At last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting, City Manager Peggy Merriss detailed action items that are part of a response to the Decatur Community Coalition’s stated concerns of racial profiling in Decatur.  Former Decatur Board of Education member Don Denard started the conversation with the City Commission back in January after providing a detailed account of being stopped by a Decatur Police officer.

Among the items listed by the City Manager last night –

• Sponsoring a community conversation on diversity and “how it’s a community goal”.  Ms. Merriss stated that the city had met with a local facilitator who will come with a formal proposal to the September 2nd commission meeting.  Christian Perry – the GSU grad student who recently presented trending of the city’s demographics a few weeks ago has been asked to continue working with the city on this project.
• Deputy Chief Keith Lee and the City Manager will speak with the Anti-Defamation League this week about coming to do training with Decatur Police once Beacon Hill is complete and DPD “has a training room again”
• At the end of July, Decatur Police started tracking demographic data of people detained by the police department — Decaturish notes that this was one of the Decatur Community Coalition’s specific requests.

The City has set aside $25,000 in its budget for the City Commission to address these issues.

CSD sent out this note to folks this afternoon…

The calendar drafts were presented to the Board of Education on July 8, 2014 and shared with staff and parents on July 9 – August 7, 2014 for feedback and comments. Click on this link to read feedback received from parents, teachers and community members.

At the August 2014 Board Meeting, the Board of Education approved the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 School Year Calendars:

2015-2016 School Year Calendar

2016-2017 School Year Calendar

Please read below for background information on the calendar development process.

Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteer Decatur sends in this message…

The Book Festival is Less Than Two Weeks Away – Plenty of Volunteer Openings Still Available

Beginning Friday afternoon, August 29 and running through Sunday, August 31, the festival is Decatur’s largest special event and relies heavily on support from volunteers.
There are many different types of jobs – set-up, working at author venues, merchandise and souvenir sales, and more – so invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to help. All volunteers receive a free festival t-shirt and a free book coupon to spend at the festival.

Have you already registered with Volunteer Decatur? Click here to see DBF openings: https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=119321

Haven’t volunteered yet in Decatur? Click here to get started: https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?AP=1003453979

Can’t find what you are looking for? Have questions? Please contact the Decatur Visitor and Volunteer Center via email at Volunteer.Decatur@decaturga.com, or call us at 678-615-0915. We are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm. We can find a volunteer opening that will work for you.

Thanks for your interest!

I admit a personal need to get some feedback on this one.

A recent photo essay on The Bitter Southerner got me thinking that I really need to up my photo editing and organization game.  I know there are some quality photographers out there.  You send me great photos frequently!  What all works for you?

Also perhaps we should separate this out between casual user and photo enthusiast?

Want to bring a little piece of the old Decatur Mellow Mushroom into your home?

Next Stop…Decatur points out that one of the original canvas paintings from the restaurant is now up for auction on Ebay.  Starting bid is $40.

The restaurant unexpectedly closed back in May.  Nothing has taken its place yet at the back of the CVS plaza along West Ponce.