Two years ago the State of Georgia saw a change in how restaurants are “graded” as far as food safety.  In some areas of the state the restaurants and the health inspectors are still trying to understand the relatively new law called the 2007 GA Food code ( Public Health Division’s Chapter 290-5-14)

How does this affect the everyday customer of the local restaurants? The scoring is different and can vary according to the various violations. Interested in what the health inspectors are looking for and how the law has changed for the employees of a restaurant? Check out this frequently asked question and answer page that the Georgia Restaurant Association created. The Georgia Divison of Public Health also has a wealth of information about food safety and code revisions.

If you want to know where your favorite restaurant or potential new restaurant falls in the scoring, the Dekalb Board of Health has a website where they post current scores. It can be found here. This site also gives information on understanding scores and a reference for violations.

So what if you’re like me and you don’t eat out too often. The library has several books about food safety that can help home cooks keep their food safe.

Food Alert!: The ultimate sourcebook for food safety

Food Safety

Mr. Candler was born a week ago on June 23, 1887.  For those of you not native to Atlanta or DeKalb County, you may ask who was Mr. Candler? You might recognize the name of the road named after him or our Scott Candler branch.

Scott Candler was actually known as “Mr. DeKalb” and was instrumental in shaping the county as we know it.  His family, at the time of his birth, went back six generations in which there was a history of public service.  To prepare for this post, I checked out a book that we have titled, “Mr. DeKalb” by Morris Shelton.

Some of the interesting facts I discovered was that back during World War II, Candler had a county-owned cannery built for the citizens. They could bring up food that they grew and have it canned. In 1969, the County Commissioners tried to shut the cannery down but were met with an outcry from the DeKalb citizens.

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The DeKalb County Police Department’s website has an informative new feature – CRIMETRAC.  CRIMETRAC enables people to search for crimes committed in unincorporated DeKalb County.  As part of the Department’s Interactive Community Policing initiative, CRIMETRAC’s goal is to “reduce the fear of crime through better informed citizenry and improve the quality of life in DeKalb County.”

CRIMETRAC uses Google Maps and an advanced geographic engine to map reported crimes.  You can search by address or crime type, as well as limit searches to specific types of crime, time period and/or distance from an address.  The site doesn’t provide detailed information; it does offer a case number, the date and time the crime was committed, the type of crime, and the block where the crime was committed.  It’s super easy to navigate, and the graphical interface clearly shows what types of crime are happening around the county.  The information posted is also current.  There are crimes that were reported in the wee hours of this morning that are already on the website!

If you want to track crime and stay informed of what’s going on in your neighborhood, this is a great site to bookmark or set up email alerts for a specific area.

Burrell Ellis, DeKalb County’s new CEO, is hosting meetings at locations across the county for you to ask questions and voice concerns about the County’s budget.  Mr. Ellis’ invitation and details are below.  And, if you would like to review the budget before going to a meeting, please visit your library branch’s Reference Desk!

Dear Neighbors,
To make your priorities our county government’s priorities, one of the most important tools in our toolkit is our annual budget. This is how we pay for a county government that gets the job done for you, delivering the services you expect on time, within budget, and with a smile.
The first budget of our new administration is now out. I want to share some of the highlights with you, especially:

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If you were afraid to brave the lines this past week on Memorial Drive, you still have a chance to vote early and avoid potentially long lines on election day.  You can vote in advance starting today, October 27 and ending on Friday, October 31 at several locations around DeKalb County.  Voting hours are 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

For more information on the candidates and the issues, check out this previous post, or look here for more info on voting in DeKalb County.

Hopefully, you have already registered to vote, since yesterday was the deadline for the upcoming presidential election. If you are registered to vote, remember that you can avoid the lines on November 4^th by voting by absentee ballot by mail or in person, or by voting in advance.

To request an absentee ballot to vote via the mail, you can print the application online at the DeKalb County Voter Registration or the Secretary of State Elections Division’s website or stop by the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Main Office at 4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 300, Decatur, GA 30032.

To vote by absentee ballot in person, you can stop by the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Main Office and vote Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. 

You can vote in advance starting on October 27 and ending on October 31. You may vote Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 7:00 pm at one of several locations around DeKalb County.

Be sure to verify your registration and locate your precinct/district information. To do this, you can enter in the necessary information at the Secretary of State’s Poll Locator website or by calling their Voter Info Line at 1-888-265-1115. You can also call the DeKalb County Precinct Info Line at 404-373-2236 or 404-298-4020, which is their office number.

For more information and library resources, check out DCPL’s subject guide on Voting.

Are you doing research and need help with where to start? Would you like to find out more information about a particular subject you are interested in? Maybe you are a student who would like to learn about new resources that will help with homework or school projects? Check out our new subject guides for help!

Subject guides are lists of library books, databases and websites that are chosen by librarians and intended to help you get started on your research. There are over forty different guides covering subjects such as Health and Medicine, History and Biography, and Student Resources. Searching is fast and easy with direct links to the catalog, reference databases, and websites. We’ve got guides for adults, teens, and kids.

To access the subject guides go to our main page at www.dekalblibrary.org. Under the Research tab click on Subject Guides.

We’d love to know what you think, so please leave comments or suggestions.

The voter registration deadline for Georgia is Monday, October 6, 2008.  If you have not registered by this deadline, you will not be allowed to vote in the November election!

You can register to vote at any DeKalb County Public Library.  You can also get a printable application online at the DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections website.  (You can print an absentee ballot application from this site, as well.)

Not sure if you’re registered or not?  Know you’re registered but can’t remember where your poll location is? Check the Georgia Poll Locator site and find out!

Contact the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections office for more info.  They are located at 4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 300, Decatur, GA 30032.  Phone: 404-298-4020 and Fax: 404-298-4038.

A couple of years ago, I became intrigued by movies filmed in Georgia. Having lived in Georgia most of my life, I like to watch these movies and try to figure out where they were filmed. Many times, you can look up a movie title in the Internet Movie Database and it will give you an option to see where a movie was filmed.

Several movies have been filmed in and around DeKalb County. If you have watched Remember the Titans, you might recognize the stairwell where Coach Boone and Coach Youst confront each other. It can be found on the campus of the Druid Hills high school. The practice field shots were filmed at Shamrock middle school. Sharkey’s Machine was filmed in part at the old Columbia Mall before it became the Avondale Mall, and which today is a Wal-Mart.

A Man Named Peter was one of the first movies filmed in Georgia. It was released in 1955. It was not until Deliverance that Georgia began to be thought of as a place to film movies and later television shows. One of my favorite movies is My Cousin Vinny. It was filmed mainly in Covington, Georgia and surrounding counties. It won an Oscar for Marisa Tomei as Best Supporting Actress. It was also during the filming, that Joe Pesci received his Oscar for GoodFellas. Additional movies that have been filmed in Georgia are  We are Marshall and The Gospel.

Tyler Perry has filmed all of his films around Atlanta. His newest movie The Family that Preys was filmed in Atlanta and Covington. While you wait for the newest movie filmed in Georgia to be released in the theaters, you might enjoy one of thirty movies that we own at DCPL that were filmed in Georgia. You can check out a partial list of movies filmed in Georgia here or feel free to stop by the Decatur Reference Desk for the list I have compiled through the years.

I was helping a person several days ago who was looking for business information.  She lived in another county.  I mentioned to her that the county she lived in also provided access to Reference USA.  As we continued exploring resources that might help her, I suggested Business and Company Resource Center.  I informed her that her local system did not provide access to this resource.  She asked me how she could obtain a card.  For an annual fee of $45, a non-resident can obtain a card.  She wanted to know what else we had that would make it worth her while to spend that kind of money.  Do you know what your DeKalb County library card provides for you?

Here is the brief list that I gave her: for adults, we offer not only the business electronic databases (Reference USA, Business and Company Resource Center, Demographics Now and Hoover’s Company Capsules and Profiles), but we also offer language learning resources (Spanish, French, German and Italian), Health and Wellness Resource Center (health and drug information), and Georgia Legal Forms; for students we offer Learning Express Library (sample tests, electronic books on a variety of tests and basic skills building), Literature Criticisms, Student Resource Center (Literature, History, applied Sciences and Social Studies), and African American Experience (great for African American history).

The list above is just a sample of the electronic resources that we provide at the library.  We of course offer print (books), music and DVDS.  I also mentioned that we have downloadable eAudiobooks and electronic books.

My DeKalb County library card is one of the most valuable cards in my wallet.  I would pay the annual fee of $45, if I did not work for the library system.  My own home library system does not offer the wealth of information or entertainment value that you are entitled to have as a citizen of DeKalb County.  So where is your card?