All residents, especially those that live in and around Sycamore Heights and Glenwood Estates, be on the look out for suspicious activity that is similar to either the aforementioned Glenlake assault and robbery or the Ridgeland assault and robbery described by Chris below.

I don’t know if this is related, but this afternoon between 5:30 and 6:00 an elderly man on Ridgeland Avenue (which is fairly close to Glendale) reported that two men broke into his house, assaulted him, and stole his money. I spoke with him briefly and saw that he’d been pretty severely beaten-he was bleeding fairly profusely from his face and had a large bruise forming on his eye. I told the police that as I was walking home on Sycamore Ave, I saw two young black males (18-22) running from the scene-one wearing a white tank top and, I think jeans. The other was wearing blue or purple shorts and no shirt, but may have been carrying a dark shirt in his hand.

The two crimes do appear to be very similar – including the time of day (around 6p) – and could indeed be related, but we’ll await final word from DPD on that.

Please be safe and a bit more cautious than usual out there.

DPD just sent out this alert…

Decatur Police Alert – June 8, 2009

On Sunday, 6-7-09, at approximately 6pm, a Decatur resident was walking on Glendale Avenue near Forkner Drive and was approached by 2 African American males who said “Give me your bag, give me your purse.” When she stated that she did not have a purse, one of the subjects hit her in her face, snatched her beach bag and towel and left the scene.

Description of Subjects:

- 2 African American males

- Subject 1 – about 6’0″ tall wearing green plaid shorts

- Subject 2 – about 5’7″ wearing a white tank top and possibly a white hat, twists in his hair

This case is still under investigation.

Please call 911or the non-emergency number at (404) 373-6551 the moment you see anything or anyone suspicious.

Thank You,

That adds a bit more detail to an email from the victim that Jonathan forwarded this morning.  I will not publish her name for obvious reasons.

“I live on Glendale and was walking with my 14 month old from the Glenlake pool [Sunday 6/7] afternoon at 6pm. According to the police I was “robbed and assaulted”. to me I was mugged and scared. I had just turned onto Glendale off Forkner and heard a noise behind me. Turned to see 2 young guys following me. Knew there was trouble brewing but didn’t see anyone outside or any cars passing. Incident lasted maybe a minute but stole my beachbag (had over my shoulder not under the stroller) and got punched in the face. They were clearly looking for money as they did not ask for any of my jewelry etc.
The police responded as soon as I found a phone (thanks to those who helped and cooperated with the police!!), detectives were out and have been talking to people. The captain is especially interested because “this never happens in this neighborhood” – hope to keep it that way.

The baby and I are fine, I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else! Let me know if you need additional information.”

Sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree with my journalistic superiors on this one.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a Real Clear Politics article making the rounds the last couple days that landed on the AJC’s “Most Popular” page this morning, which ranks Atlanta as the nation’s second least safe city, just behind Memphis, TN.

Someone please stop the madness!

It may be an unpopular position amongst a general population who feel less safe than they did a year ago (due in large part to the rash of highly public crimes), to argue against anything that validates our fear…but someone has to do it.

First of all, this ranking is crap for the same reason that so many other city rankings are crap – because every city’s limits and annexation laws are different.  Some city limits span their entire metropolitan area, while others – like Atlanta – are centered only around the city’s core and represent a flippin’ 10th of the metro-area population.  So when “Real Muddy Rankings” reports that they’ve crunched some numbers based on FBI data (which warns against doing such things) and RANKED city crime based on % of their general population, we MUST immediately call BS, or note the disparity and perhaps dig deeper into the data. NOT report on it like it’s a credible study!

Let me be clear, I have no problem with comparing Atlanta’s 2008 to 2007 stats and reporting that property crime is up while violent crime is down.  However, none of the articles I’ve seen actually give priority to this reliable data.  Yes, they note that the ranking is “disputed”, but only after they’ve colored the entire article with the “second least safe” headline.  And then to add insult to injury, they treat violent crime and property crime as equals.  Like they are at all comparable!  Am I the only one that would rather be mugged than stabbed?

Yes, crime is something Atlanta needs to get a better hold of.  Recent cutbacks in law enforcement certainly won’t help improve anything.  But I ask the news media to be more responsible about reporting this data and resist easy, sensationalized headlines.

Thanks to a fiscally conservative budget and a relatively strong housing market, Decatur has proposed keeping its millage rate unchanged in the coming fiscal year.

On the other hand, DeKalb County has some serious shortfalls to make up, thanks to things like plummeting real estate prices and the recent incorporation of commercial-rich Dunwoody.  So even though they’ve been trying to cut the budget, it’s not surprising to find out that County taxes will also be going up…for some more than others.

Here’s commissioner Jeff Radar’s note that was posted on the Clairmont Heights blog…

DECATUR – The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners has tentatively adopted millage rates which will require an increase in property taxes by the following percentages:

Unincorporated 3.73%

Avondale Estates Special Services 0.73%
Chamblee Special Services 0.43%
Decatur Special Services 1.33%
Debt Service 6.94%

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held on the following dates, at the indicated times [at the Maloof Administration Building Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, Georgia]:

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 10:00 A.M.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 6:00 P.M.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 10:00 A.M.

When annexation was delayed earlier this year, this closing of the tax gap between Decatur and DeKalb was something the mayor predicted would help convince unincorporated residents to accept Decatur annexation.

Just one more piece of the puzzle.

P.S. Anyone know what the heck “Debt Service” is?

Next Stop…Decatur found this great pic of the Decatur Depot from 1987 over on RailPictures.net.

Any good stories about the Depot when it still operated as a train stop would be most welcome!

Maybe we’ll become so nostalgic that we’ll be compelled to raise another $100,000 to move it back a few feet!