College Heights Mission Statement Signature (Photo courtesy of Michael)

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President’s Day has come early to Decatur!  Let’s not pretend that mcuh else will get discussed today.

We’ve created this live blog and open thread to serve as the catch-all post today.  I’ll be adding to it throughout the day with traffic reports, closings, openings, etc…so feel free to email your pics in to contact@www.decaturmetro.com and also use the comments section to report your experiences and sightings surrounding President Barack Obama’s visit to Decatur.

P.S.  It seems you need to click on this post to see the live blog updates.  They can’t be viewed from the homepage.

Last night President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union address, stating in part:

…I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. … Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on — by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. … In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia …, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. … [emphasis mine]

Tomorrow the president visits College Heights and the Recreation Center in Decatur, the literary center of one of the country’s most literate metropolitan areas, to promote this message.

President Obama is known to be a pretty voracious reader (his Facebook page lists his favorites), and while his tastes are pretty eclectic, books about public policy in general and presidential biographies in particular tend to dominate his nightstand.

In the spirit of promoting reading, if you were able to throw in a little variety and hand the president one book during his visit, what would it be?

This Week

THE Dave Barry, author of Insane City: A Novel, Wednesday, February 13th at 7pm, Carter Center Day Chapel, free.

Cory Doctorow, author of Homeland, Sunday, February 17th at 7pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Little Shop of Stories, free.

Ted Kerasote, author of Pukka’s Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs, Tuesday, February 19th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

Margaret Wrinkle, author of Wash, Tuesday, February 19th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Frye Gaillard, author of The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir, Wednesday, February 20th, 7pm, Carter Presidential Library and Museum Theater, free.

11Alive does a nice job highlighting the preparation taking place around Decatur for the President’s Thursday visit. (h/t:  Downtown Decatur)

Also, Patch has a new article this morning on the excitement building around Decatur surrounding the President’s short visit to the city.

From this morning’s AJC…

Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program will get a turn in the national spotlight this week when President Barack Obama uses Decatur as a backdrop to promote an education initiative to give low-income preschoolers an earlier start on their schooling.

…Georgia is a fitting place for the announcement as the state was considered far ahead of its time two decades ago when it used lottery funds to launch a statewide pre-kindergarten program. In recent years, though, flattening lottery revenues and increasing enrollment have forced the state to reduce pre-kindergarten schedules and increase class sizes.

…Details of Obama’s Thursday visit haven’t been released, but he’s expected to visit pre-kindergarten students at College Heights and swing by the Decatur Recreation Center. Courtney Burnett, the Decatur school system’s legislative liaison, said employees are scurrying to prepare for Obama’s arrival.

Lots more in this feature article on the AJC’s website, so check it out!