Duluth one of "Best Affordable Suburbs"

Bloomberg BusinessWeek has listed Duluth as one of the Best Affordable Suburbs in America for 2010.  Only one community in each state made the list.  A variety of factors were considered in identifying the suburbs that were included:

We weighted a variety of factors including livability (short commutes, low pollution, green space), education (well-educated residents, high test scores), crime (low personal and property crime), economy (high job growth, low unemployment rate, high family income), and affordability (median household income, cost of expenditures).

About Duluth, the magazine said:

A wealthy, fast-growing suburb of Atlanta with a town green, Duluth has a mall, civic and cultural center, arena, arts center, and theater. Residents can also join golf and country club communities.

Gwinnett to become main mail processor for Atlanta?

According to Jim Galloway in his "Political Insider" column at AJC.com, Gwinnett could soon become the center of the mail sorting universe for metro Atlanta.  A consolidation of Atlanta area mail operations would save the U.S. Postal Service $5.6 million.  However, there would apparently be no job benefit to Gwinnett County as such a move would result in a net decrease of 38 positions. The interesting tidbit from the column: mail volume is down 29% from 1998 to 2008.  I know I almost never mail anything anymore.  I pay just about all bills online...well except for my Lawrenceville gas bill!

They're baaaack!

A few months ago, I wrote about how several municipalities around Gwinnett were scrapping their Big Brother red-light cameras.  Apparently, LaserCraft, a company that provides the cameras as a service, has dropped the per-camera price.  As a result, Duluth will be reactivating the cameras at Pleasant Hill Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.  I came through that intersection this morning and saw a LaserCraft truck working on one of the cameras.

At least now they are giving lip service to the motivation being safety rather than revenue:

Duluth City Manager Phil McLemore said the price dropped from $3,600 per camera to $1,200 per camera.

"We're trying to break even. That's our goal," McLemore said, adding that the economic downturn's impact on the city leaves little room in the budget. "We can't afford to subsidize it and keep our employees at the same time."

Uh huh.  Who is buying that the goal is simply breaking even from the speed trap capital of Gwinnett?  If you weren't already on the look-out for Duluth's revenue enhancement efforts via traffic overenforcement, you have even more reason to do so now.

Duluth's Stewart Cink wins British Open

Stewart Cink, a resident of Duluth, broke the hearts of the golf world yesterday by defeating sentimental favorite Tom Watson in a playoff to win the British Open.  This is Cink's first major championship.  While many were disappointed not to see Watson make history as the oldest winner of a major championship, I was ecstatic to see Cink take the tournament.  You see, to me, Cink is more than a fellow Gwinnettian; he is also a fellow Georgia Tech alumnus.  The Buzz would like to congratulate Stewart on his win and wish him well in the PGA Championship later this season!

Left wing radicals to protest Coke meeting

Coca-Cola will hold its annual shareholders meeting Wednesday at Gwinnett Center in Duluth.  Unfortunately, attendees will have to put up with some uninvted guests.  A radical left wing group (is there any other kind of left wing group?) plans to protest Coke's alleged killing, oppressing, polluting, blah, blah, blah...

Here is a tip for anyone that might be going.  The best way to deal with radicals such as the "Campaign to Stop Killer Coke" who live in these anti-capitalist, anti-corporate fantasy worlds...IGNORE THEM.  All they are after is attention and if they don't get it, they will simply go away.

Church offers reward in murder of businessman

A week ago I blogged about the murder of Dekalb businessman Marc Stewart.  Mr. Stewart's church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, is offering a reward of $10,000 "for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murder of Marc A. Stewart."  From the church's press release:

Stewart was a faithful member of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia and a well known DeKalb county record company executive. “We offer our deepest sympathy and support to Stewart’s family and pray that God will comfort their pain and sorrow during this time of deep grief,” says Bishop Eddie L. Long, senior pastor, New Birth Church. “We are hopeful that the reward offer will assist investigators in finding justice for the Stewart family and send a message to the community that the killing must stop.” Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Gwinnett County Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at (770) 513-5300 or call anonymously on the Gwinnett County Police Department’s tip line at (770) 513-5390. The public should not contact New Birth Church with information about the investigation.

I would also add that, if you have information, please do not contact the Buzz either.  (I only note this because I received a couple emails seeking help with residents' garbage bills last month.)

Update on "sell everything" family

I wrote yesterday about how Gregg and Brittiny Peters sold all of their possessions on eBay to raise money for their children's medical bills.  Well, now comes a twist in the story.  The winning bidders, Keith and Donna Blair of Texas, want the Peters family to keep not only the money from the winning bid but also all of their things!  However, "the Peters say the whole idea was to start over, not take a handout."  The solution?  They will keep the money but now want to donate their possessions to others.  Furthermore, Don Weir and Andrea Chandler of Devil Cat Art in Duluth have created a website, everythingweown.org, to help the Peters.  However, the Peters have been trying to return donations that have come in from that website.  While I would be more than willing to donate to the Peters family, I also respect their desire not to receive such donations.

What an amazing story of selflessness personal responsibiilty!

Murders tarnish imge of Gwnnett Place area

As I recently discussed, a string of murders around Gwinnett Place mall is not doing any favors for the area's image.  According to Joe Allen, executive director of the Gwinnett Place CID, the recent killings give the false impression that, in general, crime in the area is worsening:

Joe Allen, the executive director of Gwinnett Place CID, said Tuesday that the recent homicides have been “very disheartening,” because it could create a misperception that crime in the area is up when in fact it is down.

Three TADs proposed

In the wake of voter approval of a state constitutional amendment allowing school systems to participate in Tax Allocation Districts (TADs), three new districts are to be considered by the Gwinnett County Commission in December.  The proposed districts include:

1. U.S. 78 between Stone Mountain and Snellville


2. Along Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross


3. Between Gwinnett Place Mall and I-85 in Duluth

I voted for the TAD amendment earlier this month, though I did have some concerns on the property rights impact in terms of fairness to all Gwinnett property owners.  I ultimately decided that there was the potential for community good from such districts, though county residents would need to be watchful of our commissioners as they consider various TAD proposals.  Coincidentally, I am currently reading a chapter on this type of funding mechanism in the book Government Pirates: The Assault on Private Property Rights--and How We Can Fight It.  If I glean anything relevant to the use of TADs in Gwinnett, I will plan to post it here on the Buzz.

Circuit City to close Gwinnett stores

Amid a move to exit the Atlanta market, Circuit City will close all three of its Gwinnett locations by December 31.  Circuit City has locations in Gwinnett on Venture Drive in Duluth near Gwinnett Place, on Buford Drive in Buford near Mall of Georgia and on Scenic Highway in Snellville.  The further worsens the competitive environment for electronics in Gwinnett with HiFi Buys having closed all of its Gwinnett stores in recent years.

Personally, I hate to see Circuit City leave the market.  While I generally prefer Best Buy, I often shopped Circuit City stores.  I remember a trip to the former Circuit City on Jimmy Carter Blvd. in the mid-80s with my late father to buy a brand new television which included our family's first-ever remote control.  (Actually, my father had had remote control for years.  It was called my sister and I!)  Later, I made some of my own initial home entertainment electronics purchases from the same store.