Asst. City Manager Linda Harris sent this message around earlier today to Decatur 101 grads…

You asked and City Schools of Decatur delivered.   So many of you requested a City Schools of Decatur 101 in your evaluations, and now the first CSD 101 class will be held this fall. Here is the write-up from the Focus:

CSD 101 is a new four-session course designed to educate residents of Decatur about the school system. Modeled on the highly successful Decatur 101, the course is free and open to 30 residents. Classes will meet on Thursday evenings, 7-9 p.m., beginning September 23, in various buildings within the school system. Topics will include history, governance, curriculum, and instruction, finance and special programs. Optional tours are included.

CSD 101 is sponsored by the Decatur Education Foundation in partnership with City Schools of Decatur and is generously funded by a grant from the Decatur Beer Festival. Registration forms will be available July 19. If you are interested in receiving one, send an email to gail@decatureducationfoundation.org.

Let me know how you like the course!

From the Oakhurst Message Board…

I just wanted to let you all know that I just got a call from Mia’s owners, and they are on their way to pick her up right now. We don’t know how, but she ended up at Dekalb County animal shelter…

Thank you all so much for your help and concern and suggestions on ways to find her. Like I said before, it’s clear there are a lot of wonderful people in our neighborhood!

Yay!  Thanks to Angie for forwarding!

Commerce Drive @ West Ponce de Leon Ave. (photo submitted by Stephanie)

Late last week, we received a few reports of Decatur residents receiving penalty notices on unpaid 2008 property taxes that were claimed to be incorrect.  After looking into it this morning, Assistant City Manager Andrea Arnold provided us with this reply…

Of the roughly 1,500 late notices that were mailed out last week for open balances, we’ve identified 6 properties so far that appear to have inaccurate penalties & interest. This includes the person that you reference in your email. Her situation was resolved this morning. The other property owners that we have spoken with have legitimate outstanding balances, many due to assessment changes. Nonetheless, we are working with the software vendor to determine what caused penalty and interest to accrue on these accounts that were paid in full.

If property owners have a question about their tax bill, the City’s revenue officers will gladly research their bill. The revenue office can be reached at 404-370-4100 and taxes@decaturga.com.

The Economist provides an interesting and different media perspective on the potential of a nationwide high-speed rail network in the U.S.

From the point-of-view of the freight rail companies, whose nationwide system The Economist calls “the world’s best”, the prospect of high-speed trains sharing the tracks they’ve held almost exclusive access to for decades, isn’t something to cheer about.

To sum up…

…the problem with America’s plans for high-speed rail is not their modesty. It is that even this limited ambition risks messing up the successful freight railways. Their owners worry that the plans will demand expensive train-control technology that freight traffic could do without. They fear a reduction in the capacity available to freight. Most of all they fret that the spending of federal money on upgrading their tracks will lead the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the industry watchdog, to impose tough conditions on them and, in effect, to reintroduce regulation of their operations. Attempts at re-regulation have been made in Congress in recent years, in response to rising freight rates. “The freight railroads feel they are under attack,” says Don Phillips, a rail expert in Virginia.

h/t: Thomas Wheatley