TOMMY NOBIS CENTER (a Marietta-based nonprofit) has been awarded a Top Workplaces honor by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the second consecutive year. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture.
Tommy Nobis Center has been a staple of the Marietta community for more than 42 years. They are being recognized for their strong culture and for being a great place to work.
President & CEO, Dave Ward said, “We set and achieve audacious goals every year while also investing heavily in a robust culture with a focus on fun and innovation.”
About Tommy Nobis Center Since 1977, Tommy Nobis Center has helped more than 25,000 individuals find independence and workplace success by empowering people through employment. It envisions supportive communities where people with disabilities are afforded the opportunity to work. For more information, please visit http://www.tommynobiscenter.org, or follow Tommy Nobis Center on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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They’re a father and son, and one of them had traveled back recently from Milan, Italy, which is experiencing an outbreak of the virus.
During the press conference, state health officials said the two individuals were in home quarantine and in communication with their doctor.
More than 90,000 people have contracted coronavirus, a highly contagious illness, in nearly 80 countries around the world. More than 3,000 deaths have been reported, mostly in China.
The only deaths thus far in the U.S. have been in Washington State, where on Tuesday a ninth fatality was confirmed.
The Cobb/Douglas statement contains a basic explanation of the virus, along with preventative measures, such as thorough hand-washing, and that all testing is being done by the state at this time.
The statement said coronavirus spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and that symptoms appear between two and 14 days after exposure. They include:
runny nose
headache
cough
shortness of breath
fever
a general feeling of being unwell.
Here’s more about the local response, as the number of cases is expected to grow:
Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) is preparing internally, as well as with the state and the CDC to slow or prevent community spread. We are working with our partners, including the local governments, healthcare organizations, businesses, first responders, and local school districts to ensure our community is prepared for a potential COVID-19 outbreak.
We are reaching out to our county Boards of Health, emergency management agencies, chambers of commerce, and other partners who may need our guidance and are sending them guidance on how to prepare their organizations.
CDPH staff receive frequent updates from the CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health. These updates include information on the current situation abroad and in the U.S., testing, surveillance, quarantine, and more. This helps shape our local response.
CDPH has a previously-developed pandemic influenza plan that can serve as a template for responding to other outbreaks of severe respiratory disease, like COVID-19. We are reviewing our plan and are also prepared to implement specific COVID-19 guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health and the CDC as the situation evolves.
The Cobb County School District last week sent out a notice about the coronavirus, including a statement from the Georgia Department of Public Health, as well as an updated FAQ Tuesday following the confirmation of the Georgia cases:
The District will continue to stay in constant communication with Georgia Department of Health officials and will follow their guidance every step of the way in order to keep our students and staff safe. Our schools continue to remind students and staff on how to prevent the spread of illness including hand washing, covering mouths when they cough, and keeping their hands away from their face. Parents are urged to keep students at home if they have any symptoms of sickness.
Should a staff member or student become ill, Cobb Schools already has a reporting protocol in place regarding infectious diseases, which is part of the District’s Infectious Disease Response Plan. The District will use guidance from public health officials to update and apply the plan to respond to COVID-19.
The federal Centers for Disease Control has issued its highest alerts for China and Iran, recommending against non-essential travel there, and that entry by foreign nationals from those countries has been suspended.
U.S. travelers are being advised against non-essential trips to South Korea and Italy, and older adults or those with chronic medical conditions not visit Japan.
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A candidate for the Cobb Board of Education says he’s withdrawing after he announced that he may file a lawsuit against the Cobb County School District.
Rob Madayag, an attorney, said late Monday that he wouldn’t be qualifying for the Post 5 seat currently held by two-term incumbent David Banks.
Madayag had been one of four GOP hopefuls to announce for the seat, including Banks, as qualifying began Monday.
Post 5 includes the Pope and Lassiter clusters.
In a post to a Cobb schools-related Facebook page, Madayag said that “based on several factors, I do not think I am the best candidate at this time.”
Madayag filed notice last week that he may take the CCSD to court, saying it doesn’t properly report bullying incidents under the state’s school anti-bullying law.
“I intend to win the lawsuit and will not be able to dedicate the amount of time to campaign and win that i think necessary,” Madayag said in his statement on Monday. “I do not plan on losing, and with the number of depositions and document requests in the litigation I have mapped out, I expect to have most of my free time taken up.”
In a letter sent to school board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale on Feb. 25 (you can read it here), Madayag said he was skeptical of huge reductions in reported instances of bullying in Cobb schools under Ragsdale—to be specific, 86 percent between 2014 and 2018.
Madayag, who said his daughter has been bullied in Cobb schools, wrote that it’s “a rate that defies all logic and reason and is a significant outlier with respect to all the other school districts in the metro-Atlanta area, and quite possibly the entire United States.”
In addition to Banks, the other Republican candidates for the Post 5 season are Shelley O’Malley, a Delta Air Lines pilot, and IT consultant Matt Harper.
Two Democrats also have announced, current Lassiter PTSA co-president Tammy Andress, and physical therapist Julia Hurtado.
Qualifying for the May 19 general primary ends at noon Friday.
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Replacing the aging Fire Station No. 12 near Shaw Park is included in the Cobb 2022 SPLOST draft list.
Public safety infrastructure in Cobb County would get a substantial overhaul if the Cobb Special-Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for county government (SPLOST) is renewed by voters later this year.
A draft project list for the six-year, $810 million 2022 SPLOST collection and other information has been released by the county as a schedule of 20 open houses gets underway Tuesday at the Piedmont Church in Northeast Cobb.
The open house takes place from 6-8 p.m. The church is located at 570 Piedmont Road. Citizens can view the proposed projects, offer feedback on them and ask county staff about them as well.
The SPLOST, if renewed, would succeed the current 2016 SPLOST, which expires on Dec. 31, 2021. The one-percent sales tax pays for a wide variety of government projects, including transportation, public safety, parks, libraries, information services, property management, community centers and senior services.
Each of Cobb’s six cities would also collect sales-tax funds for projects in their municipalities. The 2022 SPLOST would be collected through Dec. 31, 2027.
The draft list (you can read through it here and see an overview here) includes $18 million for renovating the former Lockheed Georgia Employees Credit Union building on Fairground Street in Marietta for a new Cobb Police headquarters, and for a new police training center and firing range.
That’s part of a $82 million tab to be spent on public safety under the 2022 SPLOST.
Another $24 million would be spent for renovating fire training facilities, and to build a new Fire Station No. 12 to replace the existing building on Brackett Road in Northeast Cobb, near Shaw Park.
Replacing radio public safety equipment would cost $16 million, and a new Cobb animal shelter is pegged at $15 million.
Replacing police vehicles and building a new E-911 center would come in at $10 million each.
The biggest chunk of SPLOST spending, nearly $361 million, would be for Cobb DOT projects, with $227 million for repavings alone, along with bridge repairs, traffic management, and sidewalk improvements countywide.
The principal traffic projects in East Cobb would be $3.9 million to improve the intersection of Holly Springs Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, $2.4 million for Canton Road corridor improvements, and $701,500 to improve the Shallowford Road-Gordy Parkway intersection.
The tree-shrouded home of Wylene Tritt next to East Cobb Park is located on nearly 30 acres the county has purchased for current greenspace. (ECN file)
In the category of what’s called “community impact projects” is a line item for the purchase of additional Tritt property next to East Cobb Park.
She owns 54 acres that she had tentatively agreed to sell for a senior-living project that was denied by commissioners following community opposition.
Tritt and Isakson Living had agreed on a $20 million purchase price, and both later sued the county.
The SPLOST draft list line item indicates only “TBD” in a purchase price column next to “Acquire Tritt Property.”
Another $5 million would be dedicated to repurposing Shaw Park, and $3 million would go to construction of the new Ebenezer Downs Park in Northeast Cobb.
Another $24 million would be earmarked for Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, including a variety of renovations and upgrades at Sewell Park, Fullers Park, Terrell Mill Park, Hyde Farm, the Mountain View Aquatic Center, Noonday Creek Park and The Art Place.
Paving work would be included for East Cobb Park, Fullers Park and Terrell Mill Park and video surveillance cameras would be installed at several Cobb library branches, including the Mountain View Regional Library.
In East Cobb, those events will be on April 1 at the East Cobb Library, April 14 at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center and May 5 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
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Alex Guthrie performing at the 2018 Noshfest (ECN file).
The dead of winter is the time when spring, summer and fall festival news is announced. Following a recent post about the 2020 date in May for the Taste of East Cobb comes word about some changes with the Noshfest at Temple Kol Emeth.
It’s also being streamlined into a one-day festival, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22. The previous day, Saturday, Aug. 22, will have a “Nosh at Night” musical concert featuring East Cobb artist Alex Guthrie, who’s opening for the Zack Brown Band, and others, along with refreshments.
More details are to follow, including ticketing for Nosh at Night.
The dates for the 2020 Marietta Greek Festival also have been announced, and for the 30th anniversary of the event, it’s keeping to its usual spring time slot, May 15-17 at the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church on Trickum Road.
The Greek Festival hours are Friday, May 15 from 3-11 p.m. (with free admission from 3-5 p.m.); Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m; and Sunday, May 17, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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There’s just one East Cobb application coming before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday, and it’s held over from last month.
A request to relocate the Legacy Christian Preschool from the Woodstock Church Shallowford to Bethany Presbyterian Church at 4644 Sandy Plains Road requires a special land-use permit.
Legacy Christian wants to occupy what had been preschool space at Bethany, but the special land-use permit is needed to add kindergarten.
According to the stipulation letter, Legacy would lease the preschool from Bethany and operate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday-Friday, with an after-school period lasting until nearly 2 p.m.
Garvis Sams, an attorney for Legacy, said his client has met with residents in the adjacent Jefferson Park neighborhood to discuss the school’s plans, which do not call for any additions or renovations to the current school building.
The school plans to enroll around 65 students between the ages of 2 and 6, with a maximum anticipated for the 2021-22 school year. If enrollment goes above that, Legacy would have to seek permission from the commissioners.
The school would put up a privacy fence between the church and school and residents of Springwood Place in time for the 2020-21 school year. No playground activity will be allowed on the site after 2 p.m.
The Planning Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second-floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
County commissioners will take up final action on March 17.
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