City Beat

          Decades have passed since two of Decatur’s popular theaters disappeared into history, but, among older members of our community and beyond, fond memories remain.      One of the theaters was called the Alhambra Theater and it was built at 1073 North Water Street in 1919 by Percy Gebhart.      It had no balcony, and wasn’t…

    It’s no secret to anyone who has read this newspaper over the years that one of my favorite subjects is the history of the Transfer House before it was moved from Lincoln Square to Central Park in 1962.       In fact, the Transfer House is the subject of this week’s “Scrapbook” feature on pages…

    • MAYOR’S RACE — Last week’s announcement by Councilman David Horn that he is a candidate for Deca-tur Mayor in the April 6th, 2027 election came too late for me to include in last week’s edition, but the full news release is on page 7 of this edition. The news that David Horn is running…

    MAYOR Julie Moore Wolfe announced last week that she will be running for another term in next year’s municipal election.      She has been elected Decatur’s mayor 3 times and, to my knowledge, she is our city’s longest serving mayor. She was first elected a city council member in 2009 and again in 2013 before being…

     My annual property tax bill arrived in the mail last week. Unlike some mail, it never seems to have a problem making it to my mailbox.      I couldn’t help but think, when I saw the amount owed, that my property tax bill for one year is more than the entire price I paid for the…

     • THE MEMORIAL Day photos that are included in this week’s “Scrapbook” feature on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions were shot during services years ago at ceremonies in Fairview Park and Graceland Fairlawn Cemetery.      This year, the Veterans Assistance Commission of Macon County invites the public to attend Memorial Day…

     AS MOST OF you know, weekly newspapers depend on the United States Postal Service for delivering each edition to subscribers. Here at the Decatur Tribune, we also have the e-edition (the same content as the paper edition) with many online subscribers, and sales of the paper edition at several newsstands in Decatur.      However, an overwhelming…

     • MY OFFICE windows on the fourth floor of the Millikin Court Building face the west so, when I look out, I have an expansive view looking west.      There are a lot of sights and sounds that attract my attention at different times during the day when I’m talking on the phone or walking to…

     I don’t think it is any secret that I’ve been a businessman and publisher in downtown Decatur for a lot of decades.      Since I started Osborne Publications, Inc., in the mid-1960s I’ve watched, with a range of emotions, the downtown that I knew first as a kid, teenager and later, as a businessman, evolve into…

     This week, in our “Scrapbook” feature on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions, Tom Emery takes a look back on the era when Burma-Shave signs attracted a lot of attention by motorists and their passengers.      Back when my brother, Sam, and I were kids, mom and dad took a one-week driving…