A message posted on multiple neighborhood message boards in the past 24 hours – which has been forwarded to me many times – recounts an event at Glenlake Pool yesterday involving sex offender Robert McKenzie having been escorted from the pool area, after an incident on Monday when he reportedly “touched” a child.

Decatur Police informed me just moments ago that McKenzie was taken into custody by a Decatur Police Officer around 1pm today and based on his “documented appearance” at Glenlake Pool yesterday, Fulton County Probation Officers arrested McKenzie for probation violation.

Decatur Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee says they are trying to contact the parent who informed staff at the pool that McKenzie had “touched” his child at the pool yesterday, but thus far they have been unsuccessful.

Lee also states that DPD has been trying to coordinate with several agencies concerning McKenzie.” However…

Norfolk VA PD has been unable to locate the file concerning his conviction, so we do not know the nature of the offense. Also McKenzie’s conviction occurred before a change in the Georgia law concerning the sexual offender registry. Offenders convicted today are prohibited from living or congregating where children normally congregate. However those convicted before the law change are only restricted by specific court orders or probation conditions.

McKenzie was arrested in March of last year for harassing joggers on the Freedom Park trail and carrying a knife.  And back in May 2011, I received a forward from a cyclist in the area who reported that McKenzie had “reached out to grab onto” her on the Stone Mountain bike path on one occasion.

Amidst some of the boasting in a press release sent out yesterday announcing the commencement of construction at the new mixed use development, Emory Point, (“first new retail project built in the trade area in 20 years”, “the largest private development start inside the Perimeter in more than three years”), is this interesting little snippet…

Under the DeKalb County zoning plan for Emory Point, 25 acres of densely wooded land behind the development, approximately half of the site, will be protected as undevelopable under Emory’s land classification plan. Prior to the rezoning, those woodlands were not protected.

Hey, it ain’t 185-acre Lullwater Park, but 25 acres ain’t nothing to sneeze at!  Dense urban development, you’ve done it again!

BTW…first confirmed retailer at Emory Point?  Which Wich!

Some interesting little snippets from an article from the city’s Summer 1971 “Around Decatur” publication entitled “City Manager [Robert] Mauney Gives Views On Direction of Decatur’s Future”…

If [Decatur's] going to be pedestrian-oriented then that basis has all kinds of ramifications: First, naturally, automobiles have to stay out of downtown.  Given the fact that people still prefer autos (and usually one person to one car) you’re forced to accommodate them, by such means as a circumferential route around downtown.  As pressure grows, you move eventually to central parking areas under a city parking authority.

…”You’ve got to have a balance in order for the city to be viable.  Why?  Well, if you look at the city’s tax digest you see that of the approximate $75 million making up the digest, about $35 million is office/commercial and about $45 million is residential…and over 30% of the property in Decatur is tax exempt.

…The third challege is the continuing need felt by the city to orient itself more to behavior problems; people want us to control other people’s behavior.” (“For instance?” “Well I have groups coming in here asking me to bar people from using recreation facilities – Little League kids are misbehaving, or something like that.  Or hippies have moved in next door, and they want us to evict them.”)

I guess some things never change, while others alter dramatically.

Decatur isn’t known as a spirituous liquors sorta town.

In fact, even the most local-obsessed among us has to cross into the wilds of “the Unincorporated” to buy a bottle of bourbon or malt liquor, as there isn’t a single place to purchase hard liquor for “off-premise consumption” (That’s ordinance-speak!) inside the Decatur bubble.  Sure many of our hundreds of thousands of restaurants serve excellent mixed drinks just around the corner, but that’s not really what this post is about.

I’m wondering, once you’ve reemerged from the realm of unstable millage rates and 7-day a week trash pickup with your bottle of 40 proof, what sort of drinks do you like to mix up?

Sure, I can produce a Gin and Tonic in a pinch and can pour bourbon over ice like a champ, but I feel like I need to expand my mix-cabulary a bit.

Leon’s photo courtesy of Random Atlanta

Seems like Creative Loafing’s Cliff Bostock’s got Decatur on the brain this week.

First, Cliff reports he’s heard rumblings that Watershed’s owners are scouting locations for a new restaurant, where Joe Treux will head the kitchen.  Treux was named Watershed’s chef last May, after Scott Peacock left to do some documentary film making about Southern cooking.

Secondly, Mr. Bostock ventured to Decatur’s new No. 246 on Tuesday and had quite the grand experience.