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NOV. 3
The Official Legal Organ ofDeKalb County, OA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chambtee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
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SECTION A: VOL 25 NO. 18
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OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 4,2015
500
Five mayoral positions
on November ballots
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
V oters will go to the polls Nov.
3 to decide contested may-
oral seats in Brookhaven,
Doraville, Dunwoody and Lithonia as
well as elect a new state senator and
representative.
Brookhaven residents will elect a
new mayor. The candidates are Dale
Boone, a competitive eater, and attor
ney John Ernst, former chairman of
the DeKalb County Board of Ethics.
In Doraville’s mayoral race, former
Councilman Tom Hart, a retired
chemist, is challenging Mayor Donna
Pittman.
Three people are trying to unseat
incumbent Dunwoody Mayor Mike
Davis: Steve Chipka, a retired Bell
South manager; Chris Grivakis, a
senior account executive at Textron
Financial Corp.; and Denis Shortal,
a former councilman and retired U.S.
Marines brigadier general.
Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson
is defending her position against Li
thonia City Councilman and Mayor
Pro Tern A1 Franklin.
There is only one candidate for
Pine Lake’s mayoral position, Melanie
Hammet, a musician and former city
councilwoman.
State Senate District 43
Nine candidates are running to
fill the unexpired term for the Geor
gia Senate District 43 seat, which
includes parts ofDeKalb, Rockdale,
and Newton counties. The seat was
vacated when former Sen. Ronald
Ramsey resigned to accept a judge-
ship in DeKalb County Traffic Court.
Republicans seeking the seat are
Diane Adoma, owner of Diane Ado-
ma Consulting LLC, of Lithonia;
William “Bill” Kennedy; and JaNice
Frey Van Ness, founder of Peachtree
Academy Private School and Early
Childhood Centers.
See Ballots on page13A
Shortal Pittman Jackson
Chipka
Hammet
Franklin
Boone
A client of Paws in Paradise plays in the daycare area. Photo by Carla
Parker
Paws in Paradise reopens
in Stone Mountain Village
by Carla Parker
carla@dekelbchamp.com
Last year, Chene Wil
liams and Lamarr Mitchell
were days away from ex
panding their business, Paws
in Paradise pet salon, when a
fire destroyed the business.
On Oct. 21, Williams
and Mitchell cut a ribbon to
celebrate the grand reopen
ing of the business in Stone
Mountain Village, located
behind their old location,
which still sits damaged from
the fire and fenced up.
In the early hours of
Oct. 24, 2014, Williams and
Mitchell were working late
in their old location in the
Westgate Plaza in Stone
Mountain Village, when Wil
liams smelled smoke.
“I was on one side [of
the business] and I smelled
the smoke,” Williams said.
“ [Mitchell] was working on
the other side. I thought it
was the heater. When you
turn on the heater, it has that
fiery scent. [Mitchell] looked
out the window and said
‘No, there are fire trucks out
there.’”
The fire occurred at a
restaurant in the plaza. Fire
fighters were able to contain
the flames to the restaurant,
but Paws in Paradise and
several other businesses in
the strip shopping center
sustained smoke and water
damage. Williams said they
were not notified about the
fire before firefighters ar
rived.
“When we looked out
and saw the firemen, they
were already engaging the
fire,” she said. “So we came
out the back door. I guess
they didn’t know or assumed
no one was over there except
dogs.”
A cook from the restau
rant eventually came over
and informed them what was
happening. Williams, Mitch
ell and 19 dogs were in the
building at the time.
“We were able to get
17 [dogs] out, but the type
of smoke there—that dark,
thick smoke—[firefight
ers] prevented us from go
ing back in,” Williams said.
“We actually pulled the 17
out and the last two were
inside. The firemen went in
and brought them out. They
were still kind of there but
because they had inhaled so
much of the smoke they just
expired.”
The two dogs, a cocker
spaniel and a Shih Tzu,
died of smoke inhalation.
A painting of the two dogs,
done by Williams’ aunt Mi
chelle Finlayson, hangs on
the wall inside their new
See Paws on page13A
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