March 2020

More East Cobb business and restaurant closings 3.23.20

March 23, 2020 4:00 PMMarch 23, 2020 1:35 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Taqueria Tsunami restaurant

We’re compiling this list and will be updating it all day, as businesses continue to close temporarily or change their hours and go to takeout or delivery only.

Much of this figures to change after the governor holds a briefing at 5 p.m. Monday and Cobb commissioners meet Tuesday morning.

If you’ve got information to share about Coronavirus-related closings, cancellations, postponements or other changes in East Cobb, please e-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com.

We’ll be doing a separate post on ongoing food drive updates for the needy, elderly and others.

Closings

Frenchies Modern Nail Care: As of Friday, targeting April 3 reopen date;
Marietta Fish Market: As of Monday;
Cazadores Mexican Restaurant: Both East Cobb locations, as of Monday;
East Cobb Tavern: As of Sunday;
Frankie’s Italian: Closed as of Monday;
Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant: Closed as of Monday;

Changing Hours/Services

Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb: Takeout and curbside delivery only, 4-9 p.m. daily;
Brewsters Neighborhood Bar & Grill: Takeout and curbside delivery only, starting Tuesday through April 6;
Catfish Hox: New hours 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and drive-through service only;
Zama Mexican Cuisine: Open 12-9 p.m., dine-in still open with curbside delivery available;
Chicken Salad Chick: Open 10-5 and curbside pickup is available;
Biscuits and More: Curbside pickup available;
Marietta Antique Mall: New daily hours 12-4 p.m.;
Paradise Grill: Dining room closed but curbside and delivery available;
Asahi Japanese Steakhouse: Open for curbside and takeout from 4-8:30 p.m. daily;
Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q: Curbside pickup is available;

Cobb commissioners to hold special Coronavirus meeting Tuesday

March 23, 2020 12:31 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt send out word late Monday morning that the Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold a special Coronavirus meeting Tuesday.

That begins at 10:30 a.m. and will include an update on the county’s response to the pandemic and the delivery of services.

The meeting takes place in the BOC meeting room in the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), but the public is being asked to tune in at cobbcounty.org or the county’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Cobb County Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said in a release issued by Cavitt that “the Board will hear from the Director of the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department to help us decide how to respond to this unheralded public health crisis.”

The county also has established a hotline designed to answer county-specific questions The number is 770-590-5790 for county operations; if you need health-related answers the state COVID-19 hotline number is 844-442-2681.

Cobb has been on “limited operations status” since Wednesday.

On Friday, Boyce said he was reluctant to shut down businesses or impose curfew or quarantine.

Some of those measures are being undertaken in Smyrna, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Roswell and the city of Atlanta.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also does not want to do that, although other local governments in the state have ordered shutdowns that have been in place in other states and locales.

At noon Monday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 722 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, or COVID-19 in the state, 79 of them in Cobb County. That trails only Fulton County, which has 145 cases.

The death toll in Georgia from the virus has climbed to 25, and 5.069 people have been tested.

Kemp will be providing a briefing at 5 p.m. Monday, and it can be seen live on the governor’s Facebook page or at the Georgia Public Broadcasting site.

Getting out in East Cobb during a time of social distancing

March 23, 2020 3:40 PMMarch 22, 2020 3:13 PM by Wendy Parker

UPDATED, MONDAY 3:30 P.M.: Cobb County government said Monday it is closing all outdoor parks until further notice.

After being at home for two days, I got out a little bit on Saturday and swung by East Cobb Park.

It was like any other Saturday afternoon with spring-like weather, with a nearly-full parking lot, plenty of people walking, tossing ball on the open lawn and using the playground.

The park was one of the few places in the community where you could see a lot of people congregating together, as many East Cobbers are heeding public health messages to practice social distancing when they’re out.

Driving down Johnson Ferry Road on a Saturday afternoon was also an eerie experience. There was hardly any traffic, and if you wanted to—and I’m not encouraging this, by the way—you could drag race.

There are a good number of stores and restaurants that are open, and so many are now providing services that they hadn’t had before. There’s even curbside service for picking up preorders at Half Price Books at Woodlawn Square.

After a very long and anxious week or so, posting nothing but Coronavirus stories, I’m taking a bit of a break on Sunday. Unless something major happens today, I won’t be posting here. I need to rest up, clear my head and get ready for another busy week of tracking our community’s response to this terrible virus.

I don’t know what the coming days or weeks may bring, but I do appreciate your readership. I hope to be posting some other news soon—there’s a good bit I haven’t been able to get to—and we all need a diversion from the unrelenting gloomy headlines.

We’re probably in for some rougher stuff ahead, but thanks to many of you for reaching out with information, tips and questions about Coronavirus-related topics.

We’re going to try to follow up your suggestions, get answers for your questions and let you know how our community is coming together in a time of great uncertainty.

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!

Georgia Coronavirus Update 3.21.20: 555 cases; 50 in Cobb; 20 deaths

March 21, 2020 7:17 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

The number of positive Coronavirus cases in Georgia took a big jump again on Saturday, to 550 as of 7 p.m., an increase of 70 over the previous 24 hours.

The number of deaths also surged, from 14 on Friday to 20 on Saturday.

Cobb’s case number is up to 50, up from 48 on Friday and among those testing positive is State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb.

(View the Georgia DPH daily status report; it;s updated at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.)

The report doesn’t indicate where the new deaths occurred; positive tests for Coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Georgia have been recorded in more than 50 counties.

Fulton County has the most cases, with 99, followed by Bartow with 56 and Cobb. Dougherty County has 47 confirmed cases and six deaths as of Friday.

The first of Georgia’s Coronavirus deaths occurred in Cobb; he was a 67-year-old man treated at Kennestone Hospital who had other medical issues.

No other deaths in Cobb have been confirmed.

A total of 3,818 people been tested in Georgia thus far.

National and state-by-state details can be found at The COVID Tracking Project.

Closed East Cobb restaurants seek assistance for workers

March 21, 2020 1:46 PM by Wendy Parker

Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar, East Cobb restaurants workers assistance

Several East Cobb businesses that have closed temporarily due to the Coronavirus response have set up special fundraising drives to help their workers financially during the shutdown.

We’ve listed below what we know about and will be adding to this list; if you know of others please e-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com with the information and we’ll update.

We’ll also be working up a list of restaurants that are still open that are adding curbside and takeout services. Most places we know of have shut dining room service or severely limited it.

Here are the restaurants that have launched GoFundMe appeals:

For now restaurants in unincorporated Cobb are allowed to operate without the limitations that have been imposed in Smyrna, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and other nearby cities, along with the city of Atlanta.

Both Gov. Brian Kemp and Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce have said they have no plans to shut down businesses or limit their operations beyond public health guidelines regarding social distancing.

Upcoming Cobb government meetings postponed until May

March 21, 2020 10:55 AMMarch 21, 2020 8:50 AM by Wendy Parker

Meetings for the Cobb Board of Commissioners and appointed bodies on planning and zoning matters that were to have taken place through March and in April have been postponed or cancelled.

Here’s what the county put out late this week:

Board of Commissioners work session, 1:30 p.m., Monday, March 23: CANCELED
Board of Commissioners regular meeting, 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 24: CANCELED
Planning Commission zoning hearing, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 7: POSTPONED UNTIL May 5
Board of Commissioners regular meeting, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 14
Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 15: POSTPONED UNTIL May 13
Board of Commissioners zoning hearing, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 21: POSTPONED UNTIL May 19.

Agenda items will move forward to the next scheduled meeting date.

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick tests positive for Coronavirus

March 20, 2020 10:11 PM by Wendy Parker

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican from East Cobb, said Friday night she has tested positive for the Coronavirus.

In a Facebook posting, Kirkpatrick said she felt a fever last Saturday and said she immediately began self-quarantine in what she called “COMPLETE isolation.”

A retired orthopedic surgeon, Kirkpatrick said she called her doctor and is feeling fine, but took a test and the results came back positive.

“I have followed the strict protocol recommended by [Georgia] DPH and am comfortable that I have not put anyone at risk,” she said in her message, adding that she’s following the state health agency’s instructions to quarantine for another week.

“We will not be out and about until we have completed the protocol.”

Kirkpatrick is the third member of the Georgia Senate to have tested positive for Coronavirus, or COVID-19.

All 236 members of the Georgia legislature were ordered to self-isolate until March 30 after State Sen. Brandon Beach of North Fulton, who also had been screened for the virus over the weekend, attended Monday’s special legislative session called by Gov. Brian Kemp following his declaration of a statewide public health emergency.

More than 30 State House members and seven senators were absent from those proceedings due to self-quarantine.

Beach been criticized by colleagues and the governor for showing up for the session after his screening. He was awaiting the test results but said his doctor’s initial diagnosis was negative.

Kirkpatrick told her Facebook following that “although I am in the at-risk age group, I am blessed to be very healthy and thankful that I am recovering without complications. I will be happy to have immunity to this awful virus.”

Earlier on Friday, she said she and her staff were working from home, urged constituents to heed the advice of public health officials and provided the following information:

Georgia has a new hotline number for Covid-19 questions, 844-442-2681. There are some official websites that are useful as follows:

For health info:
CDC.gov and DPH.georgia.gov.

Governor’s office:
Gov.georgia.gov

Schools including meal info:
cobbk12.org and Fultonschools.org

Business:
Unemployment- dol.georgia.gov
SBA loans- sba.gov

Insurance:
OCI.ga.gov

Emergency needs:
MUSTministries.org
Unitedwayatlanta.org

Please continue social distancing, surface cleaning and hand washing. If you are sick, stay home!

Boyce: ‘No intention’ to close Cobb businesses; parks staying open

March 20, 2020 7:12 PMMarch 20, 2020 6:24 PM by Wendy Parker

In a video message Friday, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said he’s not inclined to declare a state of emergency in the county, even though two Cobb cities have done that.

The City of Smyrna has declared a state of emergency starting at 8 p.m. Friday until April 3, prohibiting gatherings of 10 people or more, ordering certain businesses to close and forbidding restaurants from providing dining room service.

The City of Kennesaw also has declared a state of emergency, though no businesses are being forced to close.

The day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he will not ask businesses to close, or to impose a statewide curfew or quarantine, Boyce echoed the same sentiments for Cobb County.

“I have no intention of asking the board [county commission] to get together to require businesses to close,” he said. “If we give you the facts as to what this virus does and what we need to do to mitigate it, you’ll take the necessary measures to do that.

“I don’t think we have to close businesses for business owners to see that they have to make necessary adjustments to do things like takeout service, or to spread out the distance between customers so they don’t interact with each other.

“If in fact we think the virus is transmitted in a way that requires us to totally close the businesses, that’s something the governor will probably institute, or the president of the United States.”

Boyce said they have access to more information than he does, and urged citizens to get behind them.

He also said Cobb parks will be remaining open. It’s one of the few components of county government that isn’t being closed or limited to due to “limited operations status” that went into effect on Wednesday.

“People are simply going to use those parks,” he said. “That’s just human nature. They’re going to get out of their houses, they’re getting cabin fever. They want to go somewhere, at least for a little while, where they can have some comfort.”

He said if something should happen at a park, “we would have a presence there” to address whatever the issue might be.

Cobb commissioners meetings for Monday and Tuesday have been postponed, and Cobb zoning meetings for April have been postponed to May.

Cobb’s positive Coronavirus case total is now at 47, with one of 14 deaths in the state, as Georgia’s case number jumped to 485, nearly 50 percent higher than Thursday.

As for testing for the Coronavirus locally, Boyce said Cobb doesn’t have the number of test kits available to match the number of people who may have the virus. He didn’t specify a figure.

In his update on Thursday, Kemp said the emphasis would be on testing elderly and ill citizens, those who’ve shown symptoms and health care and medical professionals.

Boyce urged Cobb citizens to “take personal responsibility” to mitigate the spread of the virus, including social distancing, staying home if they’re sick and following other hygiene guidelines.

He said starting Monday he would be working from a Cobb emergency management operations venue to coordinate responses to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Cobb Community Foundation launches COVID-19 response fund

March 20, 2020 3:14 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Community Foundation response fund

Submitted information:

Cobb Community Foundation (CCF), today announced it is establishing the Cobb COVID-19 Community Response Fund. This charitable fund will provide flexible resources to non-profit organizations serving Cobb and meeting critical needs either arising from or exacerbated by the novel coronavirus. According to President and CEO, Shari Martin, the organization’s previous focus on fundraising for Cobb Community Opportunity Grants, inspired by the results of last year’s Cobb Human Services Needs Assessment commissioned by CCF, is taking a back seat to the current crisis.

“We are all in unchartered territory. We don’t know what’s ahead, but we know that as a community foundation, it’s our role to build and deploy resources to help our community get through this relatively unscathed, or at least as unscathed as possible,” she says. CCF has shared on its blog, throughout social media, and in its newsletter information about many of the organizations that are at the forefront of caring for Cobb’s most vulnerable populations in the midst of COVID-19. Martin says, “For many in our community, those and many other organizations are that domino that keeps all of the others from falling, and because more of our community will need their help, now more than ever, these organizations will need our help.”

Board member, Kim Gresh, agrees. “There’s no doubt that this is the right thing to do.” Gresh, owner of S.A. White Oil Company, First Vice Chair of the Foundation’s board and chair of the organization’s Events Committee, says that the Foundation has decided to cancel this year’s Partners in Philanthropy event, opting instead to focus the budgeted money where it will be most needed. “In the environment we are in, it just makes more sense to use that money to help the organizations that are out there helping people in our community stay afloat.” Martin agrees. “The grant checks are much more important to grant recipients than the fanfare.”

Al Martin, Regional External Affairs Manager for Georgia Power Company, serves on the board of Cobb Community Foundation and also chairs its Grants and Scholarships Committee. “Anyone can give to this Fund and know that, other than credit card fees which don’t come to us, 100% of their contribution will be distributed to non-profits meeting critical needs.” According to Mr. Martin, the process to receive a grant is going to be quick and painless. “These organizations have enough to take care of without having to fill out some long application.”

In addition to offering an opportunity to contribute to the Fund, CCF is also urging its own donors to look for opportunities to support local nonprofits currently addressing critical needs, organizations such as Sweetwater Mission, MUST Ministries, Center for Family Resources, Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, The Zone, and others, by making direct contributions. General contributions provide the greatest amount of flexibility for non-profits, which is particularly important at a time when needs are rapidly changing.

“Non-profits are not only dealing with more clients with more needs, they are also having to deal with postponed events,” Shari Martin says. “They are having to handle more with much less. The Cobb COVID-19 Response Fund will help to replace those lost revenues, and then some.”

Details on how nonprofits might request and access general operating resources from the Cobb COVID-19 Community Response Fund will be announced in the coming days. For more information and to donate, go to cobbfoundation.org.

Georgia Coronavirus cases swell to 430 with 13 deaths

March 20, 2020 8:09 PMMarch 20, 2020 12:25 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

Here’s Friday’s daily status report from the Georgia Department of Public Health (it’s updated twice daily at 12 and 7 p.m.), and it bears out what Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday: The number of Coronavirus cases is going to continue to jump.

UPDATED, 7:50 P.M.: The number of Georgia cases is now 480, with 14 deaths; Cobb’s total is 48 cases and one death.

On Friday afternoon that number was 430, up from 287 on Thursday, and the number of deaths rose by three, from 10 to 13 in a 24-hour period.

Cobb County has the second-largest number of cases in Georgia. Friday’s total was 45, up from 37 on Thursday.

Another 500 or so test results statewide are part of those figures, according to DPH: 2,386 as of noon Friday, compared to 1,861.

Readers have been asking where specifically in counties these cases are taking place, but the DPH numbers aren’t that granular. As soon as we get more information like that, we’ll pass that along.

East Cobb Coronavirus Update 3.20.20: Closings, town hall, more

March 20, 2020 8:00 PMMarch 20, 2020 9:37 AM by Wendy Parker

U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

We’re going to start compiling a catch-all list of closings, cancellations, postponements and other events related to the Coronavirus outbreak and community response to it as they happen and publish them during the mornings for the time being.

Like everything related to this virus and the local/state/federal and even global response to it, it’s all fluid, so bear with us. We’re trying not to overwhelm you with information but there’s so much that’s happening on the fly and that’s how we’re trying to share it with you as best we can.

First of all, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath is having a telephone town hall meeting Friday (tonight) at 7 p.m., and her office says the event will feature local health experts.

You can register at McBath.House.Gov/Live and you’ll get phone call when it gets underway.

A few event cancellations have come in since Thursday, and while they’re not immediate, we’ll mention them here in case you’ve bookmarked them:

Taste of East Cobb: Scheduled for May 2, postponed to a date TBA;
Taste of Marietta: Scheduled for April 26, also postponed until further notice;
Cobb County Master Gardener Volunteers: The organization’s signature events, the Annual Plant Sale and Expo (April 17-18) and Annual Garden Tour (May 9) have been cancelled until further notices, and reschedulings will be considered once health restrictions have been lifted;
Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center: All scheduled programming through April 30 has been cancelled;
The Art Place: All scheduled programming through March is cancelled, as is the April Gallery Show;
Wright Environmental Education Center: April 2 Open Garden and Bird-Watching event is cancelled.

Closings (temporary)

Intrigue Salon: Closed by the end of business Friday;
European Wax Salon: Closed as of Friday;
Frenchies Nail Care: Closed as of 3 p.m. Friday;
Orangetheory Fitness: Both Merchants Festival and Sandy Plains locations are closed as of Thursday;
Red Sky Tapas & Bar: Closed as of Sunday;
The Freakin’ Incan: Closed as of Friday;
Bay Breeze Restaurant: Closed as of Friday;
Three-13 Salon & Spa: Closed at the end of business Saturday.

Previous closings: We rounded up earlier this week.

Coming later Friday and into the weekend, two things we think will help better organize all this information, and give you a chance to help out local businesses: Updates on restaurant takeout/delivery/curbside services, and a landing page for all East Cobb News and other content related to Coronavirus.

How you can help

Cobb schools and MUST Ministries will be providing breakfasts and lunches for students needing them starting Monday at selected schools, including East Cobb Middle School. They need volunteers: Info and details here.
Mt. Bethel UMC and Johnson Ferry Baptist are coming together for a food drive to benefit MUST and Mosiac, a church and community resource center in South Cobb. They need donations: Info and details here.

Send us your news!

If you’ve got information to share about Coronavirus-related closings, cancellations, postponements or other changes, please e-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com:

Cobb schools to pay temporary employees through end of May

March 19, 2020 6:44 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school board teleconference meeting — *Cobb school board members and top district officials met via teleconference Thursday.*

Cobb County School District temporary employees who are out of work during the Coronavirus-prompted school closure will be getting paid through the end of May.

Those are what the district calls “non-permanent” workers—in the nutrition department and after-school program as well as substitute teachers.

The Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday to spend $3.4 million to cover payroll costs for around 2,500 of those workers, who are paid through a different part of the district’s $1.1 billion budget than other employees.

All of the district’s 18,000 salaried and hourly employees—teachers, administrators, bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals and others—also are being paid during the school closure, as their pay has already been budgeted in fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the substitute teachers eligible for the pay have been on board for the last three months.

“We have the ability to take care of our team members and our families and our communities,” he said.

He said district officials are not “taking knee-jerk action” in response to addressing the needs of those who work for the public schools, regardless of their employment status.

Having any sizable number of them without income would have a greater economic impact, since the district is Cobb County’s largest employer.

“I had zero hesitation about this,” Ragsdale said.

He was applauded by school board members who voted later in a 7-0 vote to approve the funding, which will come from the district’s general fund reserves.

The district has a $117 million reserve fund, and it’s not recommended to go below a month’s reserve, which is around $100 milllion.

Kemp: No plans to close businesses, impose curfew/quarantine

March 19, 2020 6:17 PMMarch 19, 2020 5:34 PM by Wendy Parker

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday afternoon he has no plans—at least for now— to force businesses to close, or to impose mandatory curfew or quarantine statewide to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.

In prepared remarks and in answering selected media questions from his office, Kemp said he is leaving it up to local officials “to take appropriate actions for their communities.”

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has forced restaurants to close off dining room service, allowing them to provide only pickup and takeout services. She’s also cancelled any event with 10 or more people, following public health guidance.

State and local officials in other states are also taking similar measures, especially in high population areas, to combat Coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Kemp said he’s reluctant to do that, not just because of the economic consequences, but also because he said Georgians were heeding public health messages to practice social distancing, wash hands and take other precautionary measures.

His announcement comes as the number of cases in Georgia skyrocketed on Thursday, from 287 confirmed cases, up from 146 on Wednesday.

The death count also jumped in the last day, from three to 10. Four of those deaths have taken place in Dougherty County, where four people died at a hospital there.

Only one death, the first in Georgia, has taken place in Cobb, at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.

Kemp also urged churches and other faith communities to conduct their services online. A Cartersville church has been linked to 18 COVID-19 cases due to having in-house worship. On Thursday, news outlets in Northwest Georgia reported that a member of the Church at Liberty Square, a 65-year-old woman, died at a hospital in Rome from respiratory failure.

Another member of that church, a school principal in Cave Spring, near Rome, was hospitalized, and his wife was on life support at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.

Cobb Coronavirus cases climb to 37; 10 deaths reported in Georgia

March 19, 2020 12:46 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

Nine more cases of Coronavirus were reported in Cobb County on Thursday, with the count moving up from 28 on Wednesday to 37.

The Georgia Department of Public Health updated its daily status report shortly after noon Thursday, and across the state there are now 287 confirmed cases.

On Wednesday, the statewide total was 197 cases and three deaths. Seven more deaths were included in Thursday’s revised figures, pushing the total to 10.

Those are the largest rises in confirmed cases and deaths in a 24-hour period since the weekend.

Emory Healthcare reported a death at one of its medical facilities but didn’t say where; the locations of the six other new deaths weren’t immediately available.

Georgia’ death rate now is 3.48 percent. The first three deaths were a 67-year-old man at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, and a 69-year-old woman and a 42-year-old woman, both of whom were hospitalized in Albany.

Georgia DPH said all three had other medical conditions, but Thursday’s update didn’t provide any information about the circumstances behind the newly reported deaths.

Fulton has 66 Coronavirus cases, the highest for a county in Georgia, followed by Cobb. Bartow has 26 cases, 22 are in DeKalb, 20 in Dougherty (Albany), 16 in Cherokee and 12 in Gwinnett.

The number of Georgians tested for Coronavirus is 1,831, and Georgia DPH was expanding testing to health care providers, first responders and those at high risk or who had shown symptoms of the disease and had been referred by physicians.

Cobb schools to provide student meals for rest of school year

March 19, 2020 11:37 AM by Wendy Parker

New East Cobb Middle School

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday that the Cobb County School District is working with MUST Ministries to provide breakfasts and lunches to any students who need them for the rest of the school year.

During a teleconferenced school board work session, Ragsdale said that students may pick up a week’s worth of those meals each Monday, starting this coming Monday, March 23, at one of eight schools in the district, including East Cobb Middle School.

Only the student will be provided the food, and each student must be present to receive the meals. Ragsdale said students will not have to show their IDs.

The meals will be prepared by the school district’s food services staff, and MUST Ministries volunteers will deliver the food boxes on a drive-through basis in front of the school buildings.

The pickup times are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the following locations:

Acworth Elementary School (4220 Cantrell Road, Acworth)
Bryant Elementary School (6800 Factory Shoals Road, Mableton)
Campbell HS (5265 Ward Street, Smyrna)
Compton Elementary School (3450 New Macland Road, Powder Springs)
East Cobb Middle School (825 Terrell Mill Road, Marietta)
Garrett Middle School (5235 Austell-Powder Springs Road, Austell)
Osborne High (2451 Favor Road, Marietta)
Riverside Intermediate School (285 South Gordon Road, Mableton)

Those schools have more than 50 percent of their students receiving reduced or free lunches.

Future pickups will continue to take place each Monday at those same locations and during those same hours.

Cobb and other public school districts and universities in Georgia are closed until March 31 at the order of Gov. Brian Kemp.

During Thursday’s work session, there was no discussion about how long the closures may last beyond that.

But Cobb school officials are clearly preparing for it to be much longer.

Later Thursday the school board was being asked to spend $3.4 million from the general fund to pay after-school program and nutritional workers and substitute teachers through the end of May, when the Cobb academic year ends.

As for the upcoming student meal provisions, Ragsdale said Cobb schools food service workers will be in kitchens with 10 or fewer people, per CDC guidelines on social distancing. MUST volunteers will pick up the food at the cafeteria doors, then provide them to students curbside.

Volunteers for the school meal program are needed, and you can sign up here on the MUST Ministries website.

The food service program is a continuation of a partnership between Cobb schools and MUST Ministries, which have set up times for special family food boxes to be picked this week at several locations.

That food comes from 29 school pantries, which were open starting Wednesday.

On Friday, those needing food may come by the following locations in East Cobb between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.:

Brumby ES (815 Terrell Mill Road);
Lassiter HS (2601 Shallowford Road);
McCleskey MS (4080 Maybreeze Road);
Sprayberry HS (2525 Sandy Plains Road);
Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road).

Cobb Police limiting certain call responses; closing some offices

March 18, 2020 7:00 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Police said Wednesday that they’re making some policy changes as county government goes into “limited operations status” due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

A release issued by Cobb Police said that while they’ll still respond to calls from the public that require the presence of officers, those that don’t will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

“In such cases residents may, after making an initial 911 call, get a call back from a police supervisor or an officer to make a report over the phone,” Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said in the release.

He also said the police department’s record’s office will be open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at headquarters (140 North Marietta Parkway, Marietta).

The lobby also will stay open, but citizens are asked that if they need to get copies of accident or incident reports to use the department’s website or call 770-499-3900 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The department’s permit office is closed until further notice, and anyone wishing to or eligible to obtain an employment permit cannot get one until it reopens. Information is available by clicking here or by calling 770-499-3932 Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also closed is the Cobb Police evidence unit, which will reopen on April 7. For any items that may be needed due to an emergency (medication, currency, house/car keys, etc.) the number to call is 770-499-4128 Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In Precinct 4, two Cobb Police Coffee With a Cop sessions have been cancelled: Thursday at the Janice Overbeck Real Estate office, and on March 26 at The Art Place.

Georgia Coronavirus cases grow to nearly 200; 28 in Cobb

March 18, 2020 4:50 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

As the number of positive Coronavirus cases in Cobb County and Georgia grows, so do questions about the availability of test kits throughout the state.

Shortly after noon Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported a big jump in the number of positive tests since Tuesday, from 146 to 197.

In Cobb, there are now 28 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, or COVID-19; there were 25 on Tuesday and 22 on Monday.

Also on Wednesday, two more deaths in Georgia were reported, patients at a hospital in Albany. The first death, a patient at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, was reported on March 7.

According to Georgia Health News, no information on those new deaths was made available, but the report said around 300 people in the Albany area have been tested and are waiting for results.

The Georgia DPH daily status report shows that around 1,500 people have been tested in Georgia thus far, more than 1,000 in commercial labs and the rest by the DPH.

Cobb’s 28 positive tests are the second-most for any county in Georgia. Fulton has 49, followed by Bartow with 19 and DeKalb with 18.

The DPH isn’t breaking down how those with positive test results are contracting the virus, nor giving a county-by-county count on how many people are being tested.

On Wednesday, Cobb and Douglas Public Health began offering drive-up testing for pre-approved people in what it termed high-risk groups, including health care providers and first responders, as well as those deemed vulnerable to getting Coronavirus or who have shown symptoms.

Cobb school board to hold public meetings via teleconference

March 18, 2020 4:20 PMMarch 18, 2020 2:45 PM by Wendy Parker

While the Cobb Board of Commissioners and other county elected and appointed bodies are postponing or rescheduling public meetings in the wake of the Coronavirus response, the Cobb Board of Education is carrying on with its scheduled monthly meetings on Thursday.

But they will be held remotely, via teleconference, for board members, Cobb County School District officials and the public.

The district has posted a message on its website that a virtual work session, followed by an executive session and a virtual voting meeting, will begin Thursday starting at 10 a.m.

You can follow the meetings on the CCSD livestream by clicking here.

Late Wednesday afternoon the district posted an agenda that includes a proposal to pay non-permanent employees (school bus drivers, cafeteria workers and the like) through the end of May due to the Coronavirus crisis.

Cobb schools closed on Monday and per Gov. Brian Kemp all public schools in Georgia are closed at least until March 31.

The agenda item, which will be discussed at the work session and voted on in the regular meeting, would use $3.4 million in general funding reserves.

The payroll supplements would include $1.675 million for defined active temporary employees, $1.5 million for the district’s after-school program workers and $225,000 for the school nutrition program.

The full agenda for Thursday’s meetings can be found here.

During typical in-person school board meetings members of the public also have a chance to make public comments to board members, but that will not be the case Thursday.

A district spokeswoman told East Cobb News that “given federal and state guidance about avoiding groups larger than ten and the meeting happening virtually, public comment will not be available.”

Goldbergs Bagel gets ‘A’ score in followup health inspection

March 20, 2020 1:56 PMMarch 18, 2020 11:21 AM by Wendy Parker

Goldberg’s Bagel, East Cobb food scores

Some non-Coronavirus news (and we will be getting back to some regular news soon!):

Following up a post from a couple weeks ago, when Goldbergs Bagel and Deli got a failing health inspection score, the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health has come back for a followup visit, and the Johnson Ferry Road eatery got an “A” score of 96.

(You can read the inspection report here.)

The violations that inspectors found on a March 5 visit—improper holding temperatures for food, improper discard labeling dates for certain foods and an employee failing to wash hands after handing trash—were found to have been corrected on Tuesday’s followup visit.

On Tuesday, Goldbergs was cited for improper cooling practices for cut fruit and food debris inside a microwave. The inspection report indicates both violations were corrected on-site.

The following East Cobb restaurants also were inspected this week:

The Freakin’ Incan
4651 Woodstock Road, Suite 305, Roswell
March 16, 2020 Score: 95, Grade: A

Marco’s Pizza
3595 Canton Road, Suite 300
March 16, 2020 Score: 85, Grade: B

Mr. Wok
1750 Bells Ferry Road, Suite B
March 18, 2020 Score: 100, Grade: A

More East Cobb business closings: Restaurants, theaters, retail

March 18, 2020 2:29 PMMarch 18, 2020 10:17 AM by Wendy Parker

Merchants Walk Cinema, East Cobb business closings

Following the news last evening that Seed/Stem/Drift are closing temporarily, here are some more East business closings and changes that have been announced since then.

If you’ve got information to share, please e-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com:

As we did yesterday, we’ll keep updating this throughout the day:

Aspens Signature Steaks and Seafood: Closed as of Tuesday;
Chicago’s Steak and Seafood: Closed as of Tuesday;
Williamson Bros. BBQ: All locations closed as of Tuesday until March 31;
Mezza Luna Pasta & Seafood: Closed as of Wednesday;
Merchants Walk Cinema: Closed as of Tuesday;
Park 12 Cobb Cinema: Closed as of Tuesday;
The Movie Tavern Roswell: Closed as of Tuesday;
Picture Show at Merchants Exchange: Closed as of Tuesday;
Ivy Lane Boutique: Closed as of Tuesday until March 29; online shopping availability coming soon;
Mansouri Dental Care: Closed until April 1;
K Squared Jewelry: Closed until April 1;
Kasha’s Hair Salon: Closed as of Wednesday;
LA Fitness: All clubs closed until April 1, including East Cobb locations on Roswell Road, Powers Ferry Road and East Piedmont Road.

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