The woman whose body was found Sunday in a parked car at the Camden Dunwoody Apartments has been identified as 40-year-old Trina Brown.

She is believed to have died of natural causes. Police are awaiting toxicology reports.

Brown was found by a neighbor around noon in front of Building 7 of the Dunwoody apartment complex.

"There were no signs of trauma or anything that has caused us to raise our suspicions," Sgt. Michael Carlson, Dunwoody Police spokesman, told the AJC.

DeKalb County will consider closing four south-end elementary schools to help meet the district's anticipated budget deficit.

Late Monday, two lists of possible closures were made available:

1. Sky Haven on Sky Haven Road in Atlanta, Gresham Park on Vicki Lane in Atlanta, Midway on Midway Road in Decatur and Kelley Lake on Kelley Lake Road in Decatur;
2. Sky Haven, Meadowview on Wee Kirk Road in Atlanta, Toney on Oakland Terrace in Decatur and Peachcrest on Joy Lane in Decatur.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution received the school closure candidates from the Citizens Planning Task Force, which will discuss them at a public forum Tuesday night. The school system declined to release the information. A final decision will be made in April over which schools to close at the end of the school year.

DeKalb County teachers could see their pay decrease as much as 6.25 percent next school year.

The school board voted unanimously Friday morning to issue about 8,000 contracts to teachers, principals and other certified staff for next school year with the option of a pay reduction or furlough days. The pay cut is capped at 6.25 percent.

DeKalb schools must cut at least $88 million from its budget for next year. The board is scheduled to approve the budget in May, but teacher contracts must be issued before April 15.

For several weeks, local officials had been telling residents to attend a series of meetings across the county with Federal Aviation Administration officials over the last month. They said proposed changes to airspace over north DeKalb County would increase noise and environmental pollution as air traffic soared closer to the ground.

Residents and aviators had their chance to face the FAA March 1. The FAA’s response?

Chill out. Nothing’s going to change much.

"Whatever you’re seeing today is probably what you’re going to see tomorrow," said Jim Allerdice, an air traffic controller in Peachtree City.

Notices about overdue or on-hold items at the DeKalb County Public Library will no longer be sent through the mail.

As of March 1, the library system began notifying patrons only via e-mail or phone calls. Going paperless is expected to save the system more than $30,000 on postal costs a year.

Patrons are encouraged to check with library staff or online, to make sure their accounts are up to date with the correct contact information.

More information is available on the library system Web site at www.dekalblibrary.org.

Jerry’s Habima Theatre, Georgia’s only theatrical company directed and produced by professionals featuring actors with developmental disabilities, will present DISCO INFERNO at the Marcus Jewish Community Center's Morris & Rae Frank Theatre March 24 to 28.

A musical celebration of the decade that brought us flared trousers and platform shoes, DISCO INFERNO has been described as "Saturday Night Fever meets Damn Yankees." A hilarious script, fantastic characters and an electrifying score combine to create a high-energy musical guaranteed to warm hearts and leave audiences with the fondest memories of a sensational era.

Performances will be held # March 24 and 25 at 7:30 pm, March 27 at 8:30 pm, and March 28 at 1:00 & 5:00 pm. Tickets are $10 - $22 for MJCCA members and $15 - $32 for non-members. For tickets call 678.812.4002

For more information, visit the MJCCA website

On March 28, 2010, a Dunwoody teenager with a big heart hopes to make a difference in the lives of abused refugee and immigrant women and children living in Atlanta.

Katie Ehrlich, a senior at the Atlanta Girls School, will hold a fundraising dance to benefit the International Women’s House (www.internationalwomenshouse.org), a local organization that serves women and children from Atlanta’s refugee and immigrant communities who are suffering from domestic abuse.

"Give Hope a Dance" will be held Sunday, March 28 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Eclipse di Luna Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Dunwoody. The event will feature a cocktail buffet, cash bar, music by Latin band Armando Bermudez and dancing. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at the door.

Thanks to donations and sponsorships, Ehrlich already is close to achieving her fundraising goal of $5,000.

DeKalb County schools chief Crawford Lewis temporarily stepped down from his job Feb. 25 after local law enforcement officials raided his home and district offices – the most recent development in a months-long investigation into the district’s construction program.

The decision was announced following a three-hour emergency school board meeting called after board members awoke to discover Lewis had been wrangled into an investigation involving former district Chief Operating Office Pat Pope. District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming is trying to determine whether Pope illegally steered construction contracts toward her husband, architect Tony Pope, or contractors he was working with.

It is unclear how long Lewis will be gone from the superintendency. School board Chair Thomas Bowen said he could return after the investigation was completed or when the board felt it was appropriate to invite him back. Regardless, the board’s tone was supportive of Lewis, and two board members said they disagreed with the change, abstaining from the board’s vote.

A plan to expand the airspace designated for Atlanta’s airport will increase noise levels on those living in north DeKalb around DeKalb Peachtree Airport, airport officials said Monday.

Airport assistant director Mike Van Wie told Dunwoody City Council Monday night the proposed airspace expansion for craft using Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will force aircraft using the DeKalb facility to fly closer to the roofs of Dunwoody homes, bringing higher noise and air pollution levels to residents.

DeKalb County schools’ superintendent is calling for 148 employees to be laid off.

The reduction in staff is necessary to meet a projected $88 million deficit, Superintendent Crawford Lewis told board members Wednesday morning.

The staff cuts will save the district about $10.7 million, Lewis said.

The cuts will be made in all areas of the central office. The 148 positions represent about 15 percent of the district’s 982 employees in the central office, according to Ramona Tyson, the district’s deputy chief superintendent of business operations.

The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA) will present Jeff Garlin, star of HBO’s "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and author of the hilarious book, "My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World," for a book talk and signing on Saturday March 16 at 8:30PM.

Garlin is best known as Larry David's cheerful manager on the Emmy-nominated HBO show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. In his new book, he chronicles his year-long journey to reduce both his physical footprint (losing weight) and his carbon footprint (going green) in a laugh-out-loud self-experimental memoir.

Using his natural storytelling ability, the author documents his quest to live a more earth-friendly lifestyle and lose seventy-five pounds.

Tickets are on sale now. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended.

CBS Atlanta News has more tough questions for DeKalb County about a deadly fire in Dunwoody in late January. As a result of CBS Atlanta's tough questions, we now have a look at the big picture, and a series of mistakes that led to the death of homeowner Ann Bartlett.

"Ann Bartlett did what she was supposed to do. She called 911 and she waited for us to respond," said DeKalb County Public Safety Director William Miller.

Miller said Bartlett is the only one who did what they were supposed to do the night of that fatal fire at her home.

"There were some monumental failures here," said Miller.

Those failures are detailed in a document obtained by CBS Atlanta News.

DeKalb County commissioners approved a budget Tuesday afternoon that does not include job cuts, furloughs and a property tax hike but does mean no pay raises and reduced holiday pay for workers.

"I’m glad to see that during these tough economic times we were able to examine the budget from top to bottom and adopt a balanced budget that resulted in no reduction in services, no millage rate increase, no furlough days and funding to the courts was restored," said Commissioner Larry Johnson.

DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis will also take a 2.7 percent pay cut. County commissioners will also take a pay cut, CBS Atlanta News learned.

According to a statement released by the county, additional budget reductions came in the form of eliminating $4.5 million worth of capital projects that were funded by sales tax revenues.

Instead, county officials said, the funding that would have gone toward infrastructure improvements will be used to help offset homeowner’s property tax bills. An additional $4.5 million was reduced for future personnel actions by the board, which may include a second early retirement option.

The DeKalb County budget committee recommended a budget Friday that calls for no tax increase and no furloughs.

The County Commission will vote on the final budget Tuesday.

The recommendation calls for a $560.7 million budget for 2010. It includes unpaid holidays for all 8,300 county employees starting March 1, but no furloughs.

"With this budget, we maintain all central services, all public safety and the courts," Commissioner Connie Stokes said Friday.

County commissioners said they are still waiting to see how many employees take the early retirement package, which is available until April 15. The county needs 551 employees to retire to prevent layoffs, said Stokes, chair of the budget committee.

DeKalb County’s superintendent said he will cut about 15 top administrators and close four schools to help with the district’s $88 million deficit.

“We can no longer afford to operate schools which are at half capacity,” Superintendent Crawford Lewis told about 100 business leaders Friday at his State of the System address.

With 152 schools, DeKalb has the most school buildings in the state -- despite being the third-largest district and closing five schools in 2008, Lewis said.

Next week, school officials will identify the four elementary schools that will close at the end of the school year in May. They plan to close another eight to 10 schools in May 2011.

The DeKalb County budget committee voted Thursday to not raise property taxes, but was unable to finalize any cuts to meet a looming $100-million deficit.

County commissioners also on Thursday rejected a revised budget from CEO Burrell Ellis that called for a .92 mill property tax increase in the 2010 budget. Ellis previously called for a 1.86 mill increase.

Despite the new proposal, commissioners were disappointed that Ellis did not supply firm budget numbers. The commission is scheduled to vote on a final budget on Tuesday.

"This is probably the biggest mess I’ve seen in the 18 years I’ve served," Commissioner Elaine Boyer said.

Shelia Edwards, a spokeswoman for the CEO, could not say when the numbers would be finalized, only that Ellis is still working on them.

As DeKalb County commissioners scrambled to cut $84 million from the 2010 budget by Tuesday, they learned the deficit may have grown to $100 million as property values continue to fall.

New figures show DeKalb’s 2010 tax digest will be about 6.7 percent less than the value of the 2009 tax digest, according to Vivian Ingersoll, chairwoman of the county’s board of assessors.

Chief appraiser Calvin Hicks said those numbers are preliminary and could fluctuate after property revaluations this spring.

But more foreclosed homes, incomplete developments and a miserable market caused the county’s property values to drop by $1.6 billion, Hicks told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. The county’s tax digest is now valued at about $23 billion.

County commissioners were already trying to cut $84 million to avoid raising property taxes.

"We’re beginning to get that now," CEO Burrell Ellis told the AJC on Tuesday. "But there is now the possibility by recent reports from our tax assessors, that the gap could widen to as much as $100 million."

GA Perimeter College adds program to train unemployed for project management jobs

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