Marietta Edges Closer to Razing

1. A nearly six-year-old battle of an oversized office building on South Marietta Parkway near Interstate 75 might be closer to end...an end that could mean the demolition of the building.

The Georgia Court of Appeals this week affirmed a 2010 ruling from Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs, who denied a request from Waleed "Lee" Jaraysi to halt the city's efforts to raze the building. Jaraysi has 10 days to ask the three-member panel of the appellate court to reconsider.

The core of the issue: Jaraysi's 24,000-square-foot office building ballooned to three times the size the city permitted. In 2005, the city approved a permit for an 8,000-square-foot structure but stopped construction when officials learned it had become much larger.

2. The Marietta City Council meets tonight to approve the city's Fiscal 2012 budget. The for the upcoming fiscal year is balanced one and will not rely on the use of reserve accounts. The budget also has no service reductions, no tax increases and no employee layoffs or furloughs.

The council meets for an agenda review session at 6 p.m. at , followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m.

3. For those who think the newspaper industry has died (and don't think that this is a voodoo wish against either the Marietta Daily Journal nor the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), take a look at this neat feature.

The Newspaper Map links to every single newspaper that has a digital edition (more than 10,000 of them). Makes you wonder a little bit about the real health of print journalism.

You will note that both the MDJ and AJC appear on the map. Marietta Patch (and more than 800 Patches across the United States) do not appear ... yet.

4. The , known for its incredible charity-based wine tasting session, has another one for today from 5 to 7 p.m. This one features wines from Portugal, the country best known for its ports. For the cost of a charity donation, you will sample Portugal's best known white wine, Vino Verde, some reds from Duoro and a 10-year port.

5. Today is Upsy Daisy Day. According to the folks at Holidaypedia, it means that you simply make it a day where you wake up and simply be grateful to be alive! (If you didn't do that, go back to bed and start all over again.)