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^Community Briefs
ROBBER WITH RIFLE
STEALS $500 FROM MAN
AT SHOPPING CENTER
A rifle-carrying robber stole $500 in
cash and other items from a man using
an ATM at a local shopping center on
Dec. 17, according to an Atlanta Police re
port.
The victim, a Buclchead resident, re
ported that he and his wife arrived by ve
hicle around 7:15 p.m. at the Peachtree
Battle Shopping Center at 2333-2365
Peachtree Road in Peachtree Hills. He
withdrew $500 from a Bank of America
ATM. When he was returning to the ve
hicle, a male approached him with “what
appeared to be a black semi-automatic ri
fle,” according to the police report.
The robber said, “Give me your cash.”
After taking the $500, the robber also
took the victim’s phone and debit card
with PIN number, according to the police
report. The suspect left the shopping cen
ter and headed south on Peachtree Road.
The report says that police officers
notified the Loudermillc Video Integra
tion Center, the hub of the police de
partment’s network of thousands of vid
eo and license-plate reader surveillance
cameras. The center “was unable to pro
vide any footage of the incident or sus
pect,” according to the police report.
Anyone with information can contact
police at crimestoppersatl.org.
MAYOR CALLS FOR
SHIELDING RECORDS OF
LOW-LEVEL MARIJUANA
OFFENSES
Mayor Keisha Lance bottoms is order
ing that records of minor marijuana pos
session charges be restricted from em
ployers’ background checks and other
“public view.”
Her administrative order, issued Dec.
16, includes offenses of possession of 1
ounce or less of marijuana. It also covers
offenses under a law repealed 12 years
ago that criminalized being in the area
of illegal drug sales with the intent to use
them.
The order calls for restricting the re
cords of such offenses to only “law en
forcement for criminal justice purposes,”
according to a city press release.
“The fact remains that communities
of color are disproportionately affect
ed by the lingering stigma of victimless,
minor offenses — even long after the ac
cused have paid their debts,” said Bot
toms in the press release. “This outmod
ed practice deprives our communities
and workforce of brilliant and promis
ing minds, all because of an unfair jus
tice system that can and will be course-
corrected.”
The order calls for a process for re
stricting the offenses to be in place by
Feb. 1. The officials directed to coordi
nate the plan include the chief operat
ing office, the city attorney, the city solic
itor and the chief judge of the Municipal
Court of Atlanta.
FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT
TO GET PAY BOOST,
MAYOR ANNOUNCES
Atlanta Fire Rescue Department per
sonnel will get pay raises in a $15.6 mil
lion plan announced Dec. 11 by Mayor
Keisha Lance Bottoms, a response to con
cerns about hiring and retention.
The raises will be spread over the next
three-and-half years, according to a city
press release. The city press office says
that, in combination with 3.1% raises
from the last two budgets, the total will
amount to a 25% increase in base pay for
firefighters.
The money will come from “a com
bination of budget reprioritization, re
purposing of one-time items and base
line revenues,” the press release said. The
raises will appear in paychecks Jan. 31,
backdated to Jan. 1.
The effort followed a study commis
sioned by the Atlanta Fire Rescue Foun
dation and concerns that other nearby
departments were offering better pay.
“As first responders, Atlanta’s fire
fighters are on the front lines of dan
ger each and every day,” Bottoms said
in the press release. “When an indepen
dent study confirmed they were under
paid, it was this administration’s duty to
respond in the urgent and meaningful
manner they deserve. With this signifi
cant investment, our compensation will
be competitive to support and enhance
AFRD’s recruitment and retention rates.”
Department Chief Randall Slaughter
in the press release praised the move as
a “historic day.”
TWO YOUTHS WOUNDED
IN SHOOTING
Two youths — one 11 years old and one
18 — were wounded in a Dec. 14 shooting
in Buclchead, according to the Atlanta Po
lice Department.
Police said in a written statement that
the victims are thought to be “members
of a group involved in an ongoing feud
with students attending the same local
school who were targeted by the shoot
ers.”
Police responded to the shooting
call at 9 Peachtree Ave. in Garden Hills
around 8:20 p.m. The 11-year-old had a
gunshot wound to a leg and the 18-year-
old was wounded in the abdomen and an
arm, according to police.
Police described both victims as “sta
ble, alert, conscious and breathing” when
they were transported to hospitals.
ATL AUTHORITY APPROVES
$27B TRANSIT PLAN
AS FIRST STEP
IN SEEKING FUNDS
The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Au
thority board on Dec. 13 approved a $27
billion transit expansion plan for met
ro Atlanta, the authority announced, the
first step in seeking some federal and
state funding.
The new authority is coordinating
service and expansion of 10 transit sys
tems in 13 metro Atlanta counties. One
goal is to seek funding in a more coordi
nated way.
The “ATL Regional Transit Plan” ap
proved by the authority’s board is a list
of all locally approved transit projects,
with some cost-benefit analysis, evalua
tion and prioritization.
The plan includes all of the projects
submitted by DeKalb and Fulton coun
ties following earlier public processes.
MARTA’s major service expansion
within the city of Atlanta is already pro
ceeding under its own sales tax, but the
authority’s plan includes some related
projects, such as the Clifton Corridor rail
line between Lindbergh Center and Emo
ry University.
