Top Stories Archives - Reporter Newspapers

300-plus properties could be affected by I-285 ‘top end’ toll lanes project

by Dyana Bagby | Apr 19, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The state’s plan to build toll lanes on the top end of I-285 could impact a minimum of 300 properties all along the corridor, ranging from construction easements to full land takings, according to city of Brookhaven officials. Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst and City Councilmember Linley Jones said they learned this number April 16 after meeting with a Georgia Department of Transportation official. Not all the properties are located in Brookhaven, they said at an April 18 community meeting at Brookhaven City Hall with roughly 50 people attending. They also said they did not know how many Brookhaven properties...

City considers renaming part of Buckhead’s West Wieuca Road in Chastain Park

by John Ruch | Apr 18, 2019 | Buckhead Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Buckhead’s West Wieuca Road N.W. could see a name change to Chastain Park Avenue, a nod to the park it runs through, in a proposal under consideration by an Atlanta City Council committee. The idea is reducing confusion over similarly named streets with an eye on public safety response. The local NPU-A says it backs the renaming – and even would like it extended to part of West Wieuca Road N.E. The City Council ordinance proposing the renaming cites at least three unspecified incidents last summer where public safety responses to the park’s pool were “delayed or misdirected.” “The...

Brookhaven City Council member seeks review of LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance

by Dyana Bagby | Apr 18, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Top Stories | 0

A Brookhaven City Council member is asking the city attorney for a legal opinion on whether the city should consider an ordinance prohibiting local businesses from discriminating against minority groups — including LGBTQ people — in the wake of similar ordinances being passed in surrounding cities. Councilmember Linley Jones said April 18 she has asked City Attorney Chris Balch for an opinion on whether a nondiscrimination ordinance is the proper route for the city to take to ensure all residents are treated equally. “The city and I support equal protection for all,” she said. An ordinance could be one...

Sandy Springs approves funding agreement to extend Buckhead’s PATH400

by Evelyn Andrews | Apr 18, 2019 | Buckhead Reporter, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

With a unanimous vote at the April 16 City Council meeting, Sandy Springs residents are one step closer to safely riding their bikes all the way to Krog Street Market. Sandy Springs has long-planned to build a path from Buckhead to the city, and this move nails down the funding and construction agreement. A separate, connecting piece will be built by the Georgia Department of Transportation under the I-285/Ga.400 interchange, bringing the path up Peachtree-Dunwoody Road. The council voted to enter into an agreement with the city of Atlanta to design a multiuse path that would extend Buckhead’s PATH400...

Holy Spirit pitches smaller school, church expansion plan; legal agreement’s impact still disputed

by John Ruch | Apr 17, 2019 | Buckhead Reporter, Education, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

Holy Spirit Catholic Church and Preparatory School are back with a new, smaller version of their controversial Buckhead campus expansion onto a Sandy Springs site. While aiming to appease neighbors in advance of an April 24 community meeting, Holy Spirit is also citing a legal technicality to say an old agreement with the community that might partly block the project is invalid. One resident leader says that move has “appalled” the neighborhood and that, while talking is preferable, going to court is not off the table. Holy Spirit’s plan for the combined church and Upper School campus in Buckhead...

Fulton County Schools announces Tennessee official as superintendent finalist

by Evelyn Andrews | Apr 17, 2019 | Education, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The Fulton County School System announced Dr. Michael “Mike” Looney as its finalist for the superintendent position on April 17. Looney, a former Tennessee Superintendent of the Year, will now meet the public at community meetings before the board vote on his appointment. Currently serving in the position for Williamson County Schools, near Nashville, Tenn., Looney was announced as the sole finalist at an April 17 event held in the FCS’s North Learning Center in Sandy Springs. The Williamson County district has 48 schools and about 40,000 students, Looney said. In FCS, more than 95,000 students attend its 106...

The Reporter’s Evelyn Andrews wins Atlanta Press Club ‘Rising Star’ award

by John Ruch | Apr 16, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Reporter Newspapers staff reporter Evelyn Andrews won the Atlanta Press Club’s 2018 “Rising Star” award, recognizing her as an “outstanding talent” in metro area journalism, at an April 16 ceremony. Andrews, who joined the Reporter two years ago, earned the recognition for her tireless work on stories in Buckhead and Sandy Springs and on the education beat. She combined shoe-leather reporting and use of the Open Meeting and Open Records laws to ensure transparency on plans for a park capping Ga. 400 in Buckhead, to help secure sidewalk repairs affecting patients at the Shepherd Center hospital, and to follow...

Swancy Farmhouse owner asking Dunwoody council to oppose Roberts Drive rezoning

by Dyana Bagby | Apr 16, 2019 | Dunwoody Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The owner of the historic Swancy Farmhouse on Roberts Drive is urging the Dunwoody City Council to deny rezoning property behind his house to allow for the construction of nine single-family detached houses, saying the infill project would surround his home with pavement and eliminate any privacy. Dave Haverty argued against the proposed development at the April 8 City Council meeting where the council was hearing the first read of the rezoning ordinance. The second and final read is slated for April 22. The developer, Rock River Realty, wants to build nine single-family homes on nearly 3 acres next...

Popular Brookhaven bars, restaurants face alcohol license suspensions

by Dyana Bagby | Apr 16, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Food & Drink, Top Stories | 0

Brookhaven’s recent crackdown on several restaurants and bars they said owed back taxes on liquor sales could put some popular watering holes at risk of not being able to sell booze to customers, at least temporarily. Other venues were able to prove their record keeping was accurate and their alcohol licenses are safe. Among those affected are three nightclubs that previously sued the city for discrimination for another crackdown, and such popular neighborhood institutions as Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub, the Rusty Nail and Villa Christina. One restaurant appealing the bill, Hudson Grille, faced testimony from an undercover private investigator...

14-unit townhome development proposed for Sandy Springs’ north end

by Evelyn Andrews | Apr 16, 2019 | Home & Real Estate, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

A 14-unit townhome project has been proposed for Sandy Springs’ north end. The proposal comes as the city looks into ways to inspire redevelopment in the north end area. The project is proposed for 1190 and 1194 Hope Road, which runs between Roswell Road and Dunwoody Place. The lots, together totaling 1.4 acres, currently have two single-family homes. The developer, identified in planning documents as Callicott Holdings, LLC, is seeking a rezoning to allow it to construct townhomes. The 14 units would be two stories with two-car garages, according to a site plan. Two parking spaces per unit would...

Local leaders offer prayers, hope after Notre-Dame cathedral fire

by John Ruch | Apr 15, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

Local leaders are responding with prayers and reminders that “Spirit” outlasts material things following a devastating blaze that heavily damaged Notre-Dame, a Roman Catholic cathedral in Paris, France, that is a landmark of world art and architecture. Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Atlanta Roman Catholic Archdiocese offered prayers in a written statement and described Notre-Dame as “a treasure for the Catholic Church, for European history and culture, and for the world of art.” The April 15 fire at the over 800-year-old cathedral came during Holy Week, a Christian observance leading up to Easter Sunday, a celebration of the faith’s...

Brookhaven Mayor Ernst discusses electric police cars, rock festival and parks

by John Ruch | Apr 13, 2019 | Brookhaven Reporter, Politics, Top Stories | 0

Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst says his city’s future includes electric police cars, bigger festivals and an improved park system. Ernst spoke about the topics in the latest episode of “3 Questions,” a Reporter Extra podcast. Brookhaven is testing a Tesla electric car as a police cruiser in a pilot program. Ernst said the city currently spends about a quarter-million dollars a year just on gas for police cars, while an electric fleet would have negligible costs and less maintenance. He said that unlike a few other cities that have used electric cop cars as “greenwashing” publicity items, the city...