I admit that two months is more than a lifetime when it comes to fresh produce – aside from those durable winter squashes –  but I think this story has a long enough shelf-life to still mention.  From Decatur Farm-to-School’s website…

City Schools of Decatur received funding from the Great American Salad Bar Project for three new salad bars valued at $3000 each. The new portable salad bar kits will be installed at Glennwood Academy, Renfroe Middle School, and Decatur High School this semester. The middle and high schools introduced limited salad bars this fall, however the new equipment will allow these schools to offer full salad bars every day. Glenwood does not currently have a salad bar. “The new salad bars are a perfect fit for our Farm to School efforts: we can use them to introduce a variety of fresh and local produce,” says Allison Goodman, Director of School Nutrition. “Besides,” she adds, “students really enjoy customizing their salads.”

The Great American Salad Bar Project, an initiative of TheLunchbox.org and Whole Foods Market, aims to put a healthy salad bar in every school across America so all school kids may have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins, every school day.

Decatur Farm to School is a grassroots effort led by parents, teachers, school administrators, community members and organizations. Farm to School programs connect schools with local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, and providing health and nutrition education opportunities that will last a lifetime. Decatur Farm to School is now a branch of the Oakhurst Community Garden Project.

The Oakhurst Community Garden Project (OCGP) teaches environmental awareness through hands-on gardening and outdoor education programs. The OCGP engages students in projects that address real needs, both at the Garden and through outreach projects in our schools and community centers. The OCGP has been instrumental in helping create the outdoor garden environments at many of the schools in Decatur.

I wonder if the Glennwood salad bar will be transferred to 5th Ave.

h/t: Neighbor Newspapers

From Daren Wang’s Verb.org…

This year marks Agnes Scott College’s 40th annual Writers’ Festival. The festival which will be held this year from March 31st to April 1st hosts acclaimed writers of poetry, prose and for the first time this year songwriting come to Agnes Scott to give readings, performances, and lead workshops for the Festival’s magazine. At the end of the festival the writers then pick winners in the magazine’s categories of poetry, prose, playwriting and songwriting. This is an amazing time for Agnes Scott students and the Decatur community to rub elbows with the literary world’s elite. Past writers have included Junot Diaz, Joyce Carol Oats, Anita Desai, Yusef Komunyakka, Rita Dove, John Updike, Margaret Atwood and many more!

And this year’s writers won’t disappoint either! This is the first year where a featured writer and (Agnes Scott alum!) is a songwriter, a new category that was added to this year’s Festival creative writing competition. Maybe you’ve heard of her? The one and only Grammy award winning Jennifer Nettles of the hit group Sugarland! She cut her teeth on performing music right here in Decatur at Eddies Attic. Jennifer Nettles will be performing Thursday, March 31, 8 p.m. Gaines Chapel, Presser Hall. Ticket required.

More info HERE.

Decatur’s Planning Director Amanda Thompson just sent me a copy of the city’s “wish list” that was submitted to the Georgia Department of Transportation for consideration on GDOT’s “unconstrained list” of projects, which will then be submitted to the “Metro Atlanta Roundtable” for further refining before the total list of Atlanta projects (totaling around $8 billion) is decided on by voters in 2012.  Got it?

As pointed out by Mayor Bill Floyd, Decatur’s list is primarily pulled from unfinished projects in Decatur’s Community Transportation Plan.   The one exception is support for the creation of an Atlanta-wide “Regional Mobility Management Center”, which would coordinate transportation across the entire Atlanta metro region for seniors and disabled persons.  It is an element of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s 2008 Feasibility Study, and according to Mayor Floyd, and is “being submitted jointly by several communities around the region and is being included in the ARC list to the Planning Director.”

Now back to Decatur’s list – ordered based on how “newsy” I deemed each of these items.

1.  Decatur Transportation Management Center – The TMC would increase safety by taking control of the traffic signal system and managing traffic engineering within the city limits.  (The submission notes that in the past three city surveys, residents ranked traffic signal timing as their greatest concern.) – $10 million

2.  Scott Boulevard Safety Improvements – Safety Improvements along Scott would include medians, sidewalks, and physical and “visual delineation of pedestrian and vehicle travel space.” – $ 1 million

3.  South Columbia Drive Multi-Use Path – The proposal calls for building an 8-10′ wide multi-use path along South Columbia Drive that connects College Avenue to the city limits.  The plan would connect with DeKalb improvements on Columbia to the “Memorial Drive BRT (bus rapid transit) transit facility”.  – $2 million

4.  Downtown Decatur to Clifton Corridor Transit Connectivity and Safety Improvements – This project includes safety upgrades and bicycle, pedestrian and transit supportive facilities on Clairemont Road, Commerce Drive and Church Street “to maximize the connectivity between Downtown Decatur and the Clifton Corridor regional employment center.  Improvements include streetscaping, bicycle lanes protected transit stops and shortened pedestrian crossings. – $11 million

5.  Decatur State Highway and Regional Throughfare Safety Improvements and Transit Connectivity – Similar to item #4, but deals with South Candler Street, East and West Howard Avenue, and College Avenue connections with Atlanta, Avondale Estates and DeKalb County. – $17.2 million

Winnona Park Elementary Field, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Greg)

Daren writes in…

Looks open now, tables and umbrellas are out. Guy sweeping up tells me 3[pm].

Terry Michel wrote a similar report on Twitter.

Wow.  That was fast!

The Atlanta metro’s one-cent transportation sales tax has a VERY long way to go before it even has a chance of being put before voters for a vote in late 2012.  However, as Thomas Wheatley points out, tomorrow is the deadline for cities, counties and a certain transit authority to submit their “wish list” to the state.

Wheatley notes that Atlanta will most likely wait until the very last minute to submit their list.  However, MARTA’s already submitted their list.  According to the AJC, the list includes: a new rail line from Lindbergh Station to Emory ($685 million), an extension of the Gold Line from Doraville Station outside I-285 (Cost: $145 million), an extension of the Blue Line in both east Cost: ($522 million) and west ($582 million), and a $1 billion “mass transit lane” (bus or rail) along eastern I-20 from “central Atlanta” to Candler Road.

I’m checking with the city and Mayor Floyd (who’s one of five voting members on the transportation sales-tax exec committee) about whether Decatur has submitted a list of projects.

Until I hear back, what’s on your Atlanta transportation wish-list?

Looks like MARTA Bus #2 will soon return to Decatur Station at select times.  From an AJC article primarily focused on the restoration of the Braves Shuttle…

In addition to the shuttle, the MARTA board voted to add service to bus routes 2, 87, 99 and 181.

The original item under consideration regarding Route #2 was “…selected trips between North Avenue Station to Decatur Station via Ponce de Leon Avenue on all service days”.

Thanks to Steve and Craig for point this out!