DeKalb to host workshop for former offenders

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Tuesday, June 24th, 2014, 12:53pm

DeKalb to host workshop for former offenders

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- DeKalb Workforce Development has planned a workshop that will give ex-offenders the skills they need to succeed.

The forum, "Bridging the Gap and Breaking Barriers," will be held Wednesday, July 9 from noon to 5 p.m. at DeKalb Workforce Development. It will be hosted in conjunction with the county's Council of Recidivism and Re-entry program.

Attendees will be given access to knowledge and skills that can help them find jobs, return to school and seek out community agencies that can continue to guide them on the path to healthy and productive lives.

Learn more and sign up. The workshop is free and open to the pbulic, but registration is required.

DeKalb Workforce Development is located at 774 Jordan Lane in Decatur.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Monday, June 23rd, 2014, 11:01am

(WXIA) -- U.S. News and World Report has unveiled its list of the 20 best high schools in Georgia, and almost all of them are in metro Atlanta.

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology leads the pack. The Lawrenceville charter school is the No. 1 high school is Georgia and No. 3 in the country, with 100 percent of its students passing their Advanced Placement exams, and all students proficient in math and English.

The school has a 17:1 student-teacher ratio, which is average for Georgia. About 75 percent of its 696 students are minorities.

These schools round out Georgia's Top 20:

2. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School (Augusta)
Ranked No. 73 nationally

* 100% of students take AP exams; 76% earn passing scores
* 100% of students proficient in math
* 100% of students proficient in English
* 17:1 student-teacher ratio
* 55% minority enrollment

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Friday, June 20th, 2014, 3:01pm

Interstate work continues through the weekend

(WXIA) -- Another weekend, another series of road projects -- that seems to be the summertime theme in metro Atlanta.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said the roadwork that has plagued drivers for the past several weekends will continue through Monday morning.

Among the projects:

Cherokee County
* ROLLING CLOSURE: Nightly sweeping on I-575 in both directions

Cobb County
* Two southbound lanes of I-285 will be closed between Paces Ferry and South Atlanta roads from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly for slab replacement.

Cobb/Fulton counties
* Two lanes in each direction of I-285 will be closed between I-75 and New Northside Drive from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday for sign construction.

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Submitted by Jeff Hullinger, 11Alive Reporter

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014, 11:43pm

ATLANTA – Ten days after a Decatur cyclist was run down by a red SUV in northeast Atlanta, authorities still have no suspects.

Greg Germani, 50, remains in a coma, listed in critical condition with a broken back and a brain injury.

Atlanta police said on Wednesday that the investigation remains open. They have received a number of tips and are following up on them.

In the meantime, family and friends continue to gather at Grady Memorial Hospital to support the vibrant, University of Georgia graduate who rode his bike to Turner Broadcasting every day. Germani was a Turner employee of 25 years.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014, 10:49am

Joyce Carol Oates to headline Decatur Book Festival

DECATUR, Ga. -- Joyce Carol Oates has been named keynote speaker of the 2014 AJC Decatur Book Festival.

Oates, 76, will kick off this year's festival on Friday, Aug. 29 at 8 p.m. at Emory University's Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. She is the author of more than 40 novels and will soon publish a new short story collection, Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories.

Oates has also received a number of awards, including two O. Henry Prizes, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Poets & Writers Distinguished Lifetime Award and, in 2010, the National Humanities Medal.

"There are few authors -- very, very few -- that rise to Joyce Carol Oates' level of accomplishment," Decatur Book Festival executive director Daren Wang said in a release.

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Submitted by 11Alive News Staff

Monday, June 16th, 2014, 8:33am

DECATUR, Ga. -- A successful tour of duty was followed by an unexpected illness. It's not the plan solider Tab Hazelwood had in mind.

When he raised his voice to 11Alive News, he wanted more than help navigating the VA medical system. He hoped his voice would speak for the thousands of American veterans struggling just like him.

Hazelwood remembers every mission during his career.

"I served from '92 to '95. I was an artillery man. We all fell under the 18th Airborne Corps, the Army's first ones in if something happened," he said.

They were bound by duty, but brothers by choice.

"The camaraderie, that's pretty much the main thing, the camaraderie. It's hard when you get back in to the civilian world to recapture that," Hazelwood explained.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Monday, June 16th, 2014, 8:23am

Ga. Supreme Court allows woman to sue Agnes Scott College

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- The Supreme Court of Georgia has unanimously decided to allow a woman to proceed with a lawsuit against Agnes Scott College.

Amanda Hartley sued the DeKalb County college and three of its police officers, claiming she was falsely arrested for sexual assault.

The incident happened in April 2009, when an Agnes Scott student reported that Hartley, then a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, sexually assaulted her in her dorm room. Agnes Scott police officer Gaetano Antinozzi called Knoxville police, who arrested Hartley on charges of sexual battery, aggravated sexual battery and simple battery.

Hartley, who maintained her innocence, was extradited to Georgia and held in the DeKalb County Jail for three weeks. She said her arrest caused her to miss and fail her final exams; as a result, she lost her scholarship and grant funds, and was expelled from her graduate program.

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