On Dec. 3, the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce will reveal its 2019 East Cobb Citizen of the Year at its last breakfast meeting of the year.
The event also includes a discussion about the past, present and future of East Cobb Park with founders and visionaries of the park, including Mary Karras, Kim Paris, Tom Bills and Lee O’Neal.
The breakfast is from 7:30-9 a.m. at Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive). The cost is $25 for Chamber members and $35 for guests. Online registration ends on Nov. 29 (click here).
Each of the area councils of the Cobb chamber honor a citizen for work in the community with the Citizen of the Year designation. Last year, the East Cobb Citizen of the Year was Brenda Rhodes of Simple Needs GA, and in 2017 the recipient was U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
East Cobb Park opened on Roswell Road in 2003, after years of community advocacy and the purchase of what had been farmland belonging to the Tritt family. The all-volunteer non-profit Friends for the East Cobb Park was organized for that task, and to provide programs and events and assist with maintenance of the park, which is part of the Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Affairs.
Last year, Cobb commissioners voted to spend $8.3 million in park bond funds to purchase 22 acres of adjoining Tritt property, with plans to preserve it as greenspace and eventually expand East Cobb Park.
The Friends for the East Cobb Park contributed more than $100,000 from its endowment to complete the purchase, and launched a fundraising drive. In August, the county reimbursed $90,000 to the group.
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The grant will be used for critically needed home repairs of U.S. States veterans over the age of 55 in Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties.
“The Home Depot Foundation shares our commitment to honor our veterans with safe, warm and dry affordable shelter,” said Jessica Gill, CEO, Northwest Metro Atlanta Habitat. “The Foundation respects these heroes who have given so much for us, and we are grateful to be the organization to facilitate these important repairs.”
Critical repair projects could include roof and HVAC repairs, adding insulation and weather stripping, installing wheelchair ramps or renovating bathrooms and doorways to accommodate disabled veterans. Last year, NW Metro Atlanta Habitat served 26 deserving veterans through this program in Cobb Douglas and Paulding counties. Anyone interested in participating should contact James Maner at Jmaner@nwmetroatlantahabitat.org or 770-432-7954, x109
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Camelot/Signature Homes, LLC announces limited pre-sale opportunities at Amelia Walk, an intimate collection of 16 master-on-main detached homes in East Cobb County, one of metro Atlanta’s most popular choices for active adults due to the quality of life and Cobb’s senior tax advantages.
Construction has begun and the sales office with a furnished model will open by January 2020.
Located at Piedmont and Morgan Roads, Amelia Walk is convenient to I-75 and I-575, as well as Cobb’s best shopping, dining, entertainment and recreational venues.
“With high demand and low inventory, Amelia Walk presents a welcome opportunity for active adults looking for a stylish new home in East Cobb,” says Camelot/Signature Homes Managing Member Howard Zuckerman. Homes at Amelia Walk are designed with easy-living features like zero-entry doors and showers and low-maintenance finishes. With 10’ to 12’ main-level ceiling heights, all homes have abundant natural light, which contributes to the upscale look and feel. Two floor plans, the “Gemma” and the “Frankie,” will be available.
All homes within the community are two story with the master bedroom on the main level. Outdoor living spaces include a large patio and rear yard. At 2,500–2,900 square feet (per plan), the spacious homes have 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2-1/2 or 3 bathrooms and a 2-car garage. There are numerous options to personalize each home, including a screened porch, an outdoor kitchen, a finished bonus room, fireplaces, a soaking tub and a gourmet kitchen. Prices will start in the high $400s.
“With a limited number of homes available, I encourage those interested in Amelia Walk to act quickly to secure a desired homesite and take advantage of pre-sale discounts,” Zuckerman adds.
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An East Cobb man who owns vaping and tobacco shops at the East Marietta Shopping Center has been arrested and jailed without bond on drug charges after Marietta Police conducted a raid on his businesses Tuesday.
Marietta Police said Wednesday that Billy Scott Christian, 28, was charged with three felony counts related to the possession, sale and distribution of marijuana and another felony count of possession of a firearm during the commission or attempted commission of a crime.
According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, Christian lives at a Yancy Road address, in a neighborhood near Sedalia Park Elementary School.
He is the owner of the Royal Cigar and Tobacco Store at 1514 Roswell Road, and the Endangered Botanicals Shop at 1510 Roswell Road, both in the East Marietta Shopping Center.
Police said during the raid that lab equipment to manufacture gummy edibles and capsules of what may be Kratom (an opiate) were confiscated, along with more than nine pounds of marijuana, multiple scales, baggies and three firearms.
More than 100 pounds of the gummy edibles and possible Kratom capsules were collected at the scene for further testing, according to police. Kratom is a substance with similar effects as heroin.
Marietta Police said in a release that following safety alerts issued by the Centers for Disease Control about deaths relating to vaping and THC oil (the key ingredient in marijuana), they began investigating the sale of hemp and CBD oil in the city.
Samples from Christian’s store were identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as containing THC, not hemp, and Marietta Police said they secured search warrants as a result.
The police release said additional charges may be considered regarding the capsules “once the GBI confirms the actual chemicals” they may contain.
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The following East Cobb food scores from Nov. 18-22 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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Road construction work is backing up Johnson Ferry Road this morning at the Post Oak Tritt intersection, and Cobb DOT is reporting southbound delays are going back as far as Lassiter Road.
Traffic is reduced to one lane southbound, and there’s not an ETA on when both lanes will be open.
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Custom homes at the new Olde Braswell Estates subdivision, where older ranch homes once stood, start at $1.1 million. (ECN photo)
As teardowns of old homes continue in East Cobb and the rest of the county, residents are taking notice.
In a recent survey conducted by the Atlanta Regional Commission, 62 percent of Cobb residents responded that they’ve seen older homes in their areas being leveled by new, bigger and much more expensive homes.
Furthermore, another 44 percent said they could not afford to stay in their communities if they had to move.
The ARC’s 2019 Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey, which was unveiled earlier this month, included the launch of the organization’s Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy, which is meant to help local governments understand their housing challenges.
The study was conducted by the A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University, and included the responses of more than 5,000 people in 13 counties about quality-of-life issues.
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the residents surveyed said they’ve seen home “flipping” in which residential properties are remodeled and sold or rented at higher prices.
East Cobb is included in what the ARC describes as a “submarket” of “moderate-to-higher-priced suburban neighborhoods consisting almost entirely of single family homes.” That submarket (see map below), which includes other communities mostly in the north metro area, has a median home age of 26 years and a median home sales price of $298,000.
For that submarket, the ARC suggests, among other things, expanding the housing supply by reducing development costs. That would include increasing residential density “by reducing setbacks and minimum square footage requirements that support smaller lot sizes, duplex-fourplex designs, accessory units, multi-family development and micro-units.”
Although there’s no public transit in East Cobb (except for a CobbLinc bus route along Powers Ferry Road), 48 percent of Cobb residents in the survey said expanded transit is the best option for the Atlanta region’s traffic issues.
Another 30 percent of Cobb residents said transportation is the biggest problem facing the region, followed by 11 percent who cited concerns over crime.
The ARC survey also asked respondents about jobs and careers and the local economy. In 2013, the economy was cited by 24 percent as the biggest problem in metro Atlanta; that figure has fallen to 7 percent.
What wasn’t included in the ARC survey was housing as one of those categories. They included education, health care, taxes, race relations and others.
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Karen Handel at a town hall meeting at the Sewell Mill Library when she was in Congress. (ECN file)
Retiring U.S. Sen Johnny Isakson has endorsed former Congresswoman Karen Handel in her bid to regain the 6th District seat held by Democrat Lucy McBath.
Isakson, a Republican from East Cobb who represented the 6th District from 1999-2005, said in a statement that Handel is “who I trust to represent us in Congress, and I’m proud to support Karen to be our next representative” for the seat that includes East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb.
Here’s the rest of Isakson’s statement, released by the Handel campaign:
“Karen Handel is one of the hardest working people I know. Karen has proven time and again that she is a problem solver who focuses on results rather than politics. In Congress, she established herself as a leader on the issues we care about—reducing taxes, and helping small businesses; combating the opioid crisis; protecting those with pre-existing conditions and expanding health care options for all.”
Handel said “it is humbling to receive his support and endorsement of my campaign to represent the district he once held.”
Isakson’s endorsement comes a week after State Sen. Brandon Beach of North Fulton withdrew his candidacy in the GOP primary and said he would run for his current post, citing persuasion from Gov. Brian Kemp to provide “bold leadership under the Gold Dome.”
The GOP field also was reduced on Monday when Nicole Rodden of North Fulton, a former officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine and Navy reserves, announced she was dropping out. She said in a statement that she was doing so “in the name of unity:”
“It became evident to our team that without the proper resources to spread our own campaign message, we had no positive pathway to the general election.”
Rodden had raised $167,000 since April, with $98,000 coming from the candidate in the form of a loan. That’s far behind Handel, Beach and Milton businesswoman Marjorie Green, who is still campaigning and who also has loaned her campaign most of the $500,000 she has raised.
McBath edged Handel in one of the more hotly-contested U.S. House races in 2018 as Democrats gained control of the chamber.
McBath has raised more than $1.7 million to $712,000 for Handel through the end of September, according to Federal Elections Commission disclosure reports.
UPDATE: Georgia’s junior U.S. Senator, David Perdue, and Gov. Brian Kemp also have endorsed Handel.
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Earlier this month we posted about a fundraising appeal for Wreaths Across America, and in particular donations for purchase wreaths for the gravestones of veterans buried at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.
That was right before Veterans Day, but Tom Wilder, an East Cobb real estate agent and Naval veteran of Vietnam who’s spearheading the drive, says the group is running short of time and donations in order to place a wreath at every marker in that cemetery.
That’s more than 20,000 homemade wreaths in all, and the goal is to place the wreaths on Dec. 14. That work is done by local civic, church and scout organizations, but the wreaths need to be ordered by the end of November.
(There’s a separate organization that’s conducting a similar wreath-laying effort at the Marietta National Cemetery.)
Wreaths Across America is a national program that’s been doing this since 2008, and Wilder says Georgia businesses and individual donors have been making contributions for about as long.
Here’s what you can do to help:
Donations are tax deductible with a receipt provided by the Georgia National Cemetery Advisory Council upon request.
Please go to ganationalcemetery.organd support this special program recognizing the lives of those who have protected or given their lives for our freedom.
For more information, contact Tom Wilder, U.S. Navy Vietnam Veteran and Cemetery Council member at 770-973-1422 or tom@wilder-realty.com.
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Butch Carter of Honest-1 Auto Care is flanked by Jim Harris, ECBA president, and Cynthia Rozzo, publisher of the EAST COBBER magazine. (ECN photo)
When Butch Carter left the corporate world after a long career in sales, he took a very different turn as a business owner.
“I didn’t have background in automotive,” said Carter, the owner of the Honest-1 Auto Care repair service in East Cobb. He wanted to run his own business, and worked with a business coach to forge his entrepreneurial path.
When Carter opened in the fall of 2013 at a former Napa store on East Cobb Drive (behind where the Trader Joe’s is now located) Carter sought to fulfill the franchise’s promise “to build long-term relationships and give back to the community.”
Carter was named the 2019 business person of the year last week by the East Cobb Business Association, which honored him during a luncheon (that included an East Cobb cityhood debate) at the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
It’s the second year for the award, whose inaugural winner was Cynthia Rozzo, publisher of the EAST COBBER magazine.
A native of North Carolina, Carter was an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, then earned an MBA before entering the business world.
Carter had been a pharmaceutical sales representative for Pfizer, Otsuka and Stryker Medical and a sales manager for Axcan/Aptalis Pharma, with a personal business philosophy “that if you treat your customers right, you’re going to be successful.”
While Carter has taken that approach with him as a business owner, he credited his “phenomenal front desk staff. They’re the face of the business.” Those involved in the customer service aspect of Honest-1, he said, “are the driving force behind the success of our business.”
Carter has opened a second Honest-1 location in Johns Creek, and in East Cobb he has plunged into community service work. He’s a member of the Rotary Club of East Cobb, and he’s involved his business in projects that include more than 25 organizations.
Honest-1 has held a cookout for veterans in association with East Cobb-based United Military Care (more here about the work of this organization), has contributed to the food pantry at Brumby Elementary School and benefitted the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Carter also is a big believer in supporting other local businesses in East Cobb, using many of them for vendors for a variety of functions, including marketing, social media and website management.
The other finalists for the ECBA’s business person of the year are Cindy Trow, a health coach with Wellness Now, Ann Lafferty of Rakers Junk Removal, and Tom Gonter, the development director for MUST Ministries.
Righteous Que on the Move
The Righteous Que BBQ restaurant in the Piedmont Commons Shopping Center (1050 E. Piedmont Road) has outgrown its tiny space, and is in the process of moving three doors down, where El Taco Mexican recently closed.
A sign on the Righteous Que door notes it will be closed this week while the move is in progress, and they’re taking applications for the expanded business.
Roll On In Sets Opening Date
The first day of business for Roll On In Sushi Burrito & Bowls at Woodlawn Point (1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 365) will be Saturday, Dec. 7. The Asian concept franchise is owned by East Cobb residents Monte and Suzanne Petty Jump. You can track the progress at the store’s Facebook page.
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Submitted information for Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate taking place in Atlanta. The following events all begin at 7 p.m.:
The November Democratic debates are coming down to Georgia and if you aren’t able to get a coveted ticket to attend the real deal, join the Cobb County Democratic Committee for a fun and spirited Debate Watch Party. We are hosting Debate Watch Parties in three locations. Choose the location most convenient to you.
East Cobb/Cumberland: The Monticello (21 yrs+ only) 2000 Powers Ferry Road, Marietta, GA 30067 (Valet parking available, a self-park garage also located behind the venue).
West Cobb: Taco Mac 2650 Dallas Hwy Ste 100, Marietta, GA 30064
Acworth/Kennesaw: Huey Luey’s Mexican Kitchen & Margarita Bar 3338 Cobb Pkwy N, Acworth, GA 30101
Spirited discussions are guaranteed as we all cheer on our favorite candidates. Play Debate bingo and win a free ticket to our Dems After Dark Holiday Edition, t-shirts, magnets, so much more. Snacks will be provided by Cobb County Democratic Committee. Buy your own drinks and dinner.
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East Cobb cityhood leaders heard plenty from citizens at a Wheeler High School town hall meeting this week. (ECN file)
In trying to lay out a case for why a City of East Cobb might be a better value for citizens’ tax money than Cobb County government, those behind a cityhood movement used some animal analogies this week.
They described East Cobb as a “golden goose,” with its middle class and wealthy homeowners comprising a hefty portion of the county’s tax base, and not receiving the public services, especially police and fire protection, to justify their property tax bills.
East Cobb citizens, they argued, may feel like a frog in slowly boiling water, unaware of how much worse the heat can get if they don’t figure out a way to jump out.
“How are we being boiled?” shouted a woman from the back of the auditorium at Wheeler High School, angry not at the message she was hearing, but the messengers.
Like many of the more than 100 or so people in attendance at a town hall meeting Monday night, she was more than skeptical of the cityhood narrative that East Cobb would be better off as a new city, with more responsive local government delivered without a tax increase.
Cityhood leaders Rob Eble and David Birdwell and Bill Green of the Independent Financial Group at the Wheeler town hall. (ECN file)
It’s a message that the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb has been trying to make for several months, and that was renewed again this week.
“I was one of the frogs,” said Bill Green, who described himself as a cityhood skeptic, then became part of what was called the Independent Financial Group that concluded that a City of East Cobb is fiscally viable.
Before attending the cityhood’s first town hall meeting in March, he said, “I didn’t know what was going on.”
His comments to many of those in the Wheeler auditorium were unconvincing.
Cityhood leaders were heckled repeatedly by citizens unhappy about what they said is a lack of information, or a lack of transparency, or some of both.
Most of all, they remain deeply skeptical that the cityhood group that formed a little more than a year ago has given them any good reason to support a dramatic change in how their local government operates.
“I think it’s a solution in search of a problem,” said John Morgan, who lives in the nearby Willow Ridge subdivision.
He said he moved to East Cobb from DeKalb County more than 30 years ago, is satisfied with the Cobb County services he gets and doesn’t understand calls for what he said would be “another layer of bureaucracy.” Furthermore, slicing off an affluent part of Cobb would be “devastating” for the county and its AAA bond rating.
“And for what? We have a great life here. Why this?”
It’s a refrain that’s been heard repeatedly, and increasingly with more vigor, in recent weeks. A newly formed citizens group opposing cityhood, the East Cobb Alliance, was part of a debate with cityhood leader David Birdwell on Tuesday at a luncheon meeting of the East Cobb Business Association.
Mindy Seger, an accountant, went toe-to-toe with Birdwell on several fronts, taking issue with a financial feasibility study, claims of better police and fire services, and individuals on the cityhood committee with real estate ties.
When Birdwell said only three of the 14 cityhood leaders had real estate estate backgrounds, including himself, she asked, “can we get that list?” (It was released on Friday, on the cityhood’s revamped website, and contained several changes from the initial group members announced in March).
When asked to identify those who’ve been funding cityhood expenses, Birdwell would say only that a “large group” of East Cobb residents have been making donations.
In several ways, Seger is the ideal representative for those dead-set against cityhood. She was well-prepared and kept to factual concerns opponents have had in what has been an emotionally fraught issue.
Mindy Seger of the anti-city East Cobb Alliance debates David Birdwell of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb. (ECN file)
Like others who’ve come together to fight cityhood, she’s new to this kind of activism. She said after the debate that “there’s kind of been a political awakening” in East Cobb over the issue.
“It’s gotten people engaged,” Seger said, “and that’s a good thing.”
The citizens the cityhood group needs to win over are people like Joe O’Connor, a longtime East Cobb resident who liked the idea of cityhood after Cobb property tax rates went up in 2018.
When the financial feasibility study was released, O’Connor, who worked on East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott’s first campaign for office in 2008, was among those asked by the cityhood group to offer his thoughts.
When O’Connor asked who funded the study, he said he was told it was none of his business, and he promptly resigned.
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is taking a “wait-and-see” approach about sponsoring an East Cobb cityhood bill. (ECN file)
Now, O’Connor couldn’t be more opposed to cityhood. At the ECBA luncheon, he said he received a call a couple weeks ago from a pollster asking questions about cityhood that he thought were designed to produce a “yes” vote. He said he told the caller his vote would be no, and in no uncertain terms.
“It’s obvious they’re not going to tell who’s behind this financially,” O’Connor said. “I never invest in a company when I don’t know who’s running it.”
At the Wheeler town hall meeting, resident Patty Hawkins said she’s got an open mind about cityhood, but wanted to get more information about the proposed city boundary line changes (they now include the Pope and Lassiter school clusters).
“I think it’s something to consider,” said Hawkins, who said “I think I’d vote for it,” but there’s still more she wants to learn about the issue.
For the moment, the cityhood opinion that matters the most may belong to State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb. The cityhood bill introduced last session by State Rep. Matt Dollar still needs a local senate sponsor if it’s to pass the legislature and establish a referendum next year.
Kirkpatrick told the crowd at Wheeler she’s getting mostly negative feedback about cityhood, but is keeping an open mind and welcoming feedback from constituents. She’s planning to do some of her own polling on cityhood before the end of the year, which could decide whether the bill will be taken up at all when the legislature returns in January.
After nearly a year since the cityhood effort was revealed, the lack of a genuine public groundswell remains the single biggest challenge for those proposing a City of East Cobb.
While a key lawmaker feels the boiling heat, and as the community watches to see which way she’ll jump, those who think their “golden goose” is being cooked with a cityhood effort are as loud and organized as they’ve ever been, and couldn’t be more distrustful.
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After losing some heartbreakingly close games this season—including to Newnan at Raider Valley—the Walton football team was involved in another nailbiter in a rematch Friday night in the first round of the Georgia state playoffs.
The Raiders took an early 10-0 lead, but Newnan kept hanging around until the final minutes, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. This time, however, Walton didn’t squander the lead, and came away with a 27-24 victory to move on to the second round.
Walton is only 6-5 on the season, but four of those losses have come by a combined 15 points.
What’s facing the Raiders next? The other team that beat them this season, and it was a blowout. Walton travels to North Gwinnett next Friday in another rematch in Class 7A.
North Gwinnett, which defeated Walton 35-0 in September, is coming off a 51-14 win over Shiloh on Friday.
The Gladiators, whom Walton beat two years ago en route to a state championship, are 10-1 and ranked No. 4 in Class 7A. They haven’t lost since the opening game of the season, to second-ranked Colquitt County (which ended Walton’s season last year).
The Kell Longhorns jumped to an early lead and never gave it up, defeating Columbis 48-32 in a Class 5A game Friday at Avondale Stadium in DeKalb County.
The Longhorns are 9-2, and will head to Fayetteville on Friday when they play at Starr’s Mill (8-3), which downed Harris County 28-7.
A blocked extra point made the difference between winning and losing for Sprayberry, which reached the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
The Yellow Jackets had a chance to tie the game after scoring a fourth quarter touchdown at Lanier, but the point-after try was blocked, and they fell 15-14 in a Class 6A playoff game in Gwinnett County.
Sprayberry finishes the season at 6-5 and will return running back Demarion Owens, who rushed for more than 1,500 yards as a junior.
Wheeler also was back in the playoffs after a four-year absence, and faced the daunting prospect of playing at Roswell. The game was close in the first half, but after halftime the Hornets rolled to a 31-0 win in Class 7A.
The Wildcats were 5-6 under first-year head coach Bryan Love, and will move next year to Class 6A and compete in the same region with Lassiter, Sprayberry, Pope and Kell.
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The following East Cobb food scores from Nov. 11-15 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
In an effort to eliminate double testing and the number of tests Georgia students are required to take, the State Board of Education, Governor Kemp, and Superintendent Woods approved a policy revision that eliminates the End-of-Course-Test (EOC) for International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement students.
Specifically, the rule change applies to students in the following courses: AP Language and Composition, AP US History, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, IB English A Literature, IB Economics, and IB History of the Americas. The updated policy goes into effect on November 27.
The rule change, which Superintendent Chris Ragsdale fully supports, means almost 4,000 Cobb students will take 5,000 fewer EOC assessments in the 2019-2020 school year. Students are not required to take the AP test for the exemption.
How does the change impact Cobb students?
Until the policy change, state law required that the EOC serve as 20 percent of the final course grade. In order to maintain the current course weightings outlined in each teacher’s syllabus for the 2019-2020 school year, the District considered options to keep the course grading as consistent as possible.
Based on input from teachers, principals, and discussions with peer districts, the Cobb County School District staff determined that the best way forward this school year is to replace the EOC grade with a district-created assessment, which will function as a comprehensive exam.
“We are going to ensure that no student’s grade in these IB and AP classes are negatively impacted. We are putting in an assessment that is fair and equitable across the board,” said Superintendent Ragsdale.
From expanding the district-created assessments in the Cobb Teaching and Learning System to the opening of the new Cobb Innovation and Technology Academy in Fall 2020, Cobb Schools staff will continue to look for opportunities to best position students for future college and career opportunities.
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East Cobb Cityhood leaders David Birdwell, Karen Hallacy and Rob Eble at a Walton High School town hall meeting in April. (ECN file photo)
The list of names of those belonging to the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb is a bit different than what the organization originally released earlier this year.
After cityhood leaders were asked at two different cityhood-related events earlier this week to identify all the indivdiuals involved, the following is the group of names included on the committee’s website:
David Birdwell, retired logistics real estate executive
Owen Brown, owner and president of retail real estate company
Rob Eble, technology consultant
Joe Gavalis, retired federal agent
Dee Gay, insurance consultant
Karan Hallacy, Georgia PTA president, Development Authority of Cobb County member
Lisa Hanson, former sales and marketing executive
Nick Johnson, healthcare technology
Chris Mayer, SR VP sales & marketing Flexible Packaging
Chip Patterson, partner, hospitality business
Jerry Quan, retired Cobb County Police Precinct 4 commander, current school resource officer
Carolyn Roddy, attorney
David Womack, technology outsourcing deployment
John Woods, financial consulting
With the exception of Johnson, Mayer and Womack, all of the above were included on the orginal cityhood committee listwhen it was released in March, or joined soon after.
Original committee members Sharon McGehee, an associate director of advancement at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy and Kevin Taitz, a technology consultant, are no longer listed.
The original list had been on the cityhood website until recently, when the some of the site content was changed.
Birdwell, who led a cityhood town hall meeting Monday and was in a debate with the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance on Tuesday, also was asked to identify who is funding the cityhood’s feasibility study and lobbyists.
He wouldn’t name names except to say that “a large group” of East Cobb residents have made donations.
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The Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday that three more cases of the measles have been diagnosed in Cobb County, and that testing is underway on another possible case.
Two of those new cases involve two individuals who were unvaccinated, and the vaccination history of the other person is “unclear.”
The news comes after Georgia DPH announced last weekend a measles diagnosis for a person later identified as a Mabry Middle School student. That student was not vaccinated.
The Cobb County School District asked any unvaccinated students to stay away from school until Nov. 22, but declined to identify how many individuals that may involve, citing federal student privacy laws.
The district also declined to answer questions from East Cobb News if any of the new confirmed measles cases involve enrolled students. A district spokeswoman issued this statement:
“The District continues to operate at the direction of the Georgia Department of Health. We do not diagnose measles, outside of official notification from Cobb parents that their child has been diagnosed with measles, all questions should be directed to the Georgia Department of Public Health.”
When East Cobb News followed that response to ask the initial question a second time, the spokeswoman did not respond.
According to a post on the Transfiguration Catholic Church Facebook page Friday afternoon, the East Cobb parish had a confirmed measles case at its 6 p.m. Mass last Sunday, Nov. 10.
In Friday’s announcement, Georgia DPH said the three individuals may have exposed others between Oct. 30-Nov. 13. Public health officials said that “it is highly likely” those people “are all related, but the investigation into any linkage is ongoing at this time.”
Georgia DPH said in its release it does not believe the new cases are related to the case involving the Mabry student.
Thus far in 2019, 11 measles cases have been reported in Georgia, more than in the previous decade combined, and four of them have been in Cobb County.
Here’s more from today’s release by Georgia DPH:
“These additional cases of measles should be highly concerning for anyone who is not vaccinated with MMR. Measles is a serious disease, one which can lead to dangerous complications, even death,” said Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H. “The MMR vaccine is safe and about 97% effective in preventing measles. Vaccination is strongly advised for individuals not only to protect themselves, but to protect vulnerable populations – such as infants who are too young to be vaccinated and those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.”
Measles spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Droplets from the nose or mouth become airborne, or land on surfaces where they can live for two hours. Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90% of the people around him or her will also become infected if they are not vaccinated.
Measles starts with a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Then a rash of tiny, red spots breaks out. It starts at the head and spreads to the rest of the body.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends children receive their first dose of MMR vaccine between 12-15 months of age and a second dose between 4-6 years old. More than 95% of the people who receive a single dose of MMR will develop immunity to all three viruses. A second dose boosts immunity, typically enhancing protection to 98%.
Adults who are not sure about their measles immunity should speak to their health care provider.There is no harm in getting another dose of MMR vaccine if you may already be immune to measles (or mumps or rubella).
People with symptoms of measles should contact their health care provider immediately. DO NOT go to the doctor’s office, the hospital, or a public health clinic without FIRST calling to let them know about your symptoms. Health care providers who suspect measles in a patient should notify public health immediately.
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On Thursday night the Cobb Board of Education recognized numerous groups and individuals at its monthly voting meeting, including student and teachers at three schools in East Cobb.
They include the Pope softball team (above), which recently won the Georgia High School Association Class 6A state championship (ECN coverage here). It was the second for coach Chris Turco (front row, light blue pants), who also won his 300th game at Pope during the state tournament.
Also recognized were staff and teachers at Davis Elementary School for its recent certification as a STEM school.
Wheeler High School teacher Dr. Nicole Ice (in purple dress below) was honored as the recipient of the 2019 Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Gladys M. Thomason Distinguished Service Award. She was recognized by the board with Wheeler principal Paul Gillihan, at left, and Vicki Massey, the Wheeler math coordinator.
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After hearing complaints about students riding in buses without air conditioning during hot weather, the Cobb County School District got the message.
On Thursday, the Cobb Board of Education approved the purchase of nine new buses, all of them with air conditioning, as the 112,000-student district begins transforming its bus fleet over the next few years.
The 7-0 vote comes a month after the board voted to table the measure.
The nine new buses will cost a total of $895,758, with $538,576 coming from the current Cobb Education V SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), and the rest from state bus bonds and a district building fund.
Five of the buses with have 72-seat capacities for regular education students, and the other four will accommodate 48 special-education students each.
Marc Smith, the school district’s chief technology and operations officer, said Cobb schools have a fleet of 1,198 buses, but only 195 have air conditioning.
During a Thursday afternoon work session, he laid out a purchasing option that would call for a total of 212 new air-conditioned buses through 2023. The costs would include $21 million in SPLOST funds (see chart below).
During the presentation, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the better option for the district was to buy air-conditioned buses, rather than having current buses retrofitted.
He also apologized for presenting inaccurate data at the October board meeting. Of the 279 special-education buses, 81 have air conditioning. The general-education fleet of 831 buses has five that are air-conditioned.
Of the new air-conditioned buses that will be purchased with current SPLOST funding, 123 will be for general education students and 89 will be for special education students.
Having air conditioning adds about $10,000 to the cost of a new bus. Board members haggled in October about that expense, with first-year board member Jaha Howard lobbying for air conditioning.
David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb argued against it, saying the heat experienced by students early in the school year doesn’t bother them.
At the start of the work session, Jon Gargis, the father of a Cobb student, noted concerns about the cost of air-conditioned buses, given that the board was set to consider Thursday night an eminent domain resolution to buy 15 acres of land near Walton High School for $3 million for a softball field and tennis courts (The board later agreed to terms with the property owner for the purchase, avoiding eminent domain.).
“I’m not a mathematician,” said Gargis, a former reporter for The Marietta Daily Journal, but he calculated that adding that $3 million could help buy 300 72-seat buses to serve more than 21,000 students, about a fifth of the district’s total enrollment.
“I hope that if we can find the money for athletics, we can find the funding for climate-control systems which are all but a necessity and an expected amenity to all of us in 2019,” he said.
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The Cobb Board of Education didn’t have to consider declaring eminent domain to purchase land for sports facilities near Walton High School Thursday night.
That’s because earlier this week, the owner of 15.2 acres of property on Pine Road agreed to terms with the Cobb County School District on a selling price.
Marc Smith, the district’s chief technology and operations officer, said representatives for Thelma McClure approached the district with a signed contract offer for $3 million.
That’s what the district had been offering, a price it said was 10 percent higher than the appraised value for the two parcels of land, one of which is directly across from the Walton campus on Bill Murdock Road.
The board voted 7-0 on the land purchase. The $3 million price doesn’t include closing and other costs that are part of property transactions, Smith said.
The district intends to build a softball field and tennis courts that were displaced in 2014 when construction began on a new Walton classroom building.
The Cobb school district had been negotiating with McClure for nearly five years, to little avail, due to differences over price.
“The only thing that’s different now is that eminent domain signs went up,” said Post 6 school board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton cluster.
Under eminent domain, public agencies can acquire private property for public use but must pay just compensation.
Before the vote, a resident living near the McClure property expressed surprise and concern about the possibility of eminent domain, and what may be built on the land.
“I feel heartbroken for her,” Rachel Slomovitz said, referring to McClure. She also asked “will my home be across the street from a parking garage?”
Slomovitz also said the sports facilities would add to additional traffic in the Walton area.
Caroline Holko, a former Cobb commission candidate who’s running for the Georgia House District 46 seat in East Cobb, said she didn’t like the idea of “eminent domaining an old lady out of her house for a softball field.”
Davis said while she understands those who may wonder “how can you do this?,” she said those impressions aren’t accurate.
“She was willing to sell,” she said of McClure, who inherited the land from her late husband Felton McClure, who was part of the Murdock family that owned farmland in what is now East Cobb. “She’s not living there.”
The wood-frame home that lines Pine Road (above) and was built in the 1920s has been vacant for many years, and most of the land is wooded and has never been developed.
Walton softball parents have been lobbying the board and the district to be relocated back to campus soon after having to play at Terrell Mill Park for the last six years.
Although the district has pledged to do that with funding from the current Cobb Education SPLOST 5, the team’s absence from campus has caused some issues relating to Title IX, a federal sex discrimination in education law.
Among the law’s sports provisions is for equitable resources, including facilities. The Walton boys baseball team has remained on campus, while girls softball has been displaced.
Davis said the land purchase is “the first step” toward rectifying some of those issues. “We’re going in the right direction.”
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