Top Stories Archives - Reporter Newspapers

Board chair of Buckhead’s HUB404 park effort fired from company for ‘personal behavior’

by John Ruch | Jan 22, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Perimeter Business, Top Stories | 0

The chair of Buckhead’s “HUB404 Atlanta GA” park board has been fired by his company for “personal behavior” right as the green space’s fundraising effort gears up. Jay Gould, the president and CEO of Midtown-based flooring company Interface, was named to the HUB404 board last year in a move seen as significantly raising the profile of the effort to build a park over Ga. 400 in central Buckhead. In a Jan. 20 press release, Interface said Gould recently “was terminated after an investigation concluded that he engaged in personal behavior that violated company policy and core values.” “We’re trying...

Mayor says Sandy Springs will pursue incentives for North End ‘revitalization zone’

by Hannah Greco | Jan 21, 2020 | Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Mayor Rusty Paul says Sandy Springs will pursue incentives for the redevelopment of the North End through a “revitalization zone.” The incentives are intended to help carry out a city policy of sparking redevelopment along Roswell Road north of Dalrymple Road, where there are many older retail properties and apartment complexes, and where the city has commissioned a redevelopment study of four shopping centers. Paul said in a recent interview that the city is not decided on the borders for the zone. “We are still trying to define the geography and what kinds of incentives we want to put...

New GDOT maps show properties that could be impacted or demolished by I-285 top-end toll lanes project

by Dyana Bagby | Jan 21, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

Approximately 155 properties in Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs could be affected or demolished by Georgia Department of Transportation right of way acquisition for the I-285 top-end toll lanes project, according to new maps unveiled during a Jan. 21 open house. The draft plans show the project razing several residential and commercial structures, including some or all the Chateau Club Townhomes and possibly the swimming pool of the Georgetown Recreation Center, both in Dunwoody. Also marked for displacement are three to four buildings in the Dunwoody Village apartment complex, and two buildings in the Sierra Place apartments in Sandy...

GBI releases new details in Lenox Square police shooting of suspect

by John Ruch | Jan 20, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Public Safety, Top Stories | 0

The Jan. 18 police shooting of a suspect at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall, originally described by authorities as an armed robbery, is looking more complicated due to details released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI says the victim was charged with robbery, and according to media reports that authorities have not confirmed, a rapper says the man shot was a friend who was helping him recover a stolen chain. According to the GBI, which is investigating the Atlanta Police shooting, an officer confronted a man who was pointing a gun at another man in a parking deck...

Officer shoots robbery suspect at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall, police say

by John Ruch | Jan 19, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Public Safety, Top Stories | 0

An officer shot and wounded a suspect who was in the midst of an armed robbery at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall Jan. 18, according to the Atlanta Police Department. Police said in a written statement that the officer was “alerted” to an armed robbery around 8:15 p.m. in the parking deck of the mall at 3393 Peachtree Road. The officer found an unidentified male robbing a victim at gunpoint, then shot and wounded the suspect twice when he refused to drop the weapon, according to the statement. The robbery victim was unharmed, police said. The wounded suspect was taken...

Man arrested on murder charge in Buckhead fatal stabbing

by John Ruch | Jan 19, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Public Safety, Top Stories | 0

A man is in custody on a murder charge in a fatal stabbing in Buckhead Jan. 18. The Atlanta Police Department said that officers responded around 3:30 a.m. to 28 Irby Ave. for a call about a dispute involving several males. They say the victim, identified as Jermaine Stephenson, was stabbed and pronounced dead at Piedmont Hospital. Israel K. Whittle, 25, was arrested later that day on a murder warrant and was taken to the Fulton County Jail, according to...

Wrong-way driver killed in Ga. 400 collision in Buckhead

by John Ruch | Jan 19, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Public Safety, Top Stories | 0

A wrong-way driver was killed in a head-on collision on Ga. 400 in Buckhead Jan. 18, according to the Atlanta Police Department. Police said the unidentified male driver’s vehicle was traveling south in the northbound lanes of the highway at Sidney Marcus Boulevard when it hit another vehicle at around 5 a.m. The wrong-way driver was dead at the scene, according to police, while the driver of the vehicle he hit was taken to a hospital for injuries described as...

Dredging of Brookhaven’s Murphey Candler Lake begins

by Dyana Bagby | Jan 18, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

More than 20,000 tons of sediment and debris are expected to be removed during the dredging of a portion of Brookhaven’s Murphey Candler Lake over the next six months. Dredging of the lake within the 135-acre Murphey Candler Park on West Nancy Creek Drive began Jan. 15, a day after the City Council approved a nearly $1.8 million contract to Merrell Bros. Inc. of Kokomo, Indiana, to complete the job. Dredging the lake was recommended in the city’s Nancy Creek watershed plan approved in 2016 and the city expects it to be finished within 180 days. The project includes...

Dunwoody, contractor settle lawsuit over Mount Vernon Road paving

by Dyana Bagby | Jan 18, 2020 | Dunwoody Reporter, Top Stories | 0

A years-long dispute between the city of Dunwoody and a contractor over who should repair a cracked and sinking section of Mount Vernon Road is over after both sides decided to walk away from dueling lawsuits. The City Council voted Jan. 13 to drop its 2018 lawsuit against GS Construction after the company agreed to drop its countersuit as part of the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement, however, was contingent on Lowe Engineering, the firm the city pays for public works services, shelling out $34,000 to GS Construction. All parties involved denied liability as part of the agreement. “I’m...

Buckhead’s Garden Hills house dispute could head to court

by Reporter Newspapers | Jan 18, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Top Stories | 0

An empty corner lot in the leafy Garden Hills neighborhood of Buckhead continues to agitate nearby residents who fear a redevelopment plan will change the neighborhood’s character. Now the dispute may head to an appeal in court. Plans for a 5,000-square-foot house at the intersection of Pine Tree Drive and North Hills Drive have been the subject of complaints since builders applied for a variance from the City of Atlanta’s Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) last year. At issue is a request for a 17.5-foot front-yard setback instead of the traditional 35 feet. Additionally, the BZA had determined that...

Police reveal one suspect in custody for Lenox Square shooting; another sought

by John Ruch | Jan 17, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Public Safety, Top Stories | 0

One of two suspects in the robbery and shooting of a woman at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall Dec. 21 is in custody, the Atlanta Police Department has revealed. The second suspect is still being sought. D’Vonte Dean, 24, was arrested Dec. 30, the police department said in a written statement. He is being held in the Fulton County Jail while facing charges of aggravated assault with intent to rob, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The victim, a Conyers resident who works at the 3393 Peachtree Road mall, told police...

DeKalb Schools reveals different, temporary redistricting for Doraville United school

by Hannah Greco | Jan 16, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Education, Top Stories | 0

In the wake of controversy over a redistricting plan affecting several Brookhaven schools, the DeKalb County School District has announced a significantly different, temporary version that will take effect in July. The “interim” redistricting for the new Doraville United Elementary School will move 108 students from Hightower Elementary to Doraville United; 209 students from Cary Reynolds Elementary to Doraville United; and 381 students from Dresden Elementary to Doraville United. The plan was released at a Jan. 13 DeKalb County Board of Education meeting. Ramona Tyson, the district’s interim superintendent, recommended an “Interim Redistricting Plan” intended to prepare the way...