The Cobb County School District compiled photos this week of seniors getting their caps and gowns.
Although there won’t be in-person graduation this year due to COVID-19, the district has said it is planning the Class of 2020 will be recognized in a “memorable way” and that virtual and in-person alternatives will be announced by June 1.
The caps and gowns line at Sprayberry High School.Walton High School principal Catherine Mallanda helps with the distribution.Wheeler High School seniors were greeted at a colorful and boisterous pickup line.
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If your vehicle registration was due to expire between March 16 and June 14, you’ll have some extra time to renew it, depending on the expiration date.
This week the Georgia Department of Revenue announced that the extension applies to “all annual registrations, including personal passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, vehicles registered in the International Registration Plan (IRP), and temporary operating permits (TOPs) issued at the time of a vehicle purchase.”
“While I have extended this deadline to give Georgians more time to register a new vehicle or renew current vehicle registrations, I strongly encourage taxpayers, especially those whose registrations were originally due in March and April, to register or renew as soon as possible and not wait until June 15th,” Georgia Revenue Commissioner David Curry said.
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Georgians who haven’t been able to get tested for Coronavirus because they didn’t feel symptoms or otherwise didn’t qualify can now do so without a medical referral.
The tests are free, but individuals who want to get one still must make an appointment with their local public health agency.
Cobb & Douglas Public Health has created an online testing referral form at www.cdphCOVID19testing.org that can be completed there.
Citizens can also visit www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.org(click on the Coronavirus button, then click on the “Online Testing Referral” button) in order to schedule an appointment.
Another option is by calling the CDPH Call Center at 770-514-2300.
According to Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the director of the Georgia Department of Public Health, more than 108,000 COVID-19 tests have been processed in the last week.
That’s nearly half of all the tests that have been conducted since a public health emergency was declared in Georgia in mid-March.
As of noon Friday, more than 227,000 people have been tested in Georgia, with 32,016 positive cases and 1,357 deaths.
There are 2,062 positive tests in Cobb County, with 109 deaths and 515 hospitalizations. Nearly tests have been conducted by Cobb and Douglas Public Health at a drive-up location at Jim Miller Park.
Capacity there to do more testing was expanded in April, but it limited those getting tested to those with symptoms and frontline medical workers and first responders.
The county is starting to provide more data to the public about COVID cases, including a map of positive tests according to ZIP Code.
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Next Tuesday a group of non-profit organizations will ask the Cobb Board of Commissioners for $1 million to assist their efforts to provide food for those in need in the county during the COVID-19 crisis.
The commissioners will hold a regular meeting next Tuesday that includes a request from the leaders of the Cobb Community Foundation, Northwest Atlanta United Way and the Cobb Collaborative for the funding.
That could come from the $132 million in federal stimulus funding the county government will be receiving in the next few weeks that’s earmarked to replace direct revenues lost to the COVID-19 response.
In a letter sent to supporters Wednesday, CCF executive director Shari Martin said that while “nothing is guaranteed, we believe that this issue has the support of a majority of the Board, largely due to your expressions of support and communications with the Chairman and Commissioners.”
There’s nothing else on Tuesday’s agenda related to the stimulus funding that’s provided by the CARES Act, but two candidates for the Cobb Board of Commissioners are publicly making an informal request elsewhere.
Larry Savage, an East Cobb resident, thinks some of the $132 million should be used to help the Cobb County School District plug what’s expected to a major hole in its finances stemming from the COVID-19 economic fallout.
In a letter to the editor delivered Thursday to The Marietta Daily Journal, Savage—a Republican challenging current chairman Mike Boyce—said the school district could use CARES Act funding for teaching aids and technology used for online learning while in-person classrooms are shut down.
So does Andy Smith, also of East Cobb, a former member of the Cobb Planning Commission who’s running to succeed retiring District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.
Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered state government departments to prepare for 14 percent across-the-board cuts.
The CCSD, whose fiscal year 2021 begins in July, currently operates with a $1.1 billion budget. The CCSD is expected to receive $14 million-$16 million in federal relief funding through the Georgia Department of Education, but a 14 percent cut could be in the range of $70 million to $80 million.
The district has not yet formulated a 2021 budget proposal because the legislative session was suspended due to the virus. Cobb schools gets nearly half of its budget from the state.
“It would be disgraceful for Cobb County government to use this money on frivolous projects, even if they are technically permissible, if there are more valuable ways to deploy the funds in the school district and help relieve the funding crisis the CCSD will face,” Savage wrote in his letter, ending it with “Cobb County School District is one thing we all share that must be protected at all costs.”
Smith also wrote a letter to the MDJ, saying that the $14-$16 million Cobb schools will be getting “will not close this widening gap.
Smith wrote that while he isn’t opposed to Cobb businesses and organizations receiving relief funding from the county, “what I am proposing is that we take care of our future first and provide as the top priority funding to our Cobb County Schools to assist them in offsetting the additional costs they have incurred and will incur educating the County’s students during this crisis.”
The full commissioners’ meeting agenda can be found here. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and will be done via online teleconferencing.
There will be a public comment period near the beginning and citizens can sign up at the Cobb County government website starting at noon Friday.
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After serving in a variety of military, business and community leadership roles, Fitz Johnson is seeking the District 2 vacancy on the Cobb Board of Commissioners as an extension of a question he says he’s asked many times in those other capacities:
“What can I do to help?” said Johnson, a Vinings resident, in an interview with East Cobb News.
“This job is the best way for me to get involved. The time is right.”
He’s one of three Republicans vying to succeed retiring three-term Commissioner Bob Ott in the June 9 primary.
This isn’t Johnson’s first campaign for office; in 2014 he unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for Georgia school superintendent.
The retired U.S. Army officer, retired entrepreneur and former pro sports team owner (the Atlanta Beat women’s soccer team) said that he has the time and passion to represent a diverse District 2 that includes most of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.
“I have a passion for working with citizens and helping to make the county better,” Johnson said.
Since he began his campaign, he’s heard a lot from citizens about a wide range of topics, including East Cobb Cityhood, which he opposes.
“I’m not in favor of it,” Johnson said. “It would add another layer of government. I’m a fiscal conservative who believes in keeping taxes low.”
That mantra figures to be challenged in the coming months and years as Cobb County, like many other state and local governments, begins to address the financial fallout from the COVID-19 crisis.
Johnson said he recently tested positive for the virus and sought emergency room treatment and has been recovering for a few weeks. “It really takes you down,” he said.
He said his experience working with complex business budgets and employing a long-term perspective would be assets on the five-member commission.
Commissioners will soon be meeting to discuss how the county might use $132 million in federal stimulus funding, but that’s just the beginning of a long way out of what figures to be a fiscal challenge greater than the recession.
“Now more than ever, we need a commissioner who understands budgets and finance,” Johnson said. “And not just now, but the next 5-7 years. That’s what we’re going to be looking at.
“Now is not the time to panic, but we have to take care of our citizens.”
Johnson said he does not support increasing the property tax millage rate to fill budget gaps.
“It still can be done, we have to do that,” he said. “That’s going to cost us more money if we don’t.”
But the post-virus financial scenario also figures to be a factor in how that issue is addressed.
“We can’t see into the future but we can look at what we think is going to happen,” he said, suggesting that some modeling might be done based on what the county did during the recession.
Another major issue throughout District 2 is zoning and development, and Johnson said as commissioner he would adhere to the Cobb Future Land Use Plan.
During Ott’s time in office, he has overseen four master plans, including one in Vinings near Johnson’s home that favors preserving what’s already there.
“We need to continue to have the community put together what they want,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he supports the county’s Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), but said we’re going to have to do better. We have to make sure the oversight is there.”
Johnson and his wife Suzann have three children and four grandchildren.
His other community activities include serving on the Kennesaw State University Board of Trustees, the Cobb Hospital Authority and the Wellstar Health System Board of Trustees.
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To hover over a larger map with more details, click here.
Cobb and Douglas Public Health is starting to break down its Coronavirus statistics into some categories we’ve been getting questions about.
Specifically, some readers have wanted to know exactly where in the county these cases are taking place, and how many.
The county health agency has produced a map (seen above, and that you can hover over here) that breaks those numbers down by ZIP Code, with the darker shadings representing higher numbers of cases, and the lighter shades the fewest.
As of Wednesday, here are the number of cases this map is reflecting in East Cobb ZIP Codes:
30062: 113
30066: 95
30067: 93
30068: 68
30075: 11
However, the statistics don’t include the number of deaths by ZIP Code.
As of noon Thursday, there were 2,006 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cobb County and 197 deaths. Another 509 people have been hospitalized in the county.
Across Georgia, there are 1,335 deaths and 31,260 cases, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. A total of 217,303 people have been tested.
The four highest concentrations of COVID-19 cases in Cobb are in Marietta 30060 (235), Powder Springs 30127 (151), Smyrna 30080 (143) and Kennesaw 30152 (142).
The Cobb and Douglas Public Health detailed data link also includes some other information, including testing.
As of Wednesday, 4,204 people have been tested in Cobb County, and with the 2,006 cases that comes to a positivity rate of 8.9 percent.
While the state data does break down cases and deaths by age and racial groups, the county data doesn’t yet show that.
All but 11 of those who have died in Cobb due to the virus were over the age of 60, and most had underlying medical conditions that were reported at the time of their deaths.
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Three years in the classroom gave Matt Harper a whole new perspective on the value of education.
It also fueled his desire to do something more than be the typical involved parent.
After serving as a science lab instructor at Murdock Elementary School—where he once was a student and where both of his daughters have attended—Harper felt a stronger desire to make a difference.
That’s why he said he’s running for the Post 5 seat the Cobb Board of Education as a first-time candidate for public office.
“As a teacher, I saw on a daily basis the grind—and the joys—that teachers go through, and what we ask of them,” said Harper, who also has served on the Murdock School Council.
“Before that, I’d say I fell into the category of clueless dad.”
The former environmental planner-turned information technology consultant is one of three Republican candidates on the June 9 primary ballot, along with Delta pilot Shelley O’Malley and three-term incumbent David Banks.
Post 5 (see map below) includes the Pope and Lassiter attendances zones, and stretches into portions of the Wheeler cluster.
A graduate of Walton High School, Harper and his wife Sharon have daughters who attend Murdock (3rd grade) and Dodgen Middle School (6th grade).
As someone who grew up in East Cobb, Harper is clearly playing up his local ties, as well as his background as an educator.
He said he thought about running four years ago, “but the timing just wasn’t right. I just feel called to serve.”
Providing greater support for teachers in the classroom while maintaining a fiscally conservative approach to taxes and budgeting are among Harper’s priorities, but the COVID-19 crisis that closed Cobb schools since March 13 will prompt some difficult and dramatic decisions.
“Things are going to continue to change,” Harper said, “but things aren’t going to change about how schools work” and the roles they play in their communities.
When Gov. Brian Kemp closed public schools statewide for the rest of the current school year, the Georgia Department of Education also cancelled standardized testing.
Harper thinks standardized testing should be suspended for the 2020-21 school year as well.
“Teachers are going to have to be catching students up across the board,” he said.
Massive business closures also will impact the Cobb County School District’s Education SPLOST (Special Local-Option Sales Tax) collections that fund school construction, maintenance and technology projects.
The district’s pending fiscal year 2021 budget formulation also is in limbo because the Georgia legislative session was suspended before school funding was determined.
Cobb gets roughly half of its $1 billion budget from the state, and Kemp is proposing 14 percent 14 cuts at all departmental levels to address the shortfalls.
Cutting that much from Cobb’s upcoming budget would be around $70 million.
“That would be a big hit,” Harper said.
When, and how, Cobb schools would begin the next school year also factors into future funding issues that the school board will have to wrestle with.
“The biggest concern that I have is how do we do best with the funding we have while keeping our school staff healthy and bring children back so their parents can go back to work.”
Harper does not favor doing away with the Cobb schools senior tax exemption, which comes to around $100 million a year. It’s an issue that caused some flare-ups on the school board in the last two years, largely along partisan lines, with Republicans opposed to touching it, and Democrats wanting at least to study the matter.
In his teaching work at Murdock, Harper developed an environmental club at the school, and rebuilt its school garden.
He strongly favors a 30-minute recess period in all Cobb elementary schools, something that exists now at the discretion of principals.
Even though he’s a “self-proclaimed digital pack rat,” Harper thinks that recess should be technology-free. “It’s a no-brainer,” he said.
As for what awaits Cobb school students in the coming months, Harper said that while starting a new school year online-only is a very possible option, “no one wants that to happen.”
The personal connections students make with one another, their teachers and principals and bus drivers is vitally important, he said especially at the grade-school level.
“The stability that the school environment offers students is more than reading, writing arithmetic,” Harper said.
“Those baseline needs of school and community have not changed.”
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East Cobb Park has been locked up since late March. (ECN file)
This just in from Cobb County government:
Cobb PARKS will reopen their outdoor facilities on Monday, May 11th. Trails and passive parks have already been open to the public, so this will reopen the remainder of our outdoor parks. Due to continuing health concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the following restrictions will remain in place:
Playgrounds and restrooms at park facilities will remain closed.
No organized athletic activities will be allowed.
Park Rangers and PARKS personnel will monitor the parks to ensure park patrons maintain proper social distancing. Flagrant violations could result in the closure of part or all of that facility.
Indoor facilities, such as aquatic centers and arts centers, will remain closed.
The county initially kept parks open shortly after Commission Chairman Mike Boyce declared a state of emergency. But he ordered parks closed on March 23 after being advised to do so by public health officials in the “interest of public health and to encourage social distancing.”
The entrances to East Cobb Park and other outdoor parks, including Mabry Park in East Cobb, have been locked up ever since.
On April 23, the county reopened some trails, like the Noonday Creek Trail and the Silver Comet Trail, and a few passive parks, including Ebenezer Downs and Hyde Farm in East Cobb.
Cobb PARKS issued further details of the reopenings on Friday:
1. No organized activities will be allowed. This includes team practices, games, get-togethers, etc. 2. All field lights will remain off and park concession stands closed.
3. On diamond fields, dugouts will be locked.
4. All restrooms will remain locked.
5. Playgrounds will remain closed. Part-time PARKS staff will be stationed at these playgrounds from dawn until dusk to ensure that no one violates the closures.
6. Our staff in the parks will also be monitoring other areas of the parks and will be notifying public safety should organized activities be observed.
The decision to reopen the parks comes as some businesses and other public activities are gradually being allowed to reopen in Georgia.
As of noon Wednesday, there were 30,706 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia, with 1,311 deaths, 5,770 hospitalizations and 1,348 intensive-care admissions.
In Cobb County, there are 1,996 confirmed cases of the virus and 102 deaths, with 506 hospitalizations.
When the parks reopen on Monday, beautiful spring weather will be in store, with sunny skies and high temperatures into the 70s and 80s for most of the week.
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A few more restaurants in East Cobb are opening up their dining rooms, or announcing they will be soon, since we noted a few last week that had opened their doors or would be soon.
On Wednesday, Eggs Up Grill (4401 Shallowford Road) is reopening its dining room for its usual breakfast-lunch hours from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Wing Cafe & Tap House (2145 Roswell Road) is reopening its dining room and starting up takeout/curbside with a limited menu. No specials will be offered for the time being, 770-509-9464;
The Mellow Mushroom on Johnson Ferry is still doing takeout/pickup/delivery for now, but is planning to reopen its dining room next Monday, May 11 with limited seating due to social distancing guidelines.
A few doors down, East Cobb Tavern reopened Monday and will be open from 3-8 p.m. for dining room and curbside service.
Last Monday, Suburban Tap reopened its dining room and will allow only 10 patrons per square foot and dining parties of six people or less per table. Salad bar and buffet service are discontinued for the time being.
Among the first East Cobb restaurants to reopen its dining room was Bradley’s Bar & Grill on Lower Roswell Road.
Other business reopenings
East Cobb Family Dentistry (2969 Johnson Ferry Road) reopened on Monday, and is now booking appointments for the week of May 11, 770-913-6800;
The Credit Union of Georgia (1020 Johnson Ferry Road) has reopened its lobby for appointment service only (along with continuing drive-thru service) Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 5pm and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.;
The Eurocar auto repair shop (4696 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 100) is open Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6pm and Friday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 770-565-7070;
Lenox Chem-Dry (3020 Canton Road, Suite 110) cleans and sanitizes carpet, upholstery and tile, 770-419-1788.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
The East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) is one of four locations in the county where an absentee ballot drop box has been installed for the 2020 primary elections.
That vote has been pushed back to June 9 from the original May 19 date, and Cobb Elections is encouraging the voting public to cast their ballots absentee.
The other locations are:
South Cobb Government Service Center, 4700 Austell Road, Austell
North Cobb Regional Library, 3535 Old 41 Highway NW, Kennesaw
Elections Main Office, 736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta
The boxes are being monitored by cameras for security purposes.
According to Cobb Elections, “Public health concerns will likely impact in-person voting availability and wait times may increase due to social distancing and sanitation requirements.”
The other standing absentee ballot return options remain the same:
Mailto the address on the outer envelope
Hand-deliver to an absentee clerk at the Elections Main Office
Hand-deliver to the poll manager of any Cobb County advance voting location
Any mailed or dropped off absentee ballots must be done so by 7 p.m. on primary election day, June 9, in order for them to be counted.
Two weeks ago, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office began mailing absentee ballots to voters who filled out an application.
All registered Georgia voters received the applications—which for now just pertain to the primaries and presidential primary, which is also on June 9—and have until June 5 to submit them.
If you haven’t registered to vote, you now have until May 11 to do so, and can do that here.
If you’d like to view and download a sample ballot (Republican, Democratic or non-partisan) or if you need to change your registration information, you can do that at the My Voter page at the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.
One other thing Cobb Elections wants you to note when you get your absentee ballot: It will look and work a little different, with an explanation below:
Instead of creating the usual white inner envelope and an outer envelope printed with an Oath, the vendor created a white paper “sleeve” as the inner envelope. Although the instructions say to enclose and securely seal the voted ballot in the smaller of the two envelopes, the white folded paper sleeve will work just fine.
Please put your voted ballot into the white paper sleeve and then place it into the Oath envelope, sign the Oath and return the ballot. Do not tape or staple the paper sleeve, because the ballot might become damaged as it is removed.
The reason there are two envelopes is to ensure ballot privacy. As staff prepares the ballots for counting, the voted ballot is separated from the outer envelope that identifies the voter’s name. Staff never sees how any person has voted. In this case, Cobb Elections staff will handle this sleeve in the same way as a sealed envelope.
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Reader Ariel Starke passes along information and photos about a group of East Cobb residents who’ve quickly formed to make masks and scrub caps for workers at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and other local medical facilities.
The East Cobb PPE Makers Facebook group scrambled into action after responding to a local nurse who posted on the East Cobb Mom’s Exchange group about needing a scrub cap.
Kim Deuster, who started the PPE Makers, takes the story from there:
“She is a nurse in the emergency department at Kennestone Hospital, and the hospital was requiring their staff to wear the caps as one more barrier to being exposed to COVID-19. When I told her I could do it for her, another nurse sent me a message asking if I could make 100 caps. When I realized the man hours and material needed, I knew I could not do this alone. I reached out to several friends, asking for material donations and sewing volunteers on every board I belong to. Within 3 days I had a basement full of supplies, 20 sewers and multiple volunteers offering to run material and caps all over the East Cobb area. We were able to produce over 300 caps for 7 local healthcare facilities within two weeks.”
The East Cobb PPE Makers continuing to produce PPE items, as the group’s membership has grown to more than 125.
Maxwell’s husband is a critical care doctor at the Kennestone Pulmonary Group, and posted this video of their PPE items being put to rapid use.
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The Cobb Chamber, in collaboration with health and community leaders, has released a compilation of guidelines to assist businesses in their efforts to safely reopen as the state moves toward economic recovery. The guidelines are available at https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/covid-19-resources.
“We’ve heard from businesses across different industries that this would be helpful for them and we really appreciate the work of our taskforce to put this together,” said Sharon Mason, president & CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “This guide is to provide tips and tools to help businesses be prepared to reopen in a safe way for their employees and customers. Additionally, our recent webinars have and will continue to focus on helping businesses be prepared to reopen safely.”
The guidelines deliver public health protocol for companies to consider as they prepare their own plans for a phased reopening and a reintroduction of staff and customers to their establishment. Topics covered in the guidelines include preparing your workforce and workspace and information on mitigating the spread of the virus. The guidelines take into consideration daily health tests, sanitization, reconfiguring the workspace to allow for social distancing, and a number of other recommendations on how their space could be reimagined to be as safe as possible for employees and visitors.
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Submitted information from Kids Care, a youth-oriented community service and volunteer organization that’s sending “Kindness Cards,” notes of appreciation to local COVID-19 frontline workers:
To date, 400 Kindness Cards of encouragement and thanks have been collected by KIDS CARE & given to Cobb County Hospital Staff, Fire, EMS, Police & 911 Dispatch Personnel during this challenging time.
Please bring your home-made offerings of “Thanks” to any of the business locations listed on our website as a Kindness Card Drop Off Location. We will be collecting Kindness Cards for a few more weeks.
In addition, email jannd@forartssakeusa.com, your message and a greeting card with your written message will be delivered to a Frontline worker for you.
FYI: There is an East Cobb dropoff location, at the entrance to Williams-Sonoma store at The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road, Suite 800).
You can drop off cards there from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday curbside, weather permitting. During inclement weather the box will be placed under the store awning.
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With clear blue skies and temperatures near 80 degrees, quite a few East Cobbers found some some open space at the Wellstar East Cobb Health Park Saturday afternoon to watch the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds flyover honoring frontline COVID-19 workers.
They began their metro Atlanta excursion flying from Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, then down along I-75 before looping back up through Sandy Springs and Roswell, and then on to the city of Atlanta and eventually to Newnan.
The entire flight didn’t take long, and it helped to be very close to the flight path. The planes were barely visible from this point in East Cobb as they reached their turn-around point in Roswell, and only a trace of their booming sounds could be heard.
Roswell resident Robert Davis lives virtually underneath the flight path, and he tagged us on the Instagram video below, taken as the planes screeched overhead:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sd3MJB-iF/
While Davis didn’t have to leave home, those at the health park lingered for a while afterwards, enjoying some fresh air—while practicing social distancing—at the end of the seventh week since the Coronavirus crisis shut down so much of daily life.
The nearby East Cobb Park, like many in the county, remains closed—locked up, actually—although a few other passive parks and trails reopened last week.
Another good crowd was also on hand to watch the flyover from the spacious parking lot at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, the venue for what would have been the Taste of East Cobb today.
That event, like so many others through the spring and summer, was cancelled.
While some businesses are gradually reopening again—there were a good number of cars at shopping centers like Merchant’s Walk—it’s far from being what it would normally be on a splendid spring weekend.
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Saturday would have been the Taste of East Cobb festival, but like many special events in the community, it’s among those postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19.
The latest is the Noshfest, a Jewish food, music and cultural celebration that’s been held on the Labor Day weekend at Temple Kol Emeth.
Earlier this week, Noshfest organizers sent out word that their 10th annual festival will be pushed back to the spring of 2021.
No specific dates were mentioned for now. Last month it was announced Noshfest would be moved up to Aug. 22-23.
The Marietta Greek Festival was to have been held May 15-17 at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, but is being cancelled altogether this year.
Other spring festival casualties in East Cobb included the Northeast Community Egg Drop at Sprayberry High School, as well as the Cobb Master Gardeners plant sale and expo and spring home garden tour. Both of those were planned for April.
A number of other major spring and summer events around metro Atlanta are being called off or pushed back, including the Peachtree Road Race.
The July 4 event, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will now take place on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
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!
Employees at Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care in East Cobb prepare for a new way of doing business. (ECN photos)
When she opened her nail salon in the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center last August, Rhoda Gunnigle told customers that “We Love Clean.”
That’s the slogan for Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care, and Gunnigle, as a newly-minted franchisee of the national company, earnestly meant to live up to it.
She’s had to stress that message even more, and have her staff take even greater hygiene measures, as her shop reopened Friday after a six-week closure due to the Coronavirus crisis.
Frenchie’s East Cobb owner Rhoda Gunnigle goes over new safety measures with her staff.
Salons like hers were allowed to open last Friday by Gov. Brian Kemp, but Gunnigle wanted to take extra time to train her staff to meet extensive new requirements.
She also wanted to gauge the willingness of customers to patronize a business in a “personal touch” industry that’s been caught in the crossfire over how much reopening should be allowed as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll.
“We have some [customers] who have been so supportive,” Gunnigle said Thursday, taking a break from final preparations. “And there are others who are not ready yet, and that’s understandable.”
Georgia’s reopening has been criticized in national media and by public health officials, and Gunnigle said she understands the concerns.
But she has her own. Like many business owners, she filed right away in March for federal relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, and earlier this week finally got the loan money. Under the PPP, employers must spend at least 75 percent of the money on payroll, or the loan will not be forgiven.
Gunnigle said she’s going to use all of it to pay her employees, while she scrambles to pay her landlord and meet other financial obligations. She got a six-month reprieve on her Small Business Association loan she used to start the business, and that’s helped.
Frenchie’s employees were busy cleaning and disinfecting nearly every surface of the salon before it reopened.
She said she’s glad she waited to reopen at least for a few days, and understands why some people don’t want to get their nails done, or hair cut, for now.
“But if you wait until it’s too comfortable, it may be too late,” Gunnigle said, speaking from a business owner’s perspective.
“How can you wait while while expenses pile up? With the rent due, I didn’t feel I had much of a choice.”
Frenchie’s is doing a slow reopening, available for now only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment only.
She’s not allowing walk-ins, and anyone coming through the front door—even the mailman—is asked questions about international travel, possible exposure to the virus, and more.
Gunnigle is acting as the front desk receptionist, using only three staffers at a time, instead of the typical six. They all must wear masks, which are optional for customers.
Guests must wash their hands and practice social distancing. Clear plastic screens shield customers and employees alike.
After guests leave following a “touchless checkout,” the area where they sat, including their chairs, is fully disinfected. Disposable items are promptly tossed away.
Gunnigle said she’s going beyond the state-issued mandates, including those from the Georgia State Board of Cosmetologists and Barbers, which also regulates nail salons. She feels confident that she and her workers are as prepared as they can be.
She says that “I feel as safe in here as I do at home” and understands that some may think that getting a manicure isn’t the most important thing in the world right now. “But there are people who want to come back the safe way.”
Cobb commissioner Bob Ott stopped by Intrigue Salon, which also has reopened on Johnson Ferry Road (Photo courtesy Intrigue Salon).
Owner Jeff South also was waiting for delivery of Synexis, which is described as a “biodefense technology to mitigate infectious microorganisms.”
It’s similar to the technology used to clean and disinfect schools, hospitals and restaurants. Synexis produces hydrogen peroxide in the same physical state as the oxygen and nitrogen in the air, and the molecule is known as Dry Hydrogen Peroxide (DHP).
South said his salon is the first in the world to to install Synexis, and that it’s effective against airborne and surface viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Intrigue also is limiting customers to only those with appointments. Customers must also wear masks, and although gloves are optional their hands must be washed.
They also will be asked health questions by stylists, who are sanitizing chairs and their work stations after every customer, who will have a clean cape and clean tools.
Intrigue also is not blow-drying hair for now, but is offering a free serum treatment before guests leave.
Those measures, like those undertaken by other salons, are a blend of hygiene and the pragmatism prompted by social distancing.
While a number of “personal touch” businesses are waiting a while longer, Rhoda Gunnigle of Frenchie’s says “we can’t stay home forever. The economy cannot continue to be shut down.”
Among her first customers this weekend is her mother, who lives in the North Georgia mountains and whom she hasn’t seen for nearly two months because of social distancing.
As a business owner who felt the initial shutdowns nearly cast a fatal blow to her enterprise, Gunnigle said “I’m still not out of the woods.”
Reopening her nail salon—if only for a few days at a time, and far from full operations—”is a risk, but as a business owner you have to take some risks.”
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The joint effort between the Cobb County School District and MUST Ministries to provide student meals to those who need them will continue into the summer.
The district announced Friday that it would extend food distribution of weekday breakfasts and lunches that began in March, when schools were closed due to the Coronavirus crisis.
East Cobb Middle School is one of eight sites in the Cobb district that has been a pickup point for those student meals.
“What most people don’t know about distributing food to students is local taxpayer dollars aren’t spent on food for students, Federal dollars are. These eight sites were selected because they allow us to be reimbursed by the Federal government, many of our schools across Cobb don’t allow for that option,” Cobb schools chief operations officer Marc Smith said in a statement issued by the district.
Pre-K students, rising kindergartners, recent graduates under 18, and new students to the district are eligible to receive the food, which is handed out by MUST volunteers at the designated schools each Monday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The students must be present in order to receive the food.
More than 217,000 meals have been distributed thus far, according to the district, which estimates that another 225,000 meals will be provided the next couple of months.
While the Cobb schools summer vacation goes until Aug. 1, the school district’s fiscal year 2021 budget takes effect July 1.
Normally the district and Cobb school board would be working on the new fiscal year budget in April and May. However, they cannot because the Georgia legislative session was suspended before the state budget, including education funding appropriated to school districts, was finalized.
A date to resume the legislative session hasn’t been announced, but some leading lawmakers are suggesting mid-June at the earliest, when Georgia’s extended public health emergency is due to expire.
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The retail center’s management on Friday released a partial list of its tenants who’ve opened up their doors, with this caveat:
“The well-being, health and safety of you and the community is our #1 priority. We recommend all guest adhere to the CDC and the State of Georgia’s guidelines when visiting.
“Please note some retailers remain closed at this time while others hours vary. We recommend that you contact your favorite retailer for their current hours and any restrictions they may have in place (curbside pickup, appointment only etc.) prior to visiting.”
The stores that are open now include the following, and they include some that have stayed open:
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In a note that went out Thursday to “our valued readers and advertisers,” publisher Cynthia Rozzo said she decided to “go dark” due to “the turmoil that COVID-19 has caused over the past few weeks.”
She said that on May 1, “we will then evaluate the situation and determine if a June/July print edition will be viable.” East Cobb News has left a message with Rozzo seeking further comment.
The EAST COBBER, which she founded in 1993, is published 11 times a year, with a combined June-July issue. Each issue typically runs from 44 to 52 pages and includes community news and information and focuses advertising on specific types of businesses, including restaurants, private schools, pets and home and garden.
Most of the magazine’s advertisers are small, local businesses, especially in personal care and home and lifetstyle sectors, as well as financial institutions, dentists and restaurants.
Rozzo wrote in her note Thursday that “we don’t take the health risks of COVID-19 lightly, and you shouldn’t either. But we also recognize the impact that these restrictions are having on our economy.”
Rozzo said her publication will continue to provide “useful and relevant information” on its social media platforms and her weekly newsletter also will continue. “Advertising opportunities are available to those businesses that want to maintain their brand awareness.”
The EAST COBBER sponsors a community parade and festival in September.
Across the country local news publications and magazines have been deeply affected by the economic fallout from the Coronavirus crisis.
Depending heavily on advertising and in an industry that’s been in deep decline for nearly two decades, some newspapers have shuttered altogether, and others have laid off and furloughed staff and cut the number of days they publish.
Last month, The Marietta Daily Journalreduced its print edition from seven to five days a week, and is on a Tuesday-Saturday publishing schedule.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that a larger portion of our audience turns first to our digital products,” the paper announced April 8, writing that ” a new set of circumstances brought on by the coronavirus pandemic hastened a change.”
The MDJ had taken down its paywall after the COVID-19 crisis began, but that went back up Friday.
Rozzo had planned a Pet Palooza event with the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA May 17 but that has been cancelled.
Rozzo also started the EAST COBBER parade that is held each September along Johnson Ferry Road and includes a community festival at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. She did not mention the status of that event in her note on Thursday.
Rozzo, an Ohio native, is a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year and in 2018 was named the first Business Person of the Year by the East Cobb Business Association.
“Let there be no doubt, we will be back, and we look forward to the time when we can share that with each of you,” she said in her note.
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If you look up in the sky early Saturday afternoon you’ll see (and hear) military planes screeching by.
They’re not taking part in formal exercises but instead are the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds, taking part in a salute to COVID-19 first responders.
Earlier this week, an America Strong event took place over New York City and Philadelphia.
The tentative start time for the Atlanta flyover is 1:35 p.m. Saturday, as the planes begin in Cobb, around Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, and will circle back up over Sandy Springs, Roswell and a sliver of East Cobb before heading down to Atlanta and eventually to the Newnan area.
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