The AJC reports that 17 year-old Mikel Pittard, a Decatur High School basketball player…

…”died early Sunday after a shooting at Memorial Drive and I-285, DeKalb County Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said Monday…Pittard was one of five teens who had just left a teen club when someone in another vehicle fired at their car on Memorial.”

According to the AJC report, DeKalb police currently have no suspects.

h/t: Andisheh Nouraee (via Twitter)

Looks like the wet ground is wreaking havoc once again.

Ink and Dagger Tattoo sent out this pic via Twitter about an hour ago of a tree down across West College Ave outside their shop.

Used with permission.

President of Decatur High School’s Leadership Team, Lew Lefton, forwards a working draft of the high school’s “School Improvement Plan” (SIP), hoping for feedback from the community on the draft’s proposed “4 goals, 9 objectives, and a total of 38 action steps.”

Below, Lew summarizes the four overarching goals that make up this year’s SIP.

• Goal 1: All graduates will be prepared with appropriate career development options.
• Goal 2: Increase academic achievement by employing research-based teaching and learning practices.
• Goal 3: Increase academic achievement for Black students and the socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup.
• Goal 4: Foster a safe, respectful school community where students demonstrate civic-mindedness

After the jump, Lew also provides some examples of selected objectives and actions to give us an idea of the SIP structure. Once you’ve digested the document, your welcome to provide feedback at SIPFeedback[at]csdecatur.net .

Read the rest of this entry »

This doesn’t look so great…

Also true along the creek at Johnston Road and over at Northside Drive.

Rep. Jill Chambers is still really worked up about MARTA’s attempt to allocate $400,000 to hire a lobbying firm to help the authority navigate those scummy, savage waters at the capitol.  According to her, any attempt by MARTA to get the state legislature to do anything about the still-failing transit system is a “waste of taxpayers money.”

And just in case any of her fellow MARTA board members disagree with her, she’s offering another option.  Getting the hell out!

Atlanta Unfiltered has Chambers’ email to her fellow board members…

I hope I have made it clear to the Authority that I feel this is a waste of taxpayers money – MARTA already has two staff lobbyists and the firm of Holland & Knight to represent them in government issues.

…Should either of these two issues come before the Board, those members who vote in agreement to these staff proposals may see their Board seats eliminated with any future restructuring of the MARTA Act.

Seriously, who needs subtlety when you can just make people do what you want?

Jump over to Atlanta Unfiltered to read responses from Board Chairman Michael Walls and MARTA CEO Beverley Scott.