Pine Lake Georgia

Pine Lake, Georgia is a really small real time city in Georgia located about 10 miles outside Atlanta. It’s really easy to avoid most traffic and get to downtown Atlanta from here if you know the backroads. This is not a suburb and there are no mailboxes in this city. You have to pick up your mail at the post office. There are about 700 people who live in good old Pine Lake, about half men and half women all apparently around 38 years old. So not as many old people as we thought!

They say it’s about 78% white inside Pine Lake, Georgia but outside the city limits it’s more like 78% black. Back in 2009 they said 18% of the population were hispanic, but not so much now because a lot moved out recently due to the economy and changing Georgia laws. Everybody seems to get along just fine at the post office, well except that one time a Pine Lake cop(Ortega, just 25 years old, may he RIP) was gunned down at the post office by a passing-thru-PL thug. He died too when he killed himself inside the post office. This happened a couple days after moving to Pine Lake, previously known as the safest city anywhere!

Pine Lake was established as a city in December 1937, after a short life as a summer retreat run by the Pine Woods Corporation. The corporation sold lots around a small fishing lake to Atlantans who lived in (then) faraway areas like Buckhead for use as a weekend retreat. The 20’ x 100’ lots sold for $69, and the advertisement for lots directed people “from Decatur down the [unpaved] Rockbridge Road East.” Many homeowners continued to use their property as a weekend getaway long after the city incorporated. Prior to development, Pine Lake was a portion of a farm.

But nothing else too bad crime wise has happened since 2005, mostly just the occasional car and house break-ins, cat killings and apartment kids setting off M-80’s in the middle of the night. Well the economy did tank and nothing’s worth much now. But what goes up comes down and goes back up and vice-versa. Just don’t sell anything right now. Maybe Obama will come thru with that EZ refinancing plan.

Oh and you can rent a place in Pine Lake, Georgia for about $500. Not sure what a $500 apartment looks like but at least it’s in a neighborhood and not on a highway. But it would be great if those UGLY apartments deep in the right corner of Pine Lake could be updated and beautified. The place looks like desperados live there when it’s probably just some nice families. Whoever allowed that building permit back in Pine Lake history must have been drunk. But there are some other much more quaint apartment buildings within Pine Lake too.

Today in 2012 diversity rules the roost in Pine Lake, Georgia even though the recent census says the black race population percentage is significantly below state average in Pine Lake. There’s even a healthy dose of lesbian families with children.  Pine Lake was found #1 in the 101 cities most likely to find lesbian couples. Even the new mayor is a proud lesbian!

CH-CH-CH-CH-cherry bomb, it’s all cool here in Pine Lake, Georgia(except for the freaking M-80’s in the middle of the night). That might not have been the way back in the city’s beginnings when rumor has it Pine Lake was a hideout, um getaway for the white folks. There may even be a street named after a famous KKK confederate leader.

Given the history of Stone Mountain which surrounds Pine Lake the rumors that the city’s forefathers were KKK supporters can’t be too far from the conspiracy theorists. But that was then and now it’s just gone with the wind history. Times might have changed significantly in Pine Lake, Georgia, but the services, grocery stores and restaurants surrounding Pine Lake are well below average.

Whole Foods, where are you? We need you along with a nice hometown ACE hardware store with a stocked nursery. How about a good charter school? And how about improving the approach to the city beyond a ugly purple auto repair shop?? 

Top ten things that need to change about Pine Lake, Georgia:

1. A stop sign reorganization.
2. Removal of all chain link fences in front yards.
3. Sporadic cat killings.
4. City allowing fake churches to be opened anywhere within city limits.
5. Any more terrible Caribbean food restaurants.
6. Repavement of all Pine Lake streets as promised, not just a few.
7. Removal of ugly dark green concrete retaining walls at lake.
8. Instant removal of ANYONE shooting off M-80’s in the middle of the night.
9. THE ENTRANCES OF PINE LAKE GEORGIA NEED TO BE MADE MAGICAL.
10. No vegetable gardens allowed in front yards just to cover up laziness.

(Source: city-data.com)

1. Surprise! Economic Turmoil!
2. Oh no! David Arquette voted off Dancing with the Stars!
3. Georgia Militia members caught plotting against federal officials.
4. Herman Cain did a bad thing and can’t get his story straight.
5. Kim Kardashian. Yuck.
6. The lake is filling and the geese are celebrating.
7. Bank of America backs down from charging more fees.
8. Doctor confirms President Obama has stopped smoking.
9. Justin Bieber Daddy!
10. Halloween people and pets in Pine Lake, Georgia.

The Humane Society of the United States offers up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person involved in dogfighting.

The HSUS is also working with an Atlanta-based national corporate security agency to implement a toll-free line to report dogfighting: Norred & Associates will operate the hotline, evaluate the tips called into the hotline and forward them to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The hotline number is 877-TIP-HSUS (847-4787).

Georgia was revealed to have the third weakest dogfighting law in the country.

“Dogfighting is a blood sport that is not only cruel, but degrading to our communities” said Sheriff Butch Conway of Gwinnett County.

Dogfighting pits two dogs against each other in fights that continue until one animal is dead, or maimed to the point that he cannot continue. Dogs used for fighting suffer gruesome, bloody injuries and often die for the sake of gambling and entertainment.  

Georgia Animal Fighting Reward Program Instructions: 

• If you have information about illegal dogfighting in Georgia, call 1-877-TIP-HSUS (847-4787) with your tip. If you wish to remain anonymous, let the agent whom you give your tip to know that you do not want your identity released to the public. 

 Dogfighting Facts: 

• Dogfighting is a highly-organized criminal industry; more than 250,000 dogs are placed in dogfighting pits each year.
• About 40,000 people are involved in organized dogfighting and an additional 100,000 are street-level fighters.
• A three-year study released by the Chicago Police Department showed that 65 percent of the people arrested for animal abuse crimes—including dogfighting—were also arrested for violent crimes against people.

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“Safety is one of the most if not the most important reason to form a city. It should be a worthwhile discussion.”

“I am proud of the way the PD responded to the call. They are not experts inanimal control, but they responded when it became a safety issue for a resident. Both 911 and Pine Lake #6 calls were made. The officer responded to the call and visited the property. He turned the corner and the dogs felt threatened and attacked. Other neighbors reported it as a non emergency earlier that day as they saw the dogs picking in trash. I spoke with one person who made the non emergency call who did not feel threatened by the dogs.”

“Some of you may recall that several of us were involved with uncovering a dog-fighting ring in the Aberdeen community when we were first scoping our properties for developing our upstream wetlands. I personally found carcasses of two dead pit bulls in the woods. Several dozen others were reported to us unofficially. I do not know the official tally, but the ring was connected to several other states. The breading<sic>took place within 1 mile of Pine Lake and was connected by greenspace to our wetlands.”

“On a related topic, there are reports of dogs being turned loose as the owners have their homes foreclosed upon. We have not heard of a report close to us, but we should be aware of it. It would be wise to consider a strategy for us to deal with the possibility of other dogs being on the loose.”

“The dog that was recently put down was a fertile female and the 3 others in the pack had some pit in them.” If you see a loose dog without a collar, please call 911 first, then our internal number 404-292-4250 and press 6.”

Last Friday an elderly couple was killed by a pack of wild dogs.  This elderly woman was not hiking in a remote location but simply taking a walk near her rural Ga. neighborhood. Her husband was attacked and killed later when he went to search for her. To date, 16 dogs believed to be involved in the attacks have been captured near the scene. This tragic story brings yet another possible danger for Ga. hikers. While hikers already guard against bears and smaller wildlife, hikers now should consider precautions to take against wild dogs.

According to the Associate Press report, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation speculated about the start of the pack of dogs. ”It just appears that a large number of dogs had started living, running together, multiplying and had grown into what I would describe as a pack of wild or feral-type dogs,” Special Agent Jim Fullington said.  

While this situation is rare, imagine how a similar situation could result in or near your favorite hiking areas. Would you be prepared to fend off a pack of dogs if you encountered them on the trail? Authorities still are unsure of why the dogs attacked this couple and since there were no witnesses, it is likely we will never know.  The couple had seven dogs of their own and were animal lovers. So, don’t think not being scared of dogs or being kind to a wild pack of dogs will save you.

Sources: New York Post and Examiner