Breaking…

Decatur Book Festival Program Director Tom Bell just announced at the DBF launch party at Eddie’s Attic, that celebrated author, Jonathan Franzen, will give the keynote address at this year’s Decatur Book Festival over the Labor Day Weekend (9/3-9/5).

Franzen, who’s wildly successful third novel, “The Corrections” won the National Book Award in 2001, will release his fourth book, “Freedom”, on August 31st.

Franzen’s appearance at the Decatur Book Festival will be just his second public event after the release of “Freedom”.

Good thing school is out.  It’d be a long walk to the principal’s office. From CSD…

Due to construction, the Renfroe Middle School offices will be located at the Central Office at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030) during the months of June and July. To reach Principal Derrick Thomas and his staff, please call them at 404-370-4400. There will be no phone service at RMS until the end of July. You may also reach them via email at dthomas@csdecatur.net (Derrick Thomas), lreuter@csdecatur.net (Leah Reuter) or jwhite@csdecatur.net (Jackie White).

UPDATE: Hugh Saxon recaps the city commission’s decision from last night…

“The City Commission approved a 5-foot easement with a protection fencing along the easement line, subject to the recommended conditions. An on-site review on Monday indicated that several trees adjacent to the property line would be severely damaged if the proposed Super 8 plan is implemented, regardless of the easement. The reduced easement minimizes intrusion into Cemetery property, allows an opportunity for saving 1-2 of the larger trees and provides for restoration of the easement area as a buffer with screening fencing and new vegetation.”

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The Super 8 motel along Church Street is looking to expand.

As an item on this evening’s Decatur City Commission agenda, the property owner of the Super 8 is requesting a 10 foot construction easement – which stretches into the Decatur Cemetery property – from the city in order to build a second building on the adjacent 909 Church Street property, which currently sports a commercially zoned single-family house.

Along with demolishing the existing building at 909 Church Street, the owner of the Super 8 states in a letter to the commission that all trees along the southern property line will need to be removed along with a “damaged wall.”   The owner states that all trees will be removed in accordance with the DeKalb County tree ordinance.

Another letter from the property owner notes that the expansion will include a “number of guest suites, a fitness center, a business center, a coin laundry for hotel guests and a manager’s residence.”

How does the city’s staff feel about all of this?

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As I mentioned in a comment yesterday, I’ve been sitting on this post for a while.

A few weeks back, I, along with many other DeKalb Library fans, received an email announcing the library’s new online audiobooks software “OverDrive.”

Heading over to the site in a “this will make a great post!” fever, I was immediately excited by the format of the new site.  The audiobooks were now much easier to discover thanks to a more intuitive set-up and prominent book covers.

However, downloading and listening to an audiobook proved a bit more difficult.

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