Families, friends and survivors of domestic violence lit candles at an Oct. 19 vigil to remember the women, men and children killed in domestic violence incidences during the last year.

The 15th annual event, hosted by the DeKalb Women's Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, took place at the Gazebo on the Square in downtown Decatur. It is held each October, which is observed nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Participants also read aloud the names of the more than 100 people who died in domestic violence incidents in Georgia since October 2005.

Nationally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. It says domestic violences accounts for injuries than muggings, rapes and car accidents, combined.

It also says that every nine seconds, a woman is beaten in American by a domestic partner.

In Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 30 percent of women ages 14 to 44 report that an intimate partner has physically assaulted them at least once.

For more information visit www.wrcdv.org or call 404-370-7670.

Elementary steps to avoid using drugs

Hundreds of children from Tilson Elementary paraded around their school on Oct. 20 with anti-drug banners to celebrate Red Ribbon Week.

The annual observance, which focuses kids' attention on the value of being drug free, is being observed at schools throughout DeKalb County through Nov. 1.

Tilson's 350 students and principal Sandra Wilson, who rode in the parade in a convertible, were joined by School Board member Sarah Copelin-Wood, Miss Black Georgia and other celebrities.

Students from nearby Leslie J. Steele Elementary and St. Peter Claver also joined the fun.

Marching bands from both McNair and Cedar Grove High School provided the music for the parade that meandered through portions of the school's neighborhood.

Environment subject of fair

Families can watch healthy cooking demonstrations, sample fall recipes and pick up lots of information on a range of subjects at the Oct. 28 Fall Festival at the Environmental Education Center in Decatur.

The 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. festival, which is being presented in association with the DeKalb Cooperative Extension Service, will feature discussions about fall color in landscaping, kitchen and worm-composting, water-wise practices, and Georgia trees.

Speakers will also discuss goats, exotic plants and bird house construction. There will be a tour of the Department of Agriculture's Equine Adoption Facility and visits with metro Atlanta plant societies.

Kids' can have their face painted and vie for prizes in costume and pumpkin painting contests for children 12 and under.

The EEC is at 2390 Wildcat Road in Decatur.

For more information, call 404-244-4881.

Fair helps spread word about good health

Health screenings for adults and children, as well as fun stuff like face painting, were in plentiful supply at an Oct. 21 health fair at the Gallery at South DeKalb.

The four-hour event focused attention on cardiovascular disease, which kills more African Americans than any other disease.

Nationally, heart disease afflicts four out of 10 African-Americans, and health groups are working overtime to get blacks to understand the correlation between heart disease, diet and lack of exercise.

The health fair was sponsored by the Association of Black Cardiologists, Steps to a Healthier DeKalb and County Commissioner Larry Johnson.

Health care providers offered screenings and information on hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol and stressed the importance of regular physical activities.

Education, state budget to be explained

Alan Essig, the executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, will be the keynote speaker at a Nov. 9 briefing on education and the state budget, hosted by state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield at the Decatur Library.

Essig is the founding executive director of the institute, the state's leading independent, nonprofit, non-partisan organization engaged in research and education on the state's fiscal and economic health. He has served as a senior research associate with the Fiscal Research Center of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State Univeristy.

At the 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. event, he will give a PowerPoint presentation on how the state budget process works and its impact on the state's educational system. A question and answer session will follow.

The Decatur Library is at 215 Sycamore St. in downtown Decatur. For more information, call Benfield at 404-377-7014.