Tucker Observer

10/01/2023

After many changes and much public debate, the Tucker city council approved a modification of the Special Land Use Permit for the Chik-fil-A at 4435 Hugh Howell Road and 2239 Dillard Street at its regular meeting on Jan. 9.

07/01/2023

Dear loyal Tucker Observer readers,

As some of you have noticed, Tucker Observer and its articles have been folded into Decaturish.com. I've received some questions about this and wanted to address them directly with our core readership. I will write an editor's note on Monday explaining the switch to our wider audience. In short, this is a business decision.

The most important thing to know is the coverage of Tucker, Stone Mountain and Clarkston will continue as a part of Decaturish. We are proud to serve these communities and think they are critical to expanding the mission and reach of Decaturish. My goal for Decaturish is to make it the daily news website for DeKalb County, serving all 757,000 of our residents. This move puts us closer to that goal.

Also, all of our Tucker Observer stories have been uploaded to Decaturish and the old URLs now redirect to the Decaturish site.

Some readers may know that we originated coverage of Tucker, Stone Mountain and Clarkston on Decaturish before creating Tucker Observer two years ago. In a sense, Decaturish has just reabsorbed that coverage into the main site.

So, why are we doing this, and why is this the right business move for Decaturish?

When we started Tucker Observer, we aimed to create additional advertising space because we had maxed out our available spaces on Decaturish. But unfortunately, the site wasn't as profitable as we'd hoped and as a result, I could not staff Tucker Observer in a way that would help it match the reach of Decaturish. It also took page views away from Decaturish, and split my attention between both sites, which hurt both publications.

By folding Tucker Observer back into Decaturish, we will increase our page views on Decaturish while continuing to serve our readers in the Tucker Observer communities. That will create a more profitable website that will, in turn, allow us to improve our coverage of Tucker, Clarkston and Stone Mountain as well as expand coverage to other communities in the coming years.

This is part of an overall shift in our business strategy. Instead of creating more advertising space to increase revenue, we'll do a better job of selling the ad spaces we have at rates that will allow us to grow the company. That will ultimately mean fewer ads on Decaturish as we incentivize clients to share available spaces. It will also allow us to explore new products for our advertising clients, like expanded e-edition offerings and curated newsletters.

This is not an easy decision, and we know some of you will be disappointed. But my priority is keeping the coverage we have and expanding it. Consolidating these two sites will allow us to do that.

To continue receiving the regular Tucker Observer email, you will need to sign up for the Decaturish email list. To sign up, click the link in the comments section.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me at [email protected]. I look forward to continuing to serve your communities through Decaturish.

- Dano

Dan Whisenhunt, Editor and Publisher of Decaturish and Tucker Observer

04/01/2023

News from last night's city council meeting.

The Clarkston City Council introduced the city’s new Planning/Economic and Development Manager, Katherine Hernandez, at their work session on Jan. 3.

02/01/2023

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Various events are happening this week in and around DeKalb County, including the Stone Mountain Masonic Lodge’s Monthly Breakfast the grand opening of Clarity Fitness in Decatur and the Oakhurst farmers market. A few local government meetings are also scheduled for this week.

21/12/2022

A contingent of the Sons of Confederate Veterans attended the Stone Mountain City Council work session on Dec. 20, to express opposition to any plan to remove Confederate headstones or markers from the Stone Mountain Cemetery.

14/12/2022

The Clarkston Police Department is investigating a shooting that resulted in the death of a 37-year-old man.

14/12/2022

The Stone Mountain City Council appointed James Westerfield as Chief of Police at its regular meeting on Dec. 13.

Stone Mountain, GA — The Stone Mountain City Council appointed James Westerfield as Chief of Police at its regular meeting on Dec. 13. Westerfield has served as interim chief since the former chief of police, Chancey [...]

13/12/2022

Here's what happened at last night's Tucker City Council meeting...

At the Tucker city council’s regular meeting on Dec. 12, the council passed resolutions to terminate intergovernmental agreements with DeKalb County for road maintenance and stormwater management.

12/12/2022

Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, in conjunction with the DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability Department and Community Development Department, is hosting a public meeting on the Memorial Drive Community Rebranding Initiative, a press release said.

08/12/2022

News from our friends in Clarkston.

The Clarkston City Council approved the city’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget at its regular meeting on Dec. 6.

06/12/2022

Interesting update from the GBI about this case.

The GBI continues to investigate the fatal shooting of a man by a DeKalb County Police officer.

06/12/2022

Both Tucker and Stone Mountain held their annual holiday celebrations on Saturday, Dec. 3. North Pole in Tucker featured the tree and menorah lighting, Santa, crafts, food and entertainment and was held at the new Church Street Greenspace for the first time.

Both Tucker and Stone Mountain held their annual holiday celebrations on Saturday, Dec. 3.