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County forecasts property tax hike for 2026 expenses Jail improvements specified as budgetary ball and chain By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

PHOTOS BY: ADAM DARBY/APPEN MEDIA

Patrons glide across the Skate City Springs ice rink on the City Green Dec. 7 during a live concert from Ansley Stewart and her band before the annual Sparkle Sandy Springs parade.

Sparkle Sandy Springs bedazzles downtown By ADAM DARBY newsroom@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The annual Sparkle Sandy Springs parade and holiday celebration blanketed the City Springs district Sunday, Dec. 7, amid the Christmas and Hannukah season. The hour-long parade saw elves on stilts, glow-in-thedark floats, the Grinch and Santa Claus march through the city’s downtown district

in front of a crowd of several thousand. Families and guests of all ages participated in the festivities to kick off the winter holiday season, including a live concert, ice-skating and exploration of the city’s array of Christmas lights. Each year, the event features seasonal concessions and local vendors before the award-winning Sparkle Parade kicks off.

See SPARKLE, Page 8

Performers march down Galambos Way Dec. 7 during the Sparkle Sandy Springs parade and holiday celebration.

ATLANTA — Along with a looming tax increase, Fulton County is forecasting a roughly $57 million deficit in its proposed $1.05 billion operating budget for next year. Officials are predicting a roughly 4.5 percent property tax increase to make up for the shortfall. Fulton County operates on a calendar year budget. The County Commission approves annual operating or general fund budgets in January, then in August approves a property tax or millage rate to pay for it. Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for Fulton County’s general fund. The general fund pays for constituent services, including senior and behavioral health, the Grady Health System, the Sheriff’s Office and all jail facilities, election management, libraries and animal services. Next year’s proposed budget, months into its development, calls for spending $57 million of the county’s operating reserves, or about 25 percent of its rainy-day fund. Commissioners are expected to adopt the final 2026 budget at their Jan. 7 or Jan. 21 meeting.

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2 | December 18, 2025 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

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GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION/PROVIDED

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation seized more than 400 pounds of marijuana, six firearms and 6 ounces of Xanax during the execution of two search warrants in Sandy Springs and Atlanta. The GBI said the arrest of a 34-year-old Sandy Springs man and convicted felon is the continuation of a lengthy drug investigation into a criminal drug trafficking organization.

Man charged with racketeering, drug trafficking FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of a 34-year -old Sandy Springs man Dec. 10 after seizing more than 400 pounds of suspected marijuana and six firearms. The GBI identified the Sandy Springs man as Travys Davy, charging him with racketeering, marijuana trafficking, possession of a schedule IV drug with intent to distribute and possession of firearm by a felon. On Thursday, Dec. 4, agents and officers executed two search warrants in Atlanta and Sandy Springs, seizing around 6 ounces of suspected

alprazolam, or Xanax, in addition to the firearms and marijuana. The Sandy Springs Police Department’s crime dashboard logs the arrest as occurring Dec. 4 at 7:33 p.m. at 620 Morgan Falls Road, which is the SSPD Headquarters and Municipal Court. A police report is not publicly available. The GBI said the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office executed the operation with help from the Atlanta Police Department’s Narcotics Unit, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Narcotics

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Squad, the Sandy Springs Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The GBI says the operation is the continuation of a lengthy drug investigation into a criminal drug trafficking organization. Records show Davy was booked at Fulton County Jail Dec. 5 for drug trafficking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was bonded out Dec. 6 for $15,000. — Hayden Sumlin

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AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs | Sandy Springs Crier | December 18, 2025 | 3

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4 | December 18, 2025 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

NEWS

Regional housing experts offer tips to navigate unaffordable market By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com METRO ATLANTA — MarketNsight’s latest peek into the housing industry Dec. 11 indicates troubled times for some areas of the country as home prices continue to outpace purchasing power. The update, delivered twice annually, is geared to help clients navigate a shifting market, discussing the relationship between declining interest rates and affordability. The business is centered around providing real-time data, expert forecasts and strategic insights to homebuilders, developers and other real estate professionals. The firm is unique in the industry for tracking pending sales and inventory trends every week across several U.S. markets. To open the program, the company paid tribute to its former CEO and cofounder John Hunt, who passed away in late July. Michelle Hunt, John’s wife, company co-founder and former chief operating officer, transitioned to CEO of MarketNsight. “Since the beginning of the MarketNsight, John noticed this trend in affordability, and he predicted the current housing affordability crisis,” she said. “He could see this coming way down the road. This is how he said it during our last MarketWatch and it’s even more true today … it’s an indisputable fact that we have a housing shortage of epic proportions in this country.” Michelle shared some of John’s routine advice for prospective homebuyers: drive until you qualify. For homebuilders looking to create an attainable product: consider reducing

GSU ECONOMIC FORECASTING CENTER/PROVIDED

Graph from the Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center shows the relationship between job growth and tax collections. square footage. In its September update to clients, MarketNsight reported that some of its metro-based markets increased their housing supply to six months, a metric indicating how long it would take to sell all homes on the market at their current listing price. Increased supply puts downward pressure on prices. “Younger buyers continue to depend on their savings, or inherit, for their down payment, while older buyers use

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proceeds from the sale of their previous residence,” Hunt said. “Median age is 40 for first-time homebuyers. Also, the median age for all buyers is 59 years. That changes our perspective on who the first-time home buyer is.” Economist forecasts Fed moves Rajeev Dhawan, Ph.D., director at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, provided his insights. “The forecast is for aggressive rate cuts,” Dhawan said, predicting cuts totaling 150 basis points in the first half of 2026. “They need to get done now.” The day before, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point or 25 basis points to 3.50 percent to 3.75 percent, marking a third consecutive cut to combat a weakening job market. Dhawan said he expected the move while other economists expected a more hawkish decision to tighten monetary policy and control inflation, which is hovering around 3 percent. “The economy is much weaker than what you think in terms of spending power,” Dhawan said. “The first six to nine months of next year will be very crucial in how the Fed moves. My forecast is they will be aggressive because they are going to get … a dump of data between now and the end of the year.” Dhawan titled his MarketWatch

presentation, “Outlook in an Era of Shutdown-Induced Lack of Official Data.” Because the federal government’s record 43-day shutdown in the fall, Dhawan said he is using “soft data,” like state tax collections. He also mentioned several news headlines over the past few months, announcing thousands of corporate layoffs. Because of the white-collar layoffs and tightening job market, there are fewer potential homebuyers out there. Dhawan said the data shows Social Security collections have grown weaker since the start of 2025. “In the third quarter, the collections were negative,” he said. “So even though the jobs data will be delayed, this thing was clearly telling me, just like 20 years ago, that the economy is much weaker than what the official numbers imply.” The Fed’s recent rate cut, Dhawan said, will do little to improve housing affordability for the middle class, later offering a way to help. “Can the housing market be helped?” he said. “Cutting the interest rates will not bring down the mortgage rates forever. They will start going back up. At 6 percent, very few people can re-finance.” A path to affordability Freddie Mac, which issues and guarantees mortgage-backed securities in support of the U.S. housing market, reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate averaged 6.22 percent Dec. 11. That’s up from the first week of December when it averaged 6.19 percent. A year ago, the 30-year rate averaged 6.60 percent. “So, what can help them?” Dhawan said. “[Mortgage rates were super high last year and are beginning to come down, but it's not as low as the boom we saw after COVID, when the Federal Reserve was buying the mortgagebacked securities with both hands.” When first-time homebuyers are looking to purchase a family home, they often don’t have enough cash and borrow money from a bank, called a mortgage. If there aren’t enough people buying homes, the Federal Reserve can purchase mortgage-backed securities from banks to give the financial institutions more cash to lend homebuyers. That eventually lowers mortgage rates. “[The Fed] should buy mortgagebacked securities,” Dhawan said. “That will bring that mortgage premium number that is running about 200 basis point down to 50, and there you have your mortgage rates below 5.5 or 5 percent, easily.”

Puzzles

r 12/18/25 Connect-It

PuzzleJunction.com

Connect-It

Each line in the puzzle below 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 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!

Sandy Springs Crier...................................December 18, 2025 | 5

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

1. Sheik’s bevy. Small songbird. Catchall abbreviation. 2. Pickle choice. Aerospace acronym. Wine bottle size. 3. Stock exchange abbreviation. Daybreak. Give up. 4. Alpha’s opposite. Mishmash. Treaty acronym. 5. UN acronym. Make believe. Know-it-all. 6. California wine valley. Director’s cry. Weather abbreviation. 7. Smell bad. Weather acronym. Dislike to the max. PuzzleJunction.com

3 4 5 6

12/18/25 Sudoku 7

Acronyms & Abbreviations 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 1. Sheik’s bevy. Small songbird. Catchall abbr. 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 solve the Sudoku column forTothe 3 answers on the puzzle, line. But each here’srow, the catch! Theand clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually 2. Pickle choice. Aerospace acronym. Wine bottle size. contain the numbers to line. 9. Got it? Good luck! bebox for must the second or third answer in 1that 3. Stock exchange abbr. Daybreak. Give up. 4. Alpha’s opposite. Mishmash. Treaty acronym.

5. UN acronym. Make believe, Know-it-all.

3 7. Smell bad. Weather acronym. Dislike to the max. 7 1 8 9 9 1 4 2 3 6 1 2 6 9 5 5 3 9 8 How to Solve: Kakuro, also known as Cross Sums, is a challenging number puzzle, solved in a crossword style grid. 7 3 The rules are easy: A number above the diagonal line in a 8 4

6. California wine valley. Director’s cry. Weather abbr.

How to Solve: To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

Solution 9 1 7 6 2 4 8 3 5

3 8 2 7 5 1 4 9 6

6 4 5 3 9 8 2 1 7

7 6 4 5 1 2 9 8 3

2 9 1 8 3 7 5 6 4

8 5 3 9 4 6 1 7 2

5 3 8 2 6 9 7 4 1

4 2 9 1 7 3 6 5 8

1 7 6 4 8 5 3 2 9

black square is the sum of the white squares to the right of it. A number below the diagonal line is the sum of the white squares in the sequence below it. You may only use the digits 1 to 9, and a digit can only be used once in any sequence.

Dunwoody Crier 12/18/25 Crossword

Across

1 “Woe is me!” 5 Stately trees 9 Flu source 13 Supermarket section 14 Navy commando 15 Cake topper 16 Carbon compound 17 Pseudonym of H. H. Munro 18 Poet’s “below” 19 Peddle 21 Chooses 23 Bygone bird 24 Kind of welder 27 Country club ﬁgure 28 Thick spicy stew 31 Aquarium denizen 32 Engine part 35 Abysmal test score 36 Debt instrument 38 Dodge 40 Jessica of Sin City 41 Bone china name 43 Hubbubs 44 Nero’s instrument 46 Hibernia 47 Twins, e.g. (Abbr.) 48 Cambodian coin 49 Round Table title 51 Allergic reaction 53 Bake sale org. 54 Scoundrel 55 Card game for two 58 Goes bad

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21 25

40 45

58 65

53 56

20 24

59 66

60 67

61 69

60 Jai ___ 64 Stood up 66 Gossip tidbit 69 Chances 71 Not quite right 72 Lyra’s brightest star 73 Big party 74 Brain wave 75 Heroic poem 76 Old World duck Down 1 Citrus drink 2 Lorgnette part 3 Cream additive 4 Window ledge 5 Double curve

6 Grassland 7 Ocean menace 8 Spinal vertebrae rupture 9 Air hero 10 Thailand, once 11 Division word 12 Turkish ofﬁcial 15 Boot part 20 Fall behind 22 Three (Ital.) 25 Holds up 26 Helpful 28 Contradict 29 Type of renewal 30 Stable color 32 Gulf of ___, Spain 33 Hacienda brick 34 Military meal

35 Nukes 37 ___’easter 39 Bud holder 42 Sicilian resort 45 Fish hawk 50 “What was ___ do?” 52 Writer LeShan 55 Dry riverbed 56 Desiccated 57 Lasso 59 Aerobic bit 61 Records 62 Comic Sandler 63 Loaﬁng 65 Hot springs 67 Conceit 68 More, in Madrid 70 Toothed tool

See puzzle solutions on Page 15

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6 | December 18, 2025 | Sandy Springs Crier | AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs

BUSINESS

Big Play Entertainment opens in time for holiday break By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — Brandon and Ray Wooldridge, the father and son who own Big Play Entertainment Atlanta, picked a spot in Dunwoody after a tornado demolished the family’s business outside of Nashville. Like the City of Dunwoody itself, the Wooldridge family knows how to bounce back from the destruction of high-speed winds. A little more than 24 hours before its 5 p.m. grand opening Dec. 11, Brandon Wooldridge announced Big Play Entertainment cleared its last hurdle, passing a grease-trap inspection from DeKalb County Watershed Management. Brandon Wooldridge is the general manager of Big Play Entertainment, spending the past couple of weeks training his staff of around 30 employees. “We thought we were going to open this summer,” Wooldridge said. “Because of knocking down walls and dealing with older buildings, we ran into all kinds of different delays and problems.” Big Play Entertainment resembles entertainment centers like Main Event in Alpharetta, Cobb County and Suwanee. Its 44,000-square-foot space within the Mount Vernon Shopping Center has 16 bowling

HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA

Big Play Entertainment, opening at the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in northeast Dunwoody just before the holidays, features 16 bowling lanes next to a full-service restaurant and bar. lanes, a 24-person laser tag arena, an’80s themed mini-golf course and some 80 arcade games. There’s been a lot of chatter about Big Play Entertainment in the Dunwoody community and on social media. Matt Weber interviewed Valerie Inglesby, who is handling property management of the shopping center, on the What’s Up Dunwoody podcast a few days before the grand opening. Inglesby confirmed the CVS Pharmacy renewed its lease and will be staying. Wooldridge also addressed another controversy. He said a parking agreement with

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Crema Espresso Gourmet went through a couple of iterations but taking on liability didn’t make sense for his business. He said it’s possible the two businesses forge an agreement next year. Family business picks Dunwoody The Wooldridge family is from Sandy Springs. The library and academic center at the Marist School, a private K-12 Catholic school in Brookhaven, is named after longtime benefactor Raymond Wooldridge. The family gives discretely to other nonprofits, including the Northside Youth Organization at Chastain Park. Brandon Wooldridge, a Lovett School graduate, is back in Metro Atlanta after a couple of decades on the Gulf Coast. “I started Big Play with my dad in 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi,” Brandon Wooldridge said. “It started just as a mini-golf course, and over the years we added on go-carts, bumper cars, arcade and eventually in 2016, built the bowling alley there with a restaurant and bar.” The Biloxi venue has grown into a popular beachside tourist destination. Wooldridge said northeast Dunwoody’s new entertainment center won’t have bumper cars but will still feature other attractions at the company’s flagship. After the tornado destroyed the Hendersonville, Tennessee, location in 2023, he said the family took a couple of months to see how the insurance situation played out. “We’ve been trying to get back here,” he said. “We had a deal during COVID to come back, then prices went through the roof, and everything got crazy.” Brandon Wooldrige said the family business purchased the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in February from Branch Properties, including all three parcels rezoned by the city in January. The previous owner spent fall 2024 working on a rezoning of three parcels, forming a triangle at Jett Ferry Road and Dunwoody Club Drive, necessary for an entertainment center. “My dad has been getting his hair cut next door [at Dunwoody Hair Co.] for

30 years and kept seeing the space was sitting here and a few things had failed,” Wooldridge said. Just 18 months ago, the shopping center was struggling with a quarter of its commercial space vacant after a revolving door of grocery stores at 2480 Mount Vernon Road failed. Big Blay Entertainment closed on the purchase of the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in February for an undisclosed amount. As of early December, DeKalb County property tax records online have not been updated to record the transaction, or the shopping center’s trading price. Brandon Wooldridge declined to say how much the family business paid but said “a sizable investment, a lot of money.” He described expensive improvements to conform the building to updated codes, on top of security cameras and improvements to the parking lot and pedestrian safety. What patrons can expect Big Play has transformed the former Lidl grocery store site into the city’s only entertainment center, offering hours of bowling, arcade games, mini golf and laser tag. “We’re priced competitively with the market,” Wooldridge said. “We’ve got to make money, but we do have what we call our Happy Days specials, trying to make it more accessible, especially during the week.” There are bargains for patrons Sunday through Friday, offering half off food and beverage, a free kid’s meal, “buy one, get one free” deals or family bundles, depending on the day. Besides offering enough games and activities to fill an afternoon, Big Play has Woody’s, a full-service restaurant, bar and private event space. The entertainment center bills itself as a community hangout where residents can schedule a kid’s birthday party, corporate team building activity or night out with friends. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Wooldridge said he’s grateful for an outpouring of support from the community of the family business’s new location. “We’re not a kiddie, kiddie place, but we are an entertainment center that is just very family friendly,” he said. “We use bowling as the anchor attraction because it’s the number one participatory sport in America.” Wooldridge said most people just wanted to know when Big Play would open. “I would not feel good if I was a grocery store coming into this space,” he said. “We never planned to open the week before Christmas break. It’s about to be our busiest two weeks of the year.” To learn more, visit bigplayatl.com.

COMMUNITY

AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs | Sandy Springs Crier | December 18, 2025 | 7

PROVIDED

Madeline Hazelwood, a senior at Centennial High School, holds the flag for the Macy’s Great All American Marching Band. Hazelwood was part of a group from across the country to participate in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Centennial High senior marches in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com ROSWELL, Ga. — It was 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning when Centennial High School senior Madeline Hazelwood boarded a bus in freezing cold for a final rehearsal before performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Being part of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band was a surreal experience for Hazelwood. She was one of six students from Georgia and the only one from Centennial High School. Hazelwood’s journey in color guard started her sophomore year after she was inspired by Friday morning pep rallies and halftime performances. “Starting out, it was really challenging,” Hazelwood said, “I had no idea what I was doing, but I thought, ‘Why not go ahead and challenge myself?’” Her hard work paid off when she was selected as captain of the high school’s color guard team in her junior year, a title she retained as a senior. “I tried really hard to learn everything before everyone else, because I know that I can’t lead until I know what I’m doing,” she said. That ambition led Hazelwood to submit an audition video for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, showcasing drop spins and her marching ability. She found out in April she would be marching through Manhattan on Thanksgiving morning. Alongside 245 fellow high school students, Hazelwood performed “Joy to the World” to an estimated 3.5 million people. She greeted onlookers throughout

the performance and snuck a wave to her best friend who was there to support her. The 2.5-mile-long parade route ended with another performance in Herald Square. “It was amazing to see people very excited about the marching and be really loud the entire time,” Hazelwood said. She said it was nice to have the experience performing in a large band, because the color guard program at Centennial High School is small with around 10 people participating each season. Hazelwood made fast friends with her bandmates while singing on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visiting the Empire State Building. They also visited Times Square and saw “Six” on Broadway. “We were all able to meet … and we were all best friends,” Hazelwood said. “We were kind of like a family.” As a keepsake, Hazelwood took home a drum head signed by members of the band. “It was really cool to take home,” she said. “It was like I was taking a piece of the family home with me.” Color guard gave Hazelwood a family when she needed it most, whether during training camps, at Centennial High School or in New York. “It gave me a group that taught me how to be better,” Hazelwood said. “We have a similar passion as one another, and it became a little family because we all had something in common.” Hazelwood will continue in color guard at the University of South Alabama while in pursuit of becoming a meteorologist.

Follow us on Social Media for more news and updates on your community! Appen Media Group @appenmedia @appenmedia Appen Media Group @appenmedia Local news is vital for staying informed and connected, and through this collaboration, we’re making it easier than ever. Now, you can access timely updates and our stories about the things happening in your area, all while engaging in meaningful conversations with real neighbors. Don’t miss out on the stories that matter most to you – join us on your favorite social media platform to stay connected with everything that’s happening. Together, let’s build stronger, more informed communities!

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Hike:

NEWS Visit appenmedia.com to read about the Dec. 17 Fulton County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Continued from Page 1 Fulton County CFO Sharon Whitmore said her team is projecting the county to end 2026 with reserves totaling $175.6 million, which complies with the required minimum. The county jail along Rice Street has long-standing problems requiring a lengthy and costly process with a federal consent decree monitor reviewing conditions to ensure the rights of incarcerated citizens are not violated. “Of note on the revenue side, there is an additional $32 million of property tax, which corresponds with the $32 million in incremental spend[ing] associated with the consent decree,” she said. “To generate the appropriate property tax revenue based on those assumptions, that millage rate would be 9.26 mills.” This August, commissioners approved a long-term plan to build a new 1,813-bed jail facility for around $1.1 billion, specifically for people with medical, mental health and special needs. That spending also includes repairs at Rice Street. Whitmore said her team expects more compliance recommendations from the monitoring team within the next month. While some commissioners pushed for a nearly 12.5 percent property tax increase this past summer, they eventually

Sparkle: Continued from Page 1 The evening traditionally closes with the Christmas tree and Hannukah menorah lighting. Leading up to the big day, the city opens the Sparkle Village, a one-month display consisting decorated miniature houses. Cheryl Merriweather, owner of Ginny’s Apples, said she loves the parade because it brings everyone out during the holidays. Merriweather’s business was one of many in the Sparkle Village’s food and vendor market. “Everyone is so festive and in a great mood,” Merriweather said. “It’s just great to see everyone in the community come out for such a great event.”

ROI

matters.

approved keeping the millage rate flat at 8.87 mills. If the County Commission approves the proposed tax hike next August, property owners will need to cover a roughly 4.5 percent increase. The county’s property tax rate has remained flat since 2022, declining steadily from 10.5 mills in 2015. That represents a net decrease of 16 percent in a decade. After the chief operating officer’s budget update, County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. said consent decree

compliance may require an additional $30 million in spending. In November, the county projected a $66.7 million to $96.7 million deficit for 2026, mostly due to costs for repairs and improvements to its jail system. Whitmore said $30 million in spending would require a property tax rate around 9.6 mills, a more than 8 percent increase. County Commissioner Dana Barrett said the Fulton jail system is under a consent decree because the commission

has failed to put enough money toward staffing and maintenance. “I do think there’s a lot of questions about how we’re moving forward here,” Barrett said. “I understand the goal that we’re going to have to raise the millage rate to pay for these items that we’re going to need in order to be in compliance with the consent decree.” County Commissioner Mo Ivory said “the scary truth” is that the county needs to raise more revenue to pay for consent decree-related costs. Ivory said she wants the budget to fund all the county’s needs. County Commissioner Bob Ellis said the county’s proposed budget increases expenditures 12 percent. Ellis said the County Commission has invested heavily in the justice system and Sheriff’s Office, a major point of contention. He has stated that the county should maintain its current tax rate and cut other expenses. “So, we’re not cutting,” Ellis said. “I don’t think many of our households are seeing jumps at 12 percent. There are a handful of people on this board who seem to be darned and determined to raise taxes on people regardless, and I’m not one of those folks.”

Attendees also enjoyed ice skating and live holiday music from local musician, Ansley Stewart and her band. The parade opened with a drive-by greeting from Mayor Rusty Paul before showcasing miniature floats, marching bands, dance performances, live music and costumed Holiday characters. The City Green featured glowed in Christmas lights and festive decorations on the district’s trees and landmarks. “This includes different types of activities you don’t see around town often,” Merriweather said. “People look forward to coming out, and their kids look forward to coming out as well. Also, a lot of local vendors get to promote their businesses, which you don’t really get to see in nearby shopping centers or malls.” Since 2017, the Sparkle Sandy Springs has remained one of the city’s

staples events and annual mainstays. Starting with an attendance of roughly 500 attendees, the celebration quickly grew. In 2019, the centerpiece 12-foot tree increased in size to 40 feet. Thousands now head downtown for the annual celebration. The social gathering serves as the community’s largest and most successful celebration for the holidays. Guests gather to participate in these seasonal activities and traditions. “We don’t have very many times when the community can come together in love and peace in their hearts,” local pottery entrepreneur Donna Grammas said. The City Springs District is at 1 Galambos Way. For more information about upcoming events, visit www. CitySprings.com or call 770-730-5600.

Couples take selfies Dec. 7 in front of the 40-foot Christmas tree along Galambos Way.

HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA

The Fulton County Commission is projecting it needs to spend at least $32 million, potentially $60 million, to comply with a federal consent decree on its jail system. In an August report, the consent decree monitoring team reported it was focused on staffing and supervision, repairing damaged appliances and alarm systems, inmate classification and mental health at the Rice Street jail in west Atlanta.

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OPINION

PRESERVING THE PAST

The Goat Man in Georgia – a traveling folk legend

BOB MEYERS Columnist

Charles “Ches” McCartney (circa 1901-1998), better known as “the Goat Man,” roamed America, including Middle and North Georgia in his goat propelled wooden wagon between the late 1930s or early 1940s for about 40

years. Children and adults flocked to see him when he passed through North Fulton. Those who saw him never forgot him. Here is his history. Born on a farm in Iowa, McCartney always loved the goats his father raised. At age 14, Ches ran away from home and fell in love with Agnes Smithart, a Spanish professional knife thrower after seeing her perform in New York City. She was about 10 years older than Ches. They married and performed together by placing a balloon on his head while she threw knives at the target. She became pregnant and they tried to settle down as farmers, but the Great Depression wiped them out. Ches came up with the idea of becoming an itinerant preacher traveling with a goat wagon. His wife made goatskin clothes for him and their young son Albert Gene, but she did not support the wagon idea. She left, and they divorced. McCartney married twice more, then left his third wife to begin his goat journey across America. In his autobiography Ches wrote “The good Lord gave me three wives which proved to be three too many.” Ches traveled with a team of goats pulling his homemade wagon loaded with pots and pans, old license plates from various states, bales of hay for his goats, a variety of beat-up buckets and junk he picked up here and there. He sold some of his stash together with postcards of his journey. Lifting a side panel revealed his bed. Drawing a crowd His arrival in a town always created a stir. He had no known schedule. He would simply show up. Word of mouth would often precede him guaranteeing a large turnout of local children and adults. He spent winters in Georgia and Florida and camped regularly in North Fulton. Ches traveled with about a dozen or more goats, some in front of the wagon, a few behind sometimes serving as brakes on downhill stretches. He liked to chat with people and told many stories that could not be verified. He claimed that he was born in 1879 and that he

GADSDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Iconic postcard of Charles “Ches” McCartney, the Goat Man, and friend. The Goat Man was a living legend who visited almost every state in his wagon pulled by goats. He was a frequent visitor to North Fulton. The photo was taken near an unknown Alabama town circa 1960s. was 105 years old. Neither claim was true. To some folks he was the essence of freedom. To others he was a curiosity who smelled like a goat. Don Rolader, a North Fulton attorney, recalls his family relating accounts of the Goat Man. “My great uncle Reverend Tommy Henderson ran Henderson’s Feed Store on Hwy 9 near Cogburn Road,” Rolader says. “He used to sell feed to the Goat Man when he passed through. His checks were always good, and legend has it that he was wealthy. The bank said that he could write a check for any amount he wanted.” Pat Miller, president of the Alpharetta and Old Milton County Historical Society, remembers that the Goat Man was friends with her professor of geopolitics when she was a student at the University of Georgia. “Whenever he passed through Athens, he would camp out with his goats in the professor’s yard,” she says. “The Goat Man came to class once and spoke about his unique lifestyle and answered a lot of questions.” Hal Coleman, also known as Milton Crabapple, recalls that Goat Man would stay on the Lebanon Church dirt parking

lot for two or three days at a time. It was located under the trees at Holcomb Bridge Road and Crossville Road in Roswell. “A lot of people would come and crowd around the Goat Man,” Coleman says. “They gave him money and food and he would do some preaching. I remember attending church one time when the Goat Man was in the parking lot. The preacher pointed to him through the window and said in his sermon ‘that’s not the way God wants us to be.’” A knack for preaching Preaching was an important part of McCartney’s life. He carried a Bible and his favorite book, Daniel Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe” (1719.) McCartney was injured by a falling tree, or according to “Facing South,” when dragged by a horse in 1935 while working for the Works Progress Administration, WPA, a New Deal program. He permanently injured his left arm. Following the accident he found religion. Around 1941-42 he established the Free Thinking Christian Mission in Jeffersonville, Georgia, a modest structure with a dirt floor on property

he owned. From there, he continued his trips until he retired in 1987 due in part to having been attacked several times while on the road. During one attack, he was assaulted while asleep in his wagon. He suffered three broken ribs, and two of his goats were killed. In 1978, the church which was also his home burned down, after which he purchased and lived in an old bus with his son. He entered The Eastview Nursing Center in Macon in 1987. His son was murdered in 1998 six months before Ches passed away at age 97 at the nursing center. The famous Georgia writer Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) mentioned the Goat Man in some of her private letters and may have based some of her characters on him. Like the song says, he did it his way. In the process he became a celebrity and a folk legend. Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns about local history.

OPINION

PAST TENSE

AppenMedia.com/Sandy_Springs | Sandy Springs Crier | December 18, 2025 | 11

Lawson General Hospital post exchange offered necessities In December of 1940, construction began on Lawson General Hospital, a U.S. Army hospital in Chamblee. The hospital opened in July 1941 with 65 wards ready for patients. When completed, the hospital could accommodate over 2,000 patients. (Atlanta Constitution, VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF July 24, 1941, “Great Army Hospital Opens Near Chamblee”) Columnist In addition to wards, the Lawson General Hospital layout included nurses’ quarters, mess halls, storage, laundry and a post exchange, also referred to as the PX. There were additional buildings to meet every need of the patients and staff. In 1942, Lawson also became one of the locations for Medical Department Technicians Schools across the U.S. The post exchange was a store where a variety of necessary items were available. Curt Teich and Company of Chicago produced the exchange postcard shown. Teich took black and white photographs and converted them to color images. Teich postcards were popular during World War I and World War II. Lt. Col. Tom Keating, who has researched several World War II hospitals, shared his insight on the post exchange pictured in the postcard. Keating served between 1973 and 1994 in the Army’s Medical Service Corps in the field of medical logistics and later as a Health Services comptroller.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF POSTCARD COLLECTION

Shoppers survey items in the post exchange of World War II Lawson General Hospital.

He also worked at civilian medical centers, such as the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Keating continues to serve at UNC Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, N.C., as a volunteer. The postcard shows patients and hospital staff shopping in the hospital exchange. Patients wear maroon robes, the traditional branch color of the Army Medical Department.

Keating recognized the bags along the top shelves of the exchange as leather and canvas toiletry bags, better known as Dopp bags, which were issued to many World War II recruits. They usually contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and shaving items. “In basic training you must display all these items outside the Dopp bag for the weekly footlocker inspection.” Doing well on inspection could mean a pass to go into town. In the case of hospital patients, personal effects were often lost in transit as patients were moved to a hospital by helicopter, airplane, train or ambulance. A postcard image of the post exchange of Cushing General Hospital, located in Framingham, Massachusetts, shows suitcases and toiletries for sale. The Cushing postcard also includes a patient in a maroon robe. In an interview several years ago with Carlton Renfroe, he shared that his father was hired as a plumber at Lawson General Hospital. The family moved from downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody in 1941. Renfroe’s dad would occasionally buy candy from the PX at Lawson and bring it home to the children. This was a special treat, as candy was difficult to find during World War II. 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.

AIKENOMICS

Mortgage rates defy usual script following Fed action The Federal Reserve delivered the move markets had fully priced in: a 0.25% cut to its benchmark lending rate. Normally, the mortgage market reacts D.C. AIKEN counterintuitively Guest Columnist to Fed cuts — rates often tick higher, not lower, as investors reposition for future policy moves and reassess inflation risks. Yet this latest cut broke that pattern. Instead of another leg up in mortgage costs, the 30-year fixed rate actually eased slightly after touching its highest level since late September. What changed? The key was not the rate cut itself, but Chairman Jerome Powell’s postmeeting comments. Powell signaled that the Fed would temporarily resume purchases of U.S. Treasuries, a shift that immediately influenced the bond market’s pricing dynamics.

As Aikenomics readers know, the 10-year Treasury functions as the benchmark for mortgage rates. When the Fed steps in as a buyer, Treasury prices rise, pushing yields lower, and mortgage rates generally follow. This modest improvement helped stabilize a market that had been drifting upward for two consecutive weeks. Still, beneath the headline cut lies a deeper concern. The Fed continues to anchor its policy on lagging indicators, particularly backwardlooking inflation components and historical consumer spending trends. Policymaking by the rearview mirror is risky in a rapidly evolving credit environment. The Fed repeatedly highlights the “strength” in U.S. consumer spending. But the composition of that spending raises red flags. Household debt is expanding at a pace that is anything but healthy, and mortgage application data underscores the trend: 58 percent of all new applications are refinances, the majority of them cash-outs.

Homeowners are voluntarily giving up sub-4 percent mortgages in exchange for rates in the mid-6 percent range. Why? Because the burden of carrying 20+ percent credit-card debt has become untenable. On paper, consolidating highinterest consumer balances into a lower -rate mortgage improves monthly cash flow. The danger is what happens next. Historically, many borrowers, fresh off the relief of a refinance, resume the same spending patterns that created the pressure in the first place. The cycle restarts, only now with a higher mortgage rate and a thinner financial cushion. This is the structural issue hiding beneath the Fed’s optimism. Credit availability has expanded dramatically in a generation. A $10,000 credit card limit once signified exceptional credit. Today it is routine, with many consumers holding limits north of $30,000. Rising spending, therefore, does not necessarily signal rising prosperity. If wages fail to keep pace

— and they increasingly do — greater spending simply means deeper leverage. There is, indeed, a light at the end of the tunnel. But, unless consumer behavior and wage growth realign, that light may be the headlamp of a train rather than the dawn of a soft landing. For now, the short-term news is welcome: mortgage rates have stabilized and even improved slightly after their two-week climb. But the underlying economic story is far from settled, and the months ahead will test whether this Fed cut marks a turning point or merely a pause in a larger, more complex adjustment. 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.

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