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CHAMPION
1ST PLACE
General Excellence
award Winner
Georgia Press Association
'Better Newspaper Contest’
2007, 2009-2017
SECTION A: VOL. 27 N(
The Official Legal Organ ofDeKalb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker, Stonecrest and Stone Mountain.
THURSDAY, JUNE21 -27,2018 THECHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM I f 1581 DEKALBCHAMPNEWS
Tires, a baby doll and other discarded items were found in the South River during a cleanup effort June 16. Photo by Horace
Holloman
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Volunteers pull 125
tires from South River
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
Volunteers and county
workers trudged through water
as they pulled out tires and
other discarded items during
Keep DeKalb Beautiful’s (KDB)
second South River Cleanup
event June 16.
The event allows the
community to get involved in
protecting the environment, said
event officials.
Gordon Burkette, director
of KDB, said the event is also
an opportunity to educate
volunteers on the importance of
cleaning the river.
“People see stuff that they
would never imagine would be
in our waterways,” Burkette said.
“This is drinking water for some
parts of the state., .and it affects
the water quality.”
DeKalb County receives its
water from the Chattahoochee
River, Burkette said. The water
from the South River eventually
ends up in Jackson Lake, which
is located in Butts, Jasper and
Newton counties.
SEE TIRES ON PAGE 5
The South River Watershed Alliance and Keep DeKalb Beautiful partnered
for a cleanup effort of the south river June 16.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and officer A.
Johnson at the 112th DeKalb County Police Academy
graduation ceremony.
Thurmond:
DeKalb police
will be ‘best’
paid in Georgia
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
D uring the 112th DeKalb County
Police Academy graduation
ceremony in the Maloof
Auditorium in downtown Decatur,
DeKalb County’s CEO Michael
Thurmond made a promise to public
safety personnel.
“My commitment to the graduates,
as well as the more experienced men
and women in the department, is
we will have the best-trained, best-
equipped and ultimately the best-
paid police department in Georgia,”
Thurmond said.
DeKalb County Police Department
(DKPD) graduated 12 officers June
15 during its ceremony. Thurmond
said to continue the department’s
growth, providing the department with
additional resources is necessary.
For years, DeKalb County residents
have urged officials to increase pay for
DKPD officers.
This year, DeKalb County
commissioners approved $6.6
million to improve training, purchase
equipment and increase salaries,
Thurmond said.
Recruits went through 26
weeks of training at the police
academy. Following graduation, they
will complete an additional eight to 12
weeks of training in the field, according
to DKPD officials.
SEE POLICE ON PAGE 5