Month: March 2011

Last Push – We Need Just $230 To Give Another Student the “Tools to Success”

We’re getting close to the end of the school year, so it’s time to close out the DM & DEF “Tools to Success” fundraising effort that aims to put laptop computers in the hands of students from low-income households with plans for college or another post-secondary school.

Decatur Metro has already put up the money for one laptop, which will be handed out to a student, selected by the “Tools to Success” committee, at this year’s DHS scholarship dinner.  To the many DM readers who’ve already donated, “Thank you so much!”.  We now need just $230 to purchase that second laptop.

With so much of the world’s information and communication now online, can you imagine the difference a personal laptop can make to a student in 2011?   Instead of needing to block out hours of time during the day to drive/ride/walk to the library and do research and write email questions to profs on a buggy, communal PC, a laptop with an internet connection has the potential to make the higher education experience just a LITTLE bit easier for a Decatur High grad, giving them those critical extra hours a week for studying, researching and relaxing.

OK, enough from me.  Here’s how you can help out.

To donate to the laptop cause, all you have to do is click on over to the Decatur Education Foundation’s “Donate Page”, fill in the amount you wish to give, select “General Fund” for your gift designation, and then make sure you write “laptops” in the “Additional Comments” field at the very bottom of the page.  If you’d rather mail a check, you’re welcome to send it – made out to the Decatur Education Foundation – to 315 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue Suite 770 Dec 30030.  Obviously indicate “laptops” on your check.)

Eye on the Street

Near Decatur High School, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Kathy and Sandi)

“Two girls walking near Decatur high school. They just attended a class in the new culinary arts classroom.”

So Sorry Midtown, Decatur’s #1!

Jonathan points out that Decatur ranked as the #1 neighborhood in Atlanta in Creative Loafing’s just-released, unscientific-but-still-totally-accurate “Ultimate Neighborhood Guide”.  (Go to page 12 of this PDF of the guide to read the full Decatur description)

What makes Decatur the greatest neighborhood in the Atlanta metro according to Thomas Wheatley and the people he bribed with laundry services to give Decatur the top spot?  In summary, great schools, a strong LGBT community, lots of beer, and transit.  Glenlake Park and the Decatur Cemetery also get nods, along with blurbs on many of our top restaurants, pubs and stores and cultural scenes.   And what guide isn’t complete without a comment from “social media monster” Carl!?

The downsides of Decatur, according to CL?

High liberal yuppie quotient. (If that’s a plus for you, refile under upsides.)

Swarms of beer lovers on weekends can mean long waits at tiny pubs.

Oh, and as for the “Sorry Midtown” of my post title, Midtown ranked #2, while Inman Park was #3.  It’s all in the PDF!

Bill Would Lift Georgia Yard Waste Ban in Landfills

Smalltowngal points out a call-to-action on the Oakhurst Message Board urging area residents to contact their local legislators about Georgia House Bill 274, which would lift the statewide ban on yard waste in landfills (with “linings”) under the premise that the additional garbage would increase methane captured as a renewable energy source.

The AJC actually wrote an extensive article on the bill back on March 12th…

If approved, the bill would end a state ban on yard trimmings in landfills that was imposed in 1996 with the stated goals of conserving landfill capacity and promoting recycling. Delaware this year became the 23rd state to impose such a ban.

The city of Atlanta and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are on the side of environmental lobbyists who are working to kill the bill. On the other side, the waste management companies have lobbyists, attorneys and what some would argue is a distinct advantage: They wrote the bill.

 

Mellow Mushroom v. Fellini’s

Yes, I’m aware there are millions of other pizza preference options out there, but that’s another thread.

CSD Requests School Property Zoning Change from City (as Requested by the City)

Why the City of Decatur was perhaps the only governmental entity left in the entire state of Georgia that still owned school property is a complicated story.  One that I tackled in all of its great detail back in late 2009.

Now you may not remember this – I sure didn’t – but in agreeing to transfer school properties to the City Schools of Decatur (mainly for funding and process reasons), the city had just one request.  If I may be allowed to quote myself (circa 2009)…

While keeping the city commission in control of school property has meant a lot more red tape for all parties over the years, it has allowed the city a final say on school development projects that have an inevitable effect on the city’s overall development pattern. So, in order to retain a voice in the development of school property, the city manager has requested that the city commission approve a zoning change from “residential” to “institutional” for the property, which would “allow the Planning Commission and City Commission in the future to hold public hearings and make recommendations and decisions about any changes to the development footprint.”

While the under-construction 5th Avenue school, along with the middle and high school, are already zoned “institutional”, the six remaining school properties are still seen as “low-density residential” in the eyes of the zoning gods.  They are: Clairemont, College Heights, Glennwood, Oakhurst, Westchester, and Winnona Park.

So, as requested back in 2009, Superintendent Phyllis Edwards will go before Decatur’s Planning Commission in a couple weeks and ask for this zoning change for these six properties.

You may have seen those lovely, scribbled white signs on planted in school lawns over the past few days and wondered what the heck they were announcing to their reading public.  Well, now you know!