s set up over at Decatur First Bank…

Send checks made out to
THE TRACKSIDE EMPLOYEE FUND
to
Decatur First Bank; Attn: Ann Berg
1120 Commerce Dr.
Decatur, Ga. 30030

or bring money or checks by the Corner Pub at 627 D East College Ave.
Anyone wishing information can contact me at my email address. (rhelrod[at]comcast.net)

No surprises to report from Tuesday’s commission meeting.  The city commission voted unanimously to defer any plans of large scale annexation for two years.  (However, commercial on College Ave might still be on the table)

And this quote from the city manager reaffirms my suspicion that few were satisfied with the student enrollment data once the inconsistencies were brought to light,

“It appears we have time for some breathing room to get better data and do more research,”

But while this key data roadblock was what ultimately stalled the effort this go-round, I’m intrigued by the mayor’s reiteration that he believes the tax descrepancy between DeKalb and Decatur will shrink in the coming years.  He cites the incorporation of the City of Dunwoody as the main reason why DeKalb property taxes will soon come closer to parity with Decatur, so I thought I’d dig a little and see how the county is preparing for this loss of revenue.

Within CEO Ellis’ 2009 budget recommendations (pdf), he conservatively projects that the loss in property value from the creation of Dunwoody will raise the millage rate by 79/100 of a mill in unincorporated DeKalb, but also states “Final digest values, which will be available in May 2009, could have an additional impact on Tax Funds millage rates.” So bottom line: right now 79/100ths…but it could go up.

However, for now, the CEO plans to “nullify” this increase by dedicating more HOST money to property tax relief.  This sounds like a good temporary solution to not raising the millage rate, until we see just how temporary it could be.

As stated in the budget recommendations, HOST’s source of funding – sales tax revenues – are declining thanks to a down economy, plus the # of people who qualify for the HOST homestead exemption (owner-occupied residences) has increased more than 18,000 since 2000.

Add that to the outstanding lawsuit that Decatur and other DeKalb cities’ have against the county for short-changing them on HOST funding (Decatur estimates its owed over $8 million at last count) and it very well looks like the mayor’s prediction could be right.

And speaking of budgets, Decatur’s budget process for next fiscal year begins at the end of this month.  The schedule can be found HERE.

Sharing similar pasts, Corner Pub is now giving a helping hand to Trackside employees.

David over at InDecatur notes that Corner Pub will host Trackside’s “Soup-Off” this Sunday in conjunction with Trackside employees.  Submissions should be brought in between 3-4p.  Judging will take place at 4p.

In an updated AJC article this morning, 5th Earl owner Brian Falcon tells the paper that they will do something similar for their employees in the coming days, so stay tuned for that.  Also Falcon sounds unsure as to whether he will be able to reopen in the same space.  This may have something to do with the fact that the fire department has yet to determine whether the building will be condemned or not (Trackside and 5th Earl shared a roof).

And though there have been a lot of rumors swirling around regarding the cause of the fire, the fire department has yet to make any official statement.

The city’s Decatur Minute blog has made it easy for me (and anyone else) to get out the word about Mayor Floyd’s State of the City address next Tuesday at 6pm by creating an informative graphic that gives us all the essentials!

All are invited!

What issues do you think will be addressed?  What issues do you think should be addressed?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say annexation will AT LEAST be referenced.  Also, I think this might be when the city begins the dialogue about revising our Strategic Plan for next year.  But that’s just my uninformed guess.

This looks like a pretty great deal…

Oakhurst Elementary has a new fundraiser going on right now, where you buy a $29 savings card online and you can save at hundreds of locations around the city (many located in the city of Decatur!) for an entire year.

The list is far too long to reiterate in full (see the full list HERE – the user name is “oakhurst” and the password is “kids”) – but here’s a sampling of businesses in and around Decatur that are participating (discounts vary)…

• The Grange
• Saba
• Mediterranean Grill
• Wahoo!
• Raging Burrito
• Twain’s
• Eviva
• Taste
• Hoopla
• Alexia Gallery
• Melrose on Ponce
• Squash Blossom
• Mojo Pizza
• Kaleidoscope Boutique
• One Step at a Time
• Athens Pizza
• Eagle Eye Books

And there are lots of others that are just a short drive/ride away!

See the official Oakhurst Elementary Savings Card site for all the discount details AND to buy your card.   A post on the Oakhurst Message Board says that after ordering, cards are delivered in 1-2 weeks.