DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis will hold an unprecedented 11 public hearings throughout DeKalb County to ensure the people's concerns and questions are addressed regarding the 2009 budget recommendations. The 2009 recommended budget can be found HERE. The hearing nearest to East Atlanta will be Tuesday, February 3, 2009 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at the East Lake YMCA. For dates and locations of other hearings, look HERE.

The Graveyard will be throwing an Anniversary party Friday, January 16th. There will be an open bar and passed hors d'oeuvres from 8pm - 9pm. Preston Craig will be providing the music for the evening. Come celebrate the success of the past year of The Graveyard Tavern! The Graveyard loves and appreciates our customers!

Nathaniel Thompson, a young male living on Stallings, was recently arrested again (while out on bail) and charged with attempted burglary. He was previously arrested in mid-November for a burglary on East Side Avenue here in East Atlanta. Please contact DeKalb County Community Prosecutor Dana Lawrence and inform her of the need to prosecute this case vigorously. Stallings Avenue is a major problem area in East Atlanta. Numerous 911 calls are directed to various illegal behavior being reported in that area. Ms. Lawrence can be contacted at delawrence@co.dekalb.ga.us.

Anyone living in the vicinity of Brownwood Park or 593 Gresham Avenue should report any suspicious activity immediately to 911 and EASP, which can include foot traffic or vehicles. There have been more burglaries in this area, with recent incursions on Stokeswood and Milton Place.

The Wachovia branch in the East Atlanta Village is closing. The official date of the closing is April 18th. A new branch is opening February 5th at 2283 Glenwood next to Publix. The new branch's hours will be the same as the branch in the Village, 9-4 Monday through Friday. For longer hours, the branch in the Edgewood Retail District is open from 9-7 Monday through Friday, and 9-2 on Saturday.

Well, the new Wal-Mart on Gresham Rd. opened this past week. It's the company's first store inside the Perimeter, with others planned. It is part of a new strategy: On my previous Web site I quoted officials who said research showed people would drive up to 10 miles for groceries, and so adding grocery to the stores made it possible to make them viable with just 10 miles of separation. So expect more here and everywhere, for better or worse! The AJC published a half-hearted article, which must have taken an entire afternoon to research -- sarcasm.

Guerilla Marketing in EAV, L5P
One of my favorite things to see around EAV, Edgewood and L5P is the guerilla marketing techniques of Lenny's. It reflects many of the reasons I think people move to the area -- creativity, independence from convention, authenticity. Lenny's is a lounge on Memorial Drive, near Oakland Cemetary. Lenny's knows its audience, advertising its shows on grey-painted pallets strategically placed on thoroughfares in SE Atlanta. Clearly, this is going to draw the attention of hipsters and locals, and be overlooked by the suburbanites that drift into the area on weekends. The one shown here was placed in L5P outside the The Corner Tavern (previously 9Lives).

Atlanta is sooo LA, Just Smaller
So, I went to LA a week ago. I spent five days exploring the city, seeking neighborhoods, and community. I found it to be a lot like ATL, almost like a bigger sibling. If you doubled Atlanta's population the cities would be nearly identitical in their problems and diversity. I noticed the similarities more after my return than while I was there. For instance, while I don't dwell on Atlanta's smog, I saw it two days this week - only bothering to notice after having been in LA. It was a light haze hanging over the city like a soft filter on a lens. When people talk about LA traffic and Atlanta traffic there are only a few degrees of separation. To test it, commute from GA400 to EAV on a Friday afternoon. The neighborhoods -- and their states of yuppie-dom -- from Los Feliz, to Silver Lake, to Echo Park are very similar to the stretch from Virginia-Highland, to L5P, to EAV. The people were surprisingly warm just like the weather. And weather was a strange topic. Folks in LA think Atlanta is cold -- I set them straight. There are two very big differences -- the proximity to the ocean (though don't go in the water), and the prices. LA is as expensive as New York for housing. My suggestion - visit Silver Lake and Los Feliz.

A recent article in the AJC looks at Moving in the Spirit, a nonprofit after-school program that uses dance and movement to teach leadership and development skills. Moving in the Spirit recently was named one of 17 outstanding youth and humanities programs by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. It was the first program in the Southeast to receive the national honor, which came with a $10,000 award. The article says, "The Grant Park/East Atlanta program instructs about 225 students ages 3-18 in various forms of dance. More than 1,250 students have participated in the program since its inception in 1986."