Jayne writes in…

Don’t miss Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool’s 2010 Auction Jubilee Saturday, November 13th from 3 to 6 p.m. at All Souls Fellowship in Decatur.

The silent auction will feature many exceptional items including original art from local artists, unique hand-crafted apparel and gifts, memberships, vacation home rentals, gift certificates and retail items from Decatur and Intown Atlanta’s favorite stores and restaurants and much more!

Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool’s Auction Jubilee is a casual, family-friendly event with something to interest everyone. There will be food, fun and entertainment including children’s activities and live music.

The proceeds from this auction will benefit the special projects for OCP, including our tuition assistance program. Admission to the Auction Jubilee is free. Pre-register to bid during the event at www.oakhurstcoop.com. For questions or to make a donation to the silent auction, please call 404-370-0257 or email at ocpauction@gmail.com

This just in from the City of Decatur’s Linda Harris…

*Media Advisory*

Who: Mayor Bill Floyd and the Mayors of 9 cities in DeKalb including Avondale Estates, Chamblee, Clarkston, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, and Stone Mountain.

What: Press Conference on the steps of the State Capitol Building Washington Street side

When: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 11 a.m.

Why: A joint announcement related to support of the Transportation Investment Act of 2010 or HB 277 – the bill that calls for 12 regional roundtables to craft a transportation project list and then ask voters to support a 1-cent sales tax to fund the projects.

Expect this to similar to the Fulton County mayor’s announcement back in September.

Madison & Decatur Street, French Quarter New Orleans (pic submitted by Kenney)

There’s been a good deal of chatter on the Oakhurst Message Board of late about higher-than-usual DeKalb water rates.  The AJC wrote a piece on our surely escalating water rates to cover extensive repairs and improvements to the system, though it’s unclear whether these individual reports are a result of that or something else.  (If you’re interested in how much rates are rising year-by-year, this County document (pdf) gives you a good idea of how rates will rise through 2011.  Note that the more water you use, the higher the rate.)

Anyway, the County is holding meetings about these repairs and upgrades, tonight and tomorrow night.

DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon recently sent this announcement around…

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So by now, you’ve probably seen the AJC’s Sunday front page story, “Pricey streetcar won’t ease traffic“.  Sorry for my slightly delayed reaction to this.  I needed to do a few mental calisthenics before tackling this word-count monster.

So, it looks like the title of this article is based on the Atlanta Regional Commission’s ranking of area transportation projects relieving traffic congestion.  According to the AJC, the streetcar came in “dead-last” (no editorializing there!) in this category.  What ranked higher?  Well, much more expensive and pipe-dreamy projects like a #3 billion light-rail line from Kennesaw to Decatur (!) and a Ponce de Leon streetcar, which came in at $133 million.

But before we get into the man/woman-on-the-street banter, which gives real sass to the article (ex. “I think it’ll be great, It’s hard to get people to come back to Auburn.” / “…foolishness…It’s not going to spur development, it’s not going to spur anything,”), I’m still left wondering why we’re suddenly holding the streetcar to promises of immediate traffic congestion relief when I’ve never heard any such argument given.

Where was it ever stated that easing congestion required a one-pronged solution and should be done at any cost?

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