Blueprint to Redefine DeKalb County [Feb 11]

Commissioner Kathie Gannon invites the community to discuss a new Blueprint for DeKalb County:
DATE:     Tuesday February 11, 2014
TIME:      6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
PLACE:   Decatur Library, Ground Floor Meeting Room.  Enter from parking lot in the rear.

You can review the Blueprint document here. This Blueprint is a call to action in the following areas of County governance:

operations: clarify administrative procedures

ethics: limits on vendor contributions to candidates, appointing an auditor, and developing a process so that the Board of Ethics is NOT appointed by the officers the Board is meant to scrutinize

elections: explore term limits on incumbents and encourage voter participation

governmental structure: address existing processes governing cityhood formation and annexation; consider moratorium on new cities for the current legislative session

HOST sales tax: revise HOST legislation (because existing rules allow a pattern of HOST tax allocation that is leaving the County without the means to maintain services for cities and unincorporated areas alike)

for owl lovers

Love owls? The Decatur Public Library is hosting a special exhibit titled “Owls, the Symbol of Wisdom and Knowledge.” Many items in the collection belonged to the late Lillian W. White, a librarian with a great fondness for owls. See additional details about the exhibit here.

from the Shambhala center

The Shambhala Center (1447 Church St.) wanted to share that it will be offering a workshop in February titled "Brilliant Minds, Difficult Minds."

The Shambhala Center has open houses on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings where meditation instruction is free and open to all.

1982 snow surprisingly similar to 2014 snow, who woulda thunk?

via The Atlanta Time Machine Facebook page:

Neighbor Greg posts: "This photo of the big 1982 "Snowjam" storm was taken the day after the deluge hit town and shows the view looking north along Clairmont Road, near the railroad overpass between North Decatur Rd and North Druid Hills Road. Though it's not visible in the picture, the VA Hospital is just up around the bend on the left.

Thanks go to Elinor Howard Cook for sending it in this photo, which was taken by her husband."

That would be the Emory Clairmont campus to the left.

click to enlarge

Edit: oh yes yes yes, someone out there has put together a SnowJam '82 photo album: http://snowjam82.com/atlanta-snowstorm-pictures-and-photos

UPDATE: And, footage from the 1973 ice storm.

Parenting workshop @ North Decatur Presbyterian Church

Get the details at http://ndpc.org/2014/01/29/great-parenting-workshop-register-today/

A few real-time road updates from neighbors

via Medlock Park Neighbors Facebook page (~8am):

National Weather Service

Issued at 1pm Wednesday, January 29, 2014, National Weather Service
Active for next 23 hours 

Locations: Clayton; Cobb; DeKalb; Douglas; Fayette; Fulton; Gwinnett; Henry; Rockdale 

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has relayed a Civil Emergency Message at the request of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency in Atlanta Georgia.
A state of emergency remains in effect for all of Georgia due to impacts from a winter storm on Tuesday through this morning. 

This message replaces the Winter Storm Warning that expired at 1:00 pm EST this afternoon. It will remain in effect until noon on Thursday and primarily pertains to the Atlanta metro counties of Gema Area 7. Those counties include Fulton, Dekalb, Clayton. Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas, Rockdale, Fayette and Henry Counties. 

A combination of some sleet initially followed by 1 to 3 inches of snow caused most roadways to become extremely hazardous and in many cases impassable. The ice and snow has been compacted into solid sheets of ice which continues to cause treacherous road conditions. Hundreds of vehicles and trucks are still stranded or abandoned on portions of the interstates and primary roads in the Atlanta metro area. Any melting that occurs this afternoon will refreeze tonight as temperatures fall into the teens. 

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency requests that travel be limited to emergencies only for your safety, and for the safety of emergency officials and Georgia Department of Transportation employees that continue to respond to the dangerous impacts of the winter storm.