Georgia DOT announces Walther Boulevard will no longer access Georgia Highway 316 beginning Friday, April 17. The existing right turn onto 316 and right turn off of 316 at Walther Boulevard will close so the new bridge taking Walther Blvd over Route 316 can be built. The new Walther Boulevard Bridge is expected to provide safe and easy connectivity over Route 316 to give Georgia Gwinnett College and Gwinnett County improved safety. This $4.4 million new bridge will have 3 lanes, a continuous center turning lane with bike lanes and sidewalks. The project completion date is April 13, 2016 and the contractor is GP’S Enterprises, Inc. of Auburn.
ISSUE 15.05 | April 17, 2015
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: More Translators Key in Gwinnett for Ensuring Justice
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Just What Treasures Are in Your Closet or Attic?
ANOTHER VIEW: Feels Progressives Want Legislature To Meet the Year Around
FEEDBACK: When Will Do Not Call Rules Be Enforced?
UPCOMING: OTC Troupe Offers 10th Anniversary Performance in Norcross on Saturday
NOTABLE: Lilburn Will Honor Former Councilwoman Helen Morris with a Bench
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Charting the Flow of Georgia Rivers
TODAY’S QUOTE: Thinking Fanatics In Two Ways
MYSTERY PHOTO: Old Casino in Romania Didn’t Stump All Readers
LAGNIAPPE: Lawrenceville Is the Wisteria City
TODAY’S FOCUS
Court’s access to translators is key to ensuring justice is assured
By Rachel M. Lazarus, Director, Gwinnett Pro Bono Project, Atlanta Legal Aid Society
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., April 17, 2015 — Gwinnett has more primary languages spoken than any other county in Georgia, and that has a huge impact on access to justice. According to the last census, 33 percent of Gwinnett households speak more than 100 different languages other than English as their primary language. Without the ability to speak and be understood, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is one of the biggest barriers people face when accessing the justice system.
Lazarus
While most agencies and courts have access to Spanish translators, there are few, if any, translators in more obscure languages. At Legal Aid, two years ago, we had a client who spoke Ibo, a Nigerian dialect. There are no certified Ibo court translators in the state of Georgia. Court had to be postponed again and again while they searched for a certified translator, preventing this woman, a survivor of domestic violence living without support from her husband, from getting a divorce.
Sometimes officials turn to family members as translators. Many times young children are the ones who speak both languages fluently. This is a terrible burden for young kids, and many parents can’t open up in front of them. Other family members can also be a problem.
I worked on a domestic violence case in which the police had been called to the home numerous times, and every time, they reported, the wife said everything was fine and her husband was a good man. We were curious about the police reports because the client we saw only spoke an Afghani dialect. Upon further investigation, we discovered the woman’s mother-in-law—the perpetrator’s mother—was acting as the translator.
This is not a matter of not learning English—many speak some English. However, there is a huge difference between being able to get by at a store or at work, and being able to describe a crime against you or to plead for custody of your kids. When the stakes—and the stress—are high, we all want to revert to our primary language.
There have been huge improvements in this area. A Georgia Supreme Court rule now requires courts to provide interpreters for litigants. However, this is expensive for the court, and many judges will only do so when a litigant requests it—a tough feat for someone who doesn’t speak English. Moreover, while a litigant may speak English, he or she may be on their own finding an interpreter for a key witness.
As a community, we must encourage law enforcement and courts to use telephone translation services, such as AT&Ts Language Line or non-profit services such as Ethnic Bridge, which are readily available. Interpreters must be seen as a necessity, not a luxury.
Our justice system is premised on the idea that all people have a right to be heard before the court.
However, when a litigant cannot understand the judge or be understood; when high stress and high stakes tie people’s tongues; when a person’s ability to express himself is curtailed, then there is no justice at all.
Rachel M. Lazarus is director of the Gwinnett Pro Bono Project for the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.
EEB PERSPECTIVE
Unexpected find in upstairs closet turns out to be great book
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum.com
APRIL 17, 2015 — There may be treasures in your attic or in some seldom-visited closet. You can never tell.
We stumbled upon quite a treasure the other day, something we did not know was there.
It was a large-format book, in a box of textbooks and other literature, probably from one of our children. Going through this box to help re-stock our Little Free Library (see this archived issue), here was this older book with 86 stunning black-and-white photographs.
The book was titled Say Is This The U.S.A. and the authors were Novelist Erskine Caldwell (born in Moreland, Ga.) and Margaret Bourke-White, the famous photographer. My initial question was why they were working on this together.
Then I discovered something: the two were man and wife for a while, which surprised me. The book came from them setting out in 1939 on a 10,000 mile journey back and forth across the United States in search of “the impression and feel of America.” It’s a tremendous view of what our country was going through in those days!
They set off with no itinerary, and randomly picked people, often in small towns, out of phone books or just people they came across to talk to, and to photograph. Many of their stops were with mule traders or laborers. What they produced is a magnificent book, with these great and sometimes haunting black-and-white photographs, usually accompanying Caldwell’s stories, but sometimes the stories stood alone.
Caldwell sought to capture in a few words the situations, reservations, thoughts and feeling of the people of America, not the leaders of any community, but the down-to-earth farmers, or auto mechanics, or even people in jail. The United States at this time was coming out of the Depression, but facing what appeared a new menace in Germany. People were telling stories, or giving opinions about the world, which Caldwell brilliantly captured in his prose. His words were sometimes funny, other times sad, but always compelling.
Margaret Bourke-White’s effort in producing stunning photographs in those days seem monumental today, if nothing else because of the equipment she had to carry. Most of the cameras were huge compared to today’s slip-in-your-pocket cameras. Altogether, Bourke-White had five different cameras, most often the size of the old Speed-Graphic, with her choosing a camera according to the necessity of that photograph. Then, remember, this was in the days that all that film had to be developed and printed. While those old cameras could do beautiful work, it took long lengths of time to load individual film packs and carefully focus, with automatic focusing not in yet. You wonder what she could have done with today’s modern digital cameras, especially without having to go through developing the film.
The original book was priced at $8.95, though a sticker on the back of the book showed whoever bought it paid $3.98. A bargain! It’s a treasure we’ll keep.
Then we learned that Caldwell and Bourke-White did two similar books, one in 1937 entitled You Have Seen the Faces, and a second one in 1939, North of the Danube, all three from Da Capo Press in New York. These books are still available, at used sites on the Internet, though at much higher prices.
For sure, I never knew when I was searching through an upstairs closet box of books that I would make such a good discovery. Makes me want to go looking around again.
And say, what’s in your closet you don’t know about?
ANOTHER VIEW
Says progressives want legislature to meet the year around
By Debra Houston
APRIL 17, 2015 — Senate Bill 129, the so-called Religious Liberty Bill, died a painful death in the Georgia Legislature. The bill was the Right’s answer to Progressive’s intent on forcing Christians to act counter to their convictions. Progressives would love to see the Legislature in session year-round to pass laws galore, but conservatives should not behave like them!
Houston
If you have confidence in the U.S. Constitution, you don’t legislate ad infinitum. Because Progressives think the Constitution doesn’t go far enough, they take every opportunity to add laws, and when that doesn’t work, they pass executive orders. So let me repeat: the Right should not follow the Left’s example. The Right should fight.
Government cannot force us to do anything if we stand firm in unity. Case in point: In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Yes, she went to jail, but she helped launch a civil rights movement that changed America. Her simple act of passive civil disobedience is the proper model to follow.
SB129, however, was born of fear: Christian Conservatives fell for the idea that Progressives are more powerful than them. Bullies always think this way until the victim fights back. Christians need to band together and fight for the First Amendment the way the National Rifle Association fights for the Second.
At a recent Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Obama stated he was concerned about “less than loving expressions by Christians,” even if less than loving expressions coming from the Iranian Ayatollah (“Death to America”) seem not to bother him as much. I say, “Go ahead, sir. Take your potshots at the Christian Right. You might just wake up a sleeping giant.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Hayes Family Dealerships
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Hayes Family Dealerships with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. Mike, Tim and Ted Hayes of Lawrenceville and Gainesville with Terry Hayes of Baldwin and Stan Roberts of Toccoa invite you into their showrooms to look over their line-up of automobiles and trucks. Hayes has been in the automotive business for over 40 years, and is North Georgia’s oldest family-owned dealerships. The family is the winner of the 2002 Georgia Family Business of the Year Award.
- Check their web sites at: www.hayeschrysler.com or www.hayeschevrolet.com or www.hayesgmcars.com.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: https://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.
FEEDBACK
When will the Do Not Call rules start being enforced?
Editor, the Forum:
A recent letter from Robert Covington that sales/solicitation calls are still illegal on cell phones is, while probably true, not very comforting.
Such nuisance calls have been illegal on land lines for years if the number is listed with the federal Do Not Call list. However, as far as I can tell, it has deterred few. Scarcely a day goes by that I don’t receive several such calls, usually under the guise of conducting a survey. I have also receiv
ed a few of these calls on my cell phone as well.
I realize that non-profits and political organizations are exempt from the Do Not Call list, but the logic of this escapes me. These people, particularly the political organizations, are the biggest pain when it comes to solicitation calls.
My questions are: when are the rules going to be changed to eliminate this highly invasive form of solicitation, and when is the existing law going to be enforced?
— Robert H .Hanson, Loganville
Rant, rave and send us your opinion. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today’s Issue as space allows.
UPCOMING
OTC kicks off 10th Year in Norcross, performance on April 18
The OTC Comedy Troupe kicks off spring and shakes off the pollen at their show April 18 at 8 p.m. at Lionheart Theatre in Norcross. The OTC will be holding its Spring Comedy. Tickets are $10 per person.
The show will include improv games as the OTC actors use audience suggestions to create scenes on the spot with hilarious results. Audience members even have a chance to appear on-stage. Unlike many improvisational theatre groups in Atlanta, the OTC shows are rated PG and family friendly. The show runs about two hours.
The OTC is celebrating its 10th year in the greater Atlanta area. The troupe was started in Marietta in 2005 as Comedy Cobb and has since expanded beyond live theater into streaming entertainment with the creation of its web show Improvultion from 2009 to 2011 which was seen by over 225,000 people worldwide. In 2012, OTC Comedy Troupe received the Community Impact Award for Arts Ensemble or Collective from ArtWorks! Gwinnett. The group has also created a seven part web series called Death By South which lampoons many of the paranormal shows like Ghost Adventures and The Dead Files and adds a splash of 30 Rock.
“Ten years is a huge mile-stone for any arts group – but for an improvisational theatre company- it’s especially significant and means that Atlanta audiences value what we do. Here’s to the next ten years in which we look to create new and interesting ways to use improv in corporate settings, classrooms and on the web, ” stated Cody-Grimm.
- To purchase tickets, go to http://www.otccomedytroupe.com/dates-and-times-of-shows.html or to make phone reservations, call 770-885-0425. For more information visit www.otccomedytroupe.com or call 678-464-0115.
Gander Mountain outdoor store to open in Snellville this fall
Gander Mountain, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing network of outdoor specialty stores, announces it will open its newest Georgia location in Snellville this fall. The newest Gander Mountain will be located in a new 52,000-square-foot store in the Snellville Exchange shopping complex, near the intersection of Scenic Highway and Essex Drive, adjacent to the existing Hobby Lobby store. It will be the sixth Gander Mountain location in Georgia, and the third in metro Atlanta, joining existing stores in Albany, Augusta, McDonough, Newnan and Valdosta.
Civil War comes alive Saturday, May 2, in Cartersville
For the final time, Bartow History Museum and Booth Western Art Museum are excited to present Civil War Comes Alive! on Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. In conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War moving through Georgia, members and guests will have the opportunity to experience different aspects of the Civil War as it is brought to life at both museums.
Visitors will experience life on the home front, listen to authentic music, chat with soldiers from the Union and Confederate armies, view Civil War art and artifacts, watch cannon demonstrations, and so much more! Civil War Comes Alive! will feature medical practices, blacksmithing, and signaling, plus infantry, sutler, and cavalry camps. An artillery camp will also be set up on the Booth Museum grounds and will demonstrate cannon firings at the half hour throughout the day.
On May 2, admission to Civil War Comes Alive! is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $7 for students, and free for children 12 and under, Booth Museum members, Bartow History Museum members, and active military with ID. Prices include access to the Booth Museum festival grounds, as well as admission to Booth Museum and Bartow History Museum. For more information about Civil War Comes Alive!, visit www.boothmuseum.org or www.bartowhistorymuseum.org, or call 770-387-1300.
Barbershop singing to come to Mountain Park Methodist soon
The Stone Mountain Barbershop Chorus will present its 2015 Spring Concert, “Singing Our Love” for a single performance only on Saturday, May 2, at 3 p.m. at Mountain Park United Methodist Church. The church is located at 1405 Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain. Doors will open at 2 p.m.
The featured guest for this year’s concert is Boardwalk, a talented foursome that brings a fresh and uniquely entertaining approach to four-part harmony. Advanced purchase general admission tickets for this performance are $12. A special advanced purchase discount price of $10 is available for full time students, groups of 12 or more and senior adults 60 and over. All tickets purchased at the door will be $15, cash or check only. Tickets may be ordered using secure credit card transactions from the Stone Mountain Chorus web site, www.stonemountainchorus.org.
NOTABLE
Lilburn To honor former council member Morris with bench
The Lilburn Downtown Development Authority will honor former councilwoman, the late Helen Morriss, with a memorial bench in Lilburn City Park. There will be a ceremony on Saturday, April 25 at 3 p.m. in the Gartrell Nash Pavilion in City Park. The public is welcome to attend.
Mrs. Morriss died in November, 2013. A native of Gwinnett County, she was born and raised in Norcross and moved to Lilburn in 1976. She served on the Lilburn City Council from 1989 to 1994. She represented Lilburn on the Gwinnett County Planning Commission and helped form and was the first chair of the Lilburn Planning Commission, for which she wrote the original ordinances. She also served on the Lilburn Merit Board, the Alcohol Review Board, and the Downtown Development Authority. She and her husband, George, had four children and four grandchildren.
Former Mayor Diana Preston says: “I was honored to serve with her while she was on the City Council and learned much from her. She knew how get things done in a quiet, understated way. Her life of service to her community has been a model to so many, and she has been deeply missed.”
My Secret Garden opens in ex-Hastings Center in Peachtree Corners
For gardeners, and even those who don’t have a green thumb – there’s good news to report. A boutique garden center has just opened in Peachtree Corners. My Secret Garden is located at 3420 Woodhill Drive in the former Hastings Garden Center. Since last October when Sonya Harrison bought the business, she has been adding her personal touches with an array of flowering plants, fruits and vegetable plants and bubbling water fountains for sale. With her background in interior design there are gifts and design ideas. The electric train still makes its way round a landscaped track – and the fish pond is full of koi and a turtle or two. My Secret Garden is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants total $50,000 for Gwinnett groups
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $112,500 in grants to organizations during their March meeting, including $50,000 to agencies serving Gwinnett County residents.
Signs and Wonders Executive Director Gene Brinkley, left, and Jackson EMC District Manager Randy Dellinger hold a $15,000 Jackson EMC Foundation grant check that will allow 18 homeless men to participate in a two phase drug and alcohol addiction recovery program.
$15,000 to Signs and Wonders in Lawrenceville, a nonprofit organization that offers assistance to the homeless and needy on a non-discriminating basis.
$12,500 to the Boy Scouts of Northeast Georgia to provide uniforms, handbooks and summer camp fees.
$10,000 to Tiny Stitches, Inc. in Suwanee, which uses a network of volunteers to make handmade totes for mothers in nine North Georgia counties who have little or nothing for their newborns.
$7,500 to Project Adam, a Winder nonprofit focused on the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug dependency.
$5,000 to The Potter’s House, an Atlanta Mission facility, to help feed, house, counsel and provide adult educational programs.
The Jackson EMC Foundation is funded by Operation Round Up, which rounds up the monthly electric bills of participating cooperative members to the next dollar amount. This “spare change” has funded 959 grants to organizations and 309 grants to individuals, putting nearly $9.7 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.
RECOMMENDED READ
Jane Eyre
A novel by Charlotte Bronte
Young orphaned Jane Eyre lives in the north of England with her despicable aunt who eventually sends her off to boarding school. After much drama there, Jane gets a decent education and, at 19, becomes governess to a child in a large country house belonging to the mysterious Edward Rochester. Jane — inexperienced, impressionable and homely — promptly falls in love with the moody, cranky Rochester (who is also short, ugly and more than twice her age). There are many twists and turns (some that never made it into film renditions) and it’s an entertaining drama over all. I have been to the tiny Yorkshire village of Haworth and the home of Charlotte Bronte, and it is not hard to see how darkness can creep into a tale when your front yard is a cemetery and you’re virtually isolated on the melancholy, desolate moors. It’s a classic for a reason.
— Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill
An invitation: What books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. — eeb
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
Georgia rivers begin in the north, then flow to ocean or Gulf
(Continued from previous edition)
Rivers and streams in Georgia generally begin in the northern part of the state and flow toward either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. In south Georgia the rivers and streams that run into the Gulf generally flow to the south and southwest, while rivers in the northernmost part of the state flow westward into Alabama or northward into North Carolina and Tennessee. The rivers that flow into Alabama combine to form the headwaters of the Mobile River, and the rivers that flow north combine to form the Tennessee River, which eventually joins with the Mississippi River before entering the Gulf. Thus, in many ways, Georgia is a headwaters state—many rivers begin here, and excepting the Chattooga River bordering Georgia in the northeast, no rivers in the state have their origins elsewhere.
The rivers and streams in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia are generally steep, fast-flowing, cold, and clear. They provide ideal aquatic habitats, and north Georgia boasts some of the highest aquatic diversity in the world. Stream beds are generally rocky or are covered with boulders, gravels, and sands. Water clarity is generally good, with low turbidity (lack of clarity in water caused by soil or organic matter) except where roads and developments have disturbed the natural soil cover.
Rivers and streams in the Valley and Ridge region of northwest Georgia are unique in many ways. Because of the geology of the area, the mineral content of these streams is high, favoring such shelled organisms as mussels. Natural streams run clear and are abundant in fish species. Unfortunately, erodible soils and rapid development have resulted in the catastrophic loss of most mussel species in the last fifty years. In the Piedmont, rivers are slower because of the flatter, rolling topography.
Streams are often larger because larger watersheds contribute to them. Water generally runs muddy after rainstorms because of the older, more erodible soils and greater development in the Piedmont. These rivers are also greener because of the growth of algae, a plant that floats in water. Though usually too small to see, algae can form visible mats, especially in the presence of excessive nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from municipal, industrial, and agricultural sources.
Atlantic Coastal Plain rivers are broad and slow-moving, with floodplain wetlands that attenuate large flows. These rivers flow into estuaries bounded by the barrier islands off the Georgia coast. Lowland areas are marshy, making agriculture difficult and favoring forests and forest industries.
Carolina bays (roughly circular depressions with sand rims) are found on the Upper Coastal Plain, while the Okefenokee Swamp is formed on the Lower Coastal Plain behind Trail Ridge, an elongated mound of sand parallel to the Atlantic Coast extending through Florida and Georgia. The presence of organic compounds from decaying vegetation gives many of the rivers and streams a dark, blackwater appearance.
Rivers and streams that flow to the Gulf of Mexico are also unique. Because the carbonate Floridan aquifer (a geologic unit that underlies all of Florida, south Georgia, and parts of Alabama and South Carolina and within which water flows readily to wells) is closer to the surface in southwest and south central Georgia, there is more aquifer interaction. Lime sinks, sinkholes, and springs are common. The waters ebb and flow between the ground and the surface depending upon the balance between precipitation and evapotranspiration.
(To be continued)
MYSTERY PHOTO
Not Piedmont Park
No, this isn’t Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. Yet the tall building might give you a clue. Think differently, and you might come up with the answer to this week’s Mystery Photo. Send your ideas to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to tell us where you live.
We thought the remoteness of Romania might catch some readers by surprise. But three people recognized last edition’s Mystery Photo immediately, which was sent in by Frank Studer of Simpsonville, S.C. Ruthy Lachman Paul of Norcross wrote: “The art nouveau Casino at Constanta, Romania. I visited this place with my Mom who was born in Romania.”
Karen Burnette Garner of Dacula wrote: “The first thing I noticed was the Art Nouveau style architecture and that the building appears somewhat run down and dilapidated, with broken glass and boarded up windows. Only in Eastern Europe would a building like this be allowed to deteriorate. The Constanta Casino, in Constanta, Romania, is on the edge of the Black Sea. It was built at the turn of the last century, but it has been abandoned for many years.” Another person recognizing the photo was Bob Foreman of Grayson.
LAGNIAPPE
Bright wisteria
Lawrenceville is known as the “Wisteria City,” which Roving Photographer Frank Sharp captures in this photograph on Constitution Boulevard, across from the entrance of the Fallen Heroes memorial at the Gwinnett courthouse. The sharp color comes from his Canon SX-to at super vivid color setting.
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