Alpharetta-Roswell Herald - February 26, 2026

Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational features college talent

By ANNABELLE REITER annabelle@appenmedia.com

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational returned for its third year, this time at Morehouse College, for three high-level college matchups Feb. 21 featuring 13 Georgia natives on the field.

Army and Michigan fielded men’s and women’s teams. Boston College and Florida State women’s teams also competed.

This year, 285 Lacrosse’s annual games took place at Morehouse’s B.T. Harvey Stadium after two years at Georgia Tech.

The men faced off first, with a ranked matchup that drew the largest crowd despite wet conditions from earlier storms.

Army defeated Michigan 1311 in the first match, boosting the Black Knights to No. 8 in the USA Lacrosse rankings. Michigan, though not ranked

by USA Lacrosse, is in the top 10 of efficiency rankings and No. 4 in cumulative shooting percentage according to Lacrosse Reference.

The game featured the most players from Georgia – two Wolverines and four Black Knights – and one coach.

Army offensive coordinator Rick Lewis is a Cumming native and St. Pius X graduate.

See LACROSSE, Page 15

MEN’S LACROSSE: BLACK KNIGHTS 13, WOLVERINES 11

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: WOLVERINES 10, EAGLES 9

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: BLACK KNIGHTS 13, SEMINOLES 7

Developer pivots on office building at Alpharetta site

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The Alpharetta City Council considered a pivot to build homes on a tract near Ga. 400 amid concerns about the marketability of offices.

At their Feb. 23 meeting, council members unanimously approved rescheduling a vote to April 13 for approving master plan changes to allow the change.

Developer Traton is requesting an amendment to the Lakeview Park Master Plan to allow 25 standalone homes and 27 townhomes on 6.46 acres near Ga. 400 at Haynes Bridge Road. The plan currently allows for 200,000 square feet of office space within a three-story building.

The site is near the 360 Tech Village area and the proposed Northwinds Summit mixed-use center.

The for-sale homes are proposed because of changing market conditions that have resulted in limited demand for new offices throughout Alpharetta, Traton said.

About 25 percent of Alpharetta’s estimated 20.1 million square feet of office space is currently vacant.

Tyler Wakefield, development director for Traton Homes, said offices in the area are currently about 34 percent vacant, creating a difficult financial position.

“It’s very uncompetitive,” he said. “We do not see the office market coming back.”

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Avalon-based financial adviser convicted in giant Ponzi scheme

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The CEO of a financial advisory group based at Avalon was convicted in a case that authorities described as perhaps the largest Ponzi scheme in Georgia history.

Todd Burkhalter, founder of Drive Planning, pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Jan. 21. A plea agreement recommends 17-and-a-half years in prison, although U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson may impose a

POLICE BLOTTER

All crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.

Roswell woman reports possible jewelry theft

ROSWELL, Ga. — A Roswell woman reported the theft of five pieces of jewelry from her Lake Forest Way home Feb. 13.

The items include two 14-karat gold rings, a gold Movado watch and an 18-karat ring with five diamonds. The items had an estimated total value of $11,300. The woman said she thinks they were taken from her purse inside of her husband’s home office around the middle of January.

The woman said only the couple and their house cleaners had accessed the house since she had last seen the jewelry. She said that the owner of the cleaning business comes each time, but who she brings to help varies.

Her husband told police that they host biweekly poker nights, but the woman became defensive

different sentence.

Drive Planning was located at 8000 Avalon Blvd., in the heart of the Alpharetta mixed-use center.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said authorities will continue working on Burkhalter’s case.

“Unbelievably, Burkhalter shamelessly continued to scam his victims even while under federal investigation,” Hertzberg said. “(The) guilty plea is just the first step in holding Burkhalter accountable for the considerable harm he caused.”

Between September 2020 and

of her friends stating, “They are millionaires and would never steal my jewelry.” He also said that his wife had another instance of reporting jewelry missing/stolen and found it a short time later.

Photos of the missing jewelry were submitted into evidence.

— Hannah Yahne

Police cite Cumming man for speeding in work zone

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A 39-year-old Cumming man was arrested on a reckless a driving charge after he was caught speeding on Ga. 400 Jan. 24.

Alpharetta police said officers clocked the man’s Honda Civic going 101 mph in a 55-mph work zone on southbound lanes near the McGinnis Ferry on-ramp.

Traffic was moderate at the time.

The man told officers he was attempting to get away from a truck that was following him, police said. He added the truck did not cause him to fear for his safety, police said.

Police transported the man to the Alpharetta Detention Center and impounded his car.

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June 2024, Drive Planning, under Burkhalter’s direction, defrauded more than 2,000 victims and stole more than $380 million, prosecutors said. The company marketed several investment opportunities, including a Real Estate Acceleration Loan and Cash Out Real Estate Fund.

The Real Estate Acceleration Loan, which was the company’s primary investment, was fraudulently marketed as a bridge loan opportunity that would guarantee a 10 percent return every three months, prosecutors said.

See SCHEME, Page 15

Family expresses suspicion over missing person claim

ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell Police received a report from a family member that her cousin was missing Feb. 15. The woman said she became alarmed after receiving a text saying he was in danger and needed money to support himself.

The missing individual left his former residence Jan. 11 and has been homeless since, according to family. He had maintained contact with various family members throughout January with the most recent contact on Jan. 31.

Police confirmed that the missing person was treated at North Fulton Hospital Jan. 11, and his last known location was at Roswell City Hall on Jan. 15.

Multiple family members received a text from an unknown number saying that the missing individual was in danger after having been kicked out of the house by his father and that he needed money. Although they believe it was a scam, the family wanted to file a missing person report.

— Hannah Yahne

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Speaker Pro Tem Jones announces retirement

By ZOE SEILER zoe@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — Georgia Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, announced Feb. 19 that she will not seek reelection to House District 47 this year.

Jones currently serves as the House speaker pro tem. She will retire after more than two decades in office, according to a news release. Jones was first elected in 2002. She said she will miss the work, he ability to help constituents and her colleagues.

“Over these years, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished on education policy: restoring full funding to public schools, keeping teacher pay the highest in the Southeast, expanding access to Pre-K and bolstering that workforce and strengthening parent choice with more public charters and the Promise Scholarship,” Jones said. “Conservative leadership has given Georgia the best business climate in the country and these investments in our workforce will keep us at the top for years to come.”

Jones was first elected as speaker pro tem in 2010 and has continually been re-elected by her fellow representatives. She is the longest-serving speaker pro tem and is the first woman to hold the position in Georgia.

House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) said Jones is a trailblazer.

“Jan’s 16-year tenure in House leadership reflects the abiding faith and admiration her colleagues have for her,” Burns said. “She will close her career in the General Assembly with a long record of accomplishments but also a long list of great friends, including me and Dayle. We appreciate her service and dedication to this chamber, her district and all of Georgia.”

All members of the Georgia House and Senate are up for election this year. Candidate qualifying will take place March 2-6. The primaries will be held on May 19, and Election Day is Nov. 3.

The deadline to register to vote in the primaries is April 20, and for the general election is Oct. 5.

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State reps unveil package addressing housing issues

By ZOE SEILER zoe@appenmedia.com

ATLANTA – Democratic Georgia House members are working to address various housing issues. State Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, Phil Olaleye, D-Atlanta and others announced a bipartisan package of legislation on Feb. 12 to address affordability.

That package also seeks to expand housing supply, strengthen tenant protections and encourage more affordable housing development.

“There is an issue of housing affordability across Georgia,” Oliver said. “We need more doors. We need more opportunities and a wide variety of ways.”

The House Minority Caucus’s legisla-

tion includes proposals related to tax incentives, tenant protections, zoning reform and affordable housing development.

“Whether you’re trying to buy your first home, stay in the home you already have, or just keep up with rent continuing to jump over and over and over again, housing has become the biggest bill facing families,” Olaleye said.

The following House Bills are included in the representatives’ legislative package:

• HB 1145, sponsored by Rep. Miriam Paris, D-Macon, would create a statewide homestead exemption for certain public service employees, like police officers, nurses and teachers.

“I think that it is incumbent upon us to take good care of those that take good care of us, and this bill seeks to do that

for them,” Paris said.

• HB 1153, sponsored by Oliver, would allow developers to use the state’s lowincome housing tax credit (LIHTC) to build affordable single-family homes. These homes would be available to individuals earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.

Currently, LIHTC is only available for multifamily developments, like apartments or fourplexes.

“The LIHTC program of tax credits giving financial support for the purchase of lower-income, moderate-priced apartments can be duplicated in the singlefamily market,” Oliver said.

She added that it’s an effort to address incentives and produce more for-sale housing options.

• HB 1166, sponsored by Rep. Tangie Herring, D-Macon, would remove zoning regulations for smaller homes.

“It removes the arbitrary zoning restrictions that currently ban safe and high-quality homes of 400 square feet or less,” Herring said. “You might know these are tiny homes, carriage houses or granny flats.”

Homeowners should be able to build secondary homes and should be part of the solution to create more options, she added.

“We all know the American Dream of homeownership is quickly slipping out of reach for too many Georgians,” Herring said. “We are facing a dual crisis right now. We have skyrocketing costs that are hurting families and we have a desperate lack of housing inventory. Simply put, we do not have enough homes in Georgia.”

• HB 1177 expands the authority of local development authorities to allow them to finance or develop affordable housing. Rep. Al Williams, D-Midway, sponsored this bill.

“It is imperative that as development authorities, we’re able to get involved, able to help move these projects, but most importantly we’ve got to bring the cost of housing under control,” Williams said. “You can’t be the best place to do business in America and one of the hardest places to live in the South.”

• HB 1252, sponsored by Olaleye, would prohibit investors from acquiring singlefamily homes before Georgia residents.

“Before a large institutional investor can buy a newly listed single-family home, those families or that owner-occupied buyer would have first dibs within a 30day window to purchase that home first,” Olaleye said.

He also sponsored HB 305 last year, which prohibits large companies from purchasing single-family homes in Georgia.

• HB 1171, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Frye, D-Athens, would establish minimum habitability standards consistent with

recognized housing standards.

Some of the requirements include making all repairs necessary, keeping all common areas in a clean and safe condition, maintaining utilities and appliances, providing trash receptacles and supplying running water.

If those conditions are not met, tenants could terminate their lease or withhold rent, recover damages or make repairs and deduct the cost from the rent.

• HB 1221, sponsored by Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, would require homeowners associations to provide written notices of fines or delinquent fees and give a reasonable opportunity for homeowners to pay before assessing attorney fees and costs.

• HB 1017, sponsored by Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick, D-Lithonia, would require homes owned by corporate investors be assessed – or taxed – at their full value. Under Georgia law, most homes are assessed at 40 percent of their fair market value.

“We know that they are creating a housing shortage in the state of Georgia,” Kendrick said. “As opposed to assessing the value at 40 percent of a home, that many of us have our homes assessed at, large corporate investors would have to pay 100 percent of the assessed value of the home that they are renting out.”

• HB 679, sponsored by Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, D-Smyrna, was known as the end rental price-fixing act, in 2025. The bill is still active this session.

“I am a renter myself, like the majority of my district. In the past eight years, my rent has almost doubled from $850 a month to $1,550 a month, and my story is not unique,” Sanchez said. “It’s the story of families across Georgia who are working hard every single day, doing everything right, and yet they’re still falling behind.”

He said one driver of rent increases is due to companies that sell their software to landlords and use data to calculate the highest rents they can charge in a market. HB 679 would end the practice.

“I think it’s important that we do everything in our power to ensure that we have affordable housing here in the state of Georgia and end these price-fixing and price-gouging practices that are hurting working Georgians,” Sanchez said.

House Bills 1145, 1166, 1177, 1221, and 1252 have gained bipartisan support from Reps. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton; Dale Washburn, R-Macon; Ron Stephens, RSavannah; Buddy DeLoach, R-Townsend; Stan Gunter, R-Blairsville; Leesa Hagan, R-Lyons; and Derrick McCollum, R-Chestnut Mountain.

“There are many different bills, many different actions in the federal government and the state government to address this issue and I’m hoping for progress in 2026,” Oliver said.

Chickering Lake advances for dredging reimbursement

By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — The City Council accepted an application from the Chickering Lake subdivision for Roswell’s dredging assistance program.

Any financial help from the city, though, will be determined later.

Council member Christine Hall, who lives in the subdivision, recused herself from the vote.

Roswell’s dredging assistance program offers a reimbursement of up 50 percent and no more than $500,000 for eligible subdivisions to help cover dredging costs. In the 2026 budget, the city set aside $250,000 for the dredging assistance program knowing that it had two forthcoming applications.

At a Feb. 9 meeting, dredging assistance applications from Nesbit Lakes and Chickering Lake subdivisions were presented, and both requested a 50 percent reimbursement.

Nesbit Lakes’ application was approved, and the council fulfilled its 50 percent reimbursement request, which is more than $304,000. That same evening, Chickering Lake’s application was deferred to allow staff an opportunity to find $325,000 in additional revenue that will allow for a 50 percent reimbursement.

Speaking at the Feb. 23 meeting, Assistant City Attorney Joseph Cusack said that accepting Chickering Lake’s application is necessary for the subdivision to be eligible for reimbursement. But, he emphasized that this does not include funding. If a funding source is found, a budget amendment will come before the council in the coming weeks.

Members of the Chickering Lake Homeowners Association (HOA) and residents tried to sway the council, saying the project cannot be completed without financial support from the city.

HOA Treasurer Cary Dunning said the neighborhood has already committed significant expenses to the project from securing loans and finding a contractor.

Another HOA member, Dan Forrester, said they have set aside money for years to fund the project. If the council does not approve to reimburse Chickering Lake with the requested $325,000, he said the HOA will have to raise dues significantly, placing a burden on the subdivision’s residents.

“We were always under the understanding that we would have 50 percent of it (dredging costs) paid for through this assistance program that has been in place,” Forrester said.

Chickering Lake resident Lindsey Dean asked if contingency funds could be put toward this project because it is an incidental expense.

“Before we go funding fancy projects, let’s just stick to what we agreed we would do together,” Dean said. “I believe that the contingency funds are there for a reason, and the reason is this.”

HOA President Mike Worden emphasized the commitment that Chickering Lake has already shown to the project.

“We’re serious about being a good partner for stormwater management here in Roswell,” Worden said. “We’ve proven ourselves to be a reliable partner. We will continue to do so … and all I ask is that you guys are a reliable partner as well.”

In other matters at the Feb. 24 meeting, the council approved over $1 million in contracts to renovate the Crabapple Center.

The recreation center is being reconfigured to offer six dance studios, multiple rehearsal studios and a multipurpose band room. It will be home to Roswell’s performing arts programs which has outgrown the Roswell Physical Activity Center with its 3,000 participants.

The consent agenda included approval for the Roswell Fire Department to apply for a $1.4 million federal grant. If awarded the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, funding will go toward modernizing alert systems in fire stations and replacing the self-contained breathing apparatuses that firefighters wear on their backs.

The next Roswell City Council meeting will be March 9 at 6 p.m.

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Press Club membership surges following letter detailing lawsuit

NORTH METRO ATLANTA — Appen Media has seen a significant surge in new Appen Press Club memberships following a recent letter to readers explaining the status — and cost — of its ongoing public records lawsuit against the City of Sandy Springs.

The message outlined a key development: a Fulton County judge recently ordered Sandy Springs to turn over previously withheld documents tied to police incident reports. It also revealed something readers hadn’t been told before — that the locally owned newsroom has spent nearly $100,000 over almost three years pursuing access to records that are routinely released by other police departments across Georgia.

The response from readers was immediate.

In the days following the email, new membership to the Appen Press Club surged, and supporters contributed both recurring and one-time gifts to help sustain the legal and reporting effort. The increase marks one of the strongest membership bumps since the Press Club launched in 2022.

“This case has always been about transparency and accountability,” said Appen Media Publisher Hans Appen. “It’s about whether local governments can delay and deny access to basic public information — and whether local journalism has the resources to challenge that.”

Why the case matters

At issue are police incident reports — documents widely considered standard public records. Appen Media filed suit after repeated efforts to obtain them were denied.

Open records laws are designed to ensure the public can see how government operates. But enforcing those laws often falls to news organizations willing — and

financially able — to go to court.

For large national outlets, those costs can be absorbed. For small, community-based newsrooms, they cannot — unless readers step in.

Unlike subscription paywalls, the Appen Press Club model keeps essential civic reporting accessible to the entire community while inviting supporters to voluntarily fund the work.

The recent membership surge shows that readers understand what’s at stake. But newsroom leaders say the need is ongoing. Legal battles are expensive, and transparency fights rarely end with a single ruling. Sandy Springs has already made it clear it plans to appeal the decision – again.

Community journalism, local support

Residents who believe public records should remain public — and that local watchdog reporting matters — are encouraged to join the Appen Press Club with a monthly, yearly or one-time contribution.

The principle behind the lawsuit is simple: Government records belong to the public. Ensuring access to them requires persistence, resources and reader support.

To join the effort, become an Appen Press Club member today at appenmedia.com/join.

Hans Appen

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A city worker removes paving stones from a pathway at Wacky World Playground in Alpharetta Oct. 1.

Alpharetta seeks volunteers for Wacky World renovation

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The City of Alpharetta is asking for the public’s help in building the next generation of the beloved Wacky World playground in Wills Park.

The city is asking the public to participate in hundreds of shifts from March 9-14 and then March 23-25 for the reconstruction. Each day will have three build shifts that need 80 volunteers each.

Morning shifts will be from 8 a.m. to noon. Afternoon shifts run from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., and the evening shift is from 5-8:30 p.m.

Volunteers must be 21 years old or older.

Morgan Rodgers, Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services director, said volunteering will give the public a unique sense of ownership for the new playground. Reconstruction began in October with the removal of the old play structures.

The original Wacky World’s construction used a similar volunteerconstruction plan.

“It’s the idea that the community is coming back after 30 years for the same process, albeit a little more

Mimms Museum in Roswell launches Talking Tech series

ROSWELL, Ga. — The Mimms Museum of Technology and Art opened its spring season Feb. 21 with an installment of its Talking Tech series discussing the Apple II computer ahead of the museum’s newest exhibit.

The Mimms Museum of Technology is a nonprofit founded in 2019 that showcases the history of technology art and its impact. In the spring, the museum will debut iNSPIRE: 50 Years of Innovation from Apple, featuring more than 2,000 of the brand’s artifacts.

The discussion was hosted by research scientist Richard Ediger who has worked at the forefront of computing technologies and shared his experience owning one of the first Apple II computers.

Events will continue on weekends throughout March and regular admission rates apply. Museum members will receive free entry.

Registration for the Mimm’s Museum’s summer camp series will open in the coming weeks. Roswell residents can register Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Registration for non-residents will open the following week on March 11.

Series include a variety of topics relating to robotics, artificial intelligence, coding, gaming and cybersecurity.

ROSWELL CVB/PROVIDED The Mimms Museum of Technology and Art, 5000 Commerce Parkway, is a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 that houses one of the world’s largest collections of computing artifacts.

• Modern Calligraphy for Beginners: Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m.

• Punch Card Machine Demo: Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m.

• BYTE26 Fundraising Gala: Saturday, March 21 at 6 p.m.

To help out in the reconstruction of Wacky World, visit dash. pointapp.org/events/464950.

sophisticated,” Rodgers said. “We are bringing back the community together to rebuild a legacy project.”

The project is part of a $29.5 million parks bond approved by voters in 2021.

The city is asking for skilled and unskilled volunteers. Both will fill vital roles in the reconstruction, Rodgers said. Volunteers will be offered snacks and meals.

“It’s just fun,” Rodgers said. “I think we are going to really see what community is these nine days.”

About 5,000 square-feet larger than the original playground, the new Wacky World will feature rubber surfaces, sun shades and new play structures at a cost of about $2 million, some $500,000 of it from donations.

The use of volunteers allows the city to save on costs, freeing funds to be used for other parks bond projects, Rodgers said.

“But really, it’s about community,” Rodgers said.

A full schedule of presentations, details, prices and registration can be found at https://mimmsmuseum.org/ events/.

• Sensory-Friendly Mornings: Sundays throughout March at 11 a.m.

• Member-exclusive preview of iNSPIRE: 50 Years of Innovation from Apple: Sunday, March 22-Sunday, March 29

• General opening of iNSPIRE: 50 Years of Innovation from Apple: Wednesday, April 1

— Hannah Yahne

Community health fair offers free screenings

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The North Fulton Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority is hosting its inaugural health and wellness fair Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Preston Ridge Community Center.

Attendees can receive free on-site health screenings and join informative sessions on fitness and nutrition. Wellness vendors and specialty providers will be on hand to provide resources on mental health and preventative care.

The North Fulton Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority is a service-based organization that provides community support and programming to cities in North Fulton County, including Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Milton.

The Pathway to Healthier You will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Preston

ALPHARETTA.COM/PROVIDED Preston Ridge Community Center.

Ridge Road, Suite 100 in Alpharetta. Online registration for the event is required, and more information can be found on the organization’s website.

— Hannah Yahne

Consolidated lacrosse program develops young athletes

By ANNABELLE REITER annabelle@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Faced with declining participation numbers, North Fulton parents joined to fill a gap in feeder lacrosse programs for Chattahoochee, Northview, Johns Creek, Alpharetta and Centennial high schools.

North Fulton United (NOFU) was created in 2022 with separate designations for boys and girls programming and teams. Five North Fulton high schools essentially combined their feeder programs to make participation more consistent.

NOFU girls offers teams for grades K-8, and the boys program offers second grade through middle school.

Centennial has a far-reaching lacrosse history but in recent years has become overshadowed by other neighboring powerhouses such as Milton, Cambridge and Roswell.

Centennial launched boys and girls lacrosse in 1999, before it became a sanctioned Georgia High School Association sport in 2002.

It played in the first ever girls lacrosse game in Georgia against Westminster that year. The Knights were one of five teams in the inaugural girls season.

Centennial and Roswell were the first public schools to compete in boys lacrosse, joining Darlington, Westminster, Lovett and Woodward.

Princeton lacrosse alum Che Barbour was instrumental in uniting the community and securing field space for the budding Centennial program.

Terri Davis, a founding board member of NOFU girls lacrosse and parent of a Centennial senior, said combining the feeder programs of the five schools helped keep numbers up.

NOFU accepts players outside Chattahoochee, Northview, Johns Creek, Alpharetta or Centennial attendance zones who attend private schools without existing feeder programs or are homeschooled.

NOFU girls lacrosse youth program stands together at their beginning of season

“We serve all schools, all areas, all socioeconomic levels,” Davis said. “We want to make [lacrosse] accessible to all girls and boys in the area. That’s our mission.”

Shannon Hayes, the current president of the NOFU board, discussed the annual camp held at the beginning of the season where a randomly selected new player is gifted a free lacrosse stick.

“We want to foster the love of lacrosse in the community, give the girls a safe space that’s positive, encouraging, energetic and feed our high schools as well,” she said. “Making sure this environment is something that they want to come to every single day

and have good quality coaching.”

Julia Thompson, a Norcross High and Life University lacrosse alum, serves as an assistant coach for Alpharetta High and coaches NOFU’s team of kindergarten, first and second grade.

“It’s so much fun, I go from high school practices, coming over, and then you deal with the little ones and it’s a whole different game,” Thompson said. “It’s really fun to watch their joy when they learn how to catch a ball for the

first time and to see their progression every day.”

Lauren Arena coaches NOFU’s team of seventh and eighth graders and is a Chattahoochee graduate.

“It’s probably now even more so inspirational because of the fact that this is the first year that lacrosse is going to be entered into the Olympics,” she said. “Sharing our own experiences from college, that helps to drive the girls to be better and do better, I always tell them ‘you practice how you play.’” Targeted local marketing in

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Insist on the

BEST

Dr. Brent Taylor is a Board-Certified Dermatologist, a Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeon, and is certified by the Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine in the field of Vein Care.

He is an expert in skin cancer and melanoma treatment, endovenous laser ablation, minimally invasive vein procedures and cosmetics procedures such as Botox and injectables.

Kathryn is a certified physician assistant with over 23 years experience as a Dermatology PA and cosmetic dermatology.

Her specialties include general dermatology such as acne, eczema, rashes, hair loss, full body skin exams, abnormal growths etc. Kathryn also specializes in cosmetic dermatology including lasers, injectables, micro-needling, PRP, facial peels, sclerotherapy for spider veins and at home skin care.

Is Lidocaine a secret weapon against cancer?

We always worry about the negative side-effects that a medicine might have. At the end of a pharmaceutical company’s commercials, an auctioneer very quickly states the twenty terrible things that might happen if you take the advertised medicine. Side effects range from your ear falling off when you sneeze to the belief that you are Elvis. Side-effects make almost any medicine sound scary. But occasionally, a positive side effect emerges. Sometimes, we discover something wonderful about a medicine that is wholly unexpected.

Examples of positive side-effects are not hard to find. The medicine finasteride was first being used to help decrease the size of the prostate in men who were having difficulty urinating. An unexpected positive side-effect was discovered when it was noticed that many of the men were re-growing their scalp hair. With finasteride, male pattern baldness was often partially reversed or stopped in its tracks.

One of the most recent medications discovered to have a possible positive side effect is lidocaine, which has been around since 1943. Lidocaine is an injectable anesthetic. We use lidocaine for skin biopsies, excisions, Mohs surgeries and countless other procedures every day in the dermatology office. Amazingly, lidocaine may be more than an anesthetic. It may also have anticancer effects.

A team of surgeons in India operating on breast cancer divided patients into two groups. One group had standard breast cancer surgery. The other group received a lidocaine injection around the tumor 7-10 minutes prior to surgery. During the 5 years after surgery, the group that received the lidocaine injection had an 8.5% rate of the cancer recurring (popping up again) at a distant site versus an 11.6% rate of distant recurrence in the surgeryonly (no lidocaine) group. The study has some limitations including not being a double-blind trial and

being a single-center study, but it is intriguing enough to warrant further investigation. The authors reported that injecting lidocaine around breast cancer before removing it increased survival in their study.

What made the surgeons perform this study in the first place? Why lidocaine? Over the last few years, researchers have discovered that electrical gradients maintained across the membranes of cancer cells are important to their ability to metastasize or spread. Our cells have pumps in them called “ion channels.” They allow certain ions to pass across the cell membrane. The resulting ion concentration gradient creates an electrical charge across a cell. This gradient affects the way other proteins in the cell function. Importantly, some of the proteins affected by the charge across a cell membrane are important for healthy cells’ growth and development as well as for cancers’ ability to grow and spread.

Lidocaine works by blocking sodium channels in cell membranes. Disrupting the electric charge across a cancer cell membrane was suspected to have the potential to weaken the cancer itself. Pre-clinical studies supported this hypothesis, and the breast cancer surgeons took the next step of performing a trial with breast cancer patients and peritumoral lidocaine injections.

I don’t know if breast cancer surgeons in the United States consider these results valid, are awaiting confirmatory studies or are already injecting lidocaine. However, in dermatology, these results are exciting because, for now, we do not need to change anything that we are already doing. Every day that I perform Mohs surgery, we inject the area around a tumor with lidocaine prior to surgically removing the cancer. If lidocaine is more than an anesthetic, then our patients are likely already benefiting from any anti-cancer properties that lidocaine has.

Mohs surgery is the gold standard for treating most skin cancers and has a cure rate that is usually at or above 99%. Perhaps lidocaine is one of the secrets to this success.

The unexpected hospital stay

Brought to you by – Senior Source Medicare Solutions

If you are on Medicare, are you prepared financially for the cost of an unexpected hospital stay?

According to a study published on KFF.org, 1 in every 5 Medicare beneficiaries experience at least one inpatient hospital stay in a given year.

If I had to guess, I bet many of those visits were unplanned.

Do you have traditional Medicare paired with a Medicare Supplement? Or do you have the all-in-one Medicare Advantage plan? Typically with a Medicare Supplement (depending on the plan type), your cost is relatively low for a hospital stay.

But with Medicare Advantage, a hospital stay could be hundreds of dollars per day for a set of days (ex. $350 per day, days 1-7). If this was your hospital stay benefit, and you stayed 7 days in the hospital, are you prepared to pay out $2,450 ($350 x 7 days)?

If you have that amount in savings, that’s great! I tell my clients on Medicare Advantage to try their best to earmark part of their savings as a “copay fund” for any unexpected healthcare

costs that may pop up.

The second option would be to purchase a low monthly cost insurance plan to cover hospital stay copays. This coverage is called Hospital Indemnity coverage. There are varying levels of coverage, but for as low as $25 per month you can insure against the potential exposure of a high cost hospital stay. This coverage will pay you (or the hospital) a per day amount.

Factors that can affect cost and acceptability are the “per day” benefit amount, age and health status. We work with Hospital Indemnity plans because it fills in the holes of the high cost of hospital copays on Medicare Advantage.

I receive so much positive feedback from my clients that purchased a Hospital Indemnity; no one really regrets this purchase!

Call us today to get your quote on a Hospital Indemnity plan. Even if you have traditional Medicare paired with a Medicare Supplement, you can still benefit from the Hospital Indemnity coverage.

Call us today to find out more at (770) 913-6464 or contact us on our website at SeniorSourceMedicare. com/contact-seniorsource.

Jay Looft Owner/Agent

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Connect-It

each answer (the answers in line 1 are 5, 5 and 4 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!

FABRICS

1. Collar type. Shiny semi-synthetic fabric. Moxie.

2. Work fabric. Tropical fruit. Rancher's concern.

3. Down-in-the-mouth. Carpet type. Angora goat hair fabric.

4. Scarf fabric. Goofball. African equine.

5. Stand-offish. Latin dance. Fabric made of compressed animal fibers

6. Canyon sound. Fabric of uneven yarn. Shrek, e.g.

7. Wedding item. Downy duck. Twilled woolen fabric.

1 Collar type. Shiny semi-synthetic fabric. Moxie.

2. Work fabric. Tropical fruit. Rancher’s concern.

How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!

3. Down-in-the-mouth. Carpet type. Angora goat hair fabric.

4. Scarf fabric. Goofball. African equine

5. Stand-offish. Latin dance. Fabric made of compressed matted animal fibers

6. Canyon sound. Fabric of uneven yarn. Shrek, e.g.

7. Wedding item. Downy duck. Twilled woolen fabric.

Lacrosse:

Continued from Page 1

He played for Ohio State and now is in his fifth year coaching for the Black Knights and his first in the offensive coordinator role.

With four players from metro Atlanta on his team, he said he feels recruiting is going in the right direction.

“If you’re not recruiting the state of Georgia, you’re really missing out,” Lewis said. “It’s so special to do what you love with the people you love in a place that you love. Just to come down here and get the win on a business trip, the amount of Georgia guys that we have, especially.”

He said he was satisfied with the offensive execution against Michigan’s late-game surge.

“I think we’re playing offense with 10 guys, we’ve got efforts in the cage,” Lewis said. “Just really thankful and happy that our guys stuck with the plan, they just continue to grind it out and trust us as a staff, and then we’ve got full trust that they could go out and make plays.”

Black Knights brothers Evan and Hill Plunkett are Roswell High graduates and their younger sister is a sophomore at the school.

Evan is a senior midfielder and Hill is a sophomore attacker. Roswell junior Linkin Miller plans to join Hill at Army in his senior year.

Roswell head coach Bryan Wallace was at the game standing on the sideline and said many on the Hornets team were in attendance.

All of the Georgia native players in the men’s game were also alumni of club team Thunder, where Wallace is a director. He shared his pride in being able to watch so many of his former players thriving on a big stage.

Wallace described the Plunkett brothers as exceptional on and off the field. He said they were instrumental in a culture change that has led to the program making history as the first Georgia boys team to win back-to-backto-back championships the past three years.

“They’re very different people, and the way they play is very much also like their personalities in that way,” he said. “The

Scheme:

Continued from Page 2

Drive Planning claimed it offered short-term loans to real estate developers who needed immediate cash. Fraudulent collateral sheets were used to mislead investors into thinking their investments were safe and collateralized by real estate.

Prosecutors also said

development each year for both of them was like, when you think it’s getting good, it just gets better and better.”

Evan was named an All-American last season by Inside Lacrosse and USILA – honorable mention by USA Lacrosse – and scored one goal and three assists against Michigan. Hill made the allconference first team with his brother last season and put up the same stat line of one goal and three assists.

The first women’s game was a ranked matchup that went to double overtime. Michigan attacker Ceci Stein’s gamewinning goal put the Wolverines up 10-9 to end the match.

Seven of Stein’s shots didn’t make it to the back of the net with two being saved by Boston College goalie Shea Dolce.

Boston College was ranked No. 3 in a preseason players poll, but has since fallen to 0-3 on the season. Despite a winless record, BC is still in national rankings at No. 13.

The win boosted Michigan in the USA Lacrosse rankings from No. 10 to No. 7.

In the third and final game of the day, the new Division I program in Florida State faced off against longtime juggernaut Army. The Black Knights dominated wire to wire, averaging 31 seconds in between their first three goals. At the final buzzer, the score was

Burkhalter and Drive Planning also falsely represented the extent of its relationship with real estate developers.

None of the Real Estate Acceleration Loan funds were used for their supposed intended purpose.

Burkhalter operated the Real Estate Acceleration Loan as a Ponzi scheme from its inception, using at least $21,000 of an initial $50,000 in investments to repay an earlier investor, prosecutors said. He also

13-7.

The Seminoles found their footing as the game went on, but facing off against two nominees to the Tewaaraton Watchlist in midfielder Brigid Duffy and attacker Allison Reilly proved difficult.

Reilly was nominated for Inside Lacrosse’s Player of the Week after a twogoal, eight-assist performance against the Seminoles. Duffy posted one goal and one assist.

Marleigh Sanders is a graduate transfer on Florida State who has yet to play for the Seminoles due to an ACL injury.

Sanders is a graduate of the Milton lacrosse powerhouse and played four years for Notre Dame before transferring to FSU. She said she chose Florida State for the opportunity to be involved with building a new program and growing the game.

Seems to be a family affair as Sanders’s parents’ company, Sports Intel, was a sponsor for the games.

“It is so awesome to be able to grow the game here in my hometown, in Atlanta, to bring it to Georgia, bring it to Morehouse, it’s just been super special,” Sanders said. “I wanted to be a part of something new, be able to not only create a legacy of my own, but to be able to create a foundation of women’s lacrosse programs in Florida, it’s only us, Florida,

used at least $80,000 in investor money to pay his ex-wife’s attorneys and recreational vehicle expenses.

Other investments were used to pay for a $2-million yacht, $2.1-million luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, $800,000 for luxury vehicles, millions on luxury travel trips and $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments.

David Bradford, former chief operating officer of Drive Planning, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit

USF and Jacksonville.”

285 Lacrosse put on the invitational. Founder Jason Breyo started the company three years ago with the goal of growing the game in Atlanta. An upstate New York native and University of Delaware alum, he said 285’s mission is all about elevating lacrosse in Atlanta in many aspects.

“We want kids to see this game and want them to grow up and be like these girls out on the field,” he said. “We’re really happy to be here at Morehouse. Morehouse is a great institution to build leaders for the city, the state, the nations of the world.”

USA Lacrosse CEO Marc Riccio has been in the role since 2021 and signed a contract extension last year through 2028, when lacrosse will make its first Olympic appearance in Los Angeles.

Riccio said it was unfortunate that scheduling conflicts kept him from attending last year’s Maryland–Notre Dame matchup at Bobby Dodd, but he was glad to be there to support new hotbed areas that are generating more buzz.

“Places like Georgia in the Southeast, they care about sports,” he said. “You get a lot of great athletes, and once you give them the opportunity to play the game, develop skills, develop a lot of the game, then getting players to compete at the highest level just comes next and it adds. We’re getting so many more young athletes coming out of non-endemic markets to compete at the highest level, but that’s to the credit of what happens in the local community.”

Thunder and EagleStix club lacrosse programs in Metro Atlanta boasted a dozen former players from the three games combined.

Riccio highlighted several of his team USA women’s coaches and their goalie, Boston College’s Shea Dolce, competing at the Invitational.

“Our mission at USA Lacrosse is 11 words, three objectives,” he said. “Feel the growth, enrich the experience, field the best national teams, and this is a culmination of all of that. From the standpoint of growth, so many of these young people started in local towns, community programs, people here today, young kids, watching the game, that becomes inspiration and aspiration.”

wire fraud in December.

In August 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a temporary restraining order against Drive Planning, filing civil enforcement actions. A court-appointed receiver is responsible for recovering funds and selling assets to repay victims. This case remains under investigation by the FBI with help from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla is prosecuting.

The history of the ‘sheriff’ of Crabapple

It simply would not be proper to write about the history of North Fulton without including Hal Coleman. He has been entertaining and educating local audiences as a singer, song writer and humorist for more than 50 years. His musical career led to his induction into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, and he continues his music to this day. Here is his story.

Hal Coleman was born and raised on Canton Street in Roswell. His father, Harold (1921– 1993) was also from Roswell. Harold worked in real estate. During World War II, he flew 25 missions over Japan as a radio operator in a B-29 bomber. Hal’s mother, Anne (1926-2019), owned an antique shop in Roswell in the 1960s specializing in early American antiques.

Hal and his wife, Lynn, attended Roswell High School. Although Lynn has retired from teaching elementary school she still teaches part time.

“If they had a hall of fame for wives, mothers and grandmothers, Lynn would be in it,” Hal says.

Lynn and Hal have a son, Jason, who works for a company that provides audio and video for large public events. Their daughter Ellen is a financial planner and stockbroker. They have two grandchildren, Beau and June.

In high school while his friends were on the ballfield, Hal was in the woods fishing and hunting with dogs.

“You could even hunt on Canton Street in those days” Hal says.

He attended Young Harris College, then a two-year institution, followed by two years at UGA where he obtained a degree in entomology, or, as Hal says, “bugs.”

He had a gift for music, and while in college, he played the guitar and sang.

“People would ask me to sing Bob Dylan songs and do impersonations,” he says.

His first paid gig was in the early 1980s at the Country Fare which later became the Southern Skillet in Roswell. He played every Friday and Saturday for about a year, then formed a band called Cassville Station and played on military bases in the Atlanta area. He still worked full time for the Georgia Department of Agriculture as a pest control regulatory inspector, a position he held for 10 years.

He eventually started his own business, North Fulton Exterminating

PHOTOS: FAMILY/PROVIDED

In the late 1980s the celebrated radio talk show host Ludlow Porch suggested that Hal Coleman run for “sheriff” of unincorporated Crabapple. The character enjoyed great popularity for many years. Here the sheriff is shown in his uniform.

Company. He sold the company after 18 years and became a sales and marketing coach for small to medium sized pest control companies. He is currently winding down his involvement in the operation to focus on his music.

“I started out as one man with a spray can and made a million-dollar business,” Hal says.

Pest control is big business in Georgia with more than 1,200 operators. Hal became president of the Georgia Pest Control Association. About three years ago, he was inducted into their Hall of Fame, a very prestigious award.

Ludlow Porch was a popular radio talk show host for more than 30 years until his death in 2011. His show was syndicated on 40 radio stations throughout the South. Hal called in to the program and bantered with Ludlow a few times using the name Milton Crabapple. He was an instant hit and became a regular on the show.

Milton Crabapple was an alternate personality for Hal, and many people did not know that they were the same person. When Ludlow Porch – real name Bobby Hanson – went on vacation, Hal Coleman took over the program.

In the late 1980s, Ludlow had the idea that Milton Crabapple should run for sheriff of unincorporated Crabapple. There was an election of sorts and Milton was elected.

“A lot of people believed it was real,”

Hal Coleman is an accomplished musician among many other skills. Here he is playing and singing at the Rock ‘n’ Taco in Roswell in November 2025. He plays there on the third Friday of every month.

Hal notes.

Over the years, Hal appeared on other radio shows including a call-in show on Kicks 101.5 FM where he called in every Friday morning for 10 years and another call-in show O’Neill William’s Great Outdoors Show on WSB for 25 years. He called in as Milton Crabapple and sometimes hosted the show as Hal Coleman. Finally, Hal had the Milton Crabapple show in the early 1990s every Thursday on Mountains Lake Radio in Cumming.

Milton Crabapple still exists on Facebook and has thousands of followers where he posts two or three times a week.

When I asked Hal how he came up with all the stories he told on the radio, he explained that he grew up listening to old men telling stories sitting around campfires. He plays the guitar by ear.

“I matured from a class clown to a ham,” he says.

Hal has recorded some of his songs on the Southern Track label. The most successful song which Hal co-wrote with Barry Etris was “The Bird” by Jerry Reed for which Hal received a BMI country music award. The song was number 2 in Billboard Magazine. Since the song includes

some cuts from Willie Nelson, Hal, Barry and Willie accepted the award together.

There is more to Hal’s story, but space has its limits. Suffice it to say that Hal is a deeply religious family man and a class clown.

“If it ain’t fun, I don’t like to do it,” he maintains.

He used to have 200 bee hives and sold honey. He was a Roswell firefighter for 10 years and an EMT. He was a Civil War reenactor for many years and a member of the Commemorative Air Force, a group who fly vintage World War ll airplanes.

I had the pleasure of seeing Hal perform at the Rock ‘n’ Taco on the entertainment strip in Roswell recently. He really knows how to entertain an audience. If you have a chance, drop in on the third Friday of every month and say “hi.”

Bob is a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission and Director Emeritus of the Milton Historical Society. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns about local history.

OPINION

Dunwoody’s Phil Stovall recalls some standout movie moments

A Past Tense article on Atlanta’s early movie history reminded Phil Stovall of his memorable moments at local theatres. Stovall grew up near Wieuca and Roswell Road. He moved to Dunwoody in 1987 along with his wife Rebecca.

His earliest movie recollections are Saturday morning trips to Buckhead Theatre in the late 1950s and early 1960s to see a movie for the special price of 10 cents. His parents would drop off Stovall along with his older brother and sister.

After the movie, the three children would stop at the shoe repair shop next door for a 5-cent, 6-ounce Coke. They also enjoyed observing watch repairs at Mr. Stephens’ shop while waiting to be picked up. If the children had enough time, they walked to the bowling alley across the street. The bowling alley had duck pins and children in the rear of the alleys worked as pin setters.

Buckhead Theatre at 3110 Roswell Road opened on June 2, 1930. It was bought out and renamed Capri Theatre on June 29, 1962. After some time as a Cinema & Drafthouse, the theater became The Roxy and returned to the original name of Buckhead Theatre in 2013. (cinematreasures.org)

Phil remembers the drive-ins he visited as a child, including Piedmont, NE 1-85 and sometimes a longer drive to the Bankhead/Bolton Drive-In.

“My favorite was the Piedmont, with a pretty winding driveway in, lit with little lights, all dressed in pj's ready to enjoy the cartoons intro,” he said. “Then all three of us would settle down to sleep in the back seat of the old Ford four door, and later in the Chevy station wagon.”

Stovall recalls seeing several movies downtown. He saw “The Longest Day” and “Gone with the Wind” rerelease at Loew’s Grand Theatre. At the Fox Theater, he saw “In Search of the Castaways.” This film had an intermission, not unusual for 1962. While stepping out to the concession stand during intermission, Stovall remembers seeing the second half of the movie begin while he was still in line.

“The Sound of Music,” “The Longest Day,” “Fantasia” and “Ben Hur” rerelease, “Lawrence of Arabia,” and “How the West was Won” were all movies Stovall saw in the 1960s and all had intermissions.

He remembers seeing the “How the

PROVIDED

This Jan. 17, 1964, ad for “The Sword in the Stone” at Cherokee Theatre in Brookhaven ran in the Atlanta Journal.

West was Won” at the Martin Cinerama, featuring the new Cinerama format with a curved wide screen. The theatre was previously known as Tower, and after Martin it became Atlanta and finally Columbia Theatre before closing in 1987.

A few more movie memories include “The Sword in the Stone” at Cherokee Plaza in Brookhaven, before the theatre was replaced with a Kroger; “Dr. Zhivago” at the Plaza Theatre on Ponce de Leon; and second run films at North Springs Shopping Center Theatre next to a bowling alley at the corner of Roswell and Dalrymple Roads.

Stovall recalls his first car date, a 7 p.m. movie at the Fox with date Linda, followed by the Mighty Mo organ performance. He forgot to turn on his car lights after this one.

On his last night before leaving for college, Stovall and his high school sweetheart Jeanette went to the Midnight Sun for dinner, walked around downtown and saw “Paint Your Wagon” at the Georgia Theatre, next to the old downtown Macy’s.

Later, a reminder of that date and young woman arrived for him at college. It was the album soundtrack of “Paint Your Wagon.”

Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.

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The fine art of gallivanting – or is it scooter-pooting?

You know how they say that half the fun of traveling is planning the trip? Well, they’re right. Mostly. Except when they’re not. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the planning part of travel as much as anybody. I can spend hours and days and weeks poring over maps and brochures and travel guides as I plan even the most modest of expeditions.

Like the other day: She called me about lunchtime and asked me to run up to the grocery store to get some bananas for a batch of homemade banana bread.

“I think I’ll make banana bread tonight,” she said. “But we need some good bananas.”

Do you like banana bread? I’ll bet you do, and if you do, then you know the critical importance of getting bananas that are just right.

I have been well trained in the art of selecting the right bananas for banana bread. They must be just the right degree of ripeness at the time of bread-making, and choosing them is nigh onto science with a touch of magic thrown in.

I’m good at it. Yay for me!

Anyway, there I was, getting ready to head off to the Land of Produce to do my banana selection thing. It was gonna be

AIKENOMICS

just a quick trip.

But first, being the true traveler that I am, and fully aware of the possibilities that travel offers for finding new places to see, and certifiable in as many as three other categories too, I paused for a moment of research to see what I might see along the way. That’s the fun of travel, even travel to the grocery store: there’s always a chance of discovering something you’ve overlooked or not even thought about before.

So I got on the interweb. I searched for “things to see on the way to the grocery store.” Then a whole list of things came up on the screen, and I spent the next five hours looking at each and every one, making meticulous and careful notes about which ones I’d like to explore and experience. It was a grand list, too, organized into categories and subcategories with circles and arrows and color-coded highlighting. I printed out a map of the route, too, and carefully marked the location of each and every spot I’d found.

Okay, so I was getting a little lost in the research. Time was passing. But I was planning! Man, I was gonna be ready for this trip to get bananas!

About that time, I realized that the sun was starting to set.

Uh oh.

Maybe I’d gotten a little carried away with the planning thing. Maybe I should have just gone to the store.

But where’s the fun in that?

Now it’s another day, a day or two later. We are sitting at the table enjoying some coffee (I make good coffee, too, but don’t even get me started on the planning involved in making a trip to the coffee store).

We are talking about travel and about trips and about planning. There’s a big trip coming up, and I can tell that I’m about to do another deep dive into the world of online trip planning. I can tell this because I’m starting to talk about side trips and second-tier destinations. And I’m just getting ready to reach for my box of highlighters when suddenly, somewhere in the distance, a train whistle blows (no kidding) and I’m jerked back to reality, and all of a sudden I stop.

“Hmmm,” I say out loud. “Hmmm.”

“Hmmm what?”

“You know, it occurs to me that I am getting lost in the process. Planning is good. But sometimes gallivanting is good too.”

“Gallivanting?”

“Yes, gallivanting. You know,” I add learnedly, “the fine art of roaming or wandering without plan or agenda, the experience of travelling just for the fun of it…just to see where the road will lead.”

“Gallivanting?” she says. “With one ‘el’ or two?”

“Opinion is divided,” I say. “Some scholars belong to the one el school, while others say that two els is correct. Research is ongoing pending

continuation of federal funding.”

Whether one or two, gallivanting is a fine word. Maybe it’s a Georgia word, though I think I have heard it in other places too.

“Gallivanting,” I say again. “Freeform travel! And think of all the time it will save!”

“Oh!” she says. “You mean ‘scooterpooting!’ “

“Scooter-pooting?” I ask. Haven’t heard that one. Maybe it’s an Alabama term, a nugget of language from the land of her birth?

“Uh huh,” she says. “Scooter-pooting. Means the same thing!”

I take a sip of coffee and think about it. Travel without planning? Travel without maps and highlighted dots and destinations? Travel just to see where the road will take you?

Yeah!

So, we keep talking about the big trip that’s coming up. Some of the places we’ll go do need the planning (you know, for reservations and hours-of-operation and all that kind of thing). But as we keep planning, we build in room for more freeform adventures. I am sure there will be plenty of them, and I can’t wait to tell you how they unfold and share the places that we find.

“It’s gonna be fun,” I say. “It’s gonna be great fun gallivanting!”

“You mean scooter-pooting,” she says. Yeah. That too.

Proposed legislation could solve home purchase affordability

Every once in a while, a policy idea comes along that doesn’t just nudge the affordability needle — it grabs it by the collar, shakes it violently, and says: “Let’s fix this.”

And believe it or not, Georgia lawmakers may have just introduced one of those rare ideas.

Georgia State House members have introduced a bill that would gradually reduce — and ultimately eliminate — property taxes on owner-occupied homes by 2032, beginning with phased reductions starting in 2026.

Now, I’ve spent plenty of time discussing affordability solutions from the mortgage side — 40-year terms, even 50-year terms, alternative structures,

buydowns, you name it.

But let’s be clear:

Eliminating property taxes?

That’s not a tweak.

That’s a game-changer.

Why this matters (in real dollars)

Let’s take a very normal Georgia scenario:

• Home value: $500,000

• Annual property taxes: ~$6,000/year

• Monthly tax burden: ~$500/month

If those property taxes are eliminated, the homeowner’s monthly payment drops by about $500 per month — and that’s not some tiny “feel-good” savings.

That is real affordability.

In fact, on a typical 5 percent down purchase, a $500/month reduction is roughly equivalent to the borrower receiving something like a 1.75 percent reduction in their mortgage interest rate.

Let me translate that into plain

English:

That’s like mortgage rates dropping from 6.5 percent to 4.75 percent… without the Fed lifting a finger.

And if you’re wondering why I’m excited, it’s because that’s the kind of shift that can revive the purchase market faster than any lender promo, buydown gimmick or “special spring incentive” email campaign ever could.

The problem (because there’s always one)

Of course, there’s one small detail.

Just a minor issue.

A tiny question.

How do counties and cities replace billions in lost property tax revenue?

Because property taxes don’t just fund “government stuff.” They fund:

• Schools

• Police

• Fire departments

• Infrastructure

• Parks

• Public services

• Basically, everything your local government does besides post motivational quotes on Facebook.

Proposed solution: consumption tax

The idea being floated is to offset the lost revenue through higher sales taxes — effectively shifting the system from a property-based tax model to a consumption-based model.

Meaning:

• The more you buy

• The more you spend

• The more you contribute

In theory, that sounds clean and simple.

In practice… well, this is where economists start sharpening their pencils and muttering things like “regressivity” and “distributional burden.”

OPINION

Aiken:

Continued from Page 18

Yes, it’s regressive, but so is the status quo.

The main criticism will be predictable:

“Sales taxes hurt lower-income households more than wealthier ones.”

And yes — that’s generally true.

But here’s the part that doesn’t get said loudly enough: Property taxes also hit middle-class homeowners hard, especially first-time buyers and young families.

Property taxes don’t care if you’re cash-flow rich or cash-flow broke. They just show up every month like a subscription service you never signed up for.

And unlike mortgage interest, you can’t refinance them away.

Stronger homeownership base

From an economic standpoint, expanding homeownership isn’t just a feel-good political slogan.

Higher homeownership rates tend to correlate with:

• Stronger community investment

• Higher educational outcomes

• Lower crime rates

• Greater neighborhood stability

• Increased household wealth over

time

Homeownership, for better or worse, remains one of the most reliable long-term wealth-building mechanisms for American households.

So, if this bill materially increases the ability for Georgia families to buy homes — especially during a period of elevated rates and high prices — the downstream economic benefits could be substantial.

If Georgia can pull this off responsibly — without gutting local services or turning counties into GoFundMe campaigns — this could be one of the most meaningful housing affordability proposals we’ve seen in years.

So here’s to you, House Rep. Jon Burns.

Now the question is whether the rest of the Georgia House and Senate can see what’s sitting right in front of them: a policy that doesn’t just talk about affordability — it actually creates it.

DC Aiken is Senior Vice President of Lending for CrossCountry Mortgage, NMLS # 658790. For more insights, you can subscribe to his newsletter at dcaiken.com.

The opinions expressed within this article may not reflect the opinions or views of CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC or its affiliates.

During these turbulent times, we would like to highlight the continued courage and commitment of everyone who works in the health care, law enforcement, childcare, food service and utility sectors. We are extremely grateful.

12050 Crabapple Road • Roswell, GA 30075

City of Roswell Notice of Neighborhood Meeting & Public Hearing

The following Item will be discussed at a Neighborhood meeting and considered at Public Hearings by the Planning Commission and by the Mayor and City Council on the dates shown below. All meetings are held at Roswell City Hall, 38 Hill Street, Roswell, GA 30075

PL-20252326

– 0 Old Roswell Road

The applicant, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, is requesting a rezoning from CX (Commercial Mixed Use) to OR (Office Residential) for a Townhome Development; Land Lot 236.

• Neighborhood Meeting

March 3, 2026 - 7:00 PM - City Hall, Room 220

• Planning Commission

April 21, 2026 - 7:00 PM – City Hall, Council Chambers

• Mayor and City Council May 26, 2026 - 7:00 PM – City Hall, Council Chambers

Note: Georgia law requires that all parties who have made campaign contributions to the Mayor or to a Council Member in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250), within two (2) years, file a campaign contribution report with the Community Development Department. The complete text of the Georgia law is available in the office of the City Attorney.

The complete file is available for public view at the Roswell Planning & Zoning Office, 38 Hill Street, Suite G-30, Roswell, GA, (770) 817-6720 or planningandzoning@roswellgov.com. Refer to www.roswellgov.com.

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Lead Solution Engineer (position in Alpharetta, GA 30022):

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Senior Software Engineer (Alpharetta, GA) to dvlp, test, support, maintain, & validate energy s/ware applics & systms; recommend systm modifications & upgrades; research emerging technologies; mentor junior s/ware engineers. Req: Master’s deg (or foreign equiv.) in Comp Sci/Engg, or a rltd field of study + 3 yrs of job-rltd exp (any title). Exp must incl working w/ C#, .NET, Git, Visual Studio, Web Svcs, Powershell & Azure Cloud Svcs. Travel/ relocation to various unanticipated locs w/in U.S. possible; must pass a drug screening & criminal background clearance. Resume: Burton Energy Group, LLC, 11175 Cicero Dr, Ste 600, Alpharetta, GA 30022. Refer: GADG25

Computer Professionals for GA based IT Firm : “Sr. Database Administrator to Install, administer, dvlp, test, implement & maintain computer databases in multi-server environment using DB2, Oracle etc. Perform all database related functions like database & instance setup, performance tuning, capacity planning, backups/disaster recovery, security/permissions management & replication management. Travel to various unanticipated worksite loc’ns with frequency dependent on Project and/or Client requirement throughout the U.S. may be required.” Apply w/2 copies of resume to HR, Powermind Solutions, Inc. 11539 Park Woods Cir, Ste # 703, Alpharetta, GA 30005.

Principal System Engineering needed by AT&T Services, Inc. in Alpharetta, GA to lead the design and architecture of supply chain planning applications leveraging Blue Yonder modules and/ or o9 platform capabilities. Apply at http://att. jobs/, select JOB SEARCH and APPLY and select Search by Requisition Number at the left bottom of the page and enter Job Number: R-100217

Lead Software Engineering needed by AT&T Services, Inc. in Alpharetta, GA to collaborate to gather and review software requirements/user stories, provide estimates, create software design specifications and collaborate with engineers/architects to assess and test hardware and interactions. Apply at http://att. jobs/, select JOB SEARCH and APPLY and select Search by Requisition Number at the left bottom of the page and enter Job Number: R-100532

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