Brookhaven extends alcohol pouring hours for NBA event

City takes stance opposite Atlanta’s about watch parties.

After Atlanta’s mayor made waves for discouraging trav- elers to come to the city for the NBA All-star Weekend, Brookhaven leaders decided to take the opposite approach.

The Dekalb County city, which borders Atlanta’s Buck- head neighborhood, extended alcohol pouring hours for bars and restaurants during the All-star Weekend. The March 7 game at State Farm Arena will feature a gathering of the NBA’S best players, but Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is warning fans to avoid watch parties to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Brookhaven’s extension passed 3-1, with Councilwoman Linley Jones being the sole dissenting vote.

“I just want to acknowledge when we’re talking about extended hours of service, we’re talking about the bars and restaurants having All-star parties, whether at this point in the pandemic that’s a good idea,” Jones said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The extension was proposed by the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce, which represents the city’s bars and restaurants. Alan Goodman, president of the chamber, told The Atlanta Journal-constitution in November that roughly 20% of the city’s bars and restaurants had permanently closed since the pandemic began.

“We’re doing what we can to help them, and we feel that this would be a terrific addition for the restaurants and bars,” Goodman told the City Coun- cil on Tuesday.

Pouring hours will be permit- ted from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. March, 4, 5 and 7. The day before the NBA game takes place, March 6, will have slightly more lim- ited hours, running from 11 a.m. to 2:55 a.m. Goodman added that the

alcohol pouring time will likely help the area’s hotels,

Brookhaven could attract more travelers.

Mayor Pro Tem Joe Gebbia, who presented the alco- hol ordinance, said that the city’s COVID-19 guidelines will be followed and emphasized. In addition, the chamber will continue to supply restaurants and bars, including those in the city that aren’t chamber members, with free COVID-19 kits that include gloves, masks, thermometers and other protective equipment.

“There’s no willy-nilly on this as far as being lax,” Gebbia said. “It’s just a great opportunity, and there are constraints that come with it.”

Bottoms put out a statement roughly two weeks ago that pleaded with fans to not travel to Atlantaand for the city’s bars and clubs to not hold any events related to the game.

“Under normal circumstances, we would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to host the NBA All-star game, but this is not a typical year,” Bottoms’ statement read. “I have shared my concerns related to public health and safety with the NBA and Atlanta Hawks. We are in agreement that this is a made-for-tv event only, and people should not travel to Atlanta to party.”

Fans will not be able to attend the game, and no Nba-sanctioned events will

open to the public. LEBron James, one of basketball’s biggest stars, has spoken out against the game taking place.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about the All-star Game this year,” he said after a game earlier in February. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-star Game.”

Jones cited the complaints by Bottoms and James — along with the light at the end of the tunnel brought by COVID-19 vaccines — before voting against the measure.

“This small extension of the hours could make Brookhaven the epicenter for gatherings at just the wrong time,” she said.

Following the vote, Councilwoman Madeleine Simmons said bars are going to be open that weekend anyway, so there’s not much point in limiting the economic benefit to the city’s businesses.

“With them already being open and with people already being there, you just really hope they’re in compliance with CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines to begin with, and they’ll continue that for the few hours longer,” she said.

■ Seven Cherokee County School District Class of 2021 seniors have been named candidates for a prestigious national honor. As candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, they are among the 4,000 best and brightest of the more than 3 million graduating seniors in the nation’s Class of 2021 and now have the opportunity to advance in the academic competition. They are Creekview High School’s Nathan Davis and

Koryn Todd; River Ridge High School’s Reilly Amason, Nicholas Audinet and Annelise Axelsson; Sequoyah High School’s

Jeremy Jeong; and Woodstock High School’s Sophia Abbott.

■ Student members of Fayette’s HOSA Future Health Professionals organization had a strong showing on their state qualifying tests, advancing 27 of them to the HOSA State Leadership Conference, with competitions taking place throughout February. The top 20 students earning the highest scores on each test advance to the state competition. State competitors include Fayette County High School’s Arshi Noorani; Whitewater High School’s

Ademoia Adewski, Ivan Agyeman, Temilope Aina, Demitri Barnes, Joshua Johnston, Connor Nguyen, Clayton West, Ally Boos and Munachiso Okeke; Sandy Creek High School’s

Borey Wan, Molly Pate, Sophia Pino, Brooke Loyd, Jazmin Morales Gonzalez and Vansopheara Pheach; Starr’s Mill High’s Charlotte Craner, Courtney Mckenna, Michelle Phan, Sarah Wilkin, Emily Knowles, Kaitlyn Donovan, Ramey Koorse, Jaimie Forsberg, Erika Thomsen and Lane Anderson; and Rising Starr Middle School’s Avni Aligeti.

Dekalb CEO Michael Thurmond skipped the partisan politicking and blatant boosterism that often fills “state of the county” addresses on Thursday, opting instead to deliver a short speech thanking employees, first responders and health care workers for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thurmond’s address — delivered virtually and streamed online by the Council for Quality Growth — came just days before the one-year anniversary of the virus’ arrival in Georgia and in Dekalb.

“Let us thank the heroes and heroines who are often faceless and nameless,” Thurmond said. “Those who cannot work remotely but have never faltered to stand up to the challenge, to continue to provide critical services in a time of unprecedented need.”

Dekalbcounty’sfirstcovid19 cases were reported on March 11, 2020, nine days after the first cases were reported elsewhere in the state.

Since then, more than 51,000 Dekalb residents have tested positive for the virus. More than 750 have died.

On Thursday, Thurmond thanked everyone from police officers and firefighters to workers in sanitation and water treatment plants for helping keep the county running through it all.

The CEO — who has called giving pandemic-related hazard pay to a wide range of county employee one of his proudest achievements — also thanked county commissioners and staff at the local health department.

He encouraged them all to keep going.

“At this time, what will fuel us, what will fortify us, what will make us strong and successful, is that we have to love the people that have lifted us up,” Thurmond said. “That is my message, that is my commitment.”

Thurmond’s address, while virtual, was a ticketed event. Officials said video of the speech will be available to the public starting at 6 p.m. on March 3.

It will be available at dctvchannel23.tv and on Comcast Channel 23.

AJC New Manchester High senior Roxy Bridges took several honors for art submitted to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

PAMELA MILLER, FOR THE 2019 Georgia State journalism graduate Joshua Fife received the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.

Caleb Adams took an award at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference competition.

The Troup County Board of Commissioners named Deborah Xavier Troup county extension agent, effective March 1.

Fayette County High teacher Laura Rogers was named a 2021 Teacher of Promise by the Georgia Science Teachers Association.

MUST Ministries’ Yvonne Byars was selected as the 2021 chairwoman of Cobb Executive Women.