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Jonathan Cribbs

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Commissioners override CEO veto, refill more than 200 critical positions

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted to slash hundreds of county government jobs this month, overriding CEO Burrell Ellis’ veto of the cuts several weeks ago. But the board also voted to allow the county to fill nearly 220 new positions t...

Attorney: School system could have new superintendent as soon as April

The DeKalb County School System could have a new superintendent by April, according to a school district’s statement attorney to school board members late last month. But some board members said they wanted the search timeline accelerated considera...

No slashed DeKalb routes saved in final hour as MARTA approves heavy cutbacks

A handful of bus routes that had been on the chopping block for months were saved at the last minute before MARTA approved sweeping cuts of bus and train service. None of those routes were in DeKalb County, however. MARTA’s new $710 million budget ...

Fourth district congressional candidates vow to create jobs, improve regional transportation

Five candidates seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson in November vowed June 22 to create jobs, secure American borders to keep out terrorists and illegal immigrants and improve regional transportation.   The Champion Newspaper and the Lea...

Former school construction chief hires new attorney in racketeering case

A former DeKalb County School System construction chief has new representation in a high-profile racketeering case after her former attorney was slapped with a protective order for contacting grand jurors. Pat Reid, the district’s former chief oper...

School board to review policies to prevent future corruption

The DeKalb County Board of Education is in the process of revising a series of policies that address the kind of corruption that led to indictment of its superintendent and construction chief last month. The board’s budget committee discussed the c...

Commissioners restore rec centers, some justice hiring without tax increase

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners managed June 22 to save two recreation centers scheduled for closure while restoring some money to the county’s panicked justice system as it considers midyear reductions to its 2010 budget. And the board di...

Ousted ambulance company head wants county audit

A vice president at an ambulance company whose contract DeKalb County canceled this month said he wants the county to audit its 911 response services. Doug Tisdale, vice president of CARE Ambulance of Montgomery, Ala., said he believes an audit will ...

Lithonia ‘leadership’ charter school prepares to open doors

Dr. Frankie Callaway
If you walk in through the wrong front door, it can take a few minutes to find the Leadership Preparatory Academy. It sits in the labyrinthine west wing of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, and even the charter school’s principal, Fr...

Decatur Book Festival pushes authors to local businesses

The Decatur Book Festival could do what other festivals and conventions do when charged with feeding hundreds of guests. They could organize expensive group dinners or set up V.I.P. huts with large food spreads. Instead, festival organizers decided t...