Patch Voices

Instilling in Kids a Deep Respect of the Earth

Grant Park Cooperative Preschool had sheep on campus last week as part of a Farm-to-School learning initiative.

GRANT PARK — Ellie Martin, coordinator for the volunteer group, Atlanta Farm-to-School, has been introducing farm-to-preschool concepts at the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool where she is on staff. Martin is the school’s naturalist, a new position created by GPCP last year. She has worked with the children to renovate the school garden, which is located across the street in the Garcia family’s background. When the question of how to get rid of overgrowth came up, Martin looked no further than Ewe-niversally Green, a company that offers “sheep for hire” for natural land management. Paid for by donations from GPCP families, a $600 fee covered the rental of a team of sheep for four days, a portable, in-ground fence to keep them contained to …

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800 Glenwood Ave. Project: Neighborhood Group Responds to Latest Application

'NPU-W requests that the City immediately confirm that it will summarily inform the applicant that it must submit a new complete new application, and not submit the second revised version of an application first submitted in September of last year.'

After yet another rejection, Atlanta builder Fuqua Development LP last week resubmitted an amended plan to city planning officials for the 800 Glenwood Ave. project. But Neighborhood Planning Unit-W thinks the company should stop amending its original application and simply submit a new one that conforms to the zoning requirements for the site on Glenwood, just west of the Glenwood-Memorial Connector. The project would take the 20-acre site and create 197,590 square feet of retail and parking for 1,201 vehicles. The company has repeatedly sought variances to zoning regulations that outline the scope of development for the site in its first and subsequent two resubmissions. "There really is no reason for an applicant to not have a fully …

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Zoo Atlanta Embarks to Build New Reptile Complex

Plan calls for the replacement of the existing structure.

GRANT PARK — Zoo Atlanta filed a building permit application with city officials as part of its plans to construct a new amphibian and reptile complex. The new structure would replace the 51-year-old World of Reptiles building, the oldest structure at the zoo. "This is an exciting early step in a process to create a state-of-the-art experience showcasing one of the nation’s largest and most diverse collections of reptiles and amphibians from around the world, and it will replace a structure familiar to many Atlantans from childhood," Zoo Atlanta said in a statement. "Logistics and details of the construction process are still being finalized." What Now Atlanta reported Zoo Atlanta's plans call for the construction of a 14,956-square-foot …

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Parkside Elementary Hosts APS Gifted Essentials for Parents of Gifted and Talented Students

Parkside Elementary is the location of the upcoming Gifted Essentials for Parents meeting on March 28th.

GRANT PARK — Parents of gifted and talented Atlanta Public Schools students will have the opportunity to gather amongst themselves and district educators on March 28th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Parkside Elementary for the 'Gifted Essentials for Parents' meeting held by APS. An additional meeting will be held in the morning at Centennial Place Elementary for parents' convenience, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. According to the Gifted and Talented APS website, "the Office of Gifted and Talented Education provides learning environments which foster personal and social responsibility, multi-cultural competence and technical communication skills for citizenship in the global environment of the 21st Century." Gifted services are available for all …

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Atlanta Fringe Festival 2nd Annual Easter Art Hunt Saturday

For the second year in a row the Atlanta Fringe Festival will be hosting their Easter Art Hunt in Grant Park where, like so many Easter eggs, pieces of art will be hidden and FREE to whoever finds them.

Patch Pic of the Day

Zoo Atlanta's Lulu Gives Birth to Baby Lowland Gorilla

Lulu’s newborn is the 19th gorilla born at Zoo Atlanta since the opening of The Ford African Rain Forest in 1988.

GRANT PARK — Lulu, a 13-year-old western lowland gorilla at Zoo Atlanta, gave birth to an infant late in the evening on March 14. The newborn is Lulu’s first surviving offspring and the seventh for 23-year-old family leader Taz. Lulu's offspring also is a grandchild of Zoo Atlanta’s most legendary resident, the late Willie B. The newborn appears to be healthy, and Lulu has been observed nursing. Provided the new mother continues to provide appropriate maternal care, the pair may be seen in their outdoor habitat as early as Saturday, March 16. Jennifer Mickelberg, Curator of Primates says zoo officials should know the baby gorilla's sex within the next couple of days. The Animal Management and Veterinary Teams continue to monitor Lulu and …

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Police Recover Carjacked Honda, Arrest Three

Atlanta Police are deploying additional officers to Grant Park based on the latest crime patterns, according to a neighborhood official.

GRANT PARK — Atlanta Police have arrested three juveniles who were driving in a Honda Insight that was reported stolen in a carjacking here earlier this week, according to Ron Lall, chairman of the Neighborhood Planning Unit-W's neighborhood safety committee. Police recovered the vehicle and made the arrests during a traffic stop Thursday evening. This incident is at least the 10th carjacking in an East Atlanta Patch neighborhood since Jan. 1. Lall e-mailed residents to let them know the juveniles were charged with theft by receiving and may face additional charges "if the victim is able to confirm their identity through a line up." Atlanta Police Department spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones confirmed three juveniles were arrested and charged …

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Kwanza Hall Announces Relocation, Re-Opening of Martin Luther King Jr. Pool

Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School is the new home of the MLK pool.

GRANT PARK — City of Atlanta officials including Councilwoman Carla Smith and Councilman Kwanza Hall recently announced the official re-opening and relocation of the Martin Luther King public pool.  In partnership with the Atlanta Public Schools System, the new public pool is now at Martin Luther King Middle School. Due to safety concerns at the original Martin Luther King Natatorium, the facility has been closed and Atlanta residents can now use the pool at King Middle School. The school, located at 582 Connally St. SE, is within a two-mile radius of the natatorium. There is an indoor six-lane, 25 meter pool as well as locker room facilities with showers, which are all located on the bottom floor of the middle school. Parking also is …

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Business Inc.

Medical Malpractice: One Lawyer's Unique Perspective

Inman Park attorney Rod Edmond is one half of the Edmond & Lindsay law firm. He's also a doctor.

GRANT PARK — When it comes to malpractice and the law, Rod Edmond has a particularly unique perspective. Edmond, who is a physician, also is an attorney and that allows him special insight into an issue that has been part of the state and national discussion on malpractice costs. Congress and the Georgia Legislature have looked at tackling those costs through tort reform efforts that would limit payouts. Medical practitioners lament the cost of malpractice insurance makes the business of medicine in some states too cost prohibitive to run their own practices. Georgia, for example, ranked 10th nationwide in medical malpractice payouts in 2012, with $86 million, according to an analysis by Diederich Healthcare, a malpractice insurer. Among …

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