We talk with Atlanta music legend Kevn Kinney ahead of his shows in Atlanta and Athens.
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A former Doraville police officer who had previously been accused of concealing the death of 16-year-old Norcross resident Susana Morales has now been formally accused of kidnapping and murdering her.
The charges against Miles Bryant have been upgraded to include felony murder and kidnapping in connection with Morales' death last July. Bryant was previously charged with concealing the death of another person and false report of a crime. He will continue to face those charges in addition to the new ones.
Bryant's employment with Doraville police was terminated when he was arrested earlier this month. Police now believe that Morales was killed within four hours of her disappearance on the evening of July 26. Morales had gone to visit a friend earlier that evening and had texted her mother when she was walking back to her home just before 10 p.m.
Police say Morales encountered Bryant sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on July 26, 2022, and that her death is believed to have occurred sometime between then and 2 a.m. on July 27.
Morales' parents had searched for her throughout the night and filed a missing person's report with police at 9 a.m. on July 27. Morales' skeletal remains were found in a wooded area off State Route 316 between Drowning Creek and the Gwinnett-Barrow county line earlier this month.
A personal handgun which Bryant had reported missing at about 11 a.m. on July 27 was found near Morales' remains. The cause of Morales' death remains under investigation at this time, however.
Run The Reagan has always been a celebratory event in the Snellville area, with the annual road race providing fun, competition and a chance to raise funds for local charities.
But this year’s race, scheduled for Saturday, will also come with some sadness as those who gather to participate and work the event remember the life of Parks Mann, the race’s founder.
Mann died on January 6 at the age of 76. A deacon at Smoke Rise Baptist Church, he was known in the community for founding the Run The Reagan race as well as his work with the Gwinnett Community Clinic. Part of Mann’s legacy will be on display Saturday when Ronald Reagan Parkway is shut down for the event, which includes a fun run, a 5K, a half-marathon and a full marathon. Upwards of 2,000 people are expected to participate
The event, in its 28th year, has been a generous community benefactor for years, raising more than $3 million, which is donated to local charitable organizations.
This year the Brookwood Schools Foundation, the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry, the South Gwinnett Cluster Foundation and the Lilburn Cooperative Ministry are the charities that will benefit from funds raised by Run The Regan.
For high school seniors seeking opportunities to continue their musical education in college, the next several weeks are known as “the audition season.”
Peachtree Ridge senior Jihoon Kim will have an excellent experience to help bolster his credentials on the cello when he makes his solo debut in late March with the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra. Kim finished second in a recent concerto competition to earn a spot performing with the iconic DSO, now celebrating its sixth decade.
The Suwanee resident will join the orchestra to perform the fourth movement of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, a composition he knows very well. Although this will be his first spotlight appearance with an orchestra, Kim is familiar with large ensembles, having performed with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Emory Youth Symphony and the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra.
And while he’s no stranger to the stage and the spotlight, Kim admitted he’s still trying to wrap his head around this prestigious opportunity. Kim has several schools he’s interested in and had a late-February in-person audition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He has also had zoom auditions with Bard College in New York, the University of Georgia, Columbus State, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
Kim’s performance with the DSO — now under the baton of new music director Paul Bhasin — is set for 8 p.m. on March 21 at the Marvin Cole Auditorium in Clarkston. For more information, visit Dekalb Symphony dot Org.
Gwinnett County Police K-9 officer Kai had a tough time last summer after he was shot by a suspect that he was trying to apprehend and subsequently had to have one of his legs amputated because of his injuries.
On Tuesday, Gwinnett County commissioners recognized Kai, told him he’d done a good job in his service to the county and said he could now kick back his paws, relax and enjoy retirement. The commissioners voted formally to retire Kai from law enforcement service. Kai’s retirement comes after a year in which he made headlines in ways he and his handler, Cpl. Aaron Carlyle, could not have anticipated 12 months ago. A year ago, Kai, a Belgian Malanois, was a newcomer to the Gwinnett police department’s K-9 unit, having just joined the department in August 2021, and he looked to have a long career ahead of him.
Then, came that fateful day on May 23, 2022, when he was brought in to help track a suspect who was accused of entering a home and threatening his girlfriend and other people who were inside the home in the Lawrenceville area.
The suspect had fled the home by the time police had arrived, which is why Kai was brought in to help track him down with aerial assistance from the police department’s Aviation Unit.
The suspect opened fire at officers who were pursuing him and two of the bullets hit Kai. Kai was in the hospital for three weeks and have to have one of his leg’s amputated Police had returned fire and shot the suspect, who was then taken to Northside Gwinnett Hospital while Kai was taken to North Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Buford for treatment.
Due to his injuries, Kai’s veterinarian, Dr. J.W. Wallis, recommended he be retired last August. Although his doctor recommended his retirement last August, the police department kept him in service for a few more months to help with some police activities that saw him acting as a de facto face of the department. At the Red, Blue and You law enforcement appreciation event last November, for example, he was recognized for his bravery when he received the Purple Heart Award for law enforcement.
Sasha Tarassenko, a senior at Paul Duke STEM High School, is one of only three students to win this year’s 2022-23 concerto competition with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Sasha, one of the 114 students who make up the symphony’s youth ensemble, will have the opportunity to perform a solo flute concerto next season. The Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Resident Conductor and Music Director Jerry Hou.
Anh Ho, a percussionist at Collins Hill High School, earned honorable mention.
Applications for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 2023-24 season are now open. Applications and auditions are open to rising eighth to 12th grade musicians who play orchestral string, woodwind, brass, and percussion, including piano and harp.
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