Patrick writes in…

A friend of mine, BulldawgBeth, has found out that the owner/manager of the new Pita House (which replaced Kyoto Joe’s at North Decatur Center) is none other than Ali from the old Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant that closed a few years ago in Avondale Estates (a few doors down from Our Way Cafe in the Twin Oaks Shopping Center). He closed that restaurant and relocated to Australia to start a new restaurant and now he’s back!

For those of you who’ve never experienced it – his falafel is unbelievable. I had a chicken dish there that my tastebuds still fantasize about. A welcome, new option for made authentic Middle Eastern, just outside Decatur proper.

I can’t find the soft-copy of this, but this morning’s newsprint AJC (ugh, god…what IS this black stuff all over my hands?!) reports that there are several proposed laws “to ease the selling, drinking or making of alcoholic beverages…moving quietly through the Legislature” this session.  Among them are…

• Allowing visitors to GA distillers to sip a half-ounce sample
• Letting brew pubs double their beer-making capacity
• Permit wine tastings in liquor stores
• Giving GA residents with a single drunk-driving conviction to wipe their records clean
• Allowing alcohol sellers to increase their dealer licenses fivefold
• Make it easier for local gov’ts to call for liquor referendums

The rest of the article documents the quiet journey these bills have taken compared to the craziness surrounding last years Sunday Sales brew-hah.   It’s unclear how many of these bills will make it to the floor for a vote, but it seems likely that at least some of these bills could become law before the close of the 2012 legislative session.

If someone can find a link to the AJC story online, let me know!

• Suburban Plaza redevelopment timetable won’t be ready ’til Spring [Patch]
• Publix Marathon cheering section volunteers needed [Decatur Minute]
• Agnes Scott ranked a top value college once again by Princeton Review [ASC]
• Spaghetti Junction “condotel” power shut off, residents sent packing [AJC]
• 11 foreclosed brownstone townhomes on Scott Blvd going on the market [ATL Real Estate Forum]
• $2,500 reward for Tucker bow-and-arrow shooting of dog [AJC]
• Ponce City Market parking deck to be torn down this month [ABC]

ASC Photo courtesy of boxercab via Flickr