Decatur Planning Director Amanda Thompson sends along this announcement…

Zoning Ordinance Update Task Force Meeting

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

7:00-9:00 PM

Decatur City Hall

509 North McDonough Street

The Zoning Task Force has been hard at work researching and crafting new city ordinances to help implement the 2010 Strategic Plan. You are invited to learn about the proposed changes to encourage Accessory Dwellings (e.g. garage apartments or granny flats) and define appropriate transitions between residential and commercial properties in downtown Decatur. From 7:00-9:00 PM city staff, task force members and PlaceMakers, LLC will be available to present the proposed changes, facilitate discussion and collect your comments. We need your input! The City Commission will consider the proposed changes in late October, 2012.

The following 2010 Strategic Plan tasks will be up for review and comment:

Jim points to this article on the WABE website that reports City Schools of Decatur have altered the recess policy from “not to exceed 15 minutes a day” to “not less than 20 minutes a day”.

The article states that a group of parents lobbied CSD for the change.

Literally the greatest weekend of the year is here, and it’s also a great weekend for kids. The Children’s and Teen Stages at the AJC Decatur Book Festival presented by DeKalb Medical  have a typically awesome list of authors presenting. Here is Saturday’s complete schedule, and here is Sunday’s. And here’s some additional things you should know:

* The first ever Kidnote Address will be held at beautiful Presser Hall on the Agnes Scott College campus on Friday at 4 p.m. (Parking is available in the lot just on the other side of South McDonough Street.) Acclaimed musician José-Luis Orozco will be performing, and this promises to be very special. This is a non-ticketed, first come-first seated event. Doors open at 3 p.m.

* This year’s selection for On The Same Page, Decatur’s annual reading program, will be announced at the Kidnote. If you miss that, there will be a special presentation on the Children’s Stage on Sunday at 3 p.m. You may have thought that it would be hard to top last year’s book, The Phantom Tollbooth, but it may have been done.

* The Children’s Stage has moved. Due to work being done on the square the Children’s Stage will be set up in the grassy area on Clairemont Avenue just south of the Courtyard Inn and just north of Ponce de Leon Avenue. Chairs will be set up, but feel free to bring a blanket if you want to lounge around further from the stage. Trees will provide lots of shade.

* The Teen Stage has moved (yet again). This year it will set up in a tent on North McDonough Street across from City Hall and in front of the courthouse.

* And in case of rain: In the incredibly miniscule chance that it just might rain on either Saturday or Sunday, the Children’s Stage may move to the basement of the Decatur Baptist Church (corner of Clairemont and Commerce) and the Teen stage will relocate to the basement of the Decatur Presbyterian Church (corner of Church and Sycamore).

* There will again be two Parades! The assembly point has moved to the area in front of the DeKalb County courthouse on North McDonough Street. Gather at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Kevin Henkes will be leading Saturday’s parade, and will be joined by Lilly (of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse fame). Sunday will feature Bad Kitty’s Nick Bruel.

* In celebration of 20 years of challenging kids, Brain Quest is on tour and coming to DBF with the Brain Quest Challenge Event. There will be fun give-aways. Look for the Brain Quest van on Saturday on Clairemont Avenue near the Children’s Stage.

* Unrelated to DBF, artist James Dean, creator of Pete the Cat and illustrator of all those great New York Times best selling Pete the Cat books will be at the Decatur Library on Saturday from 10 to noon. The DeKalb Public Library System is issuing collector series, limited-edition $20 Pete the Cat library cards. James will be on hand to sign these very cool cards, and also copies of Pete books (which will be available for sale).

* Olivia, everyone’s favorite pig, has a new book out, Olivia and the Fairy Princess. It may be our favorite! Olivia’s author and illustrator, Ian Falconer, doesn’t tour, but we will have a costume character on hand to stamp copies of Olivia books between 10:30 a.m. and 12 noon on Saturday at the sales tent near the Children’s Stage.

*  Dame Darcy will not be appearing on the Children’s Stage as previously scheduled. However, she will be on a panel at the First Baptist Decatur Sanctuary Stage on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and will be signing books at the Teen Stage on Saturday at 3 p.m.

* There will be a panel discussion on The Importance of Picture Books on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage.  In a discussion moderated by Leonard Marcus, THE expert in children’s literature, picture book creators Chris Raschka, Mac Barnett, and Laurel Snyder will engage in a lively conversation about why picture books really do matter.

* The creator of Captain Underpants(!!!), Ook & Gluck, Dragon, Ricky Ricotta, Dumb Bunnies, and lots of other stuff, Dav Pilkey(!!!), will be doing a book signing only on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. Dav’s new book is Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers. How cool is that! He will sign one book per person, two if at least one is purchased from Little Shop of Stories, and he will personalize as time permits.

Wow!

Interesting developments in Clayton County with two new county commissioners who support putting a referendum before county residents to join Fulton and DeKalb in contributing to the penny sales tax, which supports MARTA.

WABE reports that new commissioners Jeff Turner and Shana Rooks support the measure.  This is in sharp contrast to the two recently ousted incumbents who were opposed to such a measure.

A majority of Clayton’s five commissioners would have to support a measure to get it onto the November ballot.   Since the defeat of T-SPLOST last month, transit advocates have been lobbying Clayton to join MARTA.

Church Street, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Marlatiara via Instagram)

Yep, it’s finally here. 

An interactive scheduling app, allows you to assemble a schedule, check what’s happening at any given time, and all kinds of other stuff.  Apple just approved it, so we’re hoping to not be sued for $1.05B.

Nichole writes in…

I was hoping you could help get the word out about my neighbor’s lost dog. Her name is Pookie, she is a 13 year old blind Jack Russell mix. She somehow escaped her yard on Monday, Aug. 27th in the morning on the corner of Forrest Boulevard and Wiltshire near Avondale Estates. She is chipped, but was not wearing a collar.