Last week July 22 2000
?Tuesday, July 11
Sprawl by the mall: DeKalb commissioners approve a capital improvements plan that allows a $46 million budget for transportation improvements in the Perimeter Center area, including a new bridge across I-285. ... Tits for tat: Fayetteville residents turn out in force to protest plans for a Hooters restaurant. ... Sign curve: Cherokee County Commission vindicates Joseph “The Sign Avenger” Chao by making weekend directional signs for real estate developments illegal.
Wednesday, July 12
“Let freedom ring”: The family of Martin Luther King Jr. backs down from its lawsuit against CBS over use of the network’s original footage of the martyr’s “I have a dream” speech. ... Breathing room: Eleven-year-old asthma sufferer Katie Walsh testifies to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority about the dangers of smog. ... Inside job: Four former state prison guards are sent to federal prison for running 142 guns to Philadelphia.
Thursday, July 13
Guilty of an accident: A 12-year-old boy pleads guilty to shooting his 10-year-old cousin to death in Cobb County, but insists that it was an accident. ... Buried with honors: The Department of Veterans Affairs chooses a 77-acre site in Cherokee County for its new national veterans cemetery. ... School rules: The state school board agrees to put out for public comment a rule that would allow parents more choice as to which public school their children attend.
Friday, July 14
Heat haulin’ honeymooners: Newlywed Arkansans Alison Reed and Jason Coombs, who were detained by police at Hartsfield because the bride’s mom packed a pistol with the trousseau, return to enjoy a night on the town at the expense of Atlanta businesses. ... Sucked dry: The U.S. Department of Agriculture declares drought-crippled Georgia a disaster area. ... Second chance: The Georgia Supreme Court orders a new trial for Steven Slakman, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 for the murder of his wife based in part on a court reporter who claimed she heard him ask himself why he did it.
Saturday, July 15
Crazy from Alabama: A 72-year-old Alabama man who spent time in prison and mental institutions goes on a nine-hour shooting spree in Rabun County that leaves four wounded and ends when he is killed by a SWAT team. ... Guys, guns and cars: An 18-year-old Dunwoody man is shot to death at an apartment complex near his home in a dispute witnesses said involved car vandalism. ... Hollywood reconstruction: Showtime’s movie Who Killed Atlanta’s Children? premieres to negative reviews from just about everyone.
Sunday, July 16
All right already: Seven days after work crews slashed into gas, water and sewer lines under Piedmont Road, the hole is repaired, allowing Buckhead shoppers to resume their routine of salmon-like returns to the malls. ... Fifth in a foursome: Jack Croyle, a junior on Georgia State University’s golf team and only an alternate for the Georgia State Amateur Championship, wins the event.
Monday, July 17
Getting heard: Nearly 600 Hispanics show up at a Smyrna City Council meeting to support six Mexican bricklayers who were arrested and charged last month with violating the city’s noise ordinance as they worked on a construction site. ... A kick in the wallet: Emory University settles a nationally publicized lawsuit brought against the institution by accused vandal/business prof Jeffrey Sonnenfeld for an undisclosed amount.