Free-For-All Friday 3/4/11
Decatur Metro | March 4, 2011 | 8:01 amFeel free to make comments or ask questions about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to make comments or ask questions about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
J_T
FM Fats
s
Brad
Darenw
Demanda
FM Fats
Steve
Meg
Can We Talk?
Judd
AMB
Parker Cross
decaturite16
FM Fats
I suggest everyone that has questions about extending the school day please show up at the school board meeting next week. Unless we show up and make our voices heard the measure will get passed without public input! Making comments on this blog is great, but showing up in person and making your voice heard has the greatest impact!
Decnole – Can you provide details or link to when and where this meeting will be? Thanks!
The meeting is Tuesday March 8th at the central office. Go to csdecatur.net for more information and the agenda.
Slightly related: Has anyone seen the documentary “Waiting for Superman?” It features charter programs like the KIPP school that have longer school days and even school on Saturday. Interestingly, it seems to be effective.
One thing I don’t like about the longer school day and extra homework is it takes away from a child’s freeplay. One of the most important factors in a healthy developing child is their time where they can have free play by themselves or with friends. It is a time for kids to develop their imaginations, friendships, and life skills. Developmentally I feel this is more important than spending a half hour more in class because school systems are so afraid of not passing tests such as the CRCT. By the way, the Chinese are actually moving away from their model of longer school days in favor of shorter days. Just thought I would add that in since our schools are always compared to theirs.
Actually I don’t mind the longer school day if it means they are adding recess time. I know they could just as well have more free play time at home, but having more time in a social atmosphere with the kids they work/play with everyday would also be beneficial. So if we’re adding recess time, I’m okay with it. Learning to work AND play with others is as important as anything else, especially in our very diverse system that tends to mirror the social world our kids will inhabit when they’re older.
Have you ever seen the kids when they first exit the building and start running to the playground? Especially at Winnona Park, where the run is quite long–that 30 seconds of glee is a wonder to behold. Those faces and voices are happiness incarnate.
The school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8 at 6:30 at Westchester.
Happy FFAF! What’s out there in terms of private or semi-private swimming lessons for grade schoolers? I know there’s the Y. Do they offer at ASC? What are folks’ experiences?
The City of Decatur pools offer private lessons throughout the summer. My son has had great instructors.
ASC offers swim lessons through the Dynamo program. http://www.agnesscott.edu/athletics/aquatics.aspx
Decaturites! Hooray, I’m a student again. What places in town have a student discount I can put to good use?
me too! i’m a student again and need to put this ID to good use!
I always see places around Emory with student discounts mentioned on their signs so look around that area. The AMC at N. Dekalb Mall also has a student discount, I think.
future Vs.: autumnal equinox festival vs. vernal equinox festival
Any thoughts on the supposed AT&T reps roaming my neighborhood recently? The were very persistant knocking on our door yesterday mid-day, when my daughter was home sick – really scared her. When they came back later in the evening I told them this, and the man started to go on about my very nice house….creepy. Can they go door to door legally, and do they have anything to do with my Comcast cable internet access being intermittant lately?
I have the same question. I ended up divulging some information I wish I hadn’t. Like how many tv’s I own and do I have a landline (for an alarm system). But I was just trying to get them to leave. I am wondering if they were legit. They had badges and everything but those can be created…they asked some very personal questions.
Me too, Clairemont. How many TVs, how many were HD, etc. At the exact time that I was answering those questions 2 Decatur cops drove up from different directions, got out and told the ATT guys that they weren’t allowed to do this, that they needed a permit from the city. They left and I haven’t seen them again, but apparently it isn’t legal in Decatur without a permit.
Be careful–we had a rash of burglaries occur in our neighborhood immediately after a guy supposedly from Direct TV came through our neighborhood asking the same questions. We don’t know if there’s a connection or not, but I had the same “WHY did I tell him all that??” response you did…. I don’t remember if he had a badge or not–but I’ll be checking from now on.
They’ve been by our house a 6 months or so ago, and again in the past month. We actually took them up on their offer and switched to uverse from comcast and have been very happy. Got to hand it to them, they know how to push their product.
My husband posted about this on the Oakhurst yahoo forum earlier this week as well. He had answered the door and rsponded to some of their questions (e.g., do you have cable? how many tvs do you have? do you have interenet? do you use the internet for person use or business?) before letting them know that he wasn’t interested. He asked for a brochure, but they didn’t have any. (Total of 3 men, apparently 2 were being trained.) One of our neighbors had confronted the AT&T men and asked to see their credentials from the City, so it seems like they were legit. I think they’re trying to assess the level of interest for AT&T U-verse in the area…
The same scam happened last summer of fall or that time they were all wearing ADT badges and shirts. I am positive all of these “door to door” salespeople are criminals casing our homes. NO legitimate business operate like that now. Stop being so naive, we live in the inner city not Mayberry.
Actually you’re wrong. They are contractors working on behalf of AT&T, and many of your neighbors have taken them up on their offers and signed up for AT&T’s U-verse service. I find them annoying and agree that we ought to be wary of door to door solicitors, but no, they are not criminals casing your home.
And you don’t live in the “inner city.”
From the City’s crime prevention information:
Door-to-Door Solicitation
Is someone soliciting door-to-door in your neighborhood? Please remember that:
* Anyone soliciting door-to-door must have an approved door-to-door Solicitation Permit.
* This requires completing a permit application and submitting it to the police department for approval. The department conducts a background check on each individual involved in the solicitation process.
* If a permit request is approved, each door-to-door solicitor is required to have the signed permit in his/her possession at all times.
If you think their AT&T badges are not legit, call the company and confirm. That used to be standard Neighborhood Watch advice.
Somebody talk me down… tell me I got a bad batch. Did the Farmer’s Market ruin their basil pesto recipe? I haven’t been there in a while, got some last weekend. Immediately noticed the flavor was all wrong: not enough cheese or pine nuts AND a watery taste I attribute to their replacing a lot of basil with refrigerator-flavored italian parsley.
Definitely not the pesto that made me stop growing basil and making pesto at home because seriously, why bother?
To YDFM: if this is a matter of the cost of cheese and pine nuts, by golly, just adjust product price. You can make pesto practically out of any leafy herb, but if you don’t put enough nuts and cheese in it, it’s like seasoning your pasta with lawn clippings.
“Can they go door to door legally” ?
Of course.
“do they have anything to do with my Comcast cable internet access being intermittant lately?”
Probably has to do with the fact that it’s Comcast.
What neighborhood? What were they doing? Selling something? Surveys? Hopefully it means Uverse is coming to your neighborhood.
“Can they go door to door legally” ?
Not without a permit.
Do the Jehovah’s Witnesses need a permit? They are constantly going door to door in my neighborhood. Drives me crazy!
See my answer below. Religious organizations do not need a permit, per a Supreme Court decision.
Disgruntled, do what my mom used to do: right off, answer the door, and emphatically tell them that we’re all from space, and then close the door slowly while glancing around.
That is brilliant. I’m going to try that. I feel kind of guilty using the “I’m in the middle of my chemotherapy” excuse.
The Jehovah witness people who come around to see me are dwindling down in their visits, because I stand against almost everything they stand FOR. They are tired of arguing with me. I have always been as nice as pie to them, offer them coffee, use the bathroom, whatever, but I am unbudging on my beliefs and they are giving up on me. I told them to feel free to use my parking space anytime they are in the neighborhood, whether they come to see me or not. I think I am a puzzle to them. The woman who always comes with a companion is named Liz, and if it weren’t for her insistent proselytizing, I think we could become great friends.
Thankfully, Scientogists don’t go door-to-door.
That is, Scientologists.
I’m late here but here’s an awesome way to get rid of telemarketers or door-to-door salespeople. Say in a quiet, calm voice, “I’m sorry. It’s not a good time right now. I’m bathing Mother.” They’ll be gone lickety-split.
Regarding the school board meeting on Tuesday, I encourage everyone to go into this assuming positive intent on the part of Dr. Edwards and the school board. We are a small community and there’s no reason to go into the conversation with an adversarial approach. We need to work together to come up with the best solution, so perhaps it might help if the evening started off with someone requesting the reasons behind the change. There might be some well-intentioned reasons behind the decision. It might be that they were trying to address the complaints they’ve received about cutting “social break” and recess. Whatever the reason, I’m 100% sure that it’s not because Dr. Edwards has some evil plan to deprive our children of sleep.
Do I want my kids to get up earlier to attend school? No. I’m also dreading what this will do to my evening schedule of homework, dinner, baths, family time after Animal Crackers if I need to get the kids in bed 30 minutes earlier. However, I can imagine that for all of the parents who have encouraged the additional time to be added on at the end of the day, there are probably an equal number of parents who would be outraged with the impact to after-school sports and activities. There is no way to please everyone in this scenario, so let’s all try to remain civil and focused on the goal of providing the best education for our children while we find a solution.
My two kids have yet to encounter an after school activity that starts before 4 PM and they have done a LOT over the years and I’ve got the rundown mini-van to prove it. I’m not saying that aren’t any activities that would be difficult with a later end time of 3:15 or 3:30 but I think it’s relativity few, especially activities that draw kids from other school systems that have longer distances involved and in which kids tend to get home later than ours.
Agree with being polite and open-minded but CSD should no longer be naive about community reaction to changes involving their children and it should remember its obligations as a system charter to involve parents and teachers in decision-making in the spirit of, not just the letter of, the law. Maybe SLTs or other parent and teacher representatives gave input in this case, but we don’t have evidence of that yet.
Thanks for posting this. Changing the school day start times does provoke an outpouring of opinion and sentiment (rightly so), but some of it crosses the line into vitriol. I do wish, however, that CSD would improve its communication overall. There are better practices for rolling out information that is bound to generate discussion and debate.
Completely agree about following best practices in gathering feedback, decision making and communication when making changes. CSD continues to struggle in this area.
Anybody remember the uproar when Bruce Roaden was appointed principal at one of the schools? Remember what his job was previously? Communication Director or something of that nature. And remember how many people were wondering why in the world we need a communication director?
Unfortunately, a communication director cannot work miracles if the will to communicate is not sufficient. The system charter provides readily-available mechanisms to improve communication but they are not fully used. Ad hoc meetings of the SLTs and SCLTs can be held with just 2 weeks notice; emergency meetings can be called together with less notice. Parents with communication backgrounds have offered to help but it seems hard for administrators to share control. (Old axiom which applies to work, family, marriage, government, and CSD too: Everything boils down to a control issue. I think we might be able to explain current midEast unrest, world peace, global warming on that basis too).
love it. thank you.
Sure there is… keep the day the same it is… Quit changing stuff. Be quiet and let the teachers teach for a change. BTW, my daughter’s teacher (K-3) heard nothing of this until today.
I’m checking with CSD about more specific reasons for the changes and how the extra time will possibly be used, in an effort to save everyone a bit of time at next week’s meeting.
maybe a helpful suggestion for CSD is intro to SurveyMonkey or th like?
Any more coyote sightings? I saw 2 crossing S. McDonough St. near the Agnes Scott track a few weeks ago.
My son came face to face with one last night in the alley that connects Melrose and E. Parkwood.
No coyote sightings, but I’m more perplexed that there’s an alley that connects those two streets. I had no idea. That could make my runs so much easier.
No coyotes, but I encountered a couple of zombies the other night near the bike path.
Vexation of the week: a critical mass of drivers treat all-way stops like life-size arcade games, turning them into veritable free-for-alls; at the same time, a critical mass [some of the same drivers?] seem to think any traffic circle is a zone of death, pulling to a dead stop and waiting until the whole thing is vacant before creeping around it.
Agreed. Some folks can’t fathom the concept of first arriving at a 4-way stop is the first departing and, if arrival is more or less simultaneous, the vehicle on the right goes first.
May I add to your rant drivers who think a flashing yellow means full stop?
Grrrr. Stopping at flashing yellow lights leads to honking at clueless drivers. These are the same folks, I’m sure, who turn on their four-way flashers when it rains to hard for them.
I have a friend who says flashers in the rain say “I’m stupid”…”I’m stupid”…”I’m stupid”…
If four cars arrive at a four way stop at the same time, which one is the car on the right?
South.
STG, would I win a bet that you are talking about the Oakview/East Lake 4-way?
“The department conducts a background check on each individual involved in the solicitation process.”
Wow. I had no idea this was the case. I’ve heard of courts striking down requirements that were much less onerous than that. Does that include only commercial solicitation or also activities like Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching? The Witnesses have had a very successful legal track record in having such requirements overturned.
“Does that include only commercial solicitation or also activities like Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching?”
The ordinance specifically exempts religious and political solicitors.
Has anyone else seen that joker who rides around Great Lakes in a golf cart? I wouldn’t care so much except I have seen him a couple of time with a small (3-5yo) child riding shotgun (no seatbelt) as he darts across Scott Blvd. and onto Landover. (not Decatur Police jurisdiction). If I see him again in the city…I will call the cops.
What exactly is your complaint?
As long as he follows the 90 degree rule and stays within about 10 yards of water hazards, bunkers, and greens I really don’t see what the police could do.
As a courtesy, he should also stay on the cart path on all Par 3s.
what is the 90 degree rule, please?
You not supposed to leave the cartpath in a beeline toward your ball, you drive the cart along the path until you are even with your ball then you drive straight out to it. The line of the cartpath and the line you make to your ball makes a 90 degree angle.
My brother was thrown from a golf cart and has had to undergo a series of surgeries to correct his hand and arm. And this was after landing in grass.
The man “dart”ing around in the golf cart [though minor, still have to edit: no name-calling] and his kid is probably going to get hurt as a result of his foolishness.
I think we should all drive golfcarts in Decatur! Think of all the parking!
I could be perfectly happy trading my car for a golf cart.
Bumper cars! Let’s enjoy ourselves while driving!
wheeeeee…..
Anyone else dissapointed that the house on leyden that got crunched by the tree a few years ago and than was re-done (new roof, porch, interior, etc..) by some very nice neighbors and builders for close to free is right back to being neglected (garbage piling up etc..)
In the spirit of neighborliness, you can stop by and see about them. I have found that establishing relationships of mutuality is more helpful in resolving things like that, than say..expressing your disappointment and complaints on a blog. But I guess neighbor-shaming is more fun.
Shoot, neighbor-shaming is always more fun!
Was I complaining? Or just asking a question? I guess its how you take things – I have found that taking an ounce of pride in your curb appeal, house, and neighborhood goes a long way as well…(now I’m complaining)
I’m looking around for the “like” button.
One would have to expected otherwise in order to be disappointed. Sic semper.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Seal_of_Virginia.svg
Almost funny.
Does anyone know what the deal is with the “bike lane” symbols that have been appearing around town in the middle of just regular lanes of traffic? Can’t remember if I’ve seen them in Decatur itself, but in several places nearby. As a long-time biker this strikes me as completely bogus. A bike lane symbol does not a bike lane make. Is this just a way of getting or keeping some sort of government transportation funding — by making it appear that you’ve created more bike lanes, when all you’ve actually done is slap down some white paint here and there?
The bike symbols with chevrons are called sharrows. They are intended as reminders that bicycles may be present on the roadway. They are usually associated with “improvements”, as you state, and are considered such by many.
Okay, thanks. Well, I suppose that’s better than nothing. I wonder if there have been studies showing whether such “reminders” are really effective — although I’m not sure how one would measure that.
As George Bush would say, “Edumacate ‘em!”
Hey – they are called Sharrows and they are designed in large part to keep cyclists outside of the zone of car doors (i.e., the door zone). A before and after video study from San Francisco showed that Sharrows did cause cyclists to ride further away from the door zone. Sharrows also caused vehicles to pass at a greater distance from cyclists. Sharrows also reduced riding on the sidewalks and led to fewer cyclists riding against traffic. Studies like this one have been done in California, Mass., Wash., and Florida and all show broadly similar results (but some differences).
Links to some studies:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/10044/index.cfm
http://www.sfmta.com/cms/uploadedfiles/dpt/bike/Bike_Plan/Shared%20Lane%20Marking%20Full%20Report-052404.pdf
My understanding is that they are primarily designed to signal to cyclists where the safest place is to ride (and less about reminding drivers). This is an important difference!
Big shout out to Pastries a GoGo for a yummy breakfast and knowing how to treat their customers.
Agreed. That place is outstanding.
Their coconut mini-cakes are to swoon for…
Most European style croissants in town.
Well-known: The Tour deCatur 5K (and 1-mile Fun Run) is 3 weeks from tomorrow.
Less well-known: 1) This year’s race allows for ‘teams’ of 6 or more, with some prizing; 2) The entry fee goes up after next Friday, March 11 from $20/adult, $15/youth to $25 everyone); 3) Proceeds benefit Decatur children and youth; 4) At least one team of coyotes has already registered up to run.
Waiting on the zombie team (I may be sorry I said that).
I would totally do that…….
It may seem trivial to others but the trash that accumulates on Ponce between Statbucks and Salon Red is an eyesore … and a nose-sore (it smells). Who’s jurisdiction is it?
That whole corner is a cigarette-butt laden, sticky scene.
HEY, CITY COMMISSION: What would it take for all the al-fresco eateries to participate in a sidewalk cleaning assessment district. Every civilized city in the world seems to rinse its sidewalks daily in food areas.
I noticed the Marta plaza being steam-cleaned the other night. Maybe, the city could slip them a few extra bucks
Looking for a free paper shredding event in DeKalb county tomorrow. Anyone seen advertising for one?
I will stop turning my hazards on in an all out downpour when you stop tailgating me.
Don’t drive with your hazards on. It’s confusing to other drivers, both behind and in front of you. The intent of hazards is to signal a HAZARD, usually a car stopped, both on and off the road, and maybe an emergency. If someone is tailgating, pull over and let them pass.
Genuine question, seeking opinions, not being facetious: I don’t normally drive with my hazards on in poor weather. However, occasionally I have suddenly come upon really dangerous conditions, e.g. intense blinding thunderstorm, accident with blocked off lanes, dog in road, and I’ve had to slow way down. In those cases, I’ve put on my hazard lights to warn people behind me that I’m driving really slow and something is up. Brake lights don’t always provide that warning because you don’t brake if you are already going really slow.
Opinions?
Day late and dollar short, but I think that seems logical and courteous. Truly, better safe than sorry, and, you are obviously in a potentially dangerous situation, so they couldn’t have gone fast anyhow.
Thanks! I’m going to continue to flash to prevent a crash.
Love it! Your tag is one of my all time favorite bumper stickers.
Please Help! Shortly after we went to bed last night water started coming through the bedroom ceiling in a steady drip from what I assume is a leak in the roof. Can anyone recommend a good local contractor/ roofer who can come patch the leak on short notice?
I also posted this elsewhere but am worried enough to triple post (sorry in advance if this results in moderation). I hope I’m misunderstanding and panicking unnecessarily:
I just noticed that also on the agenda, besides the preK cutbacks and start-earlier items, is an RIF (reduction in force). This seems to me potentially more concerning than anything else we’ve been discussing even the hallowed homework issue. As much as I think there’s some quality of differentiated instruction issues that CSD badly needs to address on the ground level, I recognize that all bets are off if the same number of teachers and staff will be asked to do more. And I pray that CSD doesn’t have to do what happens in so many other industries–cut the lowest earning staff whose families are least likely to absorb the financial shock, least able to find alternative employment in this economy, and may have to turn to public assistance.
Any insights anyone?
Ate in at Burnt Fork last night and liked sit-down dining even better than take-out experience. Either way, the food is good but the sit-down service is particularly friendly with lots of chance to talk to family members running it. Liked the hush puppies, collard greens, and homemade vanilla ice cream.