Barrett writes in…

I am disappointed to say the Yes to Yum Garden at Renfroe Middle School was the victim of some minor vandalism.

Some swiss chard and kale was pulled up by the roots and tossed on the ground. Several melons and tomatoes were picked and thrown against the back wall to the old gym. Some of those plants were also uprooted. The tomato cages were also pulled out and thrown throughout the garden. We also had pumpkins growing which were picked and smashed. Much of the plants that did not have any fruit or vegetables growing did not receive any damage. It is discouraging that someone would do this, but we will not let it deter us as we move forward.

If anyone has any information please let us know.  I have informed the Decatur Police Department and will be informing the school principal.

“s” wrote in with a eyewitness report yesterday evening…

I was driving by the Postal Credit Union on W Ponce around 5:00. In the parking lot, there were several police cars with lights flashing and a ring of officers with guns drawn surrounding a man on the ground. Any idea what happened?

Assistant Chief Keith Lee fills us in…

Officers made a traffic stop for a speeding violation. It was determined the driver was wanted out of another jurisdiction on a felony warrant. Subsequent investigation revealed the two males in the vehicle were in possession of several stolen items

THIS is great.

Our Community Farm Project is located at 121 Sams Street in Decatur, GA. We are a start-up, urban farm led by experienced Burundi farmers who’ve come to metro-Atlanta as refugees and supported by a group of Burundi women, joining together to grow food, exchange farming knowledge, and to develop a greater understanding of farming practice in the ATLanta area. The farm will also provide the families who are often facing food security risks with healthy food for their tables.

Our Goal: Working in partnership with Susan Pavlin and Refugee Family Services, our mission is to provide these women with practical farm experience, workshops and trips to local farmers markets in order to create new opportunities in production, distribution and marketing.

Stop by their blog for recent updates and pics – including the one above - of their latest efforts and harvests. 

Thanks to “For the Birds” for forwarding. (for, for, for!)

A few days back, Skeptic wrote in with news that the City Schools of Decatur had recently announced at a Renfroe School Leadership Team meeting that they had made a decision to discontinue Advanced Content classes at the middle school. 

Yesterday, I received CSD’s 8-page FAQ (pdf) about the change, which explains in significant detail why the school has decided to rely on “cluster groups” within classes to serve “gifted” and “high-achieving” students, instead of separate Advanced Content classes, with the exception of math. 

Why did CSD decide to make this change?  From page 1 of the FAQ….

Read the rest of this entry »

While many Atlanta residents and transit-ites celebrated the recent $5 million donation to build the Beltline’s northeast segment bike trail, Andisheh remained unimpressed.  For him, the donation was just another reminder of how far the project hasn’t come in 11 years. 

From Fresh Loaf…

Viewed within the bigger picture of Beltline history though, the [donation] announcement was a big let down. It’s dispiriting that the city has made so little progress with the Beltline project that a short bike trail is considered huge breakthrough.

A thumbnail history — the Beltline was conceived in 1999 as a comprehensive urban re-development project, including parks, mass transit and new private construction. Embraced by city residents as soon as they began hearing about it, it was promoted first by the City Council President, then by a powerful and popular mayor. She helped give it an organizational structure and (controversial) funding mechanism in 2005 and 2006.

That’s a lot of time. A lot of money. A lot of public discussion. A lot of political capital.

And for what? So far, just a couple of short trails.

 And then, just this morning, the news fates decided to throw the CL cynic an “I told you so” bone.  From the AJC’s Ariel Hart… Read the rest of this entry »