DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- Dekalb County Police and the FBI are seeking the public's assistance in locating a man they think is responsible for seven bank robberies in the DeKalb County area. 

PHOTOS | "Serial bank robber" at large in DeKalb County

According to investigators, each...more of these robberies occurred in a "similar fashion." Witnesses said a black male would enter the banking center wearing a baseball cap, wait in line, then approach the teller window on a cellular phone and demand money from the teller. 

Investigators believe the same man conducted robberies at the following locations: 

7/11/2011 Wells Fargo Bank, 1815, Rockbridge Road
8/12/2011 Wells Fargo Bank, 4798 Redan Road
9/03/2011 Wells Fargo Bank, 6063 Memorial Drive
9/16/2011 SunTrust Bank, 3870 N. Druid Hills Road
10/13/2011 Wells Fargo Bank, 4798 Redan Road
11/26/2012 SunTrust Bank, 2075 South Hairston Road
5/07/2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The director of the Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band has retired after 40 years with the university's music department. 

Dr. Juilan E. White announced his retirement by issuing a statement through his attorney, Chuck Hobbs, on Thursday afternoon....more  

His retirement follows the investigation into the death of Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion, who died during a hazing incident after the Florida Classic in November. 

PHOTOS | Robert Champion funeral 

White was placed on administrative leave with pay in November. 

According to his attorney, "Dr. White remains a loyal FAMU Rattler and wishes his alma mater continued success in the future. He looks forward to spending more time with his family."

The FAMU Board of Trustees will hold a meeting with President Ammons on Monday to discuss the status of the marching band and whether or not they'll be able allowed to march during the 2012- 2013 academic

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (WXIA) -- A man who people in the community have called a "true friend" to those in need was recovering Monday evening after being shot in his store earlier in the day.

DeKalb County police said the man was shot at his store on Buford Highway early Monday afternoon...more with no explanation whatsoever.

Police said it happened at a Shell station on Buford Highway at Dresden. The victim was the gas station and convenience store's owner, Shirazali Kassam, who was shot once in the abdomen. Police said Kassam was approached near the store's ice bin outside the store, by a man who shot him without saying anything.

"If the guy didn't have any money and needed something, (my father) would have given it to him," said Kassam's son, Rahim Kassam.

Investigators said the elder Kassam has owned the store for 17 years.

"I just know him as a guy here to take care of folks," said DeKalb Police Sgt. Jim Sheppard. "It's just an unfortunate

ATLANTA -- The DeKalb County School District has decided not to cut teacher salaries for the 2012-2013 school year despite facing a shortfall of about $70 million.

RELATED | New options amid $47 million APS budget deficit

MORE | Clayton School Board spares sports, slashes...more jobs

On Tuesday afternoon, Superintendant Cheryl Atkinson sent out a statement saying she intended to submit a balanced budget to the board and that it would not include a reduction in pay.

Last month, teachers had received letters showing their contracts would be worth 6.25 percent less than last year.

The DeKalb County School district is now saying that those letters were sent out by "mistake."

District spokesman Walter Woods told Jeff Hullinger Monday that salaries would be "adjusted" after the school board approves the budget.

And that the letter was standard operating procedure.

Dave Schutten, President of the Organization of

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA -- DeKalb County's school board voted to cut 133 jobs, saving about $9.3 million.

The board voted 6-1 to make the cuts after the new superintendent, Cheryl Atkinson, commissioned an analysis of how many jobs were needed within the county's 135 schools and centers,...more compared to student enrollment.  

The lost jobs will be school-based positions -- meaning they don't include administration jobs.  The school system says another analysis is in the works that will cut jobs in the superintendent's office.

"That's still being worked out," said school system spokesman Walter Woods.  "This is another reform that we're making district wide, looking at every position throughout the district."

 The current round of job cuts will include each of 37 employees categorized as "graduation coaches and graduation specialists." 

ATLANTA -- Mixed signals are going out to customers in Metro Atlanta's housing market.

Home prices in the metro area have taken a nosedive, off more than 17 percent since last year, marking one of the biggest price drops in the nation.

However, some communities in...more surrounding areas have shown some growth in home prices.

In Southwest Atlanta, one of the hardest-hit areas, the situation is tied to foreclosures, sales of distressed properties and the upkeep of vacant homes.

"The driving force is definitely the way the banks are pricing the foreclosed properties that they list for sale," said Jean-Claude Martin, a broker with Palmer House Properties. "Everybody else suffers. Everybody else suffers."

"This house next door an investor just bought, the roof is caving in on the front," said real estate investor Zach Mitchell. "The landscaping was never maintained, so when we drive around and see my house I have for sale, and you then see the

CHAMBLEE, Ga. -- An accident is blocking all lanes of eastbound Interstate 285 at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

No details are yet available, but police and fire crews are on the scene.

Its not yet clear when the lanes will reopen.

For the latest traffic conditions and cameras, visit 11Alive.com/traffic.

Chamblee and Redan stayed on course for a titanic showdown for a possible Region 6AAAA regular season title with perfect 2-0 records last week.

Coach Brian Ely's Chamblee squad is set to play host to coach Marvin Pruitt's Redan team Monday at 5 p.m. at Sequoyah Middle School....more Chamblee knocked off previous 6AAAA leader Dunwoody (7-5) April 19 and Lithonia (14-0) April 20 in improving to 17-6-1 overall for the year.

Redan, meanwhile, tossed a pair of shutouts in defeating Carver (15-0) April 19 and Miller Grove (2-0) April 20. Four other DeKalb County squads enjoyed undefeated records last week.

Coach Eric Hoxie's Arabia Mountain Rams rolled past Grady (9-4) April 16, Towers (14-3) April 19 and Stockbridge (6-4) April 20 in going 3-0 and moving to 13-9-1 overall.

Coach Bill Newsome's Lakeside Vikings defeated Mays (6-4) April 19 and Southwest DeKalb (14-7) April 20 to improve to .500 at 12-12.

Coach Jonathan Dunton's McNair Mustangs

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Seven employees of the DeKalb County School District might have to pay back a total of about $47,500 in overpayments discovered during an employee verification process.

School officials issued an alert on Saturday with results of the report, which started in...more February.

Two of the employees have left the district, five others were on leave.

The district's legal affairs office will now work to recover any unearned payments.

The survey of 15,000 employees also identified 148 non-verified employees, mostly substitute teachers or part-time coaches. The district stopped payments to them beginning with the April 13 pay period.

Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Atkinson ordered the process in February, along with an independent audit of Central Office and school-based personnel.

Dr. Atkinson said it's part of a move to shrink the Central Office and drive more resources to schools and classrooms.

"Audits and

DEKALB Co., Ga. (WXIA) -- An 11-year-old elementary school student in DeKalb County is claiming she was shown an inappropriate photo of a male classmate's body part -- by the assistant principal at her school.

The child's name is Azure Dasgupta; she is a student at DeKalb Elementary...more School of the Arts. Azure says she was wrongfully accused of sending a photo of a boy's private area to a female classmate.

Thursday afternoon, Azure and her mother held a press conference with their new attorney.

They say assistant principal Yolanda Beavers was investigating the potential sexting case and believed Azure had sent the picture, because Azure's name had shown up on the phone of the girl who received the photo.

This is when, according to Azure's family, Ms. Beavers called Azure into her office to confront her during school on Monday.

The 11-year-old said she was asked, "Have you been sending inappropriate text messages to your friends in

CUMMING, GA-- The applause that filled the Cumming City Council chambers was for an 87 year old man, for an assignment accomplished 68 years ago -- and for an act of heroism very nearly overlooked all those years.

Johnson "Dub" Brown was part of the June 6, 1944 Normandy Invasion --...more D-Day.  Brown was a twenty-year-old sailor aboard one of nearly 7,000 vessels that participated.  As the invasion commenced and the air filled with firepower, Brown's vessel was beached; and as most of the crew abandoned ship, Brown stayed aboard and used bedding to plug holes and make the craft seaworthy. 

"We brought the wounded back aboard the ship. But we were stuck on the beach, and we couldn't get off until the next tide," Brown said.  "But we saved a lot of lives that day."

Brown survived the war and he became mayor of Chamblee for 18 years.  Like many World War II vets, Brown didn't talk much about his experience in combat -- until about eight years ago, when his

CHAMBLEE, Ga. -- Construction for the new Chamblee Charter High School will kick off at 2 p.m. Monday with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The project will be completed in two phases. Phase I involves knocking down part of the existing school building and adjacent Highland Garden apartment...more complex, and creating a new academic building that will be ready for students after winter break of the 2013-14 school year.
Phase II will continue with demolition of the rest of the old building and constructing the fine arts wing, auditorium, natatorium and gym in time for the 2014-15 school year.
Chamblee Charter High is located at 3688 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.

Decatur, GA -- There were long lines outside the DeKalb County Jobs Fair in Decatur on Saturday, but the real story was inside.

"A young lady just told me they're interviewing on the spot," said job-seeker Hilton Crenshaw. "Some people have gotten hired, so it's encouraging."...more

Officials with the DeKalb Workforce Development division said the 60 employers represented at the job fair had a total of 1600 open positions.

They were so surprised, they went back to double-check the numbers to make sure it wasn't a mistake.

"I think the economy is staging a turnaround," said DeKalb County Communications Director Burke Brennan. "We see private employers hiring again. We see governments hiring. Contractors working for governments are hiring."

DeKalb County has a new program in place to give local companies and workers a real advantage.

It's called One DeKalb Works, and it covers more than 80 major water and sewer improvement

CHAMBLEE --  According to the City of Chamblee website the deadline to submit a bid to complete the Peachtree Road Streescape project, has been extended.  The details below were enclosed in a letter to the public.
 BID TIME EXTENDED
Sealed bids will be received for the furnishing all...more labor, materials, equipment, superintendence and other incidentals necessary for the construction of proposed roadway improvements (including, but not limited to, roadway construction, utility relocation, and installation of drainage system) will be received by the City of Chamblee, 5468 Peachtree Road, Chamblee, Georgia 30341 until 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 20, 2012.  Proposers names will be publicly opened and read at 11:05 a.m. on the stated due date at Chamblee City Hall at the above address. 
2ndPre-bid meeting:  Friday, April 6, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at Chamblee City Hall, 5468 Peachtree Road, Chamblee, GA 30341. 
Plans and specifications for the work may be inspected at the City