4th Annual "Taste of Tucker"

Fourth annual “Taste of Tucker”

Event:

A street festival featuring food from local restaurants, great music, a farmers market, and fun for all ages.  Also a fundraiser for a worthy cause.

Date / Time:

Saturday, Oct. 19, 1-6 p.m.

Location:

Main Street in downtown Tucker

Participating Restaurants:

Bambinelli’s, Big Tex, Brockett Pub, Chick-fil-A, The Comeback, El Toro, Grecian Gyro, Growler Time, L’ Thai Organic Cuisine, Hushpuppies, IHOP Tucker, Kochi, Local No. 7, Longhorn Steakhouse, Lunch On Main, Marlow’s Tavern, Matthews Cafeteria, Riverside Pizza, Smoke Rise Country Club, Sprig, Sweet Dee’s Bakeshop, and Uncle Maddio’s; all booths sponsored by Restaurant Equipment Services

Great Food:

You get to sample amazing appetizers, entrees and desserts from a variety of local restaurants.  Sample sized portions will be offered, with prices ranging from $1-$4.

Beverages:

Soft drinks will be provided by Keller Williams Tucker Northlake and water by Hero Water.  A beer truck provided by Bud Light will be on site.

Music:

Five Star Iris, Midnight Revival, Buck O’ Five and Business Casual will perform on the Cofer Brothers Main Stage

Special Attractions:

A secondary stage with open-mic karaoke, sponsored by Beth Kellerman Nationwide Insurance.  A Kidz’ Zone with inflatables, sponsored by Chick-fil-A and Stone Point Church.  The Tucker Farmers Market featuring produce and goods from local growers and artisans.

Designated Charity:

Proceeds go to NETworks Cooperative Ministry, a coalition of nearly 20 area churches which provides food and financial assistance for low income neighbors in Northlake-Embry Hills-Tucker.  Last year’s event raised enough money to support 50 individuals and families.  Festival goers are encouraged to bring donations of pop-top and microwaveable foods.

More Info:

www.tasteoftucker.com

Stonecrest Update

The Proposed City of Stonecrest

Following are the latest versions of the map for the proposed City of Stonecrest, in southeast DeKalb County, Georgia.  You can find the latest information on Stonecrest here.

A Racial Dot Map of DeKalb County

One Dot Per Person for the Entire United States

A fascinating map of the United States is now available on line which illustrates the racial makeup of the entire country by displaying 308,745,538 color coded dots geographically, one for each person at the location they were counted in the the United States at the time of the 2010 census. Each dot is color-coded for race and ethnicity.

The map was created by Dustin Cable, a demographic researcher at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. A full explanation of the methodology used, and the entire map itself, can be found here.

Following the jump are two maps, one of which overlays DeKalb County and its existing and proposed cities over the map, and a second map which focuses on the proposed City of Tucker.

Clyde, the Orangutan

I often use Clyde the Orangutan, from the San Diego Zoo (but now living in the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Kansas), as my internet avatar, largely because he is far more photogenic than I am. Orangutans are incredible animals, fully deserving of our respect and protection.  For more information check out the Orangutan Conservancy web site, here. An interesting article on Clyde himself can be found here.

Orangutans are actually Great Apes, not monkeys, a common misconception of the uninformed and uneducated. Amazingly enough, biologists have recently demonstrated that orangutans are FAR more intelligent, perceptive and empathetic than certain loud-mouth champions of the LCA. A video of Clyde after the break.

Save Tucker From Lakeside City

Or, Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Cheryl Miller, the lone administrator of the Facebook page Save Tucker From Lakeside City, seems to be very challenged by map reading. Currently on her Facebook page, she is asking for some help in deciphering a DCSD map from 2011 which indicates how the high school attendance areas were to change after the 2011 redistricting. (And YES, Cheryl, the map is quite correct.) She seems to be VERY confused about the location of the Idlewood Elementary School attendance zone relative to the Tucker cluster, and then further asks for some help in determining how the proposed City of Lakeside borders overlay the new attendance areas. A snapshot of her current posting follows (in case she wisely decides to remove it from her Facebook page.

After the break -

Tucker - Property Appraisal Maps

DeKalb County Property Appraisal Maps

When considering various questions about property types, sizes, and ownership, or when looking at potential city borders, it is sometimes very helpful to refer to the Property Maps provided by DeKalb County through the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner web page. Although very useful, these maps do not offer the wealth of information available through the County GIS Office, but they are, as far as I know, the only information available on line.

Normally to access these maps, one has to go through a somewhat tedious, but not difficult, process. After you first go to the Tax Commissioner web page, you then click on the Property Tax line on the left menu, which will take you to a new window, where you must enter limited information on either the street name, the property owner's name, or the property address. After a few more steps, and based on how detailed the information is that was first entered, this will ultimately lead you to a page with the Property Tax Information for a particular piece of property.

DeKalb Property Assessments

DeKalb County Property Assessments

On a subject dear to every homeowner's heart, here is a map, distributed last year by County Commissioner Jeff Rader, which shows the percent change in residential property assessments between 2011 and 2012. This will allow you to compare how your assessment changed when compared to your neighbors or how your neighborhood changed compared to other neighborhoods. No credit is taken on the full version of the map; presumably it was created by the DeKalb County GIS Department working with the Property Appraisal Department.

The map can be found after the break.