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THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, THURSDAY, JAN. 2 - 8, 2020 • PAGE 6
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of DeKalb History Center in Decatur, public safety
officials from various departments were in attendance
to pay homage to fallen officers. The newest name
added to the list of fallen officers was DeKalb County
Police South Precinct Officer Edgar Flores.
Flores died in 2018 after he was shot by a suspect
during a traffic stop in Decatur. The Flores family
attended the ceremony.
Green to step down as superintendent
DeKalb County School
District Superintendent R.
Stephen Green announced that he
will remain in his position through
the 2019-2020 school year, but
will not extend his contract
afterward.
“The DeKalb County Schools
community is truly inspirational. I
am proud to have the opportunity
to help lead our students to achieve educational
excellence alongside our exceptional teachers and
staff,” said Green. “I’m excited to see what the future
holds for our district and our students—both have
limitless potential.”
Green said his departure is for personal reasons,
“after thoughtful consideration with [his] family.”
His last day as DCSD superintendent will be June 30,
2020.
“We are grateful to Superintendent Green for
his service to our district for the last four years. He
is a dynamic leader with a strong focus on student
achievement leading to higher education, work and
life-long learning,” said Michael Erwin, chair of the
DeKalb County Board of Education.
JUNE
The Champion again recognized for
excellence in journalism
For the 10th consecutive year, The Champion was
awarded first place in General Excellence by judges
of Georgia Press Association’s Better Newspaper
Contest as awards were announced May 31 at The
Jekyll Island Club.
Representing The Champion at the awards
banquet were publishers Carolyn Glenn and Dr.
Earl Glenn along with local news editor Horace
Holloman and his wife Carneshia.
First-place awards were given in the categories
of Multimedia Journalism, Breaking News Writing,
Local News Coverage, Enterprise Story, Headline
Writing, Investigative Reporting, Lifestyle Coverage,
Special Issues, Sports Feature Story and Spot News
Photograph.
Community mourns student death
A DeKalb County School District (DCSD)
student died June 10 after collapsing on a school
track during dance team training.
The funeral of Elyse Purefoy, 17, was held June
17 at Saint Philip AME Church in Decatur. Family,
friends, dancers, students and members of Arabia
Mountain High School band and drumline gathered to
share memories and words of comfort.
“She was soft-spoken but very strong at the same
time,” a friend of Purefoy said. “I would not be the
same young lady today without [her] love.”
Another friend of Purefoy’s said she would
“scream” Purefoy’s name during their graduation
in May when school officials call graduates to walk
across the stage.
Purefoy—affectionately known as
“Weezie”—recently made Arabia Mountain High
School’s dance team. As she participated in a summer
workout with the team, she collapsed on the school’s
track. She was rushed to the hospital where she later
died. Purefoy was a rising senior and would have
begun her senior year at the school in the fall.
Decatur reviewing options for
e-scooter ordinance
Cities such as Marietta, Athens and Alpharetta
have taken a hard stance on shareable dockless
mobility devices, also known as e-scooters, by
banning them completely within city limits, but
Decatur officials are still weighing their options.
According to a city spokesperson, Decatur
officials and community leaders have been drafting
an ordinance regulating e-scooter use. “We held
community input sessions, both online and in person,
to get feedback from the community on various
components such as how many shared mobility
devices should be allowed per company in the city,
should the age limit for operating be lowered to
16, should helmets be required, etc.,” said Decatur
spokesperson Renae Madison in an email to The
Champion.
Two e-scooter companies, Lime and Bird,
operated in the city in the fall of 2018, according to
Ash Kumar, local government manager fellow for
Decatur.
Decatur officials drafted an interim operating
agreement for e-scooter companies in January that
some residents felt was too restrictive. Bird has since
removed its scooters from Decatur.
JULY
As meters are replaced, residents
still feel drained
DeKalb County officials
recently announced that its water
meter replacement program
is underway. According to the
county, DeKalb is on track to
replace 30,000 water meters
during the first year of the New
Day Water Meter Exchange and
Upgrade Initiative.
The exchange and upgrade
initiative is part of an effort by DeKalb County
Watershed Management to replace an estimated
55 percent of the county’s water meters that may
contribute to inaccurate water bills.
The meter replacement program was originally
slated to begin in 2017, but stalled until April of 2019
due to a litigation process, county officials said.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond
said the three-year program will eventually replace
102,000 aging and potentially defective water meters.
The county has reached 10 percent of its goal to
replace 30,000 meters in the first year of the program,
according to a statement from DeKalb County.
Shooting death of gay man alarms
LGBTQ community
Ronald Grant, a man who lived in DeKalb
County for more than two decades and recently
moved to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career,
said he was angered when he heard the news of a gay
man being shot to death in a suspected hate crime in
Decatur.
“It’s just more senseless violence,” Grant said.
“It’s hard living as a gay Black man because you
never know what’s going to happen.”
According to police reports, Ronald Peters, 28,
was shot to death in front of his partner while Peters
was on his way to work.
Witnesses at the scene said Peters was walking
along Orchard Circle in Decatur when two men
jumped out of a truck, put on masks and told the
victim to “give me your bag, faggot.”
AUGUST
Organization plans to sue DeKalb
over sewer system
In 2010, after years of sanitary sewer
overflow issues, DeKalb County was told by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to
clean up its act.
DeKalb signed a consent decree almost a decade
ago that requires the county to clean, repair, enlarge
and maintain its sanitary sewer pipes so sewer
overflows are reduced. The deadline to implement
changes under the guidelines of the consent decree is
mid-2020.
Officials with the South River Watershed Alliance
(SRWA) said DeKalb will not implement the changes
by 2020 and plans to sue the county.
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