It's Day 2 of the 40-day Lenten season - a period between Ash Wednesday and Easter when Christians fast and/or sacrifice a luxury in an effort to grow spiritually. Many resolve to give up food, i.e. meat, sweets, dairy products, sodas, etc. Some even vow to eliminate television from their lives during this period, and it has been reported that the Catholic Church is encouraging believers to forgo texting for Lent. But one blog listed interesting ideas of potential sacrifices. In case you are open to adding one of these to your list still trying to decide on what to give up, I've pulled out a …

  Last night I attended the Brookhaven Yes fundraiser which I'm told by the group's treasurer Chris Elsevier, raised more than $10,000 for its on-going campaign to support efforts to form a new city. The mood at Pub 71 was celebratory as the casual envionment allowed for attendees to meet and greet with time left near the end for scheduled speakers. Many spoke victoriously about the bill's passage in the House last week and took the 101-57 vote as a sign that the formation of a new city is inevitable. Featured speaker U.S. Rep. Tom Price urged advocates for the new city to talk to their …

Many of our neighbors will be in attendance at the Capitol today ready to testify either for or against HB 636. While I could not locate anything specific to Georgia for the purposes of preparing a primer for how to testify before a legislative committee, I thought these tips gleaned from the Oregon Legislature would suffice. Many of our neighbors are involved civic leaders in our community. However, for those making the House Governmental Affairs Committee hearing their public testimony debut, the below tips may be helpful. Feel free to add on to this list and share with others…

In what is probably one of the most ambitious and what I hope to be the most enjoyable projects we've undertaken, Brookhaven Patch will be recognizing our community's 40 under 40 - that is 40 people under 40 years old who are the most fascinating, most unique and most influential neighbors we have. Thing is, I don't know all of them, and I thought it'd be fun to solicit your help in this. I've created a simple form for you to complete with your nominee's information and why you feel this person should be included in the gallery. While there is no limit to the number of people you may nominate…

  For those who hold true to the superstition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, this year will be a difficult one. USA Today reports that not only are there three Friday the 13ths in 2012, but "for the first time since 1984, those three Friday the 13ths — today, April 13 and July 13 — are exactly 13 weeks apart." For me, it's just another day, but others who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, or the fear of Friday the 13th, won't be leaving their homes today. Take a look at some of the news articles across the country that have been written about the day: Virginian Pilot (Norfolk, Va…

  As I passed the property that once was the Brookhaven-based Hastings, I wondered where all of the local gardeners go to get their 'flower fix' now. Did you follow Hastings? Do you visit other local gardening centers in the area? I'm not much of a green thumb, so the move didn't bother me much, but for those of you who are, and particularly those who loved Hastings, how are you (and your garden/rose bushes/plants) surviving?

  Curbed Atlanta, a local real estate blog posted a recap on the Sembler Development and some of the political drama surrounding Sembler's 10-year property tax abatement worth $20 million while mentioning that the Village Place developers were not afforded any tax incentives from DeKalb County. While the entire post was interesting and even informative for those of us who arrived in the area post 2009, what followed in the final sentence of the blog was most intriguing. It reads: "On a related note, that Sembler tax break has new-found relevance as DeKalb Burrell Ellis County CEO attempts to …

  Mpaza Kapembwa, is a standout in so many ways. A 2011 graduate of Cross Keys High School, he is a soccer star, a scholar (Gates Millennium Scholar, a Coca Colar Scholar and a Dell Scholar) in addition to being a philanthropist. Having come to the United States from Zambia just under five years ago, Kapembwa, along with his mother and sister, lost their home right after his freshman year. Still, while working 40-hours a week at McDonald's and maintaining his honor roll status, he started an initiative to donate clothes to children's and women's shelters. Then, he and a friend formed the …

  Things change fast at a new site like Brookhaven Patch. Up until now, we've primarily been a news operation, written by our staff and freelancers. But now, we want to include a new voice to the site: Yours. There are already plenty of ways to contribute to Patch—by leaving comments on our articles, by posting to our events calendar and by posting announcements. But now, we're want you to be a relevant part of this site. Got something to say about life in Brookhaven or Chamblee or news to spread? Need a forum for your community group? Just eager to share your views? Then read on and see if a…

  Brookhaven and Chamblee neighbors can enjoy the sights of the neighborhood with just a click of the mouse. Introducing the Brookhaven Neighborhood photo gallery - a place right here on Brookhaven Patch where users are invited to browse through photos of neighborhood events and photos from news stories. The great thing about this feature is that users can also upload their own photos. So, take a peek, then upload your own photos for all to see. I can wait to see what you submit. Get started now.

As you know, we're more than a news site. Your Brookhaven Patch is an online conversation about your community and we've developed a way to include even more voices in or ongoing dialogue.  We're ramping up our local commentary/analysis/humor/insight coverage and we would love for you to consider Patch your home. Brookhaven Patch provides a platform for local bloggers to have their voices heard. Whether its local issues, cooking, an interesting hobby, we want to hear from you. Patch won't own what you post, so you can repost your entries to your other blogs. Much like The Huffington Post has …

Sherean Malekzadeh Allen, writer and award-winning producer-turned entrepreneur will join Brookhaven Patch as its newest blogger today. Allen worked in broadcast television, radio, national cable, and the Internet before founding her own advertising and marketing consulting agency, New Thought Marketing - a marketing consulting firm for small to medium sized businesses. This Brookhaven resident is arguably one of our most interesting neighbors. She lives in one of a hand full of Brookhaven's EarthCraft gold certified homes featuring geothermal HVAC, and this week, she was featured in the New …

In case you've been asleep for the past few years, our beloved Brookhaven is turning into the life of the party in Metro Atlanta. With the development of Town Brookhaven and Dresden Drive's Village Place, a plethora of original eateries and hybrids of downtown restaurants and hangout spots are creeping into our neighborhood, and we want to be there at every turn. So, basically, I'm looking for a social butterfly - someone (over 18 years old) who can write and enjoys being in the middle of the action. If that's you or someone you know don't hesitate to shoot me an email at Stephanie.Arnold@…

One can only imagine the pressures and the enormous sense of responsibility that comes along with being president of a university. While I've never met him, the president of our local institution,  Dr. Lawrence M. Schall, a former civil rights attorney, is known among his peers as a serious educator with vision and a sense of community responsibility and a commitment to service. This was evident when I covered Oglethorpe University's recent commencement exercises and witnessed Schall lead the occasion among former Ambassador Andrew Young and Mayor Kasim Reed, who was there to receive an …

I'm a respectable speller, but spelling under pressure with thousands of people watching along with a panel of judges, is another thing altogether. That's why I find Julia Denniss - the Marist School eighth-grader we wrote about in March - so admirable.  Julia made history as Georgia's first three-time state spelling bee champion. The 14-year-old Fulton County resident will now represent the state in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in Washington, D.C. on June 1-2. But what was even more cool was her local mini bee this week where she took on 11Alive's Karyn Greer, Jill …

If you’re reading this, that means we made it through Saturday. Sweet! Rev. Harold Camping, the 89-year-old Christian fundamentalist, predicted that the world would end Saturday, May 21 at 6 p.m. your time (wherever that was) and that Jesus would return and either rapture us to heaven or we’d be doomed to that other place no one likes to talk about. But, an interesting commentary written by Father Edward L. Beck may have pointed out why we were able to enjoy this weekend’s beautiful weather undisturbed.   “The one certain thing that the Bible says about the end time is that you won't know …

This time of year is always celebratory as we watch our local youngsters attend proms, graduate and move up and on in their lives. I've always been impressed however with the students who - despite the awkwardness of being a teenager, the general pressures of being a kid in the age of access, excess and outside influence - excelled to earn the distinguished honor of becoming their school's valedictorian or salutatorian. As we wrap up the 2011 school year, a handfull of these young men and women - some of whom have been featured here on Brookhaven Patch as Whiz Kids - proved that they could …

As you have likely heard, Brookhaven Patch is an official sponsor of the Brookhaven Bolt -  a local 5K that benefits Ashford Park School in our community. Part of our sponsorship packaged included two entries for the Bolt and we thought there was no better way to spread the love than to hold a drawing for our wonderful readers as a fun way to engage and communicate with them as well offer a small token of our appreciation for their readership. Rather than randomly pull names from a hat in my living room, I thought it would be cool to have another person - not connected to the contest - to …

If you're a fan of the Stormy Petrels, and here in Brookhaven we'd like to think that you are, you're going to love its newest venture announced this week on Oglethorpe University's blog. "With the new MOX Mobile Access, now you can stay connected to Oglethorpe with a smart phone application created specifically with the Stormy Petrel in mind.  With MOX Mobile Access, you can  access all the important information you need—maps, events, news, telephone numbers and more—right in the palm of your hand," the blog touts. So, of course, I downloaded it. Don't be confused, there's no Oglethorpe …

In January, Brookhaven Patch reported that Metro Atlanta opened the year 2011 paying close to $3 per gallon for retail gasoline. The average fuel price in Metro Atlanta during the first week of January was $2.95 compared to $3.43 as of today. Brookhaven and other Georgia communities enjoy lower gas prices than our national gas-buying counterparts, according to AAA Daily Fuel Guage Report. AAA estimates the national average is $3.54 per gallon. That fact became painfully evident as I blankly stared at the fuel gauge in an effort to "fill 'er up."  The $26 it used to take to fill up my car, no …