Earth Day 2012

1. Praise be to Gaia, Earth mother! Today’s the planet’s birthday. While most of the volunteer clean-ups and activities we saw took place on Friday and Saturday, there are still places to check out. (The Decatur Earth Day Festival’s one example.) Or get outside and help wind down one of the city’s many outdoor festivals. Or simply help clean up the area around you.

2. Praise be to Jesus! The Midtown Alliance will lead an effort, paid for with a $1 million grant from the state Department of Transportation, to synchronize the dense urban neighborhood’s traffic lights.

2. Praise be to townhouses! Beverly Hall, the former Atlanta schools superintendent who oversaw the system during a widespread cheating scandal, is apparently still living in Atlanta and keeping a low profile in her Buckhead townhome. If I were her I’d probably buy an Xbox and never leave the house. Or move to Hawaii.

4. The New York Times says the American Legislative Exchange Council, the controversial conservative nonprofit that’s seen corporate sponsors flee because of its work on “Stand Your Ground” laws, turns state lawmakers into a bizarre legislator/lobbyist hybrid. Which is about as close to Lizard People as you can get.