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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. Mb Social/ 30 thechampionnewspaper.com SECTION A: VOL 25 NO. 18 TheChampion \ flPTflDED on linilEMDED il oniR I ist Place General excellence Award winner Georgia Press Association 'Better Newspaper Contest’ 2007, 2009-2015 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 64 116 1 f CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER □CHAMPIONNEWS (f|CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER ©CHAMPNEWS