Lawmakers to look for charter school solutions

Submitted by Gary Franklin, 11Alive Assignment Editor

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011, 7:51am

Lawmakers to look for charter school solutions

ATLANTA -- State lawmakers are planning to meet next week to hammer out solutions for more than a dozen charter schools that face closing after a Georgia Supreme Court ruled the state commission that created them is unconstitutional.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Fran Millar said the meeting is set for June 3 at 10 a.m. at the Capitol. The Atlanta Republican says the goal is to make sure the 16,000 students enrolled in the schools have an "education setting that meets their needs" when school starts this fall.

Millar has invited several state officials, including state schools Superintendent John Barge and Mark Peevy, executive director of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission.

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DINNERS ON A DIME: Real Southern Bar-B-Que

Submitted by Eden Godbee, Where U Live Producer

Monday, May 23rd, 2011, 9:39pm

DINNERS ON A DIME: Real Southern Bar-B-Que

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. – This week, Dinners on a Dime features the best in local BBQ. Every Tuesday Where U Live chooses four favorite eats in your area for you to take your family and friends for a fabulous meal for a price that’s economically feasible in today’s economy.

Harold’s Barbeque is a pretty popular restaurant with those of the “old guard” Atlanta. Perhaps, pretty popular is an understatement because according to some Harold’s is “the Georgia Bar-B-Que”. The restaurant which was frequented by the late Southern writer Lewis Grizzard epitomizes old Atlanta; and they even still have a sign sponsored by Coca-Cola. Harold’s is cash only so bring your wallet. The restaurant is located at 171 McDonough Boulevard in Atlanta.

Popular wrestler Abdullah the Butcher chops and smokes the opposition in and outside of the ring.

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Writing Tips - Small business advice

Submitted by GA Lottery

Monday, May 23rd, 2011, 7:42pm

Being Newsworthy

For an announcement to be considered newsworthy it must have a broad, general interest to the target audience and a strong news angle (e.g. material information, new development,drama, human interest, local angle, consequence, etc.). In addition, your release needs to be written in a journalistic, rather than marketing style. It should be objectively written as though a reporter were writing the story for you. Most importantly, your release needs to "inform" people, NOT just sell them something.

Headline Formats

In most cases your headline is the first thing an editor sees when reviewing your release. An effective headline can make the difference between an editor covering your story or hitting the delete button. To create an effective headline consider the following points:

* Limit your headline to no more than one line.

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Contest opens for new Georgia license plate

Submitted by Atlanta Busines... on Monday, May 23rd, 6:01 pm

ATLANTA -- The state wants a new look for license plates and is open to the public's ideas.

The Georgia Department of Revenue reported Monday a contest for the state's next new license plate in 2012. It began May 23 and ends June 17.

The contest is open to all Georgia residents or companies authorized to do business in the state.

The public will select three semifinalists in an online vote from June 24 to July 8. The three semifinalists will then be presented to Gov. Nathan Deal, who will announce the winning design on July 15.

Complete rules, guidelines, design template and an entry-waiver are available here.

Contest submissions may be sent by e-mail to: Georgia.License.Plate.Design.Contest@DOR.GA.GOV

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New technology allows residents to search crime data in county

Submitted by Marc Richardson, Where U Live Producer

Monday, May 23rd, 2011, 3:01pm

Mableton, GA -- Residents now have the capability of searching an online database known as P2C, Police 2 Citizen, for crime data in any area of interest within unincorporated Cobb County. This is a result of Cobb Police Department's recent transition to a new police records management system.

Types of crime available to search include burglaries, entering autos, thefts and criminal trespass/damage, along with data on robberies and fraud. An additional feature of the system allows people to retrieve their own vehicle crash reports.

Since the system is computer based, it not only makes it more convenient for the public, it also makes operations more efficient, accurate and helps reduce human error.

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ADOPT A PET: Meet Mia

Submitted by Eden Godbee, Where U Live Producer

Monday, May 23rd, 2011, 11:25am

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. – If you dream of coming home to a wet nose, wagging tail and tons of kisses (in addition to, perhaps, a half chewed shoe or overturned trashcan) adopt a puppy from your local pet shelter. According to the ASPCA, approximately 5 million to 7 million domesticated animals enter animal shelters nationwide, every year, and approximately 3 million to 4 million are euthanized. However, you can change those numbers but adopting a “companion” for yourself or your family. Pets are an investment but, in our opinion, an investment well worth the money.

Mia, is a Chi-Terrier who needs a home. Before she arrived at the Humane Society, Mia was living chained to a tree with little shelter and no food or water. Since she was turned over to the Humane Society, she has been bathed, had her nails trimmed and has changed her feeding schedule to attain a healthy weight. She’s great with toddlers and loves to play fetch.

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Creator of POSHGLAM, a worldwide fashion outlet, lives in Atlanta and talks shop with 11Alive

Submitted by Marc Richardson, Where U Live Producer

Monday, May 23rd, 2011, 9:35am

Creator of POSHGLAM, a worldwide fashion outlet, lives in Atlanta and talks shop with 11Alive

Atlanta, GA -- Currently the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur Conference and Expo is in town and I wanted to find a new local entrepreneur to talk to me about their business. I decided to sit down and talk to Kimberly Stone the owner and creator of POSHGLAM, an online Fashion outlet that lets you buy high fashion designs for a discount. Kimberly is busy women who is currently in the middle of organizing and being a media sponsor for an upcoming Trunk Show for the House Rossil and Sobral on May 28th. I was able to send over a few questions to Kimberly and the following is her response.

How long have you lived in Atlanta?

I’m a Georgia peach, I was born and raised in Atlanta and I attended Spelman College. I later transferred to New York University.

What neighborhood do you live in Atlanta?

I live in the East Cobb area and spend my free time working and traveling to different cities to meet new people and promote POSHGLAM. I have friends in NY, LA and Miami as well as globally. I’ve found running a blog to be a great way to build relationships and to help unknown talent become discovered globally via the World Wide Web. I think Social Media has really opened a ton of doors for networking. The best part about being an entrepreneur is meeting new people all over the world and more importantly building organic relationships outside of the social media realm. Though my communication with friends and colleagues is global, I’m proud to call Atlanta my home.

Tell me about your organization. (where, when, what, why, how)

POSHGLAM started out as a side project and has since evolved into a global online fashion outlet. Its way more than a blog, it’s an enterprise that continues to expand daily. I have a couple of columns that we promote outside of the international column. We haven’t fully launched them globally yet, but we are gaining some tremendous traction. POSHGLAM.co.uk filters to the London Column, POSHGLAM.fr filters to Paris and surrounding cities, POSHGLAM.it is our Milan column. I recently purchased POSHGLAM.co.za after been inspired by Nelson Mandela’s initiative to help South Africa’s troubled textile clothing industry.

I’ve admired the art of fashion design from an early age. I started sewing at 4 years old, after going to the fabric store with my mother and discovering that she was having something made. I decided to make something of my very own. My mother sat with me and a needle and thread and my first creation was born. Though I am an entrepreneur first, I have always dreamed of being a designer myself, which fuels my love for my fashion clients. I have entertained side projects (i.e. capsule collection etc.) and I’m working on something unique for the near future so stay tuned for that.