NEW PARK: Ribbon cutting and opening of the new 69 acre Bryson Park at 5075 Lawrenceville Highway in Lilburn will be held Tuesday, October 23, at 3:30 p.m. A celebration of the opening, with activities for the whole family, will be on Saturday, October 27, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The multi-use sports field complex contains a lighted football, soccer and lacrosse field, walking track, concessions and rest room facilities. There is also basketball and volleyball courts, teen playground and a trailhead. The land was purchased from the estate of Albert Edwin Bryson, with a stipulation that the county would build a park on the property.

Issue 12.53 | Friday, Oct. 19, 2012

TODAY'S FOCUS
:: Jurors announced for Hudgens Prize

ELLIOTT BRACK'S PERSPECTIVE
:: Baseball, weather, pet peeves

FEEDBACK
:: On long airline flights

UPCOMING
:: Master water plan, hospital director

NOTABLE
:: Group forming new Chamber, more

ALSO INSIDE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
:: Gainesville State College

RECOMMENDED
:: Losing My Religion

GEORGIA TIDBIT
:: One of first neo-Nazi groups

LAGNIAPPE
:: Highland Games

GWINNETT CALENDAR
:: Lots of events on tap

TODAY'S QUOTE
:: Golfwear

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TODAY'S FOCUS
Juror panel told for $50,000 Hudgens Prize for Georgia artists
Special to GwinnettForum

DULUTH, Ga., Oct. 19, 2012 – The Hudgens Center for the Arts, administrator for the Hudgens Prize Visual Arts Competition, has announced the jury panel formed for the competition. It includes curators from three top art institutions in the nation.  

The Hudgens Prize is open only to Georgia residents. It has a $50,000 cash award plus hosts a solo exhibition for winning artist. The Hudgens Prize is one of the largest art awards given in the entire nation.  The competition is intended to elevate and promote the arts in Georgia, as well as to offer a transformational opportunity for the winning artist.
 
The three individual judges are all contemporary curators at their various institutions.  They are Doryun Chong, associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Toby Kamps, chief curator of the Menil Collection, Houston, Tex.; and Heather Pesanti, curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
 
Chong organizes contemporary exhibitions and acquires works for the MoMA’s collection.  He has organized Bruce Nauman: Days (2010) and Projects 94: Henrik Olesen (2011), and is currently working on Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde, opening in November 2012 and co-editing From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan, 1945-1989: Primary Documents. Chong previously was at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Kamps has curated special shows at the Menil, such as the current Silence, which he coordinated with the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  He was previously senior curator at Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. He has also served as senior curator of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art and assistant professor at Maine College of Art. Earlier in his career, Kamps served as curator of exhibitions with Madison Art Center in Madison, Wisconsin.  

Pesanti has organized several curatorial projects at the Albright-Knox, including Bad Habits (2009); Artists in Depth: Picasso, Braque, Leger, and Delaunay (2011), and, most recently, Surveyor (2011).  She is an adjunct professor at the University at Buffalo, where she teaches in the Visual Studies Department.  Prior to her position in Buffalo, she was the assistant curator of Contemporary Art at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Penn. Pesanti holds Master’s degrees in cultural anthropology from the University of Oxford, England, and in modern/contemporary art history from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts.

Angela Nichols, director of Programming and Exhibits at the Hudgens, states, “having such highly esteemed curators for the panel gives our Georgia artists the chance to have their work in front of some of the most important decision-makers in the contemporary arts world, and helps promote Georgia art and artists in general.”
 
The jury panel will review applicant’s images and artist statements in February of 2013, and will select four artists to display their work in the Finalist’s Exhibition.  Each of the four finalists will receive a $1,500 cash stipend to help cover expenses relating to the exhibition, such as materials, framing, and transportation of artwork. 
 
The Hudgens Prize will be awarded by the jury panel based on in-person visits to the four finalist’s studios and the works on view in the Hudgens Prize Finalist’s Exhibition, to open on June 8, 2013.  The prize winner will be announced at the Hudgens Prize Award Celebration, which will take place on August 10, 2013. For more information about the Hudgens Prize Competition, and the full Rules of Entry, please visit the Hudgens’ website at www.thehudgens.org.

ELLIOTT BRACK
About baseball, the weather, motorcycles and 2 pet peeves
By ELLIOTT BRACK
Editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

OCT. 19, 2012 – By the time you read this, the New York Yankees may be eliminated from baseball’s 2012 playoffs. We surely hope so, no matter who the Yankees are playing. Yep, we’re no Yankee fan.

Brack

For most people, you are either a Yankee fan or not, and most tell you where they stand about the Yankees. Many support them, but a whole lot are pleased to see them stumble. So we say, Go-Go Tigers, if you haven’t disposed of them yet!

THOUGH THE WEATHER is moving cooler, haven’t the last few days been magnificent? Most people enjoy the long springs and falls we have in Metro Atlanta, and the last few days have been just wonderful. And the slow rains we have had over the last week have been most enjoyable, too.

Shhhh. Don’t tell too many more people about our mostly great weather, throughout the year. The worst part of our winter is when it even threatens snow, and then the panic engulfs many people, and especially the vehicle drivers, if even a little snow falls. Newcomers need to know: that’s not a good time to be out on the roads, for it’s not the precipitation that will get you, but the unprepared drivers!

But mostly throughout the year, we have wonderful weather, a benefit from living here.

THE PROLIFERATION of sales of two-wheeled vehicles continue to ramp up, both for motorcycles and even today for the smaller, slower scooters. What really bugs us is the higher and higher loss of life you find from people in motorcycle accidents. The additional sale of such vehicles no doubt accounts for much of the recent rise in deaths from motorcycle accidents.

At least in Georgia we now have a helmet law to give some protection to head injuries. But when people are astride a motorcycle, they have very little protection from flying debris, heavy sunlight, wind and rain….and most of all, other drivers.

Yet motorcycle owners will hear nothing of talk like this. They figure it’s not against the law, they are proficient at riding their bike, and there’s no law against it. But for the rest of us, look out for them. They can cause reasonable drivers to have accidents, too.

PET PEEVE: people who go through the buffet line and select their food, and then don’t clean their plate! They picked the food out, then wasted it. Not fair! Or logical! Or smart!

ANOTHER PEEVE: this isn’t just a peeve, it’s against the law. Have you seen the many, many political signs that are breaking the law by placement of campaign signs on the county and city rights-of-ways. That’re illegal there.

It can happen overnight, where a particular candidate may install many signs all over an area. It looks like many homeowners are supporting him, when they may know nothing about the placement of the sign in front of their homes, but on the right-of-way. These homeowners should feel free to remove any right-of-way sign they did not approve placing.

If you want to place a sign for a particular candidate in your yard, be sure to place it back from the right-of-way line near the road of the city or county. Be sure it’s actually on your property, and then you are legal.

SPOTLIGHT
Gainesville State College

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gainesville State College has been educating the citizens of Northeast Georgia since 1966 and has an enrollment of more than 8,600 students. With 1,237 students during the fall of 2012, Gwinnett County is second only to Hall County in the number of students who attend GSC. The College awarded 981 degrees awarded during 2011-2012, students from Gwinnett County earned 158 of the degrees (16.1 percent). At GSC, students engage in a challenging learning experience in a supportive and nurturing environment. GSC offers associate of arts, associate of science, associate of applied science, certificates, and a nine different bachelor degrees. Gainesville State College integrates academic and extra-curricular activities in order to emphasize development of the “whole person.”  GSC is a “student-focused, learning centered” commuter college where students can enjoy the “total college experience” by participating in student activities such as: intramurals, clubs and organizations, bands, chorus, publications, cultural affairs programs, fine arts offerings including theatre, extended orientation, and international-intercultural studies programs. The Gainesville Campus is located just off of Interstate-985 in Oakwood, and the Oconee Campus is located in Watkinsville.  To learn more about GSC, visit www.gsc.edu.

• For a list of other underwriters of this forum, click here.

FEEDBACK
Used first class only for one way on vacation to Europe

Editor, the Forum:

About how cramped it can be in coach on a long overseas flight and the high cost of a roundtrip in business class, I read with interest. Last year my husband and I split the difference on a visit to Italy. We flew to Paris overnight in business class but flew back in coach. We spent a third more in airfare, rather than double, and arrived at our destination much more refreshed than we were the year before when we flew to London in coach.
 
Happy traveling. I always enjoy reading about your adventures! Keep ‘em coming.

– Heather Sawyer, Johns Creek

Remembers the joys of being upgraded to first-class seats

Editor, the Forum:
 
It may disturb you to know that, on most overseas flights, the coach seats are spaced a tad farther apart than they are on shorter domestic flights.  Still, most flights are cattle cars, a term that is offensive to cattle and railroads everywhere when they are compared to these flights.
 
Years ago, when I traveled regularly, Delta loved me and would occasionally upgrade me to First Class when coach was oversold and space was available up front.  In coach one almost has to remain in a fetal position for the entire flight.  In First Class - oh, wow! If you unfasten your belt, slide forward in your seat as far as possible, lean forward, and reach as far as possible, you just might be able to touch the back of the seat in front of you. Up there, it’s a totally different world.

– Robert Hanson, Loganville

Dear Robert: Yeah, and you pay something like $1,000 for eight or so hours for that comfort. And we complain about hotel prices? I’ll save and continue to complain, and pray the airlines return to profit sooner so that they will relent and give Coach passengers just six inches more. But..fat chance!--eeb

• We welcome your letters and thoughts. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today's Focus as space allows.
  

UPCOMING
Gwinnett Commission to consider new master water plan

Gwinnett commissioners are hearing details of a new master plan for water and wastewater facilities that looks ahead to 2030. The document, required by the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, focuses on capital investments to comply with regional plans and aligns with the county’s 2030 Unified Plan.
 
Computer models helped predict growth in the county over the next 20 years to find potential future bottlenecks and identify solutions. The results show that most current water and wastewater systems can handle the growth. Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash says, “We are well positioned for the growth and economic development that is projected to come to Gwinnett over the next 20 years. Water and sewer infrastructure is one area that distinguishes Gwinnett; there is certainty for businesses looking to expand or locate here.”
 
Planning and Development Director Bryan Lackey says: “A 25-member Citizens Advisory Panel and staff from several County departments brought a multi-perspective voice to the document, which always improves the process.
 
Water Resources Director Ron Seibenhener says, “Now we can focus our resources on maintaining and rehabilitating existing systems to reduce costs by operating more efficiently and saving energy.” He pointed to the recently completed upgrade at the Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility as an example of this type of transition. The upgrade consolidated six smaller water reclamation facilities, put state-of-the-art technology and energy and efficiency measures in place, and expanded the plant’s capacity to 22 million gallons per day to accommodate the flow from the decommissioned facilities.
 
The Gwinnett County Water and Sewerage Authority approved the master plan on October 15. The Board of Commissioners will consider the plan at a public hearing at on Tuesday, October 23 at 7 p.m. Once adopted, the new master plan will serve as the Department of Water Resources’ primary decision-making tool for creating new policies and prioritizing capital projects through 2030.

View Point Health to build 30-unit facility on Lawrenceville site

Gwinnett County this week declared just over eight acres of land near Lawrenceville as surplus and sold it to a public agency, View Point Health. The agency, formerly known as GRN Community Service Board, provides behavioral health services, including outpatient, day rehabilitation, crisis stabilization and residential services. The group plans to build a residential facility on the site. The land is located on the southeastern side of Lakes Parkway at Riverside Drive in Lawrenceville.
 
The project will provide permanent supportive housing for homeless persons who are in recovery from addictive disease or mental illness. The 21,200-square-foot facility will have 30 single-occupancy units and a resident manager unit, plus a community area, media room, laundry, exercise area, staff office and meeting space. View Point Health CEO David Crews says his agency has been awarded a loan of $3.95 million for the facility from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs that can be amortized over 20 years.
 
Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash says, “View Point Health provides important services to the Gwinnett community.  It is a valued partner with the Gwinnett Superior Court’s accountability courts and with Gwinnett County Detention Center’s reentry initiative to reduce jail recidivism. View Point works to provide a continuum of care that leads to rehabilitation and independence, with a goal for its clients to become productive members of society.”
 
According to Crews, the agency recently committed a clinician to the jail for 20 hours a week to help detainees who suffer from behavioral health disorders to make a successful transition back into the community. Crews said he envisions relocating View Point’s day program services to this property in the future.

NOTABLE
Group seeking to form Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

A new localized Chamber of Commerce is attempting to be formed in southwest Gwinnett. The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce was officially established as a 501c6 non-profit in September to focus on Berkeley Lake, Norcross and Peachtree Corners.

Steve Dorough, CEO of First Community Development, has been elected the Southwest Gwinnett Chamber’s first chairman of the board. The group named Dave Gleim of the Hilton at Northeast Atlanta, as chair-elect.

The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber area will represent a geographic area that includes approximately 7,500 businesses and 50,000 citizens.

The Chamber’s mission statement says it will be focused: “To advance the economic, educational and cultural growth of Berkeley Lake, Norcross and Peachtree Corners; to enhance the quality of life in the community; and to foster continuous improvements of the tri-city area as a place to live, work and enjoy a healthy quality of life.”

The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber’s Program of Work will focus on six areas during its first year:

1) Support for Existing Business;
2) Economic Redevelopment;
3) Workforce Development;
4) Education;
5) Cultural and Performing Arts; and
6) Marketing and Communications.

Other officers selected include Skip Nau, Scott Lee, Charlie Riehm and Kim Dorough, vice chairs; Gordon Tomlinson, secretary; and Ranae Heaven, treasurer. Other members of the board include Don Allen, Rachel Cook, Rodney Hammond, Mike McLaughlin, Nancy Minor, Dorothy Jarrett, Chuck Paul; Mark Thornell; Luke Snider, and Tracy Williams.

Dorough told the Norcross Progressive Development Committee Wednesday morning that it was anticipated that the budget of this Chamber would be at least $150,000. That compares with the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce annual budget of $6.3 million.

Hospital hires director of graduate medical education program

Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) has announced the hiring of Dr. Mark D. Darrow as director of the organization’s new graduate medical education program. By July of 2014, GMC will offer graduate medical education (GME) through the establishment of residency programs in internal medicine and family medicine.

Phil Wolfe, president and CEO of GMC, says: “Through his vast experience as a geriatrician, internist, family doctor and a medical educator, Dr. Darrow possesses an insightful vision regarding improved healthcare for Georgians through education. So far, the community has thoroughly embraced this idea of a new graduate medical training program and we are confident Dr. Darrow will meet expectations.”

Dr. Darrow joined GMC from South East Area Health Education Center, a non-profit organization based in Wilmington, N.C., that provides medical training and education. Servicing in this role, he was also the Vice President for Graduate Medical Education at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington.

Wolfe adds: “Dr. Darrow’s deep passion for primary care medicine will help develop a foundation for this new program at GMC that will emphasize the value of patients of all ages and their families.” GMC will provide rotations at both hospitals in Duluth and Lawrenceville and at a local family health center.

According to the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce, national studies show when a young person graduates from high school, college, medical school and completes a residency in the same region/state, his or her chances of practicing medicine within 75 miles of where the residency training was completed is more than 70 percent.

The addition of these two primary care training programs will help alleviate the shortage of resident physicians in Georgia and produce more primary care physicians for the state of Georgia, which currently ranks 45th in the nation for the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 population.

RECOMMENDED
Losing My Religion
By William Lobdell

“As a young newspaper reporter, William Lobdell became a born-again Christian and deeply immersed himself in his faith. He started writing a column about Christianity, believing religious people were more loving and kind than those who were not. However, he began to see a disturbing gap between the beliefs of various religions and the actual behavior of the people who said they believed. Eventually he concluded there were very few differences in the morals of the people who were religious and those who were not. Then he began to fear God didn’t exist at all. After extensive exploration, grieving and heartbreak, Lobdell’s faith collapsed. This is a thought-provoking book for people who are religious and also for those who are not. The full title is Losing My Religion, How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America – and Found Unexpected Peace.”

– Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill

• An invitation: What Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what book you plan to read next. --eeb

GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Columbians, one of first Neo-Nazi groups, starts in Atlanta

During the summer of 1946, Atlantans witnessed the rise of the Columbians, the nation's first neo-Nazi political organization. The group pursued a campaign of intimidation against the city's minorities, patrolling those neighborhoods most vulnerable to racial transition, and threatening with violence those residents who dared cross the city's "color line."

Although they attracted some support from Atlanta's working-class whites, the Columbians were uniformly condemned by the city's press and targeted for arrest by its political establishment. By the following summer the group had dissolved, following the conviction of its leaders, Homer Loomis and Emory Burke, on charges of usurping police power and inciting to riot.

Homer Loomis arrived in Atlanta in 1946 amid escalating racial tensions. Across the South, incidents of racial violence and civil unrest were on the rise; lynching had become more frequent, and such hate organizations as the Ku Klux Klan had increased in both number and activity.

Such an environment appealed to Loomis, a 32-year-old New Yorker. Although his personal history read like a litany of failure—expulsion from Princeton University for drunkenness, two failed marriages, and an unsuccessful stint farming—Loomis fancied himself a leader among men, and he came to the South in order to start a white supremacist movement. "Atlanta is the logical place to start something," he explained. "The South comes by its racial convictions instinctively."

In Atlanta, Loomis met Alabama native Emory Burke, who at 31 was already a veteran of numerous white supremacist and fascist groups. According to Dan Duke, Georgia's assistant attorney general, Burke's name had appeared on the letterhead of "nearly every fascist organization in the country prior to World War II." Loomis and Burke forged a close personal relationship and, along with a third member, John H. Zimmerlee, of whom little is known, formed the Columbians Incorporated. Describing themselves as a "patriotic and political" group, the three men applied for a charter as a nonprofit organization from the state, which they received in August 1946.

(To be continued)

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TODAY'S QUOTE
The clothing of those who take up golf

“Although golf was originally restricted to wealthy, overweight Protestants, today it's open to anybody who owns hideous clothing.”

– Newspaperman and humorist Dave Barry (1947 - ).

MORE COPIES AVAILABLE
Gwinnett history book in second printing

Previously out of print, Elliott Brack's 850-page history, "Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta," is now available again. Since its original publication, the book was declared the winner of the 2010 Award of Excellence for documenting Georgia history by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. It is also the winner of the Gwinnett Historical Society's Whitworth-Flanigan Award for 2011 for preserving the history of Gwinnett County.The book includes 143 demographic and historic tables, with more than 4,000 names in the index, and 10,000 names in the appendix.Two versions of the book are available. The hardback edition is priced at $75, while a softback edition is $40. Books are available at:

• Atlanta History Center, Atlanta
• Books for Less, Buford
  
• Gwinnett Historical Society, Lawrenceville
  
• Parsons Gifts and Cards, Duluth
  
• Vargas and Harbin Gallery, Norcross

You can also order books through the Internet. To do that, go to www.elliottbrack.com to place your order. For mail orders, there is a $5 shipping and handling fee. Purchases are also subject to the 6 percent Georgia sales tax.

SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM

GWINNETT CALENDAR

THE WEEK AHEAD

Creatures of the Night Festival: 6 p.m., Oct. 19, Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. Experience the wonders of nocturnal animals and their amazing adaptations, and meet real, live examples that might inhabit your backyard, including an owl and an opossum! Other activities include a scavenger hunt, crafts and information sessions and green pumpkin carving contest. For info, visit www.gwinnettEHC.org.

Quite a Catch, a juggling and stunt show for a contemporary audience: 10 a.m., Oct. 20, Aurora Theatre's Children's Playhouse. Ron Anglin performs in a show that incorporates science, geography, charter traits and reading illustrated by juggling balls, clubs, dice and other items.

Fort Daniel Frontier Faire, at Hog Mountain: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 20, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 21, at 2505 Braselton Highway. The former site of Fort Daniel (circa 1812) is currently located on privately owned property. Faire parking on site is limited to handicapped only and parking for the public is available across the street at Northview Church, corner of Georgia Highways 124-324.

Historical Talk at Snellville City Hall: 3 p.m., Oct. 21, Speaking will be Dr. James W. Cofer Jr., principal research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He is also the managing editor of the Georgia History Quarterly, and host of Today in Georgia History on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

(NEW) JDRF Fund Walk: 1 p.m. (registration) and 2:30 (start), Oct. 21, Tribble Mill Park, Lawrenceville. This is the first year this Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has extended the walk to Gwinnett. John Kampfe, CFO of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Jack Womack, senior vice president of CNN NewsGroup, will serve as co-chairs of the Walk.

Candidate Forum: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 22, Christ the King Lutheran Church, 5575 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross. Area candidates for Congress, the statehouse and school board have been invited. Judge Warren Davis is the moderator. Sponsored by the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association.

ONGOING AND COMING SOON

Terror on the Trail: Friday and Saturday nights, through Oct. 27, Sims Lake Park in Suwanee. Tours begin at 7:30 p.m., with the last tour at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.terroronthetrail.com or by calling the Aurora Theatre Box Office at 678-226-6222. The park's 1.2-mile looping trail will be transformed into a haunting backdrop for zombies and tales of terror.

Wink Art Exhibit: Through Nov. 24, Tannery Row Artist Colony in Buford. Show reception is 6 p.m., Oct. 20. Shown will be resident art with a hint of humor, a turn of the phrase or visual twist to make you smile. Details: 678-428-4877, or visit www.TanneryRowArtistColony.com.

Photo Exhibit: Through Nov. 28, George Pierce Park Community Room, Suwanee, during Community Center hours, Monday through Saturday. Frank L. Sharp presents "Israel, the Holy Land," while Wendell Tudor features "Images of the Sea," coastline and landscape images, including photographs from Canada.

Halloween-for-Haiti Carnival: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Oct. 27, Christ Episcopal Church, 400 Holcomb Bridge Road, Norcross. Music, food, kids' activities throughout the event. Costume parade with prizes at 5 p.m. Haunted trail from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Proceeds benefit the children of Jasmin, Haiti.

(NEW) Gruesome Greenway and Halloween Hayride: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 27, Lilburn City Park. This is a free, family event with activities to entertain younger children, while older children and adults take a hair-raising hike on the Camp Creek Greenway. Sponsored by the City of Lilburn. Children under age 8 will not be permitted without an accompanying adult, since it is so scary! Wear your Halloween costume!

(NEW) Gullah Tales: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Oct. 28, Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center. Speaker will be Film Director and Writer Gary Moss, speaking of aspects of the Gullah culture of the Georgia and South Carolina sea islands, rich in storytelling, basket making, cuisine and language, through excerpts from his films.

(NEW) Halloween at Gwinnett Place Mall: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Oct. 31. Treats will be handed out at entrances of stores only. Only children 12 years and younger allowed to trick or-treat. Masks may be work by those 12 and under only. All children must have supervision. Tricksters must leave their toy weapons at home.

Euro in Crisis: 11:30 a.m., Oct. 31, 1818 Club, 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway. The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a talk by the Consul General of Germany to Atlanta, Christoph Sander. Sponsored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Info: 770 232-3000.

MORE EEB PERSPECTIVE

12/21: Fort Daniel, Chambliss 12/18: Ban assault weapons 12/14: Army-Navy game 12/11: Who stole American dream? 12/7: Lock 'em in a room 12/4: On Partnership Gwinnett 11/30: Hera Lighting 11/27: Voting out scalawags 11/20: Arts alive in Gwinnett 11/16: Hope Clinic needs help 11/13: Casino coming? 11/9: GOP and Georgia Dems 11/6: Early voting, more 11/2: Will Sandy impact election? 10/30: Georgia and GI Bill 10/26: Barge making name 10/23: Our 2012 endorsements 10/19: Pet peeves, more 10/15: Long plane flights 10/12: NO on Amendment 1 10/9: Elisha Winn Fair 10/5: Lots of construction 10/2: Texting while walking 9/28: WSB sets lower bar 9/25: State Archive fracas 9/21: Charter concerns 9/18: Benefits of living here 9/14: Continuing objectives 9/11: Trip to France, Spain 9/7: Community pride 8/31: Conversation on guns 8/24: More robocalls ahead 8/21: Newspaper museum 8/17: Seem easier to vote? 8/14: Western ridges, fall line 8/10: Runoff endorsements 8/7: New UGA health campus 8/3: Primaries raise more questions EEB index of columns

  FOCUS ARCHIVES

12/21: Wiggins: Recycle trees 12/18: Two canal cruises to take 12/14: C. Brack: Give a little 12/11: Goodman: Suwanee's art 12/7: Duke: Director of Encouragement 12/4: Dorough: Food co-op 11/30: McHenry: CID redevelopment 11/27: Sutt: Gwinnett arts' questions 11/20: Urrutia: Grad wins award 11/16: Collins: Las Vegas 11/13: Barksdale: Storm prep 11/9: Houston: Kettle Creek 11/6: Stilo: Christmas Canteen 11/2: Crews: View Point Health 10/30: Willis: Amendment One 10/26: Brown: Doc's research 10/19: Hudgens Prize jurors picked 10/15: Urrutia: $2 million gift to GGC 10/12: Young: Lilburn city hall 10/9: Long: Charter schools 10/5: Jones: PGA golf to return 10/2: DeWilde: Suwanee's red code 9/28: Stilo: Pinter's Betrayal 9/21: Love: Model for Nigeria 9/21: Walsh: Childhood obesity 9/18: Ashley promoted 9/14: Wiener: CID's initiative 9/11: Olson: $50K Hudgens contest 9/7: Stilo: Acting classes for all 8/31: Havenga: Great Days of Service 8/24: Griswold: Casino for OFS site 8/21: Brooks: Taking the Megabus 8/17: Summerour: Newspaper family 8/14: Sharp: Newport visit 8/10: Thomas: On schizophrenia 8/7: Carraway: Amendment wording 8/3: Willis: Ready for school parents? COMMENTARY INDEX

CONTINUING OBJECTIVES FOR GWINNETT

Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests that Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. Read more.

• Development of a two-party system for local offices
• Transparent operations to restore faith in Gwinnett's County Commission
• Moving statewide non-partisan judge election runoffs to the General Election
• Light rail for Gwinnett from Doraville MARTA station to Gwinnett Arena
• Extension of Gwinnett Place CID area to include Arena and Discovery Mills Mall
• Banning of tobacco in all Gwinnett parks
• Making Briscoe Field a commercial airport for jet-age travel
• Approval of Educational SPLOST in 2013
• More diverse candidates for political offices and appointment to local boards
• Physical move of former St. Gerard's Catholic Church in Buffalo, N.Y., to Norcross
• Creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett
• Advancement and expansion of city and Gwinnett historical societies
• Stronger regulation of late-night establishments with alcoholic licenses
  

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