My wife mentioned to me last night that it looked like the old Kaleidoscope space – between Sawicki’s and Cakes & Ale on West Ponce – had finally been leased due to some general renovations and clean-up in the space.  Today an anonymous tipster gave us the 411 on who it is!

Bike shop “Tri Your Best” is moving from its current Stone Mountain location to downtown Decatur next month.  From the shop’s website…

Tri Your Best will officially be closing it’s doors in Stone Mountain on Thursday, Jan 27th at 2pm. We would like to thank all of our customers for their continued support and can’t wait to see all of you in our new location in Downtown Decatur! We should be up and running over there about the 2nd week of Feb. Stay tuned for further developments. We will keep all of you in the loop!

Not sure if they’ll be sticking with “Tri Your Best” or if they will take on the “Decatur Bikes” name that is their new URL.  Lots more info about their existing business over on their website!

Photo submitted by Amy

For any and all living under a rock last week, the announcement that Decatur schools’ current Communications Director Bruce Roaden would get back behind the principal’s desk at the new 5th Avenue Academy this fall set off a rather testy conversation here on DM and also lit up my Inbox with the voices of more than one CSD employee upset with the way the decision had been made and communicated.

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen replied to my follow-up inquiry, stating in so many words that the administration stood behind the decision, noting the rarity of such “appointment hires” over the course of Superindendant Phyllis Edwards tenure, along with the looming budget gap – thanks in part to an additional K-3 school – in the coming fiscal year…

Hiring practices are at the discretion of the superintendent. Bottom line. Dr. Edwards’ history in Decatur has not been one of appointments, I can only remember a few in my 5+ years. I experienced multiple interviews for my own position (then Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Accountability) in December 2004.

Dr. Edwards is anticipating more cuts to the budget, and just as we would do for any teachers that we would anticipate cutting, we would want to place those employees in other jobs for which they are suited. Mr. Roaden is an experienced principal and his skills are needed for a smooth transition to a brand-new building.

That being said, will the Director of Community Relations position be cut? Perhaps.

A few months back, after readers of the popular design blog “Design*Sponge” cried out that Decatur was underrepresented in the site’s Atlanta City Guide, the site’s creators said that if someone created a Decatur-centric post, they would post it.

Well it looks like Carla Schwartz of decorativity took on the challenge and created an extensive to-do-see-buy-drink-eat list within the Decatur city limits!  Here’s a snippet of the intro…

One of Decatur’s biggest draws is that it’s walkable and family friendly. In fact, Decatur was just named “most walkable city in Georgia” by the website Walkscore.com, based on its proximity to surrounding amenities. Because Decatur is so accessible and friendly, I have been able to explore its city life from the time I was a young child. From eating burgers at the Brick Store (long before I was old enough to sample their famous beer menu) to checking out the sophisticated clothing in Squash Blossom to falling in love with music at Eddie’s Attic’s all-ages shows, Decatur has had my heart. Downtown Decatur is worth spending a whole day exploring. If you want to spend the day there, here are the places to go and things to see from morning until night.