The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • JD1

FZD0829JD1 Thu Zone 1JD 1JD RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack BlueRedYellowBlack By DERRICK MAHONE When Lovett coach Bill Railey looks back on 2001 football, he sees a season of near misses. With a break here or there, the Lions could have made their third straight state playoff appearance. Instead, Lovett missed the postseason for only the third time in 12 years. Last season, the Lions finished with a 6-4 record in Region 5-AAA. All four losses were by an average of 5.2 points, with three losses coming by a combined total of six points.

were right there in the thick of said Railey, entering his 21st season at the school, where he has compiled a 185-58 record. Expectations are high with 19 starters returning, including 17 seniors. The returning offensive unit is entirely seniors. Senior quarterbacks Graham Railey and Wesley Logan will split time running the offense, which averaged 20 points a game last year. The only shutout was a 14-0 loss to now-defunct Harper-Archer.

expect us to make the mistakes that we made last coach Railey said. group is looking Lovett enters the season ranked No. 10 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution preseason Class AAA poll. got a nice combination of offensive linemen and skill position the coach said. Leading the ground attack will be senior running back Kyle Jett, a 5-foot-10-inch 180-pounder who rushed for 1,235 yards on 191 carries and 10 touchdowns last year.

Jett has added some speed after running track last spring. The coach also is impressed with the increased speed of Palmour Rollins and Thaddeus Rolle. attitude and commitment on this team is said senior lineman Jake Dunkleberger. team was young last year. Now we have learned from last year.

We want it bad. We will do anything in the rule book to win. The ideal situation would be to win our last game of our high school career in the state championship Defensively, the Lions will be solid again. Last year, the unit gave up an average of 10 points a game and registered two shutout victories. and speed give Lovett some extra quickness on defense.

have a nice mix on this coach Railey said. just have to pull it all Said Jett: team is real excited with a big number of seniors. This is our last chance to do Lovett seniors hungry for return to playoff hunt NICK ARROYO Staff have a nice mix on this says coach Bill Railey who is in his 21st season at Lovett. ALSO INSIDE: A look at area high school teams and their prospects for the year. J11 By CHARLES YOO After a five-year delay, College Park may finally get a new public safety building.

The City Council is choosing a bidder to manage the project, but the selection process has not been smooth. City Police and Fire departments have long outgrown their space. They have spent more than 40 years at small facilities with antiquated heating and air-conditioning systems. The public safety project would place fire, police, emergency medical service, Municipal Court, jail and communications divisions under one roof. far as concerned, at a vastly urgent said Mayor Jack Longino.

Longino and some councilmen are pushing to have the building next to City Hall, but Councilman Charles Phillips says he has some concern about the bids and wants additional discussion. not against the public safety he said. think you want it built no matter of cost and before ensuring we have the money to pay for In 1998, Phillips sued after he abstained from a vote to allocate tax money to build the new building. That left a 2-1-1 vote with two councilmen voting in favor, one opposed and Phillips abstaining. Had he voted no, the mayor could have cast a third vote to break the tie.

The mayor interpreted abstention as yes, as allowed by the charter. In 2000, a Fulton Superior Court judge struck down that part of the charter but sided with College Park on the public safety vote, saying abstention should not be allowed to paralyze the government. College Park has spent $91,000 to defend itself from suit since 1998. Meanwhile, the price for a new building jumped from $12.5 million to $24 million, officials say. Longino said the project will be funded by the 3 percent car rental tax.

At an Aug. 19 council meeting, a room full of residents showed up to support the project. pocketbook cannot afford further said resident Jane Randolph. Public safety project moving Bidders studied in College Park By MILO IPPOLITO Mable Thomas is back. Thomas, 44, returns to the state Capitol after a brief stint on the Atlanta City Council.

No newcomer to state politics, Thomas was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1985 to 1993. She was on the City Council for one term, from 1998 to 2002, when she ran unsuccessfully for council president. She took state House District 43 Post 1 from incumbent Pamela Stanley with 56 percent of the vote in the Aug. 20 Democratic primary. No Republicans filed for candidacy.

Asked what she plans to do once back in the Legislature, Thomas said, plan to pull together a broad-based coalition throughout the district so we can make sure the diverse needs of the community are met. a lot of people to meet and to re-meet. very interested in looking into issues related to tax relief. Tax relief came up throughout the campaign. It came up in Buckhead, but it also came up on the west side because of Her other priorities include affordable housing, transportation and the environment.

not the only former City Council member on the comeback trail. Former Council President Robb Pitts bounced back from defeat by Shirley Franklin in his run for mayor last year, winning a countywide Democratic primary. He took 61 percent of the vote for an at large post on the Fulton County Commission. Pitts still faces opposition from Republican candidate Karen Handel in November. These legislative races for seats representing Fulton County will be decided in a Sept.

10 runoff: Republicans Price Harding, 43, an executive recruiter, and Dan Moody, 54, a business owner, will compete for state Senate District 27. There is no Democratic candidate. Democrats Brenda Muhammad, 51, a victim witness program director, and Sam Zamarripa, 49, an investment banker, will compete for state Senate District 36. There is no Republican candidate. Rep.

Billy McKinney, 75, faces a challenge from John Noel, 31, a lighting contractor, for House District 44 in the Democratic runoff. There is no Republican candidate. Democrats Horace Bond, 38, a trainer, and businessman Roger Bruce, 49, compete for House District 45. There is no Republican candidate. Mable returns Thomas regains legislative seat at state Capitol Mable Thomas has no Republican opposition in November.

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION CHECK FOR BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT AJC.COM CONTACT US David Simpson, editor 404-526-5364 ON THE WEB INSIDE TODAY EVERY WEEK Southside Notes: News and notes J2 Dining Out: Your weekly cuisine J4 Education Notebook: School news J5 Calendar: coming up J7 Home Sales: Sellers and buyers J8-10 THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 2002 In memoriam: Notable politicians who have lived or died in Fulton County can be found at www.politicalgraveyard Your community: News, events and information about your neighborhood. www.ajc.com/epaper/editions/thursday Hop aboard: jump in the pool, the say Denise Starling and David Harrison, who are trying to gather support for van pooling in Buckhead. So far, that pool is rather empty. J3 SOUTH METRO WITH NEWS OF ATLANTA, EAST POINT, COLLEGE PARK, FAIRBURN, CASCADE AND BEN HILL By CHANDRA R.

THOMAS For the Journal-Constituion At a time when many people communicate through computers and barely know their neighbors, Maudestine Jones prefers to reflect on memories of a different time. She vividly recalls the simple pleasures she enjoyed as a child growing up in old Rockdale Park community. She remembers spending hours in church on Sundays, enjoying a baseball game at the park, buying penny candy at the corner grocery store and, most important, sharing a sense of community with the people who lived around her. were poor, but we know we were poor, because there was so much love Jones said of the community that once existed off Marietta Street, near the Perry Homes housing development. knew each other.

Neighbors watched over your children. It was an amazing neighborhood. You even have to lock your Those who grew up in the now defunct community and their offspring recently gathered at Southbend Park to embrace those memories at the 20th annual Rockdale Park Community Reunion. In 1963, the close-knit African- American community was demolished in the name of urban renewal. Property owners were bought out and promised first priority on houses and businesses that were to be built in the area.

The renewal project never materialized. Many of the residents, who had spent their lives in the Rockdale Park extended family, were forced to scatter across metro Atlanta. Most families, like that of reunion chairwoman Mary Banks, relocated in the Adamsville area. Many former Rockdaleans, as they call themselves, still live in that southwest Atlanta community. were uprooted from our homes, and we lost a lot of people in the Banks said, pausing occasionally to wave at and hug old friends.

why we decided to put this reunion together 20 years ago. They may have moved us out, but they never took away our community spirit. still very much The reunion idea was the brainchild of the late James Language. He and hometown pal Harvey Haynes put together a committee that included Banks, Jones and Louise James. Several others later joined the committee.

Nearly 1,000 people turned out for the first reunion 20 years ago at Grant Park. The event has since moved to Southbend Park. The numbers remained as high, but attendees say each year always brings its share of new faces. dream was revived once again on a breezy Saturday afternoon. It was much like a typical family reunion of blood relatives.

Adults and children donned white T-shirts with the words Park Community printed in red. Old friends hugged, laughed and reminisced about old times as they snacked on chili dogs, homemade cake and watermelon. Chilled lemonade and Italian ice helped take the edge off the Georgia heat. just happy to be said 88-year-old Frankie Johnson, whose father owned and operated Surviving demolition Photos by JENNI GIRTMAN Staff Johnnie Mae Ellington-Clark (right) watches as Mickey Webb (left) shows Frankie Ellington- Johnson photographs of past reunions of residents of Rockdale Park, a community off Marietta Street that was a victim of urban renewal in the This was former 20th reunion. Antonio Giovanni Conde, 18 months, enjoys reunion fare.

Reunion recalls life before Please see RESIDENTS, J4 RZD0829JD1.