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Issue 10.01 | Friday, April 2, 2010 |
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TODAY'S FOCUS McLEMORE'S
WORLD FEEDBACK UPCOMING NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE _:: IN THE
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THIS JUST IN Gwinnett County Public Schools has been named by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation as one of five urban school districts selected as a finalist for the 2010 Broad Prize for Urban Education, guaranteeing the district a minimum of $250,000 in college scholarships for its students.
The Broad Prize for Urban Education is an annual $2 million award -- the largest education prize in the country---that honors the urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. Other finalists this year are:
The winner
of The Broad Prize, to be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 19 in New York City,
will receive $1 million in college scholarships for high school seniors
who will graduate in 2011. The four finalist districts will each receive
$250,000 in college scholarships. This is the second consecutive year
that the system has been a finalist for the Broad Prize. TODAY'S FOCUS LILBURN, Ga., April 2, 2010 -- The Lilburn area has the fourth Community Improvement District in Gwinnett County. The Lilburn City Council followed the examples set by Gwinnett Village, Gwinnett Place and the Evermore CIDs in forming the latest CID in the county.
Since 2003, Gwinnett County has supported the CID model as a method to give local focus to the southern part of the county and it has proven successful. Now the Greater Lilburn community has a tool that can partner with the City of Lilburn and the Lilburn Downtown Development Authority, to create a vision and a strategic plan to revitalize as well as redevelop the area. This formation of the CID is a significant accomplishment,. Forming this kind of initiative in the current economic climate is a strong statement that Lilburn will not accept defeat and will be ahead of the curve for economic growth coming out of these challenging times. Property owners understand that a CID is an investment that makes sense. The Lilburn CID will start with a property value of $123.6 million and 158 property owners. Although it is starting out small, there are big plans for the area. The CID has continued talking to commercial property owners and will proceed with a Phase 2 in order to expand the CID. Ultimately, it's anticipated that the CID will reach a value of $300 million over the next two years. The initial focus of the CID will be the U.S. Highway 29 area. There are two Department of Transportation (DOT) projects underway to add left turn lanes at three intersections and a median starting at Postal Way northeasterly towards Lawrenceville. Property owners who joined early talked about following these DOT projects with a study to determine the feasibility of inter-parcel connections on both sides of U.S. 29. The CID has prepared an application that will be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission for a $120,000 LCI Study to cover U.S. 29 from Rockbridge Road to the Ronald Reagan Parkway. Norman Nash is the chairman of the Board for the Lilburn Community Partnership. Nash is committed to this community and is the founding member and motivating force behind this organization. “Family is the most important thing to me,” says Nash. “By encouraging this sense of family, we will increase loyalty to Lilburn and a direct result will be a stronger business community and economic growth.” The Lilburn Community Partnership started the CID formation in February of 2009. By following the formation model used by the other three CIDs, the Partnership knew that it was necessary to hold informational meetings, to walk to street meeting with property owners and to begin initial planning for what the CID would focus on. This proved successful. In spite of declining property values and in many cases lower business revenue, property owners saw the value for forming a CID in the Greater Lilburn area. John Souter, owner of the Oyster Barn, and member of the Partnership which formed the CID, was the first property owner to sign. Owners of the Lilburn Market Square were among other early signers and have begun plans to re-develop the shopping plaza into an upscale shopping district. Two Home Depot stores will be a part of the Lilburn CID. EEB PERSPECTIVE APRIL 2, 2010 -- This issue of GwinnettForum marks the beginning of our 10th issue of online publication. When I retired from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I never thought this venture would be such a long-running one.
Yet response has been good, both from underwriters and from the readers, and we've continued to publish twice weekly since. What we most especially appreciate has been the feedback that we gotten over the years from lots of readers. We've enjoyed getting their views, sometimes out of the blue, and at other times responding to items in the Forum. After all, the publication name tells what we wanted from this: a discussion of ideas, issues, thought and opinion to motivate thinking in others. In general, we print almost all the local comments we get, though we sometimes have to tone them down a bit. We seldom print those from out of the county, especially those send by groups seeking to press their views.
We call what we do a “moderated forum,” in that all items must get by me to get published, instead of in some online publications, which allow “anyone to say anything about anybody at any time.” We look upon that as runaway-publishing, which doesn't always serve the public good. We like to think you would rather hear a sane, rational approach, rather than the ranting and raving that is prevalent both online and on the airways. This Forum could not exist without the support of our underwriters. They pay a flat fee annually to help us offset the office rent, computer bills (one setback this week was a virus in our computers, which cost dearly in funds and time), taxes, travel and other incidentals of publishing. The support helps pay the expenses of the Forum. It allows its contributors to be a watchdog for local government on what matters. It also allows the public vigilance to ensure that ideas remain in the open domain, especially when newspapers are less prevalent. So we salute these underwriting sponsors. Should you see any of them, please thank them for their support over the years. They include:
NOW LET ME TELL our readers about a new wrinkle we're planning this election season. With some media no longer endorsing candidates for office, GwinnettForum this year will endorse candidates for the first time for office. We do this to suggest to our readers the candidates we think will do best in representing our county in the various offices, and for statewide offices. We feel an obligation to suggest who we think will be the best candidate for various offices, out of a spirit of civic mindedness. We will interview candidates, judge their qualification for office, and make or selection. You know already that GwinnettForum accepts no political advertising, so we do this out of our desire to see the best candidate for each position. In this and in other ways, we look forward to continue to serve Gwinnett County in the future. ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Among the underwriters is CAB Incorporated, an international supply chain and quality management company specializing in components for wind towers, pipe flanges for waterworks and industrial piping and castings and forgings used in mining, industrial, agricultural, rail and other industries. CAB is headquartered in Buford, Ga. and has a manufacturing facility in Nacogdoches, Tex. and offices in Shanghai, China; Busan, South Korea; Johannesburg, South Africa; Delhi, India; and Hanoi, Vietnam. CAB employs 75 people around the world, including more than 20 engineers with expertise in metallurgy, castings, forgings and quality assurance. Visit the web site at www.cabinc.com.
McLEMORE'S WORLD
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: Your perspective on Gov. Perdue’s reaction to the health care issue reminds us once again of your sometimes blind obedience to the Democratic Party even to the point of looking foolish. When over 60 percent of a state’s population is opposed to a federal mandated issue that was not passed into law in the “normal” method, but rather by tainted processes, then it is the wise and politically correct move to have the governor take every possible step he or she can to support the views of the people of that state. Most everyone does realize that the solution will be to throw out those elected officials who use the abused policy to pass such legislation, but waiting until November to make that move can possibly allow much more harm to come to our country by these folks who feel their abuse of power is above the ability of “the people” and our wants/needs/desires. Oh yes Elliott, “We the people” will vote those elitist bums out of their plush offices as soon as possible (some this November and the rest as they come up for re-election) but in the meantime I support and encourage any and all legal means of protesting this abuse of authority by Washington. I predict there will be MANY new unknown candidates (from both parties) raise up from the ranks and run for office following this situation, many of them sensible veterans who have already served our country in battle, and who just want to do what is right and good for the country rather than abuse their office and power as this current batch of legislators have done.
Says health care bill lacking without public option Editor,
the Forum:
Thinks health care bill used back door approach Editor,
the Forum: This was not "the legislative process"; they could not get the bill passed through the true legislative process! This was a totally back door way to ram something bad down our throats, because they could not get the support that they needed to do it any other way. For a change, Congress was starting to listen to their constituents, and it made "the powers that be" pretty damned mad. Anytime that money is going to spend like this, there should be no rash decision making when it comes to this type of debt for America. Reform is definitely needed in health care, but this "legislation" that just "passed" is a disaster.
UPCOMING Football
fans, golfers, supporters and alumni of Duluth High School are invited
to welcome George Rogers back to Duluth and Gwinnett County. He will be
hosting, along with his former coach, Cecil Morris, the inaugural George
Rogers Classic at Northwoods Country Club on May 10. The event is being
sponsored by the Duluth Touchdown Club as a benefit for the Duluth Wildcat
football program.
George Washington Rogers was born on December 8, 1958, and raised in Duluth, where he graduated from high school and played football for Cecil Morris. He was
recruited to attend the University of South Carolina, where he was All-American
and the winner of the 1980 Heisman Trophy. At USC, he rushed for 1,006
yards during his sophomore year and his junior campaign launched him into
the national spotlight, as he rushed for 1,681 yards. Rogers' senior season
was great, rushing for 1,781 yards, the best in the nation. Rogers beat
out an impressive group of players, including Pittsburgh defensive lineman
Hugh Green and Georgia running back Herschel Walker, to win the Heisman.
He earned a spot on eight All-America teams. He was
the first University of South Carolina player to have his jersey (“38”,
in 1980) retired while still active at the school. He also has his “20”
jersey at Duluth High School retired. Rogers was further honored when
the New Orleans Saints made him the first pick overall in the 1981 NFL
Draft . In his first season, he led the league in rushing with 1,647 yards,
which set a high for rookies at that time. He was selected as the NFL
Rookie of the Year for 1981 and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. When he
left the NFL, George Rogers had rushed for 7,176 yards with 54 touchdowns
in a mere seven seasons. He holds
memberships in the University of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame,
the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame.
In 1997, he was inducted into the National Football Foundation and College
Football Hall of Fame. For entry information visit http://www.duluthfootball.com
for more information. Suwanee plans code enforcement clean-up sweep this spring ’Tis the season for all things springy: spring training…spring break…spring cleaning. As part of the annual Great American Cleanup campaign, which runs through May 31, the City of Suwanee is encouraging community wide spring cleaning by stepping up code enforcement efforts. Code Enforcement Officer Susan Carpenter says: “Some of the most common violations include outside storage of items, problems with trash and debris, parking in the grass, and tall grass. For a majority of these items, just a little effort would result in really big improvements in how our homes and neighborhoods appear. We want to encourage folks to roll up their sleeves, offer a hand to a neighbor, haul away those unwanted items, and mend those broken fences.” The City will be conducting a code enforcement sweep of all neighborhoods and business districts this spring, citing issues with outside storage, trash and debris, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles, tall grass and weeds, and exterior property in need of repairs. In addition, the City requests cooperation in addressing one of the most common complaints, that of vehicles being parked in the front yard on the grass. If property owners fail to address cited issues, Carpenter says, the City can mow the grass or clean up the trash, for example, and bill the property owner. Cited property owners also may have a lien placed on their property or be issued a summons to appear in Municipal Court. NOTABLE A gory conspiracy to stop the translation of the Bible into English; a dead girl in a family swimming pool; and black maids’ stories of raising white children are some of the tales that constitute the list of 10 finalists for the state’s oldest and most distinguished literary prize. The Georgia Perimeter College 2010 Townsend Prize for Fiction will be held at the Margaret Mitchell House from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 22. A book signing will begin at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The Townsend
Prize is presented to the Georgia writer judged to have published the
best book of fiction in the previous two years. The award, sponsored by
the Writers' Institute of Georgia Perimeter College, honors the legacy
of Jim Townsend, founder of Atlanta magazine. Co-sponsors include The
Georgia Center for the Book, The Atlanta Writers Club and the Margaret
Mitchell House.
Chamber recognizes public safety members with valor awards The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce has recognized six public safety categories for outstanding community service.
The Public Safety Person of the Year is Sgt. Edward Restrepo of the Gwinnett County Police Department. He identified the leader and members of a Dominican organized crime operation, resulting in 25 felony arrests in Gwinnett, New York City, Miami and other jurisdictions. With the success of the operation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is pursuing charges on many of these individuals. The Public Safety Unit of the Year award goes to the Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services Swiftwater Rescue Team. During the floods of 2009, the fire department as a whole responded to over 300 emergency calls related to flooding. Swiftwater crews assisted with 20 major rescue scenes one morning as crews were sent throughout the county to combat the rising flood waters and to rescue victims from currents. The Chamber presented three Medals of Valor. The Gold Medal went to Gwinnett County Firefighter Scott Robertson for his action during the 2009 floods in rescuing Diane Farmer, who was stranded in water for 30 minutes. Positioned downriver from his two other teammates who had been unsuccessful in launching a rescue boat, Robertson noticed the victim was no longer holding onto her vehicle. He entered the swift water, and got to Farmer, and rescuers pulled the pair to shore. The Silver
Medal of Valor went to Officer Timothy Frates of the Gwinnett Department
of Corrections. In April, 2009, Officer Frates placed himself in harm's
way when four male suspects were firing handguns into an automobile. After
securing inmates on an assignment, Frates approached the scene, saw three
suspects flee immediately, and squared off against the fourth one, who
also fled. Officer Frates was able to secure the area and give assistance
to the gunshot victim in the auto. The Medal of Merit was awarded to Duluth Police Department MPO Randy Samuel for his Our Creation (OC) program. It was designed by Samuel to promote positive youth development focused on building the strengths of the youth participants. Sergeant Stephan Weed and officers Jami Hollis, Rico Anderson and Matt Price of the Lilburn Police Department, were awarded the Lifesaving Award for rescue a woman trapped in her own home by rising flood waters. The communications
Person of the Year went to Officer Leslie Leatherwood for her development
of training manuals for police, radio, fire radio and phone training.
It took over two years to complete, and she undertook the program on her
own. Communication position vacancy rate has been cut in half since, with
the number of personnel in training for more than a year has been reduced
to zero.
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Daniel Joseph Boorstin, a distinguished historian who served as the Librarian of Congress for more than a decade, was born in Atlanta on October 1, 1914, to Dora Olsan and Samuel Aaron Boorstin, Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father was an attorney. In1915, Boorstin's father moved his family to Tulsa, Okla.
Boorstin attended Harvard University at the age of 15 and graduated with the highest honors. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England and graduated with two degrees in law, both of them with honors. He also received a doctorate of law from Yale University. What most interested Boorstin, though, was history. After returning to the United States, he joined the history department at the University of Chicago, where he spent the next 25 years. In 1969 Boorstin became director of the National Museum of History and Technology (later the National Museum of American History) of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He became Librarian of Congress in 1975, serving until his retirement in 1987. Boorstin
wrote more than 20 books and is one of the few historians to win the Pulitzer
Prize, the Parkman Prize, and the Bancroft Prize. He won the Pulitzer
Prize for History in 1974 for the third volume of his Americans trilogy,
The Americans: The Democratic Experience (1973). In the 1930s Boorstin briefly became a member of the U.S. Communist Party. He later repudiated that choice and, over the course of his career, became increasingly conservative. Boorstin sharply criticized the liberalism of the 1960s for what he saw as its excesses. But his critique was not limited to political beliefs. The 1960 televised presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy moved him to write a scathing assessment of modern culture. In The Image (1962), perhaps his most influential work, Boorstin contends that modern culture had shrugged off pragmatism and truthfulness for "image," the "non-event," "celebrity" (defined as a person who is known for being well known), and "spin." The "dark arts" of advertising and public relations created a world of illusion, according to Boorstin. Upon his retirement from the Library of Congress, Boorstin reflected on the role of the historian: "The Librarian of Congress is supposed to help people learn, and not preach to them or even teach them. . . . I'm very wary of people who give us the lessons of history or the laws for the future of cultures. But I do think one thing the historian can do is to warn us against the over generalizations of social scientists, politicians, preachers, all those who think they're in on the secrets of the future." Boorstin died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 89 on February 28, 2004. CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send
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MODERN HISTORY OF GWINNETT
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