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LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, THURSDAY, JAN. 2 - 8, 2020 • PAGE 8
YIR
Continued From Page 5
On July 15, SRWA sent DeKalb County a 60-day
notice of intent to sue over the county’s “failure to
meet critical deadlines in the EPA and EPD Consent
Decree.”
South River officials said in the last decade
DeKalb has had multiple violations of the Clean
Water Act for discharging raw sewage into
community waterways.
Dunwoody officer victim of
aggravated assault
A routine traffic stop
for violating the Georgia
handsfree law recently
resulted in injury for
Dunwoody Police Officer
Nathan Daley.
“I will bounce back 10
times stronger,” said Daley.
“I love you guys. Thank you
so much for your support
and I accept donations in
the form of sweets, cookies,
chocolate chip cookies,
cupcakes with sprinkles, vanilla or red velvet.”
On the morning of Aug 1, Daley and another
Dunwoody police officer stopped 35-year-old Derric
Alexander Simpson of Decatur near Ashford
Dunwoody Road and 1-285 West for a hands-free law
violation.
Video footage of the stop sent from Dunwoody
Police Department, shows Simpson putting the car
into gear. Daley reacted by reaching into the car to
stop Simpson from fleeing. However,
Simpson accelerated with Daley partially inside
the car and sped onto the interstate. Simpson then
struck a white Ford van, knocking Daley to the
ground.
Student’s doodle wins Google contest
Comedian Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight
Show Starring Jimmy Fallon announced on his show
Aug. 13 that former DeKalb County School Dis
trict student Arantza Pena Popo won “Doodle 4
Google”—a national Google drawing contest.
Fallon, who was a judge for the competition-
invited Popo to be on the show. “I loved yours,” Fal
lon said to Popo. “I looked at a whole bunch of great
doodles... but honestly [yours] was beautiful art.”
Popo, a 2019 Arabia Mountain High School
graduate and Fithonia resident, entered the “Doodle 4
Google” competition which invited school-age artists
from across the country to redesign the Google logo
according to the theme “When I grow up, I hope...”
“Once You Get It, Give It Back” is the title of the
artwork Popo submitted to Google. Popo explained
her art with, “When I grow up, I hope to care for
my mom as much as she cared for me my entire
life. In my doodle, there is a framed picture of my
mother carrying me as a baby—a real picture in my
house—and below the picture is me, caring for her
when she’s older in the future.”
SEPTEMBER
Local efforts support hurricane relief
Many Bahamians are trying literally and
figuratively to piece their lives back together after a
Category 5 hurricane made landfall in the Bahamas
Sept. 1.
As of Sept. 10, Hurricane Dorian had claimed
the lives of at least 50 people and destroyed multiple
buildings and homes around the islands of Grand
Bahama and Abaco. According to statistics from the
Red Cross, about 45 percent, or 13,000 homes, on
Grand Bahama and Abaco islands are believed to
be severely damaged. More than 600 miles from the
islands of the Bahamas, DeKalb County agencies and
nonprofits were collecting much-needed supplies to
be shipped to the island nation.
12,000,000 -
9,000,000 -
6,000,000 -
3,000,000 -
Efforts to correct ‘neglected’ sewer
system continue
DeKalb County officials said they’re doing
everything they can to reduce and limit the number of
sewer spills in the county.
However, these efforts may not stop pending
legal action. The Champion received data from the
previous 10 years of sewer spills. From 2017 to Sept.
1, 2019, approximately 24 million gallons of sewage
spilled into local waterways, which is approximately
12 million gallons more than the previous seven years
combined.
“The gallons [between 2009-2013] are less than 1
percent of the total annual wastewater flows that are
treated by the county’s wastewater treatment plants
and then returned to the South River. But the county
recognizes that even one gallon spilled is too many.
The county is focused on reducing that less than
1 percent annual wastewater flows to zero [so] that all
wastewater flows are treated and then discharged as
clean water to the South River,” county officials said
in a statement to The Champion.
Judge extends restraining order
against Adoma
DeKalb County Superior Court judge
permanently extended a restraining order filed by the
city of Stonecrest against former city councilwoman
Diane Adoma, the city announced Sept. 19.
During a Sept. 17 preliminary injunction
hearing, Stonecrest city attorney Janet Scott asked
Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger to extend
the temporary restraining order against Adoma to
90 days, according to Stonecrest Communications
Director Adrion Bell. “But the judge made it
permanent,” Bell said. “He could have said [he’ll
extend the restraining order] to the end of the year,
which would have been well after the Nov. 5 election
and any potential runoff. Instead, after hearing
[Adoma’s] testimony, [and] hearing [the city’s]
testimony, he decided to make it permanent.”
A SMOKING GUN
Taping controversy continues
Diana Padron, owner and operator of Umi Vapes
on east College Avenue in Decatur, said she grew up
around smokers.
Padron said tobacco rolling and cigarette
smoking are a part of her Cuban culture. Padron
said smoking is normal in her family and she began
smoking cigarettes at the age of 15.
“We come from a big tobacco family. Everybody
smokes cigarettes. My aunts would gather around
and smoke tobacco. It would be like a rite-of-passage
kind of thing,” Padron said. “It’s part of the culture,
but it’s unhealthy.”
Padron, a former real estate broker, said she
wanted to be more health conscious and provide
alternatives for cigarette smokers. Padron said, “I
wanted to do something different and I wanted to do
something fun. I would go to vaping conventions and
see that everyone was having a good time,” Padron
said. “Vaping is so much healthier than cigarettes.”
OCTOBER
Former police officer found not
guilty of murder
A jury found former DeKalb
County Police officer Robert Olsen
not guilty of felony murder for the
killing of unarmed veteran Anthony
Hill
The jury deliberated for six
days before coming to a unanimous
decision of not guilty on two counts
of felony murder.
The jury also found Olsen guilty of aggravated
assault, making false statements and two counts of
violation of oath of office.
Olsen was indicted by a grand jury in 2016 for
shooting and killing veteran Hill in March of 2015.
Hill was unarmed at the time and family members
said he was suffering from a mental health episode.
In the four years leading up to trial, social justice
groups held protests, a DeKalb judge recused himself
from the case without offering explanation and
Olsen’s attorney Don Samuels called the grand jury
trial a media “circus.”
SEE YIR ON PAGE 9
