More flowers and aesthetic landscaping, like this rendering of the I-85 at Beaver Ruin Road exit shows, will be coming near the Center Way overpass between Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Indian Trail Road in early 2011.

NORCROSS — It’s hard to miss the colorful rainbow of flowers and professional landscaping when travelling along Interstate 85 near the interchanges at Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Indian Trail Road and Beaver Ruin Road. Part of the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District’s beautification efforts, those $825,000 worth of projects have been ongoing for several years.  

With the announcement made Wednesday, in early 2011 the CID’s goal of beautifying the entire district along the interstate will come to fruition. That’s because the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded the Gwinnett Village CID with a $50,000 GATEway grant to continue the successful revitalization efforts in Norcross. The grant will be used for landscaping improvements on I-85 surrounding the Center Way overpass between Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Indian Trail Road.

“This completes the strategic landscaping at the nodes along I-85 in the CID. Once this is complete, we will focus on maintenance and keeping the areas between the nodes clean as well,” said Gwinnett Village CID Director Chuck Warbington. “These landscaping projects are improving more than just the overall aesthetic of the Gwinnett Village. It helps create an environment that is appealing to residents and businesses and enhances the sense of pride and security in the community.”

The grant will help fund the $126,000 project and the newly landscaped plot at Center Way will mirror those of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Indian Trail Road to create a sense of continuity along that stretch of I-85. In 2009, Gwinnett Village also received a GATEway grant to revitalize the northeast corner of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and the I-85 northbound ramp. That project was recently completed.

According to Davie Biagi, a landscape architect for GDOT, the Center Way project was selected to receive the grant based on review and recommendation of the group’s Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council members. “A primary goal of the GATEway Grant program is to fund enduring enhancement of the roadsides for the traveling public,” Biagi said in a statement. “The Georgia DOT appreciates the fine example and enthusiastic participation of Gwinnett Village CID in beautifying Georgia’s public rights of way.”

Related posts:

1. Republican Candidate Liz Carter Speaks to Evermore CID Board

Georgia's 6th district Republican Congressman, Dr. Tom Price, sits in his Washington D.C. Canon building office with the nearly 4000 pages of health reform legislation at his side. Price and every Republican member of the House of Representatives voted against the legislation.

WASHINGTON D.C. — Ten hours after historic health care reform legislation passed in the House of Representatives, I sat down with Republican Congressman Dr. Tom Price in his fourth floor office across the street from the U.S. Capitol. The topic of our conversation this morning was health care reform and the bill now awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature. The reconciliation bill and changes must first be passed by the Senate.

Question 1 – Why has this health care issue become so divisive and partisan and do you think the partisanship helped the American people?

Price:  Oh goodness, no. It’s divisive because the two main groups, the left believes the government can make better decisions for individual Americans. We believe patients and families and doctors should be making medical decisions. It’s as fundamental as that. When you begin to march through these pieces of legislation, the foundation which they begin with is that the government ought to be making these decisions. And because health care decisions are made by every single American and because they are so very personal, it becomes very divisive very quickly. It’s partisan because of the leadership. Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi has demanded partisanship. She has told her members that if they speak or work with Republicans on this they’ll be shut out of the room. That’s a decision made from the leadership on the other side.

Question 2 – As a doctor, do you believe access to affordable and high quality health care is a right or a privilege for citizens and why?

Price: I know and believe that we are a compassionate nation and that we care for all citizens. There is a way to construct a system that we have attempted to get to the fore which puts patients and families in charge of health care regardless of one’s economic status. That’s what I believe, we believe, to be ideal. When you begin to march down having the government controlling everyone’s health care , that’s where you get off the road of having care that is responsive to individual  and makes it so that it’s moving in the direction that people want it to move, not the government wants it to move, but the people want it to move.

Question 3 – Just before I came over here I saw on TV former Republican Senator Dr. Bill Frist on CNN. He said the bill that passed last night was a good first step but still didn’t do enough to address the rising costs issue. My question is, do you agree with him, and if you do or you don’t, what still needs to be done that this bill doesn’t accomplish to rein in costs?

Price: Well it’s hardly a step. It’s a leap off a cliff. This is a move into a major intervention of the federal government into every aspect and principle of health care that Americans hold dear in the wrong direction.  To hear the rest of Price’s answer where he discusses the four main cost drivers in health care and how the passed legislation is inadequate, click here.

Question 4 – So what’s next? The health care bill passed last night, from a Republican standpoint, from your standpoint, what’s next? What are you going to do?

Price: The question is from an American standpoint. The American people oppose this bill, by two, three sometimes four to one depending on how the question is asked. They now no longer believe their government is listening to them. They no longer believe that their representatives are representing them. They believe their representatives are now, by and large, representing the leadership and a party, and they are mad as they can be. And they’re angry. And I appreciate that anger and I share that anger. So what’s next is to attempt to move this in a positive direction as rapidly as possible through a variety of efforts.

One, there are many aspects of this bill we believe to be unconstitutional and there are folks who will be trying that constitutionality in the courts. The states, nearly 40 states now, said they believe they ought to be able to have their citizens have the right to not be held to comply with the federal dictates from this piece of legislation. We will be moving toward a repeal and reform-it-now process, which is identifying the things in this bill that are oppressive and decrease the quality of care to the American people, and repeal those and reform them and replace them with appropriate solutions that we put on the table in the past. And then at the end of the day, we are here today because of the election in November of 08. Elections have consequences. There is an election in November 2010 and we’ll be working as hard as we can with like-minded citizens and patriots across this land who believe that individuals, patients, families and physicians ought to be able to make medical decisions and not the government.

Question 5 – On your Web site, it says one of your priorities is providing “patient-centered” health care. The bill passed last night estimates 30 million people currently not insured will now be insured. My question is, Isn’t adding 30 million uninsured potential patients to the insurance roles a patient-centered health care bill?

Price: It depends on what you’re giving them. If you’re giving them a card that says you have the right to get in line and wait, that’s not patient-centered. If you’re giving them a plan that is a substandard plan because of rationing of care and doesn’t allow you to get the care that you want to receive for you and your family, that’s not patient-centered.  If you’re dictating to the patients what doctors they’re able to see and what procedures and tests they’re able to have, that’s not patient-centered. So it depends what you’re giving them. The fact of the matter is, these bills, the bills passed yesterday, will not improve quality in this nation, they will decrease quality. They won’t decrease costs of health care in this nation, they will increase costs. They will not increase access in this nation, they will decease access in this nation. They will not increase responsiveness of this system; they will decrease the responsiveness of this system. It will destroy innovation that has given us the greatest health care system in the world and it will remove choices for the American people. So none of the principles that we hold dear as it relates to health care are improved by what is in these bills.

Question 6 – I read awhile back a CBO (Congressional Budget Office) report that said the Republican plan offered would add 3 million uninsured to the insurance roles whereas the democratic plan passed adds around 30 million. With estimates now of 50 million people being uninsured, why would the Republican plan stick so close to a status quo that currently doesn’t give health care insurance to millions of Americans?

Price: A couple of points. One is the Republican plan to which people refer was because of the rules of the House the only alternative that was able to be offered by the tyrannical nature of the speaker in her effort to decrease the ability of Republicans to get their issues to the floor, the only alternative that was able to be offered during the first health care debate. Yesterday, there was no alternative that was able to be offered, none. And the bill that I have supported, strongly, is H.R. 3400, which is a comprehensive piece of health care reform legislation that I believe would get a vast majority, if not all of the American people, covered with health care coverage that they selected and that they want for themselves and their families and not what the government wants for them. So the notion that there is only one Republican plan out there is just flawed and it’s not accurate in reflecting the kinds of proposals that Republicans have put forward.

 Question 7 – I’m going to read something to you from the Health Political Action Committee online Web site, which was established in 2001 to promote health care reform in the United States and advocate universal health care for all Americans. I’ll follow the statement up with a question.

 “It is unconscionable that the United States is one of the wealthiest and most advanced countries in the world yet it is the only industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care as a right of citizenship. The desire for universal health care is not the promotion of socialized medicine, but the belief that every American should have access to affordable, high-quality medical care.”

My question is, is universal health care a realistic dream for Americans to have and why or why not?

Price: Well sure it is, yeah, and our bill gets us to universal coverage, but it gets us to universal coverage that the people want for themselves and their families and not what the government wants for them. The premise of that question is that the only way to get to universal coverage is if the government GIVES you health care, and when the government GIVES you health care, what it GIVES you is out of your control, so you no longer control the most personal decisions of your life. That’s unacceptable.    

It was a rainy and gloomy day in Washington D.C. Monday. The same could also be said for Republicans, because not one supported health care reform legislation that passed the House of Represenatives late Sunday night. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law Tuesday.

Question 8 – A 2000 World Health Organization ranking of the countries with the best health care said France was number one and the US was number 37.  My question is, what’s wrong with a public option insurance system like they have in France where the government provides service but it also competes against private insurers?

Price: Well, the question really is, what is the World Health Organization use to rank nations? The fact of the matter is if you look at disease specific criteria, the United States has the greatest health system in the world. If you have a heart attack today, the likelihood of you surviving that heart attack is better where you’re seated than anywhere else in the world. If you’re diagnosed with cancer tomorrow or someone in your family is diagnosed with cancer, the likelihood of you or someone in your family surviving that cancer is greater here in this nation than anywhere in the world. If you have an awful traumatic injury somewhere in a metropolitan area in this nation, your likelihood of surviving and being able to lead a productive life is greater there than anywhere else in this world. So what the World Health Organization uses to determine its ranking oftentimes bears no resemblance to specific disease criteria as it relates to outcomes in real people with real problems on the street. One of things that the World Health Organization uses as one of their items that they put into that equation is whether or not you’re insured. Well, in this nation, oftentimes whether or not you are insured doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not you get treatment. In fact, there are people everyday who are treated by the generosity and altruism of the physicians providing care across this land who have no insurance whatsoever. The World Health Organization doesn’t count that at all. So when individuals who are of means in France get really sick, where do they go? They go to the United States.

Question 9 – My wife is a current emergency room nurse at Emory University Hospital and prior to that worked in the ER at a Chicago inner-city Level 1 trauma center. She said she sees people all the time that don’t have insurance who come into the ER for treatment because they have nowhere else to go. (Price interjects, “That’s right.”) How can that problem be fixed? How can we get to a point where we practice more preventative medicine as opposed to reactionary medicine?

Price: We make it so that those individuals actually are able to purchase the health coverage that they want, and that’s what H.R. 3400 does. It makes it so that regardless of your economic station in life, you will have, we will make certain as a society because we are generous and believe it is appropriate, we will give you the financial wherewithal to be able to purchase the health coverage that you want for you and your family, not what the government wants for you. It is so incredibly important that we make certain that the system that we have respects individuals. The bills that were passed yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives do not respect individuals. They put their trust in government and not people.

Question 10 – What’s your thought on how the media has portrayed these bills to the American public? (Price says, “Some has been good, some has been bad.”) Has it been accurate? (Price says, “By and large not.”) To hear the rest of Price’s answer and his comments on the more than 4000 pages of legislation passed yesterday and what universal health care has done to the state of Massachusetts, click here.

Question 11 –   Last question, this bill still leaves millions of Americans without access to quality healthcare. What’s your thought on a bill that would simply extend the health care packages currently enjoyed by Federal employees to the entire U.S. population given they are legal citizens?

Price: It’s interesting that you ask that question because that’s part of the construct and model that we used for H.R. 3400. The federal employee health benefits program is a wonderful program and rests on the principle and belief that individuals ought to be able to make decisions about their own medical care so that I and every other federal employee every single year get to select the insurance that we want for ourselves and our family for that next year because situations change. That’s the model upon which we built H.R. 3400, which would give the American people the privilege and the right and the opportunity to every single year be able to select the coverage that they want for themselves and their family and not what the government wants for them. That’s the solution, that’s a big part of the solution.  

Jamie Ward: So you’ll keep fighting for (H.R.) 3400? 

Price: Absolutely! The battle of ideas never ends and the price of liberty is eternal vigilance…And we’ll be eternally vigilant.

 

Related posts:

1. Fulton County Residents Encouraged To Donate Cash To Help Haiti Earthquake Victims
2. Cory Ruth Declares Candidacy For Congress

Niko's Wine Corner located on the historic Lawrenceville downtown square offers wine by the glass in house and for purchase to go. Owner Niko Patel said they will soon carry more than 1000 labels.

LAWRENCEVILLE — For those who appreciate and enjoy tasting and buying bottles of fine wine, Gwinnett County’s historic downtown Lawrenceville square just got a fantastic new addition — Niko’s Wine Corner, located at 178 E. Crogan St., Suite 210.

For Niko Patel, a 12-year veteran of the industry who also owns a package store in Snellville on Scenic Highway, the opening of his new specialty wine shop along with partner Leslie Maske is a dream come true. 

What makes the new store unique to Gwinnett County and different from his other store, Patel said, is the ability to offer patrons a “try before you buy” experience, meaning besides selling bottles to go, wine by the glass is also available to those who visit.   

“I’ve always wanted to do this kind of set up where you can sit down and can drink and try different wines because there are so many good wines out there,” Patel said. “Not everyone knows all these labels so people can expand their palette and knowledge of different wines. It also helps me to understand my customer’s taste when they try it so the next time I can recommend something else.”

To commemorate the store’s opening Friday, hundreds showed up Saturday afternoon for a wine tasting and to nibble on fruits and cheeses in order to sample some of Niko’s 500 selections currently available. Patel said like his store in Snellville, he’ll soon have more than 1000 labels on hand in Lawrenceville. In the coming months after a city ordinance change, he’s also expecting to sell craft and high gravity beers. But he said the selections you’ll find at his shops are different from that of typical package stores or supermarkets, which he said oftentimes, carry many of the same, well known labels that you’ll find in many stores.  

“Most of the typical package stores you find won’t have the selections I have,” Patel said. “The beauty of wine is that you don’t have to buy a good bottle of wine and pay too much money for it. There are a lot of quality wines that are inexpensive,” Patel said. “Most package stores also focus on liquor, on alcohol. My focus is on wines, and on unique wines and quality wines. I try to find labels that got better quality than what you pay for. My labels are not well known and I like to offer many choices.”

Patel said finding the right location for the store was integral in why he chose locating at the historic downtown square. He specifically mentioned the neighborhood’s vitality, the tourists that visit and the niche small businesses popping up all around it. To hear Patel in his own words on why he always wanted to open a specialty wine store, what he referred to as “his library,” click here.

From left, Shane Hill, Jason Lancaster and Joyce Harvey prepare to sample one of Con Vinum's samples as wine consultant Bill Reynolds looks on and waits for their reaction. Con Vinum currently has four labels for sale at Niko's Wine Corner and their Cotes Du Rhone was a big hit at Saturday's wine tasting.

Wine Consultant Bill Reynolds of Con Vinum Wines was one of a few people on hand Saturday pouring glasses for sample. One in particular that many seemed to enjoy was “Ferraton’s Cotes Du Rhone,” a 2007 French red blend that seemed to have everyone talking as they sampled.  

“People really have shown a fondness for that one,” Reynolds said.

“I think it tastes very good,” said one taster. “It would be very good with pork.”

“And barbeque,” Reynolds added. “McCray’s Tavern carries it and it’s great with a hamburger off the grill, too.”

The wine was rated 89 out of 100 by Robert Parker.

“The Cotes Du Rhone is excellent,” said Al Brochu, who came out in support of Patel after having been a customer at his other store. “It’s smooth, light and refreshing. It’s a great wine.”

 The wine consultant Reynolds agreed with Patel about the advantage to wine shopping at a specialty shop as opposed to a package liquor store or supermarket.

“This store offers a lot greater variety of hard-to-find-wines, smaller producers and wines that you may not find anywhere else,” Reynolds said. “I think it’s fabulous and that they are off to a great start.”

Reynolds also had a great answer that could sum up the experience of shopping at a wine specialty store like Niko’s. When asked how he became a wine consultant, Reynolds said, “First you learn to fall in love with wine and all the things that it adds to life, in terms of knowledge about the world, in terms of friendliness with food and in terms of making new friends,” he said. “Wine adds a lot to life.”

Stop in at Niko's Wine Corner for a glass of vino or a bottle to go.

Niko’s Wine Corner is currently open 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday thru Saturday. For more information, on the Web visit www.nikoswinecorner.com or phone 770-962-0348.

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From left, Defy Thirst founders Matt Turner and Stephen Dupuis stand over a water filtration system implemented at the Manta Orphanage in Ecuador. The two leave to work in Haiti on another water project Friday.

LAWRENCEVILLE — They’re young, ambitious, educated, hard working and well-travelled, and the goal they have for the nonprofit organization they’ve formed — Defy Thirst— is simple. Twenty-four-year-olds’ Matt Turner and Stephen Dupuis want to empower the poverty stricken people of the world to stand up and do what their organization’s name states, defy thirst.  Turner and Dupuis hope to accomplish this by making clean, safe water available to all through providing cheap, efficient water filtration technology to those who want it.

Starting Friday and over the next couple of weeks, the two and their team of volunteers will put this strategy to the test in the village of Petit Goave, a town southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the city ravaged by a deadly earthquake in January that left tens if not hundreds of thousands of people dead. They’re also planning trips this year to work on projects in Kenya, Tanzania, India and Ghana, where Dupuis once lived doing HIV education work. Cambodia is even a possibility.

For both Turner and Dupuis, the idea to give people access to water came to them while attending a Christian church sports camp a few years ago in Missouri. Simply put, the two became friends and both wanted to do something positive for the world. And as the two travelled together in the undeveloped world, they also saw how rural communities often struggled to meet basic human needs, like having access to clean water.

For Turner, who studies water microbiology as a graduate student in the Rollins School of Public Health at Atlanta’s Emory University, he’s dedicated his life to this type of work. He even got his start working on small water filtration systems at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When he last visited Haiti, he got sick, most likely from the water, by eating a “gourmet” Haitian meal of spaghetti noodles and ketchup.

An unidentified orphan from the Manta Orphanage in Ecuador watches clean water come through a Defy Thirst water filtration system as the group's cofounder Stephen Dupuis looks on. Defy Thirst likes to employ different technologies that are site specific depending on a village or city's water needs on the ground.

“I was sickened by what I saw,” Turner said. “Water microbiology is the basis for all water-borne diseases in the world… The statistic is that less than one percent of all water projects in the world are still in existence and working one year after their install date. So you’ve got all these nonprofits, churches, community groups that raise all this money for these water projects, but because there is no long term investment in the community, it just disappears and doesn’t have the impact that people are running around saying that it had.”

And that’s what these two want to change. They don’t just want to provide clean water in a sustainable fashion; they also want to build life-lasting relationships with the people in the villages they serve.

“One of the important things in the effectiveness of a project is how involved are the people in the community and how much do they want it,” Turner said. “You can’t just come into a community and say, ‘Hey, you need clean water.’ If they (villagers) don’t see it as important, they won’t take care of whatever you put in there or they won’t use it or they’ll take it apart and sell the parts for a little bit of money.”

“There are so many different problems you have to look at,” Dupuis said. “We don’t want to just drop a system off and leave.”

“Over a long period of time what we want to do is take these communities we work in and be a partner with them in turning their situation around but allowing them to turn their situations around by working with us,” Turner said. “It’s all about helping people. For us it’s about accomplishing something in our lifetime.”   

Both Turner and Dupuis and their Defy Thirst nonprofit have already completed a successful water project in Ecuador at an orphanage and also at a 4-H camp here in Georgia in Dahlonega. They’ve joined the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, are actively fundraising and applying for grants, and even hope to form a for-profit company that can provide jobs and eventually cover the nonprofit’s administrative costs. And with the word spreading about the mission they are embarking upon, they don’t even have to seek out projects. Rather, the projects are finding them.

“People just come to us,” Turner said. “We’ve got friends in Haiti and they came to us and said this community has asked for help. In Ghana, it was a church that came to us and asked us for help with clean water. In April, we’ll go there to work in a village with about 3,000 people to bring them clean water.”

“Each system is going to be different,” Dupuis adds. “You can’t just say one technology will work.”

“We’re very research oriented,” Turner said. “We try to be grounded to the science to be effective by doing lots of monitoring and evaluation so that we’re effective and not throwing people’s money away.”

And for anyone looking to donate money to a good cause in the undeveloped world that will help the unfortunate, not throwing people’s money away is exactly the words you’d want to hear.

To hear more about the water filtration systems used and the project process Defy Thirst employs, click here.

To learn more about the organization and to donate money to this 501(c)(3), visit www.defythirst.org

An upclose look at part of a water filtration system developed by the nonprofit Defy Thirst.

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Second from left, Evermore board members Kenny King and Dwight Harrison huddle up in the revamped pro shop at the former Olympic tennis center. The CID is moving its offices into the old pro shop in the coming weeks in hopes of transforming the entire stadium complex into a multi-purpose facility.

SNELLVILLE — With new ceiling tiles, new carpeting and the smell of fresh paint on the walls, as promised the Evermore Community Improvement District Board of Directors held its first meeting at the pro shop of the former Olympic tennis stadium Wednesday.

As soon as the telephone and data lines are installed, the CID office will move its headquarters into the revamped pro shop with the hopes of transforming the entire stadium complex into a multipurpose facility — possibly used as a venue for concerts, large church gatherings and multiple sporting events. Before the CID took over the facility for at least the remainder of 2010, it was set to be demolished and turned into a Gwinnett County park.

“This is pretty amazing to be thinking about having our meetings in an Olympic stadium,” said board member Emory Morsberger. “It’s a great symbol for our progress and for revitalization.”

According to Executive Director Jim Brooks, the value of the facility as recorded in Gwinnett County’s Tax Digest is currently $18 million. An economic impact study conducted by the CID suggested the redone stadium could bring in $100 million over a 10-year period. Along with a $40,000 Atlanta Regional Commission grant that is being matched by the CID, efforts are now underway to conduct a feasibility study to see what possibilities might exist for the former Olympic venue.

“We’re building momentum,” Brooks said of current economic development efforts in the Evermore U.S. Highway 78 corridor, which starts at the tennis venue with historic Stone M0untain as its backdrop. “We had seven people (mall developers) in this corridor within five days looking at facilities. That’s the most we’ve had since I’ve been here. It’s amazing what talking about this stadium is doing to create interest.”

“Economic development is foremost on our mind now. That’s where we focus when we wake up every morning, along with transportation improvements.” said Chairman of the Board Forrest Adair.

Board member Kenny King even went as far as making comments about using the CID influence to see about cleaning up the entire U.S. Highway 78 corridor through DeKalb County and into Decatur at Interstate 285. To hear King’s comments on why he believes this is important, click here.

In other CID news, Treasurer Bill Gower reported a general operating fund balance as of Jan. 31 of $655,516.59. He also reported the CID’s various investments in the corridor totaled $2,152,856.19. Finally, Gower requested and the board approved an additional $21,000 expenditure for landscaping and infrastructure maintenance in the form of “unexpected crib walls.”

Also, elections were set for the Post 1 and Post 4 board spots, currently held by Dwight Harrison and Thomas Carraway. They’ll take place on April 28 at 2:30 p.m. with registration beginning at 2. To hear more about this and the millage rate vote of May 26, click here to hear comments from board member Don Robison.

Finally, in response to the recall election of 2009 which took the board members to Gwinnett County Superior Court, a set of by-laws for the CID were adopted after a lengthy discussion between Harrison (who spearheaded the effort to implement by-laws), Robison and Gary Custar. Robison’s concern mainly dealt with language about where board meetings could be held. In the end, it was determined those meetings could only take place in DeKalb and Gwinnett County as opposed to anywhere in the state of Georgia. Custar was the lone board member to vote against approving the by-laws because he said he didn’t like a clause that stated what would happen in the case of a deadlocked board.     

“I think we have a great set of by-laws,” Harrison said. In speaking with CID attorney Lynn Rainey, who represents 10 CID’s in the metro area including Evermore, Harrison said, “They’re as strong as any set of by-laws in metro Atlanta.”

Harrison said now that the by-laws were implemented, he’d work on implementing an ethics policy next.

The CID board’s next monthly meeting will take place March 24.

The Olympic tennis stadium pro shop is now the Evermore CID's new headquarters.

Related posts:

1. Evermore CID Approves Move To New Headquarters In Effort To Transform Olympic Tennis Venue
2. Evermore CID Wins Grant; Keeps Hope Alive of Redeveloping Olympic Tennis Stadium At Stone Mountain
3. Republican Candidate Liz Carter Speaks to Evermore CID Board

From right, Republican hopeful Cory Ruth speaks to Christine McMahan and an unidentified male Saturday at Brookhaven's Library Coffee Company. Ruth is running for the congressional seat in Georgia's 4th District that is currently held by Democrat Hank Johnson.

ATLANTA — Republican Cory Ruth officially threw his hat into the ring for Georgia’s 4th District U.S. Congressional seat on Saturday. He joins Liz Carter and Larry Gause in the Republican race to unseat Democrat Hank Johnson for the area that encompasses southern Gwinnett County, DeKalb County and most of Rockdale County.

“I felt like I had a clear voice that I could offer to the national dialogue,” Ruth said. “I am a conservative and not a Libertarian. I believe in fiscal conservatism but also in conservative values.”

Ruth said he’s been planning his congressional run since the 2000 election and had originally planned to run in 2012. But he said he felt compelled to run now considering the “current crisis” in Washington D.C.

“The economy is affecting everybody,” Ruth said. “When you look at the Keynesian style solutions that are being offered by the President and the current congressional leadership…it’s a risky undertaking from an economics standpoint.”

Ruth said the Keynesian solutions he was referring to was the use of foreign held, debt-financed public money infused into the marketplace to revive the economy through lower interest rates and investment in infrastructure.

“It allows the government prerogative into our lives in areas that most Americans are concerned about,” he said.  Speaking of the auto industry bailouts and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Ruth said, “It’s those types of liberal dispositions that concern me the most.”

 Ruth said the economy was the biggest issue facing Georgia’s 4th District.  To hear more about this, click here. To hear Ruth’s views on the current health care debate, click here.

He said a good conversation starter for fixing health care would be discussing whether or not citizens should have the ability to purchase insurance across state lines. But Ruth said he had concerns with this proposal because first, the government would have to regulate it as interstate commerce, and second, because he doesn’t know how easy it would be to protect Georgians should they become victims of fraud.

“We need scalable solutions that can adapt and change with the pace of society,” he said.

Ruth has worked in corporate America managing information security compliance and standards for a Fortune 500 company for more than a decade. In that time he has also done a considerable amount of charity work. On top of that, he’s also published numerous pieces for various publications, most notably as a conservative political analyst for the Philadelphia-based Reformed Blacks of America. To hear Ruth in his own words state why he’s the person for the job, click here.

Christine McMahan, owner of The Biz Wizard, was one of about 20 or so people on hand Saturday afternoon at Brookhaven’s Library Coffee Company to hear Ruth speak. A supporter of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, she liked what she heard from Ruth and even went as far afterwards as saying she might volunteer to work on Ruth’s campaign.

“I think he’s an exciting young  man,” McMahan said. “I’m willing to look at anyone who comes up with another point of view that isn’t kind of mainstream state and the government is the answer to everything. It sounded like he had an ideology that was basically leaning towards the Constitution and where we should be looking for the answers when it comes to the federal government.”

Darlene Nazaire also liked what she heard. She said she’d like whoever is elected to be more involved in the community and more accountable for their votes on Capitol Hill and how taxpayer dollars are spent.

“The government is too much into what’s going on with the economy. It’s time to take a step back and let the average citizen and businesses do their own thing and that’s what he expounded on,” Nazaire said. “He had some ideas on how to do that and I was pleased to hear that.”

As for Ruth’s first plans if elected to Congress?

“I’d sponsor a bill that requires the federal government to provide a comprehensive, detailed receipt of every dime spent of every income tax paying citizen. That should be required to do prior to paying any income tax,” Ruth said. “One of my guiding principles is deliberate accountability. Not just accountability, but when your elected officials are deliberately developing innovative ways to make themselves more accountable to the people.”

In other news regarding this same congressional race, Ruth’s opponent Liz Carter this past week picked up an endorsement from Gwinnett County Sherriff Butch Conway.

“Liz Carter is fully aware of the daily challenges faced on the frontlines of keeping our homes and businesses safe,” Conway said in a released statement. “I know that she understands the ever-changing role of public safety personnel at all levels…I am confident that she will work harder than anyone as our next representative to give us the support we need to better serve our communities.”

The Atlanta Citizen is planning to interview both Carter and Gause soon. Stay tuned.

For more information on any of these respective campaigns, feel free to visit the candidate’s Web sites.

http://www.lizcarterforcongress.com/

http://www.gauseforcongress.com/support.php

http://www.coryruth.com/

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1. Republican Candidate Liz Carter Speaks to Evermore CID Board

The Evermore CID wants to potentially use the former Olympic tennis stadium as a redevelopment catalyst for the transformation of the commercial area. With Stone Mountain serving as a backdrop, the area off Park Place Boulevard serves as the entrance to the CID.

SNELLVILLE — The effort to eventually transform the former Olympic tennis stadium at Stone Mountain got a pleasant jolt in the right direction Thursday from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The good news came when the ARC awarded the Evermore Community Improvement District with a $40,000 grant to allow it to further study a possible multi-modal mixed use center in the Park Place area, located on the Gwinnett County side of Stone Mountain, in and around the former Olympic tennis venue.

“A number of developers and retailers have shown renewed interest in the area, just from hearing about the possibilities that are being explored,” said CID Economic Development Director David Stedman. “When businesses and developers hear about the vision we have for the area, people get excited.”

Last month the CID agreed to move its headquarters to the pro shop at the tennis stadium to show how committed it was to exploring redevelopment options for the currently unused facility. The stadium’s current owner, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, had planned to tear down the stadium this year but later balked at the idea when budgetary problems arose. In May, Gwinnett Countysigned a $1-a-year, 50-year lease to operate 15 outdoor tennis courts surrounding the stadium and its 24.5-acre site on Bermuda Road. The plan was to have a park there. Gwinnett County agreed to let the CID pursue its current plan of action as long as it was clear no money would come from the county to fund such an effort.

With the CID now planning to equally match the ARC grant, that equals $80,000 going toward exploring design options in conjunction with a multi-modal transportation hub that could be potentially used to link downtown Atlanta, the city of Decatur and the U.S. Highway 78 commercial corridor known as the Evermore CID.

“We’re totally overjoyed,” Stedman said. “This is a great first step in the overall comprehensive plan which is hinged on getting good information. We need ideas that makes sense.”

CID Board of Directors Chairman Forest Adair and board member Kenny King have both said they hope the proposed restoration and transformation of the former Olympic tennis stadium into a multi-use facility could be a catalyst for revitalization and development of that entire area.

“But it must be done in the context of transit oriented purpose design that improves connectivity and promotes green development,” Adair said. “We’re grateful to ARC because this grant will be used to determine the viability of these concepts, as well as identifying the action steps we need to be taking.”

The CID commissioned a preliminary study late last year that showed the stadium could generate as much as $106 million in economic impact over a 10-year period. Now, said CID Executive Director Jim Brooks, the organization will apply the ARC’s grant to study the broader context of transit oriented development. A past traffic circulation analysis showed the area had numerous pockets of congestion. And while the completion of the $60 million dollar widening and median project on U.S. Highway 78 will serve to help the flow of traffic, “the use of a multi-modal transit hub would serve to eliminate key bottle necks, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a boon for area businesses,” Brooks said.

“Connectivity drives redevelopment and there is federal funding for this,” Stedman said. “It would also give people added flexibility.”

Stedman said one option which will be explored is possibly having a park and ride lot where shuttle buses or some other “urban circulatory system” were used to move people from store to store and area to area up and down the corridor. Additionally, more buses from a “bus rapid transit system” would serve as connectors between downtown Atlanta and the city of Decatur.

“People could park once and then ride the corridor or all the way to downtown Atlanta. It could eliminate total vehicle miles travelled which reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” Stedman said. “And it’s cheaper than building roads. Rubber tires make more sense than concrete.”

He added that the CID doesn’t want to add to the traffic congestion prevalent on US 78, but rather wants to show they’re making “an effort to improve the market dynamics of the area in a fundamental way.”

An aerial shot of Atlanta's 1996 Olympic tennis stadium.

Related posts:

1. Evermore CID Holds First Board Meeting At Former Olympic Tennis Stadium, All Part Of An Effort To Transform The U.S. Highway 78 Business District
2. Evermore CID Approves Move To New Headquarters In Effort To Transform Olympic Tennis Venue

From left, Giiiko of Tha Slab Bois and Latasha Turner check out the T-shirt they made for an upcoming concert as Big Frog owners Danita Baham and her husband Claude look on.

SNELLVILLE — Perfect, cool, neat. Those three words uttered by customers in describing their in-store experience would be music to any small business owners’ ears.

They were also exactly the words Tha Slab Boiz used to describe their experience making T-shirts Tuesday at Big Frog, Custom T-Shirts & More, located at 1905 Scenic Highway in the Presidential Markets Shopping Center (near the Carmike Cinemas and Panera Bread).

Why were the Lithonia-based and hip-hop-rapping Tha Slab Boiz visiting Big Frog? They had a concert the next day in Birmingham and wanted to wear T-shirts advertising themselves while performing. Along with their graphic designer Latasha Turner in tow (she designed and photographed the logo), for $47.67 all three patrons left Big Frog with a different sized T-shirt of their own with Tha Slab Boiz logo and art emblazed on the front. If things go well in Alabama, the group could be back to buy more T-shirts to sell to their growing number of fans. Or maybe they’ll sell posters or drink coasters. Or coozies. In this 21^st century technological age, you’d be amazed the number of items memories or art could now be printed upon.  

That’s only part of the beauty of the Big Frog, Custom T-shirts & More store – they make what you want when you want. Need 50 T-shirts, no problem.  If you only need one shirt at first, then maybe 50 later, also no problem. Only need one? That’s cool, too. Whatever the order, Big Frog will turn it around in 24 hours or less while doing everything in-house. They can even help design the art you want using one of their two graphic designers and computer stations. Or you might bring your own art or photos into the store on a thumb drive. It’s really up to the customer, and the cost for either service is the same. Just be prepared to have fun putting something onto something else that means something to you. It truly is memory preservation at its finest and you can put that memory onto just about anything. Puzzles, blankets , towels and pillowcases were just a few items mentioned in addition to T-shirts.

“Your imagination is your only limitation,” said co-owner Danita Baham in describing the Big Frog experience. “You can have a T-shirt that means something to you in 20 minutes.” To listen to Baham describe the technology used to accomplish this so quickly, click here.

Long gone are the days of the iron-on print T-shirt from the county fair that surely would crack, peel and wrinkle the first time it went through a wash cycle.

“It’s neat seeing what they can do and how quickly the end product turns out,” said Anna Swindle, who handles some public relations for Big Frog. “It’s clean, it’s flat, the T-shirt doesn’t crack or peel. It really is different.”

Co-owner Claude Baham, Danita’s husband, said another differentiating factor that makes Big Frog stand out from its competition is its low pricing.

Claude Baham prepares a T-shirt for printing at Big Frog. The printer and technology used keeps the T-shirts from fading, cracking and peeling when washed.

“The easiest people to sell to are the people who’ve bought shirts before because they’re used to paying set-up fees, used to paying artwork fees and used to paying minimums,” Claude said. “When you tell them we don’t have these things, it’s easy. We are the only place where you can come in and do that.”

Big Frog can do what it does for any individual and just about any group, too. Shiloh High School’s Robotics Club had its finals T-shirts waiting for pick-up when this reporter visited. Work had also been done for various local sports teams and cheerleading squads. Big Frog has also printed things for theatre groups, churches, small businesses and family reunions.

You can have an idea of your own, but you don’t really need one at this direct to garment printer.

Claude, a former Chief Information Officer for Allied Automotive, also said the printing technology used is green, meaning no harsh chemicals are used in the printing process. The technology has the capability to produce 16 million different colors.

“Everything is garment dye which electronically bonds to the shirts,” he said. “It’s very similar to almost like an inkjet printer. We’re printing on top of the shirt and then we heat press it, and that embeds the garment dye into the shirt so it becomes part of the shirt. That’s why we’re able to hot water wash, color safe bleach it, iron it, whatever.”

 Claude said the biggest satisfaction he gets from his customers nowadays is hearing what they want to preserve or promote when they come into the store.

“Everyone that comes in has a unique story and it’s special to them,” Claude said. “Even if it’s their business, they are proud of their logo or their art work and they bring it to us. That’s the coolest thing.”

To hear Claude tell one of his favorite stories of a T-shirt Big Frog designed (it’s about a hot dog), click here. 

The Baham’s only opened Big Frog in Snellville six months ago (the franchise is from Clearwater, FL). They’re already thinking of adding another metro area location (there are two additional stores located in Buckhead and Cumming). But first they want to overcome what they said is so far their biggest challenge.

“The hardest part is getting the word out that we’re here,” Claude said.

Big Frog representatives will be at the Run the Reagan race this weekend shooting out complimentary T-shirts from a T-shirt cannon. If you’re still in need of a Valentine gift for your sweetheart, show off your creative side by visiting Big Frog between now and Saturday. The store is open Monday to Friday from 9 to 6 and Saturday from 9 – 1. T-shirts start as low as $14.99.

Co-owner Claude Baham is a native of New Orleans and already had a Saints SuperBowl T-shirt on display. Patrons of Big Frog can make T-shirts look however they desire.

Big Frog of Snellville co-owners Claude and Danita Baham.

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From left, CID Executive Director Joe Allen and CID attorney Lynn Rainey listen to a presentation on diverging diamond interchanges. One is being considered at the Pleasant Hill Road bridge interchange with I-85.

DULUTH — After hearing from its Executive Director Joe Allen that the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District was financially strong, its board of directors Wednesday received a look at plans to fix and eventually replace the Pleasant Hill Road bridge connecting with I- 85.

Anyone who knows Gwinnett County traffic woes knows the Pleasant Hill Road bridge all too well. The plan moving through at present includes reconstructing the bridge with a diverging diamond interchange first. The long term plan that follows includes bridge replacement.

“It’s not a cure,” Allen told board members. “The long-term plan is still to replace the bridge. But this could be a quick win within the next year.”

He said the project once approved could be completed in one to two years. 

A relatively new concept and one Allen said was one of the “top 10 inventions of the decade,” the traffic improvement system known as a diverging diamond interchange only exists currently in a handful of U.S. cities, the one most mentioned being Springfield, Mo.

Advocates of the system say it improves traffic flow by eliminating problematic left turns. What drivers might find strange at first is that it briefly sends all cars over to the left side of the road. Other potential concerns on Pleasant Hill could involve speed limits (45 mph vs. 35 mph) and the ability for large trucks to handle the new design.

“The current models show this would have a neutral impact on the freeway,” Allen said.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is reviewing the concept.

In a letter to U.S. Representative John Linder, Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister said, “The replacement of the Pleasant Hill Road bridge across the Interstate will be a cornerstone project to revitalize and promote economic development along this highly traveled corridor and enforces the goals of our 2030 Unified Plan and Comprehensive Transportation Plan.”

In other CID news, the district reported a nearly 25 percent reduction in overall crime in the CID’s boundaries from 2007 to 2009. Allen attributed the positive numbers to the continued and increased presence in the area of the Gwinnett County Police Department. Highlights of that 25 percent reduction included an overall 12 percent drop in commercial burglary, a 37 percent decrease in total traffic accidents and a 50 percent reduction in robbery. While total theft did decrease by 18 percent in the two-year period, there was a slight uptick of 14 percent from 2008 when 880 incidents were reported to 2009 when there were 1006 incidents.

Coming later this week, an exclusive interview with CID Executive Director Joe Allen.

To read a news story about the diverging diamond interchange project in Missouri, click: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120403340

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1. Smaller Homes Could Be Coming To 500 Block Of Old Peachtree Road Because Of Down Economy
2. Commissioners Ratify Three Bridge Repairs To The Tune Of $1.15 Million

Food, Inc. is a harrowing expose about America’s industrialized food system in the last 50 to 60 years and its effect on the environment, economy, on workers’ rights and their health. It’s eye-opening, sad and disturbing. It’s also important and optimistic because there are solutions; it’s that sort of film. The information will blow your mind; the images within it will stick with you for some time. My wife and I have been talking about it all week.

Perdue and Tyson were called out in the movie, hence why I’ve “outed” them. The clucking outfits declined to be interviewed for the film (CHICKENS!), which is slightly creepy considering accusations were directed against Tyson and Perdue for being “factory farmers.” Some might ask why would a company like Perdue or Tyson decline to be interviewed for a movie like Food, Inc.? Wouldn’t they want to defend their practices for feeding the masses? It’s this failure to answer questions on camera about factory farming that disturbs me most.

My guess is, these companies don’t even want you to see the parts of the food industry on display in Food, Inc., nor do they want to talk about it. It’s just something they’d rather sweep under the table. And with billions of dollars at stake, who can blame them? Why would they want to spoil a good thing where they make a sweet profit even if it’s really rotten at the core? If it “ain’t” broke, don’t fix it, or so the saying goes.

I’m certain these two companies are not alone in their actions. But using them both as examples, have you ever seen thee companies’ chicken breasts packaged together in the grocery store? Or the multipacks of legs, wings and thighs? Tell you what, next time you’re grocery shopping, take a close look at these multipacks when you get a chance. After close inspection, you’ll notice all the chicken parts are about the same size. That’s done on purpose, folks, because they’ve all been engineered to look that way. Food, Inc. says science is to thank. In theory, you might as well call ALL of these chickens Perdue, or Tyson. The name difference really signifies nothing, just who pays who, who employs who, who gets to stick their name on what label, who kills what chickens. But the chickens are all the same, and the same could be said of certain cows and pigs, too. And Americans eat lots of ALL of them!

To get an idea of the subject matter, Google ‘factory farming.” The results will direct you to some quick facts, one of which is the companies that factory farm try to hide who they are. But think about it, why would these companies want to be discovered? I mean (and read this slowly) THEY GROW ANIMALS MEANT TO LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME IN ORDER TO FEED HUMAN BEINGS.  Read what’s in caps again. SLOWLY! When you think about it, that is sort of a gross, strange, necessary subject, no? If I were that company, I’d want to keep that hat in the bag, too.

But what’s shocking about factory farming are the lives – or lack thereof – the animals live. It’s quite a different life from that of regular farm animals. Matter of fact, farm factory animals are treated like no animal I can think of. Inhumane doesn’t even describe their treatment. Unbelievable is more apt. Or sick, and disgusting. And when you see Food, Inc., AND YOU SHOULD SEE IT, you’ll never think of Perdue or Tyson’s chickens the same again. Same could be said for hamburger meat. If you even care remotely about what you put in your body and eat as food, you’ll think twice the next time when those chickens or cows or pigs come out on your plate as chicken wings, cheeseburgers or bacon,… especially if it’s at a national fast-food chain.

In terms of getting its message out, Food, Inc., hit a home run. As a society now, we need to follow that film’s advice the best we can.  If everyone does their part, we can affect change. One aspect of the message is really simple, too. It’s go organic if you can. It’s also if you’re not going to be a vegetarian (kudos to you if you are!), then you must COMPLETELY support and demand the humane treatment of farm animals. If you don’t, you might as well just eat farm animal peewee and doo doo, because these animals you’re eating have certainly been laying in it. Yes, you’re reading that right, these animals sometimes lay in their own feces. Hmmmm, yummy chicken.

What I’d also tell you is that if consumers demand organic, sustainably produced products from suppliers, the industrialized food industry will be FORCED to supply them. Organic prices then come down and that becomes the norm for all.

Look, there are not many films in existence where I’d say, “You REALLY must see this.” But Food, Inc. is that rare exception.  Hopefully after you’ve seen it, you’ll tell someone else about it because it moved you, just like I am. That’s how movements are born, and the organic movement has already begun. It’s now time to take it to the masses, and that starts at home and in our communities. We can continue to grow the trend. We just have to demand organic as consumers, one food product at a time.

In Georgia today, I know farmers’ markets exist all over metro Atlanta at various times of year. I know there are other places to purchase organic products year round. Buy from these outlets if you can. When you purchase food from large, national chains and restaurants, ask for and read the labels and know what you’re buying and where the food comes from. When voting for your elected leaders, vote for those who support oversight, accountability and transparency from the entire food industry. After all, this stuff you’re buying – food – it goes in your body. If anything deserves the best, it’s you!!!

But hey, if you don’t want to listen to me, then go ahead and enjoy the fecal matter (a.k.a. doo doo) on your leafy green lettuce and spinach. I myself am going to pass. I prefer my food doo doo-free, thank you.

That means choosing organic.

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