Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Rick Julian
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Rick Julian
With all of the conversations happening about lowering Decatur’s speed limits, I thought this video apropo: http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-best-takedown-of-the-speed-kills-myth-you-1302382244
Fair warning, the video is 15 min long (but entertaining; he gets points for including Simpsons clips) & done by someone in BC who is very anti-low speed limit. But there are some good points & information in there that are worth our considering like:
- Most drivers drive at a safe speed for road and environmental conditions, regardless of the speed limit
- Road safety can actually increase with increased speed limits, because it’s the difference in speed that causes issues (not the max speed)
FWIW, my take is that simply changing our speed limits is a waste of time and money, as it doesn’t actually change anything about drivers’ relationship to each other, pedestrians, or cyclists. I’d much rather see us continue to invest in infrastructure changes like the bike lanes on West Ponce & the forthcoming streetscape in Oakhurst that actually do provide safe space for bike/ped traffic & give drivers less of a sense of a “wide open road” that’s safe for higher speeds.
Sacrilege!
The scenarios in this video are nearly all low or limited access roads, with very few non-auto users. I see what the the video is trying for, but it’s not pedestrian safety. Sure, other engineering controls should be put into place, instead of just adjusting speed limits: complete streets, road diets, etc. With a 25 mph speed limit, could we install speed humps on Candler Rd.?
“I’d much rather see us continue to invest in infrastructure changes like the bike lanes on West Ponce & the forthcoming streetscape in Oakhurst that actually do provide safe space for bike/ped traffic & give drivers less of a sense of a “wide open road” that’s safe for higher speeds.”
I agree that there are better ways to slow traffic than reducing speed limits. But those additions cost money, whereas lowering speed limits can actually raise revenues. It’s easier to opt for the latter.
Rather than strict enforcement of speed limits, I would rather see a clampdown on distracted driving (primarily texting), which would require a steep increase in those fines.
Would rather see police focus time and efforts on crimes against persons and property rather than speed traps.
Changing the posted speed limit number is a useless waste of time and money.
Speed limits in Decatur are generally not enforced nor will they be.
This is not through dereliction but state policy.
City and County police using radar can only issue a ticket if the motorist exceeds the speed limit by over 10 miles per hour. One notable exception is active school zones.
Narrowing your street by parking on it is the most cost effective way to slow drivers down.
Any recommendations for a good shop for oil changes and light auto maintenance? Domestic cars, nothing fancy, etc.
We like Kaufmann’s for oil changes and some repairs.
I have always felt Sonny’s over near the Farmer’s Market gives me good service, is honest and reliable, at a good price.
The Pure station on Ponce rocks.
+1
+1
I always assume that prices will be higher at the fancy Pure station (for gas and also things like an oil change); any veracity to that assumption?
High than what/where?
Higher than your average repair shop, generally speaking. I have no idea – - I have never been. Checked out its Yelp reviews and the gas, especially as it’s full service, seems to be fairly comparable to other self-service Atlanta stations. No negative connotation here at all, just wondering whether anyone could enlighten me. For example, anyone know the range for an oil change?
Their prices are fair and competitive with other independents. Also, if you have a Nissan product, a couple of their guys are Nissan factory-trained ex-dealer techs.
I agree. The quality of service and the fair prices are why I continue to come back. We have two Honda’s and wouldn’t take them anywhere else.
Mobley Tire and Auto Service, just off of E. Ponce.
The Medlock Gulf has served the North Decatur area for many years. They’re nice people, and I’ve always been very happy with the quality of their work. It’s on Scott by Medlock.
Have had good experience with Scott Auto Repair on Scott Blvd (just outside COD). They haven’t tried to take advantage of me for oil changes, are quick and polite, etc. Replaced the husband’s gas tank really affordably when he accidentally tore a hole in his.
I agree. Pure Station is fantastic. Locally owned and operated and they support the school and community projects.
Ate lunch at Mar this week and thought the food was delicious, the service friendly and knowledgeable, and the atmosphere quite comfortable. Glad to have them around! Can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu.
Been wanting to get there for a while now. Maybe this weekend it will happen.
I did worry for them a little bit when I saw indication this week that the Kimball House across the street will feature a “seafood centric” menu. On the other hand, maybe you combine those two together with the Harbour Bar and that side of town can become Decatur’s unofficial seafood district.
Dequatorial seafood?
Maybe Twain’s could come up with “fish ale” or something and join in.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good local bank to handle a trust account? We have been dealing with Sun Trust Sage Hill branch (due to proximity to Wesley Woods), but we are very dissatisfied with them. Would like a bank that is sensitive to the needs of the elderly.
Talk to Private Bank of Decatur.
+1
Can’t speak to ederly service, but I’m very impressed with Atlanta newcomers PNC Bank. Great online and mobile services. Nearest branch, I think, is Toco Hills.
Had dinner at Andryannis Greek Bistro last night. First time there, but will definitely be back for the delicious food and fantastic service.
Where is it?
Same question. I’ve walked past their sign probably 100 times, and still haven’t figured out exactly where the restaurant is.
It’s in that weird space created by the parking behind Parkers, the parking deck with the shoe repair shop, and back of the ?Children’s Hospital? Center building. It must be really good food to survive that long in this hidden location. You can’t see it from any street.
It’s a great place at lunch also.
Did Mario get a beer and wine license?
Yes, they did get a license and have some nice Greek wine offerings.
Smith & Annie– It is in an odd spot. You basically walk behind Parker’s and down the parking lot a little ways, or out the front of the Marriott and down the parking lot driveway straight ahead. Where those two routes intersect, you will find a delicious plate of hummus or falafel waiting for you.
Note: I believe the owner is Cypriot, thus the food may vary a bit from your previous experience with Greek food, regarding dominant spices, etc. A slightly different sliver of the rainbow. Good nevertheless. Also, I thought they were a lunch-only operation?
“I thought they were a lunch-only operation?”
They started opening for dinner Thursday-Saturday about a month ago. Used to have breakfast, but discontinued that in favor of dinner.
See Maureen Downey’s great piece this morning about the armed robberies of DHS teens. http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/sep/12/parenting-iphones-and-young-teens-healthy-dose-par/
“Teens put down their phones, turn away for an instance and then discover the gadget is gone.”
editorials need editing too.
Have to disagree. Downey cites a few anecdotes, adds a healthy dose of speculation, and then appears to advcoate helicopter parenting through the late teens. I say “appears” because it’s hard to discern exactly what she is trying to say, what with her abrupt and baffling transition from cell phone crime to teen driving.
BTW, we should raise the driving age to 25?!? WTF?
as usual, the comments are the most entertaining part of the article.
yep
The comments are scaring the hell out of me! But really, when did reminding parents that they should teach their kids to be cautious (and perhaps think twice about allowing a 14-year-old to walk home at 10:30 p.m.) turn into “blaming the victim?”
I don’t think those particular points equate blaming the victim. But, her snide comments about parents buying kids multiple iPhones and not letting their kids $400 in cash seem to point the fingers at the parents of the victims.
you have to learn to read between the lines, then use your assumptions about the writer’s intent to edit that between-the-lines text to say something both ridiculous and completely against what you (and any other intelligent and moral citizen) would believe to be true. you then take that as proof that the writer is trying her or his hardest to completely destroy everything you (and any other intelligent and moral citizen) believe to be good in the world. once you’ve established that the article is an affront to your (and any other intelligent and moral citizen’s) belief and way of life, you react using the tried and true shock and awe method to utterly destroy the attacker’s points and make them see the righteousness of your position. works every time.
Wish everything didn’t have to be so polarized–why do we have to choose between free range parenting vs. helicoptering? It’s the older child equivalent of attachment vs. babywise parenting, co-sleeping vs. sleep training, nursing vs. bottle feeding. Most good parenting falls in a healthy range between extremes, adapting to individual children, ages and stages, family styles, and external realities. I thought this article was a dose of reality testing. We all wish that the City of Decatur could remain a safe bubble of walkability for all ages at all times, but 10:30 PM with an iPhone is apparently not a great idea right now for younger teens.
And as convenient as it is to have our teens to drive around in groups, they must follow the law, which is actually less restrictive than some states. Families who let their teens do otherwise are risking their child’s license and are sending a mixed message about understanding and respecting reasonable laws. The requirement for holding a Class D license are:
Conditions/Restrictions
1.May not drive between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m., no exceptions.
2.During the first six (6) months following issuance, only immediate family members can ride in the vehicle.
3.During the second six (6) months, following issuance, only one (1) passenger under 21 years of age and who is not a member of the driver’s immediate family can ride in the vehicle.
4.After the first and second six (6) month periods, only 3 passengers under 21 years of age and who are not members of the driver’s immediate family can ride in the vehicle.
Notes
1.At age 18, a driver can upgrade a Class D provisional driver’s license to a Class C “under 21″ driver’s license.
2.If the applicant has not completed a certified Georgia Driver Training/Driver Education course, they cannot obtain a Class D until age 17.
3.Applicants under the age of 18 cannot apply for or keep a driver’s license/permit if withdrawn from school or have a total of ten (10) unexcused absences or have any conduct infractions.
“May not drive between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m., no exceptions”
Heard on the news today that a 17 year old HS student in Cherokee County was killed in a single vehicle accident as the only occupant in the car at 3:30 this morning. Not wearing a seat belt, BTW.
Saw that too. Hope we don’t hear that she had a high blood alcohol level due to an adult allowing her to drink in their home. Drinking/driving/underage/avoiding curfew type of accidents are so common that it’s easy to forget the horrible way that they change people and families forever.
Her two year old daughter was in the back seat and was also killed. Holding them and the family in the light.
No, that was even another teen driving death. The one mentioned by Steve was a Cherokee County teen driving alone but after midnight, which was his point in mentioning it. The other incident is a Douglasville area teen mother/toddler fatal driving incident that occurred last night, presumably not after midnight.
In the second incident, the teen’s mother was following her. The teen was 17 yo, the baby 2.
Hey AHID – I really like your reminder that these extremes are often useless. Finding the right balance usually best….and hardest.
Need a recommendation for auto detailing, and I am looking for more than the standard wash and wax. I plan to keep the car for a few more years and it need some serious TLC, the seats cleaned/conditioned, etc.
I think Decatur Pure does that also.
What don’t they do?
Frozen yogurt.
Which is too bad, because we could really use a froyo joint in this town.
THAT was funny!
There are probably places closer, but I’ll offer a plug for the place by Northlake, across from Moneterey Mexican Restaurant on Lavista. I brought them a car that was caked in sap and other filth from being parked under a tree and rarely moved for several years. They put a shine on that thing you wouldn’t believe.
EDIT TO THAT ^^^: Should have added that their interior detail work was excellent, too.
You talking about Simoniz?
Can anyone recommend a financial planner?
I recommend Art Rosser who used to do the “Art of Money” on 92.9.
His website is http://www.arfsg.com
Harbor Wealth Advisors. Sharp guys, and one of the principals is a Decatur resident.
+1 on Harbor, they are wonderful
Looking for recommendations for a CPA for a small business (LLC) that we formed this year.
Seems like about half of Decatur is down here on SGI this week for fall break. I’ve run into multiple CSD families on the beach, at the Blue Parrot, at Eddie Teach’s, and at Doug’s seafood truck. We own this town!
When we get back let’s all post pictures of our love-bug-ridden windshields. Most opaque entry gets a free Beerfest ticket?
I’m concerned to learn that there are 31- 34 students in Decatur High School science classes. I am all for paying out high taxes to provide our children with quality education. However, there is no way that quality education can occur with these ratios. Eliminate excess administrative positions in central office and HIRE MORE TEACHERS!!
There’s a School Board election coming up soon. Talk to the candidates and vote.
Hey but we have IB! Agree, large class sizes dilute the experience for all students, no matter how good the teachers, no matter how good the curriculum. We talk a lot about “differentiated instruction” but that’s hard to do if the teachers can barely keep up with their workload. It’s hard to do even when classes are small.
And agree that now is the time to ask candidates very specific questions whether your area of interest/concern is class size, IB, IB grades, gifted instruction, IEPs, 504 plans, school leadership teams, CSD budget, CSD administration, communication, parent involvement, facilities, sports, arts/music, tracking, PE, recess, walk and roll, garden to table, SAT/ACT scores, career academy, college acceptances, discipline, whatever. All the candidates are decent people that we hang out with. But we need good, specific, clear, and responsive answers to hard questions. In fact, ask the rest of the Board too!
The evening weather is screaming for a patio and a margarita! I am missing El Toro and their big, delicious, fish bowl of a margarita. Is there some where nearby that is comparable? My teenager loves to go with me (my d.d.) because when the drink is half gone, I feel the need to share college stories that he finds hysterical and lame at the same time.
Pssst — If you go to a place where they actually put in the proper amount of tequila, you won’t need a Big Gulp-sized portion to get a buzz on.
This. A real margarita is 2 parts tequila, one part Cointreau, and a splash of lime juice — in other words, a highly alcoholic drink.
upgrade to the Westside at Taqueria- alcohol fumes strong at the start, but after two sips everything is smooth…
Not very scenic, but the monster margarita at Coyote’s on College Ave always does the trick!
Road trip to Castleberry and No Mas Cantina. Tin Lizzy overlooking the cemetery is a little closer. Holy Taco in East Atlanta Village is swell, too. As long as you have a DD.
Had a solicitor selling magazine subscriptions at my house tonight. Anyone know anything about “Future Entrepreneurs”?
Did they have a Decatur solicitation permit BTW?
We understand this is the MO for house break ins. If no one answers the door, “solicitor” kicks in the door and calls buddies to come over with stolen SUV.
Good point. If they don’t have a permit, get a description and call DPD. They’re likely to still be in the neighborhood. Even if they have a permit, get a name. If they have been given a permit, DPD has all their information.
Yeah, I called DPD but the dude was gone by the time they got to the neighborhood. They had never heard of the organization.
Decatur Bulldogs are now 3-0?
what?
maybe we need to toss a few more iPhones into the volcano.
Now that is funny!
See drug deal robbery disguised as pseudo-iPhone teen mugging on Patch: http://decatur.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/drug-deal-gone-bad-in-decatur. Falls into the “no good sense” category on several counts:
- Just because someone went to Renfroe doesn’t make them a trustworthy drug dealer
- If you are stupid enough to be robbed by drug dealers, don’t try to get justice through the police
- If you went to Renfroe, you might want to do your illegal activities outside of Decatur where everyone knows you. (See incident ~5 years ago where student robbed of phone on Square recognized former Renfroe classmates.)
- The money used for the drug deal that failed could have bought you a used iPhone. Then you would have had a real, not fictional, iPhone to be stolen.
Sooo … last year at our Decatur elementary school our child got lice a couple times. We thought we had it licked until we found more lice in June, a couple weeks after school got out. We had a professional clean her head and lived lice free for the rest of the summer. We even got another professional head check the day before school started on August 1.
And now, six weeks into school, she’s got lice again. By far the most likely place she got it is school. Yesterday we did a thorough combing with a pro lice comb and we will be (once again) paying for a professional check (and further removal if necessary). We will also be notifying her school. But we’ve been told they don’t send a notice out until there are at least two cases in a classroom.
Is anyone else going through this? I know there were other cases last year and I’m not sure they were reported. Nobody wants to talk about lice. We’d much prefer to just deal with it quietly and be done with it, but that doesn’t work.
So I encourage you, Decatur parents:
1. Check your children’s heads for lice today, before sending them back to school;
2. When you find lice, report it to school and request that they do a lice check;
3. Get rid of the lice — use a professional service if necessary, the over-the-counter treatments don’t work as well these days;
4. Check you own heads, too.
Gotta say, I don’t think the school notifications or nurse checks solve anything. We’ve been through several rounds of lice with our elementary kids, and I think you have to assume that _someone_ in the class has it at any particular time.
We live by hair up and frequent at-home checks.
I don’t think checks or notifications will solve it … but it could make parents a little more aware. And if you did have to pick up a kid midday that would at least end one case right away. If everyone did as you did and checked at home and kept hair up that would also go a long way.
Sleepovers. I’m convinced that sleepovers with all the sharing of pillows, brushes, and bedding are the biggest problem. Plus siblings. During the school day, kids aren’t head to head that much.
Not saying that lice isn’t spread at school but I’m convinced that we often blame school when it’s some other head/hat to head/hat contact responsible.
I hate lice. It does not console me that they are annoying, not vectors of disease. I would nuke them if I could. Professional nit pickers are a blessing. And so are the newest prescription medications that are safer and more effective than what’s been out there until real recently: http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2012/11/28/finally-a-new-head-lice-treatment-that-really-works//
Sleepover and siblings are sources for sure … but that wasn’t our case. School really is the most likely source for us. I’m not trying to blame the school — I’d much rather work with them as it is the one common gathering place for all the children. If enough parents report it they can address it through newsletters, through lice education, and by more pro-active head checks (they will check kids who are itching their heads a lot). But they have to know it’s a problem — parents have to fess up when their kids get it rather than just quietly treating it next weekend … or ignoring it.
Getting brown water out of the tap. Drexel area, where they are repaving. Anyone else having such a problem?