County Breaks Ground on Kittredge Park Renovations

Big improvements, including a new bridge re-establishing access to the park's south side, are coming for the park.

DeKalb County officials and a group of local residents who have been cleaning and clearing Kittredge Park off North Druid Hills Road for the last several years broke ground last week on the park's county-funded renovation. The group, which included county Commissioner Kathie Gannon and members of Friends of Kittredge Park, gathered around a ceremonial tree planting at 6 p.m. Thursday to mark the moment. Alan Pinsker, a member of the group, filled Patch in last week on what's been done and what's in store for the park: Friends of Kittredge Park, comprised of residents from several surrounding homeowners' associations, has been diligently working in the park virtually every month over the past 4 years to remove literally tons of invasive …

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DeKalb County to Host Sixth Annual Green Expo

Admission to the April 20 expo at Georgia Piedmont Technical College is free.

The 6th Annual DeKalb County Green Expo will be held on Saturday, April 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission to the event in Georgia Piedmont Technical College's conference center in Clarkston is free. Local “green” businesses will promote their products and services. “These companies help the environment by selling products and services that use recycled materials, promote energy conservation, water conservation, solar energy, environmental education, alternative fuels and other eco-friendly products,” said DeKalb County District 6 Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who is organizing the event. “We hope the Green Expo helps to build green businesses and increase the public’s awareness of these products that sustain a cleaner environment." …

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Gannon Pushes Support for Atlanta Food Pantry

The food drive will last from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28.

The plight of local food banks has caught the attention of two DeKalb County officials who are sponsoring a food drive to help replenish the shelves at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Commissioner Kathie Gannon and DeKalb County Solicitor-General Sherry Boston are teaming up to sponsor a food drive to kick off on Valentine’s Day. “Solicitor-General Boston and I are asking all DeKalb employees and citizens to donate food for the hungry,” said Gannon. “This time of year after the holidays the pantry shelves at the Atlanta Community Food Bank are looking bare,” said Solicitor-General Boston. Hunger is Georgia has become a bigger problem since the recession. Roughly 17 percent of the households and 28 percent of children in the area served by…

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Leaders Offer Conflicting Views at Second Cityhood Forum

No additional cityhood meeting was scheduled at the end.

Leaders Offer Conflicting Views at Second Cityhood Forum

No additional cityhood meeting was scheduled at the end.

After a second meeting about the cityhood process, are we any closer to seeing another municipality sprout out of the ground in northern DeKalb County, the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area more specifically? It's hard to say. Local leaders offered conflicting views on whether the area might be a good fit for cityhood at Oak Grove United Methodist Church on Tuesday. Former Republican state Rep. Kevin Levitas, District 82, organized the second meeting to include a balance of opinions, pro and con, on the subject. Republican state Rep. Tom Taylor, District 79, and Robert Wittenstein, a former Dunwoody city council candidate, were recruited to represent the positives of cityhood. DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon, District 6, and …

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Local Legislators Announce Second Cityhood Meeting

The meeting will be held in Oak Grove United Methodist Church on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.

Local legislators will participate in a second cityhood meeting in Oak Grove early next month focused on the pros and cons of creating a new city in North DeKalb County. Kevin Levitas, a former state representative, and head of the Briarcliff Woods East Neighborhood Association, will hold the meeting in Oak Grove United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Jan. 8. The meeting will follow up on another meeting Levitas held last month that included roughly 100 or so residents at the church. That meeting, which included Fran Millar, DeKalb County's sole Republican state senator, Tom Taylor, a DeKalb state represenatative and Dan Weber, a former state senator in DeKalb, left many residents frustrated. Many said they felt they were being prodded to …

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Tom

10:26 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013

Another day another comment. Ugh.   more ›

It’s Time for DeKalb Residents to 'Get a Bin'

DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon wants more county residents recycling. Only 21 percent in the county do, falling well short of the 40-percent national standard.

Letters to the Editor

It’s Time for DeKalb Residents to 'Get a Bin'

DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon wants more county residents recycling. Only 21 percent in the county do, falling well short of the 40-percent national standard.

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners recently took a big step to make DeKalb County greener. Last Tuesday the board voted to eliminate the initial $30 sign-up fee for curbside recycling. It’s time for more DeKalb residents to recycle. While our county is among the leaders in recycling in metro Atlanta, still only 21 percent of the eligible households in DeKalb recycle. The county has a goal to increase recycling to 40 percent, the national standard. In addition to dropping the recycling registration fee, we’ve also established a modest marketing campaign to reach more citizens. It’s my hope that the elimination of the recycling fee is just the jump start needed for residents to get behind this. In just two days after the fee was …

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BurningBridges

2:19 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Having single stream recycling would encourage people as well. I have been recycling now for several years. Didn't want to do it, but my wife made me do it and she was right to do so. Now it's hard to bring myself to just throw away a can at someone's house where they don't recycle. I'm no 'green', but recycling makes good sense.   more ›

Recycling Registration Now Free in DeKalb County

The board of commissioners voted to eliminate the $30 fee for curbside recycling.

DeKalb County has just made recycling a whole lot easier. Effective tomorrow, Sept. 26, DeKalb County is eliminating the $30 registration fee for curbside recycling making it free for DeKalb residents. The measure was approved unanimously by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. “DeKalb County is clean, green, safe and thriving, and dropping the recycling fee keeps us moving in that direction,” DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis said. “We think that by removing the cost barrier and increasing education on how and what to recycle, our citizens will embrace it.” Super District 6 Commissioner Kathie Gannon agreed. “Recycling is good for DeKalb County. It helps control sanitation costs, reduces the amount of waste that …

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Officials: Commissioners Districts 3, 5 Could See Big Changes

Commissioners Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon said Thursday night that recent population shifts could lead to major reapportionment in south DeKalb.

Population growth patterns reflected in the 2010 Census could mean significant changes to DeKalb County Board of Commissioners Districts 3 and 5, county officials said Thursday night. DeKalb County Commissioners Jeff Rader (District 2) and Kathie Gannon (Super District 6) hosted the gathering at the One DeKalb Resource Center in Northlake Mall to discuss the impact of recent population shifts on the county’s political borders.   Although the Atlanta area has experienced drastic growth, Dekalb grew at a slower pace than bordering counties, said Mike Alexander, research division chief at the Atlanta Regional Commission. “Metro Atlanta was the growth engine for the state,” he said. “DeKalb really didn’t grow that fast.”   The county’s 3.9 …

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