Both Eagle Eye and Blue Elephant Book Shop announce the arrival of “Images of America: Decatur”, a pictorial history of the city.

Here’s the official book synopsis and author bio:

Synopsis

Decatur proudly proclaims itself a city of “homes, schools, and places of worship.” While that motto might seem to describe any number of small towns, the words accurately capture the essence of Decatur, a place of fine and humble homes, well-regarded schools, and large, active churches. Founded by the Georgia legislature in 1823 to be the county seat of DeKalb County, Decatur took its name from Commodore Stephen Decatur, a U.S. naval hero of the early 1800s. In the years since, Decatur has grown into a busy suburb of neighboring Atlanta, produced Agnes Scott College, and attracted both the Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital and Columbia Theological Seminary. Decatur has been home to fascinating Georgians, including Civil War memoirist Mary Gay and writer Rebecca Latimer Felton, the first woman to be seated as a U.S. senator (if only for a day).

Biography

Veteran newspaper reporter and editor Joe Earle, a longtime Decatur resident, has assembled images from the DeKalb History Center, the archives of churches, and other Decatur institutions to show how the city has changed through the years. These images record Decatur’s growth from a quiet country village to a busy community at the center of a populous, suburban county.

The book can be purchased at either bookstore (not sure whether any other area bookstores have it in stock – let me know if you do!).  Also, this Saturday August 14th, Eagle Eye will host an author reading and signing with Mr. Earle at 4:30p, preceded by a similar event by the author of Dunwoody’s just-released “Images of America”, Valerie Biggerstaff at 2pm.

This slightly insulting, charty map from GOOD juxtaposes state rankings for allowance of walking, biking, transiting and driving to work with obesity rates.  Click it to zoom-in and analyze the heck out of it.

Not surprisingly, the strongest correlations look to be that walking and biking to work make people thinner, while driving to the office makes people fatter.

Transit, on the other hand, seems to be a slightly more complex animal when it comes to any relation to obesity.  While it can be a good complement to walking and biking states, it can also contribute relatively little to overall health if it’s transit that people drive to and from (check out New Jersey on the map).

Transit that benefits overall health not only requires an actual train or bus and a supporting infrastructure, but also communities conducive to walking or biking to transit stops.

P.S. In the map above, GA ranks 49th in both people who walk or bike to work.

The “Chair’s Report” for this evening’s Decatur School Board meeting notes that the old Fifth Avenue School’s demolition is scheduled to occur from Monday, August 16th thru Monday, August 23rd.

The demolition will make way for the city’s new 4/5 Academy.

And though everyone continues to refer to the new school as “Fifth Avenue”, I wonder if there has been any discussion of whether to name the new building something else.  Anyone heard anything?

I suppose I could ask.

I’d make more of a joke out of the fact that a DeKalb County School Board member threatened to “slug” a CBSAtlanta reporter if the larger nepotism story wasn’t so darn concerning.

CBS Atlanta has learned [DeKalb County School Board member Zepora] Roberts has two daughters employed by the school system; one who got a job, and another who got promoted during the time their mother has been in power.

In Robert’s anger she was quick to point out she’s not the only highly influential administrator with relatives being given jobs and promotions. In fact, she’s made a list.

“There was Jim Henson, who was a Superintendent who had two children working for the system and it was not an issue. Dr Hallford had his son, his daughter, his in-law and everybody else.”

The video showing Roberts’ threatening reporter Wendy Saltzman is embedded in the article linked to above.