Month: March 2018

Walton principal: Extra security requested, alternate events slated for walkout day

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UPDATED Thursday, March 8, 1:33 p.m.

Since we posted this, Judy McNeill has sent out a letter to the Walton community, indicating that a pre-school memorial observation on March 14 will begin at 7:50 a.m. and will include the following:

  • A moment of silence and reflection for the victims and their families.
  • A reading of the names of the victims.
  • Tables set up to receive letters written by students to local representatives and officials expressing student concerns and ideas for change.

At this event, she wrote, “All students are invited to participate to express their condolences for the lives lost and express any concerns and ideas for change.”

The alternate event is being organized by the Walton Principal’s Leadership Committee.

McNeill also wrote that for students who walk out at 10 a.m., “this is an unexcused absence and will count against incentive.”

ORIGINAL POST: Wednesday, March 7, 3:06 p.m.:

After we posted earlier this week about planned student gun-control walkouts March 14 at Walton High School, Principal Judy McNeill is telling us that another group of students will be holding a separate event before school on that day.

Walton principal Judy McNeil
Walton High School Principal Judy McNeill

She also said she’s asking for additional police support on what’s being called National Student Walkout Day.

In an interview with East Cobb News, McNeill said several of the students who met with her last week, including some in Walton’s current senior class, will be commemorating the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting before the school day next Wednesday, as she had suggested.

Other students have said they want to “walk out ” of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., in accordance with the national protest, which the Cobb County School District does not support.

“We need to have an activity that will be endorsed by the whole school,” McNeill said.

She said the students who are meeting before school next Wednesday will be holding up individual signs and conducting other observances in the memory of the Florida victims.

Those students favoring the walkout say they have gotten RSVPs from 2,300 of the nearly 2,700 students at Walton, but McNeill said it’s her understanding the number of students who have signed up online is about 1,000 students.

They had been tentatively planning to walk to the Walton football stadium, a move school officials have discouraged. McNeill said the stadium area, known as Raider Valley, is usually unlocked during the school day.

Students who would enter the stadium area would be doing so “not with any school support,” McNeill said, although they may have to show their IDs to get in. “I’m very, very worried about their safety.”

“They could do something that would be so much more meaningful than to get up and walk,” she said, adding that outsiders will not be allowed on campus.

The district has said previously that students who walk out would be violating the student code of conduct pertaining to disruption of the school day. The CCSD cited safety reasons for its decision.

All 16 Cobb high school principals were meeting with district staff today in a regular, previously scheduled meeting on a number of topics. The possibility of deciding punitive action was expected to be raised, but McNeill said she had no indication what those actions might be.

Walton students are in 4th period classes at the 10 o’clock hour. McNeill said she’s had discussions with teachers about “class-appropriate” activities for students who stay in their classrooms, and there also could be a school-wide message relayed on the intercom during that time as well.

“We have lots of ideas floating around,” she said.

Walton had two code-red drills last week, and she said they were both successful. Getting used to the new four-story classroom building that opened in August has taken some time. After a fire drill last fall, she admitted that “we had to learn some things.”

McNeill said “we spend a lot of time” preparing the school community on safety measures, including teachers having to watch videos on active shooter situations.

Principals at other Cobb schools also are beginning to communicate with their students and parents about alternate walkout day activities.

On Monday, Sprayberry High School Principal Joseph Sharp sent a letter to parents saying he’s working with students “to identify an appropriate way” and with parental groups “to create non-disruptive activities and opportunities” to honor the Florida victims.

“I cannot support or endorse allowing our students, your children, to participate in walking out of school which could place them into a potentially dangerous situation,” Sharp wrote.

 

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Members of the ‘Ghostface Gangsters’ face federal, state charges

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Ghostface Gangsters, Cobb Police
Cobb Police Chief Mike Register speaks about the Ghostface Gangster indictments, with U.S. Attorney Byung Pak at far right.

Cobb County Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta announced Tuesday that 23 members of the “Ghostface Gangsters” criminal ring have been indicted on racketeering and other federal, state and local charges, including attempted murder, drug trafficking and wire fraud, as well as attacks on law enforcement.

A 21-count federal grand jury indictment against 23 defendants issued on Feb. 8 was revealed at Cobb Police headquarters in Marietta. Cobb and federal authorities say the Ghostface Gangsters originated in the Cobb County Jail in 2000 and their ranks grew in other state jails and prisons to include several thousand members over the years.

Nine members of the gang were charged with racketeering. Twenty defendants were already in custody when the indictments were announced, and several are from Cobb County.

The wide-ranging criminal activity the defendants are charged with include kidnapping, drug trafficking, attempted murder, witness tampering and a variety of firearms crimes.

“The recent federal indictments of this dangerous gang demonstrates how effective and important interagency collaboration is between federal, state, and local partners, and also demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement entities at every level to keep the communities across this nation as safe as possible,” Cobb police chief Mike Register said at Tuesday’s press briefing.

The racketeering defendants include Jeffrey Alan Bourassa, 35, of Cobb, a founder of the gang, who also is charged with kidnapping and maiming another gang member, as well as Kevin Scott Sosebee, 27, also of Cobb, charged with the attempted murder of a Cobb police officer.

Sosebee is charged with shooting at a Cobb police officer in December in Mableton after a traffic stop, and then fleeing the scene.

Another defendant, Victor Manuel Dejesus, is charged with a violent carjacking and attempted murder of a motorist in Smyrna in July 2016, and in fleeing that crime is alleged to have shot at a Cobb deputy sheriff who was in pursuit.

“The Ghostface Gangsters gang is very violent and their members will not hesitate to shoot at anyone,” said Byung J. “BJay” Pak, the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta. “We are partnering with local and state law enforcement agencies, including the Georgia Department of Corrections, to stop this criminal enterprise. If convicted, the defendants will be removed to federal facilities all across the United States.”

In addition to Cobb Police, Marietta Cobb Smyrna/Cobb Anti-Gang Enforcement (CAGE), the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, the Marietta Police Department and the Cobb District Attorney’s Office have been involved in the investigation, along with law enforcement agencies in north Georgia and Tennessee.

 

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At town hall, Ott vows that East Cobb Library ‘isn’t going to close’

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Bob Ott, East Cobb Library

With the possibility of significant library cuts leading ongoing Cobb budget talks, District 2 commissioner Bob Ott was adamant on Monday that the East Cobb Library would not be among them.

It’s one of several Cobb library branches slated for closure or consolidation in a staff recommendation for fiscal year 2019, and one that has generated strong community opposition.

At the outset of his town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, Ott said that “we’re going to dispel some serious misconceptions about the libraries.”

While the meeting included discussions about transit, zonings, county employee pay increases and tax assessments, many in the packed audience of around 300 people came out to plead for the preservation of the East Cobb Library.

The commissioners met last fall on a budget retreat and heard many recommendations for reducing a projected deficit between $30 million and $55 million.

The proposed library cuts of $2.9 million amount to a quarter of the department’s budget. Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed a property tax increase of 1.1 mills, but few other major budget proposals have been made public.

That’s what Ott referenced as he held up a thick binder from the retreat at the town hall, held in the Sewell Mill Library’s black box theater:

“Have you heard anything else mentioned?” There are a whole lot of proposals that have come from staff, but [suggestions to cut libraries] gets everybody riled up.”

Related coverage

While the East Cobb Library doesn’t meet the county’s criteria for serving as a regional library due to being less than 20,000 square feet, because of its heavy use, Ott said, “we would all agree it’s a regional library.

“It isn’t going to close,” he said to loud applause.

The East Cobb Library is the third-busiest in the Cobb library system, with more than 250,000 materials checked out in 2017. It’s also the only branch that is in leased space, at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.

That rental expense is $263,000 a year, and it’s a factor that Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell cited when she suggested last year that the branch should close.

That got East Cobb residents in an outcry, and Ott was visibly upset in a town hall meeting he held at the library last summer.

“It’s been based on one commissioner who tried to close it, and she’s not here tonight,” Ott said Monday.

The East Cobb branch relocated from Merchants Walk in 2010, and leasing space at the time was considered more economical than building a county-owned facility, given local real estate prices.

When Ott was asked if it might be possible for the East Cobb Library to eventually get out of a leasing situation, he replied that “it’s a matter of finding the right opportunity.”

Ott opposes tax increases without finding savings in the current budget. Last year, he pressed for the closure of the business office at the East Cobb Government Service Center, a move that funded three new staff positions at the Sewell Mill Library.

He also mentioned the pending relocation of the Lewis A. Ray branch to the West Village development in Smyrna, which is offering 3,000 square feet of library space for $1 a year. That would save half the current operating cost of that branch.

“There are ways of doing this without raising your taxes,” Ott said.

Ott said that while many of his constituents contact him about right-of-ways and keeping medians maintained, his fellow commissioners hear often about keeping buildings open, including libraries.

“I don’t get e-mails about facilities,” he said. “You don’t necessarily want stuff. You want the place to look nice.”

He said that in order to ensure that the East Cobb Library stays open, he needs two other commissioners to vote with him. The budget is expected to be adopted in July.

“Send e-mails, not to me, but to the other commissioners and the chairman,” Ott said. “Let them hear what you think.

“You all know how to turn up the heat. Believe me, I’ve seen it.”

 

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Walton High School walkout leaders say nearly 2,300 students have signed up for protest

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Walton High School

The organizers of a Walton High School walkout in favor of gun control say nearly 2,300 students have signed up for a planned protest on March 14.

That’s an overwhelming majority of the students at Walton, the second-largest high school in the Cobb County School District by enrollment, with nearly 2,700 students.

Natalie Carlomagno, a Walton sophomore, said in an interview with East Cobb News that an online petition to gauge possible student participation in the event got many more signatures after Cobb school officials announced last week they would not support the demonstrations.

“After that statement, our RSVPs skyrocketed,” Carlomagno said. “I think people will go through with it.”

The students are planning to walk out of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., on March 14, in the memory of the 17 students and staff gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. last month.

Cobb school officials have cited safety reasons and disruptions of the school day for opposing this action, and said students could be subject to disciplinary action for violations of the student code of conduct.

Carlomagno said she and the other Walton organizers initially wanted the protest to take place in front of the school, under the flagpole, but there isn’t enough room.

She also said the logistics of the protest are also up in the air after she and other organizers met last week with Walton Principal Judy McNeill, who told them she was disappointed that they wanted to walk out.

Carlomagno said McNeill suggested the demonstration take place before school on the walkout day.

“That’s unacceptable,” Carlomagno said, insisting that the scheduled 10 a.m. walkout was the best way to show solidarity with the national protests.

Another suggestion was to allow the walkout to take place at the Walton football stadium, but Carlomagno said school officials didn’t want that.

(We’ve left a message with Walton officials and will update with a response.)

On Wednesday Cobb high school superintendents are getting together with high school-level district staff. Cobb school district spokesman John Stafford said it’s a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss a number of issues and topics.

“Will [the protests] be a topic of conversation? It will be hard to think it won’t be,” he said.

The district has not commented further on the walkouts except to reiterate the need to prioritize safety. Stafford said limiting the presence on high school campuses to students and staff is paramount.

While parents can come and pick up their children at any time, he said, others who may want to come to a school, especially individuals and organizations with an interest in the protest, will not be permitted.

“That’s part of our safety concern” about the walkouts, he said. “We’re not going to open up the campus to anyone who wants to come to campus.”

Stafford said there have been some suggestions from those in support of the walkouts that they would be no different than fire drills.

But having thousands of students walk out at the same time “most certainly is different,” he said.

“It’s not the same thing at all, from a security and safety standpoint.”

Carlomagno, who’s 15, said the Walton protest is to include a moment of silence for the Parkland victims, as well as a voter registration drive, and to let students know who their elected officials are. Although she and most Walton students are too young to vote, she said it’s important to let them know “what they can do to become more politically active.”

The shootings also hit home for Carlomagno, who grew up in Broward County, Fla., where Parkland is located. She said the similarities of Walton to the Parkland school, both with large suburban student bodies, have been mentioned by her friends.

“I keep hearing the conversations,” Carlomagno said, adding that she was reassured about safety measures at Walton after two “code red” drills were conducted last week.

 

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Wheeler student takes part in Model Atlanta Regional Commission project

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Gareth Thompson, Wheeler High School, Model Atlanta Regional Commission

Wheeler High School student Gareth Thompson was one of six students from the Cobb County School District and 48 in all to take part in a Model Atlanta Regional Commission project.

Gareth, a student in Wheeler’s STEM magnet program, is pictured above with ARC chairman Kerry Armstrong (L) and ARC executive director Doug Hooker. Here’s more about what Gareth and the other students did, via an ARC press release:

Last week, metro area high school students presented resolutions to the Atlanta Regional Commission Board outlining their innovative ideas for making metro Atlanta a more dynamic place to live and work.

The students represented the 48 participants of the 2017-2018 Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) youth leadership program. The class was comprised of students from the 10-county region, including six from Cobb County. The student leaders participated in six months of study, debate and hands-on activities regarding regional issues and challenges.

“I am so impressed with the hard work and thoughtful resolutions put forth by these young leaders,” said Kerry Armstrong, ARC board chair. “It’s evident that these students have a passion for finding new and creative ways to improve our region. The ARC Board committees will now review each resolution, looking for ways to advance their ideas.”

Students served on MARC committees that submitted the following resolutions to the ARC board for consideration:

  • ‘Adopt a Grandparent’ program – Encourage strong, multi-generational communities through the pairing of an older adult and high school students, promoting improved emotional and physical health for both parties
  • ‘Blue Light Systems’ – To increase the level of safety and comfort in metro Atlanta by implementing a “Blue Light System” in and around major activity centers, especially near college campuses and areas that might have a history or perception of high crime
  • Promote “learning-gardens” in school – Improve environmental education in local elementary schools by creating gardens at schools that promote awareness of water pollution, air pollution, the use of pesticides, habitat destruction, and other issues
  • ‘The GreenLife Transit App’ – Improve mobility millennials and younger generations by partnering with MARTA leaders to develop a cell phone application with incentives that will promote the use of public transit, walking, and biking.

Now in its 21st year, the MARC program is accepting applications for next school year’s class through March 16. Learn more at http://www.atlantaregional.org/marc.

 

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The East Cobb News weekly newsletter for March 4, 2018 is out!

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Catch up with all of the past week’s headlines and take a look at what’s coming up this week with the convenient East Cobb News weekly newsletter.

The East Cobb News Digest is delivered to your e-mail inbox every Sunday, and contains so much more, including the best calendar listings anywhere in East Cobb and convenient community information.

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This week’s story about a student “walkout” protest in favor of gun control, and the Cobb school district’s opposition to those plans, resonated with readers and many new subscribers, and we’ll be updating developments as that March 14 event approaches.

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Thanks for reading East Cobb News, and have a great week!

Olde Towne townhome proposal to be heard by Cobb Planning Commission

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A proposal that would allow a 43-unit townhome complex adjacent to the Olde Towne Athletic Club is the latest high-density rezoning case in East Cobb.

The request by Pulte Homes (here’s the agenda item packet) goes before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday. The Cobb zoning staff says the site plan (above) is too dense and is recommending denial.

That’s one of several East Cobb zoning cases on the docket that staff is recommending for denial, for density and future land use reasons.

The four-acre Olde Towne property houses a four-story office building at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway, and the end of a cul-de-sac, and is zoned planned shopping center (PSC).

Olde Towne townhome proposal
The proposed townhomes would be next to the Olde Towne Athletic Club (numbered 4950).

Pulte is seeking the RM-12 multi-family residential zoning category, which would allow 10.5 units an acre. The land is designated for potential community activity center (CAC) in the Cobb future land use plan.

Although there are nearby multi-family homes in the Olde Towne development, most of the surrounding land is commercially oriented. Those homes also are zoned at a lower density and are detached. Pulte’s proposal would build townhomes of around 3,000 square feet each and they would include garages.

The zoning staff, in its denial recommendation, said that RM-12 is ideally compatible with surrounding high-density development should match nearby residential categories.

Other East Cobb cases to be heard Tuesday by the planning commission include:

  • Another high-density townhome development at Windy Hill Road and Wildwood Parkway, by Ashton Atlanta, which was held by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in February;
  • A personal-care home proposal on less than an acre on Sandy Plains Road and north of Ebenezer Road, by Green Park PCH, which Cobb zoning staff also is recommending for denial since it would include 32 units and would be close to a single-family neighborhood;
  • A eight-unit single-family residential proposal by Duncan Land Investments on East Piedmont Road at Cajun Drive, on three acres zoned for low-density residential. Staff also recommends denial;
  • A 20-unit residential application by Loyd Development Services, on six acres on Shallowford Road near Shallow Ridge Drive. Right now the land is zoned low-density residential and staff also recommends denial, saying it’s too also too dense.

Here’s the link to all of the cases on Tuesday’s planning commission schedule. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room at the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

Planning board recommendations are advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make final decisions on March 20.

 

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Cobb schools social worker of the year serves East Cobb schools

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Earlier this month the Cobb County School District announced that Jacqueline Fross, who serves several East Cobb schools as part of its crisis response team, has been named the system’s social worker of the year. 

Fross supports students at Lassiter High School, Mabry Middle School and Davis, Garrison Mill and Rocky Mount elementary schools. In that role, she organizes community service projects, sponsors student clubs that promote volunteerism and service, and helped start the Lassiter community pantry.

Here’s more about Fross from a CCSD release:

In addition to having served on the boards of the National Association of Social Work and the state School Social Work Association, Fross is also a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is certified in crisis response and critical incident debriefing.

Contributing to the professional growth of her colleagues, Cobb’s Social Worker of the Year has supervised and mentored other service professionals in preparation of professional licensure.

“I have had the privilege of a very diverse and rich work history to include many years as a school social worker, medical social worker, mental health professional, supervisor, crisis response counselor, consultant, and advocate,” says Fross. “Active involvement in my community and professional organizations is important to me.”

 

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Weather alert: Cobb freeze watch in effect for early Saturday morning

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Cobb freeze watch
NWS low temperature projections Friday night and early Saturday morning for north Georgia.

The National Weather Service office in Atlanta has issued a freeze watch from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday for several counties in northwest Georgia, including Cobb.

The watch is part of a larger hazardous weather outlook for most of the weekend in north and central Georgia.

Mild but rainy weather this week helped trees and other vegetation that have been blooming.

The sun will be out for the weekend, but temperatures are forecast to be around freezing for the next few nights.

The possibility of freezing temperatures Sunday and Monday nights are also included in the hazardous weather outlook.

After temperatures Friday ranged into the high 50s, Saturday, Sunday and Monday daytime weather will be warmer, in the low-to-mid 60s. Lows will fall back into the 30s and 40s for most of the coming week.

Wind gusts that were as high as 20 mph today will continue through the weekend, and are expected to be calm by the start of the week. Stronger winds are expected in the mountainous areas of northeast Georgia.

As the work week begins, cloudy skies and rain will return to metro Atlanta, with a 50 percent chance of showers Monday night, and a 30 percent chance on Tuesday night.

 

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EAST COBB WEEKEND EVENTS: Little League opening day; Teen Tech Expo; Kell Band 5K; Murderino movie and more

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Sandy Plains Baseball Association

The rain is gone and we’ll be splashed with plenty of sunshine (albeit with cooler temperatures) during the first weekend in March. Fittingly enough, it’s also the official start of the season for two local youth baseball organizations. More below about those, and other East Cobb weekend events:

  • Run With a Longhorn 5K: The first-ever race is a fundraiser for the Kell High School band, and it gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the school (4770 Lee Waters Road). After you stretch your legs, enjoy food, vendors and fellow members of Longhorn Nation. Walk-up registration is $35;
  • East Side Baseball Opening Day: Saturday morning should also be great weather for a parade, starting at 8:50 a.m., followed by food, raffle prizes (including a golf cart) and the first games of the season at Fullers Park (3499 Robinson Road);
  • Sandy Plains Baseball is also swinging into action Saturday, with festivities starting at noon at Sweat Mountain Park (4346 Steinhauer Road);
  • The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) continues its Murderino Movie series from 11-1 Saturday with “Reversal of Fortune,” about the notorious Sunny von Bülow case. Bring your own food and drink if you like to the black box theater, and get a pre-film presentation. Rated R, for adults only;
  • East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) is holding a Teen Tech Expo from 1-4 Saturday to kick off Teen Tech Week. The link contains other related events during the week at the East Cobb, Sewell Mill, Gritters and Mountain View branches if you can’t make the expo;
  • On Sunday, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church (571 Holt Road) continues its free musical series with the Feiner Musicke Concert from 4-6. The husband and wife duo of tenor Mel Foster and harpist Ellen Heinecke Foster will perform inspirational music from the Art Song traditions of Europe and America.

Did we miss anything? Would you like to add your event to our calendar, not just for this weekend, but beyond? Send us an e-mail with all the proper information to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post it.

Check our full calendar listings for so much more!

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one!

 

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