“If you’re in church in Georgia, you can tote a gun anywhere you pray. If you’re in anybody’s parking lot, you can tote a gun anywhere you park.”

Jones asked the crowd to stand with the Black Caucus as it fights the gun bills and works to repeal No Duty to Retreat.

“Let’s stand together because we are Tray-von Martin,” he said.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, the civil rights activist who organized the rally, said we must stand our ground against Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

He said the real culprit in the shooting was not merely Zimmerman.

“The real culprit is the neighborhood of state-level, insane lunatics in legislatures across the country passing these irrespon-sible, illogical, insane laws,” Hutchins said.

Emergency 911 tapes released March 16 revealed a 911 operator telling Zimmerman

COVER PAGE

Trayvon supporters target Georgia lawLocal activists seek repeal, urge arrest in Fla. teen’s death

Thousands rally at the Georgia Capitol on March 26 to call for an arrest in Trayvon Martin’s slaying. Activists urge repeal of a state law similar to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground.”

McNair High School graduate Corey Johnson’s investigation into earthquake safety of public schools in California is garnering some of journalism’s highest honors.

Commissioners give thumbs down to cell towers at school

Local boy done good

Carla Parker / CrossroadsNews

Please see GUN LAWS, page 3

Please see TOWERS, page 4

EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER

www.crossroadsnews.comMarch 31, 2012 Volume 17, Number 48Copyright © 2011 CrossroadsNews, iNC.

A study by the AAA Foun-dation for Traffic Safety shows high levels of distracted driv-ing, especially among teenag-ers. 7

Dealing with distractionsWELLNESS

The Easter Bunny will be doing his thing at egg hunts and other events in Tucker, Decatur and Stone Mountain. 8

Let the hunts beginSCENE

By Carla Parker

The killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Mar-tin in Sanford, Fla., is helping focus attention on Georgia’s “No Duty to Retreat” law that gives citizens the right to use deadly force to defend themselves.

The 2006 law is simi-lar to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which was used by George Zim-merman when he shot the unarmed teen on Feb. 26.

Trayvon, who was wearing a hoodie, had gone to the store to buy Skittles and an iced tea and was walking back to his father’s fiancée’s home when he was ac-costed by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, and shot to death.

Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense, was not charged in the case.

At a March 26 rally on the steps of the Georgia Capitol, more than 5,000 college, high school and elementary students; par-ents; church and community leaders; and elected officials called for justice for Trayvon, the arrest of Zimmerman, and the repeal of Georgia’s No Duty to Retreat law.

Demonstrators, who wore hoodies em-blazoned with the words “I Am Trayvon Martin” and “Trayvon Is My Son,” carried packages of Skittles and chanted “I am Tray-von!” and “Arrest Zimmerman now!”

Among them were students from Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Georgia State Uni-

versity. The metro Atlanta demonstrators are

among thousands of people nationwide who have been protesting the teen’s slaying from New York to Sanford.

During the vigil at the Capitol, speaker after speaker called for the re-peal of the Georgia law to prevent what happened to Trayvon from happening in Georgia.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), chair-man of the Georgia Legis-lative Black Caucus, said Georgia’s No Duty law must be repealed, and he called attention to the number of gun bills currently making their way through the General Assembly.

“If you’re 18 years old in Georgia, you can tote a gun anywhere you want,” he said.

not to follow Trayvon. In another tape, the teen can be heard screaming for help before he was shot.

Demonstrators at Monday’s vigil in downtown Atlanta said those tapes prove that Zimmerman wasn’t defending himself.

“Zimmerman was the aggressor,” Hutchins said. “That’s the reason this has piqued minds all over the country and people of every race, color and creed here in Georgia.”

Jennifer Gresham, who has a 22-year-old son attending Georgia State, was among Monday’s demonstrators. She said No Duty should be repealed and that other changes should be made to Georgia’s gun laws.

“If they allow all these people to register for guns, eventually it’s going to lead to shoot- outs,” said Gresham, who lives in De-

Trayvon Martin

George Zimmerman

Emanuel Jones

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By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

The DeKalb Board of Commissioners has taken a position on cell towers on DeKalb school properties, and it’s a thumbs down.

In a March 27 letter to CEO Burrell Ellis – signed by all seven members – the commis-sioners said the county should not ignore its ordinance unless it has been proven in court that they must ignore their adopted policy.

The commissioners – Elaine Boyer, Jeff Rader, Larry Johnson, Sharon Barnes Sutton, Lee May, Kathie Gannon and Stan Watson – said that if any private company applied for a building permit to erect a cell tower in

a single-family residential district, it would be denied.

“Therefore we respectfully recommend that the Planning and Sustainability Depart-ment not issue any building permits for the cell towers to the Board of Education, or any other property owner without the owner complying with applicable DeKalb County zoning law,” they said.

Walter Woods, the school system’s spokes-man, said Thursday that the district would like the ability to raise money for schools

2 PeoPle “I could never forget Corey. He is one of the most curious and relentless reporters I have ever met.”

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By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

In 1992 when Corey Johnson gradu-ated from McNair High School, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.

Ditto for when he left Florida A&M University in 1997.

Back in Atlanta, the unemployed Johnson read David Garrow’s book, “Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,” and became interested in King’s assassination.

With time on his hands, Johnson be-gan visiting the King Center archives to try to understand a little bit more about King’s assassination and the FBI spying on him in the 1960s.

“I came to realize that there was little known about the local Atlanta Police and what role they have played in watching and monitoring King,” he said.

Johnson’s research and findings in 2004 so impressed Garrow that he recom-mended Johnson to then-AJC managing editor Hank Klibanoff and Shawn McIn-tosh, who is now public editor.

They too became impressed with the young man and nominated him for a four-month Freedom Forum Fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., which teaches aspiring reporters about journalism.

When he graduated in April 2005, the AJC editors got Johnson his first report-ing job with the Daily Reflector, a small Cox-owned newspaper in Greenville, N.C.

Fast-forward to 2012, and Johnson, now 37, is at the top of his profession and the toast of journalism’s town. A series of stories on which he was lead reporter has just won Scripps Howard’s prestigious Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting and $10,000 for his employer, California Watch, a news service for in-vestigative reporting, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The series – titled “On Shaky Ground” – resulted from 19 months of investiga-tion that exposed flaws in earthquake safety compliance and oversight in Cali-fornia’s public schools.

The Scripps Howard Foundation an-nounced the 2012 awards on March 16.

On April 26, Johnson, his editors and his mother, Alma Mustafa, his father Jesse, and other family members will be in Detroit to pick up the award.

On Thursday, McIntosh did not have to be reminded about who Johnson is.

“I could never forget Corey,” she said. “He is one of the most curious and re-lentless reporters I have ever met.”

Seismic impactKlibanoff said he is extremely proud

that Johnson fulfilled the promise he saw in him in 2004.

“I saw in Corey an indefatigable worker,” he said. “He would stop at noth-ing in pursuit of information and he had terrific instincts for what information he needed for a story.”

Klibanoff, who co-wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation,” helped open the doors to journalism training and John-son’s first reporting job.

“He did great work in Greenville and got hired away by the Fayetteville paper,” he said. “When the California Watch was hiring, I recommended him.”

McIntosh said that Johnson just wanted to be a reporter when she met him and that he was willing to go to small papers and do the work.

“He is a great example of the persis-tence it takes to make a great reporter,” she said.

Even before the first story in the “On

Shaky Ground” series was published, Johnson’s requests for documents had began to change policy in the state agency that monitors seismic safety.

The series ran in more than 150 news outlets across California and prompted measures that will better prepare school-children for the next big earthquake.

In the 19 months that he worked on the stories, Johnson, who joined Califor-nia Watch as an education reporter after two years at the Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina, combed through 30,000 documents – reports, e-mails and spread-sheets – and emerged as one of the state’s most knowledgeable experts on state oversight of seismic safety in California public schools.

In the letter to the Scripps Howard judges, Mark Katches, editorial director of the Center for Investigative Reporting and California Watch, said that with his fresh eye, Johnson, saw what scores of reporters had overlooked for decades and went on to detail a staggering breakdown in the way California protects children and teachers from the threat of a major earthquake.

“We found that thousands of school buildings were being occupied even though they did not meet seismic safety requirements,” Katches wrote. “Bad inspectors missed major defects or falsi-fied reports – while being rewarded with more work.”

To get the story, Johnson became a virtual embed inside the state architect’s offices. He spent months sifting through long-forgotten documents and used a hand truck to move around 30 boxes of case files.

Katches said all the detailed work paid off.

“We identified schools with missing wall anchors, dangerous lights poised above children, poor welding, slipshod emergency exits and malfunctioning fire alarms,” he said. “All these problems had been red-flagged by regulators and then lost in a swamp of paperwork. In many cases, local school officials overlooked warning signs in a race to complete new facilities during an unprecedented school building boom. It was a dangerous roll of

the dice.”The series is also a strong

contender for the 2012 Pulit-zer Prize, which will be an-nounced in April.

Johnson said Wednesday from his office in Sacramento that when he began, he had no idea what he would find.

“I just began asking ques-tions,” he said.

Of course, the people get-ting paid millions of dollars and skirting state regulations did not want to talk to him.

“A lot of spinning was going on,” he said. “It was very difficult to decipher the tea leaves.”

Johnson said Wednesday that he is extremely pleased with the aftermath of the series.

“Before the stories even came out, the agency began making changes,” he said. “When they searched the data and found more than 20,000 school projects had never complied with the laws, they started taking action.”

An inspiration to studentsBefore high school, Johnson attended

Flat Shoals Elementary School in Decatur and what was then McNair Junior High School.

Gil Turman, who was principal at McNair Junior High when Johnson was a student, said his success shows that even kids who don’t go to “elite” schools can do elite work. He said Johnson was a very conscientious student and that his mother was very involved in his educa-tion and the school.

Before he found his journalism feet, Johnson was a substitute teacher for DeKalb Schools for a year.

Turman said he is extremely proud of his former student.

“He has risen to the top of his pro-fession because of positive influence, great direction and quality education,” he said.

Turman said Johnson’s accomplish-ment will be an inspiration current McNair students.

“To know that there is a graduate of their school who is achieving as he is will say to them that they can do the same,” Turman said.

In January, “On Shaky Ground” was voted a likely contender for a 2012 Pulit-zer Prize by reporters nationwide.

Johnson said he is not allowing any of that to go to his head.

“I never had my mind on being in the running for something like this,” he said. “But when you get positive feedback, it really feels good.”

Corey Johnson spent months sifting through long-forgotten documents in an investigation that exposed flaws in earthquake safety compliance and oversight in California’s public schools.

State lawmakers Georganna Sinkfield and Alisha Thomas Mor-gan and Doraville Mayor Donna Pullman are among 11 speakers who will share their professional expertise with women at the sixth annual Evangelizing People In Communities (EPIC) Women Leadership Conference on April 20-22 Atlanta Airport Hilton.

The conference, which is in its sixth year, was created in 2006 by Sabrina McKenzie, founder and pastor of the Atlanta-based EPIC World Center Church.

She said the conference will share highly valuable nuggets of knowledge and experience that participants can immediately implement.

“Women will be hearing from life coaches sharing information on spiritually managing finances, wealth building, lifting up their voices and impacting legislation, breaking glass ceilings in business, balancing spirituality and sexual-ity, and much more,” McKenzie said.

The three-day event will in-clude entrepreneurs and business owners, who have achieved success in industries ranging from broadcasting, hospitality, health and beauty to gov-ernment, business, entertainment, law, marketing, finances, ministry and non-profits.

Other presenters include Michael V. Roberts, CEO of The Roberts Companies; Brandi Harvey, assistant director for the Steve Harvey Foundation and daugh-ter of comedian Steve Harvey; Atlanta Business League president and CEO Leona Barr-Davenport; Multi-Level Marketing executives Lisa Nicole Cloud, Stormy Wellington and Sebrena Sumrah Kelly; at-torney BettieAnn Hart, CEO of Bettie Anne Childers Hart; and Dr. Theresa Hairston, founder and publisher of Gospel Today Magazine.

Conference registration is $75.

McKenzie also said the event will also address the growing crisis of domestic abuse through the dramatic production, “I Love You to Death.”

The play, which is co-written and directed by A. Sabrena Farmer, takes place on April 20 at the Porter Sanford Theatre of Performing Arts, 3181 Rainbow Drivein Decatur.

Tickets for the play are $10.The Atlanta Airport Hilton at 1031 Virginia Ave.

in Atlanta. For more information visit www.epicworldcenter.

com.

Alisha T. Morgan

Sabrina McKenzie

Georganna Sinkfield

Theresa Hairston

Epic conference to focus on women

eriCa Perez/CaliforNia watChs

CrossRoadsNews March 31, 20122

3New homeowners who owned and occupied their

property on Jan. 1, 2012, may qualify for homestead exemption.

The basic homestead exemption may be applied for by mail or at www.web.co.dekalb.ga.us/TaxCom missioner.

Because April 1 falls on Sunday this year, residents must make application by April 2, but Tax Commissioner Claudia G. Lawson says that applications are accepted year-round. Any application re-ceived after the April deadline will be applied to the 2013 tax year.

Homestead tax exemption provides significant tax savings to homeowners and the application for it is free of charge.

Lawson said the exemptions are not automatically granted and that mortgage companies or any other entity cannot file applications for property owners. Special exemptions are also available for citizens 62 years of age and older and for citizens who are 100 percent totally and permanently disabled.

Exemptions are not available for rental prop-erty.

Eligibility is determined by application based on age and household income.

Applicants for senior or disability exemptions must visit one of the Tax Commissioner Offices in person so that specific circumstances and required documentation may be reviewed.

The Tax Commissioner Offices are at 2801 Can-dler Road, Suite 66, at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall; 4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 100, in Decatur; and 1358 Dresden Drive N.E. in Atlanta.

Income documentation, including 2011 federal and state income tax returns, proof of age and/or disability status, are required.

For more information, visit www.web.co.dekalb .ga.us/TaxCommissioner.

Community O’Brien told commissioners that the change could affect as many as 100,000 residences and businesses.

H.O.O.D.I.E. Movement launched

County considering fines for false alarms

Final Four voter registration drive

Deadline looms for homestead exemptions

Martin Luther King Jr. High students Janiques Broughton, Regina Donaldson, Tekia Smith-Howelll and Jasmine Hill were among demonstrators at the March 26 Travyon Martin vigil in Atlanta

Claudia Lawson

catur. “You don’t know what kind of mind frame people are in. Someone could snap and start shooting people.”

Gresham said she went to the rally be-cause her son, Andrew, urged her to go.

“He called me and said that I should go because ‘that could have been me,’ ” Gresham said. “And I said yeah, that could have been my son.”

Friends Janique Broughton, Regina Don-aldson, Jasmine Hill and Tekia Smith-Howell, all sophomores at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Lithonia, said they went to the rally to show support for the slain teen.

“We should not be criticized for wearing hoodies,” Regina said.

The four were among 25 MLK students at the rally.

Americans nationwide have been calling for justice for Trayvon.

During a March 23 Rose Garden press conference, President Barack Obama called the teen’s killing a tragedy and said if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon.

“When I think about this boy, I think

GUN LAWS, from pAGe 1 about my own kids,” Obama said. “And I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this, and that everybody pulls together – federal, state and local – to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”

In a March 26 statement, Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said the case has reignited the issue of racial injustice in America.

“This incredulous incident demonstrably drives home the need to mount a major and decisively meaningful ‘movement’ among and with our young people,” he said.

On March 28, Pastor Darryl Winston and the Atlanta-based Greater Works As-sembly launched the H.O.O.D.I.E. Move-ment – Helping Our Own Defeat Injustice Everywhere – to gather and deliver to Gov. Nathan Deal a million signatures petitioning him for the repeal of Georgia’s No Duty to Retreat law.

Winston said Wednesday that 93 churches and pastors throughout Georgia have already committed to gathering the signatures.

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Unregistered voters can watch the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four games and register to vote at the “Marchin’ for Votes” voter registration drive on March 31 in Lithonia.

DeKalb residents 18 years old and older have until July 2 to register for the July 31 general primary and nonparti-san elections. The 4-to-7 p.m. event will be held at Rays Seafood and Bar, 3025 Turner Hill Road.

The event is hosted by the Beta Psi Omega graduate chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. and the 100 Black Women of DeKalb. For more infor-mation, call 404-981-1963 or e-mail DeKalb.Iotas@gmail.com.

By Mary Swint

Residents and businesses with run-away alarm systems may soon have to pay up for having DeKalb police officers show up for false alarms.

Police Chief William O’Brien has proposed amendments to the county’s Alarm Ordinance that would impose “punitive assessments” of $50 for the first false alarm to $1,000 on alarm sys-tem users for each false alarm after the 10th. The punitive assessments would be levied against alarm system owners and customers for false alarms received by the police or fire department.

The extra cash would be used to de-fray some of the costs of responding to false alarms and discourage false alarms in unincorporated DeKalb County.

In 2010, police responded to about 77,000 alarm system calls, of which 90 percent of them were false alarms. The Fire Rescue Department responded to about 7,000 alarm system calls, of which 75 percent were false alarms.

The DeKalb Board of Commis-sioners would have to approve the fee schedule and a contract with a vendor who would collect the fees and get a commission on what they collect.

The change to the ordinance, which will be discussed again at the commis-sioners’ County Operations and Public Safety Committee’s April 10 meeting, comes in the wake of a growing prob-lem with false alarms.

This version of the amendment to the ordinance is different from a draft offered in February. That draft called for fining alarm system companies for the false alarms, not their customers.

O’Brien told commissioners March

27 that the change could affect as many as 100,000 residences and businesses. He said alarm companies say they can-not prevent many false alarms, such as those caused by household pets.

District 5 Commissioner Lee May said he doesn’t like the change.

“I don’t like to charge the home-owner,” he said.

O’Brien said the alarm companies would increase their rates to recover the money they had to spend on fines.

County code currently does not charge a fee for the first four false alarms in a year.

In November 2009, officials dis-cussed changing the code so there would be no fee for the first two false alarms in a calendar year and a $100 fee for the third and subsequent false alarms in a year.

At this week’s meeting, District 6 Commissioner Kathie Gannon sug-gested that no punitive assessment be charged for the first false alarm, $50 for the second and $100 for the third.

The draft ordinance also adds a process for appealing the assessment in case of a malfunctioning alarm and it

calls for the creation of classes to educate the public on how to reduce false alarms.

The proposed ordinance also requires alarm system companies to register with the Police Department, to pay an annual regis-tration fee and to update registration infor-mation. The companies would have to pro-vide a list of each address in unincorporated DeKalb that they monitor and the name and address to which the bills are sent.

Owners of alarm systems also would have to register and pay an annual fee. The Police Department is recommending a $5 registration fee. The registrations will help the vendor collect fines. Recorders Court or another court would be able to impose a fine of at least $499 on system owners, companies or customers for violations of certain parts of the ordinance.

False alarms are a growing problem in unincorporated DeKalb County.n In 2010, police responded to about 77,000 alarm system calls; 90 percent of them were false alarms. n The Fire Rescue Department responded to about 7,000 alarm system calls; 75 percent were false alarms.

Most calls are false

Carla Parker / CrossroadsNews

CrossRoadsNewsMarch 31, 2012 3

4

S i n c e t h e school board’s decision, par-ents and com-munity residents opposed to the decision, have been pushing for a position from the board

of commissioners. They have also pursued state legislators to pass laws exempting the use of school properties for cell towers.

Opponents of the decision said that enough is not known of the health risks of cell tower emis-sions on children’s growing bodies, and that the school properties are primarily in residential neighbor-hoods and the 150-foot towers will negatively affect the value of homeowners properties.

INDEX PAGE

Community

index to advertisers

2012 Summer Camp Expo ............................12BJH Attorneys & Counselors at Law .............. 11Boss’s Bar-B-Que .........................................1,2Camp Jewell House ........................................8Chapel Hill Orthodontics ................................8Dykes Desktop............................................... 11Final Expense Insurance & Planning ............. 11Hibachi Grill ................................................... 5Hope Ministries Incorporated ........................8Kidney & Hypertension Center ...................... 7LaHair Café ................................................... 11Marlin & Ray’s Seafood Grill .......................... 3MetroPCS ...................................................... 11National Kidney Foundation .......................... 7Pulse Research.............................................. 11Rainbow Park Baptist Church .........................9Reliant Income Managers ............................. 11Seafood On The Crest ................................... 11Skyline Records ............................................. 11Smokerise Summer Day Camp ......................8South DeKalb YMCA ..................................... 11Star Tax Services ........................................... 11Stewart Unlimited Inc .................................... 11The Affordable Hair Salon ............................ 11The Samuel Group ........................................ 11Best Buy Co. Inc. .................................... Inserts

“It is a more proactive approach to stop code enforcement issues earlier in the process.”

CrossRoadsNews is pub-lished every Saturday by CrossRoads News, Inc.

We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings. The opinions expressed by writers and contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, nor those of any advertisers.

The concep t , de -sign and content of CrossRoads News are copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the writ-ten permission of the publisher.

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Kathie Gannon

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Elaine Boyer Lee May

Shakeup spawns search for new Code Compliance director

Commissioners: Cell towers must comply with ordinances ToWerS, from pAGe 1

through its lease with T-Mobile, just like other school districts are doing.

“Other neighboring districts have multiple towers and have no problems,” he said. “But the county is our partner and we will work with them and we respect their counsel and guidance.”

Woods said that T-Mobile will be applying for the permits, and not the district. The district signed 30-year contracts with the wireless provider on Dec. 8 to erect the 150-foot cell towers at six elementary schools, two high schools and a comprehensive school.

The schools, picked by the DeKalb School Board in its July 12, 2011 vote, are Flat Rock and Princ-eton elementary and MLK Jr. High in Lithonia; Briarlake and Narvie J. Harris elementary in Decatur; Smoke Rise Elementary in Stone Mountain; Jolly Elementary in Clarkston; and Lakeside High and Margaret Harris Comprehensive School in Atlanta.

Under the agreement, T-Mobile will pay the district more than $2.3 million in rent over 30 years and

each of the schools’ PTSAs will get a $25,000 one-time payment and an additional $25,000 each time T-Mobile co-locates other providers on the towers. The school district will be paid $16,800 per year plus $4,800 for each provider that co-locates on the towers.

Through Thursday, he said the company had not yet made any ap-plications to the county.

“They are still doing site prepa-ration,” he said.

In their May 27 letter to the CEO, the commissioners argued that the Board of Education’s leas-ing of schools for cell towers to increase revenues is a “proprietary function and not a governmental function.

“Rather than being passive regarding DeKalb County zoning regulations and ignoring citizens complaints about cell towers in residential zones and on school property, we recommend DeKalb County take a more active role to protect the interest of citizens and uphold adopted ordinances.”

The commissioners also said that the Board of Education cell towers decision places the county government in “an untenable posi-tion.”

“It is the policy of DeKalb County as determined by the Board of Commissioners to pro-hibit cell towers on single-family residentially-zones properties,” the commissioners said. “This zoning ordinance was established to en-sure the safety of county residents and to protect property values of single-family homes.”

A response from Ellis was not available at press time.

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

In a reorganization of the Coun-ty Code Compliance Department, Nancy Funny, the department’s longtime director, was transferred to Public Works on Thursday and a search for a new admin-istrator will be launched Mon-day.

DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis and Gary Cornell, the county’s interim director of Planning & Sustainability, told members of the citizen Code En-forcement Taskforce that the trans-fer was part of a reorganization of the beleagured department.

Taskforce members and depart-ment employees had been calling for Funny’s removal for months.

Critics said morale was low in the department because of Funny’s interpersonal skills.

Cornell said that a new position – Security Services manager – was created for Funny. Her transfer was effective March 29.

In the new position, Cornell

said he did not know if she would be managing employees. Ted Rhine-hart, the county’s deputy chief op-erating officer for infrastructure, who oversees Public Works, could not be reached at press time.

Under the reorganization, the newly created “code compliance and neighborhood stabilization administrator” position will over-see the Code Compliance Division. Two code compliance supervisors and a special projects coordinator will report to the position.

Cornell said the addition of special projects, which includes foreclosure registry and the pro-posed vacant property registry for neighborhood stabilization into the division, adds four positions to the department for a total of 32 positions.

Ten of the division’s original 28 positions are vacant because there is no funds to fill them, Cornell said.

One code compliance supervi-sor will respond to residents’ com-plaints, coordinate with probation, interior compliance ordinance, address back-log cases through new civil process, and coordinate the neighborhood ambassador pro-

gram. The other code compliance supervisor will implement a blight sweep response team, Keep DeKalb Beautiful, Sanitation, commu-nity service workers, community development, tobacco initiatives, business licenses, and a systematic neighborhood approach.

Cornell said the broader ap-proach will get actions completed and problems resolved.

“It is a more proactive approach to stop code enforcement issues earlier in the process,” he said. “It will be a more efficient use of our resources.”

Cornell said he is hoping to fill the code compliance administrator position within sixty days or when they find the right applicant.

The job description was not available on Thursday, but Benita Ransom, the county’s human re-sources manager, told taskforce members it would be up on the county’s website on April 2.

Ellis said the changes were a long time coming and that it’s taken a lot of steps to get there.

“There is going to be stringent enforcement and everybody will have to do their part,” he said, pointing that it’s an election year

and the county will soon be over-run by election signs.

He said the county will work hard to find the right person for the job.

“We are looking to advertise and get the best director there is,” he said.

Gil Turman, a coordinator of the taskforce, said the length of time it took to get action was of concern but that he was pleased with what he heard Thursday.

He applauded the leadership change in code compliance.

“This is an opportunity to put a new face in the department and of-fer the department the opportunity to be led by someone with good interpersonal skills and with high expectation of the staff.”

Taskforce members pushed for punitive penalties for code viola-tors.

“If you are breaking the law, you should expect to be fined,” Turman said.

He left the meeting hopeful.“If we can fast-track some of

this stuff, we will be OK,” he said. “It’s putting things in motion to be more efficient and more effective, and not make this a costly item.”

Nancy Funny

CrossRoadsNews March 31, 20124

5

A Clarkston man will spend a year in jail for animal cruelty.

On March 23, a De-Kalb jury found Aaron Laws guilty of two counts of animal cruelty for lock-ing his female pit bull in a closet and leaving her there to die.

DeKalb Solicitor-Gen-eral Sherry Boston said the dog’s remains were discovered during an eviction at a rental property in Clarkston where Laws had been living in 2010. The de-composing animal, which had been dead at least a week, was found inside a living room closet, surrounded by empty Tupperware containers and its own fecal matter.

Boston said inside the closet, the carpet had been dug up by the animal in an attempt to escape and the door was covered in deep claw marks.

Outside the closet, a towel was found on the floor in an attempt to mask the odor of the decaying animal inside the closet.

Lysol cans also were found nearby.“Sadly, any number of animal rescue

groups could have found this vulnerable dog a good, loving home,” Boston said.

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Community “I hope that they do find out who’s responsible and they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Police seeking civilians for free academy

Forum focuses on life barriers caused by arrests

Man sentenced in dog’s death

Aaron Laws

Guards accused of impersonating officersBy Carla Parker

Two security guards have been charged with impersonating police officers in the shooting death of an 18-year-old man in South DeKalb.

Ervin Jefferson III was shot to death the night of March 24 near his home at 2625 Pleasant Woods Drive in Decatur.

The security guards have not been charged in his death.

Jefferson’s father, Ervin Jefferson Jr., told WSB-TV that the pain of losing his son is unbearable.

“I hope that they do find out who’s responsible and they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he said.

Public Safety Director William Miller said at a March 26 news conference that Shepperson Security Co. guards Curtis

Bobby Hubbard Jr.Ervin Jefferson III Curtis Scott Gary Jackson

Scott and Gary Jackson, who patrolled the Village at Wesley Chapel Apartments, also on Pleasant Woods Drive, were charged with impersonating a police officer.

Miller said the guards were checking out a suspicious car with four female occupants at about 10:30 p.m. near the deceased man’s home. “The security guards identified them-selves to the female occupants as police of-ficers,” Miller said. “They gathered the female occupants’ IDs and took pictures of them using their cell phones.”

While the guards were checking the

females’ IDs, Miller said the guards heard gunshots com-ing from the victim’s home.

Miller said another car pulled near the guards and the women and Jefferson jumped out and approached the guards in what witnesses described as an “aggressive manner.”

He said Jefferson may have thought the guards were with the women who had threatened his sister. He said both guards fired their guns at Jefferson, who was unarmed. The fatal round was fired by Scott, Miller said.

More shots were fired from the home and Jackson fired his gun in that direction.

Police arrested Bobby Hubbard Jr., Jeffer-son’s stepfather, who allegedly fired the gun from the home. Hubbard was charged with reckless conduct and possession of a firearm. Miller said the incident remains under inves-tigation and more charges are possible.

Individuals who have been arrested or convicted of a crime can discuss life barriers caused from their arrests at a April 2 open forum.

Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment is hosting the 7-to-9 p.m. forum at First Afrikan Presbyterian Church in Lithonia.

The discussions will focus on how arrests without conviction can lead to barriers in employment, licensing, housing, education, voting, benefits and immigration; how those with convictions face event greater chal-lenges; and how the current Georgia law creates barriers for rebuilding lives.

First Afrikan Presbyterian Church is at 5197 Salem Road.

For more information, e-mail georgia recordsproject@hotmail.com.

The DeKalb Police Department is seek-ing applicants to fill its May 2012 Citizen Academy.

The 10-week academy is free to attend. It offers the community an inside perspective on law enforcement.

The deadline to apply is April 27.During the sessions, personnel from vari-

ous units, including patrol officers, detectives and crime prevention, will teach participants about the complexities and operational structure of their departments.

Participants must be 21 years old, live or work in DeKalb County, and have no prior felony convictions. They must consent to a background check.

Applications are available at each police precinct or may be requested by e-mailing Officer G.K. Jefferson at gkJeffer@dekalb countyga.gov.

Applications must be returned to the DeKalb County Police Training Unit – At-tention: Officer Jefferson, 2484 Bruce St., Lithonia, GA 30058.

CrossRoadsNewsMarch 31, 2012 5

6

Small-business owners can learn how to work the Web at a South DeKalb Business Association April 12 meeting at the Clark Harrison Building in Decatur.

Constant Contact will present on “Social Media Marketing Made Simple” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Conference Room A.

Rebecca McClain, an authorized local expert for Constant Contact and an award-winning execu-tive and business coach

with RM Enterprises, will speak. McClain is the author of four books and creator of two popular coaching programs for entre-preneurs.

Participants are asked to bring their own Internet connection.

The deadline for reservations at info@sdba-inc.org is April 9. Admission is free, and free parking is available after 5 p.m. in the Maloof Parking Deck and after 6 p.m. on street.

The Clark Harrison Building is at 330 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.

Finance

FinanCe Kenneth Sokolov, the attorney who represents Pin Ups, said he expects a favorable outcome in the lower court.

New senior housing project in Stone MountainTechnology summit showcases latest tools

Metro jobless rate dips to 9 percent

Coach to offer tips on social media marketing

High court reverses ruling on Pin Ups

Rebecca McClain

Students, professionals and tech startups can attend a free technology summit on April 12 at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts and Community Center in Decatur.

District 3 DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson will host Microsoft Corp. at the summit, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

A Microsoft representative will introduce cutting-edge tools that enable the tech-savvy and not-so-savvy to enter the lucrative technology industry. There also will be a showcase of offerings for students seeking technology careers, professionals seeking certifications, and estab-lished businesses and startups seeking commercial entry into the industry.

“Digital literacy is a must skill set in the 21st century economy,” Johnson said.

The Porter Sanford Center is at 3181 Rainbow Drive. For more information, call 404-371-2425.

By Mary Swint

Pin Ups Night Club near Decatur will have another chance to block enforcement of a DeKalb County ordinance that prevents it from remaining open until 7 a.m. daily.

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously reversed DeKalb Superior Court Judge William Strickland’s March 2011 order that denied the nightclub’s motion for a tempo-rary injunction while its challenge of the law is pending.

The Supreme Court also remanded the case back to the Superior Court.

Before the DeKalb Alcohol Code was amended in June 2010, Pin Ups, which has a restaurant license and an alcohol license, served breakfast from the time alcohol service ended until 7 a.m. when the club would close.

DeKalb commissioners amended an ordinance to require that businesses that serve alcoholic drinks clear out all cus-tomers and close one hour after the end of the legal period for selling alcoholic drinks. Under the amended law, Pin Ups has to close by 4:55 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 3:55 a.m. on Sunday and Monday mornings.

Pin Ups reopens at 9 a.m. daily except Sunday, when it opens at 12:30 p.m.

The Supreme Court noted that Pin Ups claimed that compliance with the ordinances would result in a loss of $2,000 a week in breakfast sales and that the ordinance violated the Georgia Constitution by infringing on the right of free speech.

The March 23 decision said the trial court applied an incorrect standard to analyze the impact of the ordinances on the club’s free speech rights and remanded the case to the Superior Court to evaluate the club’s request for injunctive relief using the correct legal standard.

Georgia’s constitutional protection of free speech is broader than that provided by the First Amendment and the adult entertainment in the form of nude dancing performed at Pin Ups has been recognized as expressive conduct pro-tected by the Georgia Constitution’s free speech clause, the opinion said.

The opinion, written by Justice P. Harris Hines, said the effect of the amendment was that the time during which the club’s protected activity was conducted is now more limited even though the ordinance does not mention the protected conduct and applies to all businesses licensed to serve alcohol in the county.

The county argued the effect on the protected activity was incidental.

The opinion noted that the trial court had concluded that Pin Ups had little likelihood of succeeding on the merits of its complaint and relied upon this conclusion in denying the injunction.

The justices also disagreed with the trial court’s ruling that any loss of income or good will could be compensated by money damages and that Pin Ups would not suffer any irreparable injury if the injunction was not issued.

The Supreme Court said monetary damages are inad-equate for an injury caused by violations of the guarantee of free speech found in Georgia’s Constitution.

Kenneth Sokolov, the Atlanta attorney who represents Pin Ups, said he was gratified by the court’s decision and expects a favorable outcome in the lower court.

The county spokesman declined to comment on the rul-ing because the litigation is still active.

The Supreme Court’s ruling did not strike down the ordi-nance. Whichever way the case is decided at trial in Superior Court, it could go the Supreme Court again on appeal.

Metro Atlanta’s jobless rate decreased to 9 percent in February as layoffs slowed in four sectors.

The Georgia Department of Labor said the preliminary metro unemployment rate was down one-tenth of a per-centage point from a revised 9.1 percent in January. The jobless rate in February a year ago was 9.9 percent.

The rate decreased because there were fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction, trade, and administrative and support services, the department said in a March 29 statement.

DeKalb County’s jobless rate stood at 9.4 percent in February.

Metro Athens had the lowest area rate at 7 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 12.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s February seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined for the seventh consecutive month to 9.1 percent, the lowest rate since March of 2009, when it was also 9.1 percent. That is a decline of one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 9.2 percent in January. The jobless rate was 9.9 percent in February a year ago.

Statewide, the rate went down because the number of jobs in February increased by 15,600 to 3,880,400, with 70 percent of the growth coming in the private sector. Also, newly revised numbers show the state gained 41,800 jobs in the past 12 months.

The employment sectors showing growth over the year were: professional and business services, 28,000; retail trade, 12,700; education and health care, 8,300; and manufacturing, 4,200.

Local area unemployment rates are not seasonally ad-justed. For more information, visit www.dol.state.ga.us.

New subsidized hous-ing for low-income seniors is under construction in Stone Mountain.

The Retirement Hous-ing Foundation broke ground March 26 on the 54-unit Lane Manor at 4695 Redan Road.

The project is funded by a $5.6 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and $200,000 in HOME funds from DeKalb.

The project will have six apartments specifically designed for those who are mobility-impaired.

It is scheduled to open in spring

2013. It is Stone Mountain’s first HUD Section 202 community for seniors and the Retirement Housing Foundation’s fifth community in Georgia.

The Long Beach, Calif.-based nonprofit provides housing and ser-

The 54-unit Lane Manor subsidized housing project will be built at 4695 Redan Road in Stone Mountain. Six apartments will be specifically designed for those who are mobility-impaired.

vices to seniors, low-income fami-lies, and people with disabilities. More than 17,000 people live in 166 foundation communities in 25 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

CrossRoadsNews March 31, 20126

7

Wellness

Wellness “This new study provides insight into what activities teens are doing most when they drive distracted.”

Red Cross offering donors a chance to win $1,000 thank you gift card

Study: Many teens - especially girls - distracted while driving

DeKalb Medical drive

Teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to use cell phone and other electrronic devices while driving, a new stufy fines.

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Adults who donate blood or platelets between April 1 and June 30, could win a $1,000 gift card in the American Red Cross “Spring Into Giving” drawing.

Randy Edwards, the Red Cross, the Red Cross Southern Blood Services Region CEO, said the need for blood donations is constant no matter the season and the gift card give-away is a way to say thanks to donors.

Three $1,000 gift cards will be given away.

Edwards said that regardless of the weather outside, hospital patients depend on the generous donations of volunteer blood donors daily.

“These patients may never get a chance to say thank you to the person who helped them, but the Red Cross is happy to provide this opportunity to show appreciation to these donors on their behalf,” Edwards said in a March 28 statement.

Every two seconds, someone in the Unit-ed States needs blood. The Southern Blood Services Region provides lifesaving blood to patients in more than 120 hospitals. About 1,200 people need to give blood or platelets each weekday to meet hospital demand.

Upcoming blood drives include:n April 4 – Agnes Scott College, Evans Building, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur; 10 a.m.-3 p.m.n April 5 – Bank of America, 2059 Northlake Parkway, Tucker; 8 a.m.-1 p.m.n April 6 – DeKalb County government, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur; 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Blood donors can make donations at a DeKalb Medical blood drive on April 11 in Decatur.

The noon to 6 p.m. drive will be in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Tower Auditorium on the North Decatur campus.

Donors can register at www.givelife.org by entering the code “demece,” or by calling 404-501-WELL (9355).

Pre-registration is not required.DeKalb Medical is at 2701 North

Decatur Road. For more information, visit www.dekalbmedical.org or call 404-501-9355.

n April 11 – DeKalb Medical Women’s Cen-ter, 2701 N. Decatur Road, Decatur; noon-6 p.m.

Blood can be safely donated every 56 days, and platelets can be donated every seven days or up to 24 times a year. Most healthy people age 17 and older, or 16 with parental consent, who weigh at least 110 pounds are eligible to

donate blood and platelets. Donors who are 18 and younger also

must meet specific height and weight re-quirements.

For more information or to schedule an appointment to donate, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Teenage girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cell phones and other electronic devices while driving, a new in-car camera study shows.

Teens have the highest crash rate of any group in the United States. In the study – “Distracted Driving Among Newly Licensed Teen Drivers” – released March 26 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, teen drivers were dis-tracted by cell phones, texting, personal grooming, and reaching for things in the car.

Michele Harris, AAA Traffic Safety Culture director, said the study is an eye-opener for parents.

“This new study provides insight into what activities teens are doing most when they drive distracted,” Harris said.

“It also gives us the building blocks for discussions between parents and teens in order to improve teen safety behind the wheel.”

“Distracted Driving Among Newly Licensed Teen Driv-ers” is the first study using in-car video footage to specifically focus on teen distracted driving.

Researchers at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center identified the prevalence and consequences of various dis-tracted driver behaviors and distracting conditions among teens during high g-force maneuvers such as swerving, hard braking, or rapid acceleration.

Key findings include:n The leading cause of distraction for all teens was the use of electronic devices, which was seen in 7 percent of the video clips analyzed.n Other than electronic device usage, teens engaged in some

form of potentially distracted behavior in 15 percent of clips, of which adjusting controls, personal grooming, and eating or drinking were the most common.n Many of the distracting behaviors – including use of electronic devices – were more prevalent among the older teens in the study group, suggesting rapid changes in these behaviors as teens get more comfortable behind the wheel.

Gender also played a role in some of the distractions observed. Females were nearly twice as likely as males to use an electronic device while driving and overall were nearly

10 percent more likely to be observed engaging in other distracted behaviors, such as reaching for an object in the vehicle (nearly 50 percent more likely than males) and eating or drinking (nearly 25 percent more likely). Males, on the other hand, were roughly twice as likely to turn around in their seats while driving and were also more likely to com-municate with people outside of the vehicle.

Passenger distractionsPassengers in the car were found to influence driver be-

havior as well. Potentially distracting activities significantly decreased when parents or other adults were present in the car. In contrast, loud conversation and horseplay were more than twice as likely to occur when multiple teen peers – instead of just one – were present. These distractions are particularly concerning, as they are associated with the oc-currence of crashes, other serious incidents, such as leaving the roadway, and high g-force events.

Drivers were six times as likely to have a serious incident when there was loud conversation in the vehicle and were more than twice as likely to have a high g-force event when there was horseplay.

The distracted driving behaviors were linked with in-stances of teens looking away from the roadway.

Drivers were three times as likely to take their eyes off the road when using electronic devices and were two-and-a-half times more likely to look away when engaged in other behaviors.

For more information, visit www.AAAFoundation.org or www.teendriving.aaa.com.

CrossRoadsNewsMarch 31, 2012 7

8

Safety Awareness Day to focus on distracted drivers

The hunts for Easter goodies kick off on March 31.

“Blues for an Alabama Sky” is set in 1930, when the creative euphoria of the Harlem Renaissance has given way to the harsher realities of the Great Depression.

Easter eggs and more will be found at venues all over DeKalb

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Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky” will be on stage at Georgia Perimeter College’s Clarkston campus on April 6-15.

In the play, the creative euphoria of the Harlem Renaissance has given way to the harsher realities of the Great Depression. In the summer on 1930, four New York friends look beyond Harlem to fulfill their dreams. When a young man from Alabama appears, his past and personal longing spark drama in their lives.

Sally Robertson, the GPC Fine Arts associate pro-fessor who is directing the production, calls it a “lovely and sad play about how we all have dreams, but each of us does something different to make those dreams come true.”

The play will be held in the Cole Auditorium, Fine Arts Building, 555 N. Indian Creek Drive in Clarkston. Show times are 8 p.m., and 3 p.m on April 6, 7, 13 and 14, and at 3 p.m. on April 8 and 15.

For tickets, contact the box office at 678-891-3572, gpctagtx@gpc.eduor visit www.gpc.tix.com.

A Safety Awareness Day will be held April 7 in Stone Mountain to bring awareness to distracted driving.

The 9 a.m.-to-4 p.m. event takes place at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in observance of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. It is hosted by Love From Afar, The Christo-pher Allen Williams Foundation, and Parents Against Distracted Driving and will include a mock car crash, a mock funeral and a mock trial.

There will also be workshops focusing on distracted teen driv-ing, teen pregnancy, school dropout rate/truancy, bullying, and parental involvement.

The speakers include Cynthia Williams, Love From Afar founder and mother of 17-year-old Christopher Allen Williams, who was killed in a 2006 car crash by a driver who was texting, and Samuel Verniero, chairman of the Georgia Public Safety Commission.

The church is at 5140 Memorial Drive.For more information, email lovefromafar@gmail.com or visit

www.lovefromafar.net.

Kids will be hunting eggs all over DeKalb County starting March 31 at Kelly Cofer Park in Tucker.

At 10 a.m., the Tucker Business Association is hosting its 22nd an-nual Eggstravaganza for kids 8 and younger.

The two-hour event will include pictures with the Easter bunny, games with Braves B.A.T. Team, moonwalks, face tattoos, and a meet and greet with the Atlanta Silverbacks mascot, Socrates.

The Easter egg hunt kicks off at noon. The park is at 4259 North Park Drive in Tucker.

‘Egg Hunt on the Square’Infants and kids through the

fifth grade can bring their baskets for the annual “Easter Egg Hunt on the Square” at 11 a.m. in downtown Decatur. The event is at First Bap-

tist Church of Decatur, 308 Claire-mont Ave., and is sponsored by the Decatur Business Association.

8th Easter EggstravaganzaOn April 8, state Rep. Billy

Mitchell and DeKalb Super District 7 Commissioner Stan Watson will host the eighth annual “Easter Egg-stravaganza” at Wade Walker Park in Stone Mountain.

The 2 p.m.-5 p.m. event is for kids 3 to 10 years old. There will be face painting, jumper play areas, snacks, games and prizes.

Children 6 years and younger will hunt for eggs at 2:30 p.m.; 7- to 10-year-olds will hunt at 3:15 p.m.

Wade Walker Park is at 5557

hunt at 11:15 a.m., ages 4-6 at 11:30 a.m., and ages 7 and up, at 11:45 a.m.

Tickets are free for adults, $10 in advance and $12 at the door for children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at TicketLeap.com. All proceeds benefit the Cal-lanwolde Dance Program.

Parking is free for early arrivals. Shuttle service begins at 9:30 a.m. at Emory University’s Briarcliff Campus, 1256 Briarcliff Road, a half mile north of Callanwolde. No onsite parking will be available.

The event will be cancelled in case of rain. For more information, call 404-872-5338 or visit www.cal-lanwolde.org.

Rockbridge Road. For more infor-mation, visit www.stanwatson.us/easter-eggstravaganza.html.

Callanwolde celebrationKids of all ages can search for

candy-filled eggs at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center “Eggstravaganza” Easter Egg Hunt on April 7.

The 10 a.m. to noon event fea-tures thousands of candy-filled eggs and three golden prize eggs. There will be games and prizes, and a chance to meet the Easter Bunny.

Baked goods will be on sale and there will be arts and crafts for kids. Enzo Clown will perform live.

Kids will hunt for eggs by age groups. Newborns to age 3 will

CrossRoadsNews March 31, 20128

9

Area churches will celebrate Holy Week with guest speakers, traditional and contem-porary services, and special outreach and evangelism.

The members and leadership of Saint Philip AME Church in Atlanta will hold Palm Sunday worship services at 7:30 and 11 a.m. on April 1.

Rev. Matthew Watley, executive minister at Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale, Md., will be the guest speaker at the April 5 Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m.

Watley oversees Reid Temple’s seven corpora-tions, its 50-member staff, and 80 minis-tries. In 2009, he was selected as the Impact Leader of the year for his political, civic and economic leadership throughout the Wash-ington, D.C., metropolitan region.

The April 6 Good Friday service features the “Last Seven Words” and begins at noon. A fish fry follows the service.

There will be two Easter Sunday worship services, at 7:30 and 11 a.m., on April 8.

Saint Philip AME is at the corner of Candler Road and Memorial Drive at 240 Candler Road. For more information, call 404-371-0749.

Greenforest EasterAt Greenforest Community Baptist

Church in Decatur, Palm Sunday services will be celebrated during the regular 7:45

These ministers and pastors will deliver sermonettes on the words Jesus uttered from the cross.

Rainbow Park Baptist offers old and new for EasterIndividuals in need of prayer can ride

through the “Drive-Thru Prayer” line on Aug. 2 in the parking lot of Rainbow Park Baptist Church in Decatur.

The “Drive-Thru Prayer” line is part of the church’s annual “Holy Week,” being ob-served this year from April 1 to 8.

Lay leaders will be available to discuss prayer requests and pray with requesters from 5-to-6:30 pm.

Pastor Steven N. Dial Sr., the church’s pastor, said the church’s goal is to pray with 1,000 or more individuals.

“God has a solution to all of our prob-lems if we just trust Him,” he said. “Jesus is truly the best thing that has ever happened to us.”

Other Rainbow Park “Holy Week” events includes an April 3 Online Holy Week Bible Study at www.rainbowparkbaptist.org from 8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.; an April 4 Passover meal at 6 p.m., and a 7 p.m. worship service;

Maundy Thursday Service on April 5 at 7 p.m. with guest speaker Rev. W. C. Blondin; and on Good Friday, a “Seven Last Words” Services on at noon and 7 p.m. will feature sermonettes from a number of ministers, pastors and a bishop.

The week will conclude on April 8 with a 10 a.m. Easter Sunday Service.

On Palm Sunday, on April 1, the church’s Worship Arts Ministry, will perform the Easter play, “the Events of Holy Week,” a spiritual dance routine, and other various musical performances. The Passover Meal will be a “Christian Feast” commemorating the Last Supper.

During the Maundy Thursday Service, worshippers can participate in a foot wash-ing ceremony.

Rainbow Park Baptist Church is at 2941 Columbia Drive in Decatur. For more infor-mation, call 404-288-1910 or text holyweek to 69302.

Easter programs have modern feel

Matthew Watley

MiniStry “Easter is a right now event. We want to contextualize it so that people can see how it’s a transforming experience.”

Area churches washing feet, hosting Holy Week dramatic productionsand 10:45 a.m. worship services on April 1. The Drama Ministry will line the entrance of the church driveway prior to each service, welcoming worshippers and shouting “Ho-sanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The Good Friday worship service will be held in the main sanctuary on April 6 at 7 p.m. This worship service is a reminder of the Crucifixion and to celebrate the coming Resurrection.

On April 7, Greenforest will sponsor an “Eggstravaganza” for children 2 to 11 years of age. Children should bring their own baskets to collect eggs and candy that will be distributed.

Members and church leaders will conduct an outreach program on April 7 beginning at noon at the Gallery at South DeKalb. They will celebrate “One Great Day of Evangelism” and personally invite shoppers at the mall to worship at Greenforest. The congregation will serve hot dogs and offer prayers for anyone requesting prayer.

On Resurrection Sunday, April 8, the celebration will begin with the Sunrise Ser-vice at 6:30 a.m. This service signifies Jesus’ early resurrection from the grave. It will be followed by breakfast in the Family Life Center at 8:30.

The Resurrection Day Fulfillment Hour (Sunday school) Program will begin in the main sanctuary at 9:30, and the Resurrection Morning Service starts at 10:45 a.m.

Greenforest Community Baptist is at 3250 Rainbow Drive. For more information,

call 404-486-1120.

St. Paul AME Church“Following Jesus Through Holy Week” is

the theme of the Easter celebration at Saint Paul AME Church in Stone Mountain.

On Palm Sunday, members and church leaders will wave palms to re-create the Pro-cession Into Jerusalem. The April 1 service begins at 10 a.m.

On April 2 at 7 p.m., the Rev. Kevin Moore of Mount Zion Network AME will speak. The Rev. James Hardaway of Greater Mount Carmel AME in Doraville will preach at the April 3 service at 7 p.m., and the Rev. Vivian Green of Cagle Chapel AME in Social

Circle speaks at 7 p.m. on April 4.A Passover meal, Seder, will be offered

on Maundy Thursday – April 5 – at 7 p.m. There is limited seating and a donation of $7 is requested. For reservations, call Ruth Moon-Davis at 770-235-1014.

Good Friday events include a fish fry at 5 p.m. with a $5 donation requested and a 7 p.m. service featuring the Rev. James Alexan-der of St. Paul AME in Columbus.

Easter Sunday begins with Sunday school at 9 a.m. and a worship service at 10 a.m., immediately followed by the Youth Easter Program.

Saint Paul AME is at 821 Third Street. For more information, call 770-469-4995.

Easter worshippers will find everything from Bach to rock at Ousley United Method-ist Church’s annual Holy Week observance.

Rev. McCallister Hollins, the Lithonia church’s pastor, said members will put a con-temporary spin on Holy Week services.

“Easter is a right now event,” he said Thursday. “We want to contextualize it so that people can see how it’s a transforming experience.”

Maundy Thursday service on April 5 will include a theater performance by the church’s Drama Ministry at 7 p.m. in the Christian Life Center.

Prior to the performance, attendees will share in a Lenten meal similar to the one that Jesus and his disciples ate more than 2,000 years ago and a foot-washing ceremony, where church leaders will pray for partici-pants while washing their feet. The evening ends with Holy Communion.

“The Service of the Nails” 7 p.m. on Good Friday further drives home the reality of the passion – or suffering – of Christ as each worshipper entering the service is given a nail. Seven nails represent the seven deadly

sins. Hollins said an old wooden cross, 6 to 7 feet tall, is part of the service and worship-pers will be invited to drive their nail into the cross signfying “the nailing of our sins into the cross so that we can be forgiven.”

The theme for Ousley’s overall obser-vance is “Raised With Christ.”

The weeklong celebration begins with the Palm Sunday worship service on April 1 and culminates with three worship services on Easter Sunday, April 8.

The children’s Easter egg hunt begins at 2:30 p.m. on April 7.

Easter Sunday worship starts with a sunrise service at 6 a.m. followed by breakfast, courtesy of the United Method-ist Men. The Children and Youth Easter Sunday Service is set for 8 a.m., where the children and youth will lead wor-ship through drama, dance and music. Easter 2012 culminates with the 10 a.m. wor-ship service.

Ousley United Methodist Church is at 3261 Panola Road. For more information, visit www.ousleyumc.org or call 770-981-0180.

Kevin Bufford Jesse Walker Lisa Taylor Steven Littles Stanley Blackwell

Ariel Jones Layne Fields Percival Mullah Mark Seals Weaver Blondin

CrossRoadsNewsMarch 31, 2012 9

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