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Hey, Druid Hills / North Decatur! This week: the DeKalb school board voted Dr. Norman C. Sauce in as permanent superintendent, though not unanimously, and Isaias knocked out power for thousands across metro Atlanta. We've also got a Midtown Oaxacan restaurant eyeing Lulah Hills and a weekend stacked with whiskey, Halloween parades and book-shop appearances.

- News — The school board's split vote on Sauce leads a week that also brings Isaias outages, a $1B Emory and Georgia Tech AI investment, layoffs in the county law department, and dates for 2055 land use meetings.
- Business — A Midtown Oaxacan Mexican restaurant is planning a new location at the upcoming Lulah Hills development in North Decatur.
- Events — From the Whiskey Festival at Pullman Yards and the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade to a MrBallen meet-and-greet at Eagle Eye, the week is full of things to do.
- Government — County commissioners advanced an $11.1 million water plant contract while a data center moratorium and two Briarcliff Road rezonings still await decisions.
- Construction — A concierge primary care clinic is in the works on Clifton Road, a tenant buildout is brewing on N Decatur Rd, and EV chargers are ready at a Briarcliff apartment complex.

Let's dive in.

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DeKalb County Board of Education votes Dr. Norman C. Sauce as permanent superintendent
The board voted at its Oct. 5 meeting, with Board Chair Allyson Gevertz, Andrew Ziffer, Whitney McGinnis, and Deirdre Pierce voting in favor. Tiffany Hogan voted against, citing a non-competitive hiring process, Awet Eyasu abstained, and Diijon DeCosta was absent.

Isaias knocks out power to tens of thousands across metro Atlanta
As of 2 p.m. Saturday, about 50,000 Georgia households were without power, including 4,300 in DeKalb County, 2,500 in Gwinnett, 2,000 in Fulton, 600 in Cobb and 200 in Clayton. A high wind warning and flood watch remain in effect for North and Central Georgia until Sunday morning, and a state of emergency is in effect through Oct. 15.

Emory and Georgia Tech invest over $1B in AI to drive state's jobs, economic growth
The combined commitment is approximately $600 million from Emory and more than $575 million from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech's investments focus on advanced computing, AI discovery and workforce development, while Emory is focusing on AI talent, healthcare innovation and applications in medicine, business, law, the humanities and ethics.

$17.25 million award puts Atlanta at center of new autism research network
Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine were awarded up to $17.25 million from Aligning Research to Impact Autism to join the IMPACT Network, which includes 12 research sites, 10 in the United States and two internationally. The award brings the center's research funding this year to nearly $40 million.

DeKalb County law department undergoes 'restructuring'
A senior assistant county attorney who was laid off said about 10 of the county's 18 attorneys and three administrative staff were let go on Oct. 9, and seven open positions will not be filled. The county said the Law Department is not being eliminated and that an in-house legal team will work alongside outside counsel.

Community meetings planned for DeKalb 2055 land use vision
The DeKalb County Planning & Sustainability Department's "Visioning Series" runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at each session, starting Oct. 22 at Mason Mill Recreation Center for District 2 and continuing through Nov. 18 for District 4. The meetings collect input for the 2055 Unified Plan Update, which covers land use, housing, economic development, sustainability and community investment.

BUSINESS

Midtown Oaxacan Mexican restaurant plans new location at upcoming Lulah Hills development — A Midtown Oaxacan Mexican restaurant is planning to expand with a new location at the upcoming Lulah Hills mixed-use development in North Decatur.

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Monday, October 12
- StoryWalk® at Mason Mill Park | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County
- Books and Babies Storytime | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County
- English as a Second Language (ESL) | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County

Tuesday, October 13
- MrBallen Meet & Greet! | Eagle Eye Book Shop

Wednesday, October 14
- Preschool Storytime | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County

Thursday, October 15
- Secret Army with Soul Candy | Wild Heaven Beer
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County
- Dino Talk | Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Friday, October 16
- GO BACK FOR MURDER | OnStage Atlanta
- HackATL 2026 | Defining the World After AI | Goizueta Business School
- Friday Movies | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County
- Live Animal Encounter | Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Saturday, October 17
- Atlanta Magazines Whiskey Festival 2026 | Pullman Yards
- Whentherainclears | Wild Heaven Toco Hills
- 2026 Little 5 Points Halloween Festival & Parade | Little 5 Points Community Center
- Decatur BBQ Festival | Harmony Park
- Halloween Divination with Psychic/Medium Susan Rushing | 750 Murphey Street
- En Route: Views from Atlanta and Marseille | Artists Reception | Emory Visual Arts Gallery
- Family Yoga | Avis Williams Library - DeKalb County
- A Taste of Chamblee | City of Chamblee
- Billy and the Jets | Napoleon's Grill

Sunday, October 18
- Goblins in the Garden | Atlanta Botanical Garden, Inc.
- Nature Art | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- LANDLOCKED 10: A DECADE OF SHOWING UP FOR SOUTHERN OYSTERS | Decatur Legacy Park
- Family Nature Walk | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- Jason Rekulak- Look What the Cat Dragged In | Eagle Eye Book Shop

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Note: our information comes from posted meetings documents (agendas and minutes when available) — latest source document hyperlinked to each meeting.

Past Week Roundup

DeKalb County Board of Commissioners
The Committee of the Whole moved dozens of contracts toward final board action, and the biggest ones touch your water and roads. Commissioners advanced an $11.1 million construction management contract for upgrades at the Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant. They also sent forward about $15 million in contracts for manhole repairs, curbs and sidewalks, and pavement markings countywide. Another $4.6 million in federal HUD grants for park renovations in Decatur, Stone Mountain, Lithonia and Ellenwood moved ahead, along with a proposal to transfer 30 vacant county-owned properties to the DeKalb Regional Land Bank Authority. A data center moratorium resolution that would require an independent health and environmental study before it can be lifted remains pending, as do two contested rezoning requests along Briarcliff Road, so those decisions are still ahead.

DeKalb County School District
The Board of Education met Oct. 5 and took up a heavy slate of spending items. As covered in today's news section, the board's meeting included the vote on the permanent superintendent. The agenda also included a renewal of the district's fuel contract with the North Georgia Fuel Cooperative at up to $10 million, plus a $6 million renewal for facility maintenance and repair services. Board members also considered a $1.5 million roofing maintenance agreement and a $2 million bleacher replacement renewal, along with a $1.58 million Microsoft software subscription that includes AI tools. Trustees held a second reading of a new policy on how schools use artificial intelligence, which will shape how your child's classroom handles the technology. The posted record doesn't include vote counts for these spending items, so the outcomes aren't confirmed here.

Atlanta Public Schools
The Atlanta Board of Education also met Oct. 5, and the headline item was the final adoption of the tax levy resolution for the FY2027 General Fund budget. That resolution sets the local school property tax request that will show up on your Fulton County and City of Atlanta tax bills. The board also approved construction management contracts for Booker T. Washington High School and the Medical Magnet Academy, Mary Lin Elementary, and a bundled upgrade of building systems at Parkside, Heritage and Hollis schools. Members approved leasing the former Towns Elementary property to the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer Foundation and Compudopt, which puts a vacant school building back to community use. The board also advanced updates to its student screen time policy and approved an E-SPLOST VI sales tax reconciliation with DeKalb County schools. The posted record doesn't include individual vote tallies, and minutes aren't fully published yet.

Notable Neighborhood Mentions

DeKalb County Board of Commissioners
- 3040 Briarcliff Road — A rezoning request from Office-Institutional to Local Commercial to allow commercial salon suites was considered and remained pending for a final public hearing.
- 729 Old Briarcliff Road — A rezoning application to change the parcel from Office-Institutional to Medium Density Residential-1 for a proposed attached townhome community was advanced for a final board decision.

Meetings This Week
- DeKalb County Board of Commissioners — Board of Commissioners | Oct-13, 9:00 AM | key topics: Briarcliff Road rezonings, data center regulations, Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant upgrades, park improvement grants
- DeKalb County Board of Commissioners — Committee of the Whole | Oct-13, 5:30 PM

CONSTRUCTION

Permits
- 1784 N Decatur Rd NE: Commercial plumbing and HVAC permits are pending review, covering new plumbing fixtures, duct alterations, and new terminal units and air distribution. That's a full interior systems overhaul, so expect a tenant buildout here.
- 3000 Briarcliff Rd: An apartment complex is adding two new 40A breakers to an outdoor panel to power four Level 2 EV chargers. The permit is closed, so the chargers are ready for residents.
- 1525 Clifton Rd NE: An HVAC permit is issued for demolition and capping of existing natural gas piping, plus new gas line installation. You may see crews and some disruption along the corridor.
- 1365 Clifton Rd NE: An interior renovation is under review to turn an existing suite into a concierge primary care clinic. Another medical practice is headed to the Clifton corridor.
- Ridgewood Dr: A $98K residential permit is closed for a bathroom and closet renovation in a finished basement. No square footage was added and nothing structural changed.

Road Work

Under Construction
- SR 236 / LaVista Rd & Shepherds Ln Signal Upgrade (DeKalb County) — An ongoing traffic signal upgrade at LaVista Road and Shepherds Lane.

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Until next week,
Druid Hills / North Decatur Busybody

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Disclaimer: We use advanced data retrieval and analysis techniques across hundreds of sources, and may be prone to occasional error. Independently verify information with a secondary source, and please let us know if we got anything wrong via the feedback form.