As we all begin to dig into the Decatur budget for the coming year, the AJC notes that a majority of the capital improvements slated for the coming year are slated for two southside parks – Oakhurst and McKoy.

The AJC checked in with Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon, who told them that if all goes according to plan “bathrooms, pavilions and concession stands at each park will get extensive renovations or completely rebuilt”.

Photo of baseball field at McKoy Park courtesy of Be Active Decatur

Allison writes in…

Male dog, appears to be a very sweet pit bull mix found this morning in Oakhurst Park. He is currently safe but I am sure he is ready to be home. Please call Sharon at 404-274-0605 if this is your dog or you know who he belongs to.

From the Be Active Decatur blog…

The softball and baseball fields at Decatur’s McKoy and Oakhurst Parks will get new lighting systems, with construction expected to start Oct.1 and take about three months. Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon said the new lights will be 15 percent more efficient and spread far less glare to surrounding neighborhoods. The system will be installed by Daveco Electrical of Boynton Beach, Florida, which constructed lights for the Florida Marlins stadium and the Boston Red Sox spring training facility. The current McKoy and Oakhurst lights are more than 50 years old.

Rick provides us with details for the “Bulldog Bash” starting tomorrow in Oakhurst Park …

4th Annual Bulldog Bash at Oakhurst Park This Weekend

The 4th Annual Bulldog Bash hosted by Renfroe Lady Bulldogs Softball is THIS Friday and Saturday. If you love softball, love this wonderfully cool weather…come on out to catch all the action.

The tournament is Friday from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday games start at 8:30 a.m. and goes through 9 p.m.

Volunteers are needed to help with: Concessions, Grillers, Parking help, Roamers, Field help

Here is a link to the Google spreadsheet.

Please fill your name into the time slots OR e-mail Cinnamon Sullivan ([email protected] ) if you can help.

We also hope that you will come out to support RMS softball and cheer the Lady Bulldogs to victory. On Friday night, the RMS Lady Bulldogs play at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Saturday’s game times are dependent upon Friday’s outcome.

Support RMS/DHS softball by signing up today AND by coming to Oakhurst Park this weekend!

The Decatur Police Department provides this update on two Decatur robberies, which occurred in 2009…

1) On February 11, 2009, a robbery was committed in Oakhurst Park. On March 17, 2010, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of armed robbery and received a sentence of 20 years to serve 10 years.

2) On August 27, 2009, an attempted robbery was committed at Wachovia Bank. A suspect was identified in this case who had an arrest warrant out of another state. The suspect was arrested on February 19, 2010 in the Metropolitan Atlanta area and confessed to the attempted robbery of the Wachovia Bank in Decatur.

Here’s a link to the original post from the Oakhurst Park robbery if anyone needs reminding how pissed they were after that happened.

And here’s Wachovia.

Scott points to this posting on the Oakhurst Message Board…

On Saturday February 14, 2009 members of the Decatur Police Department Criminal Investigation Division arrested a 22 year old male for the recent armed robbery in Oakhurst Park. Officers served a search warrant pursuant to the arrest and located evidence linking the
suspect to the armed robbery.

As usual, nice work Decatur PD!

UPDATE: Again, from the OMB…

DECATUR POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEWS ALERT
On Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 4:35 PM, the Decatur Police Department received a report of an armed robbery, which had just occurred. The victims were seated at the Oakhurst Park pavilion on Third Avenue when they were approached by a lone male. The male was dressed in a silver or bluish-gray “hoodie” jacket with his face partially concealed by the jacket. The male produced a handgun and demanded the victims’ money. The victims complied and neither was injured. The suspect fled the area on foot. At this time the suspect has not been apprehended. The suspect’s description is as follows:

African-American male
Medium to dark complexioned
5’8″ to 5’9″ in height
Slender build
“dreadlocks” hairstyle
Silver or bluish gray “hoodie” jacket

Anyone having information about this crime is encouraged to contact the Decatur Police Department at 404-373-6551 or the Decatur Police Department-Criminal Investigations Division tip line @ 678-553-6677.
Investigator J.S. Ross is the lead investigator for this incident.

Sherina Clough
President
Oakhurst Neighborhood Association

Sigh…

Left Wing points out this new message on the Oakhurst Message Board…

There was an armed robbery at Oakhurst Park today 2.11.09 @ 4:30 pm. My wife was going up to Snap fitness when a young girl around 20 years old came running up to her car to tell her that someone came up to her with a gun. My wife called Decatur Police and 3 units arrived in less than 5 min. I will post more about this as I get more details from her.

Stay tuned.