From resident Bailey Pendergrast…

We have set up a memorial fund at Decatur First Bank to help [Mikel Pittard's] mother pay for funeral expenses.  I would like to reach as much of Decatur as I can and I think your blogs are the way to do it.  If people would like to contribute they can make checks out to Mikel Pittard Memorial Fund Send checks to:

Decatur First Bank
1120 Commerce Dr.
Decatur,Ga. 30030
Attn. Ann Berg

Time is of the essence since I think the funeral home wants cash up front to proceed.

On Thursday, October 22nd at 6:30p, Decatur will again host it’s “Low Country Boil” at the Solarium in Oakhurst!

For a $50 donation, you’ll be let loose on food and drink prepared by “Executive Chefs Michael Condon of Badda Bing and Ray Allen of New Orleans along with local celebrity chefs” and be serenaded with live music by the Dammages.  You’ll also get yourself a snazzy low country boil t-shirt (which I hope would be covered in crawfish parts and beer by the end of the night).

As always, all proceeds from the event go to the Decatur Education Fund.

If you already know all about this event and just wanna buy your tickets, CLICK HERE.

Last Friday, the AJC announced a drastic change in its editorial content: it would no longer be offering endorsements of local political candidates. That means no Atlanta mayor endorsement this year, no governor endorsement next year, and so on.

We have heard from readers — and we agree — that you don’t need us to tell you how to vote. What readers tell us they need is information on who the candidates are, what they have done and what they want to do in the new job.

That world has changed, steadily and more rapidly in recent years. We see our role now as providing you with information to help you make decisions — and not trying to make them for you. This is consistent with our move earlier this year to make the editorial pages more balanced — offering a wide array of opinions.

This morning, Creative Loafing, speaking through its urban politico reporter Thomas Wheatley, replied to the change.  To put it succinctly, CL’s official response was “Horsehockey!”.

While this sounds very forward-thinking and probably could be spun as “bold new thinking” in NewspaperLand, we think it’s hogwash.

The explanation the paper gave for its decision to quit endorsing just doesn’t jibe. The paper can still provide information about the candidates’ stances on the issues — while issuing endorsements of its own. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Perhaps the true reason the paper is giving up on endorsements has something to do with the AJC’s attempt to render the paper devoid of any opinion that could offend anyone.

What do you think?  Is the AJC’s move to suspend political endorsements something to be hailed or derided?  And here’s my own follow-up to that – if the AJC is now only in the business of presenting “facts”, who’s got the clout to pick up and lead the Atlanta conversation?

Here are the campaign disclosures (in PDF format) for Decatur School Board candidates for the month of September.

At-Large

Valerie Wilson – Total Sept. Contributions – $700 / Total Sept. Contributions less than $101 – $550

Rob Pope – Total Sept. Contributions – $1341.13 / Total Sept. Contributions less than $101 – $772.23

School Board District 1

Mark Wisnieski – Total Sept. Contributions – $1045 / Total Sept. Contributions less than $101 – $645

Garrett Goebel – Total Sept. Contributions – $1365.36 / Total Sept. Contributions less than $101 – $33.25

School Board District 2

Bernadette Seals – Total Sept. Contributions – $0 / Total Sept. Contributions less than $101 – $0

The AJC follows up on it’s report that 17 year-old Decatur High student Mikel Pittard was killed in a drive-by shooting over the weekend, with reaction from DHS principal and teachers.

The high school will hold a moment of silence Tuesday morning in memory of Pittard.