Arrest follows Sandy Springs car chase
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, July 09, 2009
An Alpharetta woman who led Sandy Springs police on a high-speed chase Wednesday night was allegedly trying to light a crack pipe even as officers broke out a window of the vehicle to arrest her.
The chase began in the 7800 block of Roswell Road after a tag check on a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe revealed that the registered driver’s license had been suspended for driving under the influence, Sandy Springs police Lt. Steve Rose said.
When the officer attempted to stop the Santa Fe, Lisa Beth Solanik, 43, made a U-turn and sped northbound on Roswell Road.
Rose said officers deployed “stop sticks” at Dunwoody Place and Roswell Road, deflating two of the suspect’s tires.
“The car then drove onto Verdun Drive off Roberts Drive, where it struck one of the police vehicles,” Rose said. “The suspect’s car was then cornered and pinned to a stop by two Sandy Springs police vehicles.”
Rose said that as officers were breaking the side window of the Santa Fe to take Solanik into custody, she was “in the process of trying to light what appeared to be a crack pipe.”
Solanik was charged with obstruction of a police officer, fleeing and/or attempting to elude a police officer, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence of drugs and eight traffic charges. She is in the Fulton County Jail, awaiting an initial court appearance on Friday.
Rose said one Sandy Springs police officer was treated and released for a minor injury sustained during the chase.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
State adds $34 to city tax bills
by Bob Pepalis / Appen Newspapers
City Council recently approved the first reading of its millage rate, keeping it at 5.75 mills for the next fiscal year.However, with the state legislature removing an $8,000 homestead exemption, another $34 will be added to every Alpharetta residential property owner's tax bill.
The state had funded the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. Alpharetta, like most cities and counties, gave every homeowner a credit on his or her tax bill. Later in the year, the state would send a check to the city to cover it."We wait for the state to give us that check. That's about $400,000," said Finance Director Tom Harris.Council members were concerned that city taxpayers would assume Alpharetta raised taxes, when it had nothing to do with this change.
City Council recently approved the first reading of its millage rate, keeping it at 5.75 mills for the next fiscal year.However, with the state legislature removing an $8,000 homestead exemption, another $34 will be added to every Alpharetta residential property owner's tax bill.
The state had funded the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. Alpharetta, like most cities and counties, gave every homeowner a credit on his or her tax bill. Later in the year, the state would send a check to the city to cover it."We wait for the state to give us that check. That's about $400,000," said Finance Director Tom Harris.Council members were concerned that city taxpayers would assume Alpharetta raised taxes, when it had nothing to do with this change.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Alpharetta bank robber sought
Courtesy Atlanta Journal Constitution
Alpharetta police are investigating a robbery that occurred at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the SunTrust bank branch inside of Publix at 4305 State Bridge Road. The suspect handed a teller a note demanding money and left with an undisclosed amount of money. He was a slender white male in his 20s wearing sunglasses and a dark-colored baseball cap with the number 67 on the front.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety at 678-297-6318.
Alpharetta police are investigating a robbery that occurred at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the SunTrust bank branch inside of Publix at 4305 State Bridge Road. The suspect handed a teller a note demanding money and left with an undisclosed amount of money. He was a slender white male in his 20s wearing sunglasses and a dark-colored baseball cap with the number 67 on the front.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety at 678-297-6318.
Monday, June 29, 2009
CITY OF ALPHARETTA NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Courtesy Appen Newspapers
The following items will be heard at a public hearing held by the City Council on Monday, July 20, 2009 commencing at 7:30 p.m. in the Alpharetta City Hall Council Chambers, 2 South Main Street, Alpharetta, Georgia.a. V-09-07 North Point Commons - SignageConsideration of a variance to the Unified Development Code sign setback requirements in order to permit a 2’ setback for two monument signs located within North Point Commons shopping center located at Georgia Lane and North Point Drive. The property is legally described as being located in Land Lots 754, 796, 797 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.b. V-09-08 The Arbors - ParkingConsideration of a variance to the Unified Development Code parking requirements in order to permit a reduction of required parking in order to accommodate a restaurant use. The property is located at 800 North Main Street and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 1111 2nd District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.Note: Georgia law requires that all parties who have made campaign contributions to the Mayor or to a Council Member in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) within two (2) years immediately preceding the filing of this request, and who desire to appear at the public hearings in opposition to the application, shall, at least five (5) days prior to the hearing, file a campaign contribution report with the Community Development Department. The complete text of the Georgia law and a disclosure form are available in the office of the City Clerk, 2 South Main Street.
The following items will be heard at a public hearing held by the City Council on Monday, July 20, 2009 commencing at 7:30 p.m. in the Alpharetta City Hall Council Chambers, 2 South Main Street, Alpharetta, Georgia.a. V-09-07 North Point Commons - SignageConsideration of a variance to the Unified Development Code sign setback requirements in order to permit a 2’ setback for two monument signs located within North Point Commons shopping center located at Georgia Lane and North Point Drive. The property is legally described as being located in Land Lots 754, 796, 797 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.b. V-09-08 The Arbors - ParkingConsideration of a variance to the Unified Development Code parking requirements in order to permit a reduction of required parking in order to accommodate a restaurant use. The property is located at 800 North Main Street and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 1111 2nd District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.Note: Georgia law requires that all parties who have made campaign contributions to the Mayor or to a Council Member in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) within two (2) years immediately preceding the filing of this request, and who desire to appear at the public hearings in opposition to the application, shall, at least five (5) days prior to the hearing, file a campaign contribution report with the Community Development Department. The complete text of the Georgia law and a disclosure form are available in the office of the City Clerk, 2 South Main Street.
ASO magnificent outdoors
Orchestra’s offering more articulate than forced banter.
By Pierre Ruhe
For the AJC
Monday, June 29, 2009
My car’s dashboard thermometer read 94 degrees on the way to the Atlanta Symphony’s “Magnificent Mozart” concert Saturday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, in the north Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.
A hot evening for a concert, yet Encore Park is favored by what winemakers would call a good terroir: the site’s unique mixture —- artistically and geographically speaking —- of nutrients and cultivation and the slope of the hill. So long as there’s a light breeze and the humidity isn’t too punishing, the terroir allows the 12,000-seat pavilion to overcome all sorts of limitations to a good concert. It’s got an enviable sense of place.
It helps, too, that the ASO musicians don’t slump for these outdoor performances, but play with the same vitality and care that they would for indoor gigs at Symphony Hall.
Saturday’s guest conductor, Grant Llewellyn, is a gray-haired Welshman who leads the North Carolina Symphony and is principal conductor of Boston’s venerable Handel and Haydn Society. For reasons unknown, he introduced himself from the podium, microphone in hand: “You might have guessed I’m not from around here,” he observed helpfully in his Welsh accent, while throwing in a few “y’alls” to prove he’s no Euro-snob.
Is it an ASO marketing strategy to address the audience as inanely as possible at Encore Park? As an intermission feature, ASO program annotator Ken Meltzer, a smart guy who knows music, offers similarly “lite” banter, as if afraid the audience will bolt if the discussion rises above what local TV anchors give between news reports. It felt forced, not organic.(If they want to entertain at intermission, I’d rather hear the evening’s soloist play a Mozart sonata or something.)
Fortunately, the music spoke more eloquently than the professionals. Llewellyn and crew dispatched “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture with pep and crisp lines.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, the sublime D-minor masterpiece, is all about touch and balance, storm and pathos. It is performed frequently but can be interpreted so many ways that it remains fresh.
Bosnian pianist Pedja Muzijevic, an interesting musician, was here making his ASO debut, as was the conductor. Although his touch at the keyboard sounded acidic and tinny —- the fault of microphone placement or audio engineers twisting knobs, most likely —- he crafted an uncommonly compelling role for the piano, as a personality in direct communication with the orchestra.
He ornamented his singsongy phrases neatly, and with Llewellyn’s assistance, brought the middle movement, almost a garden serenade, to a gorgeous, peaceful ending.
In this concerto, most pianists play Beethoven’s cadenzas —- those extended solo passages that offer the soloist a flight of fancy —- since Mozart’s own have been lost.
Muzijevic instead played cadenzas composed by Paul Balascora (in the first movement) and J.N. Hummel (in the third). It was a small point but well taken: Muzijevic is a thinking musician, eager to go his own way.
Mozart is often thought of as an 18th-century urban creature, but Llewellyn found in his last symphony, the Olympian “Jupiter,” a pastoral quality, lifting flute flutters to the stature of birdcalls. The Andante Cantabile slow movement evoked a mood that was fragrant and idyllic —- music that seemed to cool a hot summer evening.
By Pierre Ruhe
For the AJC
Monday, June 29, 2009
My car’s dashboard thermometer read 94 degrees on the way to the Atlanta Symphony’s “Magnificent Mozart” concert Saturday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, in the north Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.
A hot evening for a concert, yet Encore Park is favored by what winemakers would call a good terroir: the site’s unique mixture —- artistically and geographically speaking —- of nutrients and cultivation and the slope of the hill. So long as there’s a light breeze and the humidity isn’t too punishing, the terroir allows the 12,000-seat pavilion to overcome all sorts of limitations to a good concert. It’s got an enviable sense of place.
It helps, too, that the ASO musicians don’t slump for these outdoor performances, but play with the same vitality and care that they would for indoor gigs at Symphony Hall.
Saturday’s guest conductor, Grant Llewellyn, is a gray-haired Welshman who leads the North Carolina Symphony and is principal conductor of Boston’s venerable Handel and Haydn Society. For reasons unknown, he introduced himself from the podium, microphone in hand: “You might have guessed I’m not from around here,” he observed helpfully in his Welsh accent, while throwing in a few “y’alls” to prove he’s no Euro-snob.
Is it an ASO marketing strategy to address the audience as inanely as possible at Encore Park? As an intermission feature, ASO program annotator Ken Meltzer, a smart guy who knows music, offers similarly “lite” banter, as if afraid the audience will bolt if the discussion rises above what local TV anchors give between news reports. It felt forced, not organic.(If they want to entertain at intermission, I’d rather hear the evening’s soloist play a Mozart sonata or something.)
Fortunately, the music spoke more eloquently than the professionals. Llewellyn and crew dispatched “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture with pep and crisp lines.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, the sublime D-minor masterpiece, is all about touch and balance, storm and pathos. It is performed frequently but can be interpreted so many ways that it remains fresh.
Bosnian pianist Pedja Muzijevic, an interesting musician, was here making his ASO debut, as was the conductor. Although his touch at the keyboard sounded acidic and tinny —- the fault of microphone placement or audio engineers twisting knobs, most likely —- he crafted an uncommonly compelling role for the piano, as a personality in direct communication with the orchestra.
He ornamented his singsongy phrases neatly, and with Llewellyn’s assistance, brought the middle movement, almost a garden serenade, to a gorgeous, peaceful ending.
In this concerto, most pianists play Beethoven’s cadenzas —- those extended solo passages that offer the soloist a flight of fancy —- since Mozart’s own have been lost.
Muzijevic instead played cadenzas composed by Paul Balascora (in the first movement) and J.N. Hummel (in the third). It was a small point but well taken: Muzijevic is a thinking musician, eager to go his own way.
Mozart is often thought of as an 18th-century urban creature, but Llewellyn found in his last symphony, the Olympian “Jupiter,” a pastoral quality, lifting flute flutters to the stature of birdcalls. The Andante Cantabile slow movement evoked a mood that was fragrant and idyllic —- music that seemed to cool a hot summer evening.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Alpharetta puts City Center on hold due to economy
By RALPH ELLIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The economy has forced Alpharetta to put a big downtown redevelopment project on hold. The city had a partnership with Solomon Holdings to build the Alpharetta City Center, which would have included a new City Hall, 80,000 square feet of retail and office space, an underground parking garage, a town green and a 5-acre passive park.
Alpharetta Mayor Arthur Letchas said in a statement that the sour economy hurt the project. “While we do believe that Alpharetta City Center will in the future be a viable project … that viability cannot be realized as things now stand,” he said.
Jim Drinkard, the assistant city administrator, said the city staff had been negotiating with Solomon Holdings since April. During that time the economy got worse. “We could not come to a point where Solomon was comfortable, the city was comfortable and it was the right deal for everybody,” he said.
The city planned to use $24 million in bonds to finance the project, which would have been on nine acres bounded by Academy Street, Ga. 9 and Haynes Bridge Road. The city owns the land. The City Council would have had to decide by August to put the bond question on the November referendum.
Al Holbrook of Solomon Holdings said in a statement that his company would be open to working on the project in the future.
Charles Petrakopoulos, whose family owns the Alpha Soda restaurant, said he was disappointed by the news.“We were looking forward to it because we feel that center corridor has been neglected,” he said. “It needs to happen someday.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The economy has forced Alpharetta to put a big downtown redevelopment project on hold. The city had a partnership with Solomon Holdings to build the Alpharetta City Center, which would have included a new City Hall, 80,000 square feet of retail and office space, an underground parking garage, a town green and a 5-acre passive park.
Alpharetta Mayor Arthur Letchas said in a statement that the sour economy hurt the project. “While we do believe that Alpharetta City Center will in the future be a viable project … that viability cannot be realized as things now stand,” he said.
Jim Drinkard, the assistant city administrator, said the city staff had been negotiating with Solomon Holdings since April. During that time the economy got worse. “We could not come to a point where Solomon was comfortable, the city was comfortable and it was the right deal for everybody,” he said.
The city planned to use $24 million in bonds to finance the project, which would have been on nine acres bounded by Academy Street, Ga. 9 and Haynes Bridge Road. The city owns the land. The City Council would have had to decide by August to put the bond question on the November referendum.
Al Holbrook of Solomon Holdings said in a statement that his company would be open to working on the project in the future.
Charles Petrakopoulos, whose family owns the Alpha Soda restaurant, said he was disappointed by the news.“We were looking forward to it because we feel that center corridor has been neglected,” he said. “It needs to happen someday.”
Church collects double-stuffed care packages for troops
By Caroline Gray
cgray@neighbornewspapers.com
A fortuitous meeting on an airplane has led to a church crusade to send some All-American treats to troops abroad.
Thinking he was just flying to a golfing vacation in Scottsdale, Ariz., Alpharetta First United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Don Martin discovered he was in for more than just teeing off. Seated next to an Army captain who was just returning home from service in Iraq, Martin quickly struck up a conversation with the young soldier.
Martin learned the captain was trained to use robots to detonate improvised explosion devices before they could hurt soldiers and then use the forensic evidence to find suspects in surrounding villages. He then asked the soldier a usual question, but received an unusual answer.
“I asked him, ‘What’s the one thing you missed most while you were in Iraq?’ And without any hesitation he said, ‘Oreos. Double-stuffed.’ Well, I thought that was so funny I promised to ask the congregation to bring in Double Stuf Oreos to send overseas,” said Martin.
The idea that started out of admiration for a soldier who risks his life to save other soldiers’ lives has caught on like wildfire at the church. Martin said he has already collected 150 packs of Double Stuf Oreos from church members and hopes to collect 1,000 packs to send to Iraq.
“I wish I could take a pack of Oreos to every soldier in the Middle East myself and thank them for their service,” said Martin. “But at least that’s one of the neat things about Oreos – they travel well.”
Sunbelt Office Products has offered to supply all the packing materials, trucks and drivers to deliver the Oreos to be shipped. The receiver and Oreo distributor will be Command Sergeant Major Frank Leota in Diyala, the first province north of Baghdad.
The main collection day for the Oreos will be Sunday at the church’s annual patriotic service. All members have been asked to bring as many packs of Double Stuf Oreos as they can to be donated to the troops.
Martin said he still has hopes that Oreo manufacturer Kraft Nabisco will get in on the action and agree to match the congregation’s donation. And they need not worry that Martin will be tempted to sample the cookies himself.
“One member brought a box of Oreos and said it was just for the office staff, so we’re eating those,” he said. “Besides, I have promised myself not to touch one donated Oreo that is meant for the troops.”
Alpharetta First United Methodist Church is at 69 N Main Street.
Information: (770) 475-5576 or
www.afumc.org.
cgray@neighbornewspapers.com
A fortuitous meeting on an airplane has led to a church crusade to send some All-American treats to troops abroad.
Thinking he was just flying to a golfing vacation in Scottsdale, Ariz., Alpharetta First United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Don Martin discovered he was in for more than just teeing off. Seated next to an Army captain who was just returning home from service in Iraq, Martin quickly struck up a conversation with the young soldier.
Martin learned the captain was trained to use robots to detonate improvised explosion devices before they could hurt soldiers and then use the forensic evidence to find suspects in surrounding villages. He then asked the soldier a usual question, but received an unusual answer.
“I asked him, ‘What’s the one thing you missed most while you were in Iraq?’ And without any hesitation he said, ‘Oreos. Double-stuffed.’ Well, I thought that was so funny I promised to ask the congregation to bring in Double Stuf Oreos to send overseas,” said Martin.
The idea that started out of admiration for a soldier who risks his life to save other soldiers’ lives has caught on like wildfire at the church. Martin said he has already collected 150 packs of Double Stuf Oreos from church members and hopes to collect 1,000 packs to send to Iraq.
“I wish I could take a pack of Oreos to every soldier in the Middle East myself and thank them for their service,” said Martin. “But at least that’s one of the neat things about Oreos – they travel well.”
Sunbelt Office Products has offered to supply all the packing materials, trucks and drivers to deliver the Oreos to be shipped. The receiver and Oreo distributor will be Command Sergeant Major Frank Leota in Diyala, the first province north of Baghdad.
The main collection day for the Oreos will be Sunday at the church’s annual patriotic service. All members have been asked to bring as many packs of Double Stuf Oreos as they can to be donated to the troops.
Martin said he still has hopes that Oreo manufacturer Kraft Nabisco will get in on the action and agree to match the congregation’s donation. And they need not worry that Martin will be tempted to sample the cookies himself.
“One member brought a box of Oreos and said it was just for the office staff, so we’re eating those,” he said. “Besides, I have promised myself not to touch one donated Oreo that is meant for the troops.”
Alpharetta First United Methodist Church is at 69 N Main Street.
Information: (770) 475-5576 or
www.afumc.org.
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