Homegoing: Fallen Police Officer 'A Real Hero' [Photos]

The funeral was held Saturday for Officer Shawn Smiley, who was killed with Officer Richard Halford in a police helicopter crash, last Saturday night.

  Family, friends and colleagues poured praised on their memories of Atlanta Police Officer Shawn Smiley, Saturday, during his funeral at First Baptist Church of Atlanta.   Smiley and Officer Richard Halford were killed in a police helicopter crash at Martin Luther King and H.E. Holmes Drive on Saturday, Nov. 3, as they searched for a missing 9-year-old boy. The child was later found safe. Hundreds of officers from APD, Fulton County and nearby areas paid tribute in formation before the service. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta City Council also paid tribute to Smiley at the service. “When I got the call last Saturday night, I knew it was not going to be good,” said Atlanta Police Chief George Turner. “I didn’t know how bad it was …

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Legendary Ben Hill Coach William Walker Receives Top City Honor Today

For 40 years, William Walker, Jr., has helped the youth across southwest Atlanta by providing them a place to go and the discipline to succeed. The city council will honor him at 1 p.m. today.

They called it the shed—a shotgun building that housed an office, two bathrooms, a game room and a gym where hundreds of children practiced and played without air conditioning. But, for those children, the shed was their haven: the place where they went to practice sports, seek counseling and learn discipline. For their parents, it was a sanctuary that helped keep their children off the streets and out of trouble. It kept their children occupied, and safe. In time, the city would expand the shed at Ben Hill Park Recreation Center on Fairburn Road to fill the vision and support the mission of the man who runs it. But the legacy William Walker, Jr., leaves behind stretches beyond the concrete walls of the upgraded facility he and the …

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Inmates Paperback Book Drive 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Today

Noah's Ark Atlanta hopes to collect more than 500 paperback books for inmates on inspiration, motivation and education at the Fulton County jail just north of Simpson.

Volunteers from Noah's Ark Atlanta will host a book drive for inmates Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Fulton County Jail, 901 Rice St. The goal of the drive, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is to collect more than 500 used and new paperback books "in the area of inspiration, motivation and education," according to a news release from Noah's Ark Atlanta founder Rick Evans. To donate books or money for the drive, or for more information about Noah's Ark Atlanta, contact Evans at 404-901-7385 or go the the Noah's Ark Atlanta website.

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Cascade Entrepreneur of the Week

JJ's Ribs on Campbellton: You Will Wait (and Come Back)

For almost three decades JJ's Rib Shack has been the place to go for tasty rib tips, even if customers have to wait in line for an hour or more to be served.

Old and gray, there is nothing seemingly special about the shabby little shack tucked off Campbellton Road. It’s only furnishings are throwaway church benches and two bleached-brown tables. It’s décor: celebrity pictures plastered on walls and a lightly stacked magazine rack in one corner on the restaurant’s marred black concrete floor. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, hardly any traffic clutters the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, which stands beside a gas station and a string of other small businesses. But that changed on Wednesday when this grey shack with seemingly little to offer opens its doors, bringing in a steady flow of traffic from in and around Georgia and even neighboring states. These patrons come seeking JJ’s Rib Shack…

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Glen McDaniel

1:34 am on Saturday, September 17, 2011

The BBQ is pretty good. But I am not sure it's worth the wait and terrible customer service. I like character (some of the best restaurants/bars are holes in the wall), but I dont consider poor service "character."   more ›

"Atlanta's Oldest" Black Barbershop Owner Celebrates 87 Years Thursday at Paschals

Youthful and kind, George Axam has owned his shop on McDaniel Street since 1956. Friends, family and the Professional Black Barbers Association will celebrate his legacy Thursday evening.

The black church may be the power base of the African-American community; but it is the black barbershop where wisdom—often in the form of humor—is found. For more than five decades, barbershop owner George Axam has been at the helm of the later in southwest Atlanta, as owner and chief master barber at A&M Barbershop, 338 McDaniel St. On Thursday, customers from across the greater Cascade area and members of the Professional Black Barbers Association will salute "Mr. George" and celebrate his 87th birthday, which is Aug. 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Paschal's Restaurant, 180 Northside Dr. At his shop on Wednesday, Axam said he was honored that his colleagues—four of whom he mentored and helped obtain licenses and, in one case, a building—wanted…

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Letters to the Editor

Omilami: Don't Forget The Hungry

Hosea Feed The Hungry seeing a reduction in the amount of food that is usually donated to pantry so please consider a donation.

Dear Cascade Patch: I am sending this urgent letter to you and all of Hosea's most important supporters! Now is the time that Hosea Feed The Hungry is needed more than ever. With rising unemployment and people struggling to meet their monthly needs, we must increase our services to the poor and needy to assist the homeless and to prevent homelesness. This increases our cost and now we include tornadoes and disasters as well as help for people who never thought they would be in our lines. Please visit www.hoseafeedthehungry.com to give a quick credit card donation or send your check or money order to HFTH, P.O. Box 4672, Atlanta 30310. Any amount will help, really. Many of us have been blessed to be a blessing. Please don't close your ears …

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Janita Poe

11:29 am on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Thanks, Glen!! I love the greater Cascade community. We care....   more ›

Video: Cascade UMC Donates $22,000 to Morris Brown College

The funds will allow the 131-year-old institution to pay off a $500,000 debt to the U.S. Department of Education, according to school officials.

In a move that effectively eliminates Morris Brown College debt to the U.S. Department of Education, the Rev. Dr. Marvin Moss of Cascade United Methodist Church presented a check of $22,000 to the school's president on Sunday. Reiterating the landmark southwest Atlanta church's commitment to outreach and education—and the fact that the church was celebrating “United Methodist Student Sunday”—Moss presented the church to Dr. Stanley Pritchett at the 8 a.m. service. Pritchett confirmed Sunday that the funding means Morris Brown now has the $500,000 due to the federal government by Aug. 24 to settle what once was a multi-million debt. He told the congregants, some of whom are Morris Brown graduates, that Morris Brown plans to continue its 131…

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