The DeKalb County Board of Education has a new leader at its helm. By a vote of 7-2, the school board elected Dr. Melvin Johnson as its chairman in a special meeting Feb. 20. Board members Nancy Jester and Pamela Speaks voted against Johnson. Johnson, a retired DeKalb County deputy superintendent, has more than 37 [...]

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis announced the appointment of Cedric Alexander as the new chief of the DeKalb County Police Department Feb. 20. Ellis said public safety is DeKalb County’s number one priority and that Alexander will help move the department forward. Alexander will begin April 1. Currently, Alexander is the federal security director for [...]

It is imperative to know how much money one needs to retire and to develop a plan, Howard Joe urges. When he is not advising people at his office, educating listeners on the radio or conducting training sessions, Joe is jetting off in his private plane to meet with new or former clients. Joe, a [...]

Doraville has hired a new city manager after residents voted in favor of changing the city’s form of government last year. Shawn Gillen begins April 17 as Doraville’s first city manager in more than 20 years. In 1981, Doraville changed from a city manager to a full-time mayor form of government by way of a [...]

The DeKalb County Board of Education has filed a lawsuit to prevent a Feb. 21 hearing about its possible removal. In the lawsuit, filed Feb. 19, the school board is asking for a temporary restraining order to halt its meeting with the Georgia Board of Education. The DeKalb board is scheduled to go before the [...]

DeKalb County’s Superior Court judges want a raise. Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams asked the county’s legislative delegation to the Georgia General Assembly on Feb. 4 to increase judges’ salaries by $15,000, which would make them the second highest paid judges in the state, behind those in the Augusta circuit. The state’s legislature has to [...]

In the wake of the departure of DeKalb County’s school superintendent, the district’s current accreditation probation and possible loss of accreditation, the possible dismissal of the school board, and the poor graduation rates, home schooling is an option worth considering for some. For their entire school years, my wife Deanna has homeschooled our four children—ages [...]