The Decatur Police Department just sent along this update…

The Decatur Police Department is in the process of investigating the robbery of three Decatur High School students for their iPhones as they left last Friday night’s football game.  Identifying and locating the suspects is a top priority for Police Department staff.  Assistance and cooperation are being provided by a sketch artist from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as well as the City Schools of Decatur, Marta Police, DeKalb Police, Atlanta Police and area school resource officers.

“No one wants these incidents stopped more than the City Commission and the City of Decatur Police Department,” said Mayor Jim Baskett. “We are deeply concerned about the incidents and this type of activity is not welcome in our community.”

Resolution of last Wednesday’s theft of an I-Phone from a Renfroe Middle School student is expected within the next several days.  At that time it is expected that additional information related to that case will be released.  The robberies from Friday night do not appear to be related to the Wednesday incident.

Chief Mike Booker reports that, “a total of fifteen officers were on duty in the area during the time of Friday night’s robberies. This included the standard six officers at Decatur High School for the football game. In addition, according to our operating procedure, as the game was ending, the on-duty shift was notified and they had responded to the area around the school, as well as the bicycle patrol officer from the Square. There was additional law enforcement staff in the area that was part of security for the Decatur Book Festival. The Decatur Police Department and City Schools of Decatur will continue to work together to put even more safety precautions into effect for future games.”

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Commissioner Fred Boykin sends along this flyer…

The owners of Mingei World Arts gave us all quite a bit of notice and prepared us for this day, but it still isn’t easy.

Late last week an alert went out, letting regulars and followers know that this would be Mingei’s last weekend in business.

And then late yesterday, Mingei’s owners wrote on Facebook…

Peace out, Decatur! Mingei is CLOSED on Church Street. Thanks for the memories! Love you all–

End of a lovely, bright yellow era to be sure.  But don’t forget, the Decatur store may have closed but Mingei lives on!  From last week’s alert…

Remember- we are moving, not going out-of-business.  Make sure you are on our email list so you won’t miss news about our next chapter. (and our new location!)

Circa 2003 photo courtesy of Mingei’s Facebook page

Funny…I just this past week openly wondered on the status of this transportation project.

At tonight’s meeting, Decatur’s City Commission will vote on an agreement between the city and the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Clairemont-Commerce-Church Street Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Trail Improvements.  The agreement, which was originally announced way back in November 2011, will provide $2.1 million for the project from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative program.

The entire C-Streets project is estimated to cost $4.2 million.  So where will the rest of the funding come from?  A letter from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon details the sources…