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Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Standing up for DeKalb’s homeless animals, they wear and see red

by Michelle Hiskey

Fritz the rescue dog got shooed from last week’s DeKalb County Board of Commissioners meeting, marking yet another bad day for homeless animals in DeKalb and the humans who are rabid for an $8 million new county shelter.

Fritz was rescued by a group that helps find homes for animals from the existing shelter near I-285 and Memorial Drive.  A citizens task force in early 2012 called the facility a filthy, smelly, bug- and rat-infested, understaffed “chamber of horrors.” Out of every ten animals that go there, seven die. It has the highest “kill rate” of any animal shelter in metro Atlanta, the task force reported.

“Animals are suffering and dying in a horrible, horrible condition in our shelter,” said activist Heidi Pollyea to the board. “If you have a minute to go down there I think you’d say, ‘Let’s get busy. Let’s get this approved.” We have the opportunity today to make a difference. Please do not delay. This cannot wait.”

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

In Africa, former Atlantan helps kids One World Futbol at a time

by Michelle Hiskey

For a couple of weeks in 1996, Sandra Cress helped bring the world of soccer to Atlanta. Today she lives in Nairobi and is helping children around the world live healthier lives through one tough soccer ball that stays round when they kick it.

The standard soccer balls used across Atlanta suburbs don’t stand a chance in the thorns, glass and barbed wire of the developing world. There, kids create makeshift balls of rags or whatever they can find. Cress said she saw kids kicking a ball made of old fruit taped together.

The virtually indestructible One World Futbol, made of a hard foam similar to that in Crocs sandals, has already transformed Cress’ world and should inspire anyone with deep knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm that do not seem to fit in the present job market. The indestructible ball offered Cress an opportunity to come full circle in her passion for soccer and expertise in humanitarian aid.

Posted inGuest Column

Atlanta BeltLine a path for private entities to partner for public good

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist VALARIE WILSON, executive director of the BeltLine Partnership, a private, non-profit organization dedicated to fostering support for Atlanta’s BeltLine

Standing on the playground at Historic Fourth Ward Park on a weekend afternoon, surrounded by young families, you look down into the park, past the amphitheater toward the water and see others walking their dogs and generally moving at the sort of leisurely pace inspired by such havens within a city.

You’re in the shadow of hundreds of new apartment and condominiums built in the midst of the worst economy in a generation, filled with residents who want to live in proximity to the park and the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail on the horizon.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Georgia family with 14 children gives back through basketball fundraiser

by Michelle Hiskey

On Saturday at 7 pm at St. Pius X Catholic High School gymnasium, you can see a team of local lawyers show up on a different court against a squad of Atlanta doctors with a prescription for winning.

The game, billed as “Jawbones vs. Sawbones,” will be played the weekend before the ACC college basketball tournament in Philips Arena. March Madness kicks off with a bit of March Malpractice.

“I hope their cardiologist brings his paddles,” one lawyer joked in an email.

The game benefits Side by Side Clubhouse, a day program for people who have experienced traumatic brain injury – a population that has swelled with returning troops. Brain injuries have also become more publicized through athletic concussions.

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